by Krista | Sep 4, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
As much as I love traveling through Italy, meandering through Paris in Autumn is also an unabashed delight.
I especially like it on stormy, overcast afternoons when the skies are dark and brooding and most people are indoors busy working, leaving the streets and parks almost deserted.
It’s my favorite time to wander through empty church yards, finding quiet nooks under sprawling trees to sit and write or stroll along gravelly lanes, happily crunching through mounds of burnished leaves.
The city seems hushed under a blanket of cloud and instead of the shrieks of children and honking of horns people withdraw for solitary walks, sitting alone on benches with books and maps, leaning back quietly lost in thought.
It is a rich solitude, not a sad or lonely one. A time when the cacophony of the world is muffled a bit, giving thoughts free reign to dance and explore and linger wherever they wish.
They are cozy sorts of days that demand wool pashminas and knee high boots, steaming parcels of roasted chestnuts, and diminutive cups of coffee at sidewalk cafes. Days when you can actually see and appreciate the tops of towers and apartment buildings because the glaring sun isn’t blinding you when you look up. The gray is a frame for the beauty of Parisian buildings and bridges, gates and shops, allowing you to notice details often missed when they have to compete with glittering sunlight and brilliant blue skies.
They do my heart good.
Just thinking about them makes me want to fill a notebook with pages of musings and ideas, plans and notions.
And it makes me want a bicycle just like this.
Although I can’t be in Paris today, I can still linger long over a hot cuppa and fill my journal with current dreams and sparks of inspiration.
These days my cuppa is a big white mug full of dandelion mocha.
Brewed like coffee it is made of roasted dandelion root – a wonderful blood purifier and cleanser full of antioxidants, A, C, D, E, & B complex, calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, zinc, manganese, copper, choline, and boron – a big scoop of raw cocoa and a drizzle of real maple syrup.
I love when healthy things taste marvelous and make you feel warm and happy.
What is your favorite thing to do on an overcast day?
Dandelion Mocha
serves two
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp organic roasted dandelion root
2 Tbsp raw cacao powder
1-2 Tbsp real maple syrup
coconut milk or regular milk if desired
Directions:
- Place dandelion root and cacao powder in 2-cup French press or tea pot and fill with boiling water.
- Let steep to desired strength, give it a good stir to work in the cacao, then pour through strainer into two cups.
- Sweeten and/or add milk and serve immediately.
by Krista | Sep 2, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
It’s a chilly Spring morning and I’m keeping warm with hot cups of dandelion mocha made with roasted dandelion root, real maple syrup, and raw cocoa. Delicious!
I love these cool mornings before the heat of the day sinks down and simmers a heady scent of alyssum, rosemary, and earth. The fields are filling with daisies and tiny purple and yellow flowers and it looks so beautiful when I’m out there with the goats.
Spring feels good.
It’s been a lovely weekend. Bear and I worked on all sorts of projects together: gardening, fence-building and mending, and putting together our new farm blog. Click here if you’d like to take a look. We’re so excited to start selling goats, ducks, and geese and share a deeper glimpse into life on our Aussie farm.
When we weren’t working or taking cuppa breaks on the sunny veranda, we were chuckling at the antics of the baby goats who have progressed from teetering to spirited gamboling over rocks and logs and each other.
Once moment they’ll be standing still like little goat dolls and then with a shiver they’ll be galloping and leaping like crazy marionettes while their mothers placidly munch away on grass and fallen leaves.
The best part is when you pick one up for a cuddle and within moments she falls fast asleep in your arms.
With the warmer weather we’re eating on the sun-drenched veranda again, basking in luscious warmth and scented breezes as we eat and chat.
For breakfast yesterday we had savory potatoes pancakes topped with a zesty sweet corn tomato salad. I don’t usually eat corn since it is genetically modified and difficult to digest, but once in a while I simply crave milky sweet corn and happily give in to that craving. Sweet corn is especially nice in a fresh salad like this with ripe Roma tomatoes and crunchy snow peas.
What did you do this weekend?
PS – The winner of the Wood-Burning Giveaway was Val from More Than Burnt Toast. Your parcel will be shipped this week, Val! 🙂
Potato Pancakes with Sweet Corn Tomato Salad
serves two
Ingredients:
6 potato pancakes (click here for recipe)
2 cobs sweet corn, corn removed with knife
2 Roma tomatoes, cored and diced
handful of snow peas, sliced
1 lemon, juiced, pips removed
2 Tbsp olive oil
small bunch fresh dill, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
sea salt and pepper
Directions:
- Keep pancakes warm while you prepare salad.
- In medium bowl add corn, tomatoes and snow peas.
- In small bowl whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, dill, garlic, salt and pepper until emulsified.
- Pour dressing over vegetables and stir gently until evenly coated.
- Arrange three pancakes on each plate and top with generous scoop of salad.
- Serve immediately.
by Krista | Aug 30, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
It is Spring here in Australia, my favorite time of year for traveling and the time when I get the strongest wanderlust.
It’s the time of year I want to pack my bag full of sundresses and fly to Italy to meet up with dear friends and wander cobbled streets and spend hours in cafes sipping outrageously strong coffee and dining leisurely on meals of roasted artichokes with lemon and mint, seafood studded pasta, and caramel panna cotta.
But this year I’m focusing on strengthening the roots I’ve established here in Australia so I won’t be jetting off to my beloved Italy.
Still, I can dream, and dream I shall!
I’m reading Italian cookbooks and novels and spending many happy hours dreaming my way through Italian picture books of country homes, lavish villas, tumbledown farms, and gorgeous gardens. It’s almost time for my annual viewing of “A Month by the Lake”, “Under the Tuscan Sun” and any other sun-drenched Italian movies I can think of.
I’m loving it.
So today we’re jaunting to the shores of Lago di Orta in Italy’s Piedmont region and finding a shady bench to sit on while we gaze out at beautiful Isola San Giulio and imagine what it must be like to live on such an island in such a wondrous setting.
When we see a water taxi pull up to the dock, we buy tickets and clamber aboard to explore the island for ourselves. Pretty soon we’re bouncing across the waves, the deliciously cool wind buffeting our hair as the occasional splash of water drenches us.
It’s marvelous.
Our boatman gallantly hands us ashore when we get to Isola San Giulio and we all agree to explore on our own, taking whichever paths seem best to us.
It’s a wonderful idea, for this tiny island is a place of peace and reflection and the sort of beauty you want silence to truly appreciate.
There are quiet corners to sit in, shady nooks to rest awhile and contemplate and do a fair bit of daydreaming.
Daydreaming is something I’ve been doing a lot of on these warm, sunny first days of Spring. I know Italy is not idyllic. It has its glitches and mean people and frustrating quirks like any other place. But it also has incredible beauty and wonderful traditions that enrich meals and relationships that I like to incorporate in my life wherever I am.
I’ve been planting lavender and rosemary – herbs that smell of Italy every time the sun hits them – and using the vivid colors often found on shutters and doors to bring a bit of cheer to our Aussie farm.
And I’ve been cooking simple, delicious, and nourishing food like this Lemony White Bean Salad.
This is one of my favorite dishes for it can be used in so many ways. Studded with ripe Roma tomatoes and salty chunks of tuna, it is brightened with a zesty lemon dressing rich with parsley. I like it for breakfast on top of scrambled eggs, all by itself for lunch, or used over toast as bruschetta for a mid-afternoon snack. The zingy lemon is delicious with all that protein, and it keeps me going for hours.
What beloved place do you dream about returning to?
Lemony White Bean Salad
Ingredients:
2 cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
3 Roma tomatoes, cored and diced
1 can tuna, drained
1 lemon, juiced, pips removed
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
one bunch parsley, chopped
sea salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- In medium bowl add beans, tomatoes, and tuna. Set aside.
- In small bowl whisk together remaining ingredients until emulsified into salad dressing.
- Pour dressing over bean mixture and stir gently to combine.
- Best served at room temperature.
by Krista | Aug 27, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
One:
On one of the coldest winter mornings yet, I had to be dropped off early for a doctor’s appointment. It was FREEZING but I was determined to make the best of it so I brewed a big thermos of chamomile tea laced with lemon and maple syrup, brought my favorite mittens (handmade by my very talented friend Marie), two pashminas, a big jacket, and I found the sunniest spot in town – a picnic table glowing in the early morning light. I pulled out a wonderful Italian cookbook and spent a very happy hour reading, sipping, and snuggling down into all my warm things.
Two:
Taking my goats out to the fields and finding the poplar trees that line our drive back-lit wondrously by the late morning sun. Happy sigh.
Three:
Snuggling with this little mite as the sun set over the fields, flooding us with light and warmth while she slept.
Four:
Trekking through brown-gold fields and finding this radiant little orange feather.
Five:
Roasted cabbage “steaks” liberally seasoned with olive oil and lemon pepper.
What are some things that made you smile this week? xo
Roasted Cabbage Steaks
serves a lot of cabbage lovers 😉
Ingredients:
1 green cabbage
olive oil
lemon pepper
sea salt
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 F (200 C).
- Cut cabbge in half and remove core.
- Cut each half into 1-inch thick “steaks” and lay side by side on parchment lined baking sheet.
- Drizzle each steak with olive oil and sprinkle liberally with lemon pepper and sea salt.
- Place in hot oven and roast 30-40 minutes until cabbage is cooked through and browning nicely.
- Serve warm or cold.
by Krista | Aug 23, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that some day I’d be working quietly one moment and the next be catching a goat mid-air, tackling it to the ground, and pinning it there until Bear could stop laughing long enough to help me.
Good heavens.
Such was my life last weekend and I’ve been hobbling and moaning ever since. Apparently goat tackling uses unusual muscles and when you combine it with being kicked, head butted, rammed, and spat on by goats, it makes for a very achy self for a few days. OK, a week. 😉
Every few months we set aside an entire day to give our goats deworming medicine (for some reason they don’t fancy having the foul stuff squirted down their throats) and trimming their hooves (another activity they apparently liken to Armageddon). Most times they’re fairly decent about the ordeal. They don’t like it or anything, but once you get them secured in the goat crush, they generally behave themselves.
Not this time.
Merciful heavens. I swear someone stole onto our farm in the middle of the night and replaced our herd with the wildest most feral goats they could find! I’ve never seen them so feisty! Bear and I wrestled with the little blighters all day long and finally, FINALLY got the last ones done by the light of the full moon. Ayiyi.
We’ve been absolutely knackered ever since. 🙂
But it was worth all the hassle for the little dears are back to their amiable selves and are prancing about happy as can be.
Good thing too, for this morning I opened the pen to discover our very first baby goat of the season!! She is teeny-tiny and cute as all get out. I got in a few cuddles while transferring her and her mother to the nursery and it made all my bruises, scrapes, and muscle aches absolutely worth it.
When you’re aching from head to toe, there’s really nothing better than a scrumptious dessert to make you feel better.
Bear and I are absolutely smitten with this one – a luscious, fruity, light as air Strawberry Cream. Dairy-free, sugar-free, and gluten-free it is so delicious you’d never guess you were actually behaving yourself in eating it.
So far we’ve been eating it as is, straight out of the bowl, but I think it would be marvelous as a filling for buckwheat crepes, frozen as a berrylicious creamsicle, or used to top a berry crumble.
What is your favorite healthy dessert?
PS – Don’t forget! You still have three more days to enter my Wood-Burning Giveaway! Click here for details. 🙂
Strawberry Cream
Ingredients:
2 punnets strawberries, washed and hulled (about 3 cups)
1 3/4 cups coconut milk (or rice/almond/cashew milk)
6 tbsp real maple syrup
3 tsp gelatine powder (add more if you prefer it firm like panna cotta)
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup coconut milk
Directions:
- Blend strawberries, coconut milk, and maple syrup in a blender/food processor until very smooth.
- Sprinkle gelatine over 1/4 cup coconut milk in a small bowl and let stand 2 minutes to soften.
- Bring second 1/4 cup coconut milk to a boil in a small pan. Remove from heat and add gelatin mixture, stirring until dissolved.
- Whisk warm mixture into strawberry blend and pour equal amounts into 6 small serving dishes. Chill 6-8 hours.
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