Royal Wedding Menu Australian style and a White Jacket Rant

Like most of the planet it would seem I will be watching the Royal Wedding tonight.

The Wedding will be telecast in the evening here which makes it ideal timing to watch with an English style meal.  I have been a bit slack and instead of inventing dishes or looking through cookbooks, I just trawled the Internet for some Royal Wedding inspired dishes which are not too hard to cook.

 

First up is a chilled cucumber soup with garlic prawns, in a nod to the very English tradition of cucumber sandwiches.   It is not exactly the weather here for cold soup, but needs must.  

 To me there is nothing more English than lamb and peas.  Which suits me because it is also a quintessentially Australian dish.   I have been eating lots of lamb lately in a probably forlorn attempt to boost my red blood cells.  My favourite way to have lamb is as 
cutlets or possibly a rib eye.  To go with this, the pea dish below, possibly some asparagus (also very English) and some boiled new potatoes with lots of butter and Malden salt. 

This is a dish of peas, mint and salted yogurt (which can be substituted with goats cheese). 

Dessert is a bit tricky.  I have found a lovely recipe by naughty Sophie Dahl for rice pudding with plum compote but I fear rice pudding may just be a bit English boarding school.   Perhaps summer pudding with lots of beautiful berries would be better.  I think the most traditional dessert would be Eton Mess but I am not in the meringue making mode today. 

Finally, to drink.   I don't drink spirits but this is my metaphorical tipple today - elderflower and gin sherbert.     

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Julia Gillard, the Australian Prime Minister, is invited to the wedding.   Ms Gillard is very very fond of distracting, unflattering, flappy white jackets.  It may seem to a casual observer that she just wears the same one all the time, but in fact she has 9 (yes 9) different ones.  Here are two of them.   I think that sometime in the past someone told her she looks great in that white jacket, and she has taken the message to heart. 

So my message is:  Please do not wear a white jacket to the Royal Wedding.  Please.   It seems that this issue is of major concern to many bloggers, perhaps we need to get a life?!  See Mrs Woog's take on it here. 

And before I am accused of being sexist for commenting on a female politician's clothes when I wouldn't on a man's clothes, let me say this:  any professional person should dress in a way which does not distract from the message they are delivering. That applies in all spheres.   Yes, it is easy for men to wear suits, but it is equally easy for women to wear simply stylish non distracting clothes which fit (case in point: Senator Penny Wong).  I am not criticising our PM's taste (although it is dubious), I am criticising the way her clothes don't fit her, and distract from what she does.   And if a male PM wore bell bottoms, a brown suit and a plaid tie with a mullet haircut (which I think is the male equivalent of some of Ms Gillard's outfits), then that person would be equally criticised. 

Enjoy the wedding......

(Images: (1) BBC Food (2) Taste.com (3) Notebook (4) BBC Food (5) Jamie Oliver))

 

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Copycatting Sequins and Frills

Although I do a lot most of my clothes shopping online, I still would like to support local designers.   And I do, as much as possible.   And I, like anyone, love the convenience of visiting a local boutique and picking up a lovely knitted top or some such.   (My husband jokes that I have enough 'little knitted tops' to stock a whole store and that lots of $79 tops do add up to quite a sum over the years) 

I popped into Witchery yesterday to be confronted by a sea of biscuit, buff, beige, dark caramel, mushroom, sand, taupe, umber, ochre and khaki.    It was really quite frightening.   

In fact I think what has happened is that Witchery and Country Road have hired a colour consultant from the Australian Defence Force, who has bulk dipped all the new seasons range of clothes into big vats of their uniform dyes.   Who wants to get around looking like an army off cast?   Or as if you have stepped off the set of a Bruce Willis action thriller set in Iraq?  I don't.   

The only people who can wear these kinds of clothes are lithe olive skinned Eve Mendes types.  Not me.

But the fact that Witchery looks like an army disposals store wasn't the most alarming thing about my visit. The most alarming thing was this:

(Witchery new season) 

(J Crew last season and also still available in slightly new design new season)

(J Crew Last season - Witchery also have something like this but I have no image for it) 

Then I went into the new Kids section and found these:

(Witchery new season girls tulle skirt)

(J Crew girls tulle skirt)

 (Witchery girls zip through top)

(J Crew girls wave cardigan)

Let me be clear: I know that there are very few new ideas in fashion. I am sure it is a hard slog churning out a range four or five times a year, and these hard working designers need to source their inspiration in lots of different places.  And that may include a High Street retailer from the US.  I also know very well there is no copyright in an idea, and ideas are everywhere, just waiting to be adapted and changed.   And people ripping off J Crew is not a new controversy - see here for example.

And of course no doubt the original idea for a sequiny T shirt came not from J Crew but from the Lanvin catwalk or some such. I guess I just feel oh so slightly affronted. I want to support these Australian businesses.   But when there is no longer any style differentiation between these brands and the cheaper (often better made) US ones then the decision kind of makes itself doesn't it? 

It may just be me. I could blame the chemo for making my brain really annoyed by obvious creativity bypasses.  Or do you agree? 

Weird Chemo Side Effect no 2: my hair has started growing back!! Only half way through chemo too.  It may yet fall out again, but it is kind of exciting. 

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I Love My Stickblender

Nigella Lawson's new book Kitchen has a couple of useful chapters about the way she sets out and designs her kitchens, what she uses in terms of knives etc and very interestingly, the appliances she loves and those she is ashamed of purchasing. 

I declare upfront - as you can see by this picture of our kitchen. I do not share her dislike of a zen kitchen and I don't agree you can't cook properly in such a kitchen.   Whilst it is true, it does not always look like this, I find that as with an office, I can't concentrate properly if there is crap everywhere.  

As you can see, all food groups are represented in my kitchen (bread, red wine and herbs) 

I do however share her dislike of pointless appliances (and I speak as someone who doesn't even have a microwave, which sometimes makes me feel like a wartime bride).  This is partly because we don't have a huge amount of benchspace, and you have to have appliances to hand if you are going to use them.  I found her list of what she considers critical very interesting.    You can see from this image (taken some time ago, I would say at least 10 years) that she has always liked her kitchens to have everything within reach. 

Nigella in her kitchen (photo by Paul Clements)

These kitchens illustrates perfectly why I don't like lots of stuff piled up.  Where is the bench space?

Here is Nigella's list of key appliances and kitchen equipment:

1.   Potato ricer

2.   Rice cooker.

3.   Timer (must be portable so you can do other things whilst food is cooking).

4.   Electric whisk (if you have ever tried to make meringue by hand whisking you will see the wisdom of this).

5. Free standing mixer like a Kitchenaid.

6. Stick blender.

7. Food processor.

8. Thermometers (meat and candy).

9. Mezzaluna.

10. Graters. 

And in her Kitchen Hall of Shame? Appliances including a yoghurt maker, professional icecream maker, electric jam maker, electric grater and electric waffle maker. 

I actually love my icecream maker. If you have children, as you can whip up a sorbet in no time at all.    I also think those manual pasta makers are fun to do with the children, but otherwise you don't use them much.    

My completely and absolutely must have kitchen appliance is a stick blender like the ones Bamix make, which I use for soups, curry pastes, pesto, chopping nuts, mincing meat and everything in between.   They are not very expensive at all.  

Being a Good Wife, and always trying to improve myself, it did make me wonder if there was some appliance I might need which I don't have.   I started thinking about this when someone emailed me this ad this week. 

I can assure you if I received either of these for Christmas I would be officially over the moon:
 

Magimix see through toaster

I know, I know everyone laughed when this toaster was released.  I certainly did.  But I have come around a bit. If you are a litle bit obsessive, as I fear I may be, and just a little bit distrustful of your toaster and its cunning plots, you will be constantly popping the toast up to check its shade of brown.  So, I admit it, I can now see the logic. 

Kitchen Aid Premium Stand Mixer in steel grey

To bake properly, you need a mixer.  This is what I am told anyway. I am not really a baker, or a dessert maker, but if I had one I would probably do it more.   


And for completeness, my list of pointless appliances:

1. Sandwich Maker (too hard to clean.  An Italian friend taught me to make toasted sandwiches in a fry pan over heat, squashing the sandwich down by pressing a plate on it and resting a heavy tin on top.  And student-y as it is, I still do it this way).

2. Juicer (too hard to clean. Yes, there is a theme emerging here (laziness)).

3. Rice cooker (in spite of what Nigella says, I find I get really good results using the good old absorption method over the stove top).   We did have one once, and I am ashamed to say I threw it out after a few years. 

4. Popcorn maker (please.  You can hold the lid on a pot can't you?)

5.  Exploitative Baby Food appliances (you know, the ones that prey on your paranoid fear you will kill your baby by food poisoning him or her - baby food trays and containers, mini baby food mashers and choppers and heaters etc.  Read Smitten Kitchen's sensible suggestions about how to do baby food without all of these extra things).

6.  Gimmicky things like a 'Muffin Maker' (in an online spiel for this I read this pitch 'Compact and easy to use, it cooks three large, light and fluffy muffins without the hassle of pre-heating the oven.'  Because you know what a hassle it is to twist a knob right? And besides, who ever needs only three muffins?)  

And finally, I have heard speak of a magical German appliance called a Thermomix which can allegedly chop, beat, mix, whip, grind, knead, mince, grate, juice, blend, heat, stir, steam and weigh food.  So, you put the ingredients in, and 30 seconds later, risotto is produced.    It sounds like something JK Rowling would come up with.  Like the see through toaster I started laughing when I heard about this.   Does anyone have one? 

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The Best Rooms of 2010...?

Australian House & Garden does a feature every year where they list the top 50 rooms of the year.  The 2010 picks have just been released.   There were quite a few which did not grab me at all as they looked too styled, too display home, or just a teeny bit ugly.  These are my five favourites:

 

You can see that I like white, clean and bright.  And this did get me thinking about this question: what exactly is Australian style?   

There is a lot one could say on this topic, one could mention our 'easy going' inside \ outside sunny lifestyle.   But that forgets of course that a substantial part of the south of the country has cold winters and even snow.   One could talk about how we love to use colour, but then what about all those lovely white and neutral interiors we see everywhere?  Or we could look at all the natural timbers and fibres we use, or our hard edged modern back extensions.  

My answer is much simpler, and harks back to the days of the Australian Impressionists who, inspired by the French, gathered at Heidelberg outside Melbourne to paint in what was then a radical new style.   They found that the light in Australia was completely different to the light in Europe.  It means that they had to adjust their painting technique and subject matter and colour to address the hard squinty brightness of the light.

This is illustrated by these wonderful works, all painted in the same year:

Charles Conder 'Herricks Blossoms' 1889

Arthur Streeton 'Golden Summer Eaglemont' 1889

(this is now an inner suburb of Melbourne)

Arthur Streeton 'Windy and Wet' 1889

I think this hits the nail on the head.  The light in Australia is different to the light in other countries.  It is harsher and brighter (and burnier, as I have found out at some cost).  This means you have to decorate and design differently.  You need shady spots, and you have to be careful with too much white.  It means that colours show through clearly and cleanly, so the shade of red which may look burgundy in a room in France is fire engine red here.  And that lovely white Swedish room may cause sun blindness here.

I know someone whose mother died in the 1980's and when they packed up her home they found an Arthur Streeton painting hidden under her bed.   Why would you hide the work of such a wonderful artist?    


(Images: (1)(5) Australian House and Garden (6) from the book 'Living the Modern - Australian Architecture) (7) - (9) from the National Gallery of Victoria)

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Year of No Rubbish Purchases - Month 1

I have been sorely tempted this month, by a pouty Angelina Jolie on the cover of Vanity Fair, by a super soft caramel wrap scarf thing at Husk, by the abundance of ballet flats for spring which are on sale in every shoe store and by my desperate need for more storage baskets.

But I have refrained and remain reasonably true to my aim.

This month I have invested in:

This APC t-shirt.  I am very particular about my stripes and when I find stripes in the right width and spacing I find it hard to be disciplined.  And a stripey top is a long term classic, and therefore fits my criteria.

To demonstrate.  These stripes are wrong: 

(Sienna Miller)

These are unflattering:

(Claudia Schiffer)

But these are perfect.  Funny isn't it?

(Olivia Palermo)

Secondly I bought this plastic container which is for storing cut up onion in the fridge. It stops the onion infusing everything else with an oniony smell. I have wanted one of these for years and came across it in a shop. Of course I could always use any old plastic container but there is something so very satisfying about putting an item into a facsimile of itself.

There is an important carve out to this exercise: children's clothes.   I had to buy some of these otherwise my son would be running around with a bare tummy and ankles showing.

Hence, the purchase of these (sorry for small image) from here.   If you can't wear peacock blue skinny cords when you are 7 years old then when can you?  She has barely taken them off since she got them. 

Epilogue:  I had an incident which required the purchase of a Vanity Fair, which I regret. What happened was this: I had an early morning client meeting in the eastern end of the city and I dropped my son off at creche with half an hour to get there. I rang my husband for his view about the best way to get to my destination from Chapel Street.  We agreed Punt Road.  Bad idea. Punt Road was a car park. I inched forward, minute by minute, the appointed time for my meeting getting closer and closer. I emailed my client to let them know I would be a little late.  I patiently sat in the gridlock. I could feel myself getting slightly panicky.  I finally got into the city and instead of driving around looking for a good value car park as planned I parked at the $70 a day one.  I parked the car and grabbed my briefcase only to realise it was completely empty.  I had left all my documents at home on the kitchen bench. Not only that, but I had no paper to write on and no pen to write with.   In all my working life that has never happened to me.   I ran to the nearest newsagent, grabbed a pad and a pen, opened my wallet to pay the $5.50 and realised I had no money. At all.  No coins, no notes.  I then remembered I had let my daughter take her pocket money from my wallet that morning. I gave the purse lipped lady my card to pay by EFTPOS and she said 'sorry $10 minimum'. I said (pleadingly) 'I am having a really bad morning' and she said (unflinchingly) '$10 minimum'. So I grabbed the thing which was closest to me, which happened to be a Vanity Fair (the one with the Twilight girls on the cover).  I then went to my meeting, puffed, hot and a little bit peeved. 

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A collision between high art and commerciality

As you know, John Olsen is one of my favourite Australian artists.  His paintings make me feel like flying.  Even my son likes them, as I mentioned here.

Summer in the You Beaut Country (1962) National Gallery of Victoria

So my heart should have been gladdened at the news that as part of the Art Series Hotels, an Olsen Hotel is due to open just around the corner from me, in South Yarra, on 16 March.

The Art Series Hotels (leaving aside the name, which sounds like a Leeuwin Estate wine from the Margeret River) are high concept indeed. The idea is that an artist will lend his or her name to the hotel, which will be designed to 'showcase their art' and be furnished in the spirit of and to reflect that artist's style and character. 

So far, there is a Cullen Hotel in Prahran (artist Adam Cullen, now 43, is sometimes called an enfant terrible (always a bad sign) who paints what he describes as men and women from 'Loserville') and soon to be a Blackman (as in Charles Blackman) in St Kilda Road Melbourne.

Blackman is perhaps best known for his Alice series of paintings from the 1950s.  He is now over 80:

'Feet beneath the Table' 1956 National Gallery of Victoria

The Cullen Hotel has been completed for about a year.    Here is an example of Cullen's work - the portrait of actor David Wenham for which he won the Archibald Prize in 2000:

The Cullen is nothing short of ugly on the outside but some of the rooms look interesting - I have that little crystally stool thing (well a knock off anyway) at home:

This is all a bit challenging for me.  I simply can't decide whether I love or loathe this idea.   On one view it brings these artists (whom some may consider operate in the more elite sections of our society) into a mainstream area, and exposes their work to many who may not otherwise see it.  

On another view, is an 'Art Hotel' lowering the tone of such wonderful art, or devaluing its currency? Perhaps it is just an acknowledgement that today, art, like everything, indeed like people, is now all just a brand, to be bought, sold, partnered, diffused, brought down market then elevated again, or otherwise exploited.   What's next - the Angelina Jolie Amanresort in Namibia? 

Or perhaps it is just none of my business.  Maybe it is high time that these artists who are perhaps not as accessible as they could or should be, get their moment in the sun.   And I for one would never deny them that. 

Here is a rendering of the hotel once complete (architects Rothe Lowman, who designed the extension to our house as it happens):

Here is a bedroom - you can see behind the bed some characteristic Olsen squiggles.

Final thought - that well hidden entrepreunerial side of me thinks: good on you Will Deague for having such an original idea, and the courage of your convictions to actually follow it through. 

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February 2010 beach house round up

We Australians are reknowned for our love of the beach. 

I may just possibly be the only exception in this wide brown land to that rule. 

I loathe the sand sticking to me, the stinging bright sun, the blistering burn which I obtain from just half an hour in the sun and the salty wind.  This loathing may derive from the fact that my father got skin cancer when I was 20 but even before that, I had learned the hard way that I couldn't get a tan. In those days, the only fake tan available was something in a tin called Sudden Tan.  It produced an almost fluorescent yellow/orange glow a bit like a mango and stained your hands, zombie-like for days on end.  It is hard to remember now, with so many warnings about the dangers of the sun, but when I grew up people were teased for having pale skin.

Anyway, to look at, and to walk on in the evening or very early morning, there is nothing better than a beach.   And to see my daughter playing in the surf with such uninhibited delight a few weekends back did make me reevaluate my grumpy approach. 

January and February is the time when all the beach houses go on sale.

Perhaps the market is not as bouyant as people may have hoped given that the GFC has not been as severe in Australia as other places.  These places may prove the naysayers wrong.

Especially because in Victoria, with a shorter coastline, there is not such a great abundance of coastal beach homes as there is further north.

Here is my round up of the best I have seen.

A boathouse at Shelley Beach, Portsea (this sold for $455,000 over the weekend, to two families who 'wanted somewhere to store their beach gear').

And this is what you see from inside:

A Cape Cod style house in Wattle Grove, Portsea.


A house in Stonecutters Way, Portsea:

and with a pool - call me old fashioned but there is something wrong about pools at beach houses.  Isn't that what the ocean is for?



A house at Lorne, on the west coast of Victoria:




and the view from that house:




A cliff top eyrie, in the same family for many years, at Shelley Beach, Portsea, known as Inverary:



This has something of the Cote D'Azur (nice not gold plated ) about it.   And it was sold for $8.71 million on the weekend.  




(All Images: from RT Edgar and Kay & Burton)

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