The last week of the school holidays has been filled with family and friends.
My sister Cynthia and her daughters flew over from Singapore for a quick visit, Pete’s sister Katey came down from the country, and we caught up with his brothers Steve and Greg during the week.
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On Wednesday, I had lunch with Glenda and Maus from Passionfruit Garden, who were over from Perth for a holiday. We dined at Bar H in Surry Hills – the food was delicious, but the company was even better!
We had the crispy free range pork wontons with chilli sauce…
…followed by the steamed version, with soy chilli and ginger…
The deep fried silken tofu with caramelised tomato sauce was my personal favourite…
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On Thursday, I got a pixie haircut…
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Later that afternoon, Brydie dropped over treats
(and I discovered Instagram)…
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Friday night, I cooked the last of my Cape Grim short ribs, following ChgoJohn’s fabulous recipe (thanks Charlie!). These were served on a bed of celeriac and potato mash, and accompanied with multi-coloured splats…
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And at Flemington Markets on Saturday, I bought organic, grassfed beef, grown in our home state, for just $6.99/kg. It was surplus to an export order and had already been trimmed of fat. I came home with two whole rumps (just over eight kilos in total) for $58…
We minced it all through the Kenwood, vacuum sealed it, and stocked the freezer with 16 x 500g portions (at just $3.65 each). Finding premium quality produce at such a great price more than made up for the kitchen being splattered in meat juices…
In the past, we’ve struggled to find grassfed (let alone organic) mince, so these days we make our own. Each 500g portion will be sufficient to feed the four of us, in either a keema, bolognaise sauce, moussaka or chilli con carne. Life is pretty grand when I can feed my teenage wolves on organic, locally grown beef for under a dollar a serve!
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So that was my week!
How was yours?
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Hey Celia
Isn’t there a wonton or two missing?
Dig the hair cut!
Ha! I suppose I should have mentioned there were four in each serve, but they were too hard to resist when they arrived! ;-) Thanks again for lunch, it was great fun! :)
Hi Celia, I sense you’ve had a great time all brought together with some great dishes. To let you know I have lifted my garlic out of the tubs and they have been a great success there are some small bulbs but on the whole some good sized ones. You’re a great inspiration. My few turnips in the tub are doing well, they’re next for harvesting. Parsley and rhubarb. Cucumber in the greenhouse and tomatoes. Not as organized as you but things have grown.
Marilyn, you sound very organised to me! :) How cool that you grew decent sized garlic corms – ours are only ever small, as Sydney is a little too warm and wet for them. The greenhouse sounds cool, wish we had one! :)
The beef was a real bargain! It’s always nice to get together with other bloggers, I had a great time in Cape Town meeting all the foodies.
Sue, isn’t it just the best bargain ever? I was so pleased. And it wasn’t just cheap, it was the probably the best I could buy too! Meeting Glenda and Maus was a big highlight of the week for me, they’re just the most gorgeous people…
Love the haircut! Super cute…
Thanks Anna! :)
What a lovely week indeed! Your meal at Bar H looked amazing (I really need to stop reading your posts when I’m hungry…). And what a deal on that beef! I have a hard time finding organic and/or grass fed mince as well. But when I spot some I stock up like a mad woman. I can relate to the splattered meat juices! In the end, it’s worth it :)
Emilie, I’m a big fan of Bar H – their food is Asian inspired, and usually it’s hard to impress me with the cuisine I grew up with, but they always manage to do it! Thank you for understanding too – it’s easier these days to buy grass-fed steaks or roasts, but butchers still seem to toss all sorts of things into mince. Much easier to make our own!
Hi Celia
We’ve been eating home-made chicken and vegetable soup. Just what we need on our 8-10 degree days!
Meg, that does sound cold! Great for your apples and pears though. :) Your soup sounds like the perfect dish on a cold winter’s night!
HA! I KNEW the haircut was special! You look great, it goes very very well on you, and that scarf, wow, wow, wow! Gorgeous! Stylish, with just a touch of daring to go with the hair….
You don’t want to know about my week, dear… let’s say we just arrived back in Norman, so we are in “camping-in-empty-house-mode” – but at least the pups are all here and each one crashed in one corner of the house, all exhausted…
(by the way, I discovered INstagram a couple of months ago, but didn’t fall in love with it like everyone else – maybe I just don’t have the time right now to indulge in it and learn the tricks)
Thank you darling, Pete took the photo just after it was cut, as it never looks that good again. The scarf was a sale buy from Lands End, but I do so love it!
You’ve been doing some serious commuting – hope it all gets settled soon for you.. xxx
Thank you, Celia, for your kindly mention of my blog. I’m very pleased that you tried and enjoyed the short rib recipe. Pairing it with a celeriac & potato mash was a great idea, one that I’ll be sure to “borrow.”
John, it’s just the best recipe, thank you so much! And your blog is fabulous, I’ve just subscribed…
I make a milk-free mash, and I’ve discovered that if I combine celeriac and potato, it needs much less liquid and butter to make it creamy. The problem is, of course, that celeriac costs a fortune here. We’ve tried growing them this year, and now that I’ve seen how long they take, I can understand why they’re so expensive!
You sure had a lovely week with family and friends and a busy one too.
To reduce spattering when making ground meat, I raise the bowl to come closer to the meat grinder then loosely surround the grinder and bowl with plastic wrap.
Norma, thank you for the tip. I’ve just mentioned it to Pete, and we’ll give it a go next time. The kitchen yesterday did look like someone had been murdered – a particularly bloody bit of meat caught in the mincer and squirted meat juice straight out over the clean rack of plates..sigh.. ;-)
Celia – where was my invite to Flemington markets? What a bargain and that meat is such good quality. Organic and grass-fed! Unbelievable. What a steal. Great to be making your own mince too. Looking forward to seeing what you turn all that beef into. And I’m so glad you tried the rib recipe. Isn’t the sauce delicious. Love the sound of your celeriac mash – celeriac always takes mash to a whole new level. Love the new hair-do – Archie will now be after you for sure! Great post Celia xx
Charlie, I KNOW! You can imagine how excited I was. Pete had to stop me buying more – he rightly pointed out that 8kg was quite a lot, and I should show some restraint. But I don’t know when I’ll see organic rump at that price again. They often have grassfed rump there at a good price though.
Anytime you’d like to go to Flemington with us, just let me know. It’s always a fun trip!
PS. Let Archie know I’m flattered, but hey, I’m taken… ;-)
Love your hair :)
…and all I want now is that silken tofu…or maybe the steamed wontons!
Darling, you would LOVE Bar H. Maybe we can go when you get back?
What a delicious week it has been for you, Celia. Oooh, those ribs look as though they would melt in the mouth. Love that you are mincing your own meat. My mother did it all the time… with a hand cranked mincer, of course. You have just reminded me, I need to cook celeriac for Peter, he has been asking me about it for ages. Have a lovely Sunday… cute haircut xox
Good morning, dear Lizzy! John’s rib recipe is to die for, the meat was just falling off the bone as it came out of the pot. We are mincing our meat with Pete’s mum’s old Kenwood mincer attachment – Jen passed away last year, so I always think of her when we use it.
It’s hard to find celeriac – I’ve only seen it at the fancier markets this year!
Love the haircut, Celia – it really suits you. And welcome to Instagram -it’s a fun place to hang around. I’ve got a whole rump sitting in the fridge defrosting – It’s on my list to deal with today.
Thanks darling! What are you going to do with your meat?
very cool haircut celia..sounds like a fun week of socialising and cooking..that’s the best sort of fun!
Jane, thank you! It’s been a fun week spent with lots of people that we love. Can’t ask for more than that, really…
How good does the food look! Love your pixie haircut Celia. I’m currently growing mine to all one length and thinking it may be time for the chop, more so since I’ve seen yours.
Rose, that’s very kind of you, thank you! The week before my haircut, I invariably go through angst about whether or not I want to grow it out. But just last week I realised – if I can’t be arsed to put on makeup, then there’s no way I’d manage long hair! ;-) So off it all came!
I love Bar H…and I’m VERY jealous of your piles of pasture-raised beef mince. Lovely stuff.
Thanks Mel! I’m pretty chuffed with it too! :)
Celia, isn’t Pete so clever to take a photo just after you’ve been to the hairdresser.
I’ve never been to Bar H………just love deep fried silken tofu.
Sounds like you’ve had a splendid week with all your loved ones.
Elaine, yes he is very clever! You’d probably love Bar H, they have a small but delicious menu:
http://www.barhsurryhills.com/#/mp_menu?
Looks like a great week Celia…I am fascinated by the bread! Your mince looks really good…so handy to have in the freezer. Love your haircut. Enjoy your Sunday :)
Thanks Jane! The bread has been delicious, especially toasted. I’ve eaten most of it and haven’t shared it with anyone. Brydie is very clever! :)
What a cute hairstyle — I love it. I also love that beef. what a terrific coup there. Envious of all your time with family too. :)
Thanks Maureen, everyone lives a long way away, so it was great to have the opportunity to catch up with them all…
Nowhere near as exciting – a bit of French inspired cooking yesterday (Lee will post details later) and a number of poems of various levels of merit! Plus my day job. Plus the garden.
French inspired cooking sounds exciting! Will look forward to reading about it! :)
How lovely to have a week surrounded by people you love. And lucky them for the food at the heart of it. Great haircut.
Thanks Sally! It was a great week…
HELLO! It’s been forever since I last wrote a comment on your blog – I know, I disappeared from the scene. Had so much happening. But I’m glad to say that I am back. To blogging and to catching up on my fav blogs. Missed reading your delicious food updates!
Hope all is well :)
Dakota
Dakota, how lovely to see you back! Look forward to catching up on all your gorgeous photos!
Thanks Celia! :) Look forward to catching up on all your delicious posts too. :)
C, your haircut is the win! You look faboo, adorable you!
That tofu looks so good. I’ll have to try that. I usually just cut it into slices and fry it… a tomato glaze sounds stellar.
Things here have been beyond busy. I made the Boy a costume for ComicCon. We went Thursday and had a great time. I did a ton of work for my brother’s musical that he’s producing, and have a new book coming out next week. My Kickstarter project ends tomorrow. So all in all I am looking forward
to a somewhat quieter week with maybe some bread baking tomorrow.
Hugs, Maz
Maz, thank you, I was pretty happy with the haircut. It’s probably the shortest I’ve been in a while. And you went to ComicCon!! I hope you took lots of photos! Sounds like you’ve been having a frantic, but exciting, time!
Ohhhh swap weeks Celia! Yours looks rather fabulous!
The Bar H food looks delicious, pixie haircut very, very funky, sourdough- glad you liked it :-) and Instagram? I’ve been having a quiet love affair with, (Mr Chocolate thinks I have far too much time on my hands.)
Brydie, thank you – and I’ve just discovered Hipstamatic, and am quite enamoured with it! Have you tried that yet?
I must put Bar H in Surry Hills on my lit. Fantastic menu :)
ED, if you can, it’s a good place to go for lunch. Evenings can get a little manic there…
Lovely week and you already know I love the new hair! Nice find on the beef. Jealous.
Kaves, I know you’ll understand how deeply contented my inner Chinese soul was to score such a bargain.. ;-)
So many good things things in a week. The beef looks awesome and the haircut even better. I have that ribs recipe bookmarked too. I hope you or Brydie will post about the chickpea flour bread. I love chickpea flour – grinding my own is on the to do list.
Thanks Jo! I hope Brydie will be posting the recipe soon as well. The ribs were amazing – little noise and lots of sighing when the family tucked into them.. ;-)
Very cute hair cut Celia!! And thanks for the lovely stash of thing that you gave us for our trip to Canberra. They held us in good stead!:)
Lorraine, I’m so glad you enjoyed them. Well, I know one of you did. Did you actually get anything? ;-)
What a beautiful family filled week Celia and your haircut is fabulous. Wish I was brave enough to cut mine!
Pete has been home this last week which has been fabulous, especially with the cold as he has been building lovely fires in the lounge to keep us toasty, something I don’t do when he is away.
Have a beautiful week ahead.
Mandy, thank you! I’m glad your Pete was home too – I think all of us with Petes should get to have them around us as much as possible. :)
Have a good one, darling.. x
So now you have had the hair cut for a while how do you like it? My hairdresser wants to cut mine into a pixie but I am not so sure. I quit coloring my hair last year, it is now 1 cut away from being my own color with lots of grey mixed in and I love it!
But a pixie? How do you like it? Is it too short?
It looks great on you!
Dumplings, drool!
Pamela, you know the old saying, “out with the old and in with the new”? Well, in my case, every haircut is “out with the black and in with the grey”.. :)
I’ve always had short hair, but this is the shortest I’ve been in a while. I love it. It’s easy to manage – I wash my hair every morning, towel dry and that’s it for the day. However. I have never managed to make it look as good as it did in the photo above. Yesterday I tried to blow dry it and ended up looking like a toilet brush. It actually shouldn’t be difficult, but I’m a bit rubbish at that sort of thing.. ;-)
Yeah, me too. Unless I flat iron my short hair it looks quite a bit like the toilet brush you mention. very familiar with that look!
All the pictures look wonderful- the food is so tempting and you are so cute with a pixie! I think we look better in pictures taken by someone we love and who loves us. Your expression is so perfect for Pete!
I love the mince- the price is great and it looks so lean! I did this several times when I was making a big pot of chili for a large gathering- and I just can’t handle all the blood dripping down the cupboards on a regular basis! But I would like a finer quality of hamburger. You and Pete make a good couple- willing to work together on all your projects.
My week has been babysitting for my niece’s dog and dealing with a great deal of shoulder and joint pain. Not the greatest combination.
Heidi, thank you.. :)
And the kitchen looked like someone had been murdered – there was blood splattered everywhere. But because we have a big freezer, we only need to do this once every several months – I don’t think I could face it on a more regular basis. Aside from the mess, there’s all the palaver associated with cleaning up the mincer etc.
I’m so sorry to hear about your aches and pains. I hope the next week is an improvement for you.. xxx
Everything looks delicious!
Thanks Greg! :)
How lovely to see such a great photograph of you – the new haircut really suits you.
We’ve had a hectic week, Chief Tester is leaving home soon, and getting his new place ready is taking us all a lot of effort. First Born is starting a new job tomorrow, so things are a little tenser than usual there, and it’s a battle with the weather to keep the garden under control!
Suelle, thank you! It sounds like very busy times at your place at the moment. Hang in there!
PS. I thought of you as I was taking photos of the garden last weekend – we’ve planted rainbow chard for the first time. Fingers crossed the family will eat it! ;-)
Sounds like you’ve had a really lovely week and made the most of seeing friends and family. I like the new haircut and it’s always lovely to see a photo of you!
My week has been busy and up and down. Hopefully next week will be better!
Caroline, it was fun! Hope this week is going more smoothly for you! xx
Love the haircut Celia!
I can’t believe I’ve never though to make my mince. I make chicken and lamb mince but never though to make beef because it’s so readily available.
It sounds like a very lovely (and delicious) week!
Thanks Claire! We make our own mince these days, because I only want to feed the boys grassfed beef. It is easier to make informed choices with whole cuts, but mince is a bit of a minefield…
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/08/29/grass-fed-beef/
Pardon my absolute kitchen ignorance Celia, I’ll blame it on the fact I don’t make it to the shops so much these days…what machine do you use for the mincing? I take it that it is something multipurpose with various attachments????
Alison, we used Pete’s mum’s old mincer attachment on our Kenwood chef mixer – it slots into a hole at the front of the machine. It works well!
What a great week! And that meat was a bargain :) PS, I love the new pic :)
Thanks Tandy! The meat really WAS a bargain – we’ve just eaten the first batch tonight in a chilli with beans. I figured out that all up – lean organic rump mince, beans, really expensive San Marzano tomatoes, aged basmati rice – dinner for all four of us cost us about $9. Gotta love it! :)
What a lovely week and i love your photo – you look irrepressibly impish!
Thanks love.. xx
Love the haircut!
Thank you! It looked good on the day, now it’s sticking up everywhere.. ;-)
The meat looks fantastic! We made italian traditional pork sausages this week, just waiting for them to dry. Love the idea of mincing your own beef.
Thanks Jade! I’ve never tried sausage making – must add that to the list! :)
Awesome week Celia! And a very cute haircut too :)
Thanks darling.. xx
wow! love the freezing bags too!
Aren’t they great? I found them at Chefs recently, and they seem to work even better than the ones that originally came with the machine! :)
Sounds like a lovely week. It often seems the way that lots of good things come together. Brydie’s bread sounds intriguing and your hair cut is lovely. I’ve always thought of you as the wise mother, but pixie fits well too :)
Choc, I’ve been fooling you all, I’m anything but wise. Big Boy refers to me as “My Mad Mother”.. :)
Brydie’s bread was deliciously flavoured, I’m looking out for her recipe too!