by Krista | Dec 26, 2015 | Summer
Christmas was simple, small, and quiet for us this year, and that’s just what we needed. We rested and napped, read books and watched way too many episodes of “Arrow”, ate good leftovers and favorite desserts, and enjoyed not having to go anywhere or do anything.
Bear surprised me with two swords of my very own, beautifully strong but light enough for my non-bloke-y self to wield. I’m excited to start practicing with him and our Blackwolf medieval friends in January.
The other pressie from Bear delighted me no end: an adventure.
As you know, travel is very important to me, one of the great delights of my life. But since moving to Australia it has moved to the back burner for a variety of reasons, among them, poor health, visa requirements, and responsibilities on our beloved but time-consuming farm.
But this weekend I get to go traveling again, on a Girls Only Aussie Road Trip with my dear friend Sue. Bear thought I might be disappointed that his gift wasn’t something I could hang onto, but I laughed and assured him that adventure was the very best thing he could give me.
I worked hard this week to get all my projects and writing assignments completed before I left, and the rest of my work I can do remotely on the road. I have stacks and lists everywhere and I’m getting so excited!!
This afternoon Sue and I are packing her van with camping gear, good food, and stacks of books, and tomorrow we drive north. We’re heading for the Bunya Mountains where we plan to relax our little hearts out, cook simply over a gas burner, hike in the bush, and sit around camp reading and chatting and snoozing. We will stop at other places along the way, ending in Biloela where we’ll spend New Year’s Eve with Sue’s good friends from England. Then we’ll mosey on back, stopping wherever takes our fancy. I cannot wait.
But this morning it’s all about getting ready to leave. There are gardens to be watered, newborn chicks to be checked on, house to tidy, food to organize, bags to pack, and a Bear to hug often to make up for a week apart.
My gardens are going beautifully and will supply Bear with tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, greens, and carrots while I’m away. On Christmas Eve my artichokes bloomed. Aren’t they stunning?!
They’re like something magical out of a fairytale or a Dr. Seuss book, and I love them.
Today we’re also finishing off the last of the plum pudding I made Bear for Christmas. Made with crumbed oats, sago pearls, and dried fruit soaked in spiced rum, it is moist and flavorful, delicious served with a generous drizzle of cold cream.
Wishing you all a relaxing holiday and beautiful New Year with people you love and who love you in return. xo
Sago Plum Pudding
4 Tbsp sago pearls
1 cup milk
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups oats, blized in food processor until crumbs
1 1/2 cups dried fruit
1/2 cup spiced rum
2 eggs, whisked lightly
1/3 cup butter, melted
Directions:
- Combine sago pearls and milk and leave to soak for 1 hour.
- Combine dried fruit and spiced rum and leave to soak for 1 hour.
- Stir in baking soda until dissolved.
- Combine with remaining ingredients and stir until smooth and all ingredients are incorporated.
- Pour into greased pudding pot, cover with baking paper, and secure lid.
- Place in large pot, fill with boiling water to halfway up pudding pot, cover, place on medium-high heat and simmer for 3-4 hours. Make sure to check water level regularly so it doesn’t boil dry. Add more boiling water as needed.
- Carefully remove pudding from steam bath, remove lid and baking paper and loosen pudding from the pot with plastic spatula. Invert onto serving platter and decorate as you wish.
- Serve warm with cream.
by Krista | Dec 21, 2015 | Summer
I know I’m supposed to write about Christmas-y and holiday-ish things, but the truth is I haven’t been able to get to them. We have no tree up, there is no baking done, not a single present has been wrapped, and there’s no sign of our Christmas trousers that we usually hang in lieu of stockings.
And that’s OK.
Sometimes life happens (aka – glandular fever) and you have to decide what’s truly important. This year, as much as I love our fun little traditions, I have to accept that I simply don’t have the strength or energy for them.
Instead we’re making time for naps and sleeping in, watching movies from the library, reading through Harry Potter again, and, when we’re up for it, taking day trips to visit good friends and soak up the beauties of the ocean and the mountains.
Instead of our favorite holiday foods we’re keeping things simple, making the most of whatever is growing in the gardens, and treating ourselves to delicious things someone else has already made: fluffy bread rolls, dark chocolate, and plum wine.
It’s enough.
My favorite dish this week was new potatoes from my garden, boiled and tossed with parsley, butter, and sea salt.
My most exciting find in my gardens was kohlrabi. Kohlrabi was one of my favorite vegetables as a child, and my Mum grew heaps of it. We’d eat them raw cut into crudites or grated into salads.
I’ve been trying to grow kohlrabi for four years, experimenting with different seeds and varieties, switching the seedlings from garden plot to garden plot, but they just never took. All I got were lots of leaves but no kohlrabi bulbs.
Until this year. I finally found the right seed company and the seedlings flourished into strong, sturdy plants. This week was my first harvest and they were delicious.
I prepared them three different ways so we could taste test and see which way we liked best.
I roasted some until they were soft with crispy brown edges. They were scrumptious and will make an excellent addition to a roast chicken dinner.
Others I grated for a coleslaw type salad, tossed with dill weed, sliced asparagus, and a mustard vinaigrette.
The last recipe was kohlrabi soup, and that was hands down my favorite. Smooth and creamy with a hint of onion, it is true comfort in a bowl.
Today I finished up the last of my wood-burning orders before Christmas and shipped them off to new owners around the world. I loved doing the order below, a collection of children’s mixing spoons personalized for a group of little girls in California.
Whether you’re partying or resting this holiday, I wish you a beautiful, soul-nourishing time. xo
by Krista | Dec 18, 2015 | Summer
My friend T is a great guy. He’s always sending me books, books he loves, books he thinks I will love, and it’s so exciting to open a parcel from him. Once he loved a book so much he sent it to me twice by accident and we had a good laugh.
A while back he sent me “The Gifts of Imperfection” by Brené Brown, and this week I finally got a chance to open it and start reading. What a treasure. I cried and grinned as I read, jotted down notes, underlined sentences, sighed and nodded at so many “me too” moments.
There are gems throughout, but the line I keep thinking about is this:
“Wholehearted living is about engaging in our lives from a place of worthiness.”
a place of worthiness
Not a place of strength, not a place of understanding everything, not a place of wisdom or courage or got-it-all-together-ness. A place of worthiness.
I was staggered by that. Gripped, gutted, stunned, and, as it sunk deep, deep into my soul, healed.
a place of worthiness
I find myself reciting those words as I go through my day, smiling at the instant calm they bring, silently thanking Brené for all the work she did to write them down.
It’s been interesting to think through the things that stress me out and fill me with anxiety. So many of them stem from a place of unworthiness. When I am secure in my worthiness, I don’t wrestle with shame over my weaknesses, I just give myself a hug and deal with them. I don’t worry about what others think, I just try my best. I am not stunned into silence by bullies, I calmly stand up for myself or others.
Looking back I see that it was the ability to make me doubt my worthiness that gave bullies their power, that allowed abusers to treat me shamefully, that made me afraid to love and receive love. Unworthiness breeds doubt, fear, and shame. Worthiness, on the other hand, does the opposite. It anchors confidence, gives oomph to courage, and makes love a beautiful thing.
It’s been such a healing week for me. I feel so thankful for the whole-hearted people in this world who are lights for us in our dark moments. I’m treasuring this deep peace, the inestimable comfort that comes from the assurance of worthiness.
It accompanies me as I pull weeds in my gardens and wash dishes, makes me smile as I apply for new writing jobs and bake bread while the rain falls. It compels me to randomly hug Bear and squeeze him until he laughs. It’s a good, good feeling.
Now I will slice up some lusciously ripe white peaches, finish burning some spoons to ship to America, and watch Arrow episodes with Bear.
Wishing you a beautiful weekend. xo
by Krista | Dec 15, 2015 | Summer
Sometimes life shakes you a bit, jostles the security you’ve been comfortable in, makes you feel uncertain and unsettled. It can be paralyzing, but if you keep breathing, keep getting up in the morning, keep looking for the good in life, before long the bad is overshadowed and you aren’t scared any more.
Goodness does that. Goodness in our friends, in the actions of total strangers.
Lately, whenever I’m discouraged I go to HONY and read stories. Stories of good people, brave, battered, broken, suffering, amazing people. And I’m reminded that we are all the same, that this world is home for all of us and we’re just trying to find our place in it. A place to live, to be safe, to do the things we’re good at, to be close to the people we love.
Such reminders yank me out of fear and put me back on the path of purposeful goodness. Looking for ways to do good to my Bear and myself, our animals, our land, the people in my life.
I’ve spent more time in my gardens this week, tidying up garden beds, nurturing plants withered by the heat, harvesting treasured veggies that nourish and strengthen.
It quiets me to be out there, working among plants that remind me of us, flourishing best when they’re fed, protected, and rooted next to other plants whose attributes make them stronger.
We’ve been spending time with good people, taking several day trips recently to hang out with medieval friends. I love them, love their stories, great senses of humor, and amazing talents that always inspire me and make me glad to be part of this world. It’s so nice to know there are kindred spirits around, people who value honesty and hard work and creativity, and know how to have a jolly good laugh.
We’ve also been making time for creativity. Today Bear and I finished making two medieval training shields for us to use as he trains me in medieval combat. I love working with leather and wood, iron and steel, making beautiful and useful things. I’ve been wood-burning a lot, getting Christmas orders ready to ship overseas, and pottering around the house making messy places neat and tidy again. It feels so good.
And I’ve been spending time in the kitchen making things that nourish our bodies and make us smile. I have so many greens growing in my gardens right now, so I’ve been adding them to everything, especially breakfast. It makes me happy to know we’re starting each day with heaps of vegetables along with our farm eggs.
We’ve had fried eggs on sauteed silverbeet and asparagus, eggs on spinach sizzled with caramelized onion and fresh tomato, and leftover baked potatoes simmered with kale, tomato sauce, onions, and sausage. Such good, simple, wholesome food.
Tonight I’m heading to bed early with a good book. A storm is raging outside and it’s lovely to be cozy and warm in our little house.
Good night. xo
by Krista | Dec 11, 2015 | Summer
I have not been well this week, so I cut back on commitments, stayed close to home, and have been resting as much as possible. I’d love to be out in my gardens or the orchards, but I’ve learned that if I don’t rest when I need to, it takes so much longer to get back on my feet.
So I’m being good, mostly, and it’s really helped. I slept ten hours last night – what richness! There’s nothing like a good sleep to renew your strength and spirits. We’ve been eating asparagus, Lebanese cucumbers, and all sorts of tomatoes from the gardens. It’s so nice to have healthy things to eat when you’re feeling blechy. Especially when you can just pop them in your mouth, no cooking required.
It’s been a good time to get caught up on wood-burning last minute Christmas orders. It’s been so nice to sit in front of the fan, etching fanciful designs onto spoons, cheeseboards, and rolling pins, while watching episodes of Murdoch Mysteries and other favorite shows.
I perked up a bit on Wednesday, and Bear and I spent a lovely day in Brisbane with truly lovely people. We ran errands, shared good visits over scrumptious gnocchi, and I got to finger-knit some reins for our medieval camel saddles while I chatted with dear medieval friends at a training night. My friends brought their oh-so-gorgeous 2-week-old baby girl, and there was much cuddling and swooning over her deliciousness.
It’s been a week of simple food, comforting things that nourish and strengthen. It started Sunday afternoon with the first meeting of the Cookbook Club started by my friend Karis and her blogging partner, Mel, from But first, we eat!. The idea is to choose one cookbook each time for all of us to cook from. That way we get to taste numerous dishes from the cookbooks we all have sitting on our shelves.
Sunday was our first dinner and it was so fun! About ten of us, mostly strangers, met at Fort Lytton National Park and shared a prodigiously good meal. Our first cookbook was River Cottage Everyday, and we dined most happily on Lamb Burgers with roasted pepper relish, Warm Bean Leek Salad, Venison Burgers with Spiced Pears, Chicken Leek Pasties, Beef Lentil Salad, Cherry Clafoutis, Caraway Shortbread, Lemony Muffins, Beetroot Brownies, and Smoked Trout Dip. Everything was scrumptious and it was so great to meet kindred spirits who love food and a nourishing life as much as Bear and I do. We’re looking forward to our next meet-up very much indeed.
Bear and I liked the Warm Bean Leek Salad so much that I made it again the very next day, adding leftover sausages to make it a bit heartier, and served it alongside greens from our garden. Such comforting food.
Now it’s time for a rest as the rain begins to fall and the goats all rush to hide under the house until the storm passes.
Wishing you a beautiful weekend. xo
_logo.svg){kind=logo}
