chair love

loved

abandoned

loved

discarded

loved 

dumped

loved

neglected

loved

battered

loved

kitchen stool
retro/vintage shop purchase
rubber feet stoppers replaced

small stool
op shop purchase for $2

child's metal + vinyl chair
op shop purchase for $5

found abandoned on a footpath
stained and painted 

child's chair
op shop purchase for $5

op shop purchase for $2
painted

op shop purchase for $2

kitchen stool
vintage/retro shop purchase
rubber feet stoppers replaced

gifted by a neighbour
stripped to reveal previously
hidden embossed australiana
sanded + painted

child's chair
made in melbourne by
 a j parker + co
op shop purchase for $10

metal chair
found in a hard rubbish collection
stripped, rust protection given +
the seat painted

kitchen stool
vintage/retro shop purchase
rubber feet stoppers replaced 

four more 

painted 

new seating needed

loved


happy spring equinox

the benefit of hindsight

persistence can be a good thing..but it can also be counter productive..sometimes you don't know if you should persist with something or not..if the thing you're persisting with has a positive outcome you think your persistence was a good thing and you might give yourself a little pat on the back for not being one to give up easily..on the other hand you might persist and persist and then realise that you've just wasted a lot of resources (like time, money, emotional energy) on something that didn't work and you then might blame yourself for not realising earlier that it would have been better to ditch the whole thing in the first place..

my thinking here is all about my sourdough starter which developed a case of black mould while i was overseas in may this year for two weeks..at the time i wondered if i should throw it away but i removed the mould, fed the starter, and it sprang back to life..great..life moved on..loaves were baked and i forgot about the mould..but one day i made my usual baguettes and they were dense..tried again a few days later..same thing..and once more..same..i thought i'd lost my mojo..a while later i thought my starter might be the problem so razzed up the feeding and gave it some intensive care..

i tried every regime possible..all rye..some white and some rye..filtered water..boiled, cooled filtered water..tepid filtered water..warmer environment..cooler environment..but all rye flour is all it likes..even introducing tiny increments of white flour sends it into a funk..i can't tell you how much discarded starter i've had to deal with in the process..couldn't waste it..some of you know what i'm like about waste..i've chucked it in yeasted bread..made too many pancakes for one person..but after all the persistence it's time to take it off life support and arrange the funeral..i now realise that it was on its way out all those months ago..hindsight's funny like that!

although i've started another starter it will be a while before i can bake
sourdough again..so it's yeasted bread in the meantime 

see you..it's time for me to desist..x

spelt and oat digestives

i haven't bought a dried biscuit in years..they're so many reasons why..food miles, excess packaging, trans fats, high salt content, unsustainable oil (palm oil) and ingredients that require mata hari code breaking skills for recognition purposes..and they're relatively expensive..see i've been known to gobble up a packet of vita wheats generously adorned with butter and vegemite in no time..when i'm peckish one or two little crackers just don't cut the mustard..it's a slice of home made and whole meal bread that does the trick for me..but..there are the occasional moments when a savoury biscuit is just the thing..for instance before a meal with some really good cheese and a little glass of red wine..nothing finer in my mind..

i came across this recipe yesterday and i made it pronto..it came well recommended so i had great faith in it..i think it's just about perfect for what i want and i can't tell you how pleased i am to now have a go to recipe for life's biscuits and cheese moments..

spelt and oat digestives

recipe from here

makes 7 dozen thin digestives

ingredients

1 3/4 cup oats

1 3/4 cups whole meal spelt flour

1/3 cup muscovardo sugar well pressed down

155 gms butter cut into small cubes

1/2 teaspoon (tsp) baking soda 

2 tsp salt (i used murray river salt)

milk

method

~ place the oats and flour in the bowl of a food processor and process until the oats are fine

~ add sugar, soda and salt and process until the sugar is well distributed

~ add butter and process until the mixture looks like bread crumbs

~ add a few tablespoons of milk at a time while pulsing the mixture and until it forms a ball

~ remove from the bowl and knead briefly to form a ball, flatten into a disk, wrap in cling film, and refrigerate for an hour or so

~ lightly dust the work surface with spelt flour, roll the dough thinly, and cut into desired shape

~ cook for 12-14 minutes at 180 deg c

notes: i've included the recipe because the original butter measurement was given in cups and spoons..what's with that? imagine trying to cram butter into a cup especially when it's cold..which it needs to be for these..it also needed more milk..and i've changed the method too to represent my experience of the recipe..it's a great dough to work with because it re rolls well..it doesn't suffer from lots of handling..and it doesn't spread at all when cooked so lots can be baked at once which was good for me because i rolled mine quite thin