Worth a thousand words?

So these pictures will perhaps make up for my shocking neglect updating this blog?

Since we last blogged, I made muffins...

Superfood Muffins - see recipe below

Started classes...

Self portrait - first day of school

Saw squirrels on campus...

Made bolognese...

Made lamingtons.... And forgot to take photos.

Drank beer while watching the superbowl...

Made bread...

Whole wheat sourdough - recipe from EcoMILF

Thought about dying my hair red...

Thoughts? Feelings?

Got bogged down in work and made a mess...

How did this happen? I arrived here less than 2 months ago with NOTHING!

Made homemade pizza...

But still craving a really average Capricciosa...

Got homesick...

Found something to take the edge of homesickness...

Coopers Pale Ale - found in a New Zealand restaurant near South Street Seaport, NYC

Super Food Muffins

Blueberries, yoghurt and oats are all commonly listed as Super foods and in a bid to convince myself that eating treats could lead to better health, I decided to make muffins that combined these 3 ingredients. Sometimes I throw in a bit of LSA mix or put walnuts, which are supposed to lower bad cholesterol, on top. Adapted from a million different yoghurt/berry muffin recipes nabbed from the internet and tried and tested until this very easy recipe was settled on.

1 cup oatbran	1 cup yoghurt
1 cup blueberries	2 tbsp oil
1 cup flour	1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarb soda	pinch salt
½ cup brown sugar	1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs

1.       1. Coat berries in dry ingredients. 

2.       2. Mix together wet ingredients. 

3.     3.   In muffin tins 180 degrees 12 – 16 minutes.

A brand new beginning - hi ho, off to kinder we go ....baking Egg-/Nut-free all the way (Oat Crunch Biscuits, Lemon Chia Biscuits, and Apple/Banana Muffins)

This week is little Owen's first at kinder. We had orientation last week, but this morning, packed up with his bento lunchbox in hand, hat & sunscreen to guard against the 39 degree (that's 102 for you up north) heatwave and a lump in my throat.  The kinder seems just lovely - the staff are friendly and respectful in their interactions with the children and families, the space is light-filled and set-up with wonderful natural play areas.  And there is a sandpit bigger than our backyard - that's the winner for Owen.  His eyes haven't stopped sparkling as he proudly will tell anyone who listens about his kinder.

So the past week has been working towards today - not that it's a super big deal, but I'll admit the organised gene rears up from time to time...

Sheltering from the heat I re-purposed Daddy's torn messenger bag to become Owen's for kinder ...
Pic to be inserted once charge the stuffing camera battery.

I found the cot sheets that we never got to use with our co-sleeping kiddos.  Just the thing for use on a nap mat.
I labeled lunchboxes & food containers that have been slowly collected over the past year - we are plastic-free thanks to some good online stores out there (Biome & AshnJuls particulalry).

I labeled clothes. 

 
And then somehow found myself ironing his sleep sheet.I kid you not. And then I freaked out. I've become our mother (well no, that's not true she had a mountain of ironing that never got done til outsourcing long after I'd left home). Maybe channeling my MIL whom I'm reliably informed ironed underwear. Whereas our iron is currently exclusively used for interfacing & pressing seams, only if & when I'm being thorough. Andy & I bonded over the shared understanding of ironing just the collar & sleeves if wearing a vest or collar only if wearing a jumper that wouldn't be removed. 

There has also been some serious baking (yes, in the heat, and yes in our tiny grill oven which does not fit a biscuit tray).  
Most of the efforts are egg and nut free (kinder policy) and the result of some serious web surfing of allergen-free and vegan cooking sites.  Which there are some kick-arse ones around (more later)

Ingredients and helping hands at the ready

The first out of the oven (Oat Crunch Biscuits) sung Anzac to me, however they are softer than my usual chewy Anzac biscuit forays, and there is none of that satisfying fizz when you add the bicarb to the butter/syrup mix. That said they taste  pretty amazing and were lucky to last the 5 days from cooking to lunchbox, even hidden on the top shelf. Andy reckons they are better without the chocolate (??? I know - WTF?!)

Channelling Kingston - Oat Crunch Biscuits: originally from Melanger to mix

180 g butter (or if you want dairy-free, then substitute with oil spread/marg)	60g rolled oats
90 g golden syrup	120g Demerara sugar (though I substituted brown sugar)
1 tsp bicarb soda	150g plain flour
60g dessicated coconut	150 g chocolate to melt (we used a sad wilted Santa “bunny” egg with some Lindt nubs left from last Easter– both were nut free, but could go dark dairy-free chocolate if that way inclined)

1. Cream butter, sugar and golden syrup in mixer (or by hand) until pale and fluffy
2. Add dry ingredients and combine (I did this by hand)
3. Drop teaspoon (and I mean teaspoon - keep them small) mixture onto lined tray.
4. Bake in pre-heated oven, 160C degrees for 12-15 minutes, until golden (they tend to keep cooking, and are too bendy to move off the tray immediately, so adjust cooking time accordingly).
5. Remove to cooling rack using spatula (I actually used the Barbie-Mate to prevent dark brown bottoms).  
6. Once cooled, sandwich two biscuits together using the melted chocolate.

I can't make the picture work - I'm giving up tonight and will return tomorrow. I bastardized the recipe this time, adding extra oat-bran, chia seeds and more oats ...

The second cab of the rank was cracking open a pack of Chia Seeds - brand new addition to my kitchen, and this recipe from a lovely blogger, with just about the best name going ... Darling Lemon Thyme ... go have a browse for the recipe for her delicious Lemon Chia Biscuits (which having both nuts and eggs are destined for my mouth only ... mwahahahaha). I did manage to take a couple of happy snaps of them and will warn you to err on the side of caution with heat, as the bottoms got burnt (admittedly in a toaster oven, sitting atop an upside down roasting pan) and they are quite firm by the end anyway.

Lemon Chia Biscuit

Egg-free, Nut-free Banana & Apple Muffins

And finally, this recipe, again I must attribute origins, and then admit to not following the recipe very closely - I made this second batch with half measures (resulting in perfect 6+1 large muffins into silicon trays, sans paper, thus meeting the waste-free lunch principle.  I substituted half wholemeal flour, used less sugar (about 100g or so), kept the same quantity of bananas, but halved the apples.  

This was the only dish to escape chia seed additions today.  Though we did decorate with dried fruit faces (which then burnt to buggery, but live and learn heh?)

280g self-raising flour	125g caster sugar
½ tspn salt	1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 ½ cups milk	2 large ripe mashed bananas
2 apples, peeled, cored and grated (though apple puree would probably be fine too)	1 tbsp orange rind zest
1 tsp vanilla essence

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.  Grease muffin tin, or line with muffin paper cups
2. Stir together flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon
3. Separately combine milk, banana, apples, orange rind and vanilla extract
4. Mix lightly and spoon mixture into tin
5. Bake 25-30 minutes or until light golden brown and cooked through when skewer test

Apple & Banana Muffin

And that is more than enough baking for anyone.  I think the next week's lunch-fillers will be these, using chia seed gel, rather than traditional egg-replacer

Aside from that, we have been staying indoors because of the heat.  A visit here and there for swims.  A first movie in err 7 months for Andy and I (True Grit) leaving Augustus for the first time at home with grandparents for 2 hours.  

And of course we've loved learning to skype my dear sister, who has made her nephew's day by taking her laptop into subzero outdoors to show off the snow.  And even writing his name in it ...He has a few times this week answered the phone, and mistaken friends for you, and told them (you) that we are saving our money to visit (he gave me a 50 cent piece the other day for the trip, rather than stashing it in his moneybox!)

The disaster zone after cooking

Baby, It's Cold Outside

In the last few days I have been registered and oriented at my university.
I would have taken some pictures of the grounds, because for the most part it's a beautiful campus full of old worldly charm, but firstly, I didn't really think of it and secondly, I would have had to have taken my hands out of my coat pocket and that would have been unpleasant.


I'm resolved not to be one of those people who perpetually states the obvious and moans "It's cold!"  so I've been putting on my best stoic face and responding to anybody who complains in my vicinity that the weather is fine provided you dress appropriately.
This dressing appropriately has seen me wearing 2 thermal tops and a t-shirt underneath a woolen jumper with a thick woolen coat over the top, thermal leggings and thick knee high socks under my jeans (which don't fit so well with the thermal leggings underneath - or possibly my thighs and stomach since eating ribs and discovering my love for American candy - gym opens this week, I'll be there), beanie and ear muffs (which don't fit well with my glasses meaning I have to sacrifice my vision for the sake of warm ears) and then my leather gloves.
In all that garb, it is still possible to be cold.
It's -19°C outside right now.


I get the feeling that in the warmer months this is going to be a great little town to get around.
I'd like to get a bicycle and just scoot about the place. At the moment however, this is one town where you need a car and being neither the owner of a car or a person legally entitled to be in control of a car, I'm a bit screwed.


I ran out of dinner type food yesterday and knew that would mean I had to walk to the supermarket or order in something greasy and the size of a steering wheel to be delivered.
You will be pleased to know that I chose the former.


Donning an additional thermal layer for safety, I headed out into the brisk air and as I was walking the 1.2 miles to the supermarket, it was crystalising in my head that I wanted something warm and stew like and quick to cook.
Once in the warmth of the supermarket, I saw these 

Mmm... Sausages.
Being Australia Day this week I have been thinking about sausages and the people I usually share them with on that day and it has been making me feel a bit sad.


So with my handy handheld scan as you go scanner I scanned them and popped them in my shopping bag.
A few aisles later and I came across legumes and I decided to make Sausages and Lentils.


One thing I have to show you, is how I bought my carrots.
I fear that these carrots might incur the wrath of my dear sister, who would disapprove of something so natural being so processed.
I'm sticking to them though because you cannot buy loose carrots in the supermarket so my options are these or a bag containing enough carrots for a family of 12.
And I like carrots (as you might be able to tell by the bag already being opened before getting home) but not enough to devote myself to an entirely carrot diet. Plus, whenever I go to the fridge, I tend to shove a few of these in my mouth which is healthy and fills me up and stops me eating more Reece's peanut butter cups. For at least 5 seconds.


Now that we've cleared that up, back to the Sausages and Lentils.
Sausages and Lentils is a dish we thought was dreamed up by our brother Nick until it appeared all fancified in the recipe book Apples for Jam but this could also just be a case of universal consciousness.
We were in disbelief that a recipe so simple could be so totally delicious.
The recipe is so simple in fact, that when your brain is partially frozen and you blank on some of the key ingredients and then you're distracted by taking photos of your cooking and miss a few steps, it still tastes delicious!


Lentils and Sausages

Good sausages	Olive oil
Tin of brown lentils (or cook 1-1 ½ cups green / brown lentils)	1 garlic clove
½ onion finely chopped	Tin chopped tomatoes
(optional) chopped carrot, celery	herbs of choice – parsley & oregano are favourites

That's the official ingredients list.
Here's what I ended up with in my addled state;

Good sausages	Olive oil
1-1 ½ cups of the only lentils in the supermarket. Look like puy.	0 garlic cloves (forgot to buy them)
3 spring onions - forgot to buy brown onions	What I thought was a tin of   chopped tomatoes but was actually stewed tomatoes so contained sugar and bell peppers and other stuff
chopped carrot and celery	herbs of choice – parsley & coriander were what was in the fridge

Step -1. Drain and rinse lentils, put in a pot with enough water to cover, bring to the boil then simmer 10-15 minutes until tender

Spring onion, not brown onion

1. Fry off vegetables. 

2. Separately cook sausages in a fry pan.

3. Chop up all your herbs

4. Throw them in the pan with the vegetables

5. Throw the lentils in too

6. And the tomatoes with a bit of stock or water

7. Once the sausages are cooked, slice them up

It was important for me to check the flavours at this stage (gobbling up pieces of sausage)

8. And chuck them in with the veggies

9. And then you eat it

Don't know why I'm wasting my time studying writing when clearly my talents lie in food photography!

An Australian making Italian food with Canadian bacon in an American kitchen while listening to Britpop

As all my roommates have been absent until today, I've had 3 lovely, lazy, relaxing days in New Paltz which are welcome after the hustle bustle madness of NYC.

One of the things I was hankering to do but knew I needed to do on a solo mission was seriously check out the supermarket. Despite having delicious pizza from a place around the corner called Grimaldi's I am determined not to start eating take out for every other meal as seems to be so commonplace in this country. For this to be I needed to know what resources I have at my disposal.

So I hiked down to the local Stop&Shop, which despite sounding like a convenience store you might just Stop in & Shop for something you'd forgotten, like milk, it is actually a gigantic mega emporium of groceries with a complete pharmacy and florist inside. 

I had nothing to do with the rest of the day and a shopping list of 3 items; sage, Lady Grey tea and chicken stock so I double knotted my laces and set off into the fray.

It was mental! I had to stop every few minutes and stare at the lining of my handbag to stop myself from hyperventilating. There was just so much food!!! Food we just don't know about in Australia! Food like Texas Toast and cheese in a can and albacore and chocolate coated pretzels! 

And not only is there so much more food, there is also so much more choice of food. If you want to get soup, you have a good 12 shelves to scan. I decided it would be quicker to make my own!

So homeward bound with a few more things than planned in my bag

How did they get in my basket? And then my bag? And then my mouth?

and I set about making my first ever pot of minestrone in the US.

Two things the supermarket did not have; 1) Convincing Tim Tams

Not even close! Everyone know Tim Tams come in brown packages.

and 2) bacon hocks. 

I had learnt from my first cooking adventure in the US; fettucine carbonara in Queens (story and recipe maybe to follow, we'll see, we'll see) that American bacon is a bit flimsy for cooking purposes so I used Canadian bacon which is thicker.

I make this minestrone when I’m feeling happy or when I’m feeling sad or when I’m feeling sick or if I have a big assignment due or when someone has had a baby or because it’s a day ending in ‘y’. Any excuse really.

You can make whatever adjustments to this that you like. Use peas instead of beans, leave out the barley, use normal bacon or pancetta instead of bacon hocks if you're in the US and that's all that's available. 

This however is my deluxe edition best ever minestrone recipe which I love, love, love for the rest of my life. 

Minestrone

1 tbsp butter	1 onion
3 cloves garlic	Sage
2 bacon hocks	2 celery stalks
2 carrots	1 potato
1 tbsp tomato paste	400g tin chopped tomato
400g tin borlotti beans	3/4 cup pearled barley
Basil	3 litres of stock
green beans	1 zucchini
½ cup small pasta

1.      Melt butter over a low heat, add a dash of olive oil and then add onion, garlic and sage

2.      Fry until soft. Add bacon hocks, celery, carrot and potatoes. Cook 5 minutes

3.      Add tomato paste and tomatoes, 

basil, 

Dried basil. OK by me.

borlotti beans and barley. Season

I hazarded a guess that Roman beans were the same as borlotti beans. I was correct.

4.      Add stock. Bring to the boil and then simmer 1-2 hours

5.      Add zucchini, green beans and pasta

6.      Cook until pasta is al dente

7.      Remove bacon hock from pot and remove any meat that falls away from the bone. Chop finely and stir through soup.

And no, sorry, there are no more pictures because by the time it was almost ready I was hopping from foot to foot and starving hungry so I gobbled it up.

All that remains!

Welcome summer

Yesterday was a day I missed my sister.  And even though in good company throughout the day, there was a gap.  We flew kites and took the balance bike for it's first ride, and picnicked on the grass in Central Park (Malvern).  It made me think of the "real" Central Park and what you might be looking at (snow mostly).  Later in the day while dancing our sillies out the Rainbow Connection came onto the iPod and I was taken back to a car sing-along in Margaret River, WA while on holiday 18 months ago and we were driving towards a rainbow (Owen's first).  There may've been a welling.  Mum told me you got a cell-phone number.  I felt jealous she knew.  Was then frozen by choice when I wanted to contact you - would a text work? Should I facebook? Email? Call?

But today has been a good day. 

Sunshine, 30 degrees, slight breeze.  People were smiling.

A tram ride into the city with running commentary from Owen, Gus happily making eyes at the other passengers and lulled to sleep by the rickety rocking. The tram driver even left his seat to help lift up the pram!

A dumplings lunch at Camy. A game of making the alphabet with the chopsticks while we waited. $7 for 3 people, thanks for coming.

A 10-minute shopping expedition for bathers as my 6-year old faded saggy workhorse pair didn't survive their last wash. I ended up with a black & white spotted tankini in deference to my saggy tummy which didn't survive last pregnancy.

Onwards for an afternoon swim in the sunshine with our brother & nephew.  We saw Owen get over his (shared with me) tendency not to try anything unless sure he'll be successful.  He swam with a noodle.  He went under water.  He splashed. He leapt. He clung to Andy's neck and stayed in until his lips were blue and teeth chattering.  He looked more like Monty Burns than humanly possible.  Gus had his first swim and as expected this waterbaby loved it. ALOT.

Omlette and sandwiches for dinner at 5pm infront of Shrek 3  to keep someone awake (yep, still not returned, must be a gazillion $ in fines).  Ice-cream and black fruit salad (of blackberries, cherries, black grapes, currants, raspberries and blueberries) and a slab of the most delicious muesli bar in the world with a cup of Roobios tea while blogging. (And I just found a facebook album full of your photos- hurrah!)

This muesli bar would be awesome for kinder next week, were it not for the peanut butter ... thinking of trying tahini as a substitute ... will report back.  But do try this recipe ....

(and still no photos, no camera, universe are you listening?!)

Chewy Seedy Oat and Apricot Bars

300 g (3 ½ cups) rolled oats	100 g pumpkin or sunflower seeds (or a mix)
50 g desiccated coconut	50g (1/3 cup) plain flour
200g butter, chopped	200g golden syrup
150g (1 cup) brown sugar	150g dried apricots, chopped
125g (1/2 cup) crunchy peanut butter	1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees C.
2. Line a slice pan with baking paper (recipe calls for 18cm x 28 cm, but does anyone really measure / check theirs? I used a roasting tray).
3. Mix oats, seeds, coconut and flour in large bowl.
4. Melt butter and golden syrup together in saucepan over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, and then mix in sugar, apricots, peanut butter and vanilla.
5. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix.
6. Press into pan and bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until golden and slightly firm.
7. Cool in tin, remove still on paper and slice into bars / squares.
8. Store in airtight container for up to a week, or freeze (apparently they freeze well, but uh we ate ours).