anyresemblance

Pumpkin ravioli

Got to love our local primary school and its recognition of all the parent cultures of its kids

On Thursday, I fell downstairs.  As I walking down wearing my glasses, with tea in one hand and phone in the other, I thought "this is a bad idea as I can't see moving around in my glasses". At that bottom, I took a tumble on the turn in the stairs.  Fortunately, phone survived but I twisted my ankle which is hampering my walking.  I'm icing and elevating but I have a massive bruise emerging and another spectacular one on my arse (I'll spare you the images).

Yesterday, was a good day of bookcase assembling which means in turn, I can get the boxes from the garage and get that in order.  I was going to take Monday off work to do that but now I am going to Austin, I'll delay that for a bit.  The Austin trip has come up last minute but since you can fly direct from Sydney to Dallas in 16 hours and then do a hop to Austin, it is not too much of an endurance (setting aside 16 hours in flight).  I have to spend the weekend there, but again, it's an easy city to spend a weekend in.  

This week's cook challenge was stuffed pasta.  I've been making pasta for years but never had much success with filled ones as the filling always seems to leak, so I bought a little cutter set for less than $20 and set to again.  We made a pumpkin and goats cheese filling, light on the goats cheese as the kid is not mad about it, and added a bit of fresh thyme.  I had to shut the kitten in the laundry while I was making the pasta as wide ribbons of stuff festooning the kitchen is too tempting a plaything.  Anyway, the cutter worked a dream.  We made a sauce of some small bits of prosciutto in browned butter with some more thyme and a crumb of sour dough with toasted pine nuts.  Crumbs are obviously this year's smear of sauce on a plate but it was super delicious but sadly unphotographed.  We are now toying with more thinks to put in stuffings:  spinach and ricotta? broad beans, mint and ricotta?

Chocolate peanut something or other

It's been raining for three days though that is hardly anything to complain about as the grass is still yellow.  I'm still enjoying the bliss of being home as we shift into full on autumn.  We have even turned the heating on though it is not icy enough to warrant it in the morning I hear that may shift this week.

I had a blissful weekend of mother's day rewards including a magazine subscription, a hair cut (such a tiny pony tail!), a new le crueset casserole and both my kids home.  We've been back on the masterchef binge and recreated Shannon Bennet's chocolate peanut dessert.  Much as I love to complain about the masterchef whiners, I tip my hat to them doing this in an hour and 45 minutes.  I reckon it took me the best part of 5 hours with all the component steps.  I was hampered by the lack of a thermomix and a sugar thermometer but only had one mishap.  I decided the chocolate sauce had way too much honey for our taste, reduced it to a teaspoon and still got a honey kick.  The verdict?  Impossibly sweet and probably only needing a 1/3 size portion of what we made but the revelation on the nougat and the crunchy brown sugar crumble and the peanut ice-cream was worth every hour of effort.  Plus it was fun to do something super complicated for a change.  I have a video showing how the chocolate sauce melts the top but can not work how to embed it (of course, I can't)

Sunrise over Oman

I had a spectacularly successful work week in Dubai and have been home for a week.  The photo above was down at the beach near the 7 star Burj Al Arab.  I was actually staying in Business Bay - when I first went there were few buildings in this district other than the Marriott hotel but now it is full of new buildings, including a new Zaha Hadid building.  They had a big poster of her displayed on the side proclaiming her work continues.  I believe she was also the architect for the new Dubai opera house which opens this year.  I'm looking forward to seeing that arts precint once it opens.

Back home, it's been a trying week on the work front.  Some spectacularly bad behaviour - not directed at me but witnessed by me - and a very splintered work group.

On the plus side, I am home for the more foreseeable future.  I am back on the old 5:2 and given up slugging back wine on weeknights.  The latter is essential since I have had a series of 5am starts this week.  

I've been enjoying walking the hound but though the leaves have turned it is remarkably warm.  Normally I would have the heating on by this time of year but it is way from necessary.  

There was a party down the street last night.  My daughter was outraged at how loud the music was but I thought they had a pretty good dj going on and it didn't stop me conking out.  I woke at 5am to hear pouring rain and thought how happy I was to be home with my family and hearing that rain fall.