- Published on
luminescence: the emission of light by a substance that has not been heated.
LuMinEssence: the mission of finding light in the dark.
In the Green
In the morning
I harvested basil and chives and mint
From my little hydroponic garden
And made two batches of pesto
In the afternoon
I stumbled upon on a park
With a tall and gracious willow tree
That looked over a community garden
And reveled in the green
I harvested basil and chives and mint
From my little hydroponic garden
And made two batches of pesto
In the afternoon
I stumbled upon on a park
With a tall and gracious willow tree
That looked over a community garden
And reveled in the green
- Published on
vegetarian spaghetti
I distinctly remember
As a teenager
Eating a chicken leg
Actually gnawing on the gristle
And declaring to my vegetarian step-mum
"I could NEVER be a vegetarian.
I LOVE meat!"
Nom nom nom.
And then
When I was twenty-something
I got sick
Really sick
I was sick for a year
I had everything
Laryngitis
Bronchitis
Influenza
I got sick of being sick
I did a bit of research
And decided what was making me ill
Was my diet
I cut out meat
And boosted my intake
Of fresh leafy greens
Became friends with farmers' markets
And devoured
All colours of the rainbow
In fruit and vegetable form
I did it slowly over time
To get used to new flavours
New ways of cooking
And you know what?
I stopped getting sick
I started appreciating
Food
I learnt how to cook
With what was available
And seasonal and fresh
If you had told my teenage self
That one night
For fun
I would whip together
Raw courgette and carrot noodles
With a red pepper and pine nut sauce
And meatless eggplant balls
Because those were what she had in the fridge
She would have laughed
And said
"GROSS! Where's the MEAT?!
That meal has NOTHING in it!"
But my present-day-self
Offers thanks
To the farmers who grew all the veggies
The people that delivered them
And the recipes that inspired their ultimate
Delicious consumption
The end.
As a teenager
Eating a chicken leg
Actually gnawing on the gristle
And declaring to my vegetarian step-mum
"I could NEVER be a vegetarian.
I LOVE meat!"
Nom nom nom.
And then
When I was twenty-something
I got sick
Really sick
I was sick for a year
I had everything
Laryngitis
Bronchitis
Influenza
I got sick of being sick
I did a bit of research
And decided what was making me ill
Was my diet
I cut out meat
And boosted my intake
Of fresh leafy greens
Became friends with farmers' markets
And devoured
All colours of the rainbow
In fruit and vegetable form
I did it slowly over time
To get used to new flavours
New ways of cooking
And you know what?
I stopped getting sick
I started appreciating
Food
I learnt how to cook
With what was available
And seasonal and fresh
If you had told my teenage self
That one night
For fun
I would whip together
Raw courgette and carrot noodles
With a red pepper and pine nut sauce
And meatless eggplant balls
Because those were what she had in the fridge
She would have laughed
And said
"GROSS! Where's the MEAT?!
That meal has NOTHING in it!"
But my present-day-self
Offers thanks
To the farmers who grew all the veggies
The people that delivered them
And the recipes that inspired their ultimate
Delicious consumption
The end.
- Published on
Tucked away in
The brightly coloured
Hippy quarter of
Covent Garden
Known as
Neal's Yard
Is the wonderful
Wild Food Cafe
They make fabulous food
And sinful smoothies
And it's all
"Healthy"
Full of vitality
And nutrients
And goodness
Today I had a "raw Shepherd's pie"
Which sounds ridiculous
And gross
But it was utterly
Amazing
Finely chopped olives and carrots and peas
With bright orange pumpkin on top
The flavour explosion was
Out of this world
They call their
Chocolate smoothies
With raw cacao and aloe vera and cinnamon
"Ecstasy"
They're not far from the truth
The staff are friendly
The food is amazing
And every time I go there
I feel better
About life
The end.
The brightly coloured
Hippy quarter of
Covent Garden
Known as
Neal's Yard
Is the wonderful
Wild Food Cafe
They make fabulous food
And sinful smoothies
And it's all
"Healthy"
Full of vitality
And nutrients
And goodness
Today I had a "raw Shepherd's pie"
Which sounds ridiculous
And gross
But it was utterly
Amazing
Finely chopped olives and carrots and peas
With bright orange pumpkin on top
The flavour explosion was
Out of this world
They call their
Chocolate smoothies
With raw cacao and aloe vera and cinnamon
"Ecstasy"
They're not far from the truth
The staff are friendly
The food is amazing
And every time I go there
I feel better
About life
The end.
- Published on
I wrote a guest post for the wonderful cruelty-free cosmetics blog, My Fair Lipstick, on making cheap and organic shampoo at home. Check it out here.
- Published on
from Abel&Cole
Abel & Cole
Who deliver my food every week
From local farms
Suggested making potato mash
By first
Baking the potatoes on a bed of sea salt
And then mashing...
You say potato,
I say
Oh, sweet. heavenly. goodness!!!!
Who deliver my food every week
From local farms
Suggested making potato mash
By first
Baking the potatoes on a bed of sea salt
And then mashing...
You say potato,
I say
Oh, sweet. heavenly. goodness!!!!
- Published on
A little while ago
Gandhi said
Be the change
More recently
Annie Leonard said
We are living in an economy
That is toxic at every level
And she actively worked to make change
And made a movie called
The Story of Stuff
And uploaded it to YouTube
And it was very inspiring
And immensely popular
But she, and her team, didn't stop there
They kept investigating
"How do we make this place better?"
And now, in her new movie
The Story of Change
Annie Leonard talks about how to make the world less toxic
It's not just about changing our shopping habits
That's a start, yes. But action needs to be bigger.
It's about
An Idea + We + Action =
Change
It's about
We Can Make a Difference
We Can Make the World
More Livable
At the end of the film there is a quiz
What kind of
Change-maker are you?
And I took the quiz
And it said,
I am a
Resister
Which ironically, I resisted.
I'm not a resister...
I do want the world to be a better place
I want to live in a world that is not toxic
I want to be part of an economy that is not destructive
But aside from my own personal habits
Recycling, eating organic produce where possible, using natural products where possible,
I haven't spoken to any corporations
I haven't protested out loud
I haven't named names
I haven't stood in front of a CEO and said
Please stop what you're doing.
But perhaps now is the time for me to change
So that I may be the change
I want to see
The end. Or not.
Gandhi said
Be the change
More recently
Annie Leonard said
We are living in an economy
That is toxic at every level
And she actively worked to make change
And made a movie called
The Story of Stuff
And uploaded it to YouTube
And it was very inspiring
And immensely popular
But she, and her team, didn't stop there
They kept investigating
"How do we make this place better?"
And now, in her new movie
The Story of Change
Annie Leonard talks about how to make the world less toxic
It's not just about changing our shopping habits
That's a start, yes. But action needs to be bigger.
It's about
An Idea + We + Action =
Change
It's about
We Can Make a Difference
We Can Make the World
More Livable
At the end of the film there is a quiz
What kind of
Change-maker are you?
And I took the quiz
And it said,
I am a
Resister
Which ironically, I resisted.
I'm not a resister...
I do want the world to be a better place
I want to live in a world that is not toxic
I want to be part of an economy that is not destructive
But aside from my own personal habits
Recycling, eating organic produce where possible, using natural products where possible,
I haven't spoken to any corporations
I haven't protested out loud
I haven't named names
I haven't stood in front of a CEO and said
Please stop what you're doing.
But perhaps now is the time for me to change
So that I may be the change
I want to see
The end. Or not.
- Published on
Once upon a time (two weeks ago) two good friends Lulu and Lenny decided to make pasta from scratch. They bought some biodynamic wholegrain flour, and then went to market to fetch organic eggs, tomatoes, basil, carrots, spring onions, and garlic. They arrived home at lunch time a little hungry, but determined to stick to their goal of pasta making.
The first step was to get the pasta sauce going. As every good meal starts with garlic and onion sauteed in olive oil, they chopped the garlic and spring onions and threw them in the pot with some olive oil. The kitchen was quickly filled with a delicious aroma. While the onions and garlic were enjoying their olive bath, Lulu and Lenny carefully peeled and chopped a mountain of tomatoes. Soon they added red wine to the pot, which made Lulu salivate a little bit because the smell was so good. Then the tomatoes were added, followed by the basil and carrots, and the whole mixture was left to its own devices to simmer and permeate its aromas into the air.
Lulu and Lenny then set to the task of the pasta. Eggs and a pinch of salt were rolled into the flour, and much kneading then followed. Despite Stephanie Alexander’s advice to leave the dough in the fridge for an hour, the pair were so hungry they knew they simply could not wait! So carefully and methodically they rolled long rolls of dough through the pasta machine, making it thinner and thinner and thinner. When the dough was very thin, they wound it through the cutting bit. Long strips of pasta emerged making Lulu very excited. They laid the strips out to dry on the clothes rack, and every now and then gave the sauce a stir.
Finally the pasta was dry, and a pot of boiling water was prepared. Lenny expertly separated the pasta and hurled it into the pot. The strips danced in the water, swirling with the bubbles, cooking to perfection. Very soon the pasta was ready! Lulu grated some parmesan while Lenny served two dishes of steaming pasta with fresh tomato and basil sauce on top. When they finally sat down to eat, it had been over three hours since the baking had commenced, and Lulu and Lenny were hungry! After the first fresh and flavour-filled mouthful, the pair agreed it was definitely worth the wait! And they promptly scoffed down the lot (followed by a rather delicious apple and berry crumble... also freshly made) - of course making sure they had enough to take for lunch during the week.
The end (until the next pasta making day!).
The first step was to get the pasta sauce going. As every good meal starts with garlic and onion sauteed in olive oil, they chopped the garlic and spring onions and threw them in the pot with some olive oil. The kitchen was quickly filled with a delicious aroma. While the onions and garlic were enjoying their olive bath, Lulu and Lenny carefully peeled and chopped a mountain of tomatoes. Soon they added red wine to the pot, which made Lulu salivate a little bit because the smell was so good. Then the tomatoes were added, followed by the basil and carrots, and the whole mixture was left to its own devices to simmer and permeate its aromas into the air.
Lulu and Lenny then set to the task of the pasta. Eggs and a pinch of salt were rolled into the flour, and much kneading then followed. Despite Stephanie Alexander’s advice to leave the dough in the fridge for an hour, the pair were so hungry they knew they simply could not wait! So carefully and methodically they rolled long rolls of dough through the pasta machine, making it thinner and thinner and thinner. When the dough was very thin, they wound it through the cutting bit. Long strips of pasta emerged making Lulu very excited. They laid the strips out to dry on the clothes rack, and every now and then gave the sauce a stir.
Finally the pasta was dry, and a pot of boiling water was prepared. Lenny expertly separated the pasta and hurled it into the pot. The strips danced in the water, swirling with the bubbles, cooking to perfection. Very soon the pasta was ready! Lulu grated some parmesan while Lenny served two dishes of steaming pasta with fresh tomato and basil sauce on top. When they finally sat down to eat, it had been over three hours since the baking had commenced, and Lulu and Lenny were hungry! After the first fresh and flavour-filled mouthful, the pair agreed it was definitely worth the wait! And they promptly scoffed down the lot (followed by a rather delicious apple and berry crumble... also freshly made) - of course making sure they had enough to take for lunch during the week.
The end (until the next pasta making day!).
- Published on
Happiness is coming home on a Sunday night after a long week of work and rehearsals and teaching and being able to chat to your family on the phone and throw together a pot of potato and leek soup and have a vegetable quiche slowly cooking in the oven, ready for lunches and dinners for the following week. It's slicing up a loaf of fresh sourdough bread from the markets, ready for toasts and sandwiches. It's having Adam Hills and Co. playing in the background, making you laugh as you chop spring onions and leeks and peel potatoes and throw diced pumpkin into a pot of boiling water to soften the flesh. It's finding a double yoke in the last egg. It's going to group meditation and feeling the love and being surrounded by oodles of positive energy. It's listening to podcasts on the train on the way home. It's wearing gumboots in the rain. It's the kindness and support of your friends. It's watching a musical with scripts in hands and being so close to the actors you can literally reach out and ouch them. It's the magic of being able to watch productions of shows thousands of miles away on your laptop. It's about taking pause amidst the hustle and smiling and saying wow. I live a life enchanted. And it is magical. And you lick leek and potato soup off the wooden spoon and know you've done good. The end.
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Christmas has passed and it’s now the season for taking stock of the year. Some of this year has been awful. But you breathe into the pain, and you just keep breathing, and suddenly you find that you are surrounded by an absolute plethora of amazing food, music, family, friends, and theatre. And you come to the end of the year with the ability to say that much of it has been utterly wonderful. In no particular order, the beautiful, inspiring, exciting, and lovely things in my life this year have been...
- The Eveleigh Farmer’s Markets with my bestie Len
- Starting dance, singing, and flute lessons again
- Starting Flusical with Flick
- Starting the Movie Musical Project
- Learning to cook pasta, ice cream, polvoron, bread, pastry, and cheese from scratch
- Quitting the security of a full-time job to pursue theatre and it being utterly wonderful
- Getting paid to watch Jersey Boys several times a week
- Moving to Ashfield with beautiful housies
- Developing my personal meditation practise, obtaining my Meditation Facilitator’s Certificate, running morning meditations in Glebe
- Performing in The Pajama Game and meeting all the beautiful wonderful people at Strathfield Musical Society
- Singing with the Bling Band
- Running my first City to Surf
- Discovering MusicalTalk, Seth Rudetsky, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, and Superforest
- Knowing that I am surrounded by the most beautiful, talented, wonderful, supportive friends
- Knowing that I have incredibly beautiful, talented, wonderful, supportive families
- Working with amazing people
- Seeing Shoshana Bean, Donna McKechnie, Stephen Schwartz, and Liz Callaway perform in Sydney and Brisbane
- Being accepted into the London Central School of Speech and Drama Masters of Music Theatre program
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My goodness what a weekend! There have been so many moments of inspiring, beautiful, and lovely in the past three days that I barely know where to begin. I performed in my first dance concert since I was 14, I visited the North Sydney Markets and Eveleigh Farmer’s Markets and wished all my wonderful vendors a Merry Christmas, thanking them all profusely for the past year of amazing locally and organically grown delights, I cooked up a storm with my housie/bestie Len, I met a ton of performers, musicians, and techies, I partied, I watched the 8th Annual Cabaret Showcase, and I marveled at the way the weather can change from bright hot sunshine to cold and rain and even snow in Australia in December (?!?!?!?!?), all in the space of 48 hours. Crazy!!
And now to the yum factor. Following the cancellation of other exciting Saturday night adventures Len and I decided to put a rare weekend night at home by baking up a storm. Len put his recently acquired Italian culinary skills to the test and whipped up the most incredible roast pumpkin ravioli in a thyme butter sauce. Dear future girlfriends of Len, this man is a seriously amazing cook. No seriously. Freaking amazing. The promise of the addition of roast garlic to reprises of this dish is something I’m very much looking forward to. Dear Len. Please stop reading the blog and get baking. Many thanks... :) I had some left over plums and cherries which weren’t going to last much longer, so making a variation on a Cyndi O’Meara recipe for a lemon tart, I whipped together a cherry pie. It was ridiculously easy, and oh so very, very tasty. And I realised afterwards, with considerable joy, that I knew where every single ingredient came from, and just about all the farmers who had worked to bring me these goodies. The eggs and plums came from Champion's Mountain Organics, the honey from Malfroy's Gold, the cold pressed macadamia oil from Hand n' Hoe Organics, the flour from Demeter Farm Mill, and the cherries from Yuri’s Sustainable Produce in Orange.
Beautiful food, beautiful music, performing, and spending time with amazing people. Life really doesn’t get any better than this!
And now to the yum factor. Following the cancellation of other exciting Saturday night adventures Len and I decided to put a rare weekend night at home by baking up a storm. Len put his recently acquired Italian culinary skills to the test and whipped up the most incredible roast pumpkin ravioli in a thyme butter sauce. Dear future girlfriends of Len, this man is a seriously amazing cook. No seriously. Freaking amazing. The promise of the addition of roast garlic to reprises of this dish is something I’m very much looking forward to. Dear Len. Please stop reading the blog and get baking. Many thanks... :) I had some left over plums and cherries which weren’t going to last much longer, so making a variation on a Cyndi O’Meara recipe for a lemon tart, I whipped together a cherry pie. It was ridiculously easy, and oh so very, very tasty. And I realised afterwards, with considerable joy, that I knew where every single ingredient came from, and just about all the farmers who had worked to bring me these goodies. The eggs and plums came from Champion's Mountain Organics, the honey from Malfroy's Gold, the cold pressed macadamia oil from Hand n' Hoe Organics, the flour from Demeter Farm Mill, and the cherries from Yuri’s Sustainable Produce in Orange.
Beautiful food, beautiful music, performing, and spending time with amazing people. Life really doesn’t get any better than this!