• Contact TSL
  • The TSL Recipe Vault
  • TSL’s Greatest Hits!
  • Who am I?

This Sydney Life

~ Mostly Recipes & Musings on Health

This Sydney Life

Tag Archives: Homemade

My Salt isn’t as Pretty as Simon Johnson’s Salt…

09 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by Joanna in Australia, Food

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Cooking, craft, food, Gail Simmons, Garlic, Garlic salt, Homemade, Homemade Christmas Present, Preserves, Salt, Sea salt, Simon Johnson

Garlic Salt  a la TSL

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) a la TSL

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

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

Falksalt Smoked Salt Flakes
(Image from here)

Falksalt Rosemary Salt Flakes

Falksalt Rosemary Salt Flakes
(Image from here)

Falksalt Citron Salt Flakes

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!)

Ortiz anchovies

(Image from here)

Aphrodite Halloumi

(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!

You say ketchup, I say tomato sauce…

21 Wednesday Aug 2013

Posted by Joanna in Food

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

Condiment, Dairy Free, food, Gluten Free, Homemade, Homemade Ketchup, Homemade Tomato Sauce, Ketchup, Recipe, Sugar free, Tomato Sauce

TSL'S Tomato Sauce  (Image by TSL)

TSL’s Tomato Sauce
(Image by TSL)

The teenager came home from school yesterday and announced he is on a health kick. I’m not 100% sure what prompted this interest in getting healthy (although, it has to be said I have some ideas), but I’m certainly not knocking it. When pushed, he suggested that this really meant he would limit his consumption of fizzy drinks to one per week… And, then he completed a fairly lengthy ‘man work-out’, so he’s starting well!

As you no doubt know, here at Casa TSL we try to limit our sugar consumption. The teenager is sort of forced to comply with this by default. Poor sausage. But, since he is now on a health kick, I thought I should give him a wee boost by whipping up some easy-peasey home-made tomato sauce (aka ketchup).

Blood may be thicker than water, but it’s certainly not as thick as ketchup. Nor does it go as well with french fries. (Jarod Kintz)

This is the tomato sauce you whip up when you want a fast, reasonably un-processed solution.

Let me be clear – this is not the prepared-from-scratch number you make on a lazy Sunday afternoon of bottling. Rather, it is a good compromise between that and the approximately 30% sugar-laden commercial tomato sauces.

And the best bit? – The teenager has given it his tick of approval!

TSL's Tomato Sauce  (Image by TSL)

TSL’s Tomato Sauce
(Image by TSL)

Ingredients:

170g tomato paste
60ml apple cider vinegar
2 tsp honey
1 tsp molasses
60ml water
½ tsp salt
1 x small garlic clove
1 Tbsp finely chopped onion
A pinch garam marsala (or all spice, as an alternative)

Method:
(Note how complex this recipe is!)

Combine all ingredients in a blender at medium-high speed until very smooth. And, you’re done!

Boo-ya!

Blog Stalking the Purl Bee and D.I.Y. Gifts…

15 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by Joanna in Haberdashery

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

Art, Christmas, craft, Crochet, Do it yourself, Gift, Gifts, home, Homemade, Knitting, Knitting and Crochet, Purl Bee, Purl Soho, Sewing

Purl Bee Embroidered Stockings from Molly's Sketchbook

Purl Bee Embroidered Stockings from Molly’s Sketchbook
Now, see – I would start these for my nephews and niece AND they would have left home by the time I finish them…
(Image from Purl Bee)

It’s getting toward that time of year again. You know – when you start getting that Christmassy feeling. Even down here in the heat of the southern hemisphere, I turn the tiniest bit hausfrau on poor old LM. I start planning home-made goodies – my granola (made from a secret recipe) is a tradition for one friend, my Mum’s Christmas mince tart recipe is legend, and this year I think some apricot balls and rum balls are in order, too. Maybe.

I start making lists and wanting to discuss Christmas plans with LM – which turns him the tiniest bit green. LM is not a social planner kind of guy. He is more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, she’ll-be-alright-on-the-night, any-more-laid-back-I’ll-fall-over kind of guy. In this matter, we are very different.

And, then there is the gift list. It is fair to say that I love buying presents for people. I spend considerable time thinking about what to buy (or in the case of granola girl – make) for my nearest and dearest. It makes me happy. Now, don’t laugh, but I have already made some headway into this year’s list.

Sadly, there is also a tiny problem. Deep, deep down at my very core, there beats the heart of a girl who wants to show her love and affection by making something from scratch. All good, you say. Unfortunately, there’s a rub – I always bite off more than I can chew, get super caught up in the whirlwind that is the silly season, and then fail to finish my chosen made from scratch present. Consequently, the quilt I started making for Mum and Dad’s beach house TWO YEARS AGO, remains incomplete. The amazing embroidered cushion I started for my sister BEFORE SHE MET THE MAN SHE NOW LIVES WITH is lying half-finished in the spare room cupboard. I could go on.

All of this brings me to the real subject of this post – the Purl Bee. My first port of call when I am looking for inspiration for made from scratch, DIY gifts. For the uninitiated, the Purl Bee is a very tasty craft blog created by Purl Soho, the most fabulous shop in New York, where they publish ideas for you to knit, crochet, sew, stitch and more!

If you happen to be a regular TSL reader, you will know that I cannot knit. It is simply not in me to learn. Clearly, I missed that particular gene when Mum was handing them out.  I gave crochet a good bash (as evidenced here), but it seems I am destined to fail at that craft, as well – despite my teacher telling me she could teach anyone*. I must have been the exception that proves the rule. But I can stitch after a fashion, AND I have a sewing machine and I sort of know how to use it (although, I’m no seamstress).

I trawl through the wonderful projects and tutorials on the Purl Bee and my imagination goes wild with ideas for future unfinished, made from scratch, DIY gifts…

Purl Bee Big Red Bobbi Bear from Colourful Crafting with Jen

Purl Bee Big Red Bobbi Bear from Colourful Crafting with Jen
I know, I know – but I can dream…
(Image from Purl Bee)

Purl Bee Flannel Receiving Blankets from Laura's Loop

Purl Bee Flannel Receiving Blankets from Laura’s Loop
I reckon I could possibly just about master these, only I would like them in brighter colours…
(Image from Purl Bee)

Purl Bee Loop de Loop Pillows from Molly's Sketchbook

Purl Bee Loop de Loop Pillows from Molly’s Sketchbook
Now these, I’m confident I could do
(Image from Purl Bee)

Purl Bee Hand Sewn Felt Dolls by Mimi Kirchner

Purl Bee Hand Sewn Felt Dolls by Mimi Kirchner
How divine are these?
(Image from Purl Bee)

Purl Bee Felted Wool Patchwork Throw

Purl Bee Felted Wool Patchwork Throw
Now, see – who has a Nordic looking bedroom that tidy? Not me.
(Image from Purl Bee)

Purl Bee Hand-stitched Napkins from Molly's Sketchbook

Purl Bee Handstitched Napkins from Molly’s Sketchbook
These, I could definitely manage!
(Image from Purl Bee)

Purl Soho Super Easy Baby Blanket

Purl Soho Super Easy Baby Blanket
So easy that I can’t make it… But I SO want to!
(Image from Purl Bee)

If you would like to be inspired by Purl Bee and potential unfinished, made from scratch, DIY gifts, go and check out the site here. It is GORGEOUS!

*If you’re interested, I have moved on to yoga, and I’m better at that than I thought I would be. Go figure!

Recent Posts

  • The End of an Era and a New Beginning…
  • ‘He Won’t Know It’s Paleo’ – a Review
  • The Shame of Hidradenitis Suppurativa
  • Lip-Smackingly Good Lemon Ice Cream (AIP Friendly)
  • The Other Side of Family Time at Casa TSL…
  • Family Time at Casa TSL
  • Things Julia Child has Taught Me (That Have Nothing to do With the Art of French Cookery!)
  • Could You Have Pyrrole Disorder?
  • Easter Inspiration Recipe Round Up
  • The GREAT Sydney AIP Resource Page

Enter your email address to follow This Sydney Life. You'll receive notifications of new posts straight to your inbox...

Like TSL on Facebook! Go on… She’s finally got around to signing up!

Like TSL on Facebook! Go on… She’s finally got around to signing up!

Categories

  • Art
  • Australia
  • Book Review
  • Culture
  • Design
  • Dogs
  • export
  • Fashion
  • Food
  • Haberdashery
  • Health
  • New Zealand
  • Nutrition
  • Performance
  • Random Stuff
  • Retail
  • Sides & Sauces
  • Soup
  • Sweets
  • Sydney
  • The Main Event
  • Travel

Top Posts & Pages from TSL

  • Luke Mangan's SERIOUSLY GOOD Osso Bucco
  • Jamie Oliver-Inspired SUBLIME Four Hour Lamb...
  • What is This MTHFR That I Keep Hearing About?
  • Easy-Peasy Lemon-Squeezey Slow Cooked Pork Neck
  • Squint - the Willy Wonka of Furniture!
  • Squint and you'll miss it...
  • An Introduction to the Autoimmune Protocol
  • Being Tempted by Sydney's Living Museums
  • Rupert Grint is Ed Sheeran's Doppelgänger...
  • HELLISHLY GOOD Herbed Parsnip and Celeriac Mash with Caramelised Onions

Archives

  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012

Top Rated

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×
    Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
    To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy