little bowl of sunshine

A leisurely Sunday breakfast at a favourite cafe is a rare treat these days... Our six month old is yet to appreciate such things.
Lately I've been missing this little weekend ritual and craving a breakfast menu staple, a good drop of bircher...

So instead of denying myself until our next breakfast out (whenever that may be), I made some myself.  I found a recipe on lifestylefood.com.au by Neil Perry to use as a starting point and adjusted it suit my taste. So simple and yummy,  wished I'd made some sooner...


The night before -

• Soak 2 cups of rolled oats in 2 cups of freshly squeezed orange juice (I used 'Daily Juice Company', much less work).
• Cover and refridgerate.

In the morning fold through the following ingredients -

• 1 cup of creamy natural yoghurt (greek style works well)
• 2 cups of freshly grated apple
• 4 tablespoons of honey (or to taste)
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

Spoon into bowls and serve with a dollop of yoghurt, a dusting of cinnamon and top with fresh or poached fruit. (serves four)

grand design indeed...

Last night I caught the new series of Grand Designs on Lifestyle (new to Australia anyway). As a serial renter with aspirations of 'one day' building our own little dream pad, I've always been a big fan of this show.

Last night's episode 'Lizard Peninsular', was probably the most inspiring yet. It featured the home of Kathryn Tyler, a talented young interior designer based in Cornwall...  I just loved it! The modernist/scandi vibe is right up my alley.

Kathryn's use of white painted brick, oak joinery and polished concrete reminds me of the work of  Brisbane architects Owen and Vokes...  Here's a couple of examples of their work below.

They're in my 'dream house file' too...

music to make chutney to... (persimmon update)

A week's gone by and I'm finally getting around to doing something with the persimmons...




After googling all things persimmon and consulting a couple of my favourite cookbooks for inspiration - Stephanie Alexander's 'Cook's Companion' (or 'the Bible' as my mum refers to it) and 'Jamie at Home',  I've decided on a (make it up as you go along) spicy persimmon, apple & fig chutney type thing...
My dad will appreciate this approach, he's not big on following recipes either.

And to get me in a 'chutney making mood',  I'm listening to this sweet little tune by up and coming Melbourne band, Husky. Perfect feel good Friday music...

Back to the chutney...

I pretty much used whatever I had on hand, ingredients wise, so it made quite a small quantity. 

4 persimmons, peeled & roughly chopped (I didn't peel mine, but would next time)

2 granny smith apples,  roughly chopped

2 brown onions, roughly chopped

1/2 dozen dried figs (definitely optional but added a nice stickiness)

1 cup of white wine vinegar (cider vinegar could also be used)

1 cup of brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon of ground clove

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon (a cinnamon stick would be preferable)

2 teaspoons  of ground ginger

1 teaspoon of chilli flakes

1/2 teaspoon of Curry Powder

Salt & Pepper

• Add all the ingredients to a large, heavy based saucepan and bring to boil, while stirring occasionally.
• Reduce the heat and simmer covered for about 45 minutes.

one pot cooking

                                 

• Check every now and again and stir to avoid the mixture catching on the bottom (mine did and my         saucepan is still soaking).
• Spoon into pre-sterilized jars to store or allow to cool for immediate consumption.

  

on the hunt for...

chambray or tencil, midthigh with darts please...

extra long, super soft & hot pink!

boat neck, 3/4 sleeves & perfect stripe to white ratio.

tweed, cord or velvet or maybe all three...

Today I headed to the shops, in order to pick up a few items for my wardrobe...  As usual, I had very specific ideas in mind and... as usual I came home empty handed. 

Mind you, I wasn't after anything particularly exotic or outlandish, quite the opposite really and for that reason, my usual 'go to' stores had elements of what I was after, but nothing that quite fitted the bill...

Might mean trying my hand at making my own... 

Bit daunting though, as I don't knit and I haven't sewn anything wearable  since Home Ec class. We made elastic waisted shorts from nursery print curtain fabric. Yep, they were all the rage circa 1988... 

Speaking of late eighties/early nineties style... does anyone remember the 'Chic Simple' book series??

I used to own a couple of titles, 'Clothes' & 'Home' I think.

The design and layout of these books was very fresh back then... so I'd be interested to see if they've stood the test of time.

Anyway, the hunt continues...

rain rain go away...

If you're here to stay however,  I'd like a pair of these please...

gloss hunter wellies

denim & tweed cont...

Autumn weather seems a little closer today... so I thought I'd get busy sewing up those new (denim with tweed) cushions I wrote about last week.

I made two cushions  in denim backed with tweed and one tweed and linen, appliqued with black pincord. They turned out quite well and are definitely cuddle worthy.

Much to my husband's bewilderment, I've been guilty in the past of buying cushions made of scratchy and/or overly embellished fabrics. He doesn't see the point if they're not a comfy addition to our sofa. Fair point I guess...

These hopefully will get the seal of approval, especially as they're made out of a pair of his favourite old jeans...




My first attempt at the denim/tweed combo, was less than successful though.
I thought I'd have a crack at patchwork and the result (below) was less than great... No square lined up and the whole panel ended up being very bumpy.  I think this was mainly due to my ad hock approach.

Patchwork might be one of those crafts where it pays to read the instructions. Anyway the process was fun and I'll definitely have another stab at it.

daily rituals & last minute sweet treats

It's one of life's simple pleasures...  A decent drop of coffee and fifteen minutes to yourself to enjoy it. I try and make this a daily ritual and always (and a tad guiltily) include a little sweet something on the side...

Faced with no such treat to be found in my pantry this morning, I remembered my favourite  (knock together) almond biscuit recipe. I've seen more refined versions of this recipe that require piping bags and call for the mixture to stand over night etc...

These biscuits, although quite 'rustic' are super fast to make, require virtually no baking skills and are in my opinion pretty delicious!

What you'll need -

1 cup of raw sugar (you can use white if you prefer a finer texture)
125g of Almond Meal
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon of Almond Essence
1/2 teaspoon of Vanilla Essence
A handful of blanched almonds

(Makes around 20 biscuits)

1. Beat all the ingredients (with the exception of the blanched almonds) together with an electric mixture for about 3minutes.
2. Spoon dollops of mixture onto a baking tray, lined with baking paper.
3. Pop a blanched almond in the centre of each biscuit.
4. Bake at 180 degrees for around 15mins or until golden.

Now while they cool... you can make yourself a coffee then put your feet up and enjoy the moment!