Ten
things of note since my last post:
1. Breakfast on the deck, possibly for the first time since we moved in last August. (Note that said breakfast is leftover Oat-Fruit Bars – following the rule that if it includes oats, it counts as breakfast food. Also applies to crumble.)
2. Cleaned off my
desk to give me the space I need for the final push on another major work
project, which launched online at the end of February. (Lucky for me we
had an extra day this year!)
3. Looked up how to
make a gin fizz after we finished re-watching The Jewel in the Crown, where they appear to be the main
source of hydration for most of the characters. I haven’t made one yet, but
soon! (I have, however, christened my Moscow Mule mugs, and now one lives
permanently in my freezer.)
4. Made a zuzagna – a
lasagna with zucchini noodles instead of pasta. It wasn’t bad, but it
wasn’t stellar either – I need to fiddle with it some more before I post a
recipe.
5. Giving thanks for
my evaporative cooling system. Are you familiar with this method? The main
benefits from my perspective are that they add some humidity to Canberra’s
arid air, and that you don’t have to keep all the windows closed. In fact,
you shouldn’t, so you don’t have that hermetically-sealed freezer feel
that I hate about air conditioning. I’ve been especially glad to have it in
the past few weeks, when Canberra temps hit a record-breaking 38C/100F at least once –
the highest late-February temperature documented since record-keeping
began.
6. Trying to keep
up with my tomatoes, which are attempting to branch out from the two
raised beds and take over the back garden. I didn’t even plant the ones in
this picture – they appeared spontaneously and are producing golden cherry
tomatoes by the dozens!
7. Refreshing my
memory of the Hunger Games
trilogy, since Miss B held me to my promise that she could start
reading them when she got into Year 6, and then promptly found all three
in a used bookstore.
8. Getting familiar
with Spotify. (Yes, I know I’m way behind on this.) A group of my
coworkers does a challenge during Lent every year, called 40 Days of Open
Listening, where each day we get a randomly selected album which we’re
supposed to listen to with an open mind. I’ve been getting the emails for
a couple of years, but this is the first year I’m actively participating. My latest discovery is the Triffids, who I’d never even heard of – I’ve
decided they’re a cross between the Waterboys and Arcade Fire, in a good
way.
9. Making a test
batch of homemade cereal: I based it on this recipe, which only has 3 ingredients - oats, oil, and sweetener. I used half canola and half olive oil, and maple syrup instead of honey, and instead of using the oven, I made it in the slow cooker so I wouldn't have to worry about burning it. It took a couple of hours on high - I just kept cooking it until it smelled toasty and delicious. It tastes so good I daydream about when I'm going to eat it again.
10. Admiring my
backyard lemon tree, which is covered in growing lemons. (Roving Lemon has
a lemon tree! How meta is that?)
That’s
the news from here. Got any to share?
