spontaneous late summer salad

It's really autumn. I know that.

But it was one of these mornings, you see, when we had a conversation about breakfast that for me just went the wrong way. I am pro-breakfast. Gets your brain working, starts your metabolism whirring, turns on the engine, so to speak.

My friend who does not eat breakfast, because she thinks it will make her fat because she doesn't do any exercise (to which I say two things: 1, eating something - something small, an apple, a carrot, even! - will get you to start burning fat, and 2, just do some exercise, silly) likes to cook breakfast for other people. This weekend it was buttermilk pancakes. They were DELICIOUS. but feeling very obstinately pro-breaky, and also wanting to be use things up from the fridge to make space, and not knowing what to have with my pancake - I like to have fruit or yoghurt as opposed to lone syrup - I  dolloped on the buttery, sugary remains of the other night's crumble. In light of the "breakfast will make you fat" conversation I rebelliously polished off not only my sugariness but also my other breakfasting friend's pancake (she was full).

While my body didn't seem to mind, that delicious breakfast weighed heavily on the brain (and perhaps later the love handles). I am a girl. Sometimes I feel guilty about food. Leave me alone.

Meanwhile, it was lunchtime. I read the clock wrongly and thought it was 2pm. There was no lettuce in the fridge. But after a heavy breakfast I wanted a light lunch.

Zucchini salad: amazing!

You could bulk it up a little bit with a poached egg on top.

Serves 1 as a light lunch (or a nice side/entrée for 2-4)

1 zucchini, shaved with vegie peeler
shaved parmesan/romano/grana panado
small handful nuts of your choice - I used a mix of unsalted roasted hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds and pistachios
bit of fresh herb of some kind - I used parsley coz it was there
salt, pepper

dressing - makes or breaks the salad.
I just used the dressing in the fridge, as my non-breakfasty pro-cooking friend always makes some excellent dressing. This is what seems to be in the current one. This salad would be good with any decent dressing you like.

garlic clove, chopped
seedy mustard
salt
pepper
red wine vinegar
olive oil
dill?

Brisbane places

Ha! Cleaning out the computer, look what I found. It's old news, but might be relevant.

I realised this morning that I’ve done very little reviewing since arriving in Brisbane early this year. So, here are some of the places I’ve enjoyed hanging out or feel the need to talk about in Brisbane.

BarMerlo UQ.
Those auspicious blue signs of coolness ground the SSH with the wonderful smell of coffee combining with the slightly odd scent of tech-hub in the library foyer. I have been slightly obsessed with the place since coming to the University of Queensland. The coffee is consistent, the food good. None of it especially cheap, but the beef sandwich is excellent ($7) which I treat myself to occasionally. But I think I have at last had enough of this place. I still like it, but the coffee doesn’t seem quite so amazing anymore (it used to seem DELICIOUS). Maybe it’s just me… I want a new hangout. Apparently the business school has good coffee, and I’ve had recommendations for Genie’s coffee as well. Anyone?

Punjabi Palace
Overpriced and overrated. I can’t really tell you my opinion of the food, because after everything I’d heard my expectations were unrealistically high. But the décor of the place is pretty sweet. Pity it’s so far from uni! Still, I’ll go back eventually with different expectations.

Curry Connection
A loveable, local and quiet Indian place. If you order the right thing, it’s a highly enjoyable experience. Don’t get the entrees – they’re nothing special, but I do recommend the lamb Subzi – Kashmiri spices. It’s perfect if you go there and get one curry between two, with a naan/roti, maybe some raita and rice. Of course, the more people, the more curries you can have! This was just the right amount for us to leave without feeling like we were going to explode.

My Heart Garden
The local vegetarian/vegan eatery. Almost always empty, I don’t know how they’re still open, but I’m glad they are. The coffee is nice and the staff are friendly, always happy to see you. I wasn’t blown away by the Not Sausage Roll, but their Saturday morning breakfasts are AMAZING. Especially the buckwheat pancakes. And you can just tell that everything is made with love.

Lorne and the Victorian floods

 Victoria flooded too. More than that though, because of all the water, there were about a billion times more mozzies and locusts than usual. SO MANY, especially inland.
We were at Lorne when it happened. They closed the Great Ocean Road, just after Lorne, luckily for us. Rockfall on the road made me glad later we hadn't been driving.

 We had a good rainy week. Maybe rainier than preferable, but still a good week.

Dog's not mine, by the way.

 This cockatoo was cheeky AS.

 Actually for my taste we went to too many nice restaurants. One or maybe two in a week is pretty special. Once or twice a month.. you know, spread it out over the year, instead of all times in one week. But anyway. It does take away any order anxiety you might have.

 Tree of red!

 River tea house. That's not me. Yet.

 At the end of the week, the sun came out.
:)

Oh, fruit cake!

Some things are just inherently special.

summer: 10-11 in Melbourne

Home grown

Rhubarb.

Rhubarb leaf. Harmless uningested!

Giant Lemon.


Old apples.


...put to good use with rhubarb and a bit of lemon rind.


Deliciously ugly.

New (for me)

So, I have at last discovered poached eggs. For the first time ever last weekend in Hardware Lane, in one of approximately 3 cafes that were open on a Sunday, I tried Eggs Benedict. (Just in time for my discovery of the masterful delivery of Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock . Well, really I should say Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, but Cumberbatch does pull it off in such a way. As does Martin Freeman, as Watson.)

Anyway. So then I had to make Eggs Benedict, didn't I? (Well, I only wanted one egg. So Egg Benedict.) Except it was Florentine. But I thought of Benedict anyway.
We had spinach in the garden, and hollandaise in the fridge, and I obtained some muffins.
My problem with poaching eggs has been that they go to the bottom, get stuck, and then the yolk breaks and leaks all the way to the plate! But apparently I wasn't using enough water.
Practice will make perfect.