-
Tenderheart Cook #18 and #19
Cooking my way through the Tenderheart Cookbook. Soy-butter Bok Choy Pasta The Quick Lowdown: Longtime Broccoli Ignore the look of this—it tastes good. It’s a little like a confit, with the broccoli cooked slowly in an oil bath. The Quick Lowdown: How to: In a large saucepan over medium heat, put 1 head of broccoli cut into florets with the stalk trimmed and cut into slices, 250 ml extra-virgin olive oil, 1 tbs capers, 1/2 tsp chilli flakes, 1/2 tsp salt and black pepper and heat for 5-7 minutes Once the oil is bubbling slightly, cover and cook at the lowest heat for 1/1/2 hours. Serve smeared on bread or stirred…
-
Good Things Friday
Studley Parkrun Saturday, I did another Parkrun. The Studley Parkrun is not the quickest Parkrun (it has a bottleneck near the start, then you cross this bridge which swings and sways with all the runners; all paths are uneven gravel, with tree roots and a switchback section but on a perfect, still, sunny, morning the setting is stunning. Although I really do hate that bridge it tends to set off my motion sickness! Afterwards, we walked across the bridge, which is when I took this photo, to meet the rest of the running club for our pre-season breakfast. A Store-Bought Relish That’s Good My dad usually makes tomato relish for…
-
Tasmania 2024 Day 2 – Tesselated Pavement and Port Arthur
Today G and N went off for a long run about 10 mins drive away in Murdunna while S and I had a bit of sleep-in before heading to the Tesselated Pavement. These rock formations are formed by movement along fault lines fractured the siltstone and erosion has deepened the pattern. Pan formations (more weathering within the formation) form closer to the high tide mark where they dry out more and salt crystals have more chance to form. loaf formations form further out where sea water channelling through the cracks weathers them more quickly. It was a highish tide that was rising when we went which meant coming back we…
-
February 2024 Books
Breath – Tim Winton The title of this novel is very clever, with the idea of breath popping up in various ways throughout the book. It begins with Bruce (a paramedic) on a callout then flashes back to his childhood in a small, West Australian coastal mill town. He falls into a friendship with Loonie, bonding over various adventure-seeking activities. As they range further afield they are befriended by a local surfing legend, who takes them under his wing as they seek out increasingly risky challenges. This is beautifully written, I often found myself circling back to enjoy certain paragraphs again. This coming-of-age tale takes a bit of a shocking…
-
Good Things Friday
Weekend @ Pt Lonsdale It was a long weekend last weekend and we spent it down at my parents’ place with a selection of my siblings and their kids. It’s good just to hang out and spend quantity of time together. My dad’s ankle is healing well, he has another ten days with the lighter plaster cast on and then he should be right for a moonboot. A Beach Day The long weekend was hot. 40C on Saturday and 39C on Sunday. Saturday afternoon I had a nap and then it was too close to dinner to head off, but Sunday my daughter and I got down to the beach…
-
Tasmania 2024 Day 1 – Flying, driving, Eaglehawk Neck
We flew out of Tullamarine mid-morning on Friday. The flight was delayed by 30 minutes but G has access to the lounge so it wasn’t too much of a hardship. There were clouds most of the way over Tasmania but once we started our descent we got a good look at the environs of Hobart. I was shocked by how brown the countryside was. Once on the ground, we could see how crispy the vegetation was. Normally Melbourne would look like that by the end of January, but this year, with all the rain, we’ve stayed green so it was a shock to see Tasmania so brown. Most locals we…
-
Good Things Friday
It’s once again been two weeks since my last good things post, but we were away hiking last Friday. Our trip was a very good thing over the fortnight but I’ll write about that in some other posts. I do want to mention a couple of things though … Extended time with good friends The first weekend of our trip we hired a house and invited our friends (S and N) who live in Launceston to come down for the weekend. They moved to Tasmania just over a year ago and I’ve missed them. S and I caught up last October, watching the Melbourne Marathon and agreed we would get…
-
I’m back … and a teaser
We are back from our holiday in Tasmania. We spent the first weekend on the Tasman Peninsula, then four nights in Hobart before returning to the Tasman Peninsula with the Tasmanian Walking Company for the Three Capes Walk. Everything was so good, but the hike was the highlight of the trip. The highest sea cliffs in the southern hemisphere, cloud forests, a test of nerves for myself on The Blade, all complimented by comfortable beds, yummy food and good wine. I plan to give a blow-by-blow rundown, but in the meantime, here is a little teaser … We arrived home yesterday and now I need to work my way back…