tuesday 4 september 2018

It’s been 3 days and I’m still obsessing over all the wattle in the house.

Look at how variant these 3 plants are! 

Because I’m a nerd of all things I stared researching wattle and how interesting is this:
As we all know, Acacia, commonly known as wattle, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australia, with the first species A. nilotica described by Linnaeus. 

But did you know that an international controversy erupted in the early 2000s when it became evident that the genus as it stood was not monophyletic, and that several divergent lineages needed to be placed in separate genera?! It turned out that one lineage comprising over 900 species mainly native to Australia was not closely related to the mainly African lineage that contained A. nilotica—the first and type species (which is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen). This meant that the Australian lineage (by far the most prolific in number of species) would need to be renamed. Botanist Les Pedley named this group Racosperma, which was inconsistently adopted. 

Australian botanists argued that this would be more disruptive than setting a different TYPE species (A. penninervis) and allowing this large number of species to remain Acacia, resulting in the two African lineages being renamed Vachellia and Senegalia, and the two New World lineages renamed Acaciella and Mariosousa. 

This was officially adopted, but many botanists from Africa and elsewhere disagreed that it was necessary.

Following this controversial decision in 2005, the Australian component of Acacia s.l. now retains the name Acacia. At the 2011 International Botanical Congress held in Melbourne, the decision to use the name Acacia, rather than Racosperma for this genus, was upheld. Other Acacia s.l. taxa continue to be called Acacia by those who choose to consider the entire group as one genus.

This is actually, seriously, fascinating to me! I love a good Wiki Wattle Wormhole!

monday 3 september 2018

The house is full of vases of wattle and all the different yellows are cheering up my Monday.

I absolutely love the smell. The tiny insects and spiders that have moved in too, not so much!

sunday 2 september 2018

Its the first weekend of spring! Already! 

And that classic Melbourne spring weather has certainly arrived: rain, cloud, wind, sun, hail, sun, rain... all in the space of 3 hours!

It does however mean two of my favourite things are in abundance: wattle and jasmine!

I went foraging and filled the car and then I made a cake to celebrate.

The cake is a test version of my upcoming October Cake - so at the moment I’ll keep it hidden under some lush vanilla swiss meringue butter cream. (hint: it involves an Australian native and an old school ingredient.)

How did you mark the first weekend of spring? Or Autumn if you live upside down on the opposite side of the Earth!?

friday 31 august 2018

< date and sultana scones >

What’s your preference? Plain, kumquat, raspberry, sour cherry, or straight up cream? Or one of each?

I have no shame saying I ate all of them. Sometimes you have problems that only scones can cure, right?!

thursday 30 august 2018

I had to pull over my bike on the way home to take another picture of this insanely glorious magnolia this evening. Blush pink against a grey drizzly sky - a favourite colour combination. 

Spring is certainly in the air with all this changeable weather. Yesterday I was putting on sun block today a raincoat!

tuesday august 28 2018

< carrot, toasted walnut & dried muscat grape cake w cream cheese & mascarpone frosting >

A cake that is so tasty it doesn’t need any decoration, ornamentation or fancy bits. 

Although, I am me, so of course it had some!

This guy was picked up the night before he was to eaten and I didn’t want the salted walnut brittle I made to decorate him going soggy so I sent it off in a separate container. Luckily the lovely customer was a dab hand and didn’t mind doing the decorating work before the birthday candles were put on top in the office the next day.

monday august 27 2018

Oh my, what a weekend! That continued into Monday! And will continue tomorrow!

We finally have had masses of shelving built, installed and painted at home, which has meant that over the past two weekends we have been able to unpack and unpack and unpack. 

Although we moved back into our house after renovations in April 2017, the unpacking process has been slow and staggered. Largely because, as anyone who has lived through a renovation knows, the process is slow and the end jobs are always the hardest to get completed. Plus money runs out…

Bookshelves were one of the jobs left to the end. As an art historian I have A LOT of books and as a baker I have A LOT of cookbooks. Combine the two and you have over 42 big boxes of books that I haven’t seen since they were packed in 2015/16.

After a lot of hard work, they are now all unpacked and shelved and after more than a year I finally feel at home. 

Books are the clearly my soul’s skeleton. I have missed them so much. Not only have I missed the words and images they contain but the memories they hold of time, place and emotion.

The dusting, cleaning and trips to the recycling depot and op-shop will continue into tomorrow but tonight I will go to sleep knowing my books are literally holding up three walls of our home.

friday august 24 2018

You’ll only be 30 once! So make sure you celebrate with a cake worthy of the occasion I say!

This cake hides some pretty epic flavour behind that oh-so-lovely, demure exterior.

The bottom tier is a fresh vanilla bean buttermilk cake; the top is a decadent, fudgey dark chocolate cake. Lush rosehip, rhubarb and raspberry filling sits between all the layers and she’s all wrapped up in vanilla swiss meringue buttercream. 

I LOVE making big cakes for special celebrations, every step of the baking process builds my anticipation levels right up to peak excitement for the couple of hours I get to spend assembling and decorating. Nothing makes me happier than that giddy mix of nerves and jubilation that comes in those hours.

Using beautiful organic, local and seasonal ingredients makes the whole process even more special. 

This was the first big cake I made using Woodstock Flour's stoneground, organic Spitfire Wheat Flour and you could really taste the difference, especially in the vanilla cake. Good flour shouldn’t be a bland, stale white powder of nothingness, it should have FLAVOUR! And the Spitfire Wheat added a fresh, very mild, earthy nuttiness that subtly enriched and complimented the glorious taste of the fresh vanilla bean seeds. I’ll be placing my next order ASAP! 

A couple more photos of this pretty fellow will likely follow. I have said nothing yet of the flowers…!

thursday august 23 2018

It is going to be 18 degrees today! 18!

As winter’s number one fan I can’t say I’m particularly enthused by this sudden and excessive increase in temperature.
So I’m relishing these chilly mornings with lots of coffee and slow walks with Dan the Dog.

Are you a winter or summer person? Or an inbetweener? I like it cold. With lots of snow. Pretty sure I live in the wrong part of the world.

tuesday 21 august 2018

It has been a cold, windy and wild couple of days in Melbourne. But the blossoms are fighting back, reminding us that spring is on her way.

It never ceases to amaze me how slowing down just a tiny bit allows me to connect with with the wider natural world. 

The trees and flowers are telling us that the grey clouds will soon be on their way, replaced by sun, warmth and springtime abundance.

Today I only found a tiny pocket of stillness and quite to slow down into, my morning dog walk around the neighbourhood.But that half an hour, with a cup of tea and Dan the Dog, was enough to bring a small sense of calm and readiness for a day in the office.

What daily activities do you do to slow down? I’d love to learn some more helpful habits and practices.

monday august 20 2018

A cake for every month.

As I mentioned last week I plan to start writing and sharing more recipes.

Each recipe will emphasise local, organic produce and centre around a fresh seasonal ingredient.

I have hopes of posting a new cake recipe at the start of every month. 

Throughout the month I will share tips on finding and connencting with local suppliers, growers and producers; recipe trials and tests; variants and twists on the original recipe; decorating and presentation ideas as well as other bits and bobs.

I’d be overwhelmed and overjoyed to see people trying and tweaking and playing with my recipes and I’d love to share what you discover and create.

I’m planning ahead and crossing my fingers to get my first recipe out in October. So get excited because the seasonal picks for October, the middle of spring, include: blueberries, bananas, carrots, citrus, fennel, late oranges, parsnip, fresh green herbs and the start of the strawberry season!

What would you love to see in a spring cake!?       

p.s. chocolate is always in season….!

thursday august 16 2018

It has been such an amazing season for magnolias in Melbourne this year. 

I had to pull my bike over 3 times on the way home yesterday to photograph the gorgeous trees in flower in my neighbourhood at the moment. 

Poor Dan The Dog also gets pulled off course on our walks whenever I spot one. But she’s quite used to such ridiculous floral obsessions now. She’s had 11 years of me running back home to grab a chair and pruning shears to cut flowers and overhanging fruit.

Not that I could ever snip a magnolia, no matter how far it hung over into the lane. They are so majestic and their blooms so fleeting that surely such an act should be a crime. That wattle behind the old train line however.... watch out!

wednesday august 15 2018

Yesterday I mentioned that things are starting to look a bit different around here. 

For the past two years I’ve been balancing writing my PhD AND work AND baking for Kelmscott, all by my little self. 

I’ve been trying to juggle three full-time jobs and I’m struggling to keep it all going. 

I really believe in living mindfully, slowly, thoughtfully and intentionally. These words aren’t just hashtags to me; they are core beliefs. But this year things have snowballed in a way that has prevented me from doing so.

I’ve stretched myself too thin and I feel I haven’t been able to give all that I want to to either my PhD or Kelmscott. 

So over the past week I set some time aside, paused, slowed down and got thinking about how I can keep doing all the things I love in a way that works. How can I be a productive, contributing art historian and a baker/caker/creative? 

What I concluded, and what I’m excited to share, is that I’m while I need to take Kelmscott part-time I have decided to expand creatively while doing so. 

I’m going to be focusing on what I really, truly love most about baking: recipe writing. Playing with flavour. Experimenting with garden to kitchen baking. And connecting more with some of the many talented local producers, growers and foodies around me. 

Simultaneously, I’m going to be sharing a bit more of me along the way. This means I may have to step out from BEHIND the camera occasionally and talk about myself! Ah!! (for the moment this pic of a gorgeous old stove will suffice!) But I know it will give me more creative freedom and help me connect with you and other lovely, likeminded, creative spirits in a meaningful way. 

FEAR NOT the cake will keep being made and you can still order a custom, handmade creation filled with love and epic flavour! I will however, be limiting how many jobs I take on each week, so get in early. 

More shares and ideas to come tomorrow.

tuesday august 14 2018

Our mini winter holiday has come to an end.

We had four magical days of the most amazing thick, powdery, soft snow at Falls Creek. I have never seen anything like it in Australia before! The night before we arrived a fresh meter had fallen and by the time we left nearly another meter had been added. 

We skied in all types of weather: sunshine; gales; fast falling snow and a near complete white out.

We ate gingerbread, chocolate, pumpkin pie, homemade bircher muesli with poached plums and stewed rhubarb. 

We drank lots of whisky to keep warm, on and off the slopes.

We had steams and spas and massages.

We drank pots of tea and buckets of coffee in front of an open fire.

We had long, dreamless nights of sleep - the type that can only come after a full day of skiing.

We woke up early with sore muscles and tired legs to be the first of the lifts to do it all over again.

Work today is crushing my soul but I think I have enough snow covered, happy memories to get me through. I've come away revived and refreshed and ready to launch back into Kelmscott with new ideas and enthusiasm.

How have you all been? Are you noticing a bit of change round these parts/posts? More on my new ideas tomorrow...

thursday august 9 2018

Gone skiing. 

I’m taking this opportunity to have a little break from social media and the internets. 

To find some space and quiet. 

To pause and reflect. 

In a world full of digital distractions I find purposefully taking some time out and away from it all to be one of the most powerful acts of self-care and creative refreshment and revival there is. 

Do you feel the same? How do you detox from the digital deluge? 

See you next week my loves.

wednesday august 8 2018

On the road to the snow. 

How many times is too many times to pull the car over to take pictures of beautiful old houses? 

I’m stopping at as many country bakeries as I can find along the way… custard tarts and lamingtons await!

monday august 6 2018

A final pic of our lovely Christmas feast on Saturday.

I’m still relishing all the memories and moments.

Merry Christmas to all... until actual Christmas! Which is in less than 5 months!

sunday august 5 2018

My gingerbread village for last night's "Christmas in July (but it is actually August)" feast. Christmas in July has become an annual long-table dinner that we host for our friends each year at our house.

This is gingerbread was a labour of love. And luckily I got a photo prior to the small fire!

It was the little candelabra on the left that was the culprit (combined with my idiocy… “let’s open a window for a fresh breeze”, not my best idea).

These two gorgeous wooden pieces are called Schwibbogen and they come from the Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge) region of Saxony, Germany.

The first metal Schwibbogen was made in 1740 in Johanngeorgenstadt. These very early candle arches always consisted of locally mined black ore. They were made out of one single forged piece and could be painted. The number of candles varies with the size of the arc.
Today they are mostly made of wood and are closely connected with the German town of Seiffen in Saxony, world renown for its production of Schwibbogen and hand carved and painted wooden toys and Christmas ornaments. 

I purchased these on a trip to this little corner of the world of a few years ago. My Dad’s partner is German and since I was tiny I have been obsessed with her collection of wooden Christmas and Easter ornaments. Whilst my two three visits to Germany have never coincided with Christmas (although there was still lots of snow) it has long been on my list of Christmas trips I must have at some stage in my life. Meanwhile, thanks to the internet, my collection of German hand carved Christmas decorations has grown beyond these two...!

sunday august 5 2018

Last night.

Christmas in July. A table set for 15. 

A big thank you to the lovely Sarah from Casa Verde Flowers in North Melbourne for the beautiful, beautiful Christmas greenery and winter flowers. They looked simply beautiful and still do. Sarah and her son Harry foraged a huge bundle of pine and cyrpus for me and a big bag of pine cones too! A couple of gingerbread houses are coming your way tomorrow!

I had so much fun setting and styling the table. Ironing all my old linens, many made by my Grandma and probably some by my Great Grandma and Great Great Aunt. Finding enough plates and glasses. Making flower posies. Scattering handmade gingerbread down the middle (which was almost entirely gone by the end of the night, good work friends). Lighting tea lights in old crystal from the op shop. And covering the entire length with pine branches, pine cones and seed pods. 

An emergency, last minute delivery of cutlery from my mum saved the day!

I think I have a couple more pics of the evening to share.

saturday august 4 2018

Here they are. Wonky but standing!

My piping leaves A LOT to be desired but I think you can sort of tell what are doors and what are windows...?

Fortunately tonight will be a candlelight dinner so my shonky construction skills will be ‘romantically’ lit.