Friday, March 08, 2024

Salted caramel ice cream

Nom nom! We discovered this recipe a couple of years ago when some rellies made it for Christmas Day. Super easy and super delicious. We've been having some unseasonably hot weather lately in Canberra – it should be autumn [fall] but feels like summer – so I made a batch of salted caramel ice cream earlier today.

600 ml fresh cream (or 500 ml plant-based alternative *)
380 grams caramel filling
salt, to taste

Whip the cream until firm. Mix in the caramel and salt. Freeze. Enjoy!

Here are some other flavours of home made ice cream you may like to try (no fancy devices required):

avocado, lime and ginger
Bailey's and macadamia [or other nuts]
basil, lime and honey
banana and cacao nibs
brandied fruit and nuts
chilli chocolate
coconut and cacao nibs
coffee and cardamom
green tea
Kahlúa and pecan [or other nuts]
rocky road
strawberry

Happy (southern) autumn.

* Today I used Flora 100% plant-based thickened cream instead of dairy cream. I'm a bit torn about this stuff. On the one hand, it is dairy-free, so suitable for people with physical or philosophical intolerances to dairy products. On the other hand, it's a bit of a chemical cocktail and is imported from Germany. Taste- and texture-wise, though, it is indistinguishable from cream. 


If you are trying to avoid dairy products, you could make most of the ice creams listed above with plant-based cream and coconut-based condensed milk.

Tuesday, March 05, 2024

Nurturing brain and body

Occasionally we hear sad stories about people who retire one day then die the next, or count down till retirement only to find it unsatisfying and boring. I'm trying to be strategic about my transition to retirement … gradually reducing the amount of paid work I do while increasing voluntary and leisure activities. 

In 2006 I dropped from five work days to four (taking a 20% pay cut; this was long before current ideas of four-day weeks) and took up two volunteer jobs. In 2012 I started doing some freelance work on the side of my day job, and in 2018 I left the day job to make freelancing my main activity. Self-employment can be a bit of a roller coaster, time-wise, and some weeks I'd work 30+ hours; other weeks it was fewer than ten. Early on, I felt compelled to accept most work I was offered in case the offers dried up. Over the past couple of years I haven't needed to do that; I have enough work (and enough income) to support myself so can afford to slow down and smell the roses.

Not my roses. One of our neighbours has a great collection though!

Anyway, it's been fun. Life, these days, features gardening, volunteering, socialising, exercise (boot camp, barre classes and cycling), a community orchestra, random lectures and webinars, and still some paid work. And while I exercise, cook and do housework, I listen to podcasts. They fill gaps in my brain! I didn't always pay attention in school, or take notice of momentous world events happening around me in the seventies and eighties, so am grateful to a whole flock of podcasters for letting me know what I missed. A few current favourites:

Global Roaming – current world affairs with Geraldine Doogue and Hamish Macdonald

Empire – how empires have shaped the world, with William Dalrymple and Anita Anand

Legacy – stories of influential people, with Peter Frankopan and Afua Hirsch

Cautionary Tales – mistakes and what we can learn from them, with Tim Harford

Radio Atlantic – stories and conversations with various hosts

Lady Killers – Lucy Worsley explores historical crimes by women

7am – stories in the news

Full Story – stories in the news

The Waves – news stories from a gender perspective

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to buy myself a coffee. And listen to a podcast on the way :-)

Thursday, February 01, 2024

I don't. (With thanks to Clementine Ford.)

I've read so many great books lately. Despite making a living as an editor (and having a sense of the constant stream of new ideas pouring into the world) I'm always pleasantly surprised to be exposed to points of view I hadn't previously encountered or considered. It's also fun, and intriguing, when multiple books coincidentally explore similar ideas, maybe across multiple genres. I want to recommend three books I've read over the past month:

I Don't: The Case Against Marriage by Clementine Ford (non-fiction, history/polemic)

Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life by Anna Funder (non-fiction, biography/musings)

The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan (fiction with a touch of history)

A little background about why these books feel so influential. In the 1980s-channelling-1950s household I grew up in, marriage was the only 'career' option for a female. (Never mind that it required no qualifications and was unpaid.) Girls in my family were not educated, not prepared for a working life outside the home; we were supposed to be 'married off' as soon as possible, preferably (to quote my dad) to rich blokes who could support him in his old age. Ha. I was a smart kid but somehow let myself get sucked into the vortex of doom. I was engaged at 19, married at 20, separated at 22 and divorced at 24. Did I expect that my marriage would be till death did us part? Well, yes, I did. If Mr Wrong hadn't been so thoroughly, utterly wrong for me, I probably would have tried to stay married. So, in a way, I'm grateful it was such an unmitigated disaster! I've been with my current partner, Andrew, for over 32 years. We're not married and never will be. That's not to say we're not committed to each other. But there's no need for a legal contract to say so.

Clementine Ford's book was revelatory as it clearly spelled out the case against marriage. That the institution is not about protection, it's about control. Her meticulous research provided insights into many aspects of relationships and the law, past and present. Anna Funder's book looked at the same issue but by examining one woman's experience of marriage: George Orwell's wife Eileen O'Shaughnessy, brilliant in her own right but largely erased from history due to her subordinate role as wife. J. Courtney Sullivan's novel weaves together five compelling stories to explore the changing nature of marriage over six decades.

I'd never quite shaken that idea, instilled by my parents from a very early age, that one had to be married. That being married was the pinnacle of life achievement and that the unmarried were somehow lesser beings. Happily, Clementine Ford's book managed to snap me out of that outdated and frankly ludicrous idea. Hopefully forever!

Saturday, December 23, 2023

Lunch @ KOTO

It was a couple of weeks ago now, but I recently had lunch with two friends at KOTO in Barton, Canberra (across the road from Old Parliament House, a.k.a. the Museum of Australian Democracy). KOTO had been in the news lately, as a relative newcomer to the Canberra fine dining scene. 



It was more upmarket than the lunch places my friends and I usually frequent … and it was excellent. The tasting menu (at $160 pp) seemed eye-wateringly expensive, and also a bit too fishy for our tastes, so we ordered off the a la carte menu. We shared:


Edamame


Agedashi tofu


Kinoko (mushrooms)


Cauliflower


Lamb cutlets

… and the décor was delightful too:


The whole meal cost less than $100 for three of us and we were all satisfied. No room for dessert! The food and service and ambience at KOTO were fabulous. Recommended :-)

Sunday, December 17, 2023

Sri Lanka was delightful!

Sri Lanka had been at the top of my bucket list since I was seven. It was the mid 1970s and, while living in a grim, grey little town in New Zealand, I started corresponding with a penpal in Colombo. Sri Lanka sounded like everything New Zealand was not: colourful, spicy, exciting. The country remained a fascination for the next few decades and I started making plans to visit several years ago. The COVID-19 pandemic and an economic crisis meant that I booked, then rebooked, then rebooked the trip, but it finally went ahead last month. And it was fabulous!

I went on a 16-day bus tour organised by Bunnik Tours, who specialise in small-group touring. Everything about the trip met my needs. The staff were excellent, the tour group (14 people including me) nice, the food AMAZING, the scenery and archaeology and wildlife beautiful and fascinating. Just wanted to post a few pics from the adventure …


















Thursday, November 02, 2023

Lord Howe Island

Andrew and I visited Lord Howe Island, for the first time (hopefully not the last), in early October. What a wonderful little slice of paradise. We walked, climbed, ate, drank, watched birds, snorkelled and learned about the island and its history. There are approximately seven restaurants on the island, which may be why travel agents recommend a seven-night stay! We were supposed to stay for seven nights but ended up with an unscheduled 24 hours in Sydney at the start of the trip as it was too windy on the island for the plane to fly. Never mind. We found things to do in Sydney and thoroughly enjoyed our six nights on Lord Howe Island. I won't waffle on, but here are some pics:













A gorgeous and peaceful getaway.

Wednesday, November 01, 2023

Binge-reading Sri Lanka

The countdown is on. I'm going to Sri Lanka in less than a week. Woo hoo! The country has been at the top of my bucket list for decades and the trip, a small group tour, has been booked and rescheduled and rescheduled. Finally I think it's going to happen. Accordingly, I've been reading (and sometimes rereading) fiction and non-fiction about Sri Lanka and by Sri Lankan writers, to get in the mood and top up my knowledge. Recommended:

Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran
Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganeshananthan
Untethered by Ayesha Noon
Saree by Su Dharmapala
The Body in the Paddy Field and Murder at the Wedding by Nadishka Aloysius
Growing: Seven Years in Ceylon by Leonard Woolf

and the one that got away …  The Sweet and Simple Kind by Yasmine Gooneratne. I bought this novel second-hand, in paperback, several years ago and enjoyed it. I donated it to our local bookfair, assuming I'd track it down again if I ever wanted to reread it, and have never found it. Maybe there'll be a copy somewhere in my travels. Fingers crossed.

Saturday, September 30, 2023

Brekkie @ Stepping Stone Dickson

A couple of weeks ago, a local editor friend introduced me to Stepping Stone at Dickson. It's the second 'branch' of a social enterprise designed to help migrant and refugee women gain skills and work experience; the first was at Strathnairn Arts Centre. Andrew and I usually take ourselves out to breakfast on a Sunday but went on Saturday this week instead as Stepping Stone is closed on Sundays and Mondays. The café has a gorgeous vegetarian menu. We both ordered off the specials board today but will have to return as there were at least three other things on the menu I wanted to try.

We started with coffee …


Then Andrew had:


Granola with fruit, nuts and yoghurt

And Karin had:


Turkish eggs (Çılbır) with yoghurt, chilli oil and sourdough


Great food, great service, and a good cause. Yum! It's a lovely spot.

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Recipes for (temporarily) abandoned blokes

The spring Lifeline Bookfair was held over the weekend and, to my delight, conversation in my boot camp group today was about what books people had bought! The bookfair is a Canberra institution and raises money for an excellent cause so it's always great to hear people have enjoyed it. Particularly as Andrew and I have volunteered behind the scenes for 17 years or so. 

Anyway, one of the guys in the group described a cookbook he'd purchased. It sounded awesome. Dinner party recipes in categories such as 'recipes for dull people' and 'recipes for abandoned men'. Oh my goodness. I didn't find out if the recipes for abandoned men were for the permanently abandoned or those whose partners might eventually return. (More details please, Michael.)

The discussion inspired this blog post. Andrew and I have been together for about 32 years and (to my shame) I've never really let him spread his wings in the kitchen. I like cooking and tend to take over. However, I'm off to Sri Lanka for 2.5 weeks in November – the country has been at the top of my bucket list since I was seven – and will be leaving Andrew at home. It's not the first time I've gone somewhere exotic and left him behind – Timor-Leste in 2018 was amazing – but maybe he'd like some recipe ideas for when I'm away? Just in case, here goes …


Enjoy!


P.S. my apricot tree has blossoms :-)

Thursday, July 13, 2023

Truffle dinner @ Lolo and Lola

Well! What a treat. As the third (and final?) splurge in our 2023 Canberra truffle adventure (you can see the first here and the second here), last night Andrew and I ate a truffle-packed three-course meal at Lolo and Lola, a Filipino restaurant in Watson, Canberra. It was delicious and impressive and generous.


Melon samalamig (left) and calamansi juice (right)


Pan de sal


Bulalo pasta soup


Adobo ni Lolo


Sarsuela tablea cake


… and the full menu, in case you want more details :-)

Lolo and Lola is delightful and is celebrating its sixth birthday this week. There have been a lot of different cafes in the same spot! When we moved to Canberra in 2002 it was Carlo's, then that closed and was replaced by Joey's Kitchen, which turned into Cherryripe Brasserie, which became Lolo and Lola. If the popularity of Lolo and Lola (which means grandpa and grandma) is anything to go by, they'll be around for plenty of years to come. Yaaaaay.