paintings of bobo creek

when i took my dad and two of the girls up to the property during the recent school holidays we all trooped down with our paints and sketch pads and enjoyed a few peaceful hours by the creek painting. despite the lower water level the creek is still a magic place, heavily shaded by rainforest remnant and ferns and masses of lomandra grass. the bed of the creek is large and small pebbles in autumnal colours.
i sketch roughly with conte crayon then overlay watercolour before finishing it all with opaque black chinese ink applied with a fine brush.

profiteroles

these are pete's favourite.

recipe
400ml water
175g butter
230g plain flour
pinch of salt
5 eggs

preheat oven to 200C
put water and butter in a saucepan and heat until butter melts. allow it to boil briefly and then remove pan from heat, dump the flour in and stir vigorously until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. let it cool for 10 minutes then mix in the eggs, one at a time. you can use an electric mixer or a strong arm and a wooden spoon...
put small spoonfuls on a greased or lined oven tray (about the size of a walnut is good, or you can pipe them into eclair shapes if you prefer). spray these little balls with a fine mist of water and put a little tray of water into the bottom of the oven to keep the humidity high, then bake for 25 - 30 minutes. they should be golden brown by now. turn off oven, remove, turn them all over, poke a little hole in the base and then return the trays to the oven that is now turned off. this step helps dry out the inside dough mixture leaving a hollow shell just ready for a creme patissiere.

creme patissiere
1 1/2 cups milk (or 1 cup milk and 1/2 cup cream)
3 egg yolks
80 g caster sugar
40 g plain flour, sifted

(i like to use the same saucepan and mixing bowl for making the creme patissiere - saves washing up)
put the milk in a saucepan and heat gently while you whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. add the flour and continue to whisk. pour a little warm milk into the egg mixture and whisk well, add more milk, whisking until it is all combined and smooth. pour all of it into the saucepan and continue to whisk or stir well until it is thick. allow to cool with cling wrap pushed onto the surface to prevent a skin forming.

pipe a little creme patissiere into each profiterole and then drizzle melted chocolate or ganache on top. (a delicious chocolate ganache is made by heating 1/2 cup of cream in a small saucepan until boiling point is reached, and then (off the heat) stirring in about 100g chunks of chocolate until it melts and is smooth.)

white mulberries

i love food straight from the tree or bush, or a handful of rocket leaves still warm from the sun. growing from a crack at the side of our house in sydney is a white mulberry tree. it's still young but has a good crop this year. white mulberries are not usually grown from their fruit which is rather bland compared with the rich deep burgundy variety.the leaves are prized by silkworm farmers, and preferred by the worms. that being said, i think my tree is lovely and i've eaten nearly all the fruit off it myself. it is hidden down a side path where i water my little trees out of reach of the rabbit.

also our bird (the cockatiel) has learned two 'songs' and is working on a credible imitation of the phone ringing, which might prove to be very annoying. it's fascinating to hear him practice his little riffs.

a day of collecting

we are constantly scanning the pavements and roadsides for useful stuff that is discarded. a lost of our furniture was acquired this way. recycling is wonderful and exciting. it's like shopping without the guilt. so on friday pete found a pile of dense sheeting, like fibro that we can use to line the floor of the cottage to provide insulation. we picked up over 23 square metres of the stuff. then today we visited reverse garbage and the bower - two amazing parts of a community complex with nurseries, markets, recycling, gallery and so on in our suburb. we found huge rolls of acoustic insulation that we filled the car with. it's all stacked in the front yard waiting for the next trailer-load to go to the property.

later we drove to look at the ocean at la perouse which is the southern tip of sydney and the edge of botany bay. a storm was brewing so the pictures are dramatic.




reverse garbage and also olympia's school are both involved in the '350' action day on 24 october. click on the graph to go to the site.

homemade puff pastry

i've always loved cooking. probably because i also love eating. as a child i enjoyed the colour photos in robert carrier's cookbook, and decided one day to make puff pastry. i think i was 11. i'm still making variations on the theme. it is great as a pie crust or for quiche and excellent for tarte tartin.
i think this is my favourite way of making it:

puff pastry recipe
about 450g (3 cups) plain flour
400g butter (at room temperature)
1 cup or so of cold water

how to make it
puff pastry, like most pastry, prefers cold hands and a cold bench top. i find using very cold butter too difficult and counterproductive, as it needs to be roll-able.
so, combine water and flour and knead until it's a nice smooth and elastic dough, adding a little flour or water.
on a floured bench shape it into a lump.
with a sharp knife cut four nicks into each 'corner'.roll out flaps with each of the four segments formed by the nicks.
flatten the main mound of the lump with the rolling pin.
place the piece of butter on the mound and fold the flaps over the butter one at a time, forming a parcel. stretch the flaps a little to fit if necessary.the butter is now completely encased in the dough.
press down on the parcel to spread the butter inside a bit.
now with the rolling pin, roll the dough as in one direction until it's bigger than a paperback book.
fold the dough in three.
turn the dough and roll again.
fold, turn, roll etc once or twice more until it feels too elastic to continue.
place in a plastic bag in the fridge for 20 to 30 minutes.
then continues the roll, fold and turn, resting the dough/pastry in the fridge after several folds.
after three or four rests the dough needs a good long one before you use it.
the important part about using it is to cut the edges or the pie or whatever you use it for. a folded edge won't expand and reveal the layers. a hot oven is important too so the heating butter releases steam quickly and forces the layers of pastry to separate and rise.