Muttaburrasaurus!
“They’re called MINERALS, Marie!”
Inexplicable post-modern architecture!
A restored paddlewheel steamer, cared for and exhibited by some friendly older guys
Author: Kris
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Happy Valentine’s Day
I took my Valentine out for fancy cocktails and then to see Postmodern Jukebox in Canberra. ❤️ (Effie Passero blew the roof off every time she opened her mouth. Her voice is astonishing.)
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Early train from Central
It appears the 7:12 to Canberra hasn’t been affected by the industrial action. We’ve passed a LOT of commuters on platforms though that are clearly in for a Bad Day…
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Tragedy in Munich
Rodd saw the news but didn’t want to tell me, knowing I’d be upset. I probably rode my bike down that street a dozen times. This is terrible. 😢
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Controversial quilts
“The American Quilter’s Society refused to show two artworks in an exhibition centered around the color red after claiming they could be controversial… One quilt could be interpreted as depicting female anatomy, while the other references abortion access.” (Link courtesy of InarticulateQuilter.)
What absolute cowards. I actually went to that exhibition when it toured Australia at the Sydney Quilt Show last July. I saw the “Your Mother. Your Daughter. Your Sister. Your Grandmother. You.” quilt and felt it was both beautiful and powerful… but also, without the sign giving it context, it’s just a quilt made of red squares. I also saw quilts inspired by the Covid pandemic, school shootings, and climate change, and many of them were way more overt than this one.
Although to be fair, I don’t remember seeing the “Origin” work. Feels like I’d remember that. 😜
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Aubrey/Maturin novels
Okay, I saw the movie version but don’t remember much about it. I certainly didn’t think I was interested in reading the books… until now. 😂 (Link via Metafilter.)
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3D-printed overlocker waste tray
I bought my Singer overlocker many years ago (as an Aldi Special Buy!) and while it’s a great little workhorse, it doesn’t have a lot of fancy features… like a waste tray. For those who are unfamiliar, these specialised sewing machines use multiple threads to finish the edge of fabric and keep it from fraying. They also have a cutting blade that trims the edge as you go, and on mine, the bits of fabric and thread just fall straight down onto my sewing table. It’s annoying and messy.
Recently I had a thought: “I wonder if anyone’s designed a waste tray for it?!” Of course they have. I sent that link to my friend Bobbie, who also printed my pegboard spool holders, to see if he’d print one for me. “What colour do you want?” he asked. I figured red would match the logo nicely.
And here it is! Fits perfectly. How cool is that?
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Renovation update – raised terrace
I’ve been remiss in not sharing the last of the garden improvements! This raised terrace off the dining room consists of large tile pavers on a metal frame. This allows for better drainage, doesn’t impact tree roots, and can be removed if we ever sell the place. It also raises the level up closer to the new French doors, which should give us a great entertaining space next summer. Now we just need the fence to get replaced so we can get the landscapers back to do the planting, irrigation, and lights.
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Bachelor’s Pudding – CWA 1965 Cookbook
It’s time for another recipe from 1965! Continuing our vintage cooking experiment, this time I chose the recipe from January 31 – Bachelor’s Pudding – and happily, I think it was a big success! Here’s the recipe:
There’s quite a lot crammed into only six lines…
1 egg, the weight of an egg in butter, sugar and flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, a little grated lemon rind, 1 tablespoon jam, short pastry. Line a shallow dish with the pastry, spread the jam on the bottom, beat butter and sugar to a cream, add egg, lemon rind, flour and baking powder. Pour this over the jam, bake for half an hour. Dust with sugar. Serve with custard.
First up, what even is “bachelor’s pudding”? Of course, “pudding” is used here in the British sense, meaning simply “dessert.” If you search for “bachelor’s pudding” online, you’ll find lots of old recipes that have currants and breadcrumbs in them… and this recipe has neither. I liked this explanation the best: “Nobody knows for sure how Bachelor’s Pudding got its name but it is suggested that the frugal ingredients lend themselves to single men on minimal means.”
I wasn’t sure whether a CWA wife in 1965 would be making her own short pastry or not. The recipe just seems to assume that you have some. I decided to keep things simple and go with a sheet of frozen shortcrust. I also went with a carton of custard. For the jam, I went with good ol’ Cottee’s apricot, which I figured would have been easily available at the time.
I started by cracking my egg and weighing it, and it ended up around 55g. So I put that much butter and sugar in my mixing bowl and creamed them together.
Then I added the egg, lemon rind, flour, and baking powder. It came together into a creamy batter.
Rodd and I debated on what an appropriate “shallow dish” would be and decided to go with a simple small metal pie plate. I buttered it (not in the recipe but I figured it couldn’t hurt) and then lined it with my thawed sheet of shortcrust, sealing the cracks as best I could. Then I spooned in some apricot jam (probably a little more than the recipe called for) and spread it around.
The batter certainly wasn’t pourable, so instead I spooned it on and then smoothed out as best I could. I’m glad I didn’t go with a bigger dish, as it didn’t even come close to filling it.
The recipe doesn’t give any guidance as to baking temperature, so I figured I’d go with 180C / 350F and just keep an eye on it.
It actually worked really well! The batter puffed up a bit and the pastry shrank, so I think the proportions actually worked. By 30 minutes it was nice and golden so I pulled it out to cool.
I sprinkled it with some sifted powdered sugar and then cut it into pieces. It came out cleanly, and the bottom wasn’t too soggy despite the lack of blind baking. You can clearly see the jam layer. I was quite impressed!
And here it is, served with custard for afternoon tea! It was quite tasty – sweet but not overly so. I think I could’ve gone with more lemon zest as it got lost a bit.
We debated on how you’d modernise this. Obviously you could make your own pastry and custard, which would certainly zhush it up. I think you could also experiment with the jam layer and try a few different things in there. (Kaya pudding?!) But overall this one was pretty good as is, even with the shortcuts I took and the vagueness of the recipe. Big thumbs up! 👍