After almost 13 years and over 1700 published blog posts it is sometimes a bit tricky to come up with an original title that is relatively short, snappy and relevant.
I can, and sometimes do use a title more than once. In fact, this post was going to be ‘Home, Sweet Home’ as I have been away for about 10 days. However, I found that I had actually just about worn that out with no fewer than 6 blog posts with that moniker.
Anyway, enough rambling. I am arrived home safely on Tuesday afternoon following a trip to Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast. It was not under the best of circumstances as I attended a funeral. It was for my cousin who is only a year older than me and sadly lost a battle with bowel cancer.
I chose to spend some extra time in Queensland with my daughter and granddaughters as well as my brother and sister.
I have unpacked, done some washing and prepared meals so nothing terribly exciting happening here at the moment. We bought some fruit and vegetables yesterday and I spotted a couple of trays of mangoes. This is not a common sight in Victoria so I bought a tray. 14 medium sized mangoes for $15. I am planning to dehydrate some, freeze others and keep at least one fresh to make mango salsa to go with our dinner tomorrow night.
I am always looking for ways to store the inevitable summer glut of home-grown tomatoes. I make tomato sauce (ketchup) but there is a limit to how much of that we need. The recipe is here if you are interested. I also used to freeze cherry tomatoes whole for use in casseroles and other cooking. I have dabbled in making tomato paste and tomato powder. These have all been reasonably successful but somewhat labour intensive.
Our tomatoes are not ready yet but the neighbours have generously shared their harvest.
I had these spread out to ripen and today I selected the reddest ones and cut them into quarters. I placed them into a round cake tin with 2 large cloves of garlic and a handful of basil leaves (all homegrown) and a drizzle of olive oil. I cooked them in the airfryer for 25 minutes at 170C then blitzed them in the high-speed blender.
I now have a couple of jars of delicious sauce which will be perfect for pizza bases, pasta dishes or adding to other dishes for a rich tomato flavour. This was super quick and easy and I will definitely be doing it again in the future. I choose not to process the sauce but simply store it in the freezer.
Many would say that idle scrolling through your social media feed is an appalling waste of time and a bad habit. Generally, I would agree with these sentiments but randomly checking Facebook has proved to be very worthwhile in the past week.
One evening I quickly checked and happened upon a small cupboard for sale on Marketplace. I showed GMan as he had been saying that he needed a stand for his BBQ (also sourced from Marketplace). He was also thinking that some storage underneath the stand would be useful. I checked the dimensions of the advertised cupboard and we decided that it would be perfect for this purpose.
A short drive and $20 later and we had a stand for the BBQ.
I could not believe my luck when I managed to follow up that win with another. Yesterday afternoon I spotted a sofa which looked perfect for our family room. We had a sofa bed there which we had brought from Queensland and although it is good for a spare bed it is not the most comfortable sofa in the world. This ‘new to us’ leather sofa is in excellent condition and is a welcome addition for $190. The sofa bed has been rehomed in the spare bedroom.
Of course, you can’t pick and choose exact colours when buying secondhand. This shows the colour of the sofa and that colour of the back of the sideboard which is quite close to it.
I am planning to find some fabric which incorporates the taupe and indigo/navy colours to make a couple of cushions for the sofa which will tie it all together colourwise. Perhaps something like this.
With a bit of creativity I think I can make it all work really well together.
Last week I joined our local LETS group. It is an anacronym for Local Exchange Trading System. This Wikipaedia entry gives a good general overview if you want to know more about the concept.
Meanwhile, back to the local group, known as MaLETS (Mount Alexander Local Exchange Trading System) which is based on our regional local government area of Mount Alexander. This article is an excellent explanation of LETS in general and the successful operation of MaLETS in particular.
It was easy to join and start trading straightaway. On Sunday I bought a dozen eggs and a cucumber from 2 different members and sold 2 tote bags that I had made. I am really excited about the possibilities this opens up.
I am making some more bags (as well as other things) in preparation for the next market.
I think everyone has a personal favourite way of making lasagne.
Lasagne was my ‘go to’ dish in the early days of our marriage. In fact, so much so that GMan once commented that our impending dinner guests had eaten at our place previously so we would need to think of something else!
My version of lasagne has evolved noticeably over almost 45 years due to a changing culinary landscape and a variety of dietary considerations. I have reduced the proportion of meat in the dish, eliminated cream, use gluten free flour and pasta. The latest iteration actually replaces the pasta with thin slices of zucchini and the bechamel sauce is made with cauliflower rather than a roux of flour and butter. Interested? Read on for the full details.
LASAGNE
Meat sauce
250g lean minced beef 1 cup dried red lentils 1 large onion, finely diced 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 large carrot, grated 2 sticks celery, finely chopped 2 teaspoons beef stock powder 2 tins crushed tomatoes } – whatever combination of fresh, dried or frozen tomatoes 2 tablespoons tomato paste } you have on hand. More water may be required. Herbs (fresh or dried) to taste – I used a handful of fresh basil and 1 teaspoons of dried mixed herbs Salt and black pepper to taste
Method
Place the lentils in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Allow to stand for 30 minutes. In a large saucepan fry the onion and garlic, add the mince and brown. Add the remaining ingredients including the drained lentils. Simmer gently until the lentils are tender. Add more water if the mixture becomes too dry.
Chop the cauliflower roughly. The stalk and small leave can be included in this recipe. Steam or microwave until tender. Place cooked cauliflower in blender and gradually add milk until the mixture is smooth and a suitable consistency. Add seasonings to taste. The quantities are only suggestion so add a bit at a time until it reaches your desired taste.
Set sauce aside until required. This sauce can be refrigerated for a couple of days or frozen if you have too much. It can be substituted in any recipe that requires a creamy white sauce. You can use plant-based milk if you choose.
Other
Zucchini, sliced thinly lengthwise Grated cheese, I use a mixture of cheddar, parmesan and nutritional yeast
Assembly
Layer the various components in an ovenproof dish. I usually do meat sauce, zucchini, white sauce and then cheese and repeat 2-3 times until the dish is full.
Cook in the oven until heated through and browned on top. Alternatively, it can be heated in the microwave and finished off under the grill to brown the top.
Makes 6 generous serves.
This is the only photo I have as I did not think of writing this post until after we had eaten dinner. We ate 2 serves and the remainder were packed up and frozen in 4 individual serves.
Here is an overview of how I created the scarf. This is not a sewing blog and therefore it is not a step by step tutorial as such. Additionally, it assumes general sewing competence.
The dimensions are somewhat variable but you will need a piece of fabric that is approximately 150-170cm long and 25-30cm wide and an 18-20cm dress zip.
Insert the zip close to one end of the fabric.
Stitch the remainder of the long edges in a 1.5cm seam with right sides together.
Turn the tube to the right side. Press the seam flat so the the seam and zip are lying in the middle of the tube. Use the seam allowance to create a lap to conceal the zip.
Press under 1cm on the end away from the zip.
Insert the end near the zip inside (1.5-2cm), pin and carefully topstitch to secure the ends. Check that the stitching has caught on both sides.
Stitch across the scarf at the lower end of the zip to create the secure pouch. Trim loose threads.
I have a shoebox full of scarves in various weights and colours which I wear on a regular basis. However, yesterday I made myself a new one which is a bit bit different and rather special.
It is a infinity (loop) scarf made from some fabric scraps from my stash. The particular feature that prompted me to make this was the ability to create a discreet pocket for valuables. I had seen a similar item advertised a few years ago as being suitable for travellers and I had always considered making one.
So, I finally did it. I used a lightweight crinkle cotton as our next trip is to Hawaii so a heavy fabric is definitely not required.
You can see the zip and pocket section more clearly in this close-up. The zip was also a salvaged one from my stash. I was fortunate to have one in an appropriate length and colour.
The zip opening and pocket are large enough to hold a passport. The ability to carry my passport and cash discreetly and on my person is an important consideration when in busy public spaces when travelling.
Here is an example of me wearing the scarf with my passport in the pocket section of the scarf.
During the past 5 days I have completed numerous mundane tasks including grocery shopping, washing and ironing. However, my attention has been predominantly on one task that I was determined to complete.
I will not go into specific details except to say that I reviewed all of our logins and passwords and the way that they are stored. There are various programs available for securely storing sensitive information. I know that nothing is perfect but since we live in a digital age it is important to do the best we can.
Old or obsolete accounts have been closed/deleted. I have created unique passwords for everything we access online. I felt that this was of utmost importance when you consider the number of organisations who have suffered data breaches in the past couple of years. There are undoubtedly other breaches which go unreported. By having unique passwords for everything means that if we are impacted by any future security breach then the impact will mostly be limited.
Even after deleting about 25 assorted organisations I still have well in excess of 100 different logins and passwords.
I am not going to be complacent but I do feel a little more reassured regarding the integrity and security of our information in the digital space.
Please do not post anything about your own ‘system’ but do let this be a reminder for us all to be a little more vigilant.
In June 2014 I took my first tentative steps towards making a quilt using Disappearing 9 Patch blocks. I was finally completed nearly 7 years later as I finished sewing the binding on while I sat with my mother when she was in hospital. I am so glad that I was able to share the finished quilt with her as much of the fabric had come from her stash of offcuts from garments she had made for herself and various family members over many years. You can see it here.
Last year I offered to make one for our younger daughter. Her preferred colour palette was soft greens such as sage and olive. I wondered how on earth I was going to source sufficient scraps of these colours as they are not generally colours that I use. However, I have been remarkably surprised at the bits that have come my way from many and varied sources.
Initially, I made about 6 blocks but I have not made any since before we moved. I had been collecting and cutting fabric in preparation. So, the past couple of days have been a bit of a marathon and I now have 33 completed blocks. I have some squares cut out but need 42 blocks altogether so I need to keep a close eye on fabric in op shops.
This is a preliminary layout with the completed blocks.
I am confident that this quilt will not take 7 years to complete.
The past 10 days have been an alternating mix of warm, sunny days and some significant rainfall so the young seedlings are enjoying the conditions. The zucchini plants which I planted at the beginning of December are literally doubling in size overnight. You can see what they looked like in this post.
This is today. The eggplant in the adjacent bed are doing well, too.
The cucumbers and new lettuce are also getting established.
Then there is the basil. Some in pots.
And more in the garden bed.
The basil is going to be trimmed this afternoon. I am planning to make a pesto/green sauce to serve with grilled eggplant, capsicum and pasta for dinner. As usual, this a creation I have have dreamed up. If the reality is as good as the idea I will hopefully have a recipe to share in a future post.
organised castle 