Winter Sunshine...

It's cold, cold, cold here at the moment. Winter Solstice is upon us, the mornings are dark and it's almost impossible to get the washing dry. These little biscuits are my attempt to inject a little sunshine into our light deprived lives.

Sunshine Biscuits

Ingredients
125 grams butter, softened
2 teaspoons of finely grated lemon zest
2/3 cup (110g) icing sugar, sifted
1/3 cup (55g) polenta
1 1/3 cups (200g) plain flour, sifted

Icing
1 cup icing sugar, sifted
juice of 1/2 lemon (add a few drops of water if necessary)

Method

1.  Preheat oven to 180C/ 375F and lined two trays with baking paper
2.  Cream butter, icing sugar and zest then stir in polenta and flour.
3.  Roll dough out between two sheets of baking paper until it measures about 1-2cm.
4.  Use cutter (or just roll into balls and flatten) and place each biscuit on tray.
5.  Bake for 10 -15 mins or until lightly golden and slightly firm to the touch.
6.  Leave to cool before icing.

The Neglected Garden...

Look at the sorry state of my neglected garden. After so many years of drought I think I'd just really given up on the whole enterprise. Not being able to water the garden except with a bucket and watching things wither and die year after year was so deflating. The only things I've really had any success with have been my herbs and a few vegies.

This winter, however, has been amazing. So much rain! Lush green grass is growing where there used to be brown, brittle little shoots - and the weeds! A small magnolia that has never flowered is suddenly abloom, the blueberry has little pink flowers and no matter how many times I pick up the dead camellia heads there always seem to be more within a few days.

I feel quite inspired!

Early Spring...

Fresh Laundry by Chiots Run via Flickr

See-sawing stockmarkets, sovereign debt out of control and and rioters in the streets. Not the best of weeks was it? I'm not really in any position to fix the worlds larger problems so I've been sticking pretty close to home this week and trying to take more notice of the changes happening in my own backyard.

I've been reading a very interesting book called The Comfort of Water by Maya Ward which chronicles her walking pilgrimage up the Yarra River from the port of Melbourne to its source up near Mount Baw Baw. In it she mentions how the local Wurundjerri people recognised not four but six or seven seasons. This makes a lot of sense to me. I think 'Early Spring' has definately arrived. Not only has the weather been a little warmer lately but there is lots of cheery golden wattle blossom about as well as the more European prunus and cherry blossom. I haven't had a chance to take any photos but I don't think I could top Sophie's images over here. (I haven't seen many wombats about but I'm sure they're out there doing their thing! )

Even closer to home I've been on a bit of a health kick drinking lots of Madame Flavour Green, Jasmine and Pear Tea. I love the pack and the little silk pouches that hold large tea leaves. I think it's also lovely that it comes with a little letter from Madame Flavour letting you know that you can use each teabag three times. What a generous spirit!

We've also been enjoying this delicious Raw Broccoli Salad found over at Stonesoup. The great thing about this recipe is that there is rarely a time I wouldn't have all these ingredients in the house. I was a bit unsure about all that raw broccoli but it was really quite delicious and it was so simple to make that I made the kids do it! We were playing cafes anyway and they often make weird and wonderful (and sometimes inedible) flavour combinations so this made a welcome change. I love Stonesoup's five ingredient philosophy but in Bella's world more really is more so she added some baby spinach leaves and marinated fetta with great results. We'll definately be making this one again.

Raw Broccoli Salad via Stonesoup

Let's hope things settle down a bit this week and that certain members of the global community step back and take a good look at themselves.

Spring clean...

Originally uploaded to Flickr by By Thoth, God of Knowledge

Things have been a bit crazy around here recently. The re-stumping is finished, we've had ducted heating installed and bought a new car. All these things have involved talking to lots of people, getting lots of quotes, making lots of decisions and spending more money than we would usually spent in several years! Both Tom and I are both a bit adverse to spending big gobs of money so we've adopted the bandaid approach (spending quickly to minimise the pain associated with indecision). The house now looks like a bomb dropped on it both inside and out but we no longer have dipping floors and we are toasty warm!

School holidays have started and there are activities planned for next week (movies, sleepovers, train rides) but this week is all about putting the house to rights. This afternoon the kids and I are going to go through all the toys and separate into 'keep, donate and chuck'. We're also going to clear out the cupboard under the kitchen sink and do the same to make way for lovely china and glassware I inherited from Mum. I've promised music, dancing and special snacks in direct proportion to helpfulness so we'll see how we go!

Land of the Liquid Amber

I live on the outer edge of what are known as Melbourne's leafy eastern suburbs (or as I prefer to call it the Land of the Liquid Amber) and let me tell you autumn is a pretty special time of year out here. I wish my camera could accurately capture what Harriet Keeler described in 1900 as 'not simply a flame, it is a conflagration; in reds and yellows it equals the maples, and in addition it has the dark purples and smoky browns of the ash'.

Although not native to Australia the Liquid Amber is very popular in the Melbourne and many houses along our street have enormous trees in their front yards. Councils have also planted them in avenues along major roads and along smaller side streets so as you drive around the neighbourhood you are constantly assailed by a blaze of colour with each display more spectacular than the last.

Winter is certainly on its way with temperatures falling sharply especially at night. The hot water bottles and extra blankets have been resurrected and for some reason we have all been craving little nibbles. Popcorn either plain or with cinnamon and dried apple has been popular as have these spiced almonds using new season Australian almonds.

Spiced Almonds

Ingredients

2 cups blanched almonds
2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground chilli (optional)

1 teaspoon sea salt flakes

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon olive oil

Method

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix through with your hands until all almonds are covered in spice mixture. Spread nuts on a prepared tray and bake for 10 minutes or until golden and fragrant. Eat while still warm or cool completely before storing in an airtight container for snacking later (I've also used this spice mix on one of our many batches of popcorn).

Enjoy!