Month: December 2012

Don’t say goodbye, say …..

Don’t say goodbye, say …..

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What a relief the world didn’t end and The Walking Dead didn’t come true and we didn’t have a zombie Apocalypse.

And the heat continues: it’s currently just a tad under 42 degrees Celsius. For you Maria and others abroad that’s 107 in the shade.

I have the oven on blasting at 200 degrees roasting things (me included) now, preparing for a room temp dinner later and icy cold wines and vodka sodas on the veranda.

Do you wonder if there is a house attached to my veranda? There is, but it’s become full of amazonian teenagers so I’ve been driven outside (happily, although I may need one of those outdoor space heater things come July).

Thank you you guys for being my friends! I can safely say that, as I know all six of you who have subscribed. My husband Rob twice! Gosh look at all that excitement and not even a drink yet. Thank you for your love and wisdom, I would be poor of spirit without you and I wouldn’t wrap up each day in Turkish towels and drink good rosé and so much more.

This year was good, this year was fun, tomorrow is another one.

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Margaret River Farmers Markets Part 2

Margaret River Farmers Markets Part 2

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You’ve never seen so many hotties in one place as here at the farmers market. It must have been well into the high thirties by 10am and people were wandering around sweating and eating freshly grown peaches and home made icy poles to try to cool down.

The lovely Lara and Jamie McCall were there selling their home grown avocados, wine and honey. They have Burnside Bungalows and an amazing organic farm:
Burnside Organic Farm
The markets are now open in Margaret River every Saturday from 8.30am, you can check out who’s selling what here:
Farmers Market Margaret River

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While in town MSF Keir and Clever Man Ian (from now on I am officially abbreviating, like Abed in Community, so MSF is a reference to those sensible friends) joined me for cake and coffee at Blue Ginger. It’s the sort of shop you want to move into and live in. You half expect to see Angus Stone and John Butler just jammin’ out the front for the fun of it.

It’s my opinion (rare as a hens tooth on this blog…promise) that there’s a global and powerful shift towards produce-shopping more like our grandparents did and less like the big supermarkets encourage us to with their cheap prices and shiny cling filmed food. I barely even washed my beetroot before juicing it this morning. So there.

Thanks to MSF Rosie (she who runs when she isn’t busy having babies) I had a voucher for both the Blue Ginger cafe and the shop, so no second mortgage on the house needed this time (much as I love to shop like this, I can’t afford to all the time). But seriously, you get what you pay for and in this case, and I got coconut oil, Australian apricots, coconut flour, muesli, cacao powder and several of their own mix of spices. My favourites are the Tuscan mix and the Creole mix. Almost all deliciously organic and holier than thou.

I didn’t manage to get a photo of us there because I forgot, but did snap a couple of shots as I was melting out the door back into the heat wave.

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Margaret River Farmers Markets, Part 1

Margaret River Farmers Markets, Part 1

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What better way to end a sweltering December day than with a swim with our Hong Kong-based Sensible Friends, Ian and Keir (and families) at the mouth of the Margaret River in Western Australia’s south west.

The only thing missing was an Esky with icy drinks.

This time of year Margaret river is heaving with tourists, none of whom see themselves as tourists but rather as highly irregular residents, like me of course, I mean, come on I virtually grew up here; every summer for forty years has to count for something doesn’t it?

There is so much to do down here but really no time to do it what with ending a long lazy day of pottering around with a beach swim. How could you fit in anything else?

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I’m making an exception for the farmers market. There is chocolate from Yallingup, syrups from Dunsborough, grass fed meats from The Farm House, local soap, honey, olive oil, local organic beef….not to mention the greens, the fruits and veg! Good grief I even broke my own rule and used an exclamation mark.

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Now it is time for bed with a cheap fan and a cool sheet and tomorrow I’ll let you know whats fabulous from the market.

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Christmas and Pomegranate Salad

Christmas and Pomegranate Salad

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It is Christmas Night here. We have had three family things on and picked up oldest daughter from the international airport (she is no longer starving in Paris whilst on exclusive girls school French tour; a whole other story) and I now find myself sitting serenely on the veranda with a glass of the Pepperilly, iPad and dog.

Rob is heroically putting overtired six year old to bed and the big kids have put on Chevy Chase’s Christmas Vacation. We’re loving him as Pierce in Community.

Pierce-chase MSF

The Sensible Friends have been busy feeding and wining families during what was apparently the hottest Christmas Day in the world here in Perth – it cant possibly be true but it was in the paper so it must be – and this salad Sara threw together today was just crying out to be shared, after I begged her to send me something.

Here’s a recipe I made up today by just throwing a few handfuls of what I had in the fridge together – it was all based around trying to find something to go with the 2 beautiful pomegranates I bought at the markets.

Sara’s Quinoa & Pomegranate Salad

2 cups of tricolour quinoa
A couples of handfuls of chopped fresh mint, parsley and coriander
1 cup toasted pine nuts or flaked almonds
1 cup pistachios
1 cup of chopped dates
Seeds and juice from one or two pomegranates
Salt & Pepper
Juice of 1 lime
2 tbs olive oil

Boil quinoa as per packet instructions. Cool and mix in nuts, dates and fresh herbs – mix through beautiful pomegranate seeds. Season with salt and pepper and mix through lime juice and olive oil.
I also put a little bit of cumin in with it just to add some spice

Here’s how Christmas looked here at 8am.

Beach Xmas 2012 MSF

Clever Man and Pepperilly

Clever Man and Pepperilly

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Most of the good stuff I know comes from the women in my life. Yes you, reading this, you know who you are. But sometimes I get fantastic tips from the men these women were savvy enough to nab and keep.

From Clever Man Richard a wine tip – this fresh light Western Australian Rose wine called Pepperilly, in the Ferguson Valley. Look at the view they have, I want to sit under this tree and just drink rose all day:

pepperilly 1 MSF

Best of all this lovely rose is light on the purse as well. I picked it up on sale this week at about $12 a bottle (ordered online from the winery). I tested a few bottles last night with Rob and two dear old friends and it was spot on. The friends served up salmon and salad and the wine was a very happy match. Probably didn’t need to follow them up with the red but it’s holidays…

Pepperilly Rose MSF

More from the Clever Men soon.

 

The Local Grocer

The Local Grocer

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A Little Gem for Perth Locals:

Imagine if you could get fresh food delivered that was grown within a few miles of home by small-produce growers who were being well-paid to grow your food for you? I’m talking veggies, fruit, pasture-fed meats, you name it. Are you as excited as I am yet?

While I would love to grow my own food, I sadly did not inherit my mothers green thumb so I have been unable to keep anything more than a rose alive. Those suckers are impossible to kill.

Coming to your front door if you so wish early in 2013, The Local Grocer is the brainchild of Greg and Mary Winning and through hard work and crowd-funding they aim to deliver fresh food and produce to Perth locals from small scale growers, cutting out the wholesaler and delivering a fair price to the farmer for their food.

MSF Pic Local Grocer

So we in Perth get to eat locally knowing that the person who grew the food is getting a decent price for it and is able to keep his business afloat.

The fresh food industry sees farmers as ‘price takers’ (taking what they are given by the dominant retailers and wholesalers). The real money is made in the retail and wholesale ends. The farmers who sell to us will receive as much as 4 or 5 times the price they would normally receive for their produce. For example, recent prices for citrus meant farmers got 20c a kilo for fruit that sold for $2.00 a kilo in the retail shops. If we bought these from a wholesaler, we would pay $1kg. Instead, we will pay that $1kg straight to the grower and help them distribute and market their produce direct to the public. ~ Greg Winning

You can find out more about this fantastic project either through The Local Grocer’s Facebook page or the Pozible crowd funding page. It’s worth a look if you’re in Perth.

The Local Grocer on Pozible

The Local Grocer on Facebook

Seriously Good Mayonnaise Recipe

Seriously Good Mayonnaise Recipe

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Many of you already know of the wonderful food of Yotam Ottolenghi.  I can’t wait to get his latest book, Jerusalem. Hoping someone reading this will give it to me for Christmas in a few days time and considering that the only person who is aware of My Sensible Friend at the moment is my husband (I haven’t got it looking quite the way I want it yet), well….this could be my way of finding out whether he is actually reading the blog or not.

“Ottolenghi draws on a wealth of culinary traditions – with a focus on the Mediterranean basin – providing inventive yet honest food, anything from a lemon and mascarpone tart to a grilled mackerel with olive and raisin salsa, made only from the best basic raw ingredients.”

How perfect is that? I have had the first, self titled book of Ottolenghi’s for a while now, and want to share with my thermomixing friends a version of his marvellous mayonnaise, called Ruth’s Mayonnaise. You don’t need a thermomix to make this, a food processor or a bowl and whisk (if you’re superwoman) will do.

There is another recipe of his involving feta and fennel that I am hoping to get out there tomorrow if I can bear the Christmas crowds at the shop today. The thermomix book calls for room temp eggs in their mayo, but if you live in Australia in summer the chances of having eggs lying around at room temperature are pretty much nil and I have found using cold eggs makes no difference at all.

Ruth’s Mayonnaise

  • 1 good big egg
  • 1 tbs dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp raw sugar
  • half tsp good salt
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 2 tbs cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
  • few sprigs fresh coriander (optional as I never seem to have any in the fridge)
  • approx 500ml cold-pressed oil like macadamia (I find olive too strong-tasting)

Turn Thermomix on to speed 8 and drop garlic onto running blades.

Insert butterfly and add everything but oil.

Turn on to speed 4, let egg mix up for about 20 seconds, then pour oil in slowly with MC on. Takes about two to three minutes. All done.

If you’re doing this without a Thermomix halve your ingredients so you’re not whisking for three days; just combine everything but the oil, then slowly pour the oil into the bowl of the other ingredients while you whisk. Friends or kids make great bowl-holders and whiskerers.

The Giant Tea Towel

The Giant Tea Towel

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Because I am getting very good at following advice, I bought a few turkish towels to try as I have zero storage in this house and thought, if successful, these could eventually replace the towelling towels that have all seen better days.

I am loving my giant tea towels, which is exactly what they feel like. Once they have been washed and dried they are lovely and absorbent, they dry in a flash and they look lovely hanging in the bathroom and even tossed upon the floor which is where my kids like to store things.

I bought mine at Knotty Towels which offered a friendly, fast service and has an easy-to-navigate site for buying. They were around $39 each so not cheap but they have earned their value in practicality and aesthetics.

Knotty is an Australian company.

So Here We Are

So Here We Are

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I am writing this with a trembling hand. My first post. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. I even attempted blogging a few years ago but was overcome by self-consciousness and lack of relevance. What has changed since then you ask? Well nothing. But now I am writing up my friends ideas and wisdom so it’s their reps on the line, not mine.

The thing that was holding me back was lack of a title for the blog. One of above-mentioned friends called in last night for a vodka and soda (with fresh lime and mint to disguise the fact that while it has no calories, vodka and soda is a bland and tasteless drink, even when it’s Belvedere vodka) on the veranda.

After a couple of jugs of the limey, minty vodka and soda’s whilst patiently listening to me bang on and on and on about my wanna-be blog, the dear friend came up with the name: My Sensible Friend. My hands are trembling with the mildly irritating hangover that is the cover price of the name.

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