Hi folks! Sorry I’ve been quiet these last couple of months – we’ve had a lot on our plate. It’s been a busy and quite stressful time, punctuated with pockets of joy. Perhaps that’s what life is all about, finding moments of peace and enjoyment in amongst the chaos. Here are some happy bits and pieces from May.
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We celebrated our friend PeteV’s 50th birthday with a glorious lunch at Nomad in Surry Hills. I managed to take just one photo – these savoury churros with goat’s cheese were sublime…
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Last Sunday morning, I caught the train into Circular Quay to meet Amanda of Lambs’ Ears and Honey and her friend Megan. It was a crisp eight degrees Celsius, but the South Australians just laughed at me when I said it was cold…
As I sat at Ashfield station waiting for my train, I marveled at how wondrous 2015 technology is. I didn’t have to buy a ticket, as my new Sydney Opal Card lets me travel on any form of public transport without having to worry about finding the right change (it’s linked back to my credit card).
The TripView app on my iPhone updates real time arrival and departure information. It works brilliantly for the train and light rail systems. After just a short wait, I was seated on a heated, comfortable train, reading my Kindle and watching the suburbs whizz past. I can’t recall public transport ever being such a pleasant experience before!
After breakfast, Amanda, Megan and I visited the Light Show exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art. It was fabulous and well worth the $20 admission fee, but we weren’t allowed to take photos…
The MCA is always full of interesting and quirky things, like this example of indigenous La Perouse shellwork…
I love how the hand dryers emit warm air with a blue glow…
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I drove over to Lario International to buy some Amedei chocolate from Tania and we went to the Sub-Station Cafe for a quick lunch. The parking was a nightmare, but the food was great – their Reuben sandwich had tender toast, just the right amount of meat, and burly pickles…
When the goats cheese and pumpkin arrived, Tania exclaimed “Ooh, I love a chunky salad!” It certainly was that…
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I’ve got rings on my fingers – one made from a spoon and the other from a fork…
…and socks on my toes… (I adore toe socks!)…
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I stocked up the freezer with pulled pork – two free range pork hocks plus five hours slow roasting gave us enough meat for four dinners…
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As I’ve mentioned before, I find breadmaking wonderfully therapeutic. I indulged myself with an extra 25kg sack of flour last month (at a cost of just $25) and have been baking up a storm. These two slabs of sourdough focaccia measured a metre in length combined…
I baked a figgy fruit loaf for baby Evan and brioche for two year old Matilda – Pete says I’m turning into the street grandma…
…and hamburger buns for dinner tonight. Did you know it’s International Hamburger Day today?
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Here’s something which made us laugh a great deal – I know it’s terrible, but I also found it hilarious. Big Boy pulled out the official government advisory pamphlet for L and P plate drivers. The examples given were unbelievable – 19 year old David had consumed 15 standard drinks, and 18 year old Sarah had a blood alcohol level of 0.24. Only in Australia…
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Last night, Pete and I popped into town for an early visit to Vivid Sydney. There’s a separate post to follow on that…
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You know, I feel so much better having written this post – it’s like I’ve had a cup of coffee with you and filled you in on what’s been happening in our lives. So tell me, how’s your month been?
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
What a great post! It looks like you have had a wonderful month.
Julie, yes, it was a wonderful month. Hard, but wonderful! :)
I always look forward to your interesting posts Celia! I’m actually having a cuppa whilst reading this 😄. Just a question: im loving your pulled pork( I’ve never been a pork lover but after tasting a Cuban Soudough Pulled Pork Sub from Coco Cobana im hooked!) do you have a different blog entry on how to make your pulled pork sweet lady?
Lina, I have two! Both are made in the clay Romertopf, but I know that my friend Nancy at Plus Ate Six made it in her cast iron pot and it worked well! x
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2014/02/05/romertopf-pulled-pork/
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2014/08/19/stretching-the-free-range-dollar/
Thank You Celia! Wonderful! I’m off to piggy land now. x
Happy Birthday to PeteV!
The boy made churros for Spanish class a couple of years ago. They were easy and super yum. I recommend.
Things here have been perking along. Still baking sourdough every week, thank you Ma’am. Taking care of my 84 year old mom every day. She’s a hoot.
Just bought a big pile of good canvases on sale. Trying to figure out what to paint. Hugs, Maz.
Big Mama keeps churning out the loaves! Hooray! I’m glad your mom is a joy for you! x
Life looks good Celia. I love your snippets from Sydney…like a mini holiday! I haven’t made sourdough focaccia in a while, thanks for the reminder. Gorgeous bread in your kitchen as always x
Jane, Sydney is always full, but I don’t always make the time to see most of it. I always enjoy it so much when I do! I’m smiling at your mini holiday comment – that’s how I feel about your posts, like I’ve had a weekend in the country! :) x
I know you said there’s been stressful times and chaos, but it looks like the pockets of fun have been really fun, which hopefully have helped :)
Love the spoon ring and the toe socks, and the chunky salad (that’s my kind of food) and the meter long focaccia! Wow!!!
I made my first focaccia last weekend and I’ve been experimenting with fresh yeast in between the sourdough love – all good fun :)
My cousin said, “it’s appropriate for a food blogger to have rings made from cutlery!” Made me laugh, but I’m pretty sure she’s right! You’d have loved the SubStation – really interesting, wholesome food, half grilled eggplants, that sort of thing!
Sounds great, perfect for me :)
And, yes, I think your cousin is right!
your posts always make me want to visit Sydney
It’s my favourite city in the whole world. But hey, I’m biased.. :)
Thanks for the interesting post Celia. It certainly is sock weather! Your baking looks so yummy, just seeing those photos gives all of us a lift.
Christine, thank you! I have different coloured toe socks on today, I think I have four or five pairs! :)
It was so lovely to catch up with you, even if it was only brief. Wasn’t that Light Show just the most amazing thing?! My brain is still reeling from Chromosaturation.
I loved it so much that I dragged Pete back to see it on Wednesday! Seeing it with him was so much fun – he “sees” much more than I do! :)
My god so much bread. I could go a loaf of that figgy bread , I took a slice of your hazelnut bread out of the freezer on the weekend and toasted it ( I am not kidding) it was delightful and I must thank you. I look forward to seeing Vivid this year too. You have had a lovely time!
Hello lovely, yes, the house is overrun with bread! And chocolate, thanks to you! :)
Very chunky salad and burly pickles! Love your rings – I have kitchen hooks made from spoons. Reading this has just reminded me that I have a whole load of bread that I left overnight in the fridge that I’d completely forgotten about. Best get busy.
They really were burly, I couldn’t think of any other way to describe them! We really had a fabulous meal. And how exciting to hear that you’re now Grandma! :)
Lots of great things Celia – that Reuban sandwich OMG!!!! Pass it this-a-way!!! Your bread looks fab as always – $25 for 25kg what a bargain!!!!
I’ve been quiet on my blog this past month too but like you I’m busting to share :)
Jan x
Jan, I figured $25 was the cheapest therapy I was going to get, and it lasts an entire month! :)
That fig bread looks beautiful. Ha ha, toe socks, what a hoot! Look great would drive me nuts. Glad you took some time amid your hustle and bustle to share. It’s lovely seeing these little bits of Sydney we visited again. Yes the Opal card is brilliant, I’m too nervous to use PT in Melbourne, scared the gestapo will throw me in the nick if I’ve stuffed up or the technology doesn’t work. Hear some awful stories. :)
Maree, that’s interesting, because I think our Opal card is based on the Melbourne Myki. It really does work well here!
Hello gorgeous Celia, lovely to hear you revelling in the positive and peaceful moments, I know that out can be hard to find these when times are stressful, so it makes me happy to read about yours. X
Hello my love, hope your month is going ok. I know you’ve had a lot on your plate too, but your IG pics of Scotland have been glorious! xxx
You seem to be finding time to have fun in the midst of the chaos – and there’s always time for bread making isn’t there. Now that savoury churros is something I’d order too. As for the chunky salad – Tania is right isn’t it nice to see big slabs of pumpkin instead of little cubes.
Oh you would have loved the savoury churros, but you’d have had to armwrestle me for the foie gras that came after them! That didn’t stay intact long enough for a photo! There’s always time for bread – maybe I need to crochet as well! :)
WOW everything looks wonderful and even in the midst of everything you are still baking amazing bread :) Thanks for sharing! Liz xx
Thanks love, yes, must bake bread. I have this thought it the back of my head that if nothing else, the boys will be able to eat! :)
It’s lovely to catch-up with you again, and all the best to you and your family!
Thanks Misky! Hope you’re having a glorious Spring!
Completely! Love to you, Celia.
A lovely catch up – I know, like the rest of us, there has probably been a lot of crapy stuff too, but it’s good to look back on a day, a week, a month and remember that there have indeed little pockets of joy! I love that you made a metre of focaccia – I am missing my bread making while I am in Spain but not long now and we’ll be back in our Bexhill routine and to be honest, I’m missing it (which I never expected to say or feel)! Big hug to you x
T, you’ll need to cart a thermos of starter with you to Spain next time! I hope you’re having a glorious time, and that the weather isn’t still 40C!!
It’s cooled down to a lovely 24 degrees – although that feels hot when you’re working outside (as we are) tidying the garden and making the house look pretty! Bread Man would probably never talk to me again if I stopped using his delivery service, so for the moment I’ll have to dream of bread making :)
Looks like you have had many pockets of joy amidst the chaos and stress. The pulled,pork looks fantastic, wish I had some now. Of course everything sounds great to me right now, it’s been over 36 hours since I last ate! Churros with goat cheese also sounds fantastic. I would like to think our stress and chaos will slow down, but with the kids being home on summer break in just a week that might not happen. Hopefully we can avoid any hospital trips or broken bones, I’ll hope for the best!
Gretchen, why haven’t you eaten? You really have had your hands full – I just read your IMK post – I hope June eases up a bit and gives you a break! x
Good to see a lot of cheerful stuff to counteract the recent problems…. yin and yang of life, right?
loved the rings and the socks – I am super ticklish, it would be youtube-worthy to see me trying to put those socks on…. but they do look incredibly cute and I love the colors!
Sally, surely you can’t tickle yourself? :) They actually make high tech toe socks for runners, designed to minimise blisters. Mind you, they only come in boring grey and white, not fluoro stripes! :D
Wow two big birthday celebrations is stress in the nicest of ways, and some nice times with friends sounds like fun. I would love to taste savoury churros. I have been baking overnight sourdough and then trying not to gobble too much of it down – it is wonderful on these cooler days. Your fruit bread looks great – I really need to get my head around a sourdough fruit bread recipe – have you done an overnight fruit bread sourdough?
Ah sorry, I confused you, it wasn’t my Pete’s 50th, but our neighbour Pete’s. I’ve amended the post to make it clearer. And the fruit loaf in the pic was done overnight, the dried fruit was fine in the dough on the bench. I found that everyone loves it most when it has heaps of figs in it!
Love your rings! Sheffield Museum has a few spectacular sculptures made with cutlery and of course, jewellery and other things in their shop made from (Sheffield) spoons and forks. Looks like you had many monthly highlights amongst the chaos of modern life – including that chunky salad, sublime savoury churros and your fab pulled pork (not to mention wonderful Priscilla sourdough)!
Thanks Debi! I must go and see if I can find pics of those sculptures. My rings are made from old EPNS cutlery – the spoon one is my current favourite!
Will take a photo next time I am at the museum. Sheffield takes its cutlery and flatware history seriously!
I loved our little conversation today. You’ve been really busy and the boys have been even busier. It was wonderful to catch up and we hope to hear from you again soon. xx
Thanks for having a cuppa with me, darling. Lovely to catch up, lots of love to you and John! xx
You have been a busy lady. We’re now paying the price of our incredibly long winter with a hot & humid heat wave here. In New England we get about 3, maybe up to 5 beautiful spring days and then go smack dab into crazy summer weather.
I’m needing to post more myself but like you, it’s been sort of a crazy time with a lot of things. At least I’m getting some of my projects checked off the to-do list so that’s a good thing.
Diane, your baby’s getting married in a minute, you’re supposed to be too busy for anything else! :) Hope it’s all going to plan! :)
“Flat out like a lizard drinking” Ms Celia. I think May has been a particularly busy and emotional month for almost everyone that I have talked to/dealt with. Here’s to a nice easy June so that we can all recover!
Fran, I hope so. Life is a bit unpredictable, but it’s all good really. I need to write posts like this to remind myself sometimes. :)
Cool toe socks! Every street needs a street grandma! I’m sure you’re well loved by old and young alike!
Manuela, thank you lovely, I ADORE my toe socks, but I do get teased a lot for them! :)
Your baking is fabulous as usual Celia. A metre of foccacia! My new favourite lunch is toasted sourdough topped with avocado, chicken & ripe tomatoes. That goats cheese and pumpkin salad though has me salivating. Might have to try and recreate. Love your toe socks😊😊
Kay, the metre of focaccia fed eight neighbours and the four of us! Pretty good, I thought! The goats cheese and pumpkin salad was memorable and very delicious! x
I hope your pockets of joy begin to outweigh the stressful buckets Celia. Your life is such a busy one. I love toe socks too; I have a small black pair to wear inside my shoes and each time I take my shoes off my mind goes WTF! I’ve also used my black wiggling toes to terrify my grandchildren – just as well children like being terrified. Talking of children – the official, government posters for young drivers is breathtaking isn’t it. There’s a QLD Railways poster that sets out, in patient, primary school story time language, how we should all be polite, considerate and respectful when travelling on the train. I sometimes wonder whether the people who produce those posters do it with eye-rolling disbelief at how people so often need reminding that they are not alone on this planet and therefore a little bit of thought and consideration needs to be exercised in their daily lives.
Jan, at least the Qld Rail poster is aimed at telling folks to be nice, rather than the RTA one which seems to presume that all teenagers binge drink! :)
Celia, I felt such a sense of joy reading your post. Love those pockets when they happen. I’m craving your fruity bread smothered with lovely dripping buttery goodness! It’s been a hard month. I sprained my ankle taking the smalls to see Playschool in the rain so I’ve been limping around. Jimmy got hand foot and mouth. Then as he’s too young to have been immunised while his system was low he also caught chicken pox. Then he shared his HFM with me. We are in quarantine and I’m living from the pantry. Hurrah for Priscilla loaves although I’m a mite tired of peanut butter sandwiches now. Despite that, it’s a lovely sunny day and reading your post I feel like I’ve gotten out of the house and caught up with a friend for coffee. Thank you x
Lisa, I’m so pleased, thank you for reading the post and having a virtual cuppa with me! I’m SO sorry to hear about the chicken pox – that is such a tough one. Hope it all passes soon! x
You make my quiet life pale by comparison. But we too have been at Sub-Station Cafe recently for Sunday breakfast, and I can recommend it as well. Such a handy location for us as we are walking distance to it, Bunnings, Victoria’s Basement, FSW Shoes all in the vicinity. And Vivid Sydney is there each night as I leave the office…
And yet, my lovely friend, we’ve been doing the same things! I don’t think there’s anything pale about your life whatsoever! :)
Here’s hoping that the stresses have lessened or the problems present are at least able to be solved. Love my Opal card also: some ‘newfangled’ things really do make life easier. London calls it’s ‘Oyster’ as I learned on a quiz show last night!! Am looking right past all your gorgeous breads as I am still not ready, but do love those socks and am smiling at the rings: well they had to come after the bracelet, didn’t they :) ?
Eha, you’re so right, after the bracelet, I HAD to go back to lovely Steve the jeweller and check out his other bits and pieces! :)
Welcome back!
Thank you!
Always good to find ‘pockets of joy’ when life gets a little stressful, Celia. Loved seeing all your adventures. The socks are very cute indeed! And how nice that you and Amanda caught up! (Still not getting your blog posts, sadly, even though I re-followed you. Not sure what’s going on there. Not to worry, will just check in on you from time to time, love). xox
Oh, I had the best time with Amanda and Megan! We whipped through the Rocks Markets and then went to the MCA! xxx
Life is meant to be ordinary with moments of bliss, and some not so blissful days. You certainly have been busy. Not so sure about the toe socks :)
Tandy, I think toe socks are an acquired taste! And yes, life is a roller coaster, isn’t it? Wishing you a wonderful weekend! xxx
It was a chaotic month for me too. And it went so fast…I can´t believe today is 29th
I always enjoy your posts and I love your bread baking frenzy!.
Me too feels therapeutic baking time, but as I have an office work there isn´t enough time…..
Have a nice weekend!
Here it´s Friday night it´s chilly and cloudy.
Love your pics too!!
Kisses
Hello Ale!! It was so nice to see your sourdough in your Imk post – hooray for Mafalda! Have a great weekend, lovely! xxx
Hi Celia, I’m sad you months have been stressful but I’m so glad there’s been lovely bits in there. I did laugh when you posted those pictures on Instagram about the BAC. Hilarious! Your burger buns look so yummy! Our month has been good. But busy, always busy. I’ve been fixing up the garden, and planting veggies, working in the chicken coop and cooking up a storm. It was lovely to catch up. Clare b
Thanks hon! So good to hear that all is well in Geelong! Lots of love xxx
Lovely to hear from you again Celia. How lovely to catch up with Amanda. Your toe socks look perfect for keeping feet warm. And so much bread and slow-cooked meat – perfect! xx
Charlie, I thought of you when we were at Vivid. It was quite crowded already midweek, and I thought about you trying to corral an entire herd of Boy Scouts! :) hope all is well over your side of the. Bridge! xxx
Great post! I love meeting other bloggers!
Me too, Mimi!
Celia, I love catching up with your busy life. We’re currently cruising in Alaska and wi-fi connections are scarce, so I missed May’s IMK deadline and will be offline again for the June period. I have an IMK post scheduled for June 1, with no foreseeable chance to link to or comment on yours. Here’s the permalink URL if you care to include it:
http://otm-inthegalley.blogspot.com/2015/06/busy-in-galley.html
We head out of town (Petersburg, AK currently) tomorrow, but I’ll enjoy browsing and commenting on IMK posts whenever/wherever I find internet access again.
Dee, it sounds like you’re having a glorious time! Thanks for taking the time to join in the IMK round up even when you’re so busy!
This was Such a cool lovely post, dear Celia!
You certainly have been busy! Xx
Thanks Sophie! Hope all is well, it HAS been hectic here! :)