Sunny days

It's been a very lovely week with visitors from Sydney, blue skies and a brand new cookbook. Spring is definitely bringing a lot of colour and happiness. 

We had my brother and sister-in-law over for dinner last weekend. It's still a thrill to set the table for more than two. We served roast chicken, a carrot salad, burrata with herbs and lemon, and salted caramel pannacotta (which only kind of worked) - all from Skye McAlpine's new book.

I've been trying to get back into making sourdough after a few dud loaves (I blame winter). While he was over, my brother helped troubleshoot my starter. I've since learnt to feed and observe it, instead of following a strict feeding schedule that doesn't match Canberra's cool weather.

Today I mixed up my first batch of bread in weeks and hope it works! Making bread during the week is one of my fave WFH perks (along with anytime snacks!). 

I ordered a copy of Carter's Cookbook after seeing it on Sophie McComas's Instagram and it arrived from NZ early in the week. Lately I've been craving a cafe-style big cookie (let me know if you have a fave in Canberra, maybe it's more of a Sydney thing?) and this book has plenty of good options. I can't wait to get stuck in. I'm going to make the green soup with feta and pesto this weekend.

On Sunday we visited a favourite cafe for the first time in months. It's small, so hard to get a seat at the best of times, so we felt super lucky to nab a seat inside with physical distancing in place too. They do doughnuts on Sundays, which was the best excuse to get out of bed.

A couple of other quick things to share - I have more than 20K photos on my phone (!!) and found this article from the NY Times so helpful! I'm going to make a photo book for 2019 and am also making time to review and delete pics from my phone from the past week so I stay on top of things. 

And the ABC Life recipe for this week is a very nourishing one-pot quinoa with sweet potato and beans from Heidi Sze. It's exactly what I feel like eating after winter's comfort food! 

I hope you have a lovely weekend. I've taken Friday off and have a burger date with Tony. I'm also going to get a start on my niece's birthday cake! Tell you more about that soon.

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