Autumn in the Blue Mountains

We made another trip to the Blue Mountains last weekend as one of my two favourite aunties was here visiting me for a week. We had the bestest time taking the scenic drive along Bells line of road (what a strange but lovely name for a road) and visiting Leura which was filled with the most beautiful Parisian-style homeware stores. Saturday was also the first day in weeks that it was sunny and there was not a cloud in the sky as we walked merrily down the streets together, exploring a different town and bathing in the beauty of autumn.

drawn to you

It is still raining. All i can think to do is sit in bed and read with a cup of tea on the table beside me. Currently, i'm reading Anne Lamott's Traveling Mercies and Anne Bartlett's Knitting. They keep me well occupied.

(I dream of red Maple leaves falling to the ground all around me. I do.)

On food and nostalgia

Yesterday, after baking some bread, i decided to try making halva, a dessert often made in India and which my grandmother and auntie faithfully made every year to usher in the Indian new year.

(Lightly toast 2 cups of semolina and set aside. Brown 1 cup of cashews in olive oil and set aside. Bring 4 cups of water to the boil and then add 7-9 tablespoons of caster sugar and some saffron powder to the water. Remove from stove. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt about 50g of butter or ghee. When melted, add in 1-2 teaspoons of ground cardamon. At this point, you should get a wonderful aroma. If not, add in more cardamon. Stir in the toasted semolina and mix well. Then slowly add the sugar water, making sure to stir well simultaneously to avoid lumps forming. Add the cashews and stir. Once thickened, remove from heat and place in a 8 x 8 dish. Flatten with the back of a spoon and let cool. Eat with some sweet tea.)

It made me feel very close to my grandmother and my auntie as i cooked this, knowing that they had cooked it many times before. As the smell of the cardamon hit me, i was taken back to my auntie's kitchen where all sorts of sweet things were made with love. As i had my first bite of the halva, i could almost see myself in her kitchen, sitting at the table as she cut me piece after piece to eat.

it's a blustery day outside

When it's sunny, i think of the rain and how nice it would be to walk in it with a pretty umbrella, a trendy canary yellow trenchcoat and some gumboots.

But when it's actually cold and rainy outside, all i can do is stay inside with my bathrobe on and do warm things like bake bread and make coffee.

As i write, the smell of baking bread (Irish soda bread with raisins and caraway seeds) is wafting from the kitchen. There really is nothing more comforting on a cold day than this. Obviously, The Baker's Apprentice has inspired me in more than one way.

friday afternoon

It's a beautiful autumn day outside. I put on my new backpack and walked to the library with a list of books to get.

I love that i have to walk 20 minutes to get there, each step made sweeter by the thought of finding books that will transport me to another world for a few hours.

I ended up with eight books and began my walk back home. I took a detour into Birrel St so i could have my treat for the week- a mini cupcake and soy cappucino from 'We take the cake'. The girl at the counter suggested a black and white cupcake and ordering that and my coffee, i went to sit outside on the wooden bench seats, with olive green and chocolate brown cushions on them.

Unzipping my backpack, I spent a few moments trying to decide which book to start with. Judith Hendricks' The baker's apprentice won me over with its pretty cover. What a lovely, lovely way to spend a Friday afternoon- reading a novel about bread and relationships, savouring the taste of a sweet cupcake and using a spoon to eat the chocolate powder and foam on my cappucino before the first sip.

Walking home, my thoughts settled on making a pretty floral tablecloth for my dining table.

It was a sweet little adventure for a quiet Friday afternoon.

morning sky

We woke up early to catch the sunrise on Saturday. What a beauty! This was the first time i had actually seen the sunrise in its entirety and it was a glorious experience. I felt on top of the world as i watched the sun slowly start to illuminate the water.

Braced for colder winds

I went for a walk this morning and it was cold, the sort of cold that made me wish i had worn my gloves. It's all so strange then to see the flowers outside my sunroom blooming. Apparently (I read this in the papers), plants were confused by our cold, wet summer and now think that the slightly warmer (maybe last week, but definitely not today) and drier autumn means that it's time to be flowering. I find that to be quite funny.

On Wednesday, i decided to try out Heidi Swanson's anzac biscuit recipe. It's not a traditional recipe as these biscuits are usually made without orange rind but the inclusion of the rind and some orange juice made these biscuits smell heavenly when they were baking.

And they were just the thing for afternoon tea, paired with some Harvey Nichols english breakfast tea (a wedding present from Rachael which i have only just tried but have since declared it to be the best english breakfast tea in the world) in my new tea cup that Jon bought me. Such simple pleasures.

I saw the sun's rays shine through a layer of clouds this morning and light up the ocean. I could barely speak. Sights like this move me in a way nothing else can.

Yesterday, i had chai with Jena at Gertrude & Alice. Easy, comfortable conversation with a good friend over some tea and coffee can soothe the soul.

Nichole Norderman's "Every season" always, always makes me look forward to sunsets and the sweet smell of dusk.

not a cloud in the sky

It's cold and windy outside but oh, how blue the sky is! And nary a cloud in the sky. So beautiful!