Chez Moi

May 27, 2013

Perth

Now I know where to go when the oppressively humid Queensland summer gets too much. Perth was gorgeous for four days in late January: clear cool mornings gave way to hot dry days which rolled into dusky evenings and BBQ dinners. We had been to Perth before in the summer of 2009/10, and I well recall my constant efforts to keep cool, staying indoors with the air conditioning on, dipping in the pool, and sheltering under the widest brimmed hat I could find. This time was like the most perfect summer that ever was.

We flew in very late at night and our nephew Terry picked us up and took us back to his place for a few hours sleep. After coffee and breakfast with Mark the next morning, we headed into the city for some sightseeing. Our first stop was the historic St Mary’s Cathedral right in the heart of the city, the church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Perth. I’m a sucker for old churches and spent a pleasant half hour with my camera trying (and failing) to capture the cool green light at the very top of the arches. From there we tramped about downtown, catching some street performance (the Fringe Festival had just started) and roaming through the quaint London Court shopping arcade. Colin and Terry demonstrated extraordinary patience (or restraint) as I snapped away, loving being in full tourist mode again. Later that afternoon we headed over to Fremantle to eat fish and chips with Colin’s sister, Michelle and her girls, and ride the Ferris wheel in Esplanade Park.

I love experiencing new places when I’m travelling, but it’s such a pleasure to return. There’s a sense of familiarity second-time around that orients you very quickly and makes you feel at home. Much of our time was spent at David (Colin’s brother), Deb and Levi’s house in Roleystone, where we had stayed last time. I was transfixed all over again by Deb’s lush and shady garden with its quirky bits of this and that, textural contrasts and half concealed treasures.

One afternoon after hanging out with Darryl (Colin’s nephew) and his son Jackson, we took a drive through the Swan Valley, Western Australia’s oldest wine region. We went first to the Margaret River Chocolate Company to indulge in generous samples of just about every kind of chocolate you could think of. After deliberating for ages, I finally settled on bags of crystallised ginger covered in dark chocolate, and licorice covered in milk chocolate. Mago Coffee was just along the road a bit, so we stopped in there for a brief lesson in coffee roasting and a delicious piccolo. Finally, as the afternoon drew to a close, we pulled up at Lancaster Wines for some tasting in a rustic corrugated iron shed, all the while entertained by our pourer and his hilariously inappropriate jokes. I came away with my favourite of the day, a sticky 2012 chenin, still ferreted away in the cupboard for just the right moment to relive that golden afternoon.

On our last evening we drove up to the lookout on Gooseberry Hill like we did on our last visit, to catch the stunning sunset looking west back to the city. Perth appeared tiny on the expansive horizon, and we could well believe that it is one of the most (if not the most) isolated city on the planet. After gourmet burgers in the funky suburb of Leederville, Terry took us for one last spin through the city, up to Kings Park then down for a closer look at Council House and its mesmerising exterior LED light display. We were up early the next morning for our flight, tired but happy, feeling like we had wrested maximum potential out of every moment. Thanks, and love, to Dave, Deb, Darryl, Terry, Jackson, Levi, Shannon, Michelle, Hayley, Mikaela, and Darryl for good times and great memories xxx

May 8, 2013

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Still here

Early morning light in our new apartment

When I first started this blog I promised myself that I would never apologise for not posting more often or from taking breaks altogether. I had noticed a tendency in many bloggers towards guilty confessionals whenever the regularity of their posts dropped off. Passionate vows to get back on the wagon were also commonplace and I resolved to be kinder to myself by avoiding such self-imposed pressures. Life gets (extra) busy sometimes, inspiration ebbs and flows, and at the end of the day, this blog was meant to be an outlet not work. But here I am logging into wordpress.com for the first time in ages, finding it too strange to pretend that I haven’t been around for the last four months. This first paragraph was hard work. I’m a little rusty, and I can’t quite shake the feeling that I might have missed something important. I’m not going to apologise for being away, but I do think it’s important that we spend some time catching up. Maybe that will help us get back into our old, comfortable rhythm.

Rural south-west Brisbane

One Sunday in mid-January Colin and I took a day trip to Boonah and explored the south-west Brisbane hinterland. Driving through a landscape at times scorched and at others, lush, we talked about many things, as you do, but particularly about the apartment we were renting. Although it had filled its purpose and allowed us to ease into life in Australia, we were at the point where we were getting sick of rent rises, tired of the dated aesthetic, and craving a greater sense of ownership and personality in our living space. It was time for a place of our own. That night Colin trawled through realestate.com and noticed a funky-looking apartment in a great location…we viewed it the next evening and bought it two days later. Sometimes I could just hug the universe.

Moving day, packing up at the old place.

We had negotiated a lightening-speed 30-day settlement, so the month that followed was a frenzy of planning, packing, research and more spending. Our previous apartment was fully furnished so we needed to get everything from lounge and dining room furniture, through to appliances, cutlery, pots and pans, buckets and mops. Much energy was spent tramping through furniture shops or scrolling through websites, weighing up style, functionality and price. Most of the time we managed to balance Colin’s tendency to Buy Now! with my tendency to …wait and see what the space tells us it needs… so that we at least had the essentials like a fridge and washing machine on the day we moved in. We did eat out of coffee mugs using the ironing board as a table for the first couple of weeks, but hey, the big screen TV and sound system looked great.

It’s finally ours! First visit after 5pm settlement.

For six week after we moved in we continued to refine our ideas (60s/70s inspired), finally purchasing furniture then moving on to homely little details like pot plants, cushions and artwork. We also undertook some renovations, repainting the ceiling, putting a rust-effect paint on the steel beam, and inserting an injection of colour by painting the curved mezzanine wall a rich brown, the exact shade of dark chocolate. We replaced the dated light fittings with bulkhead-style lights ($11 each from Bunnings, rather cleverly jazzed up with a textured charcoal powder-coating), and installed replica Tom Dixon pendant lights in the kitchen. The kitchen itself had been recently replaced, but we weren’t keen on the buttery yellow cabinetry, which took on a tinge of lime under the halogen lights. We decided to repaint it a bold burnt orange to top off the retro vibe.

Our new custom-made wine rack

Vintage 60’s cushions

Repainting the kitchen was the last job to do, and despite the fun we had been having we couldn’t wait to relax and simply enjoy our beautiful new home. We engaged a painter, prepared to be kitchen-less for a week, and went away for a few days to escape the worst of the fumes. And…here’s where the story takes a bit of a turn, because unfortunately we returned to a big mess. I’m actually well over talking about it so will give the barest details only: the kitchen cabinets are far from the glass-like surface we were promised, resembling orange peel at best and coarse grit sandpaper at worst. Masking errors abound and, for example, even extend to the inside of the oven. Somehow, paint escaped the spray tent, and all our brand new furniture is coated with a film of paint, as are our polished timber floors, and all the kitchen appliances that had been placed in the lounge during the paint-job. Over the last three weeks we have been working hard to contain our dismay, and focus on gathering photographs, advice, quotes, and receipts for the insurance claim. It turns out that epoxy polyurethane is near-impossible to remove without damaging most surfaces.

The least affected corner of the lounge

I am positive that all will be well, one way or another. It might take a little while, and there will certainly be more upheaval ahead when repairs are done, but for now it’s important to stop noticing every heart-breaking detail, and focus instead on every beautiful line, every rich colour, on the satisfying tension between coziness and expansiveness, and my growing collection of retro knick knacks. It’s important to listen to jazz at night, to invite people over despite the disarray, and to realise that I still can’t help smiling every single night when I walk through the front door. This is the first place we’ve lived in that feels like it reflects who we are. I wanted the space to feel warm, relaxed and fun, and I think we’ve done it. It is that already, and will be that even more.

So there you go, I’ve been busy creating something else for a while and riding on the little roller-coaster of life. But I have missed this space. I’ve missed the challenge of wrestling with words, the thrill of hitting “publish”, and each and every comment. It’s nice, very nice, to be back.

Kitchen, half-done, but you can get the idea of where we’re going

January 8, 2013

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2012: In review

On my first day back at work after Christmas, to ease the pain of thinking, I looked up all the public holidays for 2013 and entered them into my calendar. Yet while I’m already anticipating a fulfilling 2013, I find that I’m not quite ready to say goodbye to 2012. Although it couldn’t be as exciting as our amazing 2011, 2012 still had a lot going for it. It was our first full calendar year living in Brisbane. We’re embedded now, no longer fresh off the boat, and running out of “firsts”. We know people. We know where to get good coffee. We wouldn’t be caught dead saying “esky” or “thongs”, but we’ve discovered well and truely that we like living across the ditch. As far as years go, 2012 was a nice effort. These are a few memories I collected along the way, one photo for each month.

January: Yayoi Kusama exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art. We saw Kusama in 2009 in Wellington, but were keen to descend once again into her Alice-in-Wonderlandish imagination. This photo was taken in The Obliteration Room which originated as a totally clean space, with all the furniture and walls painted white. Sheets of colourful round stickers were supplied for the public to place wherever they wished. By the time we visited, the stickers were several layers deep. (See here for before and after photos, and a time-lapse video.)

February: Davies Park market in West End, where we could be found most Saturday mornings during 2012. This photo was probably taken while waiting for a breakfast pita pocket, still my firm favourite of all the delicious food on offer. There are markets everywhere throughout Brisbane, and I keep thinking that we should try a different one sometime, that we’re getting too predictable. Maybe we are, but there’s a pleasure in the familiarity of buying vegetables from the same vendors, goat cheese from the same French woman, bread from the same artisanal baker. I even geekily love the early morning bus ride to get there.

March: 2012 found us getting out of the city most weekends to explore the surrounding countryside. This photo was taken at the Phoenix Sculpture Garden near the summit of My Glorious. Graham Radcliffe is a prolific sculptor, using marble, stone and bronze to create gorgeous organic pieces; often purely abstract, but just as often reminiscent of shells, skeletons, bodies and birds. We spent several hours chatting to Graham, wandering his beautiful garden in the bush, and playing with his dog, Merlin. Laminated quotes are pegged on string throughout the garden – one that has stuck with me is “creative minds have always been known to survive any kind of bad training” (attributed to Anna Freud).

April: By April the sweltering Brisbane summer was beginning to cool, and it was pleasant to lounge around outside again. This photo is of the roots of a large banyan tree in the City Botanical Gardens, taken during a lazy afternoon of walking and lying on the grass to read in the sun.

May: In May we travelled to Byron Bay for a long weekend in the hinterland. On the way down we avoided the highway and committed to a slow trip along the winding coastal roads. That day was uncharacteristically overcast, but Tweed Heads (where this photo was taken) glowed softly with the most breathtaking light.

June: This photo doesn’t really depict “June”. It could have been taken at any time. But June is always our month, since it contains both our birthday’s. This photo just says how nice it is to wake up to this man’s back each morning, knowing I’ll get to see it again tomorrow.

July: In July we celebrated the anniversary of our arrival in Brisbane with a stellar party and a Tiramisu Cake that turned out so good that I keep wondering if I could get away with a second anniversary party in July 2013 (alas, I suspect that could be stretching the concept a little too far). In July I also ate the best apple of my life; a truely astounding experience. I later cooked more of these apples into the most delicious apple cake I’ve ever tasted, but not without a little drama along the way. (Hmmm, July was a good month for cake.)

August: August was for hibernating, recovering from two months of being unwell with early nights and lentil soup. It was also the month for an indulgent long weekend in Maleny where this photo was taken. I almost didn’t post this photo; it’s almost too precious to share. But it captures the mood of this month so well that I can almost will myself back there into that calm and cosy cocoon.

September: Riverfire – the fireworks festival marking the end of the annual Brisbane Festival. September was an especially social month, with parties and dinners and coffees. This photo was taken from the balcony of a friend’s apartment in Southbank after a vegetarian feast. September was also the month that I finally got back into a regular yoga practice and discovered all over again that yoga just makes life better.

October: I’ve experimented with all sorts of eating styles over the years (vegetarianism, a short stint of veganism, rampant junk-foodism, and most recently, dairy- and additive-free), but I’ve never been one to restrict myself for too long. I’m just too interested in flavours to risk missing out on an experience. In October though, I instituted a practice of avoiding sugar during the week. This had the unexpected (but excellent) effect of ensuring that I saved myself for a few high quality treats on the weekend. This Lime Tart from The Deli in Bulimba, was one of them.

November: November was a great month because it involved a trip back to New Zealand. This photo is of that quintessentially kiwi icecream, Hokey Pokey, bought from a quintessentially kiwi icecream shop at Pokeno. To the right in the background, Colin is holding another kiwi favourite, Orange Chocolate Chip. On this particular day we met up with Kerri and Stuart and their beautiful girls, Jorja and Pippa, for fish and chips and then, icecream (no sugar during the week doesn’t count on holidays, public holidays, and, so it seems, the first two weeks of January).

December: I cheated for this photo – it wasn’t taken in December. I took almost no photos in December. This photo was taken in late November when my sister Amy came to stay for a few days. It was a beautiful day, and we had swum at Coolum Beach, lunched in Montville, and stopped to see the Glasshouse Mountains on the way home. It was so much fun showing Amy around. I even managed to send her home with a hangover, which is either “bad big sister”, or “job well done”, I can’t quite decide which.

Thanks to all of you for reading Chez Moi in 2012. Happy New Year!

December 30, 2012

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A fanciful festive breakfast

This year Colin and I celebrated our first Christmas in Brisbane. We spent the afternoon and evening with friends, but the morning was ours alone. It was a lovely restful day, quite unlike our usual Christmases back in NZ, which generally involved travelling for hours between various family members. In our whole adult lives we’ve only had Christmas at our place once before. I felt then, as I did this time around, that there is something very special about making your own house cosy and Christmassy, placing presents under your own tree, and finding room in your own fridge for one more indulgent treat.

Part of the pleasure of Christmas is enacting the myriad little rituals that mark the occasion as special. In my family we always had a paper-fight as present-opening drew to a close. I remember that it was usually my quiet and reserved grandfather who generally started it, gently letting loose the first sly paper wad upon some unsuspecting relative. A paper frenzy would reliably erupt, with everyone doing their best to hit someone who was looking in another direction, and to identify (and retaliate against) any thrower of balls that took you by surprise. Dad would always exclaim “you rotter!” if you managed to get him good.

I completely forgot about the paper-fight ritual on our Christmas morning, although in truth, a paper fight between two wouldn’t be quite the same. Besides, Colin is currently recovering from surgery, and while I normally relish any chance to gain the elusive physical upper-hand, on this occasion it probably would have been a little unfair. But what we did do after opening our presents was enjoy a special breakfast of Blueberry and Lemon Yoghurt Parfaits, on our balcony in the sun.

I don’t ever remember a special breakfast featuring as part of Christmas when I was growing up. I think we were lucky to get a piece of toast down in the pre-present excitement, before living on chocolates and lollies for the rest of the day. Christmas dinner was always the main affair, which in those years meant a full roast dinner, and I suspect that this usually monumental undertaking absorbed all the available food preparation energy.

Colin and I both wondered a little how we would feel on Christmas Day so it was pleasing to discover our satisfaction in making the day our own. In one sense it even felt like (yet) another part of adulthood was being accomplished in this claiming and rendering of Christmas. I have a feeling that in our breakfast lie the seeds of our very own Christmas ritual. I may not make Blueberry and Lemon Yoghurt Parfaits again, but Christmas at our place, that is, the marker of a Chez-Colin Christmas, could indeed be a fanciful and festive breakfast, something special to elevate this day.

I do not normally experiment with breakfast, although I admire people who do (e.g. Jennifer Causey of the wonderful simply breakfast). I know that I need a filling combination of protein and healthy carbs to fuel my day and I rarely deviate from this formula. Eggs typically feature, and my current favourites are either scrambled eggs, basil pesto and avocado on wholegrain toast, or hardboiled eggs sprinkled with olive oil and dukkah on sourdough. In the winter I sometimes switch to porridge, but eggs on toast remain the beloved cornerstone of my breakfasts.

So this Blueberry and Lemon Yoghurt Parfait was a fairly major departure for me. It’s sweet, which I virtually never go for, and it contains multiple components that must be prepared in advance. But there the drawbacks end, because this Parfait looks beautiful, tastes delicious and is well worth the effort for a special occasion. It could also make a lovely dinner party dessert; perhaps adding a splash of limoncello to the curd and cutting the yoghurt with whipped cream.

The recipe comes from an Australian food blog that I have recently discovered, Delicieux, which contains a wealth of mouthwatering and decadent recipes that frequently catch my eye. Although the author, Jennifer Schmidt, appears to share my own sense of routine concerning breakfast, luckily for me, she recently posted a recipe for Honey Nut Granola then followed this with the Parfait recipe, which uses the granola as one of the components. I have only made minor adjustments to Jennifer’s recipe, mainly reducing the amount of honey in the compote because I wanted a bit of tang to offset all that sweetness, and doubling the amount of lemon juice in the curd.

This recipe isn’t the hassle that it may appear to be at first glance. The compote and curd come together in under ten minutes each, and the quantities given for the granola make enough for about 8 servings, leaving plenty left over to enjoy for future breakfasts. And if you already have lemon curd in the fridge and a granola that you love in the cupboard, then these Parfaits will practically make themselves…why wait for a special occasion?

Blueberry and Lemon Yoghurt Parfaits

Servings: 4
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Adapted (barely) from Delicieux

For the Honey Nut Granola (click here for the original recipe)
1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup shredded coconut
10 Tbsp nuts and seeds. I used a base of roughly chopped almonds and cashews, with a sprinkling of sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds (pepitas). Any nuts are suitable (pecans, pistachios, walnuts) so use whatever you have on hand
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp grated fresh nutmeg (or ground)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup runny honey
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp boiling water

Preheat the oven to 120 Celsius. Measure the oats, coconut, nuts, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon into a bowl and toss together until combined. Measure the honey into a small bowl, add the boiling water and stir until the honey warms and liquifies. Pour the honey into the oats along with the oil. Stir the mixture well until lightly coated.

Spread the mixture out on a tray lined with baking paper. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes to ensure that the mixture browns evenly. At the end of 1 hour the oats should have turned a light golden colour. The mixture will still be soft, becoming crisp as it cools. Leave to cool completely then store in an air-tight jar.

For the Blueberry Compote
300g blueberries (I used frozen)
2 Tbsp honey (if desired – I left this out)
Juice of half a lemon

Combine the blueberries, honey (if using) and lemon juice in a small saucepan and place over a medium-low heat. Cook for 10 minutes or until the berries have become juicy. Place in a small bowl, cover and chill overnight.

For the Lemon Curd
1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk
3 Tbsp runny honey
40g salted butter
Zest and juice of 1 lemon, plus extra lemon juice as required

Place the egg, egg yolk and honey in a saucepan and whisk until smooth. Add the butter, lemon juice and zest and place over a medium-low heat. Keep whisking as the mixture heats. After 5-10 minutes, the curd will have thickened, and it is ready when you can see a slight trail from the whisk in the mixture. At this point, taste and add further lemon juice and a pinch of salt if you feel the mixture requires more punch (lemons can vary significantly in flavour and acidity – I like a tangy curd). Cover and chill overnight.

To assemble the Parfaits
Unsweetened, plain Greek yoghurt
Fresh blueberries
Blueberry Compote
Lemon Curd
Honey Nut Granola

If possible, choose glass vessels so that the individual layers of the parfaits are visible. Start with the yoghurt, placing two or three spoonfuls into the bottom of each glass. Top with some lemon curd, followed by some blueberry compote, and then a sprinkle of granola. Repeat the layers. Finish with a final dollop of yoghurt and some fresh blueberries.