Things I Love

Peonies - my favourite flower.

A big bowl of fresh fruit salad - mango, strawberries, apple, nectarine, pineapple and mint, marinated in coconut water.

New shoes!

Treasured gifts from special friends.

Vintage skirts.

A ridiculous, water-loving puppy.

(please excuse the photos, I am stuck using my point-and-shoot until I can find the cable for our dslr camera...)

New house!

I've been making a bit of a habit of these monthly posts lately, but life has been in a bit of disarray, making it hard to find the time and equipment to actually post anything! Since I last posted, a few things have happened. We have bid our first house farewell, and are now living with a VERY generous friend, who has taken Paddy and myself, Max the dog, Fang the rabbit AND the entire contents of our house on as guests. Unfortunately, many of the things I wish I had access to, became packed e.g my camera cable... This makes it tricky to share photos of the lovely bunch of peonies I have sitting in a new hurricane vase in the lounge (one of my favourite flowers) and a perfect Crown Lynn swan, rescued by my dear friend from life as a drip-catcher for an overflowing gutter.

But, what I can share is a picture of our new house!!

Isn't she cute? Settlement day has not yet been decided but I can't wait to get in there and get stuck into the garden! With a massive (for us) 678 square metre section, the possibilities for my vege garden, dwarf orchard, bees, chicken house, cut flower garden and compost heap are endless! Not to mention all the lovely things we can do inside the house too. So, watch this space for lots of exciting developments (just as soon as I've tracked my camera cable down...).

Life Update

Well, it's been over a month since my last post, in which I filled you all in on the many exciting things that were happening in my life at the moment. I do have somewhat of a tendency to over-commit myself, and this have been another example if this...

But, I've had a few successes, despite my over enthusiasm:

1. I sold my house, all by myself, last Sunday. We don't go unconditional until this Friday, but as it's only conditional on insurance getting approved, and that is just about sorted, it looks like we will be all good to go! This also means we have to move out of our house, in three weeks time... Luckily it's a long weekend in Christchurch next weekend, so we will aim to get a large chunk of it done then. As of yet, we have not found anywhere to buy yet, so at this stage, are moving in with a friend until the right house comes along. House hunting is a tiring hobby, and I can't wait till we find the right one!

2. I have been approved, and officially started my PhD on November 1st. No news on scholarships yet, so fingers are still crossed, but the study is all go! I am going to work and study for a while, until things get too busy, and then I'll cave, and go back to being a student again. I may wonder what the heck I was thinking in a few months time, but oh well, too late now!

3. Paddy and I celebrated our six year anniversary last week. Well actually, we both forgot about it as things have been soooooooo busy. However, a delayed celebration will occur next weekend. I can't believe I've been with this lovely man for six whole years! He still makes me warm and fuzzy inside and I can't wait to start our next adventure together.

4. We had a lovely trip to Melbourne, in which lots of delicious vintage goodies were purchased. And an iPad, which I am quite smitten with. I'm typing this very post on it actually! Speaking of which, if anyone knows of any nice covers, please point me in the right direction. I will share my goodies in a post with more photos in the near future.

5. Earlier this week, 15 litres of elderflower champagne was bottled and is carbonating away in the garage. If you have elderflowers in your area I can't recommend enough to make this incredible elixir. In a glass with some ice and mint, over gin or feijoa vodka or by itself, it is the ultimate summer drink. I posted a recipe here, last year.

Apart from sulking about not getting to do any gardening at the moment, that's pretty much my life in a nutshell! I'll be back again once the packing is done, hopefully with a new home announcement!

Long Time, No Post

Well, I've been a little MIA for a while. I've still been around, just not so much on here... Things have been crazy busy, as I've taken on 3 MASSIVE projects, all at the same time. Probably not the best idea, but it's how it's worked out...
Project Number 1: PhD, kick-off, hopefully 1st November (applying for study and scholarships takes a lot of time!).
Project Number 2: Sell our house... A bit of work needs to be done before this is possible, and we are going to have a go at the private sale thing too. So... wish me luck!
Project Number 3: As a result of selling the house we live in, we also need to buy a new one. And we want a project. So, again, wish me luck!

I'm still planning on blogging, of course. But I just need to get through the next few weeks which will see me a) complete applications, b) have the house listed, and c) take a week's holiday in Melbourne (unrelated, but well deserved).

As the weather warms up, the number of fabulous things to be done outside greatly increases! It's elderflower season very, very soon, so elderflower champagne and hopefully elderflower vinegar are definitely on the to-do list. And of course, many hours spent in the garden. Spring is so refreshing, after a long, cold winter. Max and I are very much enjoying our night time walks, and I love coming home when it is still light outside!

So, I'll be back soon, with hopefully some exciting news and lots of fabulous spring/summer projects.

Mung Bean Salad in Wholemeal Tortillas

Yum yum yum, I am still licking my lips after tonight's delicious dinner. Inspired by a recipe I found here, I was very excited to try out something new with mung beans. Usually I only sprout them, but now I have found out they are delicious and easy to cook, and make a fabulous base for salads. The recipe called for a vinaigrette, but I decided to use a lemon tahini dressing, as I had some tahini in the fridge that needed using up. Any dressing would be great on this salad though, so use whatever takes your fancy! I wrapped my salad in wholemeal tortillas, with homemade tomato chutney and some salad leaves. Delish!

I have had a busy afternoon, visiting the garden plot I have a share in for the first time. We will be documenting our adventures on a communal blog called Tenderfoot, so be sure to have a look see to keep up to date on what we are doing. I was pleased to come home to an easy and relatively quick dinner, and now I am cooking up a storm, making five seed sourdough, homemade cream cheese, homemade muesli and roasted pumpkin hummus. Now, who is on the dishes...

Mung Bean Salad in Wholemeal Tortillas
1 cup dried mung beans, soaked overnight and cooked until soft (about 15 minutes)
3 spring onions, diced
2 carrots, diced
10 black olives, diced
Large handful of greens, chopped (I used pea shoots, but anything would do)
Handful of fresh mint, chopped

Lemon Tahini Dressing
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp rock salt
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 Tbsp olive oil

Wholemeal Tortillas
2 cups wholemeal flour
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil
About 1 cup warm water

Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl. For the dressing, mash garlic cloves with salt in a mortar and pestle to form a paste. Add the remaining dressing ingredients and mix until combined. Toss warm salad in dressing and leave to marinate while you make the tortillas.

For the tortillas, place the flour, salt and oil in a bowl and slowly add the water and mix to form a soft dough. Place dough on a floured surface and knead until smooth. You can leave to sit for a while at this point, or just forge ahead with making your tortillas. Split the dough into eight pieces, and roll into balls. Flatten into circles with a rolling pin. Cook in a very hot pan until brown and bubbling on both sides.

To compose, place a tortilla on a plate, smear with a spoonful of tomato (or other) chutney, add some lettuce leaves and a good spoonful of mung bean salad mix. Wrap and devour.

Coconut Curry Soup with Pumpkin, Peas and Brown Rice

It's rainy here tonight and I was very glad to come home to a delicious bowl of soup that I has pre-made last night, all ready for my late return home. I based it on a yummy soup my mum has made a few times, with my own additions of course, and it was delicious! I highly recommend you give this one a try for a quick dinner idea.

I used pumpkin and peas but it could easily be made with any veges, or chicken or fish. I was originally going to use the very first of the new season's asparagus, but decided to instead save it for a special dish, all of it's own! I love asparagus, and am very excited that the season is almost here, even if it does mean farewelling by beloved brussel sprout until next winter.

This is coming straight out of my brain from last night, so if the seasoning is a bit light, add more... :)


Coconut Curry Soup with Pumpkin, Peas and Brown Rice

1 tin coconut cream
1 1/2 tins chicken or vege stock (I used my empty coconut cream tin to measure this)
3 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
2 cm fresh ginger, grated
2 Tbsp green curry paste
3 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp lemon juice
3-5 kaffir lime leaves
2 cups diced pumpkin
1/2 cup peas
1 1/2 cups brown rice, cooked 
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh chopped coriander

In a medium sized pot, bring to a gentle boil the coconut cream, chicken stock, ginger, garlic, curry paste, lemon juice, lime juice and kaffir lime leaves. Simmer gently for 10 minutes, then add the diced pumpkin and simmer until pumpkin is cooked (about 5 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces). To the soup add peas, salt, pepper and about half of your fresh coriander. Stir until peas are warmed through. To serve, place warm brown rice in the bottom of your bowl, ladle over soup and sprinkle with chopped coriander to garnish. I also added a handful of greens to mine before I ate it, since I can't get enough of them!

From My Kitchen - Sunday 11th September

I haven't done a meal plan for a few weeks and it throws me all out of routine when I don't! My time has been taken up with mountains of paperwork that needs to be completed in order to apply for my PhD, and luckily Paddy has been home more this past week and able to contribute to cooking, which has been lovely!

We are still getting most of our veges from the market (having eaten the garden empty) but I am very much looking forward to the contribution the plot will make to our food stores! I adore summer food and can't wait to be eating fresh from my garden once again. Until then, here's what's on the menu this week...

Dinner
Sunday - mac n' cheese at the neighbours, BYO green salad
Monday - coconut curry soup with pumpkin, asparagus and brown rice
Tuesday - mung bean salad in homemade wholemeal tortillas
Wednesday - creamy lemon spaghetti with roast brussel sprouts
Thursday - vegetarian sushi with miso and edamame

Baking
- homemade muesli bars
- lemon curd
- five seed sourdough

To Do
- soak brown rice
- soak mung beans
- make tortillas