down to earth

Good food doesn't have to be expensive or fancy. Given half a chance, I would gladly live on stew, soup, sandwiches, a few Italian dishes, fish and salad. What could you live on? One thing I'm looking forward to when our backyard tomatoes are ripe is a simple tomato sandwich on rye bread. I'll add salt and pepper and dash of malt vinegar and I'll be set. Another favourite sandwich is our backyard eggs, boiled, with a sprinkling of parsley, crisp shredded lettuce and a teaspoon of mayonnaise on fresh warm homemade bread. If I could drink icy lemon cordial or a cup of black tea with my sandwiches I'd be happy.

Here is some of the food we've eaten here recently. It was all cooked from scratch, some of it was grown in our backyard, all of it was very tasty.

This is a simple and easy chicken meal. I cut a whole free range chicken into eight pieces add a little extra virgin olive oil to a baking tray and place the chicken on the tray. I add a selection of vegetables, they could be any vegetables you have in the fridge or cupboard, sprinkled on salt, pepper, fresh thyme, lemon juice and finish off with homemade chicken stock. Slowly baked in the oven for about an hour, it makes its own broth and is delicious.

You can add extras like garlic, chilli, or cream in the final sauce, but it doesn't need much more than what is there to be a wonderful dish. I could drink that broth in a cup.

These last two are very similar, just cooked with different cuts of beef and vegetables. Both follow the recipes for my other stew and casserole meals. On a cold winter's day with the wind picking up, there nothing better that having the house filled with these aromas and then sitting down to a meal that is warm and nourishing. These stews are meals that my parents, grandparents and great grandparents would have recognised immediately. I love cooking them to share with my family.

I cook in a very similar way to my parents and grandparents. I think they were taught by their parents and they by theirs. I often cook for Jamie when he's here and he's always eaten what we eat. It's only now that he tells me he likes what I cook and that gives me hope that along with all the fine foods his chef parents cook for him and all the food he'll enjoy in the future, he will hold a place in his heart for this simple food too. Carrying on these family food traditions feels right and although I eat and enjoy what my family serves up, including sushi from their shops, it is this food that I have a strong connection with and return to time and time again.

I've had a nice mix of work and leisure these past few days. I spent time writing an online blog course, I've been lingering in the garden, reflecting, thinking about the future and the past, reading, cooking and breathing in the fresh winter air. I enjoyed "meeting" and talking to the wonderful group of women who attended my blog course on Skype. We could all see each other, ask questions and speak of our own experiences while being separated by thousands of kilometres. There is a feature in Skype that allowed me to share my screen so I took the ladies behind the scenes on my blog and I was able to demonstrate a few practical issues before we discussed the ins and outs of writing. Writing is such a solitary pastime and often writers don't know other writers, so having this group right here in my computer was inspiring for me. I came away thinking about developing an online course for writers who hope to have their work published. I'll think about it some more and work out if it's possible to present a worthwhile course online, and if I'm the person to do that.

By the way, I'll publish links to our new bloggers in about a month's time. That will give my ladies time to create and refine their blogs. I'm sure you'll all support and encourage them as they develop their writing and blogging talents.

Meanwhile, in the world of the outernet, I'm enjoying spending my days doing what I want to do. I love having time to spend in the garden watching the diversity of creatures living in our backyard. It looks like 2017 is a good year for tomatoes. Ours are growing well in the warm sun we have most days. How are your tomatoes and vegetables going this year? All our oranges have been picked, we still have a ton of lemons to harvest and juice, the daikon, turnips and lettuce have been harvested and I've planted out some sprouting broccoli. Roses are in bloom, tomorrow I'll divide and replant my Serbian irises and if I think of it, I'll plant up a tray of lettuce and bok choy.

This is a recent basket of fresh produce I made up for Sunny to take home. The bottom layer was the last of our daikons, the largest ones yet, that Sunny will probably use in her kimchi.

Fresh strawberries from our local farm.

Jamie will be back with us tomorrow so we'll take him and Gracie over to our local strawberry farm to buy more of the spectacular strawberries in season right now. The owner of the farm tells us that it's the best strawberry season they've had in 45 years. In these times of crazy weather, isn't it wonderful hearing news like that.

Yes, here she is in all her sweet cuteness.

(Below) I was working on the computer late one night and heard soft snoring. I looked down beside me to see Gracie, tummy up and teeth showing, lost in sleep. Do you think she's relaxed enough?

And speaking of HRH Grace, I got up in the middle of the night recently and she was running around the house in a frenzy with my wool and knitting cotton! She'd already tied the coffee table in several layers of my best organic cotton and there where knitting needles and crochet hooks spread over the floor. She'd also started chewing on the end of my wooden ruler. I was not happy! But what can you do. I'd never hit a dog, or any animal, and if I scold Gracie, and I suspect most Scotties, they sulk and cut communication with you for a few days. So I just picked it all up, glared at Grace so she knew she did something wrong and we became friends again the following day. Now all my knitting paraphernalia is out of harms way, where it really should have been all along. Puppies are such funny and cute creatures, until they're not. 😲

I forgot to tell you that I've been asked to write a couple of articles for PIP the Permaculture magazine; first deadline next week. I'll let you know when the magazine is in the shops. Yes, Mr Homemaker, I can hear you from here. 🙄 You and Hanno were right. LOL Have a great week everyone.

We have so many visitors here that sometimes it feels like we're camping in the middle of Central Station. I'm a solitary soul and while I thrive with my family around me, I need silence and solitude as well. Hanno and Jamie went to the movies yesterday so I took the wonderful opportunity for some alone time. I spent some time in the garden pottering around and planning future projects and when I came inside again, went straight to the kitchen and made up two quick liquids that we'll enjoy in the coming days. I feel refreshed and full of beans now, so watch out. 😊

When I make salads, I prefer a no-oil dressing. I grew up long before the days of bottled salad dressing and olive oil. If we dressed salads at all, it was with vinegar. I remember my grandmother making salad by sprinkling a teaspoon of sugar, salt and pepper over the salad and then pouring in some vinegar. By the time the salad was eaten, the dressing was a mix of tomato, cucumber and onion juices mixed in with the vinegar and sugar. Grandma drank it straight down and taught the habit to my sister, Tricia. I drink it now too and have discovered there is nothing quite as bracing as a mouth full of vinegar juices.

I often have flavoured vinegar in the cupboard. I make it up ahead of time so it can develop flavour and add extra depth to potato salad, coleslaw, fish and quick pickles. If you add two tablespoons of this vinegar to mayonnaise, it cuts the creaminess back nicely and gives it a little kick. I've been using flavoured malt vinegar recently so I decided on an apple cider vinegar this time. It's a simple process that takes less than five minutes. All I do is place vinegar, sugar and spices in a saucepan and bring it up to a hot, but not boiling, temperature. You can use any spices you fancy, I tend to use the traditional pickling spices of mustard seed - I have yellow and black here, celery seeds, pepper, chilli flakes and salt. I used two small fresh bay leaves too. I'm not giving you any set amounts because this is one of those things where you throw the recipe out the window and rely on your own taste to guide you. When it tastes right, it's right. But as a little hint, I used 400 mls of cider vinegar and ½ cup raw sugar. If the taste is too sharp and it's already sweet enough, add a little water to mellow it. When you have the base liquid to your taste, start adding the spices you like.

White vinegar will result in a clear liquid, cider vinegar will go cloudy.

Pour it into a jar while it's still hot and let it sit on the bench while it cools. Stir it occasionally to bring in the flavour of the spices even more. If you don't like the floating seeds in the vinegar, strain them out after a couple of days when the flavours have completely developed. I always store this in the fridge. I'm not sure of the acidity level of the vinegar, it needs to be 5% to be stable in a cupboard, so it's safer in the fridge.

A great use for this is to do a quick pickled cucumber. Three to fours hours before using it, slice cucumber and some onion and place in a bowl. Sprinkle over about a tablespoon of salt and let the cucumbers sit for 45 minutes. This draws water from the vegetables so you don't get watered down vinegar when you fill the jars. Wash the salt off before placing the cucumbers in a jar. Pour over just enough vinegar to cover the slices and allow it to sit until you use them.

We're still working our way through the citrus. The orange tree has been picked, we have a jug of fresh orange juice in the fridge and the last bucket of oranges waiting to juiced. There are still a lot of lemons on the trees and I had about 1500 mls of lemon juice in the fridge waiting to be used. I made more 100ml portions of lemon juice ice blocks and used the rest of the juice I had to make a small amount of lemon cordial. It will give us a nice boost of vitamin C over winter. This is my usual recipe for cordial. It's delicious made up as a cold drink but you can also add it to hot black tea in winter.

Such simple liquids, but they both transform any food they're added to. Do you have a favourite vinegar or juice recipe?

If you were reading here last year or the year before, you'll probably remember how I became hooked on watching brown bears live streaming from Brooks Falls in Alaska's Katmai National Park. It was fascinating viewing and, I believe, a true privilege to be able to watch wild animals living side by side in their natural habitat so far away.

I took these two photos this morning.

As with most things we find joy in, bear watching comes in fairly small doses and in October/November the bears start climbing nearby Dumpling Mountain to hibernate over winter. When they make that climb, they're in top condition with enough fat and nutrition to see them through months with no food.

They came back this week and the past couple of days Jamie and I have been catching glimpses of the bears as they return to Brooks Falls. They're not there all the time but soon they will be. The bears are drawn to the falls by hundreds of thousands of sockeye salmon as they swim up stream to spawn. The cycle replays every year - the salmon return to reproduce and as they swim upstream to do that, many become weak, the bears get their fill of high value food, the salmon eventually reach their destination, spawn, die and float back down river where the bears and gulls tidy up, fuelling their bodies for the coming winter.

This photo was taken late last year.

There is only one camera operating at the moment, and there will be four soon, but even with one camera it's something you should see. It's a rare sight seeing those huge bears scrambling after fish, swimming, establishing their place in the hierarchy, and living alongside other wild creatures such as wolves and the ever-present seagulls.

July is the peak bear watching month but there are already a few small bears at the falls, along with a mother with three cubs. Every week from now on we'll see an increase in the number of bears feeding at the falls. If you get a chance, have a look. Like me, you'll probably be amazed at how we can sit in our homes while watching these beautiful animals, live out there, living in the wilderness.

ADDED LATER:

This little fellow is at the falls now. It's 5.30pm there and the bears will continue feeding until midnight.

🐻🐻🐻

My sincere thanks to everyone who left a comment on the previous post about how they reduce their household waste. There were many excellent ideas that I know will help others work on this important aspect of home management. Soon there will be other posts dealing with the waste issue and I hope we have your continued involvement as we build up a resource for everyone to refer to.

We all work in different ways in our homes. Some of us have babies, children or elders to care for, some produce fresh food in the backyard, there are readers with cows, goats, chooks, ducks, geese and bees, many of us make laundry liquid and soap, we have candle makers, quilt makers and producers who, for necessity or love, make all sorts of things. We also have people who go out to work and who are part-time homemakers, doing their chores after their paid work and on weekends. There is no doubt about it, there is always something to do in our homes and homemakers, both full time and part time, are the ones who get things done.

The idea that is sometimes floated in magazines, or gossiped about, that homemakers sit around drinking coffee with their friends or watching TV is laughable. I'm sure there are some women, and men, who do that but it is not the group defined as homemakers. We're busy creating the life we want to live and we do that by working at a thousand different things in our homes.

Here at our place, Hanno has been busy harvesting and juicing oranges and lemons. I've been picking herbs so I can freeze them before they die off during winter. We look after grandchildren. Hanno has deep cleaned the chook house and tidied the yard. I made up a ten litre batch of laundry liquid a few days ago. I've sown seeds, cleaned cupboards and washed curtains with Hanno's help. I don't know what we'll do tomorrow, but it will be very similar to what we did today. And yes, we sit down to rest and drink tea, we have conversations about work and life and then we carry on.

As I was thinking about all this yesterday, it occurred to me that it is the traditional work that most of us love doing. It's the harvesting, the slow cooking of food, the jam making, fermenting, soap making, sewing, mending and reusing, over and over again, what we can. They are our pleasures. If we can do our work using a traditional method, that is what we do. I can't say I've ever thought how wonderful it is to use a tea bag but I love making tea in a pot so that I can pour that properly brewed tea into cups standing on saucers. I've never celebrated paying through the teeth for a bottle of laundry liquid at the supermarket but I adore opening my plastic bucket to scoop our a tiny portion of homemade laundry liquid. Do you know of anyone who looks forward to a store-bought frozen meal heated in the microwave? I don't, but I know many who want to eat the food I cook from scratch. Beautiful handmade soap is such a tender treat and sleeping under a homemade family quilt surely brings the best sleep. It's the keeping of old ways that make these tasks remarkable and significant.

I'm always motivated to work when I see or read about others working in their homes. I feel like I'm part of a big working bee and that if we all pull together, everything that needs doing will be done. Most of us aren't part of a community that takes part in barn raisings or working bees but we have one going here. You in your home making bread and biscuits this morning, me starting to prepare vegetables for our lunch at noon, Hanno out the back fixing a fence, Kate who has been knitting beanies and gloves, Jack who moved his bee hives yesterday, and I've seen those gorgeous photos of cakes and slices made by our local ladies for the recent show. No, we're not part of a real life community who does those things but we're doing them nonetheless and we're reaching around the world with our photos and words. Let's celebrate our work and what we do at home. We're keeping traditional skills alive and supporting each other in the work that others seem to have forgotten. And that's worth celebrating. ❤️

We had this for lunch yesterday and it was delicious. Just to set the scene for you, outside was wet, windy and cold and this meal was an aromatic pleasure that carried on for hours. As soon as it started cooking on the stove top, then braising in the oven, the aroma sent out the message: you'll be having a delicious warming lunch soon.

If you want to make this recipe, when you buy your meat, don't buy good quality steak. It will dry out and be tasteless. You want a cheaper cut, something like round, blade or skirt steak. The meal will cook slowly for a couple of hours so even if there is a bit of gristle or sinew in the steak, which is often present in secondary cuts, it will melt during the cooking process and add to the flavour of the dish. I used two thin pieces of round steak. The vegetables you choose can be whatever you're growing or what's in the fridge. I had some mushrooms and a leek I wanted to use but I started with what I usually start with - onion, carrot and celery. This is commonly known as a mirepoix, which is the flavour base of most European-style casseroles/stews.

INGREDIENTS

Meat

one thin slice of round, skirt or blade steak for each person you're serving. This needs to be thinned out with a meat mallet so all the meat is the same thickness.

For the stuffing

Mushrooms

Leek or onion

Garlic

Speck - cut into lard ons, or bacon - cut into small pieces

Mirepoix

1 large onion, chopped

1 medium carrot, chopped

2 sticks celery, chopped
The sauce
Either beef or chicken stock or water and a stock cube
Salt, pepper, paprika, plain flour, parsley

First, prepare vegetables for the stuffing.

Place into a frying pan with a small splash of olive oil and cook until the speck/bacon is crispy and mushrooms and leeks/onions wilt a little.

While the stuffing is cooking, thin all the meat slices.

Then place a small amount of stuffing on the meat and fold it so you can secure all sides with toothpicks. The steak isn't rolled, it's folded so it forms a pocket.

Place the stuffed steaks in the same frying pan you cooked the stuffing in and start browning them on both sides. Don't miss this step because this browning process is where you start building natural flavour in your meal.

When the meat is seared on both sides, place it in a casserole dish suitable for slow cooking in the oven.

When the frying pan is free again, start your mirepoix. Add chopped carrot, celery and onion (the onion went in after I took the photo), salt and pepper to your taste, two teaspoons of paprika, two tablespoons plain/all purpose flour and cook on medium heat till the vegetables and flour develop some brown colour. Again, this will add natural flavour to your meal.

Add the mirepoix mix to the casserole dish, add whatever vegetables you want to add. In addition to the mirepoix, I used the rest of my mushrooms, some chopped herbs and the leftover stuffing. Pour in about one litre of water with a stock cube, or stock. You could also add some Worcester Sauce for added flavour.

Heat up the mix on the stove top, put the lid on, then place in a pre-heated oven and cook at 165C/330F for about two hours.

About one hour before you intend eating the meal, add some potatoes and greens so it's a one pot meal. I added potatoes and Brussel sprouts. Test taste to see if you need to add a little more seasoning.

This is a really delicious meal that will fill you up and make you feel well fed. It is good home cooking that is tasty and healthy and you can mix it up depending on what's available in the fridge or garden. Don't forget to remove the toothpicks before serving.

I hope you try this, especially if you're having a cold spell where you live. If you give it a go, let me know what you and the family think of it.