File Under 'For Safe Keeping'

Regular reader(s) would perhaps expect a post like this to show up on my OTHER blog 'We Like Things', but somehow this one feels a little more rambly and 'hey, look at this'.  So... hey, look at this! 

Some guy called Florian Pulcher has designed these rugs called Land Carpet that are inspired by aerial shots of rural countryside in four different styles - Europe, USA, Netherlands and Africa.  Aside from the fact that I like the idea, I like how the 'styles' are so general, except for Netherlands... those poor little anal souls with limited land and even less gradient.  I've always loved aerial photos, particularly after seeing an outdoor exhibition under the Eiffel Tower in about 2002 (oh yes... I have travelled internationally, don't you know), and I'd love to see a carpet inspired by the Texas landscape and it's centre pivot irrigation.

One would have to have a pretty special house to accommodate a rug as modern as this, and you'd pretty much be signing up to a life of Schleich-related presents, but I think this is the first time I have ever liked a rug that cannot be loosely classified as 'Persian', so that was worth a bit of a ramble.

In other news, I made the Pelmeni using chicken thigh mince at your suggestion and it all worked out okay.  Interestingly, while there was no sign of turkey mince anywhere, the 'chicken' shop did sell turkey legs and wings... but the rest of the bird was notably absent.  And the dumplings were stodgy and just what I felt like, but I won't need to make them again for a while.

One Track Mind

I'm embarking on this post with no intention or plan, but... the horror... July 27 was my last post?  And it's October?  Practically mid-October?  Practically my primary reader's 30th birthday?  Say it ain't so!

The truth, dear reader(s), is that it is VERY hard to write at all when every single thought in your head is inappropriate to share with an anonymous and unrestricted readership.  I am not under any misconception that this humble blog receives more attention than it does, but while the welcome mat is out, one must keep one's house tidy and ready for guests... with all the fluff and body hair discretely under rug swept.

Putting that aside (in an expression that makes it sound easier than it is), when I last was on US soil, I visited a friend in Seattle and he took me to a funny little place over the road from Pike Place Markets that served Russian dumplings with vinegar and sour cream with a big bowl of borscht.  I remember at the time not being particularly 'whelmed' by these things, but in the way that I suspect only a pregnant woman can, I am fixated with them right now and will not be cured until I've made them, eaten them and been similarly underwhelmed.  To that ends, I have been sent a recipe for 'Pelmeni' by that friend, but I need your help to de-American for me: the ingredient list calls for '1lb of turkey (you need to get 15% fat turkey because lean 7% is too dry; ground chicken is overly dry too'.  Aside from being a CRAP load of fowl... what is this in Australia?  Do I buy chicken thighs and mince them myself?  Or some sort of turkey limb?  This fat percentage thing is a little too obscure for me... and given that the only other ingredients in the filling are one brown onion and some water, I suspect it is important to try and get it right. 

On another note, does fresh pineapple sting the crap out of your mouth? 

The Catalog Tales of Gary and Elaine

Gary, I can tell you’re chewing something and I told you the mossballs are for our guests!

A friend has lent his support to my latest initiative with a list of web suggestions that will take hours or perhaps days to get through, but he singled this one out and I couldn't work out why from it's rather unassuming title of Catalog Living.  If you require explanation in order to coerce you to follow the link, expect captions that reveal the motivations of the fictional characters (Gary and Elaine) that allegedly inhabit the constructed worlds of interior design catalogues.

File this one under 'keep here for safe keeping'.

Turning Passing The Time Into A Career

I have been tempted during my recent sojourns into the world wide web of international design to start a new blog that could be singularly devoted to the worship of 'things'.  It would not be the first of it's kind by any means (I strongly recommend this one, and this one, and this one), but it would give me the chance to share with you some of the things that have been making my heart skip a beat in the wee hours of the many a recent morning.  For now, my discoveries are dutifully recorded in an Excel spreadsheet, but hopefully, before too long Materialist Australia will be a fully functioning retail store, and with it a companion blog to release those discoveries from their monochromatic temporary home into a technicolour wishlist.  I might even invite people to vote for what they want me to import... or at least invite them to comment on my impeccable taste in 'things'.

But this one couldn't wait.  I suspect it will never be viable to import them, but aren't these rings simply smashing?  Made from the pages of [your favourite book], set in resin and polished to a high gloss finish, these rings take literary nerditude to a whole new level. 

Make mine The Faraway Tree, thanks.  Or perhaps Catch 22... because I would love to walk around with my finger wrapped in an enigma wrapped in absurdity.

Web Gadget to End All Web Gadget

A Little Junkie Chic For Your Neck

I just stumbled across this website/online store. Aside from being a cool artisan slash designer 'enterprise' (sound familiar?), Wire and Twine sell scarves made... by hand... by KELLEY DEAL!

I heard an interview with this lesser-loved Deal once in which she described her life as full time carer for her aged mother. When I see these objet d'craft, I can't help but imagine a drug-ravaged, but still pretty rock star busily handcrafting her way through mid-life in an attempt to escape the daily grind of administering sponge baths and mashing vegetables. Then again, maybe it's a rehab thing.

Anyway, there are only three left, and I suspect they are the last three for a reason, but owning one would be like owning your own bespoke little piece of rock memorabilia.

Home Game

Every day I wake up late... and slllowwwww. 

As I delay the inevitability of another day, I consider its possibilities and set out to fill it with productiveness and leisure in almost equal measure.  Aside from being keenly aware that the 'devil' makes work for idle hands (and worse yet for an idle mind), I value getting shit done a little too much to dwindle away the preciousness of unemployment entirely in a fog of midday movies and young adult fiction.

With 'the enterprise' gradually gaining momentum, the line between leisure and productiveness is blurring (which is somewhat inevitable when trying to start a business around something you do for fun), but cooking is still on the right side of that line and slow cooked lamb is the latest in a dynasty of cooking fads to which I have succumbed (one that was immediately preceded by 'Bill Granger's Pork Belly').  Surely it is pure coincidence that it requires the time available to the likes of the me to supervise the many hours of cooking time?

With our household already in the grip of this fad, the Good Weekend published this incredible recipe in their most recent issue, and it bears repeating in writing here for repeating in kitchens elsewhere.  Pictured above at the halfway mark, I followed the recipe faithfully but for the cut of meat (lamb shanks), a reduction in the oil by half, and the addition of some eggplant in the final few hours of cooking... which I also stretched out to six and a half hours at a slightly reduced temperature.  Cooked in a heavy cast iron pot with a lid and served with spinach, sweet potato and homemade tzatziki, this was possibly the best meal I have ever prepared... and it don't half make the house smell good.

Good Weekend Greek Lamb
Juice of 2 lemons
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 cup Olive Oil
2 tsp Greek dried Oregano
6 large sprigs thyme, roughly chopped
6 large sprigs rosemary, roughly chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 boned lamb shoulder (about 1.5kg), some excess fat removed, but not all of it.
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Begin this recipe the day before.

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients, except the lamb, salt and pepper. Add the lamb, making sure it is totally covered with the marinade. Refrigerated for at least 12 hours, and up to 24.

Preheat the oven to about 150°C (the temperature will depend on your oven). You can increase the temperature if you need to hurry it up.

Place the meat in a roasting tin and season well with salt and pepper. Roast the lamb for 3-4 hours, basing it from time to time with cooking juices and fat.

When the meat is cooked, leave it to rest for 20 minutes before carving or pulling apart.

n.b. my latest trick is to spoon a generous amount of the liquid from the cooking pot into a small saucepan, and boil it on high until the sauce is reduced so that it can be served separately and poured over the meat and veges.