Go outside

Loving this song right now and dreaming of summer...

C is for cookie

After much practicing and fussing around to make up my own GF flour mix, the cookies from the Babycakes cookbook have finally turned out well. They are delicious - crunchy on the outside, chewy in the centre. They are sugar free, gluten free and vegan. Though you wouldn't know it. AND they contain apple sauce, flaxseeds and coconut oil. All really super good for you foods.

Which in my book means you can eat more of 'em, yes?

For the birds

Today is the southern hemisphere's winter solstice, the year's shortest day and longest night. In southern Tasmania, the lack of daylight is quite noticeable, with the sun not rising until 7.43 and setting at 4.43. To be precise.

For the summer solstice, midsummer, we leave gifts of flowers and chocolates out for the fairies to keep them happy. On the flip side, today we made a gift for the birds, who might need a little extra comfort during these long cold nights. A wire ball stuffed full of materials to help build their nests. I can't remember on whose blog I saw this fantastic idea, but it is a good one.

They are easy and fun to make. We took some pliable wire and wrapped it around a pumpkin for shape. You could use a ball or anything round. You could even skip the first step and use old wire hanging baskets or maybe a pinecone. We carefully removed it from the pumpkin and we had a rough spherical shape. I left a little loop at the top for hanging.

Then we stuffed it full of interesting scraps from around the house and garden: wool, fleece, string, cotton threads, hair out of hairbrushes, clumps of possum fur, feathers from the chook house, tiny scraps of old fabric and moss.

We took them outside in today's precious sunshine and hung them in the trees. Over the next few months, we'll keep an eye out for nests in the garden to see if the birds have used any of the gifts we left for them.

Now we're back inside for soup and scones by the fire. We'll be lighting lots of candles tonight to remind us that the sun is on it's way back. Hope you're keeping warm and cosy too.

Spit and polish

We have a lovely collection of wooden toys. Handcrafted, simple wooden toys that inspire a gentle kind of play. Sadly, they have been largely ignored since the Danish plastic arrived in the house.

Inspired by a new pack of green pot scourers that reminded him of grass, today Hugo pulled out the animals, fences, trucks and tree blocks to build first a paddock then an entire farm, including helipad (don't all farms have them?), driveway and homestead.

Just as I was enjoying watching all the lovely creative play, Hugo suggested we paint the toys...eep! Whilst it's easy to say no way, I had to think fast to redirect this enthusiasm into another less damaging channel. Remembering the beeswax polish I'd made sometime ago, after reading about it here, this suggestion was a winner. Phew! Potentially ugly crisis adverted.

The polish is easy to make, simply melt beeswax and olive oil together, at a ratio of 3:1, then pour into a jar to cool. You can add a few drops of essential oil if you like, but I love the subtle creamy honey scent of the beeswax. Rub the polish in with a soft cloth (old cloth nappies are ideal.)

After a job well done, with all the toys clean and the wood nourished, it was, um, straight back to the lego. Oh well.

A very serious business

It's been a surprisingly long search to find these beauties. Organic, fair trade, dairy free chocolate chips.

You see, I like my chocolate dark, without added milk products, which is easy enough to find in a standard block. But when it comes to chocolate chips, perhaps too frivolous an ingredient for serious dark chocolate connoisseurs, I haven't been able to find any. Until now. And these are good. Really good. The perfect balance of bitter sweet in a teeny tiny chip.

The scent of rich chocolatey goodness that greets you when you open the pack takes your breath away. And as these tiny little chips have little more than three ingredients; rapadura, cocoa butter and cocoa solids, they are as pure and as serious as any baker could want.

Now, I'm awaiting the delivery any day now of my beautiful new cookie cutter and then I'll be ready to bake the most seriously delicious chocolate chip cloud biscuits ever. That will just happen to be vegan and gluten free. Serious.

Ten times more

According to Michael Pollan, farmers’ market shoppers have ten times more conversations than those at the supermarket.

I can vouch for that. The Farm Gate Market is one big talk fest. And I love it. We're five weeks in now and things are going well. Getting better at the bump in and and out. Figuring out the quantities. What sells, what doesn't. We've got a new blog. And working on a new website.

But what I love the most is the atmosphere. And the talking. People start arriving by foot with their prams or their dogs or both at around 8.30am. They fill their baskets with greens and apples and sourdough loaves then maybe some gammon or goat sausages or sheep milk manchego. Or honey, tea leaves, coffee beans, jam, garlic, fresh herbs or sprouts, there is so much to chose from! Then some dash home but most linger. Standing in the aisles or sitting at the tables having a coffee and a chin wag.

I get in my fair share of talking to customers and other stall holders. The stallholders have such wonderful tales. Sometimes funny. Sometimes touching. Like the apple grower who says this market will save his orchard from the bulldozer.

Yes, I can see all the conversations happening around me. And I'm so happy to be there. It's like a mini-culinary holiday, every Sunday. With the added bonus that knowing where your food comes from, and the people who produce it, is healthy for you and your community.

And that is something to talk about.