Autumn updates

Aside from one big thing (we're moving apartments!), autumn has mostly been about lovely weekend rituals like trips to the apple orchard or buying dahlias from side-of-the-road stands. And chipping away at our Easter chocolate :) 

There was a lot of life admin this week as we plan our move. We thought we might be looking at rentals for weeks but the day we found out our current place had been sold, Tony found an apartment in my favourite building in Canberra. We signed the lease just this week! While we were both hoping to avoid a move altogether, moving to somewhere we love (with a bath tub and a courtyard with flower boxes) has definitely helped me feel excited about it all. I'm also still working from home most of the time and am very ready (read desperate) for a change of scenery.

I felt like cooking more than usual last weekend and made a care package for a friend with a new baby. There was a kale and mushroom pot pie from Julia Turshen's new cookbook (so delicious!), some chocolate chunk cookies and a jar of red pesto from a recipe coming soon to ABC Everyday.

And for a weekend dessert, I made us some maple roasted apples (I'm going through a Julia Tushen phase) that are served with roasted pecans and ice cream. It tasted just like apple pie filling and meant I didn't have to fuss around with pastry. The apples also went into a dutch baby pancake the next day. So good.

I'm going to miss this view! I've always squeezed moves inbetween days at work but this time, I'm taking a week off so this homebody can truly settle in. Hopefully it'll take some of the stress out of the situation too.

Some other things to share:

This cover of the Hollywood Reporter felt huge to me. It's still so rare to see Asian people on the cover of magazines and as a Minari super fan, I thought the cover story was great too. 

Loving these spring onion oil noodles. I made them late on Saturday night and they tasted as good as takeaway.

My new favourite orange wine.

And we're watching the original Twin Peaks and loving it. I'm not sure I've seen anything by David Lynch in full.

Happy Easter

Hope you're having a lovely Easter! I love this four-day break so much, it always feels much-needed and the autumn weather is so lovely. One of the highlights of our Easter so far has been a trip to Bundanoon to visit and stay with Tony's parents. We did the quiz over hot cross buns, ate lamb and potatoes, and played tip with our nieces and nephew until I got a stitch.

Even though we're both out of the house a lot these days, for work, yoga and to see friends, it still feels extra special to be somewhere new. I loved an afternoon walk around the area (it's so green) and a Saturday morning drive to a nearby bookstore, with bonus stops for coffee and roadside flower stalls.

We're back home now and the weather has been perfect for bike rides and laksa by the lake. Another nice thing - we got to have brunch with a friend who we hadn't seen since before the pandemic. 

I finished reading Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous this week. It'd been recommended to me before but it wasn't until I listened to this conversation between the author and Bryan Washington that I knew I had to give it a go. The podcast is beautiful even if you don't read either book, the topic is 'All The Ways To Be' 💛

I also have a copy of Julia Turshen's latest cookbook on order. I haven't seen it in store anywhere yet but I was convinced I needed it after listening to this episode of her podcast all about diet culture and intuitive eating. I have the best memories of cooking Julia's food. Last year during the nationwide lockdown, I'd saved my tins of tomatoes and froze some leftover basil so that we could have her lasagne for Easter dinner.

Hope you have a lovely long weekend. I have the simplest plans for the rest of the break - I'm making some red pesto spaghetti for dinner tonight, maybe a loaf of bread tomorrow and am going to drop off some Easter eggs to my niece and nephew after yoga tonight.

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