I guess it’s really quite silly that I’ve never thought of doing this before, but recently, as I was scooping the seeds out of my pumpkin, I decided to try roasting them.
With a little bit of olive oil, plus some salt and pepper; they turned out to be the perfect cold weather snack when eaten warn from the oven.
Here’s a how-to recipe.
A whole month has passed since I last posted in this space, and since then I’ve been busy. Busy living. The best kind of busy to be.
I’ve had posts planned. Some even drafted in whispy strands of dream filled silk, at 2 in the morning or some other ridiculous time of day when ideas seem ripe.
But they haven’t taken shape yet. They will though. I promise.
For now, all that I can offer is the promise of more, and a few little snapshots of happenings recently (via my phone, so excuse the poor quality), where I’ve been enjoying everything from theme park rides to camping under the stars. As well as international level sport watching, cocktails with friends, and plenty of good food. Always, plenty of good food.
Lovely things of late include kayaking along the river and out to the ocean on a balmy Sunday; sunrise walks with my puppy, George; scones baked in flowerpots; and nature first thing in the morning when the suns first rays are yet to make their mark.
All captured via my iPhone photo addiction, which can be followed here.
Living in the sub tropics means that I miss out on the drastic seasonal changes that other countries or cities experience. I love those seasonal changes – from afar, of course. I live in awe at beautiful photos of dramatic winters, posted by my favourite bloggers like this, this and this.
Meanwhile, I relish the smaller changes in season that we do experience here in Brisbane – and of course, being lead by my stomach, the changes in food are what I cherish the most. Right now citrus is in season and Imperial Mandarins are being eaten by the bagful at my house each day. Despite being perfect when eaten fresh as a palette cleanser after a meal, or just as a juicy snack, I’ve sought out a couple more ways to transform my current favourite food: this whole mandarin pistachio cake would be the perfect accompaniment with an afternoon couple of tea, while this yummy jam would ensure that I could enjoy the fruit’s delicious flavour for months to come.
Also…
loving the mouth watering photos here
and dreaming of owning (or perhaps DIYing) a seriously cute camera strap like these
As I’ve already mentioned in this post, I’m not a fan of using chemical unnecessarily. So when my sister recently mentioned that she’d been soaking her hubbies smelly socks in apple cider vinegar overnight to banish bad odours – I thought it worth trying on my partner’s exercise clothing (followed by my dog’s winter jacket).
The good news is – it actually works. No gimicks. No chemicals. Entirely natural.
To avoid any strong vinegar odours that may linger after washing the clothes, I added a bit of eucalyptus oil to the vinegar and water mix that they were soaking in. They came out of the washing machine the next day, smelling fresh and like new.
Other things that I use vinegar for (and always with that dash of eucalyptus oil [or citrus oil works nicely too] to avoid vinegar smells lingering):
Erin, at reading my tea leaves, also recommends using vinegar when washing windows. Have you tried it?
A friend had been telling me to try green smoothies for some time now. And I’d heard about how we need to be consuming more leafy greens to maintain optimum health from nutrition gurus such as Lola Berry and the Healthy Crush. So I finally bit the bullet – the big green mushy bullet. And you know what? It tasted (oddly) quite delicious.
I made my green smoothie with fresh green kale, coconut water, a banana, couple of tablespoons of natural peanut butter (I want to try almond butter next time!), and a good slurp of soy milk to make the smoothie thinner. But you could use any old leafy green with similar results.
Will you try it? Do you already eat green smoothies? What’s your favourite mix?
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PS – why Kale is one of the world’s healthiest foods
Easter, like some of the other major religious holidays, has always seemed a little confusing to me. I don’t believe in Christianity, and lean towards the idea that the dates of Easter, Christmas, and other religious festivals, were strategically placed to overshadow the Pagan festivals that used to reside on those days. Without going into too much detail, Easter as a Pagan holiday, has always seemed more relevant and appealing. A celebration of rebirth, fertility and the beginning of the harvest after a long dark winter. However, I live in Queensland, Australia. And we just came out of a long hot (albeit wet) summer. So how does the Pagan celebrations of the Northern Hemisphere relate to us in the south?
However, this Easter I didn’t spend too long pondering the absurdity of celebrating the death and rebirth of Jesus with chocolate eggs delivered by a magical bunny (because of course the bunny and egg are Pagan symbols of fertility); or whether there was Pagan relevance in the celebration of Easter “down under” in Autumn.
Instead, I celebrated the joy of fertility first hand, and the sheer magic and amazingness of life and birth, with the arrival of my beautiful nephew.
These tiny hands are full of wonder to me – to think that they were created inside my sister, and they will one day provide so much to my nephew – the first romantic hand holding in later life, the experience of texture and exploration as a child. These tiny hands that will one day become large man hands, that might even be used to hold his own child.
And with that though, about such tiny hands – I wish you all a belated happy Easter – no matter how you chose to celebrate it.
the shop for change