No.12

Hello again. Here in the southern hemisphere summer is rolling on in and the Fleet Foxes are helping it along. So pretty and harmonious and deep with the perfect hint of intrigue. Saw a Vincent Moon directed vid of them on youtube a few days ago. Ridiculously talented boys captured in an edgy, bleached polaroid, unadorned, just-right kind of way. They've got a new album coming out soon...love being impatient about the release of an album or book!

I know I've said this before, but feel it needs a bit of expansion. Never underestimate the power of being in the presence of nature. Mountains, gardens, rivers, parks, breathing trees, singing birds, quiet beaches all keep your senses alive. Our world is often noisy and frenetic, contradictory and exciting. There is something so dynamic and peaceful about letting natural surroundings wash over you. Close your eyes and breathe in the salty waves, warm green scrub, forest leaf tea stream, earthy moss, perfumed lavender, splashing rain, bracing snow. Live, live, live.

Aaah Midlake...the only possible follow-up. Today's recipe is a perfect sunshiny day meal. Apple and brie salad. Enough for 4. A large colander full of mixed lettuce (butter, rocket, cos, iceberg, red and green oak leaf etc.), washed and dried. Half a cucumber thinly sliced. 2 crispy, slightly tart apples cored and sliced (squeeze a little lemon juice over and toss to prevent going brown). About 1 1/2 cups sweet rosa/cherry tomatoes. A wedge of brie thinly sliced. 1/2 cup chopped walnuts / pecan nuts. 2 TBSPS each apple cider vinegar and fruity extra virgin olive oil whisked together. Put all ingredients in a large salad bowl leaving apple, brie and nuts for the top. Splash dressing over. Enjoy!

No.11

Sunday, Sunday... The Felice Brothers are winding down the week-end with their smoky piano whiskey saloon songs. I guess we all have a little of the wild west in us even if only planted in our youthful minds at saturday afternoon double bill shows. It's not about whether you were the cowboy or the indian but instead how, unconstrained by concrete and metal, life on the frontier played out. Sleeping under a mysterious, blinking, star-splattered, inky sky. Living and breathing survival.

Somehow now we live in a world where those fighting for survival are only a few decisions away from those creating dramas to enrich their blandly complacent lives. It's not a judgement, but an uneasy observation. Treat everyone you meet as you would like to be treated. An unexpectedly effortless way to live.

Sometimes the gravity of humanity makes the recipes seem frivolous. I remind myself of the philosophy of simple pleasures.

Here is a very easy girly cake icing. I made a vanilla double layer cake for a friend's daughter yesterday and topped it with this and fresh strawberries. 1/2 cup softened butter. 1/3 cup icing sugar. 1 cup fresh strawberries blended to a slightly chunky pulp. Cream butter and sugar, with an electric beater, until light and fluffy. Add strawberry pulp. Beat until combined. If consistency is too soft, refrigerate about 15 mins and then top cake/s. Enjoy

Postscript: Onto 'Tonight at the Arizona' and 'Rockefeller Druglaw Blues' another play it twice favourite. So nostalgic and modern.

Downing Street

Another day of more buds on all the trees in our garden and busy birds building nests... Love the changing seasons. Got the headphones filtering some anthemic rock in the form of Doves "Some Cities" (soon to be followed by "The Last Broadcast") into my ears. It's that real English alternative rock; music with so many layers and intricacies and rollercoaster emotions...I can never listen to 'Walk in Fire' just once. Got to love it.

Balance. Rolls off the tongue so easily but is a bit more difficult to apply day to day. I find it a lot easier to deal with things when I accept that some days are better than others. Today wasn't a great day...although this music is helping a lot! I couldn't imagine life in monotone. I am grateful that I feel incredibly happy most of the time and it seems that the occasional down day makes me appreciate happiness even more. I guess the lesson is in the acceptance of events rather than the resistance of them. I am not talking about accepting anything other than what you want from life, but realising that there are ups and downs.

Here's a cop-out pasta recipe that is super healthy and delicious. Enough for 4. 18-20 cherry/ rosa tomatoes cut in half. 1x tin of tuna (I did say cop-out). 18-20 black olives pitted and quartered. A handful of flat-leaf parsley chopped. Good (organic if possible) extra virgin olive oil. Pasta of your choice. Cook pasta al dente, rinse, drain put back in pot and onto a med heat. Pour in a good glug of olive oil, toss and add rest of ingredients. Stir through to warm. Serve with grated parmesan. Enjoy

No.9

Hey there! Wanted to listen to something I haven't heard in a while and saw a mind-blowing, sort of interactive Arcade Fire vid called "The Wilderness Downtown". Knew I had to have "Funeral" as the soundtrack for tonight. If I close my eyes I'm on a heady road trip to a particularly beautiful wild coastline that is legendary (thanks Barney) and somehow still a bit of a secret. And this is the perfect soundtrack for youthful energy on the brink of change.

Have you ever watched one of those extreme make-over shows or plastic surgery operations on TV? It is so stomach churning it's scary and yet our vanity runs so deep we are prepared to risk our lives for a bigger/smaller/smoother/sexier whatever. When I think about it, it seems too ridiculous to be true. Especially the wrinkle- and/expression-less 40 something celebrity crediting their new guru/diet/exercise regime but denying anything else. Are we so scared of dying that we no longer accept ageing as a natural process? What happened to the wisdom of age? I think that in our desperation to hang onto our youth we have altered a very important natural cycle and sadly lost the true meaning of 'elders'. We are meant to learn from them, from their life experience. We should respect them and what they can teach us. Instead we have become a race of self-absorbed, dismissive, 'young' freaks. My grandmother was one of the most beautiful people I know. I listened to her stories for hours. They contained so much wisdom and good advice. Of course the obviously taut 60 year old sitting next to you at a restaurant also has life experience, but in physically denying their age I believe they have put a mental block on it too. I'm sure it must play havoc looking in the mirror. I look forward to getting older as a time to be less concerned with the outer and more concerned with the inner.

Here is a quick-ish and easy topping for (chocolate) cupcakes, pancakes etc. Makes enough for about 12 cupcakes. 1 cup of water. 1/4 cup raw brown sugar. zest of 4-5 med oranges. 2 TBSPs van der hum/orange liqueur. Put water in a small saucepan over a med heat. Add sugar. Stir until dissolved. Add liqueur and increase heat to burn off alcohol. Lower heat and simmer for about 20 mins. Add zest and stir through. Keep simmering until liquid becomes syrupy (about 20 mins). Allow to cool slightly and spoon over cakes. I use about a tsp per cupcake making the amount of zest approximately the same for each cake. Enjoy.