by Krista | Jan 9, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
There is a stunning lightning storm on display tonight. Thunder growls ever closer, rabid bursts of wind hurtling through the house in random gusts.
I like this sort of night. Wild and unpredictable, startling in its frightening yet wondrous beauty.
Sometimes I need this wildness for it unleashes brave and adventurous feelings often kept quiet and well-behaved in my heart.
But other times I need the warmth of sunshine on stone walls, window boxes overflowing with geraniums, that golden serenity of an Italian afternoon that releases grief, anxiety and pain until all that’s left is quietness and strength.
Looking at this gorgeous stone home on Lago di Orta makes me so happy. The clambering vines, watery garages, and the exquisite little balcony that is at once deliciously private yet open to the world.
And this street makes me smile. I can almost feel the heat radiating off those thick old walls, enveloping passersby with a hug of light.
Here on our little farm in Australia the rain has arrived at last, filling the house with that heavenly scent of wet earth and damp leaves.
It’s time for me to go out on the back porch and enjoy this glorious storm.
I will leave you with the recipe for my favorite breakfast of the New Year: a Smoked Salmon Bocconcini Quiche
What sort of weather is making your heart happy these days?
Smoked Salmon Bocconcini Quiche Recipe
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive oil or butter
1 large onion, diced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, drained and julienned
8-10 large eggs
1/2 cup milk or cream
salt and pepper to taste
1 package smoked salmon (about 4 slices)
1 tub bocconcini, drained (about 1 cup)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 200 C or 375 F.
- Heat olive oil or butter in saucepan over medium high heat. Add onion and fry until it begins to brown and caramelize. Add minced garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes. Set pan aside to cool while you mix other ingredients.
- In medium bowl add tomatoes, eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Beat together until frothy.
- Stir in onion and garlic mixture.
- Butter a casserole dish.
- Place half the bocconcini in bottom of dish.
- Pour one third of egg mixture over bocconcini.
- Lay two slices of smoked salmon over bocconcini.
- Place remaining bocconcini on salmon.
- Pour third of egg mixture over bocconcini.
- Lay remaining two slices of salmon over bocconcini.
- Pour last third of egg mixture over the salmon.
- Bake 40-45 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Serve warm or cold.
by Krista | Jan 7, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
My Grandma died this week.
Yesterday I took time alone in a flower-filled meadow to think of her and remember good and happy things.
Like her hilarious sneezes that came out a high-pitched, “Acheeya!”
Her brilliant cooking skills. Grandma was one of those amazing women who not only cooked delicious food – peppernuts, Danish pastry, roast pork – she also cooked beautiful food. A feast at her house was a visual feast as much as a culinary one.
And her love for my Grandpa. It makes me laugh to think of her flirting with him, a twinkle in her eyes as she called him Alfie instead of Alfred. She told me once that every night they fell asleep holding hands.
I love that.
I am grateful for the things she taught me: love of travel, love of good food, and devotion to loved ones.
I will always remember her smile. Especially her just-before-bed smile when her false teeth were out and she was just as cute as cute can be.
“Death is but the next great adventure.”
J.K. Rowling
by Krista | Jan 4, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
It’s a gorgeous summer afternoon – blue skies, sunshine, lovely cool breezes – and I just came in for a break after spending most of the day out with Bear building a new fence to keep the goats out of my orchard.Yay!
It is hard work but so satisfying. When we finish up I’ll have a safe place to plant my crabapple, pomegranate, mulberry and fig trees, plus a currant, raspberry and blackberry bushes. I’m so excited!!
A few days I wrote about the Happiness Jar I use each day. You guys responded with so many great ideas for things to add to it, that I thought I’d share them here so we could all be inspired:
- learn how to make a new origami shape and share them with friends to bring an oooo and a smile! (online has excellent videos to follow fold by fold)
- One thing that makes me very very happy is going to a bookshop, and spend there a couple of hours looking at book covers, looking at the images printed on them, reading the titles and flicking through pages, and then buy the one that inspires me most , then go back home and start reading it immediately! And the same in a music shop 🙂
- I think a great idea would be sifting through photos, or if you do not have any printed, print some of some favourite pics of places and people with happy memories attached. Make them into a lovely scrapbook. Then treat yourself to a lovely cuppa and look through your “happy album”. You could include some favourite poems that uplift your spirit, or sayings that make you giggle.
- Each day I go for a morning walk and it’s something I absolutely love. I also like to, on occasion, make myself a Lebanese coffee. It’s just so decadent yet such a quick and easy way to make myself feel special and cared for. I also love cooking for other people to make them feel cared for – whether it’s a small jar of freshly made relish, a batch of cupcakes or even a spur of the moment lunch. I also still send birthday cards to relatives and they keep saying that I’m one of the only ones that still does it in this day and age of social media.
- I try each day to surround myself with people who make me belly laugh, easy living with a bunch of nutters, or talking each day with those who make me laugh, having fresh flowers in the house somewhere, scented candles and my favourite; having someone else wash my hair – now that is bliss!
- Drink a beautiful cup of tea, read your horoscope and wish the good part of it on someone else as well as yourself, name 3 things for which you’re grateful, name your favorite color and count how many times you see it that day (knowing that God only put those things there because He knew it would be YOUR favorite), count your freckles (my mom told me they were angel kisses when I was little), and visit a website that makes you laugh every day.
- Lighting a scented candle to make the house smell nice, adding a yummy flavoured creamer to our morning cup of coffee ,painting our toenails a pretty colour, turning on our favourite music while we make dinner, reading a book on a blanket outside under our favourite tree, putting a mason jar of fresh wildflowers on the kitchen table, going for a bike ride, listening to the birds chatter in the early morning, the goats bleating….basically enjoying all the small every day things that make us smile,,oh yes and enjoying a few moments to breathe in the cooler night air in complete silence
- One of my favourites is to take a little time to escape in a book 🙂
- When I get a moment to myself, I like to meditate. Also, a nice hot bath with special salts is quite lovely too! Come to think of it, this would make a great baby shower gift for a new mom!!!! Love it!!!
Thank you so much for your wonderfully creative ideas. Just reading them made me smile.
Today I’m sharing with you my recipe for Perfect Pork Roast Crackling. It is the result of numerous attempts to cook a pork roast that was moist, flavorful, tender and with a crackling that didn’t break your teeth.
I tried so many things and have forced myself to eat far too many dry, tough roasts with crackling that was either stiff as shoe leather or burnt to a crisp. Such a disappointment when you’re craving a good pork roast!
I talked with several Aussie friends, did heaps of research online, and finally, FINALLY found a method that works perfectly for me every time. HOORAY!! I hope you enjoy it.
What is your favorite to use leftover roast pork?
Perfect Pork Roast Crackling Recipe
Ingredients:
2 kg pork roast (with rind)
boiling water
olive oil
sea salt
cracked pepper
1-2 Tbsp fennel seeds or minced garlic or rosemary or whatever seasoning you fancy
Directions:
- Score pork roast rind in 1/2 inch squares (or ask butcher to do it for you).
- Place the roast in a colander and pour boiling water over it until skin opens and puffs up.
- Pat dry or let sit in fridge for an hour until dry.
- Preheat oven to 240 degrees F (450 degrees C).
- Set pork roast in roasting pan and rub liberally with olive oil.
- Sprinkle with herb or seasoning of your choice – making sure most of it goes into the cracks of the rind. Sprinkle lavishly with salt and pepper.
- Place in oven and roast for 30 minutes until crackling bubbles and browns.
- Turn down heat to 180 degrees (300 degrees C) and cook for about 2 more hours (approximately 46-60 minutes cooking time per kilo).
- Remove from oven and let roast sit for 10-15 minutes. Remove string and slice.
by Krista | Jan 3, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people
are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home;
that wilderness is a necessity…”
John Muir
My heart is always happiest in the country, close to the ocean and close to the mountains.
In Canada and Washington State I got to live near the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains.
Now I’m so happy to live in Queensland, Australia, still close to the Pacific Ocean (the warm part) and only a short drive away from the beautiful Great Dividing Range.
I love driving through here any time of year, but especially on rainy summer mornings when the peaks of Mount Cordeaux and Mount Mitchell are swathed with fog and wrapped in mist.
I like pulling over and trekking through the grass to feel the wind on my face and listen to the bell birds singing their tinkly songs in the gum trees.
After beautiful drives like this, it’s nice to return home, especially when there are Cranberry Currant Butter Tarts waiting, ready to be taken out to the back porch and eaten alongside a cup of strong Earl Grey Tea while we watch the sun set over our farm.
Since Christmas in Australia happens in summer, there’s no way I want to swelter over a hot turkey dinner with all the fixings. This year I made double-smoked ham sandwiches to accompany a big platter of tarts.
Normally these beauties are filled with plump raisins, but I made our Christmas Butter Tarts with dried cranberries and tiny dried black currants instead. I like them so much I may never go back to the originals.
Do you have a dessert makes your holiday complete?
Cranberry Currant Butter Tarts Recipe
Ingredients:
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 dried currants
hot water
1/2 recipe of Julia Child’s Flaky Pie Dough
1/4 cup softened butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
- Place cranberries and currants in small bowl. Cover with hot water and let sit 20-30 minutes. Drain.
- Lightly spray bottoms and sides of muffin tin.
- Pinch off pieces of pie dough and press firmly and evenly into each muffin mold, making sure dough comes up to the top.
- Place in refrigerator until ready to use.
- In medium bowl add butter, sugar, salt and corn syrup. Mix well until creamy.
- Add eggs and vanilla and mix thoroughly.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Remove tart shells from refrigerator and divide cranberry/currant mixture evenly in the bottom of each tart shell.
- Using a large spoon, ladle butter/sugar mixture evenly into each tart shell.
- Place muffin trays in oven and bake 15 minutes if you like your butter tarts runny, 20 minutes if you like them firm.
- Remove from oven and let cool before removing from pan.
by Krista | Jan 1, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
“Hope
Smiles from the threshold of the year to come,
Whispering ‘it will be happier’…”
Tennyson
Sometimes we get to a place in life where we need a little bit of help to get through a rough patch. An extra bit of support and encouragement from someone who truly cares for nothing more than to see us safe, whole and happy.
Just before Christmas my counselor encouraged me to spend the next month focusing on self-care.
I nodded very sagely and agreed very nicely then got home and wondered: what does that mean?
I squirmed uncomfortably for a bit sincerely hoping it didn’t mean sitting in front of a mirror and chanting, “You’re so pretty. You’re so smart.”
Thank goodness, that’s not what she meant at all.
It turns out that self-care is simply doing things that promote healing, peace and happiness in your own soul and body.
I’ve never really started a project like this, but I liked the sounds of it very much.
My first idea was to drive to the beach with Bear. We walked in the sand, breathed deeply of salt-kissed air, and basked in sea breezes and dazzling sunshine.
My spirit was positively SOARING by the time we headed for home.
For a few days all was well. I was bursting with all sorts of good ideas for self-care:
- writing in my journal
- walks in the sunshiny meadow
- nap in the afternoon
- cuddling with my dog, Luna
They were lovely and soul-nourishing things, things that eased anxious thoughts and built strength in my body. But then I had a relapse with my health, and my fevered, aching head had a dickens of a time coming up with good things.
So I came up with a Happiness Jar. In it I tuck slips of paper bearing self-care ideas. I asked my friends for their thoughts on the matter, and soon the jar was chockablock full of things like:
- buy nail polish with sparkles
- eat a cookie on a pretty plate
- sit on the back porch and read one chapter of an old favorite book
Now, even when I’m too sick or tired to think of a happy thing, I’ve got a whole jar full of ideas to draw from. I’ve got another jar for Bear filled with options that make him grin, and our friend Mozzie emails us every day to make sure we’ve done at least One Happy Thing. 🙂
It’s lovely to know that no matter how rough a day gets, there will always be at least one good thing to bring joy.
What are some things you do to care for yourself and your dear ones? I’d love to hear your ideas.
by Krista | Dec 31, 2012 | Bits 'n' Bobs
“Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day
with no mistakes in it yet?”
L.M. Montgomery
Tomorrow is one of my favorite words.
It makes me feel hopeful and excited, it gives me something to look forward to. It makes whatever no good, very bad, perfectly awful things that happened Today lose their power to discourage and hamper.
I like that.
Over the holidays some no good, very bad things happened. Really painful things that crushed my spirit and left my body in a sorry state indeed.
But the thought of Tomorrow helped me.
Because things are always more manageable Tomorrow after a good sleep, a decent breakfast and a cuppa.
Tomorrow brings perspective and gives ruffled emotions a chance to settle down.
Tomorrow gives the opportunity to schedule things like quiet time to journal, meditate, read, or go for a walk.
All things that help us process painful situations better, that enable us to more readily forgive others and ourselves.
Tomorrow also gives us the chance to pick up the pieces of the day before and make something beautiful out of them.
For me that means gathering up the crumbs of a troubling situation and treasuring the good moments, cherishing hope that good moments will return one day.
It’s stepping back and listing all the oh-so-good things I have in my life to be grateful for: a dear man and dear friends who love me, a safe and beautiful place to live, fuzzy baby ducklings that wobble about and make me grin.
And it’s purposely putting some beauty back into the world each day through a kind word or a pretty picture or something delicious like Cranberry White Chocolate Scones.
I’m so grateful for a clean slate every single day, especially now, on the cusp of New Year’s Eve. How wonderful is the prospect of an entire year of clean slates! 🙂
What is one thing you do that helps you redeem a painful situation?
Cranberry White Chocolate Scones Recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
zest of one lemon
1/2 cup butter
one bar white chocolate, cut in 1/2 inch chunks
1/2 cup to 1 cup dried cranberries
2/3 cup milk or cream
1 large egg
1 egg, beaten (for brushing top of scones)
raw sugar (to sprinkle on top of scones)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F or 210 degrees C.
- Stir together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and lemon zest.
- Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Stir in white chocolate and cranberries.
- In cup whisk together milk and egg. Pour into flour mixture.
- Toss gently with a fork until mixture is just moistened.
- Dump onto lightly floured surface, and mix together with hands just until it holds together.
- Pat gently into circle 1/2-1 inch thick. Cut into triangles and place on baking sheet.
- Brush tops with beaten egg and sprinkle with raw sugar.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until tops are golden brown.
- Serve warm alone or with butter or lightly sweetened whipped cream.
