I cook therefore I am

I love food. I love cooking. There, I've said it.
I haven't written about food a lot on here. Probably being obsessed and besotted with my children means I write about them a lot. I'm not sure why.

Cooking, for me, is therapy. It soothes the savage beast within. It coaxes out my creative side. I'm good at it, most of the time.

We had our Easter break at home this year. It was lovely and we needed time out from having the Batsman's therapy program be the major ingredient of the family living cake. In between trips to the park, coffee at cafes and a footy match, I cooked. Like a demon. If cooking is my therapy then clearly I am in deep metaphysical and psychological trouble!

So I thought I would share with you what I have cooked over the last few days. Food, glorious food.

I made 3 dishes in the slow cooker to parcel up and freezer stash for kid friendly meals - a chicken korma, a chicken/mushroom/basil pasta and braised osso buco.

I roasted a leg of lamb for 12 hours until it was buttery and falling off the bone. Scented with cumin, garlic and lemon, the lamb was our Sunday Easter dinner.

I made the cheese sauce the Bowler loves to infinity and back and froze it, ready for thawing and dipping.

I simmered tomato relish and apple/berry jelly to bottle up for the kinder's Mother's Day extravaganza stall.

I baked flourless chocolate and lime cake and ANZAC bsicuits to get us through the sweet cravings this week.

And there was these. I think this is the cooking achievement I am most proud of this weekend, maybe ever.

Apple and cinnamon hot cross buns from scratch. I have always been a bit timid about doughs and bread and yeast. Frightened of "rock like" disasters perhaps. And then I baked the lovely Liss' from Frills in the Hills recipe for scrolls and they were lovely and gave me the "rise" (pardon the pun) of confidence I needed to tackle the hot crossies.
Here they are:

They were delish.

Did you do any cooking over the Easter break? What yummy things did you make?

It was the women who got me in the end - ANZAC Day 2011

It was a day at the football. But this day was a little different because it was the traditional ANZAC day football match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the heart of the city. I was so very fortunate this year to be one of the 90,000 people who held a ticket to be there. This match is a spectacle, a ceremony of sorts, that reveres and honours those who fought and died, those who are still fighting on behalf of and for Australia. Without getting in to the very complex "whys" and "what fors" of our participation in modern wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, I still believe, with all of my heart, that we must honour and respect those who enlist themselves, now and in the past, in complete and utter service of their nation and its defence.

I have been to dawn services on ANZAC Day before and found them extraordinarily sobering and moving. There is something amazing though, at the ANZAC day footy game, about the silence of 90,000 people in a stadium, hats removed, eyes held respectfully as the Last Post is played. Stillness, quiet, reverence, respect. It's like the quietest of churches. I am incredulous every time, to hear the sound of the crowd transform from footy barrackers to the silent, honouring mass and back again. Extraordinary and moving. There are tears in my eyes as I take it all in.

The tears started a little earlier for me this year. A motorcade before the main ceremony honours servicemen and women who represent each of the wars Australia has participated in. The crowd stands and applauds these individuals who no doubt stand for many, many countrymen, fellow diggers and friends.

It was the women who got me in the end. It was the two women who sat in the back of an open car, waving jauntily, smiling and acknowledging the crowd who honoured them who made my tears flow. We hear, at least to my way of thinking, primarily about the men in war. The men in the front line, their valour and their courage, in harm's way and protecting their mates with every ounce of their beings. It has only been in more recent times that it feels like there has been more mention of women and their contributions and service. Women historically have taken on a multitude of roles in war - as nurses and other frontline assistance, as "paid labour" doing "men's work" back at home and in voluntary organisations like the Red Cross. But as I watched these two women being driven around the perimeter of the field, it was the presence of the emotional burden of war carried by women that moved me so. They looked not to have a care in the world but the reality of their contributions, and of so many women like them, must have meant fear, enormous and solo responsibility in families, comforting frightened children, a shortage of resources and the grief and trauma of losing the men they loved.

The two women in the motorcade smiled. I felt the presence of their service, courage and contribution. I cried. It was the women who got me in the end.

Lest We Forget.

Wordless Wednesday - Aquarium

Weekend grateful

Image by Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This week I am grateful to get to the end of the week. Yep, that's it. After a busy, crazy, chaotic week, I am so grateful that it is the weekend. Everyone over here at the Pavillion has Monday off and we have an aquarium visit planned. Can't wait.
Thanks Maxabella!

Wordless Wednesday

Weekend grateful - breakfast solitude

Image by tokyoboy/FreeDigitalPhoto.net

A cafe with just enough hum to be company but not so much to intrude into my peace.
The loveliest soy latte I have had in a while.
A plate filled with sourdough toast, peaches and fresh ricotta, all drizzled in maple syrup.
The newspaper.
A book.
A little bit of solitude.
Just for an hour.
Bliss.
Grateful.
And grateful to Maxabella for this weekly opportunity to reflect on gratitude.

My first bloggy makeover

Things have changed a little around these parts. I have a gorgeous new blog design and I am completely in love with it. The equally gorgeous (actually she is way more gorgeous than my blog) Sass did the design and I am sure you will agree she did a wonderful job. She was friendly and fabulous and funny to work with and made the whole process completely hiccup free.

Sass also did a makeover for me over at my other blog. The I Love You Song has a new look too so please pop on over there and have a squiz.

Blogs by Sass does custom blog design so you can have whatever your little heart desires and Sass also does templates which are easy peasy and lovely to boot. So please go and check them out. Sass would love you to say hi.