Trip prep

Just when I was starting to feel settled in, it's time to uproot myself and head off again - only briefly this time, though. It's time for my yearly jaunt to my .org's annual meeting, which this year is in Auckland, New Zealand. (Some of my coworkers suspect my multiple international moves are an elaborate ploy to put myself in easy reach of the next annual meeting venue.) Seven days of meetings, workshops, and wall-to-wall gabbing await.

I've got just under 24 hours until the taxi arrives to take me to the airport, and about 20 things left on my pre-departure To Do list. I am cheerfully (not to say delusionally) optimistic that this is doable without staying up all night.

Perhaps not surprisingly for me, at least one-third of those 20 items involve food - prepping food to leave behind for DP and Miss B; packing homemade goodies to bring as gifts; prepping lunch to take with me on my journey tomorrow; and checking my travel cooking kit for use in our Auckland self-catering accommodation (TUK NZ style!).

So, more to come from across the ditch! If you've got any must-see, must-do, or must-eat recommendations for in or around Auckland, please share them - it's my third visit, but I know I've barely scratched the surface as yet.

Small batch

As soon as I found my stockpot, canning rack, and jars, I plunged back into canning after a more than three-month hiatus. I watched everyone in the northern hemisphere reveling in summer’s bounty while I tried to keep my feet warm through a Canberra winter and tried to manage everyday cooking in the TUK. I really missed my whole domestic routine, of which canning has become an integral part since early last year.

Well, Saturday was the official first day of spring in the southern hemisphere; my kitchen is nearly back to being fully stocked; and there are already fantastic strawberries available at equally fantastic prices at the farmers’ market. So I’m back to my regular schedule of small-batch canning. I’ve been on the receiving end of a few incredulous responses of the “What are you, Superwoman?” variety from recipients of my first jars, but I’m so in the routine of it now that it doesn’t seem like a big deal to me. I decided to document this week’s session as representative of my usual commitment of time and effort.

Small-batch strawberry jam, Friday 21 September

I often do canning projects on Friday afternoons - if time and work commitments permit -  when I’m ready to wind down after a week of work, school, and running around. (Yes, if I have enough time and if they’re not overwhelmingly big, I do find canning projects relaxing.) Plus, it’s a good way to make room in the fridge before my Saturday-morning trip to the farmers’ market.

4 | 400

American section of the RL cookbook collection, Canberra Sep 2012

This post is a double milestone for me: my 400^th post here, on the 4^th birthday of Roving Lemon’s Big Adventure.

I don’t think I would have believed it if someone had told me, when I started this blog in an LA hotel room in September 2008, that four years later I’d be commemorating this anniversary in Canberra – newly returned from a 2.5-year stint on the Kansas/Missouri border. Three intercontinental moves in four years! And through it all this blog, and the way that it continues to shape (and shift) my perceptions, has remained one of the constants, no matter what else is in upheaval around me. It has provided challenge, learning, and satisfaction, and helped me to enjoy the journey much more than I might have otherwise – whatever the direction or destination.

I wonder what the next year will bring? (Possibly best not to know in advance?) Whatever it may be, thanks to all of you who’ve come along for any (or all) portions of the journey so far; your company and contributions have been among the best parts.