Good Things favourites - November 2014

Greetings on this rainy Sunday in Canberra. With temperatures climbing into the high 30s C through the week, the coming of the stormy weather was imminent. We had such huge downpours this morning, that I think any remaining Springtime blossoms will have been well and truly beaten off the trees in our neighbourhood. I'm hoping that local farmers got plenty of this much needed rain too.

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The days, weeks and months are zooming by so swiftly that I've started making lists again. It's a habit ingrained from having to work to tight deadlines throughout much of my working life, and it's one I find particularly useful, especially now I've reached middle age. In retirement, Peter and I are finding it easy to while away the hours just 'doing stuff' (in between swimming, reading, shopping and cooking). As such, the days seem to pass into one another and before you know it the week becomes a blur. But there are some things that genuinely need to be done. For instance, I have to make some time to get out into the kitchen garden, do some weeding and plant more vegetables, like baby bok choy and salad greens. The strawberry patch is flourishing and I really should lay down more pea straw mulch (and will as soon as we buy some). The purple Flax plants in the front garden are almost as tall as the house and need thinning out. And we need to find a good electrician to fix a few switches around the home (we're waiting for a neighbour to send her 'sparky' over to see us). Oh yes, I must apply for a new passport now that we've settled our plans for an adventure in 2015!

One task I've been meaning to attend to for the last two years (and finally accomplished it) is to take my treasured and very old copy of 'Az Inyesmester Nagy Szakácskönyv' a.k.a.The Great Cookbook in the Hungarian Language (the Art of Hungarian Cooking) to a good bookbinder for repair. My parents fled Hungary after the uprising in 1956 and migrated to Australia, leaving behind their beloved family and friends, and almost all of their possessions. Not long afterwards, my Czech-born maternal grandmother posted this cookbook to my mother in Australia from her home of Sátoraljaújhely in northern Hungary. It has been much loved and well used, as you can see, and the cloth binding on the spine has now disintegrated with age. Pressed in between some of the pages were some of my mother's handwritten recipes, as well as a few that she had cut out from newspapers and magazines. The well-meaning bookbinder asked me if I would like the cover replaced with a new plain one. Of course I said 'absolutely not (exclamation mark)'. It will be a couple of weeks before the book comes back to my kitchen and I can hardly wait to see it again. I'm praying that the bookbinder will do a good job.

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Spending time reading some of my favourite blogs and listening to my favourite radio programs is also on my list of things to do. Here are just a few of the good things I've read and heard during the month of November:

• Celia (Fig Jam and Lime Cordial), Glenda (Passionfruit Garden) and Tania (The Cook's Pyjamas) have been making marshmallows lately. I haven't dabbled in marshmallows since my children were small, so I need to add this to my list of things to cook. I reckon home-made marshmallows will be awesome in my rocky road. 
• Lorraine (Not Quite Nigella) had my mouth watering with this Asian-style roasted whole barramundi. An 'accidental recipe' which is a cracker, don't you think?
• Sara (Belly Rumbles) made me laugh with her post about the 'innovative' choc bombs featured on the TV show Recipe to Riches. I'm still shaking my head about that episode.
• I've bookmarked Emma's (My Darling Lemon Thyme) Broccoli soup with tahini, lemon + pine nut za'atar. Will someone please pass me a spoon already! 
• And my friend, Marian (Apricot Tart) dipped her wooden spoon into seemingly dangerous territory, sharing her recipe for Hummus. Can you believe the bruhaha that emerged over that!?
• Also bookmarked is this segment from Radio National's First Bite program, where Sally Wise talks about 'stupidly easy' home made yoghurt and labneh. Peter and I spent yesterday at a fabulous Cheesemaking Workshop and I bought a yoghurt maker, so I'll be listening to this one again, methinks. 
• Another segment that caught my attention was this one with Gourmet Farmer, Matthew Evans, speaking with Natasha Mitchell on Life Matters about his SBS documentary and seafood labelling campaign, What's the Catch.

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And finally, it's cherry season in Australia and I can't help feeling  a little excited, just like this little poppet. I'll be cooking with cherries before you know it, so please watch this space. I love all things vintage, and this image from the interweb is one of my absolute favourites. Have you ever felt this excited?! I have. ヅ

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So tell me dear readers, do you write lists for yourself? Do you manage to get things done, or are the days simply too busy at your place too? Incidentally, thank you for taking the time to stop by and comment. I love hearing from you! xox