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.

Long weekend links

Hello! I hope you're relaxing into the long weekend. It's a beautiful day here - the air is crisp, the sky is blue and the sun is out. We're about to ride our bikes into town for coffee and I have the simplest of plans for the days ahead. On today's agenda - making spaghetti bolognese for dinner. That's it :)

Trying out this clever self-watering pot (mine's yellow!).

Baked chicken with mushrooms, cream and thyme.

Design, Instagram and a cult cafe.

"All you did was throw things away."

40 movies about photographers via Garry. I haven't seen a single one and am intrigued by #9.

Sage advice from journalist Jenna Price.

I'm insanely excited about this collection of recipes from Bon Appetit.

And I whizzed through Making Oprah this week - it was such a fun podcast. Next on my list - How to Be a Girl. I'm also keen to check out Terrible, Thanks for Asking.

Have a great Easter!

Sourdough pikelets

Every now and then I make a pile of sourdough pikelets. We bring out all of the spreads and top them with butter and strawberry jam, Nutella and banana, lemon juice and sugar, and yoghurt and maple syrup. And we almost always have leftovers for breakfast the next day :)

I use a recipe from Sophie Hansen's cookbook, which I've adapted to include some leftover sourdough starter. If you don't have any starter, the recipe will work just fine without it.

Sourdough pikelets 

Serves 4

You will need:

1 cup self-raising flour

1 cup milk

1 egg

Finely grated zest of one lemon

1 tbsp caster sugar

3/4 cup active sourdough starter

Here's how:

Place all of the ingredients into a medium sized bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside for 20 minutes. 

Heat a fry pan on medium-high heat and add a small knob of butter. Cook 2 tablespoons of batter at a time, flipping each pikelet when the surface begins to bubble. 

Keep your growing pile of pikelets in an oven on low heat to keep them warm.

Easter prep

We've just worked out what we're doing for Easter - we're staying in. Tony's keen to spend a few days in his studio painting and I'm looking forward to chilling out at home. I'm planning to read, watch movies and try out a few new recipes (these brown butter choc chip cookies look so good).

While we'll miss out on a long weekend in the Blue Mountains with Tony's family, we're excited about hosting a few friends for breakfast on Sunday. I'll be serving hot cross buns and Easter eggs and keeping my fingers crossed for nice weather so we can go for a long walk afterwards.

I made a few batches of hot cross buns on the weekend to share with friends. I use a recipe from this book and might tweak it over the long weekend to include choc chips and chai-infused dried fruit. And I'm hoping the Easter bunny brings me this :) Let's hope this week flies by for us all.

Weekend links

Do you have much on this weekend? My friend Maayan is hosting an Eastover dinner on Saturday (Easter and Passover combined!) and I'm bringing hot cross buns. We're also catching up with Tony's brother who is town for the Canberra marathon and I'm going to try and get a meal or two in the freezer. Here are a few things for the days ahead:

Double chocolate cookies for Easter.

A girls weekend with a twist.

How cute are these DIY face planters?

9 podcast episodes worth discussing (I'm going to start with Making Oprah).

Coconut and jam pudding.

"If you want to talk to me when I'm dead, go to the bench." So glad I listened to this.

This photographer's personal Instagram account is lovely.

And here's a suggestion for an easy Sunday night dinner -  one-pot French onion pasta followed by chewy Nutella cookies and tea :)

Catch you next week.

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.

Catching up

We spent the weekend catching up on jobs around the house, which helped clear my head and make room for more creative thoughts. I finished listening to S-Town while running errands (my verdict: it's brilliant, even if I was cynical in parts) and now the pantry is re-stocked and the garden is coming back to life. We even made it to the art school ball.

After a busy March, it was really nice to slow down and take stock. I could feel myself getting a little anxious these past few weeks, going from one thing to the next. But now I'm feeling ready for the month ahead. Tonight I'm making porcini tomato pasta and might watch Julie & Julia if Tony has to head back to the studio.

P.S Here's what we're having for dinner this week: curried lentils and rice, smoky beet burgers and pea and parmesan soup :)