HELLO

Hello from the land of colds, sniffles, aches and pains. Thank goodness for a good store of vitamins, minerals, teas etc etc and a husband who can work from home! That's all...just wanted to say 'hello' minus photos, minus news of any exciting kind, just a quick 'hi'.

TOMATO SAUCE

Washing our shells before they go away for the cooler months; he was focused on this taste for the whole time it took me to cook dinner one night...and then started the process all over again (the washing not dinner cooking!)

Our local organic grocer sells 'seconds' of organic fruit and vegetables, slightly bruised, marked or ready to be eaten immediately. Last week I grabbed a 10kg box of tomoatoes (of the such called 'seconds') and set to work making some tomato sauce, the 'ketchup' kind. We often make tomato pasta sauce on a one pot/one meal basis but this was my first time making this style of tomato sauce/ketchup. What does 'Ketchup' mean anyhow/where did that name come from? (mmm, curious).

 

My recipe was devised with guidance from here and here, indiviual family preferences and a touch of play. Because ginger appeals so much to us, I'll put more in next time and perhaps a touch of peppercorn too.

TOMATO SAUCE 

 (or KETCHUP!)

big splash of olive oil
2 onions
2kgs tomatoes
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
small chunk of ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon cloves
2 tablespoons allspice berries
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 to 3 cloves of garlic
1 teasppon salt 

Heat oil in pan, add onion and cook until soft.
Add garlic, ginger, coriander, cloves and allspice and stir for a few minutes.
Add remaining ingredients.
Bring to a boil then reduce and simmer, uncovered for about an hour or until sauce thickens.
Cool for 1/2 hour.
Blend/puree until smooth.
Strain sauce through a fine sieve and discard solids.
Return sauce to pan; bring to boil, stirring.
Poor hot sauce into hot sterilised jars, seal immediately.
Store in a cool, dark place or devour all in one go
(you might need some friends over to help you out!).

And I'm gushing a little over this week's OpShop find of 25 Fowlers jars (size 31) and clips for $10! To this newly annointed preserver, it's a dream find. Now what to fill them with!? We have plans to make tomato pasta sauce and to preserve some fruit before the cooler months (judging by the past few days, I should start collecting before all our favourites are out of season - well from local sellers in any case!).

CELEBRATE

In light of the change of season, our Nature Table has changed hands. 

The gnomes have moved in bringing with them all their nuts, seeds, pinecones, bark and rocks, among other things. We see them surveying the land preparing to steal their favourite seeds underground for the cooler months. Here, at our house where it does not snow, we hope they leave us some seeds for planting out the autumn vegie garden. 

So much autumnal work to be done about here! (packets of seeds waiting to be sewn, knitting projects to finish and start, a cross-stitch here or there to be finished and others to be framed, the outdoor of a house to be painted (or at least, part of it), prerverves to be made (the tomatoes are calling!), a slower cooker to be dragged out from the cupboard and put to use, fire wood to be cut (we're so excited about the fire), chickens to be cared for, a dog to be retrained (she's escaping more and more!) and well, too many sewing projects to list....and soooo many family birthdays just around the corner.

Off to enjoy the autumn sunshine while it lasts!

Funny little seed pods from my Mum's palm trees

HEADING NORTH...

 
So, Summer, she's gone. I hear she's heading north where apparently many family and friends eagerly await her. I hope they savour every minute in her prescence. She left yesterday without a word of goodbye save a few smiles here and there earlier in the week and a gusty exit as she idled past her brother, Wind, who swept in without a word of warning.  I heard her whisper something to him on her way out, something like  'blow Wind, blow'. They've always conspired like that, ever since their first meeting all those years ago. And today, Wind begun that all too familiar task of reaquainting himself with us causing bustling chaos all round, reminding all that, while his sister impressed and brightened our days, he's here to shake things up a little. Unaware of his strength, the fallen tree in our yard (that just missed the house) signaled his arrival; so starts his three month stay. Don't get me wrong, I do like Wind, especially his approach to redecorating (the things he can do with leaves!). Still, it will take some before we stop missing his sister.

SUMMER: DIPS AND PESTO

Some dips that have kept us going this summer during our outdoor wanderings, beach outtings, at home...anywhere and everywhere!

Hommous has been a staple around our house for years however making beetroot dip and carrot dip was new to me this summer and quickly joined my mental list of favourite snack foods. My recipes are a touch spontaneous depending on the day and mood and reflect a variety of inspiration from family suggestions and our cookbooks but,  play with the ingredients and quantities and you're sure to come up with a combination that works for you. The method is much the same for all the following dips; blend /puree all ingredients and devour with your favourite accompaniment (we like rice cakes and crackers, flat bread, carrots).

Hommous

Chickpeas (caned or home-cooked), tahini, olive oil, ground tumeric, fresh basil, ground coriander/cilantro, fesh or dry dill, garlic, dried celery seed, salt and pepper to taste and lemon juice. 

Hommous in a rush? Chickpeas, ground cumin, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper to taste.

I generally start with one can of chickpeas and around 4 tablespoons of tahini and add the herbs, spices and seasonings incrementally from there, tasting as I go til the dip tastes right for that day. You can save some of the juice from the can to use in the mixture, as needed (until you reach your preferred consistency).

Beetroot dip

Beetroots (boiled or baked), lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, ground cumin, fresh coriander, salt and pepper to taste. I use the same principle as above...start with beets and oil oil and add herbs etc until it tastes yummy.

Carrot dip

Carrots (baked or boiled), olive oil, wine vinegar, garlic, paprika, chilli powder, ground cumin, caraway seeds. Again, start with mixing the main ingredients (carrot and oil) and add the remainder bit by bit until it 'hits the spot'!

"mmm, a tree stump, what's the loudest, busiest, most active game I can play with that?

It seemed a shame to leave my insatiable desire for all things basil unfulfilled, particularly given that we have an abundance of it this summer, so this past Sunday I made pesto.

Pesto

Pinenuts, olive oil, BASIL (!), garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Blend/puree as you please (I made a few jars of extra chunky pesto). I left the parmesan out because we ran out but it's sure to be added pre-eating. It's no problem to freeze the pesto with or without paremesan - in my world at least, though I'm sure some olive oil aficionados would disagree. Guess what we had for dinner on Sunday night? Yep, pasta with pesto...and our last sprinkling of parmesan.

The beginnings of the 'pesto pantry' as we termed it...well, it's actually a 'pesto freezer' but that doesn't sound nearly as appealing!

SUMMER: YOGHURT (AND KNITTING)

Hello. I find myself once again with much to post about and only broken pockets of 'spare' time in which to do it but, such is life, no? I'll start and see how far I get this week in my attempt to catch up.

My first batch of yoghurt using a range of online sources for inspiration; there are sooo many on this topic! I found the incubation stage challenging and eventually put the oven on as low as it goes for about 8 hours. We have a gas oven and the flame was on as low it goes. I searched the kitchen for some large jars in the hope that I could utilise the hot day (30 degrees) by wrapping the jars in cloth and putting them in the sun but, alas, I had only 'lid-less' options. Next time perhaps. The end result is very thick and scrumptious and we've topped with fresh fruit and devoured it in smoothies (those below were made with frozen raspberries, fresh strawberries, rice milk, honey and, of course, yoghurt). I'll make yoghut again,and again...and...next time use the slow cooker to incubate the yoghurt! (as suggested by my mother-in-law).

As a complete contradiction, I fried some home-made potato chips/fries last week because one night Elsa requested fish and chips "like we have at the beach" and I thought it sounded like a good idea. They went down well but, won't be a regular thing - just look at all that oil sizzling! Still, they were delicious.

The vegie-patch enjoys the last of Summer

Last week, with temperatures around 30C, resembled the peak of summer or certainly a time when Summer was more entrenched and 'the end' seemed far, far away. And today was 28C adding to that impression but in between, we've had snippetts of autumnal  weather reminding us that more persistently cool weather is closing in. This sounds like a weather report! Anyhow, we are doing our best to send Summer off with a bang, a little bang but, a farewell all the same.

Picnics with the 'babies'

As much outdoor meandering (minus mittens) as we can muster

 As an aside, you may have noticed that I'm unwilling to concede an end to summer. While Australian calendars mark March 1 as the 'First Day of Autumn', we prefer to run by the equinox, which is quite handy at this time of the year because summer lives on in our hearts and minds well into March. So, my titles will begin 'Summer' until March 21 as we hold on to summer and happily adhere to the more North American  (and elsewhere!) tradition where the equinox defines the seasons. I've gone on about this before...perhaps we feel justified  in this approach having a Canadian in the house (Dada) but really, it's not just us; I know plenty of  non-bi-country (!) families who do the same. Either way, it works for us so,according to us, we're enjoying the final few days of summer.

But my attention increasingly focuses on projects for the cooler weather to come (in addition to what these two babes are up to of course). The knitting basket has been reinstated near the couch, in front of the fireplace this year! (something we haven't had  as a family until now and are very excited about). The basket is slowing filling with projects, some unfinished from last year, others just beginning, some in the planning stages (read, balls and balls of yarn that I often contemplate /stare at (!) while knitting away in the evenings).

A cardigan for baby Iris (see my Ravelry notes here). Despite some searching, I'm yet to find the right buttons for this one and might just turn my search to etsy.

And a cardigan for Rafael, almost there......I'm loving the green, of course.

SUMMER: CHUTNEY (AND SEWING)

Elsa's latest pair of shorts, made this Summer to provide a lose fitting, 'comfy' pair she might actually wear; as I've said before, she has certain preferences about these things - well, who doesn't really! As a child I was 'fussy' about my cothing preferring nothing too "scratchy", "itchy" or "tough" (which meant 'stiff'), no elastic around the arms, no jeans, no high-necked jumpers/sweaters....it must've been a nightmare for my Mum. In any case, I get it. We all like to be comfortable don't we and, thankfully these shorts hit the mark. I used this basic pattern - again - and added  the trim around the leg and the pocket. The denim is from my fabric stash and the red fabric on the pockets came from here (I grabbed a pile of it for some Christmas sewing and pinched a little for this project). 

Now if I could only convince her to wear something other than 'Crocs' on her feet! When I explained to her recently that they were really beach shoes (that was my story!), she replied with "that's why I love them Mum because I pretend I'm at the beach everyday!". Okay.

My first batch of chutney; this one is Apple Tomato Chutney using a recipe from here. I was happy to add ten jars of it to our growing store of 'stuff in jars'. I'd like to make tomato sauce next, I just need to find 10 kgs of good tomatoes; we can muster some from the garden but ten kilos at once, I think not! It should be easy to find some good, organic, local tomatoes, in fact I passed a road side stall last week that might be just the thing. As soon as my bottles arrive, I'll be onto it.  I feel a tad guilty for buying jars but, I've been collected them for a while and there still aren't enough so I placed an order here.