20 Friday Dec 2013
Posted in Australia
(Image from here)
Christmas isn’t a season. It’s a feeling. (Edna Ferber)
The silly season is upon me in a big way, so this is my last post for the 2013. A huge ‘Cheers!’ to you for continuing to check in with me here at TSL HQ on such a regular basis.
Wishing you a fab’ Chrissie…
See you in the new year!
10 Tuesday Dec 2013
Posted in Dogs
Tags
Bella, Christmas, Dog, Homemade dog biscuits, John Grogan, Jonathan Carroll, Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog, Pets, Poodle, Pumpkin Dog Biscuits
Bella
(Image by TSL)
It’s just the most amazing thing to love a dog, isn’t it? It makes our relationships with people seem as boring as a bowl of oatmeal. (John Grogan, Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World’s Worst Dog)
Bella turns 9 on Christmas day. That’s 9 in human years. In dog years, she’s 63. Granted, she may have become a little less tolerant of some of the more scatty dogs we encounter when we’re out on our daily walks, but I guess that’s her prerogative – middle-aged spinster that she is. I hope I’m as fit and sprightly at 63…
I mentioned yesterday that I’m making a few of my Christmas pressies this year. Well, Bella features on that recipient list, too. I mean, it’s a double whammy for her – birthday AND Christmas, all rolled into one. I could hardly leave her off the list, could I?
LM laughs at me for anthropomorphising, but I spend more time with Bella than I do with almost anyone (LM excepted). I can’t imagine my life without her. And, let’s not go down that road. So, of course she needs to be considered for Christmas.
Pumpkin Doggie Biscuits a la TSL
(Image by TSL)
Bella’s Pumpkin Doggie Biscuits a la TSL
(Image by TSL)
This year, she’s getting homemade dog biscuits. And, since I picked up my doggie bone biscuit cutter from the Essential Ingredient this morning, I couldn’t resist whipping up the first batch today.
Let me tell you, they went down a treat!
Bella (Appears to) Wait Patiently for her Treat
Hand model – LM
(Image by TSL)
Please Sir, Can I Have Some More…?
(Image by TSL)
The next batch are going to be stuffed full of mint and parsley to give her minty fresh breath. I’ll let you know how they go!
09 Monday Dec 2013
Tags
Cooking, craft, food, Gail Simmons, Garlic, Garlic salt, Homemade, Homemade Christmas Present, Preserves, Salt, Sea salt, Simon Johnson
Garlic Salt à la TSL
(Image by TSL)
Dark chocolate, and salt and vinegar chips are my weakness – but not together. (Gail Simmons)
When I told you I had a toothache last week, I was understating things a little. Tooth issues can be nasty. So much so, that I don’t think we want to relive it. So we won’t.
What I will say is that when I was in the city having yet another dental appointment on Friday, LM and I happened upon Simon Johnson’s pop up at the MLC Centre. Apparently, its been there since October. Huh.
I love Simon Johnson’s.
For the uninitiated, the man himself (originally from across the ditch in New Zealand) is a serious food providore. He now has 8 Simon Johnson retail stores around the country – all stocking some of Australia’s best ranges of imported and home-grown quality foods, sourced from over 80 producers internationally. His Woollahra store has the most divine cheese room AND the well-trained crew he has on board offer you a complimentary coffee when you step into the store. And, it is great coffee!
So, since the pop up shop was there, I had to have a browse. Two reasons for this, really. It would have been rude not to. And, when you can’t find Christmas presents for anyone on your list, the rule is you can buy something for yourself. Well, that’s my rule, anyway.
Time for a small segue – I’m making a few Christmas presents this year. One of the homemade items in my repertoire is flavoured salt. I’m actually getting a little obsessed with the whole idea. Have you tried it? It’s so good! Salt is a natural preservative and holds flavour incredibly well. It will extract the moisture from whatever ingredients you choose to add to it – say fresh herbs, citrus, garlic – and preserve the flavour. Those favours are then imparted into whatever dish you add the flavoured salt to. Genius!
At dinner parties I sit below the salt now. There are a lot of interesting people there. (Donald T. Regan)
I started with garlic salt. As with all things, the better your ingredients, the better your end product. So, I roasted some lovely organic garlic before squishing the meat out of each wee clove and then mashed them all up and mixed them with some Himalayan sea salt, before dehydrating the resulting mixture in a very low oven…
This is what mine looked like…
Garlic Salt (sans label) à la TSL
(Image by TSL)
Yep – it looks like plain, unadulterated Himalayan sea salt. BUT, it actually tastes fantastic – full of roasted garlic flavour. I have been adding it to all sorts of dishes with gay abandon and achieving great tasting results.
So, while I wasn’t wildly enthusiastic about my salt’s visual appeal, I was ok with that…
Until I saw this at Simon Johnson’s…
Falksalt Wild Garlic Salt Flakes
(Image from here)
For just $7.50 you can get this beautiful looking flaked salt with lovely speckles of wild garlic mixed throughout. SO much prettier than mine. And, that’s not all.
Check out these flavours.
Falksalt Smoked Salt Flakes
(Image from here)
Falksalt Rosemary Salt Flakes
(Image from here)
Falksalt Citron Salt Flakes
(Image from here)
Clearly, the presentation of my flavoured salt needs some work. I had to pick up some Ortiz anchovies and some Aphrodite halloumi to console myself (so perhaps that will go some way to make up for my disappointment!)
(Image from here)
(Image from here)
If you’re a foodie visiting Sydney, pop Simon Johnson’s Woollahra store onto your list. You can find it at 55 Queen Street, Woollahra, NSW, 2025. It’s open 7 days and chock-full of lots of wee goodies.
And, if you’re in the city, William at the MLC pop up store was most helpful when we visited!
04 Wednesday Dec 2013
Posted in Random Stuff
Tags
Love conquers all things except poverty and toothache. (Mae West)
Penicillin, painkillers and posting are not a good combo’. A little time out from me. Back soon.
