by Krista | Dec 21, 2011 | Compatriot Wednesday
As promised, here is a Christmasy post from my dear friend and fellow food, travel, and life-lover, Breanne from The Vintage Box.
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It was borne from an evening of brainstorming. We were farm sitting way out in rural Alberta; very cheap rent but far from any friends or family. Christmas was coming and our loneliness brought to life the idea of hosting a holiday party. But it had to be a little different than just exchanging gifts and enjoying Christmas baking.
And then we landed on it.
We would host a Book Party.
And so it was, that in the winter-land of Eastern Alberta, the first Book Party proper was held. It featured a full on coffee bar where guests could choose anything from eggnog lattes to peppermint hot chocolate, from straight up espresso to everything else in between. The table was laden with sweet and savory contributions like fruit studded Christmas bread and homemade elk sausage.
We sat around the crackling wood stove, sipping from hot mugs and enjoying deep conversation centered around the books that had been brought and exchanged.
The next year found us living in Montreal, Quebec. We got together with a few friends and the second Book Party was held, this time featuring homemade doughnuts. Everyone gathered in the kitchen, eating the hot glazed doughnuts made from a family recipe. We heaped our plates with vegetables, baguette spread with goat cheese and olive tapenade, filled our mugs with hot apple cider and retreated to the living room. Curled up on the soft couch and chairs, we discussed books, music, culture, and food. Originally all from Alberta, the Book Party again met our need for companionship in a home away from home. Everyone left with a new book to read and invigorated by the conversations.
This year, we were gathered in our very own hobbit hole, as I affectionately refer to our basement suite, back in Alberta’s capital city, Edmonton.
Every available surface was twinkling and glowing with the mystical atmosphere of candles and rich cider filled the air with a decidedly Christmas aroma. There was a definite British flair present with a Christmas cake brimming with raisins and almonds, yummy balls (a concoction of Caramilk chocolate, malt biscuits, and condensed milk), shortbread and apple pastries. We filled our glasses with homemade eggnog and munched on sweet potato rounds topped with goat cheese and cranberry compote. And to add a whimsey touch, I made little penguins out of cream cheese, olives and carrots. They were an absolute hit, and not only provided table decoration, but something unique to nosh on.
Each guest brought a book and piled it on the coffee table. Then we went around in a circle, and introduced the book to the group. Next was a fun exchange of the books. Each one would pick a book from the table or could even ‘steal’ it from one of the other guests. Books flew around the room until finally everyone had settled on a new book to take home, and had accumulated a long list of books that they now wanted to read!
The candles were burned low by the time the last guest left, the luminaries on the walk long since burned out, and we left the kitchen clean up for the morning, tired and very happy with the success of our evening, and looking forward to the anticipation of what next year would bring.
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Click here to read more from Breanne, including her most recent post: “Deep Breaths and Apple Butter”
What is the best Christmas party you’ve ever been to?
by Krista | Dec 19, 2011 | Bootstrap Monday
Storm clouds are brewing and chooks are clucking contentedly outside the door as my dog Fletcher snoozes on the rug.
I just finished watering my gardens and am pleased as punch to see the melons flowering, rainbow chard flourishing in brilliant colors, little bell peppers and tomatoes making their appearance, and cheery snapdragons blooming faithfully day after day.
Nine baby chicks joined the family yesterday and they are fuzzy and tipsy and cute as can be. The last batch are rowdy teenagers now and we’ll introduce them to the chook yard today or tomorrow. The new goats are out of quarantine so the herd has swelled to 16!! I love looking out my windows and seeing them grazing in the backyard, mowing down the weeds as effectively as a lawnmower. Bear has taken to calling me “Heidi the Goat Girl” since for some reason the goats have taken a fancy to me and come at a gallop when I call them.
It’s been such a lovely week of surprises. 🙂 My friend Elizabeth spent a couple of days on the farm and we had such a good time sewing and cooking together, talking a mile a minute. My Mum and Dad sent me the best Christmas parcel full of Danish and Canadian and Bjorn treats to make me smile and laugh, my own copy of our favorite Christmas book “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever”, and beautiful decorations for my Christmas tree. Then my friends Joe and Shirley had us over for a splendid Aussie BBQ and surprised me with coffee from Tim Hortons in Canada. And Shirley showed me a gorgeous lily that smells like chocolate! Such happy little surprises. 🙂
A lot has happened this week and I have heaps of things to share with you.
Firstly, I’m so honored to be interviewed by the fabulous ladies at Well Designed Journeys about my travels and some favorite food destinations. Click here to read it and please leave a comment there and let me know what your answers would be!
Second, I’m very excited to have my Christmas in Australia article up at The Travel Belles. Click here to read how the holidays are celebrated where there’s not a lick of snow in sight. I’d love to hear how you would celebrate Christmas in an environment completely the opposite of what you’re familiar with.
Third, I’m very proud to host a guest post by my dear friend and true kindred spirit, Breanne from A Vintage Box. I met Breanne and her splendid husband Jared for the first time on a chilly day in Vancouver, Canada, after months of reading each other’s blogs. We were instant “bosom friends” as our beloved Anne of Green Gables would say, and have stayed in contact ever since. (Click here to read about our adventure there.) Tomorrow she will be writing about one of their most delightful holiday party traditions, and I can’t wait to share it with you.
Fourth (I told you there are heaps!!), the very first Rambling Tart Newsletter will be coming out this week. I had every intention of sending you one every month since last spring, but as you know my whole world went topsy-turvy (click here to read more) and I never had the chance. But now that I’m settled down again, I’m getting back on track. 🙂 If you would like to receive it, please click here to sign up. I promise to never spam you and hope the Rambling Tart Newsletter will inspire you with ideas for building a beautiful life.
Phew! Now I wish you could join me for a cup of tea and a slice of Plum Tart with a soft, nutty crust slathered in rich cream. After using up most of my plums in Spiced Chilled Plum Soup, I used the rest in this oh-so-homey tart. I love it any time of day, but it’s awfully nice for breakfast with coffee or tea. I tidied up the back porch and now it is perfect for sitting and visiting while eating a slice of tart and watching the antics of the local wildlife. I saw my first kangaroo hopping by the other day!
What is your favorite homey dessert?
Plum Tart with Nutty Crust
Ingredients:
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup almond meal (finely ground almonds)
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks cold butter, diced
1 egg yolk
2 pounds ripe plums, pitted and quartered lengthwise
heavy cream
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Combine all ingredients except plums and cream until mixture forms a dough. (Will be rather wet)
- Press 3/4 of the mixture into an even layer along bottom and sides of 9″ tart pan with removable bottom.
- Arrange plums, skin side down in whatever pattern you desire.
- Drop small spoonfuls of remaining dough across plums (like you would for a cobbler).
- Bake for 40-50 minutes until crust is lightly browned and plum juices are bubbling.
- Remove from oven and cool 10-15 minutes.
- Serve warm or at room temperature drizzled with heavy cream.
by Krista | Dec 15, 2011 | Fabulous Friday
This month at Across the Cafe Table over at the Travel Belles we’re discussing:
If you HAD to spend the holidays away somewhere, where would you go and what would you do?
Although I’m thrilled to have a small and quiet Christmas at home in Australia this year, if I absolutely HAD to go somewhere, I’d choose England.
After visiting England for the first time in October with my friends Katy and Kate, I was smitten.
I grew up reading Brambly Hedge and John Buchan, and every year looked eagerly for the England version of my beloved Victoria magazine. I loved it before I ever went there, and I would dearly love to spend Christmas there one day.
It would be such fun to rent a big ol’ manor house with all my dear ones, or just a cozy cottage. I’d spend my days going for country walks, perusing old book stores, and having good visits over mulled wine at a cozy pub.
It would be so nice to come home at the end of a long day and read by a roaring fire, a hearty meat pie for dinner.
I’d love to enjoy a Christmas concert in a cathedral and watch a live production of “A Christmas Carol”. I think it would be just splendid to have a full blown English Christmas dinner with roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding or perhaps roast goose with a big plum pudding at the end.
And, if I was very, very lucky, we’d get a light dusting of snow, perfect for late night rambles to see village Christmas lights.
After a walk in the snow, a hot cup of tea at a nearby pub would be just the ticket.
How about you, dear ones?
If you HAD to spend the holidays away somewhere, where would you go and what would you do?
For more inspiring ideas, click here.
by Krista | Dec 14, 2011 | Plucky Thursday
Good morning, luvs! The storm clouds have rolled in again after a positively gorgeous couple of days. How I have loved wandering around the property, watching the goats and horses nibbling their way through the yard and trying to guess what sort of ducks are bobbing along the pond.
The other day I spotted this lime green pod and thought it looked so cool! Any ideas as to what it might be?
The sunshine has been wonderful, perfect for hanging laundry on the line, building new fences, and squelching the amorous advances of the goats.
The males have been getting mighty frisky the last few days, and since we don’t want pregnant mamas and their babies struggling to thrive in the cold winter months, we’re working hard to get the Bachelor’s Quarters ready so the menfolk are removed from temptation.
They’ve been enjoying their last few days of freedom with their girlfriends, basking in sunshine atop their favorite hill and wandering through the trees finding tasty weeds to munch on.
In addition to building fences, it’s also time for drenching the goats. When I first heard this term, I pictured us dunking animals in a large vat of something. Kind of like that dunking game at the fair where a brave soul perches on a diving board over a pool of water whilst eager customers take turns hurling balls at a target hoping to send him into the icy depths.
Alas, it’s nothing quite that exciting. Drenching is simply giving goats an oral dose of medicine to get rid of worms. They enjoy it about as much as I loved getting spoonfuls of cod liver oil as a kid.
It’s definitely a tw0-person job unless you have a docile patient like Bossy Boots, below. Bear holds the goats between his knees, one hand holding the horns and the other their chin. I’m stationed at the business end of each goat where I fill the syringe with the proper dosage, slip it in the side of their mouths where there’s no teeth to hamper my efforts, and empty the plunger. They sputter and fuss, but feel so much better afterwards.
Soon they’re off gallivanting again, exploring where they oughtn’t and having a marvelous time.
They make me grin.
Recently I used up the last of our kangaroo mince to make a delectably homey dish that’s so simple I hesitate calling it a recipe. I learned about it many years ago when I was a nanny in Portugal from the mom of the kids I was looking after.
It’s a “poor man’s roast” using ground beef, pork, or – if you have a lot of kangaroo on hand – kangaroo.
Simply mix the ground meat with lots of freshly ground black pepper, a bit of salt and a spoonful of minced garlic. Shape it into a loaf and place it in a foil-lined bread pan. Mix together cream of mushroom soup, onion soup mix and more black pepper and pour the lot over the meat. Seal the foil and bake for a little over an hour.
The result is a savory meatloaf with its own gravy, perfect over rice or boiled potatoes.
It’s nothing fancy, just good, comfort food.
What chores have you been tackling this week?
Kangaroo Mince Roast
Ingredients:
1 pound kangaroo mince (or ground beef)
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp hot red chili flakes
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 envelope onion soup mix
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 F
- Line bread pan with large piece of aluminum foil. Set aside.
- In medium bowl mix kangaroo mince with pepper, salt, garlic and chili flakes. Shape into loaf size and place in bread pan, leaving room along sides and ends.
- In separate bowl mix soup mixes and pepper together until well-blended. Pour over meat loaf.
- Fold foil over meat loaf and seal.
- Bake for 60-90 minutes until meat is cooked through.
- Slice meat and cover with gravy. Serve with rice or mashed potatoes.
by Krista | Dec 12, 2011 | Bootstrap Monday
Rain bucketed down Wednesday morning as my friend Barbara (from Winos and Foodies) and I sipped coffee and nibbled delicious pain au chocolat from the wonderful French patisserie Chouquette in Brisbane.
Both of us are early risers, so we had a few hours to kill before our big day out at Natasha’s Annual Christmas Degustation Trek with Taste Trekkers and Natasha Mirosch. We were so excited, eager to join other food-loving adventurers for a tour of Russian, Greek, and Italian shops in Brisbane.
Bryan, Barbara’s husband, weathered the downpour to drop us off, and we dashed from puddle to puddle until arriving safely in the dry and cheerful home of Taste Trekker owner Sally Lynch.
Sally is even more jolly and hilarious than her website conveys, and we felt utterly welcomed. She chatted a mile a minute as she whipped up one delicious dish after another for our post-shopping lunch. The downpour kept us from enjoying her beautiful riverside backyard, but we contented ourselves with the view from her covered porch.
Soon everyone arrived and after pasting nametags on our bosoms we boarded our bus and headed to our first stop, the Greek shop Samios.
Established in 1934, Samios is a charming hodgepodge of traditional Greek offerings like Baklava and feta cheese mingled with unusual ingredients from around Europe. The owner regaled us with jokes and stories as we were served thick Greek coffee and platter after platter of dolmades and various Greek cheeses. While I listened, an older gentleman tapped me on the shoulder and wondered what was happening. We got to chatting and I found out that he was from Slovakia and had relatives in Canada in the same town as my relatives. Things like that make me smile.
Then it was time to shop and I perused the shelves happily, filling my basket with a parcel of sumac, some liquid smoke, a jar of grape molasses, and a tender wedge of baklava.
Our next stop was Pennisi Cuisine, a warehouse-style shop which specializes in Italian foods but also carries delectables from all over the world. I was thrilled to pieces to find ingredients for Mexican food – something I’ve been craving since I left the US in July – a bag of my favorite Canadian cookies Dare Maple Leaf, and a couple bags of spices for a mere $2 a bag.
Our final destination was the Ruski Way Deli, small, relatively new shop full of Eastern European delicacies like Napoleon cakes, Russian chocolates, and anti-oxidant super food berries from Siberia. The owners went all out creating a special Russian tea for us on a table laden with all sorts of lovely things: bread rounds topped with plump Russian caviar, eggplant puree, and thinly sliced sausage, and an array of cakes. I lived in Russia for a few months many years ago and have loved the food ever since. I was so excited to find homemade sauerkraut and pelmeni, especially when the owner told me how to turn the sauerkraut into a delicious Russian salad.
Bags laden we boarded our bus one last time, talking animatedly about our purchases and what we were going to do with them once we got home.
We arrived back at Sally’s in time for a tea tasting with the oh-so-knowledgeable May King of MayKing Tea. She shared an iced version made from an herbal mixture that tasted like real tea. Suitably refreshed we wandered into Sally’s basement that she had turned into a Greek Taverna when the weather rendered outside dining impossible.
There we were given a Clovely Estate wine tasting by the lovely Renee who taught us about different grapes and Australian wines. A bit later we were given a beer tasting by the inspiring Matt Kirkegaard who introduced us to a Belgian bblond ale La Chouffee. I can’t wait to serve it with the smoked salmon and chive tart he recommended.
At long last we sat down at long tables in Sally’s Greek Taverna and tucked into her incredible lunch.
Here is only part of her scrumptious menu:
Pork Belly Apple Fennel Salad
Smoked Trout Soba Noodle Salad
Banana Flower Salad with Shredded Chicken
Roasted Veg with Creamy Feta and Roquette Dressing
Black Rice with Mango and Coconut Milk with Palm Sugar
We visited animatedly about food and travels and the latest must-have kitchen gadgets, chit-chatted about our jobs and families and homes. Long after the event was over we lingered, until someone glanced at the clock and suddenly there was a flurry of bag-grabbing and leftover-packing and contact info exchanging before, one by one, we disappeared into the rain.
It was a fantastic day, a wonderful experience learning about so many different foods and cultures and getting to meet such lovely people.
If you’re ever in Brisbane, be sure to check out Taste Trekkers for a delectable and inspiring day out.
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