The Past Four (Food Filled) Months

The past four months have been a crazy whirlwind of moving, travel and exploration. Hence the lack of blog updates! I’ve also been sans internet, so that put a bit of a stopper on achieving anything productive requiring an internet connection. But I am pleased I have the opportunity today to update all the recipes I have been experimenting with over the past few months. This is, if the server decides to cooperate, which, currently, it’s not. And has not, for the past hour! 

But dodgy internet servers aside -

We’ve been living in rural Victoria, and it has been the perfect place to spend a cold and very wet winter. We’ve been fortunate that we have been able to spend our days together as a family (especially so because we were separated for almost 3 months with Sandy being away for work) - exploring new places and old haunts, reading, attending weddings, getting crafty and of course, cooking lots and lots of food. My pants are a bit too tight, but I am content and well nourished. Besides, soon we will be living at the very top of Australia, where the weather is warm and conducive to regular exercise. At least, that’s the theory. It may not actually happen, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

That’s not to say there has been a complete lack of healthy activity, as we have spent a good deal of our time outside, gathering firewood, hauling large amounts of tea tree to build amazing outdoor structures and exploring the surrounding coastline. But I’m afraid all that exercise has been canceled out by the recipe testing I’ve had the pleasure of undertaking while here. There have been a few crazy disasters, like the time I thought it would be a good idea to attempt and eggless quiche, substituting aquafaba for actual eggs. I’m quite sure some genius has managed it. I didn’t.

But all in all, the recipes have turned out and we have thoroughly enjoyed them. There are certainly a few favourites, among them, the turmeric doughnuts with beetroot glaze and the caramelised onion and fennel tart. Oooh, and the pancakes! Can’t forget those. Or the oat, raisin and chia cookies. They are a definite favourite and don’t last more than a few days in the cookie jar. Treats rarely do. Neither does really good soul food, the life affirming kind that leaves you feeling well looked after and loved, like warming hearty stews and rustic pizza cooked on the BBQ. Both of these we have eaten and enjoyed in backloads!

We have also enjoyed our time on The Mornington Peninsula more than I imagined we would. It has been a time of rest and relaxation, creativity and collaboration, of gratitude and affirmation. Above all, it has been a time of reflection. And I’m so very grateful I’ve had the opportunity, which I realise in this day and age is incredibly rare, of just having the luxury to be. To be able to do nothing but that very thing you desire to do, without rush or expectation. I realise that after our travelling around, life will return to some semblance of “normality” and days spent outside playing and drinking mugs of hot chocolate in a tea tree forest probably won’t be possible. But we’ll have the glorious memories!

Next Wednesday we are off to Far North Queensland to make memories of a different kind. There will be no gumboots and no hundreds of layers of clothing, but lush green rainforest, waterfalls, sunshine and all the passionfruit I could ever want to eat. I am so excited to embark on this new part of our journey and to see where it might lead us, what we might discover, who we might meet and what new taste sensations we’ll uncover. And so, here’s to old taste memories, and new, and the pleasure we take in discovering them. 

So until next time, happy browsing and as always, happy eating!

Love and light,

Susanna xo