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Growing Cucumbers in Pots

January 17, 2013 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

This year, we’re growing cucumbers in a pot.

And we’re getting more fruit than we’ve ever had before – as you can see from the photo below, the plants are covered in flowers…

On a whim, we planted four seedlings into the old self-watering pot that we’d used to grow our indoor tomatoes a couple of years ago. We’ve learned the hard way over previous years that the most important thing with cucumbers is sufficient water – without it, the fruit is often bitter, and the plant doesn’t produce a good crop.

The pot was positioned on the driveway and a plastic trellis erected against the fence.  The plants are growing in a mixture of old potting mix enriched with cow manure.  The fertiliser might not have been necessary if we’d used new potting mix, but it seemed a shame to waste what we already had.

The plants are kept well hydrated throughout the day via the self-watering pot, which needs refilling at least twice a day (cucumbers need a lot of water!).  As there isn’t a lot of soil, we also give them a feed of worm juice and fish emulsion every couple of weeks or so.

We’ve been rewarded with a bumper crop of sweet, crunchy Lebanese cucumbers!  We’ve already harvested dozens of them, with oodles of new ones popping up every day…

Even if you don’t have garden beds, it’s definitely worth trying to grow cucumbers in pots!

Posted in Garden | 53 Comments »

Postcards from Melbourne

January 15, 2013 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

Last week, Pete and I enjoyed a couple of nights in Melbourne.

Inspired by Lorraine’s review, we stayed at the fabulous Olsen Art Hotel in South Yarra. Our room was a deluxe studio – small, but generously appointed. It offered proper coat hangers that came off the rack (a pet peeve of mine), decent shampoo,  very reasonably priced internet access ($10 per day, less if you’re a member) and the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept on…

All the artwork in this boutique hotel is by Australian landscape artist John Olsen, and most of it is for sale, with the exception of the giraffes on our bathroom wall…

On our first night, we dined in South Bank with our old friends Andrew and Alex…

Melbourne at dusk is remarkably beautiful…

Having parked in the Crown Entertainment Complex, we had to walk past this aquarium on the way back to the car…

It was full of cheerful fish…

Every single fish in the aquarium was smiling!  I thought they might be a nice addition to our fish tank at home, but Pete wasn’t convinced…

The following morning we had breakfast at Cumulus Inc. with David and Marie. I had the shakshouka – baked eggs with roasted peppers and shanklish..

Then we tried to master MyKi!

Melbourne has an integrated electronic public transport system based around a single key tag. As visitors, we only needed it for one day, but had to buy  reusable cards nonetheless.  Having said that, the tram system works brilliantly – much better than our Sydney buses. The only real problem with the trams is that they require passengers to walk across a lane of traffic to board, hence this advertising campaign…

I dragged Pete out to Kew to buy Naot shoes – an Israeli brand with removable cork innersoles. They’re the only sandals I’ve found that I can successfully use my orthotics with…

We ate old fashioned fish and chips at Hunky Dory in South Yarra…

…and had dinner at France-Soir with Pete’s brother Greg, his partner Michelle, and their cousin MJ.  I had to try the duck à l’orange (it was very good!)…

On the way home, I took a photo inside the plane cabin with the new panoramic camera option that came with the latest iPhone software upgrade. It works really well…

And I checked for snakes on the wing, but didn’t see any!

It was a fun and much needed weekend away, and a great joy to be able to catch up with family and friends whom we hadn’t seen for years. If you’re planning a trip to Melbourne, I’d recommend the Olsen Hotel – it’s in a great location, the staff were cheerful, and the attention to detail really impressed us!

Posted in Food & Friends, My Photos | 72 Comments »

Grilled Vegetable Lasagne

January 13, 2013 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

For the first time ever, we’re growing oodles of zucchini and squash in the garden. Not quite to glut proportions (yet), but enough for us to be eating a couple every night. At the same time, our finger eggplants have taken off, and we’ve been turning our bounty into curries, ratatouilles and stir fries.

A couple of weeks ago, Pete created this fabulous lasagne with grilled vegetables, and it was so good that we made it again last night. Our first attempt was vegetarian, but this time we’ve added some leftover roasted duck to the tomato sauce.

The dish doesn’t include a béchamel sauce, but rather a combination of melting cheeses.  We’ve decided we prefer it that way!

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As with all of Pete’s recipes, this one changes each time we make it. I think it’s flexible enough to adapt to whatever ingredients you have on hand, so please treat these instructions as a loose guideline…

We began with:

  • 1 packet (500g) fresh lasagne sheets (we always buy Peppe’s Pasta if we’re not making our own)
  • zucchini and eggplant (we used about 2kg (4½lb) in total)
  • oven roasted tomatoes, enough for one layer (homemade)
  • 100ml extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 x 700ml bottles of tomato passata
  • leftover roast duck (entirely optional and substitutable)
  • Fontina cheese, grated (we used about 300g)
  • fresh Mozzarella cheese (bocconcini), shredded (we used two small balls)
  • grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 large onions, very finely chopped
  • basil leaves (about 10)
  • salt and pepper for seasoning

* We used about 450g (1lb) of cheese in total – any combination should work. If you can’t find bocconcini, mozzarella will work just as well.

1. Thinly slice the vegetables.  On a griddle pan over a high heat, cook the slices over a high heat until marked and slightly charred (alternatively, you could roast the slices in the oven).  Allow to cool…

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2. Prepare the sauce: in a large frying pan or wok, heat the olive oil and saute the two large, finely chopped onions until translucent. Add the leftover duck (if using) and stir until heated through. Then pour in two bottles of a good passata (we like the Mutti brand) and the shredded basil leaves, and simmer until well cooked and thickened (about 20 minutes).  Taste and adjust seasoning as required…

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3. Prepare the lasagne according to the instructions on the packet – we placed our sheets in boiling salted water for two minutes, then refreshed them in cold water before use.

Preheat the oven to 180C (360F) with fan, and lay out the ingredients, ready for assembly…

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4. Spread a little sauce over the base of a large baking tray, then top with lasagne sheets, a generous ladle of sauce, one of the grilled vegetables and a portion of the grated Fontina cheese.  Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Gently (!) squish down on each layer as you go to flatten and even out the sauce and filling (best to do this after the pasta sheets are laid down and before adding the sauce and grilled vegetables)…

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5. Continue layering until all the ingredients have been used up.  Our layers consisted of zucchini, eggplant, zucchini and finally, semi-dried tomatoes.  Top with a final layer of pasta, more sauce and scatter over the shredded Mozzarella and grated Parmesan cheeses.  Make sure to spread the sauce evenly over the pasta, to ensure it doesn’t dry out as it bakes. Season with pepper and drizzle with a little olive oil…

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6. Bake until golden brown (from memory, it took about half an hour in the oven), then rest for about 15 minutes before serving…

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This is a perfect dinner party dish, particularly for entertaining vegetarian friends. It’s so rich and filling that no-one really misses the meat!

Posted in Recipes | 71 Comments »

Waste Not

January 10, 2013 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

… a post for Roz and John …

I’ve struggled to find the words to describe this art installation by Chinese artist Song Dong. It forms part of the Sydney Festival, and has been set up in Carriageworks at Eveleigh.

I’m not sure it’s a piece that would appeal to everyone. At first glance, it appears to be a cross between art and a huge garage sale.  Truly appreciating the installation requires some understanding of the story behind it – the political turmoil in China which drove the artist’s mother to excessive frugality, the traumatic and sudden death of his father which exacerbated her compulsion to hoard, and how his creation of this piece helped her to find peace.

I photographed all the descriptive text accompanying the piece as it’s a great read – if you’re interested, please click on the photos below and a larger copy will open up in a new window (then click a second time for a further enlargement)…

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The artwork is made up of over 10,000 items collected and stockpiled by the artist’s mother.  Growing up during the harshest period of communist China, and having suffered major turmoil as a young girl, she learned to deal with the ever present threat of shortage by never discarding anything that might be of future use.

Even years later, when such hoarding was unnecessary, she was unable to stop – as I walked through the installation, I wondered if it was her own way of guarding against the unpredictability of life and death…

At the centre of the room stands the skeleton of one of the family’s original homes…

Even shards of broken pottery were stored away for possible reuse…

Piles of rags – used to sew clothing which would otherwise require government-issued coupons to purchase…

A large collection of plastic bags…

Several old record players highlighted the marked absence of machinery – no washing machine, dryer, dishwasher or any other modern convenience, apart from a couple of old television sets…

Plastic bottles were cleaned and stockpiled – I was told the artist’s mother would often use the lids for buttons…

The story behind the large stack of soap is particularly poignant (please click on the text below for more information), providing an insight into both the mind of the artist’s mother, and the labour-intensive life she lived as a young adult. She was so afraid that her family would have to do without soap that she hoarded these cakes for over forty years, planning to pass them on to her children when they married.

It gave me enormous appreciation for the modern age in which we live, where we can throw clothes into a machine and come back an hour later to find them clean…

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. . . . .

Waste Not, by Song Dong, will be on display in Carriageworks at Eveleigh until 17 March 2013.  I found the exhibit and its associated history extremely moving. Entry is free.

Dad and Mum, Don’t Worry About Us, We are All Well,  a survey of Song Dong’s work over the past three decades, is on display at the 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art in Haymarket until 30 March 2013.

Posted in Cool Things | Tagged , , , , , | 73 Comments »

Rubber Ducky

January 9, 2013 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

We’re in holiday mode.

After an incredibly hectic December, it’s such a pleasure (and a relief!) to be able to relax a little in the new year.

Sydney has a lot to offer in January, and we’ll be spending a bit of time at the Sydney Festival, which runs over the entire month.  One of this year’s most distinctive features is this giant Rubber Duck, which isn’t made of rubber at all.

Created by artist Florentijn Hofman of the Netherlands, this inflatable fabric sculpture sailed into Sydney on the 5th of January and will be happily moored at Darling Harbour until the 23rd.  It’s five storeys high by five storeys wide…

It’s definitely worth a trip in to have a look if you get the chance. It’s surprisingly large and very cheery!  More information is available at the Sydney Festival website.

Posted in My Photos | 38 Comments »

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