So there hasn't been much gardening, sewing or cooking around here. The garden is under threat (see below) and I've been sewing the same old things and cooking nothing particularly new or exciting. Except that it's spring now, and there are tons of new fruit and veg to eat. It's mostly been karate and my PhD studies, both of which are going well, but aren't really the topic of this blog. I've toyed with the idea of starting a karate and science blog (the two do have a surprising amount in common), but I haven't thought of a way of doing it without sounding arrogant and self obsessed (two things that shouldn't be in either karate or science).
So... here's how I spent September:
Fearing... walking down my street. It's magpie season, and we have a family that is doing an excellent job of defending it. They used to only swoop once, but now they're making multiple dives. And if you're watching one, while you're distracted, the other one will get you from behind. Even walking from the front door to the car in the drive way, or hanging out the washing in the backyard, is enough to provoke our angry little maggies. They're even trying to work out how to attack us through the windows. The weather has been great for running, but I've changed my running path so I run around work, rather than around our block. Eeek!
Reading... the rest of Dune trilogy. The Princess Bride. Lables on the back of cereal packets while eating my breakfast.
Despairing... from Gib getting screwed over in his job (along with a few other of his work colleagues).
Celebrating... Gib getting a new job. A new, improved job. One that means he gets to wear a suit on a regular basis. I like that. I also like that one of his first sites that he'll be working on his directly opposite my work.
Recovering... from tendonitis, in both shoulders. The two week break from karate is killing me, while I have treatment, but I get to go back tonight with improved shoulder strength and flexibility! Hooray
Enjoying... asparagus. artichokes. broccoli. dutch carrots. all sorts of other delicious spring vegetables. Berries are cheap, and it's almost stone fruit season. This is definitely my favourite time of year for fresh produce! Artichokes are definitely my vegetable of choice at the moment, and I'm having a ball preparing them and eating them in all manner of different ways. And when they're so cheap (90 c each at our local grocer!) why not?
Loving... my PhD. Maybe I'll get tired of it soon. I've been saying that for about 18 months now, but no, I still love it. I'm testing participants, meeting all sorts of awesome people. My supervisor even told me that I was "on track" (I was gobsmacked: they are words that every student dreams of). Science is still rocking my socks.
Wondering... what the hell I've signed myself up for. I'm heading to Tasmania to train again. This time by myself for a week (well, under guidance of the sensei there). I keep wondering why I've just decided to spend my annual leave in considerable physical and mental discomfort. I'm terrified, but at the same time it's exciting (or maybe just crazy) to put yourself outside your comfort zone... at least, that's what I keep trying to convince myself of anyway.
The PhD is going through another hectic but very exciting stage as I start recruiting my first participants, set up some Brand Spanking New Test Equipment and get my experiment protocols in order.
Karate is also busy, but is keeping me sane. I've come to realise that I'm not really built for entirely office based work, so by the end of a long day in the office, I am busting to get to the dojo. Now that it's not so cold outside I have been running more, and going for a run really helps clear my head and approach problems with a fresh perspective.
But in amongst all that, Gib and I have been going for a few walks and tidying up the garden a bit.
Here's a picture of the backyard now. The bare-looking patch on the bottom right is what we cleared from the noxious, blue periwinkle. It has taken 2-3 rounds of weeding and I think it is finally gone in that area. It's horribly tenacious stuff, so I hope we've finally got rid of it. It has now been planted out with a Christmas bush (Ceratopetalum gummiferum), Darwinia citriodora and a Kangaroo Island spyridium (Spyridium coactilifolium), which should take up most of the space where the periwinkle was. I look forward to seeing how they over spring. Apparently we're not the only ones who hate weeding out blue periwinkle. It was mentioned on Gardening Australia on Saturday night that Greening Australia are clearing it from near the Maribyrnong River and "five and a half thousand were put in a couple of years ago to replace the weedy Blue Periwinkle".
We've found a patch in the front yard which kangaroo paws seem to love. So we're now trying our hand with a conostylis, a somewhat fussier relative of the kangaroo paw. The two conostylis that I got last year for my birthday are still going very well in pots at my parents' place, so we thought we'd try planting one.
My indestructible ptilotus spathulatus. We have two of them now, and I decided to move them from the pot to the ground. It was a smart move: they love it! I think we have a baby one popping up in the pot which the other one was in originally. We're letting it grow to see if it's a weed or the real thing.
So finally, here's the progression of our garden over the past 9 months. There's been some pretty radical changes. It's gone from being almost entirely mint, to not much at all thanks to the drought, and then finally having happy little ptilotus, asterolasia and kangaroo paws. The bare and scraggly looking area behind the kangaroo paws has been planted out with some correas, which will grow to about 1-1.5 m high and wide (they're about 10-15 cm tall at the moment). We're not trying to get rid of the mint altogether, but just keep it in a semi-controlled area.
Front yard: November 2008
Front yard: March 2009 (see the two tiny little kangaroo paws in front of the stump?)
Front yard: August 2009 (now look at the size of 'em!)
Today I saw the first car I ever owned get towed away. It's going into the hands of two young guys who are dropping a new engine into it and using it as a drift car. I had mixed feeling about watching it go: that car was both an absolute joy and also a massive thorn in my side. At least it will go out on a high note now. These young guys will have fun with it. The bonnet and front guards were sold on to some other guys (which is why the car looks so sad) who smashed their car into a wall, so the love was spread around a bit.
The nail in the coffin wasn't all the water lines being replaced replaced, or even the engine and turbo dying... it was when we were in the process of replacing the engine and decided to re-spray the engine bay while we were waiting for the new engine, and found a weld in the chassis rail. Actually, I should have known from the start: its original number plate had three numbers followed by three letters: F I X. The time it was on the road was tons of fun. And I learned so much about cars and had a great time working on it. Now I own its bigger brother, a specimin that is in better condition and just as enjoyable to drive.
Saving the weirdest 'til last... the plush pelvis! I respect the detail and work that has gone into it (I hate whenever I have to sew holes in the middle).
Happy Monday, everyone! Hope your week is a good one.
Introducing... my new gumboots! I bought these at the mid-year sales, and I think they were supposed to be some fashion item? Gumboots as fashion isn't something I don't understand. Gumboots are practical for walking in mud and are great for being hosed down after walking in the mud, but aren't practical for walking through shopping malls or even simply walking in a co-ordinated way. I think most other people had the same idea as me, which is why they were so heavily discounted. However, they're cute and keep my feet clean and dry while weeding and planting out the garden. And there has been plenty of time spent in the garden recently!
Thank you to Ellieboo for this week's theme! (I've been wanting to show off my new gumboots for a while!). And also to Cindy, the lovely host of Eye Spy...!
It was Gib's mum's birthday recently, so I baked her a cake. She loves Babar, so it's a Babar themed cake. Decorated with just some ready-to-roll icing.
I modified this recipe and it was absolutely delicious. So I'm recording it here so I can make it the next time I have a gingery carrot cake craving:
A terrific tasting Carrot, Orange and Ginger cake! (dairy free)
2 ½ cups wholemeal flour 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 ½ teaspoons powdered ginger 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves 6 carrots, peeled and grated (about 3 cups) 1 ½ cups granulated sugar (I substituted for CSR Smart sugar) ½ cup packed light brown sugar (I used low GI cane sugar) 4 large eggs 1 tablespoon grated orange zest 1 cup vegetable oil safflower oil, or canola oil ½ cup orange juice ½ cup finely chopped glace ginger
Preheat oven to 180 C. Spray and line a 25cm round pan with parchment, with a 5cm collar.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in large bowl; set aside.
3. In a food processor, combine granulated and brown sugars, eggs and the orange zest until frothy. Add oil gradually. Process until the mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 20 seconds longer. Scrape the mixture into a medium bowl. Stir in the carrots, glace ginger, and the dry ingredients until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain.
4. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes (took 60-70 mins for me), rotating the pan halfway through the baking time. Cool the cake to room temperature in the pan (for a denser cake) on a wire rack, about 2 hours.
We have yet another new and exciting Asian grocer that has just opened up in our area. They are chocked full of exciting products that the other 5 Asian grocers in our area don't sell. Including this:
Can't tell you how it tastes. We're going to let that one remain a "potential" Taste Sensation! for a while longer.
Growing up, my parents always threw amazing dress up parties for my brother and I at home. We'd go all out and decorate the house, have appropriately themed foods and mum would always make an awesome birthday cake. One year, Dad even dressed up as an astronaut, decked out in a bike helmet wrapped in silver foil and aluminum foil ducting pipes for his arms and legs. Even now, I still love dress up parties, birthday cakes and games. Can I be a child forever, please?
I think my favourite game was The Mummy Game, followed very closely by The Fish Game.
The Mummy Game is where children (or adults) pair up, and they decide which one of them will be "the mummy" and who will do the wrapping. Give the team two rolls of toilet paper. Then the mummifier has to wrap the other child up in toilet paper, creating a mummy. We always used to play it so that a song or timer was on, and they had to wrap as quickly but accurately as possible, and the person with the most complete/best looking mummy at the end of the song/timer wins.
The Fish Game is where each child cuts a few fish out of newspaper, about 30 cm long. They are then given a rolled up newspaper and asked to stand at a starting line, with their fish placed on the starting line. At the "go" signal, they have to whack their newspaper roll just behind the fish, which creates a gust of air which propels the fish forward. They keep whack-whack-whaking and the first to get their fish over the finish line wins!
Head over Cindy's to see what other games people are playing!
I'm doing some catching up on some Eye Spy's. Better late than never, as they say! I spotted this on Brunswick St last night, at Aboh Shoes. Hehehe. I've lost my voice so writing blog posts a month after they were "due" is helping me cope. I don't do well if I can't talk. Hope you had a good weekend!
I lie. It's not really a cake. It's a bunch of cookies glued together. And a word of warning for anyone else insane enough to attempt a leafy sea dragon cake: this project is not for the faint hearted. Many times I stopped and said to myself "Why the hell are you doing this, woman?!" and walked away shaking my head. It took several hours, and I nearly cried at one point.
I am not a pro cake maker, I've never attended any cake lessons. It all started when my mum made cool animal cakes for me as a child and I've carried on the tradition. So if there are any people out there thinking "oh, why did she do that/use that, there's a much better way!" you're probably right, but I don't know about it! I had fun anyway. Eventually.
Some background on Leafy Sea Dragons
Phycodurus eques is related to the sea horse, and found in the southern and western oceans of Australia. We tend to get the Weedy Sea Dragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus) on the east coast which are much less elaborate than the leafy. The appendages aren't actually used for swimming, which is what I first thought when I started investigating, but have little fins along their back and head that they use for that. The leafy appendages are just for camouflage. They grow up to 30-40 cm. I highly recommend watching this video of them. They are stunning to see in action. I've only ever seen them in an aquarium in Western Australia.
Some background on how I decided to make my Leafy Sea Dragons
I had quite a few ideas for how to make it, given the constraints of making a leafy sea dragon: the legs and leg joints would be fragile so the head and body either needed to be light or the joints made strong (or both!). I thought about using meringue because it is both strong and light, but my attempts at meringue failed horribly but I'd had in my mind "cookies!" the whole time so I decided to go with that. Meringues also take a long time to cook, and I am an instant gratification woman, so cookies it was. I think gingerbread would work too, but I know many of my friends hate gingerbread.
I experimented with the royal icing you use for gingerbread houses, which is very strong and sets like cement, but at the same time is exceptionally messy and there isn't much room for mistakes. If you muck up, it's set like that forever. However, if you'd prefer to use "gingerbread house glue" then my recipe is:
Instead, for appendage glue, I decided to use white chocolate. It is strong but can be re-moulded. I used a good quality brand so it didn't go funny after heating and cooling.
I had made a small scale prototype the week before, using a variety of icings, cookie recipes and "glue". I went out for about half an hour, and Sylvester, our cat with strange food prefences, decided he wanted to have a taste. I came home to find the whole thing smashed on the floor and bits eaten. Another good lesson learned from my prototypes.
How to make a Leafy Sea Dragon
Ingredients:
For the structure:
1 quantity of cookie dough 1 block of good quality white chocolate Orchard ready-to-roll icing
For decoration: Yellow food dye Blue sour straps 1 block of good quality white chocolate Cream (for the ganache)
Method
I wanted to attempt to make my leafy 1:1 scale, so took this photo (inverted the colours to save on ink) and printed it A2 size (4 x A4 paper stuck together) and used it as a template for the cookies.
I cut out the head and body as one piece, and cut out each of the leafy appendages. I rolled out my cookie dough to 4mm thick, placed the template on the dough and traced around it with a knife. Most of the leafy appendages were baked for about 10-12 mins, but the body took 20 mins.
I rested the body in my potato masher, which placed on a small box to elevate it, because it was a convenient width to support the body vertically. I glued on the rear legs with a blob of white chocolate, then the middle legs.
I also stuck on some read to roll icing to fill out the cheeks, chest and body. The stark white is the icing, and the off-wihte stuff is the chocolate. You can see in the background the individual leafy cookies. I placed a shot glass under its body to help take some of the weight off the legs while it was drying. In the end I decided to keep the shot glass in there permanently because I didn't want the legs to break while I left him overnight. The glass under his nose is temporary.
The head actually snapped off at one point. One of those moments when you have a few heart palpitations. It actually worked out well because it meant I could attach the front legs more easily. The head I cemented back on with tooth picks, chocolate and icing.
I iced him all over with white chocolate ganache dyed yellow, starting from the rear and finishing with the head. I wanted to smooth him down more but I was terrified he would snap. I experimented with a few different icings in my prototype stages, but I love ganache so I rolled with that. I used blue sour straps for the details and his head piece nad whiskers. The eyes are just Orchard icing with a blue chocolate dot in the middle. I poke sour straps into the underneath of the body for the dangly, weedy bits.
I made sure to keep a washing basket over the top of the cake and to lock all doors to the kitchen to make sure Sylvester could not get his paws anywhere near the "cake". He's a rotter, that one. Every time he came into the kitchen while I was making the final version, he looked at me with adoring eyes, but I knew it was because he really wanted some chocolate covered cookies. He's cunning and mischeivous.
Then when Gib got home from work he told me that he was only joking when he said I should make him a leafy sea dragon cake. He said he didn't think I'd actually make it but thought it would be amusing to put the challenge to me. They do say pets take after their owners.
In my last post I mentioned that if I succeeded in my gluten free desserts, I'd post awesome photos and recipes etc etc... well, let's just say that I now hate baking with gluten free flours. The desserts looked fine, just like the regular, non-gluten free versions. I've certainly made better tasting things. I think we all know when someone has made something that is a bit below par, however that doesn't warrant ongoing gripes and complaints from the male diners about substandard desserts (except the ones with dietary requirements, who were just happy to have a choice other than 'fresh fruit' for dessert for a change), so it has been decided that they will be doing the cooking at the next get together we have. And they wont be allowed to get take away.
I also tried my hand at meringues that day. They failed too. They totally lacked fluff. They looked like little pink and yellow turds.
...but they weren't nearly as fluffy as the one above.
I think it's on those days you throw in the towel and head down to the store.
Every couple of months I catch up with a bunch of friends I went to uni with in undergrad. We take turns at hosting dinner and everyone contributes something to the meal. We have a diabetic celiac, two vegetarians, one who is pregnant with borderline gestational diabetes, and another with egg and nut allergies, so our food has to cover all bases:
Gluten free
Low GI
Nut free
Egg free
Meat free
Alcohol free
Caffeine free
No deli meats or pre-made salads
No uncooked soft cheeses
We are all quite adventurous and I am astounded at the variety and tastiness of the food we all bring to the table. It's my turn to host tomorrow, and it's my turn to make dessert. I'll be making a gluten free chocolate and raspberry baked ricotta cake and a nut free and diabetic friendly version of this gluten free apple crumble. Hopefully I'll get some good photos, so I'll let you know how it goes!
It's heading up to "birthday season" in our household and while doing some research for my next cake creation, I found this amazing sculpture of a centipede made from recycled bundt tins. The whole process is shown here. This is my kind of art!
Gib and I are both July babies and are having a combined birthday party. After the fish, axolotl, wasp cake and giant squid, I'm about to embark on my craziest, most ambitious cake ever. I'm a bit nervous. Gib has decided he wants a leafy sea dragon cake. Bloody hell! Any suggestions are welcome.
I have still been crafting away to myself. Part of that reason for my quietness is that I decided to cut down on blog reading while working, and have instead allocated blog-reading time in the evening. It means that I have about 300+ unread blog posts which I feel kind of bad about: you all do such fabulous things and I want to read it all! However, I have been really inspired to get some awesome science done, and sometimes some things need to take a back seat. I have thought maybe I should have a science and karate blog to run along side my more crafty blog, and then realised that it would probably eat away more of my time. I think a crafty/baking/gardening blog is far more entertaining for me to maintain anyway.
But on reflecting about crafting/baking and science, I realised recently that when I was a teenager thinking about "what I wanted to be when grew up", I didn't really think that the two could exist. I was invited by my old high school biology teacher to come and give a presentation to a group of Year 9 students and it got me thinking about when I was in Year 9 what I thought about "scientists". I always loved science, but I never thought I could be a "scientist" because:
Scientists are very serious people
Scientists are rarely female and must be tall. And old.
Science is only conducted in a laboratory. Chemists and biologists only look at little things, like chemicals, genes, cells or other microscopic things. Or alternatively, they study the behaviour of exotic animals, out in the middle of nowhere in extreme weather conditions. Physicists sound boring and is only for old, serious, grumpy, balding men.
All scientists only wear lab coats and gloves and dorky glasses.
All scientists must be super intelligent.
If I do science and creative things like baking and sewing, I can't be a serious scientist.
We went on some excursions that only confirmed my stereotypes: we went to a university to do a day course in genetics (at the time, one of my least favourite subjects - so dry!) in flies (boring!) lead by an intimidating old man with greying hair wearing a lab coat, gloves and glasses. He was very serious.
Gib and I being what scientists should be: super smart but boring, labcoat/glasses wearing dorks, who never, ever have any fun.
I finished high school loving science but being confused as to what I could be. All because my concept of what a scientist is was very skewed. I have since learned:
Scientists can have a sense of humour.
Scientists can be short, female and young.
Not all laboratories are stark white with bottles of strange liquids and pipettes everywhere.
Not all laboratories are designed for studying little things, but can for studying big, whole things too, and you don't always need to wear a lab coat and protective glasses.
Not all scientists are super intelligent.
Scientists can also bake, sew, fixcars, take part in contact sports, sky dive, make sculptures, knit, have children and still be scientists.
We've had to tighten our belts a bit around here, and one of the easiest ways for us to cut back on expenses is to not eat out to so much. I work in a place where there is only one cafe and they charge you $9 for pumpkin soup and a tiny piece of bread, so I always take lunch to work, usually leftovers (rarely sandwiches. 13 years of taking sandwiches to school kind of broke me). But Gib has now realised after several years of me persisting that buying lunch is expensive and he should take his own. So we did a big cook up of three dishes:
Pasta bake (except ours was a vegetarian version).
The thing I love about doing batch cook ups is that it actually takes less time overall: I can chop up all the onions for all three dishes at the same time, all the carrots, all broccoli... etc, and put them into their respective pots at about the same time, and there are fewer chopping boards to wash.
Total cost per serve - and they are big serves for my hard working man - was $2.42 each!
I'm a PhD student in the biological sciences. As an escape from all of that I like to sew, cook and get dirty in the garden. I live in the suburbs of Melbourne with my partner, Gib, a lazy cat, and two mischievous pet rats.
I'm always doing things and finding things and forgetting how I got there, so my little blog space is all about noting down my ideas, inspirations, successes and failures to help me remember - and maybe they'll be helpful to you too! I love suggestions, questions and comments, so please don't be shy! Thanks for dropping in!
What's with the goat? Goats aren't sheep: they are willful, independent and love getting out and doing their own thing. They like to consume anything - food, shrubbery and even fabric. Much like me, really (although in more of a metaphorical sense).
Why is the goat in a coat? Not sure. It just rhymed.
