floating world

in melbourne

So, we made it to Melbourne. It took two days of driving. I forget sometimes, but Australia is really very big. Ali was a trooper, and remained cheerful almost the whole time in the car with help from arrowroot biscuits, Justine Clarke and Where is Maisy's Panda? We stopped at Goulburn and Gundagai, which were both surprisingly pleasant, and then stayed in Albury overnight. We were booked into motel with authentic 1970s decor, including a built-in wood patterned bedside console that had light switches and a radio. This kept Ali entertained for ages. And we ate retro Chinese food, which is one of my favourite things to do in country towns (or Regional Centres, as they seem to be these days). However Albury is, to quote very nice old man we were talking to in the Yarra Valley yesterday, "a hole".

Before we left I had done some research: the Bloesem Melbourne guide by Lucy Feagins, the Icing Guide and Karen Cheng's shopping guide are all excellent. And, even better, I got tips from locals and ex-locals, including Sooz, Bianca and Melinda (thank you all so much!) And Melinda also loaned me a fabulous book, Handmade Melbourne, which is full of inspiration.

So far we have had a wonderful time exploring. No photos yet, because I left the camera cable at home, but there will be some soon!

cutting and pasting

I'm working on a zine for a swap organised by Nichola. I loved the idea of making a zine, but had trouble deciding on a topic. And then I started making it in InDesign, but it felt too much like work, so I started again with a much more handmade style... lots of sticky tape and photocopying and glueing and stitching and cutting out paper. Now they're nearly finished, and will be in the post tomorrow.

pineapple delight

It's not fashionable, but I love canned pineapple. Especially in inappropriate foods, like Thai curry and on pizzas and in sweet and sour pork. So when I found this amazing cookbook in Summer Hill, I couldn't resist it.

It has all the things I like best in a vintage cookbook - retro styling,

(Take that, Donna Hay!)

faded saturated colour pictures with orange-y tones,

salads with barely a suggestion of salad,


desserts involving terrifyingly green jelly,

and tips on how to be a charming hostess.

It's fabulous, no? There is another great page (not photographed) called "Something for Dad to Cook" with hilariously basic recipes (which, naturally, all involve pineapple).

I am now planning a pineapple themed dinner party, at which we will eat only food from this book, drink Chianti from wicker-wrapped bottles, wear maxi-dresses and listen to ABBA. I will have to track down some carnations for the centrepiece too.

long weekend

We went to the coast but it was too cold to swim, so instead we visited gardens

and fed fish

and saw the cutest little ducklings

which Ali found very exciting.

We were staying with my family, so after not seeing a film in over six months Mark and I made the most of the babysitting and saw two in two days (Mamma Mia and The Bank Job).

Now we are back in Sydney and have a 4 day week ahead of us, and there is a chickpea and apricot cake in the oven, and we are about to watch No Country For Old Men. Very good. I hope you all had a lovely weekend too.

another birthday crown

At Ali's birthday party I had trouble convincing him to keep his crown on. His youngest cousin, however, was quite taken with it and wore it for much of the afternoon. She is two on Sunday (How can that be? It seems like no time at all since I made her this quilt) so I made her a crown of her own.

fish pie

Mark doesn't like fish. Of any kind. Or seafood. It means that I never cook fish, even though I like it myself - it seems a waste, so I make do with ordering it out and the odd tuna sandwich. Mark doesn't like fish because his dad doesn't like fish, and so they never ate it growing up. I am determined to end this cycle of non-fish-eating, and so I have been on a campaign, feeding it to Ali in various forms. Last week I stumbled on this recipe for salmon pie. My grandmother wrote it out for me, with some other recipes, when I left home, but I had never cooked it before. I remember my mum making it, when I lived at home. And according to the note Ga wrote on the recipe it was her grandmother's recipe.

Anyway, in addition to being a kind of culinary family heirloom it is tasty and easy to make. Ali devoured his, mashed up with tomato passata, which made me extremely happy. It's always very pleasing when he enjoys something I've cooked, and especially when it's fish.

Update

Here is the salmon pie recipe:

1 large tin red salmon
2 eggs
1 tablespoon butter (melted in microwave)
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 180 C

Strain the liquid from the salmon and remove any big bones. Then put it in a round ovenproof dish (approx 25cm diameter) and mash it. Add breadcrumbs, parsley, eggs, vinegar and some salt and pepper & mix. Then stir in the milk and melted butter. Done!

Bake for around one hour.