the quiet revolution

The lovely Miss zenandtheart has been visiting for the last few days, and much fun has been had.

There's been epic cheese consumption, drive-by tours, surprise snow, chocolate pudding, sun-lazing, drunken cookery, Monday-night cocktails, the dish-fairy and much excellent conversation.

Meanwhile work is getting scary with everything behind schedule and much to complete before christmas. My non-work time leading up to christmas is also looking remarkably busy, but the next few months are filled with exciting plans and many good things to look forward to. It's going to be a great summer.



=o)

This week the weather turned, with the first breaths of winter stirring. There was snow on the mountain on Monday morning and the days are now noticably cooler and shorter. Today I finally accepted that the all-too-brief summer was gone and turned my attention to preparing for the cold, grey months ahead.

A couple of week's ago I'd been fortunate enough to be given a pile of lemons. This afternoon I turned them into lemon curd, preserving the sunshine yellow tang as an indulgent treat to chase away the winter blues.

Simple Lemon Curd

1/2 cup lemon juice
1 cup castor sugar (use raw castor, or add a little brown sugar to give a more caramel flavour)
90 g butter
2 whole eggs
1 egg yolk
Vanilla

Bring a saucepan of water to simmer, resting a heat-proof bowl on top (being sure to leave space between the bowl and the water). Chop butter and place in bowl. Pour in sugar, lemon juice, beaten eggs and a dash of vanilla. Whisk together as butter melts. Taking care to keep the temperature low and steady, gently stir mix continuously until it begins to thicken (about 10 minutes). If the mix gets too hot, the eggs will scramble. If you don't stir enough the outside layer will set and over-cook. Once the mix begins to thicken turn off heat and keep stirring for another 5 minutes or so, until the curd takes on a creamy, smooth consistency. Remove curd from heat and pour into sterilised containers. The mix will thicken further as it cools. Store in a cool, dark place (or in the fridge) for a grey, rainy day.

Roast chook.

Cut off excess fat and rinse with boiling water to shrink the skin
Stuff with a mix of quinoa, shaved fennel, chopped garlic, fresh sage, lemon zest, brandy, salt and cracked pepper.
Rub with good olive oil and sprinkle with smoked sea salt.
Shove a lemon up it's cloaka.
Bake for 2.5 hours on a rack in a low to moderate oven, then remove from pan and wrap in foil to rest.

Chuck roasting pan with juices onto conveniently-shaped rectangular hot plate.
Splash with white wine vinegar to de-glaze, then add some chicken stock, small piece of cinnamon and a couple of bay leaves.
Simmer gently, thicken with arrowroot just prior to serving.

Chook, stuffing, gravy, cripsy potatoes, baked pumpkin, and fresh baby spinach, washed down with shiraz viognier: damn it was good.

Very full belly.

This afternoon at work I was struck by the sudden insatiable urge to bake! It had been a long time since I felt the overwhelming urge to transform creamed butter and sugar into delectable cookies and cakes. Since going gluten-free by baking activities have taken nose dive towards non-existent. The grand sum of my baking since November? A couple of batches of brownies, 2 bischoffsbroten (one of which landed in the bin) and a loaf of banana bread. Now the brownies are worthy of mention - devilish morsels of dark, dark chocolate spiked through with rich espresso and a suggestion of chilli - but on the whole my experiences with soy flour and potato starch have been less satisfactory.



But tonight I was prepared to stare down prior disappointments and attempt to concoct a tempting treat from my supply of seven types of flour. Besides, I was armed with a specifically gluten-free recipe, so how could I fail? So as soon as I walked in the door I set about making these buttery nut cookies. The verdict? They're ok. Light and crumbly, the texture is nice but a little too fragile. Also, the flavours are a touch too mild for my tastes. I'll try them again, but with the substitution of rich brown sugar and the addition of more vanilla, a breath of cinnamon and a drizzle of lemon. Yes.

Today's lesson? 1 ml of butter weighs 0.904 g. No longer will I need to measure out cups of butter for US recipes.

The last three years have been somewhat of a misadventure for me, with health woes piling on to medical complaints and mental melt-downs. I lost a lot of weight, gained a lot more and underwent treatment for anxiety. Just whenI was beginning to remember what "normal" felt like my immune system went to town on my thyroid gland and I was diagnosed with Graves Disease. It seemed like I no longer knew my own body. Nothing worked the way it used to and very little made sense. I had a severe case of hyper-thyroidism, yet I was gaining weight. The thyroid medication reduced most of the syptoms, but the upset digestion, moodiness and misbehaving metabolism remained.

By August it became apparent that something else was going on with my digestive tract. For several years I'd develop bloating and indigestion if I ate too much wheat, but in the months prior I'd been on the road so much that wheat had become a dominant part of my diet. I'd stopped noticing the reaction to wheat until it had become so much more severe. I had no appetite, felt constantly tired and bloated, had the runs and was putting on even more weight. I was catching every bug that went around; again. This was not right. In a moment of mental clarity I realised that I was reacting to something I was eating. I considered the two food types I'd reacted to indulging in too much in the past: wheat and dairy. I was facing a process of elimination. Remembering the bloatyness, I decided to start with wheat.

24 hours later I started feeling better.

3 days later my digestion started to behave itself.

I thought I had the answer: I was wheat intolerant! I just needed to avoid wheat flour-based products and all would be well.

That conclusion, as it turns out, was far too simple. Initial improvements were countered by sudden returns of those now-familiar symptoms. I eliminated spelt, then rye, and more improvements followed, but still new sensitivities emerged.

By the end of 2007 I came to the realisation that I am completely gluten intolerant. I have diagnosed myself with Coeliac disease. There is a medical check: a blood test to detect the anti-bodies produced in response to gluten, but in order to prove anything you have to eat enough gluten to produce enough anti-bodies to be detected by the test. How much gluten is enough? My doctor says to eat a normal diet but to include gluten. When even the gluten in one jelly bean is enough to make me sick, the official diagnosis just doesn't seem worth it.

So I can't eat bread, or pasta, or pastries, or breakfast cereals. That's the obvious stuff. But I also can't eat soy sauce or soba noodles, most potato chips or rice crackers, marinades or marmite. I can't even eat most brands of ice-cream! Supermarket products are rife with gluten disguised as wheat glucose or caramel colour or thickener or natural flavours. But you know, that's ok. As long as I know the gluten's there, I can avoid it. And the best part is that in avoiding gluten I'm learning to look after myself and to feed my body well. Because to eat gluten-free is to eat freshly prepared, high quality, naturally flavoursome foods. When you're eating like that, you really don't miss mass-produced foods that taste like artificiality. And good things follow: I'm losing weight, I feel energetic and bouncy. I feel properly like me for the first time in years. We are eating well.

Where it gets difficult, though, is eating out. At cafes, restaurants and friends' houses food becomes a risk. Not everyone understands the many forms gluten can take and the unexpected places you'll find it.

We spent the weekend past at Alex's parent's place, in celebration of my boy's recent birthday. Hs father takes great joy and pride in cooking, and has been happy to accomodate my increasingly difficult requirements. On Saturday night he made roast beef with baked vegetables and gluten-free Yorkshire puddings. He even used proper corn flour to thicken the gravy! But he didn't think to check the supermarket-bought stock. I was a veritable picture of mysery that night and the following Sunday; my belly hard and bloaty, and my stomach sore. It was Sunday night before I could even face up to food (a gentle, easy to digest gluten-recovery diet) and today I'm still feeling tender and tired, my digestive tract grumling gassily.

But even in recovery mode, gluten-free food is fabulous. Just look at what my wonderful husband has made me for dinner. And even better, it's made with love.

It seems I must be feeling ok, because I've been tearing up the kitchen.

My parents came to lunch today so I decided to put on quite the feed. Earlier in the week I made some spiced plum compote and stuck it in the freeze for today. Then last night I diced up some chicken, beef and lamb for kebabs. I marinated the chicken in an Indonesian chicken sauce and coconut milk with garlic chives. For the lamb I made an Italian-style marinade with tomato, red wine, lots of herbs, garlic and other goodies. Last but not least, the beef got a good bath of red wine and olive marinade. After that I was still wide awake, thanks to the new medication I'm on, so I made chocolate and nut brownies and put together a batch of home-made toasted muslie before bed.

This morning I went straight back to it and made a huge amount of nut cluster cookies (rolled oats, rolled rye, almonds, pepitas, sunflower seeds and pine nuts) and some big fluffy buttermilk scone (the buttermilk was Alex's idea). The cookies are for easter treats for my workmates, but the scones were morning tea with blackberry jam and King Island double cream.

While we were enjoying the scones part one of lunch got started in the oven: a big baking dish full of roasting veggies. The veggies got turned into a roast vegetable salad once they cooled a little, with some baby spinach and fried haloumi chucked in. On a slightly healthier turn, I made another salad that I'm quite proud of as it was a total experiment from an idea I had during the week. What was it? Peach and prosciutto with a rosewater dressing! I'd explain futher, but for now I'd like to keep it as my special dish, rather than see it spread across dining tables. It was very nice though - an excellent summer dish. The kebabs and two salads were washed down with an able rose, then we all sat around enjoying being seriously full.

As it nudged 5pm my parents decided it was time to head home, but I couldn't let them leave without dessert! Out came the plum compote, served thick and warm with a scoop of vanilla bean gelati. Heavenly.

Now you'd think I'd leave it there, wouldn't you? But tonight I've made a mega batch of mixed peel and spice cookies, and there are marmalade cupcakes in the oven. They don't seem to be rising too well though. Never mind, they'll be fine with a coating of cream cheese icing.

Look what I made...

I have the most ridiculous craving for Japanese food, especially ageashi tofu, though some good sushi and miso would be nice too. Who wants to hit up Azabu this weekend?



In other news, I just made Anzac biscuits, but because I put in a little too much liquid they spread instead of rising and made anzac slice. They also needed cooking for longer, so now have that lovely caught golden syrup flavour. Mmm! I'm going to make muffins in a moment though I'm waiting for the bananas to thaw (we're in a massive banana shortage, thanks to Cyclone Larry back in March, so when i find them under $5/kg I buy up and freeze), because I'm making banana and honey muffins. I made some yesterday too, but they're so good I need more!



In other news, the last 2 dyas have actually been chilly, so the weather feels quite late-Autumn, rather than the mid-Spring temperatures we have been having. Never mind that it's mid-Winter. The jacarandas haven't even lost their leaves yet. This week has seen me either hugely productive, or unamble to overcome the inertia experiences when perched in front of the computer. Now I'm just putting off cleaning up the desk, thoguh I don't really know why. I think I might just need another coffee as I'm a bit zonked today. Yesterday and this morning I prevented myself from having the full 8 hours in order to rise at a reasonable hour, as my body clock was drifting towards vampiric and I'm actually rather fond of daylight. Yes, another bucket of coffee... *wanders off*



Right, coffee's brewing. Where was I? Ah, I also had to be up at a reasonable hour because Natasha was coming by to collect the tarpaulins we borrowed from her in November to go to Earthcore. We're so slack we still hadn't taken them back, so I gave her a lovely bottle of shiraz and some G&B organic Maya Gold chocolate. I also momentarily forgot how to spell tarpaulin. Anyway, as well as Natasha, the wedding photog, Andy, was coming around to drop of the DVD of our photos. Yay! I like Andy - he's a bit of a native fish nut, and did a degree in Environmental Science before studying photography - and he stayed for a bit of a fishy chat. He also caught my excitment at finding planaria in BlueFish's tank this morning. Planaria are so cool, as is any other animal that can re-grow it's head. I have never forgotten them since we created a two-headed one in first-year invertebrate biology. In 13 years of keeping fish I've never seen one in a tank before, and this morning, there are two of them crawling along the glass! Yay! From memory, they're hermaphroditic, so soon I should have many planaria! And then I'll take over the world! Mwahahahahaa!

*cough*



So now I have all the wedding photos and the photos from the trip to process and post. Except we're having computer trouble. Argh here (yes, the computer is called Argh) keeps locking up and frequently crashing. The [program that triggers the most crashing? Photoshop. Grrrr! A quick remote assessment by Master Nick suggests the IDE cables are shoddy; a diagnosis I agree with after burning some CDs yesterday. It would take several attempts for Argh to read the newly burnt files: it would consistently tell me there was no CD inserted, until on about try 5 it would find the files and play them, then not find them again on try 6. If it is the IDEs, that means every non-spec part of the box barring the floppy drivehas needed replacing. Why did we go to Game Dude instead of Umart? (Ok, so we didn't know Umart existed at the time, but still...) Meanwhile, Umart doesn't sell loose IDEs, so replacement may take a while. How painful. Yet I still spend far too much time sitting in front of it.



I should be on my own tonight, so I'll have to make a special effort to resist the screen. Alex is supposed to be going down to his parents place to borrow his dad's ute. He'll borrow the ute to fix the car, he'll fix the car so I can drive, I don't know why he wants me to drive; perhaps he'll die... *brainsnap* G, that so reminds me of dinner. =o) Anyway, the clutch plate in our car needs replacing, and the machanics wated $700 for the priveledge, so Alex is taking the train down the Coast to borrow his dad's ute for a week so he can get to work *and* do the clutch. And after the clutch, he needs to figure out why the red machine isn't idling properly and fix that. When that's done I can drive again because the car won't keep stalling. Yay! I think the coffee is starting to kick in.