Skye Gyngell's Lamb and chickpeas

Sunday nights are a good time to try new recipes - I've got a little more time and a little more patience than I do on weekdays.

I've really enjoyed Skye Gyngell's How I cook - its a lovely collection of simple recipes and the photography is so soft and warm.

Even though the temperature has only dropped a few degrees, I've been yearning to break out the slow cooker. So I chose this delicious recipe for Shoulder of Lamb with Sweet Paprika and Chickpeas.

I didn't have eight hours to let the slow cooker to work its magic, so out came the Le Creuset. It had the advantage of being able to brown the lamb on the cooktop and then go straight into the oven. (I had to replace the lamb shoulder for forequarter chops.)

Only two hours later the meat was coming away from the bones and the kitchen smelled amazing (I'd also replaced sweet paprika with smoked paprika - which I figured was a fair trade despite it being in the title of the recipe..)

I'd also replaced Skye's pretty wilted chard with some cous cous, which I'll admit isn't as aesthetically pleasing but hey a girl needs carbs.

I'm glad it held up to all my tinkering - it was easy enough, only used one pot and even tasted amazing for lunch the next day.

A Day in Byron Bay

Today I headed south of the border to Byron Bay.

Since it was the first Sunday of the month they had their markets on at Butler st reserve - where I spotted this pearler.

Yes that's a bedazzled cape reading Mr Recycle. And his car radio was cranking out Mandy Moore's "Candy". Awesome stuff.

I took the chance to visit some of the great little shops in town.

I've always been impressed by the fit out at Unplugged on Lawson st.

Most menswear shops are pretty uninspiring but I love their little quirky collections and merchandising.

Greenhouse on Fletcher st always deserves a visit too.

I especially liked this chicken mobile.

But I'm trying to resist any more chicken themed items - I have a fear of waking up one morning and discovering I've become a crazy chicken lady.

This never gets old.

Behold the Amazing Mulberry Tree

Check out our fantastic new mulberry tree.

 

       Jan 23rd                                                       Feb 18th                                                          Mar 5th

It's almost doubled in height in a month and a half. I wish all our plants grew this quickly.

We planted it when we decided that we'd add a deck to the back of our house, so we'd need some screening to stop us looking directly into the neighbours yard. At this rate, it'll be 20ft high by the time the deck is completed.

Bouquiniste Breakfast

Happy Saturday!

Raisin toast at one of my New Farm favourites - Cafe Bouquiniste. I don't think I've even been here since we moved back to the other side of the river, but it was comforting to see that not much had changed.

Strawberry Pot

The last time I tried to grow strawberries they were all gobbled up by my balcony possum before I could sample the fruits of my labour.

So with the knowledge that glossy red strawberries would be an appealing treat to not only the neighbourhood possums, our greedy chickens and the neighbour's cat, I'm giving them another shot.

This terracotta strawberry pot has been crying out for some plants since I received it last year - although I am a little worried that the side openings are a little too small.

I've started them off with a dash of Seasol and a semi-shaded spot - fingers crossed I get to try some berries this time!

Sayonara Galliano

Back in 2001 I was given a subscription to Harpers Bazaar and was bowled over by the runway pics from the Dior shows.

I had just started my film degree but was suddenly obsessed with fashion - I took a fashion elective course and I think every second page of my scrapbook was filled with John Galliano's work.

I loved the theatricality of his designs, the mashup of cultures and I would have given my right arm for a Dior Saddle bag.

(c) Harpers Bazaar and Simon Procter

My interests and priorities have changed over the last decade but the accusations and videos that have come to light over the past few days are still incredibly saddening - I hope Galliano gets the help he needs asap.

Pappardelle from scratch

So what do we do with all of our eggs?

Usually things get out of hand unless we make a good frittata or omelettes every week - but this week I decided to use up some eggs by making delicious pasta from scratch.

I consulted one of my favourite recipe books -The Silver Spoon for a good pasta dough recipe.

I was lucky enough to get a pasta roller attachment for the KitchenAid for Christmas - and although I'd made lasagne sheets before this was my first time making any other kind.

It's actually amazing how easy it is to use.

I don't have any of the cutting attachments so I hand cut the sheets into pappardelle using a rolling pizza cutter which was easy enough - I think I just need something to hang them off for next time - it was pretty laborious peeling each one off to drop into the pot.

And here is the finished product - with coppa ham, brown mushrooms and ricotta. Yum!