Cooking for groups

I just came across this recipe booklet put together by Petersham Baptist Church. It's fantastic! If you cook for large groups it's definitely worth checking out. It's very thoughtfully put together with helpful instructions and tips. There are 25 recipes, with quantities to feed about 90 people each.

We're thinking of switching to Tumblr cos, ahem... they have a good iphone app. I'm not sure it'll help me blog any more frequently, but you might hear a bit more from Nick! It's all a bit gen Y for me really, but hey, I'm happy to play along.

Crusty Goodness?

Bread crusts aren't more nutritious - they're just more cooked! Right? Somewhat embarrassingly I only managed to work that one out last week. The childhood programming was strong. Anyway, flushed with triumph I confronted Mum about it. She assures me, utterly serious, that the crusts ARE more nutritious because the minerals migrate to the crust during the baking process. Ok, so that doesn't sound quite right... but I did find this article which claims that crusts are better for you - it's science. What do you reckon?

May Your Kingswood Come

Allow me to paint in black and white for a brief moment; why are there so few Christians living in working class suburbs?

Perhaps there are and I because I'm new here I don't know them. Perhaps I should say, why are there so few Christians from my kind of church circles...

I'm not trying to incite guilt or have a big rant. I'm genuinely wondering. I was thinking just the other day how in practical terms living somewhere which is more affordable, family friendly etc would seem to be ideal for many christian families.

Leaving aside any issues of prejudice, I wonder if one aspect is that generally christians are encouraged to live near their church so they can be part of the local community. That's great... but it kinda perpetuates the status quo. So what do you reckon? Whether you live in Sydney, Hobart or wherever, how would you feel about moving to a working class suburb with a view to the future church that could be there?

Mornings

One of the things I'm struggling with at the moment with being a mum is the early mornings. Thankfully Maisy has adjusted to daylight savings and is now waking more or less at 6am. And Nick has been really good at giving me a sleep in on the weekend. But it's still just hard getting up so early each day. There are some consolations though:

10 Things to love about Moonah

There's Aikido, there's goths, there's great wholesale food places like D.S Trading and Ziggy's. There's Island Markets which reeks of fish but has some great specials. There's the Hmong guy outside Island Markets on the weekend who sells homegrown vegies which are awesome and cheaper than the Hobart Farmers' market. There are pretty old houses and gardens tended with love by someone's grandma and there are nice bakeries such as Jean Pascal and Cullens. There's a nice woolies with very friendly staff and a Harris Scarfe, both with good parking! There's a Chinese supermarket and mythical chinese dumplings at some place in a castle which Luke told me about. There's the Wicked cheese factory with cafe and Churros with cheap and cheerful spanish food. There are even rumours of an amazing japanese restaurant, but no one know where it is or how to find it.

I'm only just discovering Moonah but so far I'm loving it. There's a lot more to Moonah than Putters and Paul's Warehouse. So if you're south of the flanellette curtain go check out Moonah. I dare ya.

Practise

While I was taking this photo (practise for my 12 Suburbs project) there was a 'tap tap tap' and I looked up to see the lady of the house, in her dressing gown, gesturing to me at her lounge room window. The rose was in her front garden but I wasn't even leaning over the fence so I'd kind of figured it would be ok. When she found out what I was doing she was very friendly and offered me a cutting!

ps - I've forgotten the rule with 'practise/practice' can someone explain?

12 Suburbs

I've been inspired. 52 Suburbs is a blog by a lady who explores and photographs one Sydney suburb each week for a year. The photos are gorgeous and it's an awesome idea. Gosh it would be hard work though!

I was thinking about doing that sort of thing in the northern suburbs when I realised that there are 12 suburbs from Moonah to Granton. So how about one a month? Perfect! Daunting, but do-able. So I've set myself the challenge. April is practice month and I'll start with Moonah in May.

Now, I just have to get over my fear of taking photos of people!


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