Blackberries

Every February in Canberra, the wild blackberries start to ripen.  Every year in the months leading up to February, I anxiously scan my favourite blackberry patches hoping that this won't be the year that the government finally decides to poison them.  We lost a few good patches this year and yes do I know they are a noxious pest, but they are also such a delicious one.

Last weekend was our first blackberrying trip for 2012 and it appears that this year will be one that we will talk about for years to come.  There are not only an extraordinary number of berries (with plenty still red or green, so there will be picking for weeks to come) but the berries that have ripened are particularly large and juicy.

They are of course wild berries, so they are not the size of ones you would buy in the shops, but they are full of flavour and of course are free!  I estimate S and I picked in the vicinity of 5kg, with only some fairly mangled hands as payment.

Our haul is being put to good use.  The best berries have been frozen for the months to come.  Almost a kilo has been made into sorbet.  We have two large glass bottles full, shortly to become blackberry vodka and there is another large container in the fridge yet to be be assigned to a delicious treat.

If you are new to blackberrying, here are a few tips:

• Only pick from healthy looking plants.  If it seems to be dying, it has probably been poisoned.  The ACT Government has a list on the TAMS website of places that are being sprayed, check your local government site or better still find a friend with a farm!
• Wear long pants and long sleeves of clothes that you don't mind being pulled by thorns and stained with blackberry. juice.
• Wear good sturdy shoes - you are tramping in the bush in summer, there are plenty of spiders, you are stepping on blackberry canes and there is always the possibility of snakes.
• Be prepared for scratches - my hands look appalling right now
• If you are freezing them, freeze them in a single layer on a tray, then transfer them to a bag.  That way you end up with a bag of individual berries rather than a giant clump frozen together.

Coping with intolerance

I'm sorry to say this, but I have some intolerant friends.  The kind of intolerance where they go for complete avoidance.  As a highly tolerant person I sometimes find this tricky, but as a good friend I'm happy to make allowances.

What may you ask are they so intolerant of?  The answer is gluten.  Gluten and I are great friends who enjoy each others company immensely but I understand that not everyone shares this close and loving relationship.  So a couple of years ago I sought out some recipes that I could make when entertaining my sadly intolerant friends.

One of those recipes was for Chocolate and Pecan Brownies.  What a find!  These are now my default brownies of choice - even when I'm cooking for people with no gluten issues - because they are absolutely delicious.  If you omit the white chocolate and carefully select your dark chocolate these can also be diary free - ticking off two intolerances in one delicious brownie!

My tips - the baking time in the recipe is waaaay to short, you will eat them with a spoon if you bake for that time.  I bake them for nearly twice the stated time and they are still very moist.  They get better with age, so try to leave them a day before eating.  And finally, don't add the white chocolate when the recipe says or it will melt to nothing.  Add it right at the end, just before baking.

It can be hard to find really delicious gluten free baked goods, but I can guarantee that if you don't tell people these are gluten free, they will have no idea.


If you are looking for any recipes I've posted, I now have a page right at the top of the blog which contains links to them all.  Putting it together has made me realise I'm quite heavily biased towards sweet recipes on this blog, which is odd because in reality I cook more savoury stuff.  I will try to rectify this!

Growing Your Own

It has been a strange summer.  A few hot weeks in November promised record heat, but in reality my airconditioning has spent far more time off than on this season.  Every now and then we have had a couple of days of proper summer but in between the weather has been remarkably cool, even cold.  Just a few weeks ago we had an overnight temperature of 1.4 degrees C and a day where if you took into account the wind chill factor it was 4 degrees - in January!

As a result my poor garden is confused.  The maple trees have twice started to turn their leaves red, only to decide to green them up again.  And my tomatoes which took off like crazy in November went on hiatus for the longest time.  But now, despite the weather, they are producing like crazy and I'm loving it.  There is nothing quite like a burstingly red tomato straight off the vine and my vines have produced enough that I've been able to supply my parents with more than one bag full of them.

My garden is quite tiny, but it is productive.  As well as the tomatoes, I've got cucumbers, lemons, spinach, rocket and lettuce plus a heap of herbs - lemongrass, bay, basil, rosemary, thyme, parsley, sage and mint.  It is so incredibly satisfying to wander out the back and pick a few leaves of this, a sprig of that, a lemon, a bunch of tomatoes.  At the moment the salad I have for lunch each days includes quite a bit of home grown produce and I'm sure it tastes better for it.

There is quite a movement encouraging people to grow their own food.  In Australia we live on some of the most productive land.  Everything you grow means that much less has to be grown with industrial fertaliser, transported, handled multiple times etc.  We will always need our farmers, but we sure can help feed ourselves.

I dream of one day having a giant veggie garden and I'm sure it will happen, but in the meantime just the small amount I produce makes me very happy in deed.

Eleven, Eleven, Eleven

No it is not a date, it is a quiz which I was tagged in by the gorgeous Famously Frocked.

I love answering these, but hate tagging other people, so if you like the quiz, feel free to tag yourself in the comments and then join in, otherwise just read on!

The Rules:

• You must post the rules
• Post 11 fun facts about yourself in the blog post
• Answer the 11 questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create 11 new questions to ask the people you tagged
• Tag 11 new people and link them on your post (Ok, I'm letting the side down by not doing this bit)
• Let them know you've tagged them.

11 Fun Facts About Me!

1. I drink on average 6-8 cups of tea a day.  This is probably too much, but I love tea!  However I do not drink coffee.
2. I can't sleep if the cupboard doors are open.  I would like to say it is because I'm tidy, in reality it is so that the cupboard monsters can't get out.
3. I have a fear of velvet.  I love how it looks but how it feels - ugghhh!
4. I am insanely proud of home grown produce.  I think there will be an entire blog about my tomato plants soon.
5. If given the chance I will eat the entire bag of salt and vinegar chips.  No matter how big.  I just can't stop once I've opened the packet - which often results in a sore tummy.  I think I have a chip addiction.
6. My mother can make me laugh anywhere, anytime by doing her impression of the Queen smiling.  I swear it is much more hilarious than that sounds.
7. I iron pillowcases.  And doona covers.  And sheets.  And tea towels.  Yes I am that person.
8. I am one half of "that couple".  You know the ones who are always sneaking kisses and canoodling in public.  I know it erks some people, but honestly I can't help it, S is just the light of my life.
9. I once performed in a burlesque show.  True it was just end of term show when I had done a burlesque class, but it was burlesque and it was in public.
10. The flower in my avatar is from a painting I did.
11. I am somewhat addicted to the sky (such an air sign).  I love it in all its shades and moods.  If I'm trapped inside all day the first thing I do when I go it is look up.

11 Questions I was Asked

1. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
   Is everywhere a good answer?  No seriously, I want to go everywhere.  But I would say India or China are very high on my list at the moment, although Europe looks to be more imminent.
2. Do you have a goal you aspire to at the moment?
   Finding time to do some painting.  I suspect that it won't be happening in the next couple of months though.
3. What is the food you eat most frequently?
   Weet-bix - nearly every morning although I have been flirting with muesli recently.
4. What is the best meal you ever ate?
   So many!!!  But it is probably a tie between my 25th birthday at Tetsuya's in Sydney and an amazing dinner I had in Siem Reap in Cambodia at a restaurant called Nest last year.  That was definitely the best steak I've ever eaten and it started me eating pork again.
5. Favorite type of chocolate?
   Dark - somewhere in the 60% range is usually my favourite.
6. Who did you last talk on the phone with?
   A random wrong number.  I don't know what it is about our office number but we seem to get a disproportionately large number of those.
   
7. What is the last book you read?
   "The Imperfectionists" by Tom Rachman.  It is a novel disguised as short stories.  Quite fantastic.
8. Open- or closed-toe shoes in the summer?
   Normally open, but owing to a bad knee and a distinct lack of summer like weather, this year my enclosed ballet flats have seen far more wear than my huge collection of peep toe shoes.
9. Have you ever won a prize?
   Yes, a couple of small things, I'm manic at entering competitions.  Although I'm determined that I'm destined to win a car at some point because both my grandmother and mother have won cars.  Surely that means I'm destined to someday doesn't it?
10. Do you consider yourself to be shy or outgoing?
    I'm pretty sure everyone considers me to be outgoing, but I used to be quite painfully shy.  Drama classes gave me the skill to "fake it" until the outgoingness became natural.
    
11. Do you live near or far from family?
    Very close.  I'm currently a whole 4 minutes away from my parents and 10 from my sister.

11 Questions for You

As I said I'm never any good at picking people to respond to these things, so I'm not going to tag anyone. Instead feel free to volunteer yourself in the comments section below.  You just post 11 random facts about yourself and then answer the following 11 questions.

1. Beatles or the Stones
2. Did you have a pet growing up?
3. When was the first moment you felt "grown up"?
4. Who is your hero?
5. Are you a green thumb?
6. If you could have any skill in the world, what would it be?
7. When did you last watch the sun come up?
8. What is your go-to recipe when having people over?
9. What is your dream job?
10. How do you get to work?
11. What is your favourite movie?

Please do tag yourself, it is such an interesting way to learn about fellow bloggers!

Bargain Pastry

As I'm sure you will have gathered by now one of the things in life that I can't resist is pastry.  Another is a bargain.  Put them together and you get bargain pastries - a totally irresistible mix.

I have found a source of deliciously sweet, flaky gorgeous pastries, filled with chocolate, or adorned with nuts, cream or fruit at super cheap prices.  And by cheap I mean an expensive one is $3, most are around $1.50 or $2.

The bargain pastries in question come from the IGA supermarket.  I was dubious at first, pastries from a supermarket didn't hold a lot of promise for quality, but they really are great and at half the price of anywhere else, I'm a fan.

I'm pretty sure that they are mass manufactured and that the IGA buys them in frozen, but they must be baked on the premises, because if you are there early they are still warm and they do get replenished over the course of the day.  And as for whoever mass manufactures them, well they certainly have flaky pastry down to an art.

I don't know if all IGA supermarkets do them,  the one I go to is the City West Carpark, but it is certainly worth checking out, because, oh, those chocolate filled, nut topped croissants - my mouth is watering at the thought.

Happy Australia Day

Happy Australia Day!  For my few international readers, Australia Day marks the day the first fleet landed in Sydney Cove.  It is a bit of a controversial date because for the native people it is essentially invasion day, but moving on from that, Australia Day is a day to celebrate our nation and all that is great about being an Aussie.

As I wrote last year, Australia Day is extra special for me as it is the wedding anniversary of my dear friends (who picked this day, then promptly moved overseas so they don't even get the public holiday - I'm sure that will one day change).  However another important part of Australia Day each year for me, is taking the time to reflect on all the great things about this country.

I've said it before, but to live a life where I do not fear for my safety when going about my everyday business, where education and health care are affordable and where I am not limited in my opportunities based on gender, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or political beliefs is a true privilege.  I relish in the fact that I can safely drink the water from the tap.  I love that when I step outside the air is clean.  While obesity is an issue, there are not children starving to death on the streets.  I have the right to elect the politicians of my choice and if they do not represent me, I have the freedom to protest their decisions.  There are so many aspects of life that we take for granted here and I think it is important that we realise just what luck and privilege it is to live in Australia.

So today, while I celebrate Australia Day with family, friends and a BBQ, I will also be reflecting on just how lucky I am to live in this truly beautiful country.

Book Review: The Hunger Games

When I was a kid and a teenager I was a compulsive reader.  I was rarely found without a book in my hand and I would get completely absorbed in them, reading long into the night when I was supposed to be asleep.  Reading till I got headaches from not looking up.  Reading till I drove my sister nuts because I was so engrossed I had failed to listen to what she was saying.  Reading on the bus, at lunch, under my desk in class.

These days it is rare for me to be so absorbed in a book.  Partly it is just that I don't have the same time available, but also I think it is that recently I've been reading a lot of literature that requires slow, careful reading and absorption of the prose.  Between literature I've read the kind of chic lit that while entertaining, is easy to dip into then put down for a few days.

However at Christmas S's parents gave me "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins.  For the first time in a long time I was so compelled to read that I stayed up too late, read on my lunchtime, in fact even read a bit at the traffic lights and sneakily under my desk at work.  The day after I lent my Mum the first copy I rang her and she mentioned she was tired because she hadn't gone to sleep till 1am.  Why - because she hadn't been able to put the book down (she stayed up till 3.15am to finish the third book!).

There are plenty of synopsis's of "The Hunger Games" on the internet, but in short the trilogy follows Katniss Evergreen as she is reaped into a grotesque form of gladiatorial battle where the tributes of the 12 districts in Panem (a post-present day USA) kill each other for the sport of the citizens of the capital.  It really is like a story of ancient Rome brought into a future where the earth has been irreparably damaged and countries re-formed.  Katniss's role in the games and what happens after is truly compulsive reading.

"The Hunger Games" is marketed as young adult fiction, but I think pretty much anyone over 12 would enjoy it.  The first movie is due out this year and I can guarantee my Mum and I will be queing up to see it.  If you were a fan of the "Tomorrow When the War Began" series, I'm pretty sure you would love "The Hunger Games."