hugo & elsa: April 2010

Sweet

Our rosy windswept cheeks are a sure sign that, after a late start, autumn has finally arrived round these parts. The cold, wet and blustery weather is just perfect for heading outdoors. Gardening, dog walking and puddle hunting are some of our favourite activities in this glorious weather.

And well, truth be told, all that exercise is really so I can indulge in those nourishing comfort foods that for me, really herald the arrival of autumn. Quinces bubbling on the stove, mushrooms foraged for risottos and the oven constantly churning out slow cooked stews, tarts and bread. And naturally, our favourite, cinnamon rolls. I can assure you dear reader, that autumn could not pass without baking a batch of these beauties. As you might have noticed, we're quite partial these spicy sweet buns in our house.

Usually a fan of Bill's recipe, a broken set of scales sent me in search of an American recipe using cups and spoons as apposed to mls and grams. Smitten's recipe was perfect. And for the filling we used rapadura sugar, an unrefined sweetener that we've been using a lot lately. (excuse the night time shot, and that some are missing!)

Both recipes are equally delicious. But really, sweet spicy buns straight from the oven? I don't think you can go wrong. And in this weather, I have to keep those peeps nourished. Don't I?

Four!

Can you believe it? Can it really be one year since this photo? My little hero, four. Right now, at exactly four, he loves all things Lego. Loves bananas and chocolate cake. Loves his sister and Mabel. Knows everything about cars and wears some very cool pants. And he is so much fun to just hang out with. I love and treasure our days at home together.

We had a lovely party, and invited lots of friends around to celebrate. Balloons, bonfires and monster cupcakes. And for his birthday, a gift inspired (well okay copied) by Amanda, an Adventure Bag filled with cool boy stuff like walkie talkies, a compass, water bottle and a bug catcher. Hugo's all ready to set off on the adventure of being four.

Happy Birthday to our darling Hugo! We love you so very, very much. Hooray!

Pickle your fancy

"Oh enough already!" That was my initial thought when George called to let me know he had a box of tomatoes waiting for me. George is one of my favourite veggie growers. Here is the entrance to his store.

But then I realised you can you ever have enough pasta sauce tucked away for the winter. And seeing I finally had my hands on a copy of A Year In A Bottle, the wonderful book on preserving by Sally Wise, I thought I might as well go for another 20 kilos.

If you've ever thought about putting away food as jam, preserves or even freezing, this book is for definitely for you. This book is beautifully written with easy to follow instructions and plenty of recipes. Sally lives in Tasmania and this book is also peppered with tales of her own, from adventures with her grandparents as a child to picking fruit with her own children.

Pasta sauce not withstanding, it was a recipe for tomato chili pickle that caught my eye. With 20 cloves of garlic, loads of olive oil and a mountain of cumin, cooking this pickle filled the house with the most irresistible spicy fug.

If by any chance you still have a couple of kilos of tomatoes lying around I thoroughly recommend you cook up a batch. It's super easy and super delicious. Here is the recipe:

Tomato Chili Pickles from A Year in Bottle by Sally Wise

1.5 tbs yellow mustard seeds

1.5 cups white or cider vinegar

2.5cm piece of fresh ginger peeled

20 cloves of garlic

1.5 cups olive oil

250g large red chilies, finely chopped

2kg tomatoes

1.5 tbs ground turmeric

4 tbs ground cumin

1.25 cups sugar

1 tbs salt

Combine mustard seeds and vinegar in a bowl and set aside to soak for at least 30 minutes. Transfer to a food processor, add ginger and garlic and blend until well pureed.

Heat oil in a large saucepan, add chilies and tomatoes and saute slowly for a few minutes. Add mustard seed and vinegar mixture, turmeric, cumin, sugar and salt. Simmer for at least three hours or until thickened.

Pour into sterilised bottles and seal. Store in a cool dry and dark place for two weeks to allow flavours to develop before eating.

Makes approx 1.25 litres.

Saturday hike

Now that we have Mabel, we've been on the lookout for some dog friendly walks. We found this great booklet published by the local council, Kingborough's Tracks, that outlines over 30 dog friendly trails through paddocks, beaches and bush. On Saturday we tackled the Picket Hill Track, which while steep in parts, took us to a lookout with spectacular mountain and ocean views. We stopped here at the top for lunch, and Mabel kindly hoovered the crumbs.

I'm joining in with the delightful Chantelle's Point and Shoot. Go see what others got up to on the weekend here.

Friday

Friday is op shop day in the Valley. With their stores facing each other across the street, the CWA and the Anglican ladies battle it out each Friday to see who has the best cakes in town. The cakes and jams are old school:: sponges, date loaves, scones, and they look totally perfect. But tempting as they, I prefer to head for the home grown produce. Today there was beautiful beurre bosc pears, onions, nugget pumpkins and a new potato I never head of. Umatilla. I get pretty excited about potatoes, but to try a new variety, well that's just Christmas for me! The CWA lady told me not to boil them which makes them perfect for our favourite afternoon school snack at the mo, baked potatoes.

I also scored some more stackables, which I've just started to collect. Plus this sweet cup. I really love the pattern.

All this for less than $10. What more can you say, but TGIF.

He used to be small...

...but now he's tall...

and four next week. Crikey!

Introducing...

....our new logo, designed by the incredibly clever Alex Miles, just hours before giving birth to her son. True!

I really likey, yes I do.

And I would love to know what you think.

Cakewalk

It may sound tough, but really, baking 200 cupcakes is such a lovely way to spend the day. We always make the classics of vanilla bean and chocolate. But it's the fruity flavours that are the most fun. First, we source ingredients we'll use to flavour our cakes from friends, neighbours or our own gardens. This keeps our special flavours local and seasonal. Today we had pears, figs, lemon, walnuts, bay leaves and mountain lilac honey to work with.

Honeyed thyme figs and walnut brownie

vanilla bean with lavender and pineapple sage

old fashioned chocolate with vanilla bean cream cheese frosting

Tomorrow's menu will be

Honeyed thyme figs and walnut brownie.

Pear filled lemon cake with honey buttercream

Quince filled lemon cake with lemon cream cheese buttercream with a damson paste star

Vanilla Vanilla with dried lavender and pineapple sage flowers

Old fashioned chocolate with vanilla bean cream cheese buttercream and Valrhona chocolate pearls.

And of course, our vegan, sugar-free, gluten free truffles.

We're looking forward to tomorrow's market, celebrating it's first birthday, it's sure to be a big one.

Good night!

Radical moves

These Easter holidays have seen some serious puppy proofing occur. Including finally ripping up the bedroom carpets. Much to the horror of many Tasmanian compatriots "Are you crazy! It's too cold for floorboards." Never one to let comfort get in the way of style, our home is free of carpet and I'm sure nothing more than family pack of wooley slippers will see us right this winter.

This radical action has created a perfect excuse for one of my favourite pastimes :: rearranging the furniture. Thankfully, with a heads up from Ange, the now recorded Gruffalo has kept the tweeps occupied while I tackle some serious heavy lifting.

We've had fun with the children's room and they have pushed their beds together into the centre of the room. All the books and toys that previously lived in the living room now have to be stored in the Mabel free bedroom.

I have a bit of furniture fetish and have been collecting pieces in various styles since I begged my parents for a shiny chrome art deco traymobile for my 18th birthday. While the height of interior fashion in the eighties, I no longer have that retro icon. It was sold along with other unwanted funiture at auction in attempt to "lighten" our load before moving to the island.

Tasmania has proven a wonderful hunting ground for furniture, but sadly we're pretty much out of space for any new pieces. Our children are often dragged through junk yards, tip shops and antique stores as we trawl for a new treasure. Usually buying a piece of porcelain for Elsa and something with wheels for Hugo keeps them happy. And luckily I took the precaution of marrying someone who shares my love of ragged old furniture.

As I move things around, I remember the story of each piece, where we bought it, who owned it previously, was it a gift from someone special, how many houses it's lived in.

So for now I think we're done, there's no room for any new pieces, although, since the arrival of Mabel our sofa has literally gone to the dogs and will need replacing soon. We're ready to cozy up for some indoor time over winter, just need to get those slippers I think.