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Spaghetti with Shaved Asparagus & Chilli

I know, I know – this post is two days late. Truth is, I don’t really have a good excuse. Summer holidays have been settling under my skin, so that the days are long and then suddenly gone, while the weeks fly by in a blink. For a change I haven’t been spending a lot of time in front of the computer. The heat and humidity and late stages of pregnancy are making me slower than usual. I shift between bouts of energy and the desire to lay down and simply daydream.

Much as I would like to spend my time in a state of heightened relaxation, toddlers don’t quite allow for that. So we’ve been spending a lot of time down the pool, me wallowing in the water and W either rearranging the sand, handful by handful, or laughing and being thrown up in the air with S. We also spend a fair amount of time at the library, where it is cool and quiet and we can all indulge our love of books. Continue reading “Spaghetti with Shaved Asparagus & Chilli”

Beetroot, Lentil & Cherry Salad

I’ve been having technicolour dreams of late. Really clear dreams that seem totally realistic, without the surreal quality that dreams so often have. Bright dreams full of piercing sunshine and fast-paced narrative. When I wake up in the middle of the night it takes me a good minute or two to readjust to this reality and work out where I am and what I am doing. By the morning though I’ve forgotten most of the dreams. All that stays with me is a snippet or two, a snapshot image.

I’m not sure what is causing the strange dreaming. Perhaps it is the hot sultry nights we’ve been having – heat always messes with my sleeping and dreaming patterns. It could also be the fact that I am in the advanced stages of pregnancy. Full of hormones, and baby. Either way I find the dreaming both unsettling and exciting. I’ve always loved dreaming. When I was a teenager I used to write down my dreams every morning as a way to train myself to remember them better. Continue reading “Beetroot, Lentil & Cherry Salad”

May Favourites + Blog Hop

Today’s post is slightly different to usual. May has been busy month in our household and this week past has been fucking crazy so my plans to cook and photograph yesterday were blown out of the water by work deadlines and a stuffy nose. Today, rather than a recipe, below is a collection of favourites – some of the recipes I’ve been salivating over, and some of the things I’ve been reading, this past month. Also below is a reflection on my own writing habits as part of a chain ‘blog hop’ that the lovely Zenobia Frost invited me to take part in.

Enjoy!
Sarah x Continue reading “May Favourites + Blog Hop”

Grilled Persimmon & Wild Rice Salad

branches down there
in the mist, of luscious
red-orange, ripe-in-their-thin-skin
persimmons, pulpy
– transparent with frost.
Improbably festive

From ‘Persimmons: Campagnatico’, David Malouf

Before we moved up to Brisbane we lived in Brunswick, Melbourne. One of the great things about that part of the world is the network of bluestone alleyways that wend their way through the suburb. They are fantastic for shortcuts, for getting lost; like secret pathways, they indulged the childhood part of me that loved stories of labyrinths and hidden world. Best of all, they are fantastic for a spot of clandestine fruit picking. Continue reading “Grilled Persimmon & Wild Rice Salad”

Roast Beetroot & Feta Salad

“The beet is the most intense of vegetables…The beet is the melancholy vegetable, the one most willing to suffer. You can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip… The beet is the murderer returned to the scene of the crime. The beet is what happens when the cherry finishes with the carrot. The beet is the ancient ancestor of the autumn moon, bearded, buried, all but fossilized.”
–– From Jitterbug Perfume, by Tom Robbins

Since we moved to Brisbane, Saturday mornings are spent at the West End Markets. We like to go early, before the tourists start coming down and the lovely meanderings are hampered by the crowds. We always stop partway through our shop – S will get a coffee and I’ll get a green juice, and we’ll share a gozleme or get freshly baked croissants. W stares around taking it all in, happily chewing on the kale leaves poking out from the bag. Continue reading “Roast Beetroot & Feta Salad”