Rainy days and daytime candles

I loved the drizzly, cold weather of last Saturday. I put on a piano playlist my brother made and baked a Dutch baby pancake for breakfast. Later, when Tony left to teach a drawing workshop, I lit a daytime candle (such a simple novelty), made banana bread to take to a friend's place, and curled up on the couch to watch a documentary.

Tiny things are changing here. My baby cos lettuce plants have grown their hearts and it cheers me to catch a glimpse of their leaves from the couch.

I stayed up late on Sunday, partly because I started making sourdough late in the day but also because I expected to find out more about my job and whether I'd be keeping it on Monday. Delaying sleep was one way of staying in the in between space where it could still go either way, and when my team was together still. One of my work mates called it a reverse Christmas Eve. So we put on a funny movie from the '80s (highly recommend it) and made this easy butterscotch sauce for our ice cream.

On Monday I found out that I'll very likely keep my job and while it's a huge relief, it's been hard to stand by as good people were told otherwise. I think that's why I don't feel totally settled just yet. I've been hyper alert and distracted in the same afternoon, not too jazzed about food (so weird for me) and waking up some nights at 3am. Still I know I am lucky. I'm doing all of the things to take care of myself - yoga, lunch outside the apartment, walks wherever possible, and I feel a bit better every day. 

My friend Sophie sent me this enormous bouquet of flowers earlier in the week. At first I felt totally undeserving but it's really cheered me up.  It smells of roses and honey and is making our lounge room an even nicer place to be. I noticed this white flower right away, because it looks like it's been made of crepe paper. Sophie says it's a pincushion flower or scabiosa. 

After work today, I lit a candle, cleaned the dishes from breakfast and readied a present for the post. And did a tiny bit of my tax. It felt normal and nice and I'm hoping for more of those days ahead.

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Weird week

This week was rough. On Wednesday I found out the project I've been working on is coming to an end in its current form. I also learned I'm in a redundancy pool and may lose my job.

It feels very very big and while I won't write too much more about it here (it's a process and I am still processing), it's going to be a key part of my life for the next little while. Please send chocolate 😂

In the meantime I am loving this bunting my niece Maeve made for me. It's currently strung above my desk. I am also wonderfully supported by dear friends, family, and work mates. The texts, calls and emails this week have been overwhelming in the best possible way.

Our friends Angie and Dave were visiting this weekend from Sydney. They brought us so many treats, including doughnuts. Tony and I ate them in bed on Saturday morning after waking up way too early. I'll share some pics of our weekend with them soon - we had so much fun.

Other things to share:

The most recent episode of Reply All is totally wild. It's about BLM in the US and the very strange ways some people are showing their support.

I also loved Wesley and Jenna's special edition of Still Processing via Zoom. They called it 'So Y'all Finally Get It' 🙌

The nicest story about one dude, hundreds of cakes and lockdown in Japan.

And I've also been zoning out with Nadiya's Time To Eat on Netflix. I made butter after watching episode 2 (and it only took me 5 minutes!)

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Emoji pancakes, apple cake, day trip

I treated myself to a NY Times Cooking subscription the other week (there's only so much screengrabbing you can do), which is how we ended up having buttermilk pancakes for brekkie last Saturday. I hadn't made them before and loved how fluffy they were, we served them emoji-style with a pat of salted butter and plenty of maple syrup.

It's been crazy nice to have two long weekends in a row - enough to make me want to work part-time! There's just enough time for everything from seeing family to sleeping in and trying new recipes.

On Sunday we drove to Bundanoon for the day to have lunch with Tony's family. We appreciate everything now, like a pretty sky on the drive out and the sheer novelty of seeing the horizon from a different perspective. It was a proper Sunday lunch with roast lamb followed by butterfly cakes lovingly made by my mother-in-law and niece.

We've been watching so much good telly lately. We both loved The Last Dance, a Netflix documentary series that follows the Chicago Bulls during Michael Jordan's last season. You don't have to be a basketball fan to really enjoy it, it's got so much in-built drama and characters to bring you into it. Plus the archive footage is amazing, I'd totally forgotten about players like Scotty Pippen!

We also watched mid90s, Jonah Hill's directorial debut. It's a skater movie and a coming-of-age story that's intense and great (and also on Netflix).

I'm starting to appreciate some of the nicer things the pandemic has brought us. I've been able to spend much more time with my family, online in the height of the lockdown and lately IRL. And I'm obsessed with doing yoga in my lounge room instead of a studio. I love doing online classes whenever suits instead of trying to arrange my work week and weekend around classes. It's one thing that's going to stay post-pandemic, which will keep saving me time and money :)

We also ordered make-at-home ramen last weekend which was so much fun!! I developed an obsession with ramen during our years in Wagga Wagga when it was hard to find. Ours was delivered on Saturday morning with super strict instructions for boiling the noodles and reheating the stock.

We are still picnicking in the sun whenever we can - even if it means packing puffer jackets. Last Monday it was salad wraps and apple cinnamon crumble cake, which is magically like apple cake, crumble and pie all in one. It's a new ABC Life recipe with one of the strangest techniques I've ever tried (you grate the butter straight into the tin like cheese) and it's seriously so good.

I'm a new fan of Maggie Beer's cooking demos on Instagram. I made her chicken and barley soup (using this whole poached chicken stock) and it was so full of flavour, especially for so few ingredients.

And I wanted to share a couple of Insta posts from the week, starting with black photographers talking to NPR about what it's been like to document the protests. This little dude and Bridget Brennan joining the panel of Insiders.

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Eco hut adventure

We stayed in an eco hut in Gundagai last weekend - an early birthday treat. It was our second off-the-grid trip (we stayed in a tiny cabin last year) and I loved how the absence of electricity set the pace for our visit. We stayed busy keeping the fire going, read books while it was still light, and found creative ways to cook with a handful of supplies. It was also a lovely excuse to pack my camera and take a few snaps. Here are a few faves:

The hut was on top of a hill and we arrived just before it started raining for the night. The trip coincided with the polar low (it snowed in Canberra the morning we left!), so we stayed close to the fire and tried not to venture outside unless we really had to. That meant boiling water on top of the wood heater, which probably took two hours. We were super excited by the time we could make and drink tea.

I was lucky enough to get a copy of Fleishman is in Trouble from the library and it's easily one of the best books I've read all year. There is so much action (and lots of sex 😳). It's such a clever (and scary) reflection on how we live today.

We talked about making Lotus burgers on the BBQ for dinner but decided to wing it instead. I'm glad we did because it was not the greatest weather for cooking outside. Instead, we stopped by our favourite cafe in Jugiong for lunch and picked up some supplies. There was delicious pasta from Griffith NSW, plus smoked trout dip, crackers and cake.

I raided the breakfast supplies as soon as we arrived, and made a pasta sauce using the bacon, roasted cherry tomatoes and baby spinach we found in the esky. Tony managed to cook the pasta on top of the wood heater and grilled some greens there too (broccoli, brussel sprouts and sugar snap peas!). He'd made some chipotle salt and a lime vinaigrette before we left home and our dinner was a triumph.

Later that night we ate chocolate and marmalade cake, tucked into some red wine and played chess (I lost, as usual). Then it was time for bed. I am super glad we had a roof over our heads because it was a windy and wet night. We were both a little relieved when it was light again and the rain eased off. Tony got the fire going again and we were grateful for hot showers with fancy soap, and steaming hot drinks in bed.

Before it was time to go, I ventured outside to make eggs and heat up baked beans that'd been left in our esky, along with the leftover greens. I love cooking on a camp stove and the surrounding paddocks seemed extra green after a night of heavy rain. And then it was time to drive back down the mountain, in search of coffee and the road back home.

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Great things, inspiring things, silly things

Hello from my favourite corner of the couch. Things have been busy round here - Tony's midway through a residency at Megalo print studio (his first prints are looking zany!) and work has been a little crazier than usual. I'm also adjusting to... multifocals, which make me feel about 100. They seem to have banished my days-long headaches, which makes life so much cheerier. I'm also wearing scrunchies again to balance things out :)

Here are a few lovely things to share and something silly too, because every now and then things don't quite go to plan:

I've been getting back into the Longform podcast after hearing about the Sloane Crosley episode on The High Low. Every episode features an in-depth conversation with a writer, and I also enjoyed the Wesley Morris interview (love how he talks and writes about race and culture - it's nuanced and thought-provoking) and the Michael Pollan episode was inspiring and had me in stitches.

While I don't write much for work these days (aside from short things like recipe wraps), I've thoroughly enjoyed the shift to editing stories and supervising videos. It's unusual work because it's invisible work, but there is something immensely satisfying about shifting words around on a page and making subtle (and sometimes big) tweaks to make a story the best it can be. Most recently, I felt privileged to edit this story by Ben, who had his prostate removed at 36 and is now trying to start a family after cancer.

And now for something silly. This puttanesca-inspired baked risotto might be my favourite Hetty McKinnon recipe ever. I first made it after a long weekend trip to Sydney when I was a little weary and craving a home cooked meal. It was fast and comforting and I loved the addition of lemon juice.

Then one Monday night I figured I'd make a double batch to share with a friend... which almost overflowed 😂 Tony helped me save it, which involved transferring it to another slightly bigger but still too-small pan at the end and I am proud to say the giant batch of risotto survived and no one cried or yelled.

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Life lately

This last fortnight has been filled with work trips, weekends away and time with friends. Much cake has been consumed and there's also been little pockets of downtime for peppermint tea and reading blogs before work. The busyness and travel helped me shake some early winter blues (phew!) and I'm feeling inspired and energised again. Here's a little recap...

Sydney long weekend:
Towards the end of 2014, when I was still living in Wagga Wagga, I moved in with my friend Angie and her partner Dave for four months, so I could backfill a job at RN in Sydney. I have the best memories of that time and knew I'd definitely want to be back in town for their engagement party. They're the best at celebrating other people, travelling to Wagga Wagga for my first birthday in a new place and returning for Tony's PhD exhibition, and I couldn't wait to return the favour.

We drove to Sydney on the Queen's Birthday long weekend for their engagement lunch, timing our trip so we could stop off for cake along the way in Collector. There was so much eating ahead! The party was a late lunch featuring big share plates of roast lamb, baked salmon and plenty of hot chips. My friend Irini also organised a giant ricotta cake for dessert.

Later that night we went round to Angie and Dave's place for a cosy track pants hang (the best). She served a herby pumpkin soup, warm baguettes, gooey cheeses, and smoked olives. We went home with a tub of the special olives and the soup recipe was sent via Whatsapp the next day. I can't wait to recreate the whole meal at home soon.

Perfect Sydney Sunday: 
We had a lazy Sunday filled with all of the good things - yum cha with Tony's family, a trip to the Art Gallery of NSW (I loved seeing Sally M. Nangala Mulda's work in The National), a browse at my favourite bookstore Kinokuniya, and then a fancyish dinner in Newtown.

I was about to buy a magazine from Kinokuniya out of habit, when I made a last minute decision to switch things up. It's how I ended up taking Ella Risbridger's book Midnight Chicken home. It could be the most delightful cookbook I've encountered in some time. I love Ella's writing style - her instructions are friendly and personal. The book is also very much about the meals she lives for that've helped her through overwhelming times. I cannot recommend it enough as a book to read that also makes you want to cook.

Trips for work:
This past fortnight has also been a busy one for work travel. I flew to Brisbane for a shoot that took us to a beautiful pier. One of the locations was conveniently a cafe, which meant we could stop for our lunch break and enjoy a little seafood.

Then it was back to Sydney for some training. The days were big, so I kept my nights pretty simple. It was all comfort activities - like an after work yin class, a donburi at a tiny Japanese restaurant, tea and TV in bed. For Christmas, my parents gave me a KOI dessert bar voucher (bless!), which happens to be right by the Sydney office. So one night there may have also been fancy cake in bed. And a favourite new tradition - on my last night I had dinner with two of my besties. We shared oysters, squid, ramen bolognese and ice cream sandwiches, and it was heart and tummy filling.

Home again: 
Coming home has been really nice. No mental reminders of where I need to be at a particular time, just my favourite things like yoga, market runs, toast and coffee :) I stocked up on specialty coffee and hot chocolate in Sydney, and am feeling ready for the next few weeks. Next up - a super low key movie date at home, with Messina choc tops and a comedy we missed at the cinema.

Hope you've been well and are keeping warm!

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Cosy things for the very end of winter

The end of winter is often the iciest. It's been freezing and grey these last few weeks, so I'm leaning into the cosy. Most of the time that means being easy on myself and making plans to roast a chicken/make brisket ragu/eat more porridge. Here are a few late winter essentials to get us through the next few weeks.

First up, this tiny candle that my friend Irini gave to me. It has a subtle wintry scent of oakmoss, amber and sage that also masks the smell of anything I've burnt in the oven recently :)

On a cold Saturday night, we put on a DVD and heated up some cinnamon scrolls. I found Listen Up Phillip at the library and it reminded me of a few favourite movies from Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig, Wes Anderson and Woody Allen.  I completely missed this when it came out in 2014. The soundtrack is lovely too. 

For when it's way to cold to leave the house to go shopping, I recommend Julia Busuttil's winter tomato sauce. I usually have the ingredients on hand, and while it simmers, Tony's been making spaghetti from scratch (!!!). We often take turns making dinner, and it's been super nice to make it together instead. 

A post shared by Charlotte Ree 🥐 (@charlotteree) on Aug 17, 2018 at 2:05am PDT

Finally, I'd love to try these Nutella thumbprint cookies because turning on the oven heats up our little apartment. Plus, I can 100% vouch for these chai choc chip cookies from Thalia Ho. I tested the recipe for ABC Life and they make the house smell faintly of gingerbread as they baked. And they're really delicious.

Two kick ass winter soups

Up until now, I've seen soup as a back up meal that gets made when I'm feeling lazy or need a break from pasta. But I'm excited to share two veggie filled soups that will be on high rotation this winter:

Anna Jones's smoked corn chowder is crazy good. It's creamy and full of veggies, with just enough lemon to keep it tasting light. It's not hard to make but feels like a restaurant-quality dish. I bought a bottle of liquid smoke from my local deli for four dollars and highly recommend it for this recipe. We're having some leftover chowder for dinner tonight and I'll be using some spare leeks to make the grilled cheese from Queer Eye!

The cooler weather has had me reaching for Julia Busuttil Nishimura's book Ostro a lot. One favourite recipe, the pasta and chickpea soup with pumpkin and tomato. It's more of a weekend soup, which putters away for an hour or two. It cooks into a rich and silky tomato soup.

I've been making and freezing small batches of stock for soups like these.

P.S On my winter wish list - this merino snood because scarves are tricky for us clumsy folk.

Almost cold

In Canberra, they say you shouldn't turn your heater on until Anzac Day. That's when things are meant to get properly cold... and that's this coming week.

We've been getting ready for winter in lots of little ways. Insulated coffee cups have been ordered, and browsing the wool and heat tech sections of Uniqlo has begun (yesterday I found something called a coatigan!).

We also bought a slow cooker after mulling it over for ages, and borrowing one from my sister to try it out. This cookbook was the clincher, it's filled with meals I really want to eat, and the recipes are designed around an 8-hour work day. Before it, I could only think of meaty things to make like brisket (the best!) and osso bucco, and struggled to find good recipes online. I'm excited to try it out later this week.

We ended up getting this 3.5 litre Crockpot, mainly for its size (it's not crazy big) but also because it's the original slow cooker :) My sister-in-law also recommended one from Target, which is super affordable, and I previously borrowed my sister's Sunbeam.

P.S Here are a handful of recipes that look good - Deb's Korean braised short ribs and this nine-recipe round up.

Staying warm and happy

Since it's the middle of winter, I've been making a special effort to plan ahead, so I don't go stir crazy while the days are icy and grey. The first step is dressing for the cold. On weekends I live in thin merino jumpers from Uniqlo, a black down jacket, and my pom pom beanie (similar), which is equal parts warm and silly.

Then I go outside. On weekends, I've been going on long walks while the sun is out. I walked up Mount Taylor on Saturday and listened to this fascinating podcast about the gut with writer and medical student Giulia Endres. It was recorded at the All About Women Festival and you can also watch the presentation and see all of the funny illustrations.

After that it was time for a big bowl of food. We went out for ramen and miso sweet potato poke bowls at Lazy Su. For weeknight dinners, I am loving Joy the Baker's bowl of food series - the baked eggplant and creamy polenta bowl is next on my list.

And finally, a few things to look forward to... Sofia Coppola's remake of The Beguiled comes out on Thursday (check out the trailer for the original!). And on my to-bake list are these chocolate fondants with sea salt.

(Chocolate fondant photo by Khoollect.)

Winter prep

I've been watching movies and TV shows set in winter to ready myself for the season :) Last Sunday it was Manchester by the Sea (so intense!) plus most of Master of None season two was filmed during a snowy New York winter. Now I'm excited about beanies, patterned coats and feel brave about leaving the house.

Make-believe winter aside, I'm a bit more prepared for my second winter in Canberra. Most of it comes down to having the right clothes. While we were in Melbourne, I bought a top and a dress from the Obus merino range. I'm happy to report they're warm, flattering and rarely need a wash.

On rides to work, I'm wearing thick ear warmers (bought on sale in summer!) and two pairs of gloves. I also have a puffer vest that my friend Angie gave me for my birthday last year. It keeps me cosy around the house and while I'm working on my veggie patch or doing the market shop.

And after a two weeks at home, we now have pumpkin soup, spaghetti bolognese and ready-to-bake choc chip cookie balls in the freezer. Let's do this.

P.S Here's one more (heart-breaking) winter flick.

It's porridge season

I almost bought a porridge cookbook the other day, inspired by this nutty bowl I had in Melbourne. It was sweet, crunchy and full of autumn fruit and I'm going to try and recreate it at home.

For the last few winters I've used this recipe, which I double to make enough for three (I stash one serving in the fridge for rushed weekday mornings). Lately I've been eating it with a big spoonful of yoghurt and jam, a combo I've pinched from this LA cafe.

If you're keen for something even richer, the cafe next to our old home in Sydney used to soak their oats in cream overnight! I've never been game to try it.

P.S Why you should add salt to your oats and invest in a spurtle.

Meals for cold nights

Did you cook anything new over the Easter break? While we were sweating our way through summer, I was scrolling through recipes for warming comfort food from a handful of American blogs. I've been saving them for these very months, which are my favourite for cooking... and eating. Here's what I'm planning to try:

Pasta
Gnocchi with preserved lemon alfredo sauce
Brussel sprout and speck mac and cheese
No boil pasta bake

Soups
Broccoli, cheese and potato soup
Spicy roasted vegetable ramen
Taiwanese spicy beef noodle soup

Hearty mains
Tomato-glazed meatloaves with mashed potatoes 
Beef goulash with soft egg noodles (I've never made goulash before!)
Savoury winter cobbler (which happens to be vegan too).

Desserts
Chocolate blackberry pudding
Pear, ginger and pistachio crumble
Rose apple tart

P.S - Here are my favourite weekday dinners from 2016. Nigella's quick chilli, apricot balsamic chicken with rocket and creamy tortellini with prosciutto and peas are three of the best.

Creature comforts

It was properly cold over the weekend and while I'm a little nervous about winter, I'm also really excited about the cosy months ahead. Here are a few things I'd love to gather, starting with this subtly scented candle. My sister-in-law gave me one for Christmas and it's very hygge.

A box of spicy tea to brew in my flask for weekend walks and work days on the road.

The power issue of Salad Days, to keep me strong and motivated during the coldest months.

A bright woollen blanket for nights spent reading on the couch and watching Netflix with Tony.

And a new baking book that promises to re-invent the classics because nothing heats up a small space like having the oven on :) I'll be making apple crumble whenever I can.