He looked up at the sky every night like generations before him had, observing, charting, measuring, but tonight was different. Tonight there was a star that appeared to be coming to earth. He had seen shooting stars before, but this time it was controlled, almost as if someone was piloting the star like a ship... Some say the great knowledge of the Mayans came from time travelers or extra terrestrials. How else could could an ancient culture know so much? How could they pinpoint the length … [Read more...]
Vegan Pumpkin Pie and a Celebrated Life
A celebration. A celebration of life no matter how brief. A celebration of life because the alternative is a contemplation of loss and the extraordinary sadness that accompanies it. Five years ago on this day, a special soul left our family and this earth. She was 19. An artist, a musician, a budding chef, a daughter, a sister, a cousin, a friend. There wasn't a funeral, instead a Memorial Mass and Celebration of Life. We had only just moved back to Sydney weeks earlier but there was no … [Read more...]
Cinnamon Cauliflower Coffee Cake & Caramel Sauce
Since we got back from our adventure I have been on a much needed clean-eating kick. If you were following along at any point you know we were quite literally consuming everything in our path as we made our way around The America's for almost three months - and it wrapped-up for me with a gluttonous weekend at EDB2012. Back in my own kitchen I gravitated immediately to the quinoa, brown rice, kale and eggs. It's how I prefer to eat, honestly, and a bit of ingenuity makes for some pretty tasty … [Read more...]
Christmas Eve Feast – a (delicious) new tradition
For all of the Christmas traditions my family has, we have never made much of a big deal about Christmas Eve. Quite possibly because the day before Christmas meant little other than an eight hour drive up to the farm, arriving just in time to make our yearly church appearance and hear the oldies sing at midnight mass. Now I have been whinging about the weather quite a bit lately but far-out, this year has been more like autumn in Philly than summer in Sydney. However Mother Nature finally … [Read more...]
Orange Amaranth Gluten-Free Cutout Cookies
Well, it took me much longer than in past years but I've finally gotten my bake-on for Christmas. Maybe it was the exhilaration of a lunchtime early-mark for the last day of work, maybe it was the sunshine - did you hear that? SUNSHINE and warmth and blue sky, thank goodness - maybe it was the realisation that it was only 2 days from Christmas and instead of 5 different kinds of cookies and 2 different pies and days of planning for a Christmas feast, I'd only made Cranberry Bars and … [Read more...]
Eggnog Royal Icing
Let's get this out of the way up front. The bourbon is out, again. It's Christmas, it happens, embrace it. Also, for someone who doesn't really eat sugar, there have been an enormous number of desserts making an appearance here - and I haven't posted a single savory recipe in ages. We'll get there, one day. But for now - Sugar.And.Bourbon masquerading as Eggnog Royal Icing. Now I don't generally decorate Gingerbread Cookies. When we were younger they got slathered with icing and all sorts … [Read more...]
Christmas Cranberry Bars
When we chose 'Festive Favourites' as the theme for our December Sweet Adventures Blog Hop, the first thing that came to mind was 'how on earth am I expected to choose just one favourite dessert from the raft of holiday celebratory sweets that are out there'? It just isn't fair to all the others! But I managed [ha!] and if you're busy baking your way through December as well, make sure to join the SABH and link up your Festive Fav Dessert at the bottom of this post. You can also read more about … [Read more...]
