it's daal, darl

the lentil plant

i love lentils: yummy, cheap and fabulously flexible, i always have a few different types in the cupboard. this daal is quick and scrumptious, especially served with papaddums (microwaved for maximum convenience!). proportions can be changed, and ingredients omitted to taste and dietary requirements. this serves 4-6.

2tbs coconut (or other) oil

3 cloves garlic, minced or crushed

3cm ginger, finely grated

3-4 tbs mild curry powder

1c red lentils, uncooked

1c coconut milk or cream

3c water or stock

1 medium zucchini, coarsely shredded

2 medium carrots, coarsely shredded

salt and pepper or chilli to taste

optional: coarsely chopped coriander, steamed basmati rice and papaddums to serve

heat the oil in a medium saucepan; fry the garlic, ginger and curry powder for a minute on medium heat. stir in the lentils. add the coconut milk/cream and stock, cook on low for 10 minutes stirring occasionally, adding a little more water if it gets too thick. 

stir in shredded zucchini and carrot, cook for a further 5-10 minutes.

lemon delicious

this makes me think of my friend viola :) it's been an amazing, completely forgiving recipe for over 10 years. great to throw together for impromptu dinner desserts; and so easy that kids can make it with minimal help :)


0.5 cup sugar
1 cup self-raising flour
1 egg replacer made to packet instructions
0.3 cup dessicated coconut
grated rind 2 lemons
0.5 cup soy/other milk
50g melted nuttelex/margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
0.5 cup frozen raspberries (optional)

0.5 cup sugar
juice of 2 lemons
hot water (to make total 1 and 1/2 cups liquid)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

preheat oven to 180C. 


in a 20cm, pudding bowl or deep baking dish, mix flour, sugar, "egg", coconut and lemon rind. add milk, margarine and vanilla, mix until smooth. if using, gently fold in raspberries.

put 1/2 cup sugar, lemon juice and vanilla in a measuring jug.  top with enough hot water to make the fluid up to 1 and a half cups (375mls). pour liquid gently over the pudding mixture in the pudding basin. bake for 35 minutes.

franken-skirt

two favourite skirts frankened together!


the grey skirt is a gorgeous linen blend with a Möbius strip of red at knee length; it didn't quite fit me until i unpicked a side seam and inserted a panel from a linen blend skirt in similar colours (that i've loved for well over 10 years!) and stitched the lot back together.

street-picked, home pickled olives

working with information from websites and a variety of italians, i have bottled the olives i picked on a busy public street not far from home: the local nonnas had already picked everything they could at their altitude, so i enlisted the support of Tall Guy to gather the loftier fruit.

fresh black or green olives
salt
water
sterilised glass jars with lids (wash jars and lids with hot water and soap, rinse well then cover with water and boil, allow to dry on clean paper towels: OR wash and rinse then place jars on tea towels in a low (80-100C) oven for 15 minutes, checking that the towels don't burn)

rinse olives, separate the green and black ones if necessary (they have different soaking times, so need to be soaked separately). and discard any soft or damaged olives. make two lengthways cuts into each olive, down to the stone.

put the prepared olives into jars until the jar is two-thirds full; cover the olives with lightly salted water (1tbs per litre). fill a small plastic bag with a few tablespoons of water, tie it at the top with a rubber band and sit it on the olives to keep them under the water. seal the jar with the lid. change the water with more lightly salted water every day (black olives = 4 days; green olives = 6 days).

after the initial soaking period (which rids the olives of the oleuropein, the phenolic compound that makes olives bitter), fill the jars with brine (1/3c salt to 1 litre of water). the salt will dissolve more easily if the water is hot, but allow it to cool before pouring onto the olives.

include some herbs and spices at this point: bay leaves, dried chillis, oregano, whatever you like. pour a small splash over the top of the olives in the jar, and sit another small bag of water on top to keep the olives immersed. seal the jars, then leave them for 5 weeks. after that, your olives are ready to eat. your olives should last for months in either the brine or drained and transferred to olive oil. keep in the fridge particularly if your sterilisation process was not rigorous.

dahlia brooch for kaye

thanks for everything, kaye; see you soon.

"...with all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,

it is still a beautiful world.

be cheerful.

strive to be happy."

- max ehrmann

ribbon and pearl necklace