Instagram.

 Well, even though I may not be a hipster in age, shape or size, I have become (as one friend so eloquently puts it), 'A hipster douche bag, with Instagram'.  

Fairly recently (well, recently when you consider how long iPhones have been on the market),I got an iPhone 4s.  Within minutes my 16 GB of storage was practically bursting at the seams with apps and photos.  Why or why didn't I go for 64GB!!??  I have since calmed down a bit, deleting many of the silly kids games and keeping only a choice few to entertain my kids in an emergency.  Instagram, however, remains front and centre on my dashboard.

Light from a prism hitting our lovingly clasped hands.  

I like Instagram a lot.  It is a simple little app; you take a photo and can choose to 'trick it up' with a contrast button, a focal point, added borders and different filters.  Instantly I was hooked.  I took photos of all sorts of things (my kids, my house, the 'hood, food, etc) and was posting like a mad thing.  I have an open profile, so garnered a few followers - many of them live in the local area so our photos are alarmingly similar.  I keep looking at people in the street and wondering if they are my new 'instafriends'. It is also a good way to keep in touch with distant friends without having to email and send pics - especially if they are not on Facebook.

This is my view every morning.  Even when it is grey and raining.

Noticeably people on Instagram are only publishing photos that project their life in a certain way.  It is kind of like the 'London Phenomenon' of the social networking world.  Let me explain my 'London Phenomenon' theory.  Some people (and by no means all, note to my two followers who both lived in London this does not apply to you!) move to London and seem to set up a completely new life for themselves.  I suppose this is part of the reason for going. There is the opportunity to be exactly who you want to be, and who you want others to think you are - regardless of who you have been all your life.  You can cut out the bit where you were unpopular at school, didn't have a flash job, have never had a partner - you can be a big shot who shagged like it was an Olympic sport.  And if you don't actually 'make it' in London, you can always say that you did when you do come back to Australia.  For many I think it must be such a rude shock if they decide to come home, (how can they fit back in to their life with family, old friends, etc) some never do - come home, or fit in.  There is a great propensity to say 'In Luhn-den..' at the start of lots of stories, or almost every sentence.  Ace.  A great example of 'The London Phenomenon' is the main character in 'A Moody Christmas' a little series on the ABC at the moment.  You can catch it on iView at the moment, it is worth a look if you can appreciate a very Australian, low budget, comedic Christmas series.

Street art in the neighbourhood.

I am, I admit, completely guilty of the 'London Phenomenon' with my Instagram account.  I do not show messy parts of my house - unless it is for effect.  My children are always eating something healthy or interesting, they are dressed well.  We are looking at fabulous art, we are at cafes, bars, restaurants, everyone in my life is attractive and has good hair.  In reality my life is much more mundane.  That punnet of organic, locally grown blueberries I photographed my baby eating yesterday has turned into a blueberry nappy from hell this morning.  No photo of that though.  Instagram is a way of 'editing out' the bad bits and living an uber life for followers to be jealous of.  And as a mother of two, working from home while caring for the kids, I am completely okay with that.  The people who follow me, who I don't know, must think I am super mum!

Just another day visiting cafes.

Drinking fine wine.

Printstagram is a way to print your Instagram pics (which don't print well in a normal sense) in cool little books, on posters or as a calendar.  I am so excited by this, and will be ordering a range of products soon.  I am a complete sucker.

 Well, my faithful readers, go forth and photograph!

I have included a choice selection of my photos to show you my 'wonderful' and somewhat edited life!

 

The children are stimulated!

Having coffee and tea with friend...

We have so much spare time, to stop and feed ducks is an everyday thing.

We only drink Italian soft drink.

 

A nature trip you may well think.  Actually, weeds in the park!

 

 

It's all about me.

A lot has happened in my life in the past 5 years.  Two children have been born in my family.  There has been the juggling of work and being the 'at home parent'.  There has been the usual strains that having a young family can bring; worries about money, sex, 'raising the kids right', maintaining friendships and somewhere in there finding a minute for yourselves - both as a couple and individually. 

The birth of our second child did not go as smoothly as anticipated, if one thing in life is unpredictable it is childbirth, and how a new mother may feel afterward.  As as result things were tough, I mean really tough, around our place for the better part of a year.  I doubt that things will ever really be the same as they were before, now there is a new version of normal.  I am okay with the 'new normal'.  I find myself quite changed.  I am more content to stay in, to live simply and more quietly.  Before the birth of our son I was big on socialising, being a constant host, enjoying good wine.  I still enjoy these things, but on a much smaller scale.

One thing that having children has changed is 'me time'.  I haven't always needed lots of time to myself, I am happy to be surrounded by people.  My partner is the exact opposite.  She needs time to herself, and having two small children around, and me at home to greet her each day as she comes home from work, is not her ideal way of living.  I know that there isn't too mch that can be done about this until the kids are a bit older and more independent.  I wish she would take more time for herself; go for a coffee, take a book out to the studio and shut the door for an hour or two. I know that she finds the 'new normal' more difficult than I do.  I'm sure we will find the balance.

In the meantime I have a list of 'me time' things that I would like to sink my teeth into.  No, they are not meditation and taking up yoga.  They don't really even mean I need to leave the house.  I suppose they are more like little projects that I would like to commit to.

So, here they are, and I am going to try really hard to achieve them:

1.  This blog.  I am going to try really hard to produce a blog entry once a week, or at least once a fortnight.  I think it can be done!  They might be short, but I am sure I can manage it.

2.  Learn some songs on my ukelele.  Yes, I have recently bought a uke and can strum out a few chords.  I would really like to be better at it.  Practice makes perfect!

3.  Write!  I have written a trashy romance novel (that was rejected by Mills and Boon), and I have started another one.  My aim is to have the second one finished by June next year, and to have resubmitted my original novel to some other publishing houses.  

So, me time.  Best get to it

The Perfect Pancakes

Almost everyday when I ask my four year old what she would like for breakfast, I am greeted with a resounding cry for 'PANCAKES!'.

Before I met my partner I had never really made pancakes.  Very occassionally as a child my mum would make a batch to be served with lemon juice and sugar.  I recall them being rather rubbery, and altogether too lemony for my young tastebuds. 

Early in our relationship my partner made pancakes, and they were delicious!  Thin crepe style pancakes with a variety of toppings.  I couldn't believe how easy they were to make; 1 cup milk, one cup plain flour, 1 egg.  Mix.  Butter in hot pan, pour, flip, eat!

I have since taken over as chief pancake maker at our place.  This is probably due to the fact that I am the 'stay at home mum', (even though I run my own business from home, and work most days on that).  I also wrangle the children and think about food!

Early on, I would stick religiously to the recipe.  I am not flash at cakes (I am too much of a 'chuck it all in' kind of cook), and really didn't want to be transported back to those rubbery pancake days...  But, as my skill improved, I began experimenting a bit.  We had French friends who swore that a good slug of soda water (or beer), made the best pancakes.  Some recipes call for a pinch of salt.  The variations are endless.

Well, I have come up with a variation of my own that my kids (and my partner and I) think is pretty delicious.  My daughter calls them 'Pluffy Pancakes' and would eat them for every meal if permitted.

Pluffy Pancakes:

1 free range egg

1 cup of milk

1 1/2 cups self raising flour (wholemeal or white - white will produce a fluffier result)

3/4 cup of ricotta cheese

50 mls of soda water

Butter for cooking

I really cheat at put all the ingredients in my blender.  Some cooks swear that you shouldn't over mix the ingredients, but I have found it doesn't seem to make any difference.

Once it is all mixed up check the consistency of the batter.  It should be thickish, but easy to pour.  I will add more milk or flour until I have the right consistency.  *Note:  this batter will thicken over time, so you may need to continue to adjust the consistency as you cook.

 Heat a pan on the stove and add a small amount of butter.  

 
When butter is melted pour in some batter.  You can do one large pancake, or three or four small ones in a batch.  I suggest that you wait until small air bubbles form in the top of the mixture before flipping.  You will find that the pancakes do not stick and are ready to turn if you do this.

Serve warm with fresh fruit, maple syprup, lemon and sugar, or any topping that you like!

Fruit leather (apple and rhubarb to be exact).

So, I have become addicted to Instagram.  Yes, completely addicted.

I am constantly snapping pics of the local 'hood (ones that make me appear interested in arty, cool stuff only), and uploading them to my account.  I have a small following, attracting a few comments, and almost feel like I have 'made friends' with a couple of them.  Oh this weird, weird online world we live in.

Yesterday I was flicking through other people's recent photos when I stumbled across 'Oocha' making apple fruit leather in her dehydrator.  It looked DELICIOUS, and like something my children would eat.  Basically like a Roll-up but without all the rubbish in it.  One of her followers commented that she made hers in the oven.  I thought, I have an oven, I have fruit puree, I can do this!

Eight hours later I was rolling up my very own Apple and Rhubarb fruit leather, and chopping it into small rounds, perfect for kinder lunch boxes.  Here's how it goes:

FRUIT LEATHER

Cook and puree any fruit you like.  I used apple and rhubarb, but I read an interesting combo of cherry, pear and blueberry, yum!

Place baking paper on a flat tray

Spread fruit puree evenly over the baking paper to about 2 mm thick.  Do not spread too thinly or the leather becomes brittle and breaks

I sprinkled my puree with a tiny amount of Cinnamon and brown sugar (the rhubarb was pretty tart).  This step would be optional, or you might think of a different spice to use!

Place in an oven on the lowest setting you have.  In my oven this was about 60-70 degrees Celsius.

Leave overnight, or for about 8 hours.  I put mine in at 12pm, and was rolling it up at 8pm.

Peel the leather off the baking paper carefully so as not to tear it.  Roll up while still warm and cut into any sized piece you like.

DELICIOUS!

 P.S.  I know my fruit leather looks suspiciously like salami, but trust me, it is tasty!

 

Cooking for the Mothers' Day Cake Stall

                                           

Another half written post, finally finished off and put on the blog!

                                             *              *               *                  *

I now have a child in kindergarten. One would think this means more time for me to do the things I need to do (work, clean, cook...and I don't know, scratch myself!).  Instead, I find myself on the seemlingly endless trek back and forth from kinder, the three hours sessions feel far too short, and it always seems that I have just got the baby off to sleep when I have to go and pick up the four year old, or drop her off.  Then there is the after kinder play in the park.  All the cool kids do it.  And all the cool mums go along.  There are also special events (like Mothers' day), pizza night, the fete, etc.  Kinder seems to be taking over my life.  And not in a good way.

Having said that, my four year old LOVES it.  She has made a million new friends in her group of about 21 kids.  15 of the kids are boys, and I think this is great.  They seem to just 'get on' and do stuff, rather than wishy-washing around.  The five other girls tend to be rather 'princessy' only children.  Not really our cup of tea.

Organic fermented cocoa beans from Tanzania

Dark roasted Blavatsky coffee beans.

Anyway, the most recent Kinder Event that required me to participate was Mothers' Day.  We had to attend a morning tea at the kinder, with scones baked by the group.  Our daughter was very excited to have us visit.  It was nice to see her having such a great time, although, an hour did seems a bit long!  This was followed up by the Mothers' Day cake stall.  We had to bake something, wrap it artily and deliver it to kinder for their stall just before Mothers' Day.  I am not the best cake maker (this in my partner's fortay), but I can do a mean biscuit!  A friend had recently posted some pics of her 'Coffee Snaps' on Facebook, along with the recipe, and I thought I'd give them a bash.  I decided to make double the quanitity and make half coffee and half chocolate.  They were both delicious...although the chocolate ones are all finished, and we are still getting through the coffee ones.  Read into that what you will!

So, how do you make a coffee/cocoa snap?  Read on!

 Coffee/Cocoa Snaps Ah La Anna (Makes 70)

125g butter, softened
1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
3 teaspoons ground espresso coffee (I use 6)  or if making cocoa version 6 teaspoons good quality cocoa
3 teaspoons vanilla extract (I use homemade stuff given to me by a friend.  It is an organic vanilla pod which has been infusing into vodka...delish!)
1 egg
3/4 cup plain flour
3/4 cup self-raising flour
70 coffee beans or cocoa nibs

Preheat oven to 160C (fan-forced oven) - grease oven trays

Beat sugar, butter, coffee or cocoa & extract in small bowl with electric mixer until pale and fluffy (it isn't pale if you are making the cocoa version). Add egg; beat until just combined. Stir in sifted flours.

Roll rounded teaspoons of the mixture into balls. Place 3cm apart on trays. Top each with a coffee bean or cocoa nibs (my daughter has also made a  batch with M&Ms on tops). Bake, uncovered, about 10 mins or until browned. Stand 5 mins; transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Eat until you start to shake!

 

                                             

Television Be GONE!

Our television has been banished.  We are now, officially a television free household! 

It all happened rather suddenly.  My partner has always been keen to get rid of the television.  She doesn't really like much on the box, and would rather read a book or the paper.  It was also a bit concerning how much television our 4 year old was watching, which meant our 1 year old was watching too.  We had been quite diligent with our first child.  She didn't lay eyes on the television until she was 18 months old.  We had been overseas for three months and on our return home she was horrendously jet lagged and out of kilter.  For 90 days she did not sleep at night, and did not sleep during the day.  She was so tired that all she could do was sit on the couch and cry with tiredness.  We were beside ourselves too, and resorted to a DVD of 10 episodes of Hairy Maclary.  She loved it and watched it on repeat.  Finally the sleep thing came good (not bit by bit as everyone said it would, but just overnight..weird), but then it was too late.  She was in love with Charlie and Lola, Hairy Maclary and Playschool (which I think is actually very educational and well worth children watching on occasion).  When our second child arrived and we were all so very tired the TV became a kind of pseudo nanny.  Miss 3 year old was happy to be parked in front of it for an hour or so while the baby was being bathed, dressed, fed, etc.  She didn't need me to play with her, get toys out, help paint something, etc.  At the time it was a life saver, but when the baby was 6 months and picked up the remote, turned on the telly and sat in front of it transfixed I realised it was too much.

One night, after I had cooked a delicious meal and my partner and I sat on the couch with it and started to watch an episode of 'The Voice' (a stupendously terrible show) I realised that this was not how we should be living.  Meals should be eaten at the table.  We should talk about our days.  We should not vegetate in front of crappy TV shows until we fell asleep.  I suggested it was time to go TV free.  My partner was thrilled and that very night we took the TV and the cabinet to the shed.  We told the four year old it broke.

I started writing this post over three months ago, and still our home remains TV free.  I can't tell you how liberating it is to have missed the entire season of 'The Voice' and 'Masterchef', that latter of which I had previously been completely addicted to.  No longer is ABC2 the constant background noise to my day.  I love it.

If we want to watch something now we have to get out the laptop or the iPad and actually make an effort to get the iView going, or borrow a DVD.  No longer are we sitting on the couch as soon as the kids are asleep watching complete trash until we fell into bed ourselves.  

I freely admit that not having a television these days is not the same as not having a television 20, 10 or even 5 years ago.  We have the ability to access pretty much everything on the internet, and can easily look up and watch the shows that 'everyone is talking about'.  I remember as a child we had very limited television reception (we lived directly beneath the TV towers on Mount Dandenong and the signal passed right over the top of us), and anything that was on Chanel 10 was impossible to watch.   At the time I was pretty bummed to be missing such gems as 'Neighbours' and the brand new hit show 'The Simpsons'.  Looking back, I realise that my brother and I spent lots of time outside, building cubbies, going for bush walks, dressing up, digging holes.  Things that kids don't do so much these days. 

If you were considering going TV free, even for a while, I would highly recommend it.  Not only is the house more peaceful, but more aesthetically appealing!  Televisions are such ugly things.

iCraze

There is a fight going on in our house at the moment.  It is big.  It is mean.  It is serious.

Who's turn is it to use the Cosmonaut stylus on the iPad?  

 Yes, we have recently become a crazy house which could be used as an advertisement for Apple products.  Sad, I know.  We have had an iPod touch for a little over 12 months now.  It is terrific!  All of my music is stored on this tiny device, so slim that i hardly make a bulge in the pocket of even the skinniest, skinny jeans.  It is also loaded with kids (and a few grown up) games.  It was a total boon when travelling overseas.  If we needed a minute to regroup and the four year old was having none of it, we could Youtube an episode of 'Charlie and Lola' and hey presto, 10 minutes of silence.  I love it.  

We have however, been woefully behind when it comes to the iPhone.  Yep, we have been carting around two old Nokia numbers for the past few years, and I have had more than a little phone envy.  Anyway, recently my partner was issued an iPad for her work.  She is a teacher, and all the staff and half the students were GIVEN iPads for their school stuff.  It doesn't come with 3G internet, so I was given the task of working out how I could tether our mobile phone data allowance to the iPad.  It turns out this is really easy - if you have an iPhone, and marginally harder if you  have any other android phone....so, long story short, our contracts ended on the old phones and I sorted TWO brand new iPhone 4s.  Hot.

So, no we have 1 old iPod, 1 iPod Shuffle,1 iPod touch, 2 x iPhone 4s, 1 iPad.  Seriously, if we were robbed the burglars would probably think we were sales reps for Apple.

Of course, the iDevices must also be accompanied by gadgets, covers, styluses, etc.  I have thoroughly enjoyed doing my research on what kind of cover is best, where to buy them from, and which stylus is most impressive when writing on an iPad.  The covers are totally subjective and a bit boring...but the STYLUS is another matter altogether.

My partner was insistent on a skinny stylus that resembled a pen. She is going to be doing lots of marking on her iPad and wants to be able to write with ease on the essays that get sent to her.  My research showed that actually, it is not the skinny ballpointesque stylus' that are in fact the best.  It is the COSMONAUT from Studio Neat.  Yes, this fat capacitive stylus is easy to hold, totally tactile and fantastic to write with.  I have to admit, the guys at Studio Neat have done an amazing job of their marketing.  It appealed directly to me, and people like me.  There was a great little video showing how cool the Cosmonaut was, and then one with how they make them.  I loved it all.  I quickly ordered one for myself, and a Bamboo Stylus for my partner, who did not watch any of the videos, and did not participate in the researching.  Oh, how wrong she was.

 

My Cosmonaut arrived first, and has been a total hit ever since.  My partner was immediately jealous and regretted her doubts in my research ability.  She took it to school to show it off ot other staff and students.  'That's a cool capacitive sylus Miss', the boys all said.  At night, she is often seen hunched over the iPad playing 'Words with Friends' or Scramble, Cosmonaut tightly gripped in her hand.  Even the four year old wants it!  She thinks it makes playing her games easier and she likes to hold it.

I had to order two more, they arrived today.

The Bamboo stylus arrived at a alter date, and was just a major let down (especially as it was more expensive).  It is now the 'back up' stylus that my partner has in her pencil case at work.  'It's fine.  But it isn't a Cosmonaut.'

Enough said on this topic.  But serious, iLove all the new gadgets at our place.

Big Hippie Mama

Not too many years ago you could easily have heard me here there any everywhere talking about 'Bloody Hippies'.  Yes, me.  All that has changed now.  I love hippies, and consider myself an honorary hippie (albeit without the dreadlocks and dubious odours).

Since the birth of my son twelve months ago I have found that I have really relaxed about lots of things.  I fully realise it has a lot to do with the hormones racing around my body...but I kinda like it!  I seem to have lost interest in lots of things that were previously very important to me.  I have lost virtually all interest in having a glass of wine.  Pre-pregnancy I was right into fine wine and food.  Now, not so much.  I have changed my diet.  We tend to eat much less meat now, keeping portions of meat to under 100 grams when we do eat it.  I have been following tips from my friend at My Wholefood Romance and have made my own nut milk, and then used the pulp for baking and making muesli.  I am a changed woman!  I have even investigated Steiner school for my 4 year old daughter, not wanting to expose her free spirit to the occasionally crushing first years of other primary school kids (sadly this was put on the 'we can't afford it' shelf).  What has happened to me?!  My partner laments the loss of 'me' a bit, but is coming around to the 'new improved' version.

I have also become a passionate advocate of natural childbirth.  I was already before my son was born, but have become even more so (even donating money to Independent midwives to fight for home birth rights at the High Court) since his arrival.  My birth experience was truly awful, thanks entirely to doctors and a particularly horrid midwife at the Women's hospital in Melbourne.  I realise that not everyone has this experience there, and many will not be as traumatised as I have been by why happened,but the whole thing has moved me to learn as much as I can about women's bodies and their ability to give birth naturally.  I have even considered retraining as something in this field...but that will have to wait until my own children are a bit older.

Things that I do that some may consider to be 'hippie-ish'

1.  Extended breastfeeding.  I breastfeed my son.  He is 12 months old next week, and I intend to continue to feed him for as long as he wants to be fed!  Many people (especially my own mother) can't really fathom this, and put it firmly into 'Hippie' camp.

2.  Use cloth nappies.  We believe in reducing landfill!  My son is almost exclusively in cloth nappies.  He does wear a disposable nappy at night, because I am just too tired to change him at the middle of the night feeds.  But other than that, and the very occasional long day out, he is in cloth.  Some of our less that 'hippie' friends try the argument that it takes x amount of water to make a cloth nappy, and then there is the washing and drying issues.  BUT, all of the nappies that my son uses are pre-worn, washed in cold water (very occasional hot washes to 'refresh' them a bit) and dried in the sunshine! I even had one friend try to tell me that using disposable nappies was a 'feminist issue'!  And that if men were home with babies we, as a society, wouldn't even dream of using cloth.  Kinda not sure where that idea comes from?! So, just coz men wouldn't, we shouldn't?  Screw the environment!  Hmmm.


3.  Co-sleep.  Well, I don't do this now, but up until my son was about 9 months old he slept in bed with my partner and I.  It was handy in terms of demand breastfeeding and not having to get in and out of bed all night.  Okay, there were nights when I really didn't get much sleep as my little guy likes to feed ALL night if given half a chance (and co-sleeping does give them every chance to do this), but on the whole it was a really positive experience, and I really missed having him snuggled in to me when he started to sleep in his own cot right next to my bed.  If you are going to co-sleep there are all sorts of rules that make it safer for your baby.  Lately there has been all kinds of negative press about sleeping with a baby, my thoughts are that people have been doing this for thousands of years, and as long as we are mindful of things not to do (covering the baby with your bed clothes, putting them in the middle of the bed, using pillows, sleeping with a baby if you have been drinking or smoking, or taking drugs, etc) it is a safe and positive experience for you and your child.  For more on the benefits of co-sleeping go here.

3.  Garden.  Yes, we have a flourishing herb and vegie garden (mostly herbs since the kids arrived...just not enough time to tend to growing vegies as well as growing children!).  The garden is bountiful and watered with rainwater from our own tank.  We try and include something from the garden in all the meals that we cook.

4.  Living locally!  I almost NEVER get in my car.  If I can't get what I need in Brunswick, I will pretty much do without (although internet shopping is excellent for just such emergencies)!  I walk or ride my cargo bike to the places I need to go, or to catch up with people I want to see.  The car sits idle out the front getting covered with bird poo.

5.  Cook like a frugavore!  I love cooking, and I especially love cooking from scratch.  Pasta, stock, curry, sausages, etc.  In an effort to live more sustainably we are trying to only eat free range meat (and not too much of it), and to use everything we buy.  For example, I am the queen of poaching a chicken with lots of vegetables and herbs, then using the liquid as stock, taking the skin and sinew off the chicken for dog food, and using the succulent meat in all sorts of different meals (more on this in another post!).  If only I had a bone grinder I would make my own fertiliser for the garden with the carcass!

6.  Support alternative health/medical professions.  This is not to say that I forgo all kinds of more main stream medical stuff.  I don't.  But I can really see the value (and have experienced it first hand) of alternative medical treatments and care.  I have a lovely friend who is a naturopath and has all sorts of knowledge about the benefits of eating the right kinds of foods, and using herbs to heal and be healthy.  I also use a chiropractor fairly regularly.  This miracle worker helped me repair my broken coccyx after child birth when conventional doctors told me (repeatedly) that  it would just 'eventually get better' and after over 6 months of pretty severe pain the chiro set about fixing it in a matter of weeks.  Love her.  We also used an independent midwife, and if we were to have another child it would be at home, without medical intervention.

7.   Believe in public education!  Sadly, this is becoming more 'hippie and alternative' than forking out tens of thousands of dollars to buy your child the 'right' kind of friends and contacts!  State schools are great schools, and if we want Australian public education to flourish we MUST USE IT.  Don't bypass your nearest school to go to the school that you 'think' your child should be at.  If you really think your child needs more support in a particular area, why do you think this will be any different at a private school?  They will still be just one kid in a class of many.  Hire a tutor!  $60 a week for some one on one time with a teacher for your child will make so much difference to their learning.  AND, it is heaps cheaper than private school fees.

8.  I don't shave my pits!  That's right...they are hairy!  Admittedly, I don't wear singlets and let it all flow free for the world to see, but under my shirt I have wildly hairy armpits.  I used to shave them, but my partner asked me not too when we first started going out...so I have nearly 11 years worth under there.  Hmmm, perhaps a touch personal.

9.  I make my own beer!

10.  I talk to my neighbours (giving them homemade beer is always a good conversation starter!)

 So, as you can see, I am perhaps slightly more alternative than most.  I'd say it is mostly the not driving much thing, and my refusal to leave the 'hood unless absolutely necessary.  Perhaps it is my 'zen' attitude to motherhood??  I certainly don't have feathers in my hair and wear patchouli oil while doing a dance to the moon goddess. 

Pearl Barley

 

 

I've always thought of pearl barley as a rather old fashioned ingredient.  Something that my mum would include in soups and casseroles.  Not very glamorous at all.  My views on this humble grain have recently changed.

In the last two days I have cooked three pearl barley based meals.  Yes, THREE!  There are a number of reasons that pearl barley has become flavour of the month at our place:

1.  It was on special at the supermarket (2 packs for $2.50)

2.  We are being frugavores this year, and healthy cheap meals are the order of the day

3. Autumn is here, and as the weather has been cooling down I have had a hankering for delicious soups, studded with pearl barley 'just like mum used to make' (not really my mum as she is a shocker of a cook!)

4  In my experiments with the grain, I soaked WAY to much barley and it was all plumped up and ready to go, and I really needed to cook it rather than waste it.

Anyway, I LOVE IT.  And so does the rest of the family (okay...the 4 year old still needs some convincing, but she is well on the way).

After doing quite a bit of reading up on how to best use my pearl barley, I decided I was most keen to make porridge out of it.  In the end I am so pleased that I did, because as I was preparing it I was reminded of my visits to my grandparent's farm and my grandfather making me porridge.  His porridge was never made of flat rolled oats.  Rather, plump and chewy grains.  I could never work out why it was different and oh-so-good, and now...25 years after the event (with grandpa long gone) I have solved the mystery.  My grandpa was no slouch on eating well ( 2 shots of wheat grass a day, whole grain porridge and brown bread, etc), he was also a raging fundamentalist Christian, but had toned it all down by the time I came along (thank god!).  

Back to my porridge.  I lovingly soaked my grains overnight, watching them closely, and frequently pinching them between my thumb and finger to feel how soft they were getting.  I had a bit of a look around for recipes, but eventually decided to make the porridge the way I usually do with soaked rolled oats.  Here's what I did:

Pearl Barley Porridge

Put one cup of soaked (at least overnight) pearl barley into a saucepan.

Slice up a banana and chuck it in too.

Pour in milk (or milk substitute) to cover the grains and banana

Add a good pinch of cinnamon (I used about a teaspoon, as I love it)

Drizzle in some maple syrup (about 2 teaspoons tops)

Turn on the heat and stir and mix until the banana is all melty and the pearl barley is cooked to your liking.  I didn't cook it for too long, as I liked the grains to maintain their shape and chewiness.  They were nutty and delicious.  The result was a scrummy little concoction, kind of like a dessert risotto.  I served it up with a dollop of yogurt.  YUM.

The quantities I have mentioned are fairly 'fluid' in terms of exactness...just go with your gut!

I have since cooked this twice more, and have frozen small portions of it for my baby to have at any time.  It has reheated well.  The addition of a bit more milk or yogurt loosens it up if it has thickened too much.

 SOUP!

The other dish I cooked was soup (of course).  But I hadn't been shopping for a while and was rather low on ingredients for soup.  I did a google search for the things I knew I had 'pearl barley, potatoes, silverbeet' and HEAPS of really good soup recipes came up!  The one I chose to loosely base my meal on also contained bacon, which I luckily had 4 pieces of beautiful free range goodness, in the fridge.

This soup is a super hearty, super delicious, and I suppose quite healthy meal (a bit of bacon never killed anyone, did it?!).  Here's how it goes:

Potato, Bacon, and Pearl Barley Soup

4 rashers of bacon, chopped up

 1 large onion, chopped

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

around 2 cups of soaked pearl barley (more if you like)

around 300 grams of diced potatoes (I left the skin on)

2 packed cups of shredded silverbeet leaves - I have lots of this growing in my garden (save the stalks for a stir fry or something!)

2 bay leaves (I used fresh from the garden)

2 tablespoons thyme leaves (again, fresh from the garden)

About a litre of stock (I used chicken, as I had poached a chook last week with all kinds of yummy vegies and it made a beautiful, light and fragrant stock...mmm!). You may need to add more stock or water if the soup becomes too thick.

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

First I put the onions, garlic and bacon in a pot with a whack of olive oil and got it all nice and soft and aromatic.  Smelt amazing after only 5 minutes.

Then I added the potatoes, barley, bay leaves and thyme.  I covered the lot with the stock and let it simmer for around 45 minutes to an hour.  

After this time I checked the seasoning, and added a little salt to bring out the flavours.

When the potatoes were soft I switched off the heat and chucked in the silverbeet**.  After about 5 minutes I dished it up, served with a dollop of sour cream on top, and some freshly chopped silverbeet leaves.  This really made the dish.  It had that beautiful smokey flavour from the bacon, and then this creamy finish from the sour cream.  It was almost like a chowder.  The barley had lost some of it's shape, but was still chewy and yum. 

**Just to note:  The silverbeet does discolour if it is cooked for too long, so if you are doing this soup for guests, I would make the soup in advance, but not add the leaves until just before serving.  That way they are still vibrant and green.

I think that pearl barley is definitely making a come back in my kitchen.  Grandpa would be so proud.