Shout-out to an admired blogger

When I had just started to fill my email inbox with different blogs and the like from across the globe and around the web, I stumbled across a blog. It combined cheap recipes with real-world politics and I liked it. Now, I use their recipes sometimes and still read their political views. It’s not views though, it’s life. Food is political and Jack knows this all too well.

I’ve mentioned them a few times before when doing a recipe post or the like, but here’s a direct shout-out: go check out Cooking on a Bootstrap and send some love their way, they need it right now. Maybe buy one of their books?

If you’ve got hate, stick it somewhere else!

 

One-Pot Chicken Meal

Ingredients:

• Oil, oyster & honey-soy sauces, tsps of garlic & ginger, loaded tsp of peanut butter, half tsp of chilli.
• Tsp of mixed herbs, half tsp of wattle spice mix, pinch of Moroccan spice mix, dusting of pepper, 1 crumbled stock cube
• Chicken thigh on the bone (or something like that)
• Veggies: potato, carrot, zucchini, corn.
• Onion.

Method:

1. First make the ‘wet’ marinade: Tip a bit of oil, plus a glug of oyster & honey-soy sauces, tsps of garlic & ginger, a loaded one of peanut butter, a half tsp of chilli into a container. Mix.
2. Put chicken on the bone in and coat.
3. Make dry marinade ingredients: tsp mixed herbs, half one of wattle spice, pinch of Moroccan spice, dusting of pepper, 1 crumbled stock cube.
4. Set aside chicken mixture to rest.
   

   

   
5. Wash and chop veggies & onion. Slice potato thinly.
6. Tip dry ingredients onto chicken mix – if I was doing this step again, I’d coat the chicken better, as the dry mix ended up sticking mainly to one side which was mostly skin!
7. Fry onion and potato for a few minutes until onion is soft – requires medium heat, as you don’t want the onion to crisp up too soon.
8. Add marinated chicken, then add veggies and warm water.
9. Bring to boil then simmer for about 20 mins (at least).
10.  Check chicken to ensure it’s cooked – slice it in the centre, see if juices run clear. (If you forget this step, finish it off for two minutes in the microwave….)

Then you’re ready to serve!

 

… and I have to run. Final week of classes for my last full theory subjects is in full swing!

More Concerts!

Last night’s concert went well if I do say so myself. Go LaTUCS!

We realised at the dress rehearsal the night before that we performed our 2017 May concert on exactly the same date! Funny coincidence.

Now I have to refocus back to uni, but there are other concerts by other university choirs happening soon. I’ll see the ROCS one, Internet Through the Ages, next week on Saturday evening. In fact, there are several concerts happening next weekend as well as this one.

EDITED to add: Queensland University Choral Society (QUMS) are holding a concert with the The 810 Clarinet Quartet, The University of Queensland Chamber Choir and The Stuartholme Singers this Saturday 2nd June, in Brisbane: Colin Brumby, A Retrospective. Sounds fun!

Over in Perth, they’re presenting, “Invictus: Freedom is Coming” on 17th June, back by popular demand after the first concert sold out! So get tickets quickly.

If you’re in Sydney, you can go to the Greenway Series and see Sydney University Choral Society (SUMS) and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music on June 1st and 2nd. You could also go to Violets in Her Lap, a performance by Sydney University Madrigals Society (MADS), the following weekend (June 9th).

Adelaide University Choral Society (AUCS) are performing Faure Requiem on June 1st. Incidentally, they’re also hosting the next Intervarsity Choral Festival, Adelaide IV 2019, in January next year. They’re holding a movie fundraiser tomorrow (May 26th) – a screening of the new movie, Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Also tomorrow is a concert from the ANU Choral Society (SCUNA) in Canberra, Four Seasons by Haydn.

Finally, in Ballarat, the 2nd Year Music Theatre group of FedUni are in the middle of perfoming a set of shows called, The Wide Blue. There are still tickets available for tonight and tomorrow afternoon!

Chookas to all the performing people. I love concert season!

Tikka Curry – but not as you know it

The other week, I bought a jar of tikka paste at the supermarket as it was on special. However, I had no chicken in the fridge. I did, however, have some ‘roo mince. So I got cooking…

Ingredients:

• Two tablespoons of tikka curry paste
• Vegetable oil
• Onion, finely chopped
• Teaspoons of garlic and ginger pastes, plus 1/2 a teaspoon of chilli paste
• 250ml (1 cup) stock –  I used a stock cube dissolved in hot water for this)
• Vegetables – e.g. carrot, capsicum, cauliflower, corn, beans
• Rice or potatoes etc. to accompany the curry

Tools:

• Frypan
• Kitchen spoon
• Measuring spoons
• Kitchen knife
• Chopping board
• Mug (for the stock)
• Saucepan
• Plate & cutlery
• Container for leftovers!

Method:

1. Heat oil in large frypan over medium heat, add onion, chilli, garlic and ginger and cook until golden
2. Add tikka paste and stir to combine flavours – it should start smelling really nice.
3. Add stock and vegetables and bring to the boil.
4. Reduce heat to low and simmer for fifteen minutes or until sauce thickens slightly
5. Add the mince to the mixture and stir through, ensuring it is covered – add a dash more liquid if necessary.
6. Simmer for a further fifteen minutes or until mince is cooked through and everything is combined really well.

I based this recipe off one I found here, and it can be adapted for lots of different meats and or vegetarian style. It was delicious, and I love how the tikka paste made the dish look. The photo above is of the finished product on the plate (yes, that’s fettuccine, I had no rice, potatoes or couscous). Below is a beautiful image of the tikka curry cooking.

Look at how glossy it is! I’m very satisfied with this meal.

 

 P.S. Si

Sing it out as hard as you can…

On Saturday night I was in the audience for the Monash University Choral Society’s  Music Through Time concert. It was fantastic.

Each time I go to one of these I’m reminded of why I keep going. It’s so wonderful to watch friends and other choir members perform songs I know they’ve been working hard on all semester and seeing them having fun whilst doing so. The songs alternately moved me, roused me and entertained me. As I said to a few people after the concert, they all “gave me feels” and it was awesome.

MonUCS introduced me to songs I hadn’t heard before and to new arrangements of old favourites. They sang songs ranging from 12th-century classical through the centuries to 20th-century jazz and pop/alternative, right to 21st-century pieces. There were whole-choir pieces, sung acapella and with accompaniment, as well as solo and small-group works, and pieces with all of these.

Some of the pieces we were treated to included (but were not limited to): Gloria Ad Modum Tubae (Dufay Guillaume) – whole choir piece; Say Love If Ever Thou Didst Find (John Dowland) – a lovely quintet performance; Jesu, Meine Freude (J. S. Bach); Jerusalem (Parry); an SATB version of Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen); a well-carried and embodied Affirmation (Savage Garden); The Longest Time – with a fine tenor melody; finishing with a rousing Sing! (Pentatonix). I’ve taken the title of this review from a lyric of the latter.

Of course, it ended with the after-party, singing more songs until some of us were a bit hoarse, snacking and chatting and playing games, well into the wee hours of the morning.

In short, it was a lovely night out.

Bravo, MonUCS, and thank you! 😀

I’m looking forward to next semester’s concert already.

 

Review: The Chaos Walking Trilogy

The Chaos Walking Trilogy is a series written by Patrick Ness. It’d been on my TBR list for a while, but this past month I’ve finally got around to reading them.

Verdict: fantastic! It’s a beautiful series which explores questions around human nature and morality – secrets, truth, family, love, integrity, leadership, redemption, good and evil… It’s brilliant.

It’s not for the faint-hearted though – it has war, death and quite shocking brutality in it.

The trilogy is set in a dystopian world where all living creatures can hear each other’s thoughts in a stream of images, words, and sounds called Noise. All except human women, that is. The two main characters are two adolescents, Todd Hewitt and Viola Eade, who are forced to grapple with various emotional and physical conflicts as their world shifts and changes.

The first novel is narrated entirely by Todd, the second is told through the viewpoints of both Todd and Viola and the third book is narrated by Todd, Viola and a third character, The Return. Each of books 1 (The Knife of Never Letting Go) and 2 (The Ask and the Answer) end of cliffhangers. The trilogy is best seen as one story told in three parts, as the narrative runs at a cracking pace throughout. It is an emotional rollercoaster and so, so good. The way Ness develops the characters is very well done.

My only quibbles were that I found the cliffhangers kind of irritating – I think if I’d had to wait for the books to come out (instead of having borrowed all from the library at once), it would have been quite frustrating. Ending the first two books at their climax point and having their resolution be the first part of the next book is jarring. It works, but it’s not my favourite technique. Also, as the books are told via first-person narration, when Todd has the POV, be prepared to see a lot of spelling and grammar oddities. It was jarring during the first book, but by the last book I barely noticed it – it’s just what Todd knows.

See Patrick Ness’ website here for more books and a detailed description of the trilogy and go get your hands and eyes on the books! https://patrickness.com/book/

And if you’ve read them, seek out the short stories – two prequels and a coda – that follow the trilogy. Wonderful world-building. Lovely! I’ll have to update my “Fandoms” post…. tbh, it’s well overdue for an update.

Vegetarian Burrito Recipe

I really do like being creative at dinner. It feels like it’s been too long since I made a recipe post, so here’s one, with a few to schedule as well.

I was making this for a potluck last week – it’s a recipe that’s easy to adjust quantities for, and make a few serves of. Add or substitute different veg as you please; I made this with what I had in the cupboard.

Ingredients:

• Onion
• Vegetable oil
• Morrocan spice mix – I had no separate cumin spice, or “burrito spice mix” in the cupboard, so substituted this instead
• 1 tsp each of minced garlic and ginger
• 1/2 tsp of minced/crushed chilli
• 2/3-3/4 tin of corn kernels
• 2/3-3/4 tin of Mexican bean mix: had kidney beans, black beans, pinto beans and cannellini beans, I think
• 2/3 of a carrot (I think?)
• Half a capsicum
• A few florets of cauliflower
• Bread, wraps, etc. for burritos

Tools:

• Strong kitchen knife
• Chopping board
• Large frying pan
• Kitchen spoon
• Plate

Method:

1. Chop vegetables into small pieces
2. Heat oil in frying pan until hot
3. Add onion and set heat to medium-high or medium, then fry, stirring, until onion is golden
4. Add garlic, ginger, chilli and spice mix and stir for 20-30 seconds
5. Add veggies and fry until tender
6. Add beans and a little water, then bring mixture to a simmer
7. Add salt and pepper, then remove from heat and serve.

Remember that this is a meal that’ll get messy as it’s eaten with your hands. It was soooo yummy. A recipe to keep!

 

Concert season is here…

The next few weeks have a few lovely choral evenings open if you’re in Melbourne.

Firstly, this week, MonUCS (Monash University Choral Society) are performing two shows for their “Music Through Time” event. “Join MonUCS as we take you on a musical journey through time in this whirlwind tour of choral music from the 12th century all the way to the 21st.”
Friday 18th (7:30PM_ and Saturday 19th (7:00PM) – get your tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/music-through-time-concert-tickets-45288554285?aff=efbneb
Facebook event here: Music Through Time
I’ve heard good things about it and I can’t wait to see all their hard work paying off. 😀

Then, next week, LaTUCS are having our concert on Thursday 24th May at 7PM. 😀 It’s going to be lovely, we’ve got songs from across the world in different languages to sing to you. We’ve called it, “Language of the Soul”. Facebook event here:   https://www.facebook.com/events/586094155090992/ 

Come along and be entertained and delighted. There’ll be something for everyone, so spread the word!

Life Update

Whoops, it’s been a bit longer than I’d hoped between posts! I’m a busy woman juggling several major things atm – and most of the time, it works. So no apologies!
… Having limited computer access because of my laptop fan dying is probably not helping with blogging though.

Anyway!

Some news: I’ve become a little gardener. Fifteen days ago, I planted some seeds in some pots. Then I waited and watered and waited some more. Now I have little seedlings and I am really hoping that they don’t drown in the forecast deluge that’s supposed to slam Melbourne over the next couple of days. They seemed to cope with last night’s downpour, and they’re in a semi-sheltered spot, but I may end up moving them into a more covered area this afternoon. We’ll see. The pots I have are quite big and rather heavy – even before I put soil into them – and I don’t want to disturb my growing greens.

I’m growing spinach in one pot and pak choi/ bok choy (two varieties of the same plant) in another. In the images below, I think the choy are the faster growing ones in the right-hand pot, but we’ll see what happens. (Today’s most recent photo is the biggest image.)

Day 1: seeds planted

Day fifteen, this morning. More green shoots!

Day 10 (I think): starting to sprout! I think the left pot is the spinach and the right pot is the choy.

Day 1: seeds planted

Day 10 (I think): starting to sprout! I think the left pot is the spinach and the right pot is the choy.

Hopefully this means in another six to eight weeks I get some of my own veggies. Yum!