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I'm off today today to exchange some too small gumboots, visit the library, an op shop or two and perhaps treat myself to a coffee. 

I will see you all on Monday. Meanwhile have yourself a pleasant weekend x

a good at home kind of day

I've made a few changes to the routine of my day. I've never been one for routines, but if I think about it my days at home do follow a loose kind of routine.  I've stopped blogging early in the morning. I'm slowing down a little for breakfast. I take the kids to school and then I make a coffee and sit down to blog. Knowing that the dishes are done and the bed made.

Yesterday after hanging the washing out, I noticed that Violet didn't want to come back inside. So I did something I don't usually do. I grabbed my knitting and sat outside while she played. Soaked in a bit of the Wintery sun and listened to the stillness. I think it's something I need to do more of.

Lunch has always been a hurried kind of meal for me. But yesterday I started sitting at the table just my food and I (no reading allowed!). I enjoyed that leftovers meal of baked bread, cold scrambled egg (I never knew you could eat it cold and it would actually taste quite good) and kale, ricotta and roast pumpkin salad. I was glad I'd saved it the night before.


It was a good at home kind of day.

screen time

 It's a funny thing this thing called technology.

I think it's both a curse and a blessing. I know I struggle with the balance of it. I struggle with my kid's balance of it.

I know some of you are in that wholesome realm of the no tv world. I truly take my hat off to you. I wish we could do it. But the reality of it here is that if you walked in my door, the big tv on the wall might be the first thing you would see.

Then there is my least favourite, the playstation2 (a remnant of our city living times) and the newer iphone (which keeps mysteriously disappearing) and of, course, the computer.

I really struggle with the screen time for the kids. If I let them I don't think they would be doing much else. I know it hasn't made me terribly popular around here. There's quite a bit of that torn motherhood guilt going on. But despite my best efforts, there is still a few hours spent daily, between cartoons (the rule is ABC only) and games.

There is a fine line between wanting our kids to have the simpler kind of life we grew up with or aspire to, while not wanting them to fall too far behind in a lightning paced world that is geared up for technology.

I can say that I don't mind a bit of tv myself. What would Wednesday night be like without a dose of Offspring? Monday without Revenge? The new season of River Cottage? I am missing Parenthood. But not to worry too much because Downton Abbey is back. It's becoming quite clear that I am also quite attached to that thing my mother likes to call the idiot box.

I guess the important thing is to not let it all take over. I try (sometimes unsuccessfully) to set limits. I encourage the kids to play outside and read or play indoors.  But we do have our moments of pushing these boundaries. Where the balance is way off kilter. All of us.

Do you have a tv? Games? Do you struggle with screen time balance too? Do you have any tips?

on eating rabbit

I had never cooked rabbit before. In fact, I had never really thought about these little creatures as meat, though I had tasted it once or twice a few years ago.

But when we were asked by a friend if we wanted a few rabbits it was a definite yes. So the hunting men laid their traps and the next morning there were many rabbits to take home. We were given six. Daniel helped skin and gut the rabbits, and Luca got to skin his first rabbit. He was pretty excited. I didn't watch, but I wouldn't mind to next time around.

It's a skill that some people out here still have. That ability to hunt for our food. Which is a pretty useful skill to have when you think about it. There must be some reassurance in the knowledge of come what may, you could provide for yourself and your family if you had to. These skills weren't taught to most of us for the past generation or two. But I guess it's never too late to learn. 

I believe some butchers stock rabbit, but it would be worth asking if it is wild or farmed. To my (limited) knowledge, wild is preferable, but I'm not sure of the legality of selling it. In some urban backyards people are even raising rabbits for meat.

As for wild rabbit, when you think about it, these little foragers must be about the most sustainable (and frugal) meat you could eat. In Australia they are a pest, and in the country they're everywhere.

So what do you do with a rabbit? Well, plenty it seems. A quick look in my cookbooks revealed stews, ragu, pie and roasts.  But first you will need to clean them and we soaked ours overnight in salted water. I found two useful videos here and here. (Just a warning, they are slightly graphic).

Some we left whole, while others we jointed. Not perfectly, but we managed. No harder than jointing a chicken. In fact, probably easier. I dried them all off once soaking was done and then most were bagged and stored in the freezer. I kept one out for last nights dinner.

I decided to make a traditional Italian Rabbit Pappardelle from Angela Hartnett's Cucina. It was really quite simple. Well, simple on the ingredients list, but not that simple. Not hard though. Just one of those time involved recipes, that if you are in the right mood, can be quite satisfying to make. Fortunately I was in the right mood.

So I chopped the carrot and onion (I didn't have celery on hand) with garlic and herbs. I browned the rabbit, caramelized the vegetables and herbs, added wine and stock. I cooked it until it almost fell off the bone. I sieved the stock, just leaving the liquid and then shredded the meat. There was surprisingly a good bowlful from that one little rabbit. I then simmered and reduced the meat with stock for ten minutes or so.

Meanwhile we made pappardelle pasta. By hand again, as I don't yet have that machine.

So Daniel came home from work that night to a pretty messy, chaotic, floury kitchen. But it had been a fun, adventurous evening in the kitchen.

And the taste? I have to say I am a definite convert. It was delicious. Light in flavour and despite the overused term, it most definitely did "taste like chicken".  It was also a huge hit with the kids, whose approval does not come easily.

I think the thing with knowing the journey of your food makes you far more respectful of the animal, the meat and the unwillingness to waste any of it (next time I will ask for that liver). It makes a meal so much more that just preparing and eating. It gives a story to our food.



Have you ever eaten or cooked rabbit before? Would you try it?

this type of weekend

It was a family, friends and food filled weekend this time around. Did I get any rest? No. But there was freshly skinned rabbits to prepare, bean and bacon soup to eat prepared by mother in law as they spent the weekend in the house on the hill, roasted pumpkin and pumpkin seeds, and polenta that made two meals. I for one never knew you could eat polenta for breakfast. We listened to John Williamson's Mallee Boy album. I grew up listening to that. We split wood. Or rather, Daniel and his friend did. I merely supplied the coffee and the ricotta jam tart. I found our first (shrivelled) olive.

That night I pulled out my knitting and settled in to watch Downton Abbey. This life wasn't perfect. It was busy, but sometimes slow. It was messy, but the air was fresh. I couldn't think of anywhere I'd rather be.

warm sunny floral

Wishing you all a warm, sunny, floral filled weekend.

no use crying over spilt maple syrup

Feeling not so great after staying up past midnight to finish business paperwork. After putting two days into it, the washing and cleaning has banked up. You didn't see the huge piles next to those baskets. Not to mention an extra clingy Miss Violet. Or the half bottle of maple syrup spilt all over the place as we head out the door for school yesterday.

I will be back tomorrow when the house is a little cleaner, the washing more under control and hopefully my mood a little brighter.