by Krista | May 28, 2012 | Bootstrap Monday
After a madcap weekend of non-stop hustle and bustle, I’m in dire need of a little visual escape.
So I’m taking you with me. 🙂
Today we’re boarding one of the gorgeous brightly colored boats of Malta to putter through a few of the many harbours of this beautiful and historic island.
The sun is blazing hot, but we’re tucked under the shade of a tarp, cooled by deliciously salty breezes billowing in off the sea.
We motor past limestone ruins and wonder what used to be here: shops? a wharf? a factory of some kind? And what happened to it?
Eager for closer looks at the magnificent old churches and shuttered homes towering on the cliffs above us, we head out to the railing, basking in sunshine and stunning views.
Seeing the ramparts and turrets of numerous fortresses makes me wish I had pored over a few Maltese history books before getting on board.
Somehow watching “The Maltese Falcon” was not adequate preparation for such an adventure.
Thoroughly roasted by the afternoon sun, we seek refuge under the tarp, willingly forking over 2 Euros for bottles of water from the swarthy boatman.
We settle back in our plastic seats, resting feet that are weary from trekking all over the oven-like streets of Maltese towns.
The cool breezes pick up as we motor past enormous cruise ships, tankers, and fishing boats lining the harbor and head out into open water.
Happy sigh. I feel better already. 🙂
“Why do we love the sea?
It is because it has some potent power to make us think things we like to think.”
– Robert Henri –
Where would you like to escape to after a busy weekend?
by Krista | May 22, 2012 | Bootstrap Monday
Pardon me if I moan and groan a bit today. Ayiyi. I am scratched, bruised, battered and sore, but it’s SO worth it. 🙂
Last week I was feeling quite overwhelmed with all the work that needs to be done on this beautiful goat farm I live on. So I sat down with Bear and came up with a Dream List comprised of all the things we’d LOVE to see done around here.
Since then, bit by bit, I’ve been doing one thing at a time.
Pick up all the dog bones in the yard. Check.
Tidy up gardens for winter plantings. Check.
Yesterday I tackled a HUGE one. Before I got to Australia they went through a twenty-year drought. Needless to say it had a less than desirable effect on the trees, and we lost quite a few that toppled over and have been laying there ever since. I decided to surprise Bear by clearing them all. By hand. By myself.
Note to self: let’s not do that ever again. 🙂
With the dogs, Luna and Fletcher, keeping me company, I hauled and dragged and rolled and tipped and shimmied and shoved until I had all of those blasted 30-foot trees in one massive pile ready to be chopped up and used for cozy bonfires.
I was cut and scraped and turning blue in all sorts of places but BOY did it feel good! I collapsed my wheezing, red-faced self onto an obliging tree stump and gazed down the lane, pleased as punch with how neat and tidy it looked.
Bear made his own contribution this weekend, stacking SIXTY bales of hay on the trailer then removing them and re-stacking them all in the barn in PITCH DARK. I was impressed. 🙂
With all this hard work we’ve both been ravenous. Such hearty appetites were amply satisfied with slice after slice of maple-glazed pork roast.
Simply salt and pepper a pork roast and pour over a mixture of real maple syrup, grainy mustard, minced garlic, chopped fresh rosemary and thyme, and you’re set. Add a bit of water in the pan to keep the sauce from burning, then roast until the crackling is crispy and the pork tender (1.5-2 hours). Heavenly.
What is your favorite hearty meal when you’ve been working outside?
Maple-Glazed Pork Roast
Ingredients:
1 pork roast (with rind if you like crackling)
1/2 cup real maple syrup
salt and pepper
2-3 Tbsp grain mustard
1-2 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp each fresh rosemary and fresh thyme, chopped
1/2 cup-1 cup water
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Salt and pepper pork roast and place in roasting pan.
- Combine remaining ingredients and pour over roast.
- Add water to keep sauce from burning.
- Roast at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350-375 degrees F and roast a further 1.5 to 2 hours. Check occasionally to see if pan needs more water.
- Remove from oven and let rest 5-10 minutes.
- Slice and serve with sauce.
by Krista | May 13, 2012 | Bootstrap Monday
I am bundled in numerous layers and parked right in front of the heater on this blustery Autumn day. For the first time I believe my Aussie friends who’ve been promising me for months that it really does get cold in Australia.
I love it.
It is so nice to plan steaming stews and hearty meat pies and actually be cold enough to want to eat them.
This weekend I got to go to my very favorite French bakery – Chouquette in New Farm – and get my two favorite pastries: Pain au Chocolat and Croissants des Amandes. Oh my. They were heavenly with cups of milky Italian espresso on a shivery morning.
Saturday morning I accompanied my dear friend Ann (from thisANNthat) to Brisbane where I got to do a photo shoot of her cheese demonstration. We had such a fun time and I got to taste test her delicious creations: mozzarella, labna, yoghurt, quark, and cottage cheese. I was so inspired that I immediately began writing a list of the things I need to start making my own cheese.
Saturday afternoon we got to visit with my dear friends Barbara (from Winos and Foodies) and Bryan for a gorgeous lunch overlooking the Brisbane River. It was so good to see them. 🙂
Sunday morning we woke to find three new baby goats!! They are so cute and, even better, strong and healthy. Three little boys who are already toddling about on wobbly legs. (Click here to see more pictures)
Sunday afternoon our Black Wolf medieval friends came over and, in spite of outrageously wild winds, managed to put up the incredible Bedouin tent they made themselves. Isn’t it beautiful! I love the striped fabric and gorgeous tapestry for the doorway, not to mention the golden ropes and multi-colored floor mats. I am staggered by the amount of work they put into this and I can’t wait to sleep in here at our next medieval shindig. 🙂
Now, dear ones, I must go make a pot of stew then feed my goats. In a little while Bear and I are off for a drive on this wondrously beautiful day and I’m really looking forward to it.
How was your weekend?
by Krista | May 6, 2012 | Bootstrap Monday
How I love Autumn in Australia. Each morning I bundle up in sweater and socks, wrap a blanket tight around my legs and park myself in front of the heater. Within an hour or two I step outside into glorious sunshine and brilliant blue skies with air so warm I have to don a sundress or I get too hot.
Heavenly.
Last time I shared a few of the beauties to be found on our Australian goat farm in Autumn, and today I’ll share a few more.
I never cease to be amazed at the brilliant snippets of color to be found in what looks at first glance to be a sea of gold and brown.
Like these bright pink blossoms bobbing in the wind down by the pond.
Or these fabulous spiky, lime green pods dangling from long branches.
And these cheery little fuchsia blossoms nearly hidden among the long, golden grasses.
There are also the lovely things you expect to find in autumn: fallen leaves.
This green one caught my eye with dew drops glistening in the sunlight, and I liked the look of these rich brown ones caught on an old barbed wire fence.
Yesterday we had a marvelous time with several of our medieval friends from Black Wolf. The air rang with the clash of swords and the cheers of kids. I loved it. 🙂
We had a medieval feast on the back porch with all sorts of Turkish fare: garlicky flat bread and creamy yogurt dip, hot buttery hummus with toasted pine nuts, and a hot carrot dip with caraway, dill and paprika.
I’ll share the other Turkish recipes soon – but I promised two of my aunts that I’d post the carrot one immediately, so here goes. 🙂
What’s your favorite moment of your weekend?
Turkish Hot Carrot Dip
Ingredients:
10 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 Tbsp caraway seeds
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp paprika
2 Tbsp fresh dill, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup crispy fried onions
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Steam or boil carrots and caraway seeds until carrots are soft enough to mash with a fork.
- Drain and place in food processor (or blend by hand) and add all remaining ingredients except onions.
- Taste for seasoning, add more if you like it stronger.
- Pour carrot mixture into pie pan or earthenware pan. Top with crispy fried onions and bake 20-30 minutes until mixture is bubbling around the edges.
- Serve warm with slices of Turkish flat bread.
by Krista | Apr 29, 2012 | Bootstrap Monday
I love the Albanian countryside. It is such a riveting combination of wild and serene.
Last time we trekked through the rugged hills far outside Tirana admiring mule trains and shepherds guiding their sheep along narrow mountain paths.
Today we’re in a valley, driving along a turquoise river lined with towering trees and meadows of wildflowers.
I couldn’t help but smile when I saw this dog emerge from the woods to drink deeply of cool river water.
I would’ve loved to have a flotilla of inner tubes at the ready to toss into the river and bob along with my feet in the water and the sun on my face.
The fields of wildflowers were exquisite. Great swathes of purple and white in a sea of green under a blue, blue sky.
It took a second glance to notice the pill box nearly hidden by the tall grass.
It was one of thousands we would see as we got closer to the Albania/Greece border. Stark evidence of conflicts that have raged for years.
It’s hard to imagine bloody battles and scared soldiers when the sun is shining and birds are singing as they flit through the trees.
I’m so glad there is at least a semblance of peace now. Deeply rooted prejudices and grievances may still linger in many hearts on both sides of the border, but for now at least, the shooting has stopped.
And that is something to celebrate.
“May today there be peace within.
May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others.
May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content with yourself just the way you are.
Let this knowledge settle into your bones,
and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.”
– Mother Theresa –
Wish you much peace today.
xo
by Krista | Apr 22, 2012 | Bootstrap Monday
I have one dog snoozing in my lap and the other napping soundly on the floor. My cup of tea is next to me and the doors and windows are open to catch the warm breezes on this beautifully sunny Autumn morning. I love working from home. 🙂
Yes, there are piles of laundry to be folded and pots to be scrubbed and papers to be sorted and floors to be swept, but life is good.
Yesterday dear friends came over to help us drench goats and trim their hooves. What a hilarious time we had chasing and wrestling goats together, ending our day exhausted but happy. You can read about it here.
The weather has been so gorgeous that I’ve made time to go for extra walks with Fletcher and Luna, wandering through golden grasses and fading wildflowers, finding new beauty in browns, russets, and soft greens.
I’ve been doing a lot of writing recently, both personal and work-related, and it suddenly hit me that I am what I always dreamed I could be: a writer. That makes me smile. Life is such an unpredictable, haphazard, surprising thing and it’s so wonderful when in the midst of sadness or pain or illness or grief or loss or disappointment you can suddenly see a dream come true.
Admittedly I had envisioned myself as a novelist, someone quirky and splendid like Jo March in Little Women, clad in funky hat and voluminous nightgown, scribbling away in her attic hideaway until the wee hours of the morning.
Perhaps that will happen one day, but for now I’m ridiculously happy with the work I have, writing about things dear to my heart: travel, country living, delicious food, music and art. I love it.
I had another dream come true this weekend. I got to go to my first classical music concert in Australia: the delightfully talented and down-to-earth Attilla Sautov and The Mueller International Chamber Orchestra. We turned it into a Girls Night Out and had such a grand time sitting in the restored town hall listening to gorgeous music and gabbing like mad at intermission.
I sat back in my squishy seat and closed my eyes in sheer bliss as they played lush pieces by Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn and Paganini before ending the evening with jaunty dances and czardas by Brahms and Monti. It was wonderful and I went to bed that night with a very full heart.
I’m in a bit of a pie-making phase at the moment, unable to resist the smell of apples simmering with butter and spices and brown sugar. Mmm. My latest one is a Spiced Caramel Pear and Apple Pie. I love the tender slices of gala apples and green pears laced with cardamom and ginger in a simple caramel sauce. Such a splendid thing to have on the back porch at the end of a long day.
How about you, dear one? Have you had any little or big dreams come to pass recently?
Spiced Caramel Pear and Apple Pie
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
4 large apples, cored, peeled and sliced
4 large pears, cored peeled and sliced
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2-3/4 cup dark brown sugar
enough pie dough for a double-crust pie
1 egg, beaten
sugar for sprinkling
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Melt butter in large frying pan over medium-high heat.
- Add fruit and let sit until butter begins to simmer. Add spices and stir occasionally making sure it does not burn.
- Cook until fruit is browned and begins to caramelize (about 10-15 minutes).
- Add brown sugar and cook another 5-10 minutes until mixture is rich brown and butter and brown sugar have formed thick sauce.
- Let cook slightly (5 minutes) then pour into prepared pie pan.
- Top with remaining pie dough and cut slits in to for steam to escape. I like to top crust with cut outs of leaves or hearts or anything.
- Brush pie with beaten egg and sprinkle lightly with granulated sugar. This gives it a pretty sparkle when baked.
- Bake 35-45 minutes until crust is beautifully browned.
- Serve warm.
