move over masterchef, munch on 'the market's menu - Sunday 4th July!

Mmmmm..
I couldn't help share this!
yum.  Now, don't you just wish you could be at 'the market'?...I am going as a contestant. I mean stallholder.
Would love you to come and say 'hi', if you are around Hobart.
I think I may have to skip bringing lunch that day! My seven year old, after seeing this menu, decided he must come along to help me this Sunday.  Even explaining that it's a 7 hour affair, hasn't deterred him!  I'm not sure whether this mama needs this kind of help so much, as I know after 2 hours he's going to get bored, (as much as I tell him that kids shouldn't know the meaning of the word 'bored'), and getting home isn't going to be an option. 
We'll see!

soup

'good fortune' soup with greens, tomato,

black-eyed peas & free range ham hock

lunch

'spanikopita' flatbread toastie with curly leaf kale & creamy fetta

asiago, pecorino, & mushroom flatbread toastie

free range pork & small turnip braise

black bean, dried mandarin peel, toasted almond & steamed tofu salad

with citrus honey dressing & coriander

sesame oil noodle salad with maple marinated tempeh,

zucchini & salted peanuts

pumpkin, farro, red pepper, pesto & polenta salad

sweeties

tamarind, walnut & date cake with cardamon frosting

flour-less walnut little cakes with coffee bean butter icing

rhubarb & hazelnut crumble muffins

Thanks for those that left interesting comments on this post, re: Masterchef.
I liked ange moore's challenge of getting 'the contestants to cook a meal for a family of 6 with whatever you can find in the cupboard in 15 minutes!!'
It did get me thinking that I would rather go to a nice beach with some good fish and chips, and sit with my family.  Now that is a quality dining experience.

Have a great week, peeps.
x

my creative space - back to normal

I'm not completely sure whether my Bethany's creative space qualifies in 'this space', but in any case here we are!  Routines are slowly being re-established after 3 long weeks (!) of school hols, and my daughter's bout of  illness last week.  This week we finally made it back to family day care, and music, and I'm slowly getting back into some sewing.

I've also missed doing Thursday's Creative Space, and this is a little gentle intro back into it.

A visit to a park this morning, what glorious sunshine we had!

 

Bethany's colour-coded block space - all her own doing.

Then she spent some time, playing 'music' on them.

It's so lovely to see her 'alive' again!  This makes her mama very, very happy!

Head over to some very inspirational, creative spaces over here.

ps..Wow....We have a new prime minister today - a woman!
I read this first on chunkychooky!  Before any 'news' media!  Go Julia.
Now...I wonder how many babies are going to be named after her?  No one would have done that with Kev!  Would they?

food as theatre - the sound of the sea?

As some of you may know, I have been watching MasterChef (Australia).  I'm a big fan. I think it goes a long way to educating the public to a 'cooking from scratch' philosophy, encouraging sourcing good produce, and I've heard stories of people expanding their palettes and minds.  People eat too much crappity crap these days. 
In days gone by, I used to do night fill for a supermarket, and baulked at stocking the 'nutritous snacks' isle with sugar, and wheat laden bars.
I'm not crazy about the amount of butter/duck fat that is often used in Masterchef, but there is still a greater purpose in all of it.  You can get people, who are not slightly interested in cooking, to become enthused about cooking for their family.  Brilliant.  My son is keen to try some new things, that he may not have before.  (he's also a fan!)
Last night I was completely mesmerized, and horrified, and again entertained, when Heston Blumenthal from the Fat Duck (a three Michelin star restaurant), presented 4 of his signatures dishes for the contestants to make.    This guy is clearly brilliant...part scientist / part magician, his chosen medium is food.

I want to open up a discussion. Do you think that chefs are taking things a bit too far?

I mean, I understand the concept of going to a restaurant, and enjoying good food with good company.  It's one of the niceties of life.

But this truly extraordinary dish called 'Sound of the Sea', presented in Heston's restaurant with a giant conch shell, cleverly hiding an IPod, that enables you to enjoy seaside sounds, whilst eating the dish.
Is that crazy?  It's clever I know.  Is this too much?  Are we becoming so affluent, that we seek increasingly deeper experiences of sensuality.
It partly fascinates me, partly disgusts me.  Am I ranting and raving over nothing?  This dish took Heston four years to design.  He has seen people in his restaurant cry whilst enjoying it, savouring it.
When so many people in the world don't even have clean water to drink, is this a form of gluttony for those that can afford the price asked for a dish such as this?  If I had enough money to fly over to England, and dine at the Fat Duck, would I?   A three course menu at the Fat Duck is 150 pounds.  In Australian dollars that equals $252.  Wow.   That's a lot of moola any way you look at it.  For one meal.

Sound of the Sea, on the menu of the three-Michelin-starred Fat Duck restaurant, features seafood and edible seaweed on a bed of sand-like tapioca - all washed down with the sound of breaking waves

These quotes taken from BBC news:
'Chef Heston Blumenthal, famous for his scientific approach to food, said the recording of breaking waves heightened the flavour of dish "Sound of the Sea".

"We ate an oyster while listening to the sea and it tasted stronger and saltier", Mr Blumenthal said.
Mr Blumenthal told Square Meal magazine that the tests carried out with Charles Spence at Oxford University "revealed that sound can really enhance the sense of taste".

George Calombaris (actually I'm a big fan of George!) from Masterchef and owner of the Press Club in Melbourne, has this amazing dessert on his menu called 'Aphrodite', that has white chocolate mousse, cherries, roses, soil, scent for only $18.90. 
It comes with a beautiful tray of 'soil' (served separately of course) that the waiter presumably 'tips' scent of rose over, or something like, thus releasing perfume and earthiness that matches the flavour of the dessert.
Again, engages the senses. 

Aphrodite

There must be countless other chefs that procure such food theatre.
Is it all relative?
Should I feel guilty about dining out at all, when others can't?
What do you think about all this food theatre business?
Is it acceptable?  Is it over the top?  Is it all relative to one's financial/social position?

winter solstice

My son's school had a lantern walk last weekend, it was a mild, calm, rain free evening.

A wonderful time to celebrate the season, and give thanks to our Creator.

Today in Australia we mark the solstice as the shortest day of the year.

Hooray, the days will now start to get longer!  And I love knowing that it's only 71 days until Spring!

Willow and Bethany's daffodil pots...planted a month or so ago.

x

mesclun

I love the word mesclun.

  Could there be a prettier way to eat your greens?

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xx

just for now

I have decided to have a little sabbatical for my Etsy shop, and plan to re-open in a couple of weeks after my next market on the 4th of July.  It was looking a bit tired, and I was tired looking at it!
I need to spend some time re-assessing, catching up on other projects, and just being a mum.
I'm happy the market circuit is keeping things ticking over.  Can't complain.   Plus I love the instant feedback and personal interaction of a market!
Anyone who has an Etsy shop will appreciate just how long it takes to photograph and list.  (I am not proficient at using Etsy hacks!)
Last night I enjoyed just lounging about relaxing, and reading 'Craft Inc. Turn your creative hobby into a business'.
It was a good read, really designed for those who are deadly serious on turning their creative cogs into something bigger.  There were some good tips for time management, for those who already manage full-time work, or are juggling family life.  I found the idea of attending trade fairs, and the concept of outsourcing somewhat pie in the sky for me!  (maybe one day!)

Hope your weekend is going along smashingly!
x

Thank you

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to those who left kind comments a few days ago, when my little one was ill.
It certainly did make that day seem less lonely.
We spent the better part of yesterday in hospital, she was confirmed with an uti, and after a dose of iv antibiotics, I was glad to be home with her last night. (A very BIG bonus for me was that my hubbie also came home last evening from interstate work commitments). 
High temperatures with little kids is one of the most scariest, gut wrenching things.
We are seeing some light at the end of this tunnel, thank goodness.

I'd organised for some groceries to be delivered yesterday afternoon (through Coles, the first time I've ever used online for grocery shopping)...little did I know that I was going to be at the hospital.   Apparently they turned up with no-one home.  My hubbie, after arriving home, saw our confirmation email, rang Coles to explain our emergency dilemma, and they graciously returned last night at 10:45pm, the last delivery for the evening.   It was a bit funny seeing all these groceries turn up, that were now unessential, but I was still agog that they were so nice about it all.
To say nothing of the wonderful staff in the ER at the Royal Hobart Hospital.

Don't the small things make a big difference sometimes?
x

all of a sudden

there's just me and my girl.
She's sick, and her temp flew up to 41.8 C. 
Parenting is the most overwhelming, courageous, and scariest job I'll ever do.
Pretty much all I can do right now is this.

find joy in the season you're in

Here are 18 things I like about this Winter...

sipping a hot spicy apple drink...& mulled wine...& hot chocolate...
& Joie de tea's Chai Masala

no sweat exercise

cuddling a heatpack

cuddling my family

warming myself by a fire...the smell of a fire....the look of a fire

the crunch of footsteps in the frost

crisp air that you can see

playing board games

fairy lights adorning stark branches

lantern walks

soup

candlelight

oh..and contemplating, and then executing a trek (ok..a drive) upto Mt Wellington (the closest snow near Hobart unless we get one of those freakish once in a 10 year period snow falls!)

 Bialetti hot chocolate maker..wouldn't it be fun to own one of these?

ahhhh...please do pull up a chair

yummy soup

(I compiled this list because I tend to be a bit negative about this season, my immune system usually crashes, so in addition to upping my zinc, vitamin C, and other whatnot's intake I think a change of attitude is needed.....also on the list is plenty of rest...and stress less days...perhaps I should just stay in bed, and send for the butler?)

What do you like about Winter?

Winter tip:

If you have cold feet, put on a hat!

More than 80% of all body heat escapes from the head.

xo

my apron swap apron has arrived!

oh superb!  My lovely apron has arrived from Liz from Lululizinlalaland, all the way from East Sussex! I'll post some pics as soon as I can figure out this new downloading photo thingy on our new harddrive...What I will tell you is that Liz has nailed the Dottie Angel apron look that I so love. 
Thanks once again to Sarah from Red Gingham for organising the swap...so please come back later in the week, and hopefully I'll have some vintagey aprony eye candy for you!
And thanks for your patience Liz, because I have been very slackity slack getting yours over to you!
x

Life's busy!

School holiday's always does this to me!  This usually very enthusiastic blogger, has had not much time for blogging.  Every morning this week I've been out with the kids....we've been on little nature walks, the beach, and our favourite playground / reserve, and cafes.  The weather has been kind so far this winter!  Let's make the most of it, eh? We are totally loving it.  It's been a really lovely time.  I like to know in my heart when my boy goes back to school, that I have given him lots of time...in quantity and quality.
Combined with preparation for a stall at the barn market this weekend, and the tail end of a yucky cold (let's hope, anyway!), the net is a bit of a memory!
So, if you are around Hobart tomorrow, and feel the need for a little heatpack love, (it's gonna get colder folks, trust me!) I will be selling these (above) this weekend...
In addition to my{Re}heat back and bed warmers, I'll have a good smattering of bunting, as well as the usual bibs, and bib and washie sets, drawstring bags, and wind wands....I think that's it!  I love to do custom work, so contact me if there's anything you're after specifically.
Hope you have a great weekend readers.
Next week I hope to have a bit more time to visit some of your blogs!
xx