Happy 50th Anniversary to my Grandparents
My mother’s side of the family are gathering in Indiana to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of my grandparents, Jim and Soon Harter. This is their wedding photo, which ran in the paper with the announcement. Aren’t they gorgeous? Grandpa looks so dashing and strong and handsome, and Grandma looks exotic and beautiful and brave. I like to think I can see a little of myself in them. I’m heartbroken that I can’t be there to help them celebrate at the party my Mom has organised. My sister is going though, and she’s taking their youngest great-grandchild along. I’m going to try to get up early Monday morning and call them during the party. I love you and miss you guys!

Inner City Guild Meeting
Today was my first meeting as Convenor of the Knitting Guild’s Inner City Group, and it was also our first meeting at our new location in Customs House Library. I was stressing out a little bit beforehand, but I shouldn’t have worried. It was one of our best meetings ever. Everyone was in such a good mood! We had 31 people in attendance (plus Rae’s adorable baby Zara), and several of those were brand new members. Our new meeting format worked well, and folks seemed to appreciate our aim of finishing off the business quickly so we could just knit and chat. I’ve put some photos up on the group website.

Of course, the best part was that Miss Fee made me special cupcakes for my birthday! And then she made the whole group sing to me. It was very sweet. Thanks, Fee! Kate also brought a cake, and I made a Spanish tortilla. (I used these two sites for tortilla recipe guidance. Flipping that thing on my own was, like, the scariest culinary feat I’ve ever attempted. It came out really good though!) Thanks to everybody who came to the meeting, and to my fellow officers Rosemary and Geraldine for all their help. I’m looking forward to next month!

Anthony Bourdain’s Guide to Food Television. That is just brilliant. I like that he gives props to Martha Stewart and Alton Brown, and that he basically admits Gordon Ramsay is selling out by becoming a total caricature of himself.

The Untold Story of the World’s Biggest Diamond Heist. Fascinating story. I wish Mythbusters would cover it so I could find out if the hair spray and magnetic plate hacks really work.

Sears Tower to become Willis Tower. SCREW THAT. It’ll always be the Sears Tower to me.

I saw a poster this morning for a new exhibit at the Art Gallery of NSW: Korean Dreams: paintings and screens of the Joseon Dynasty. Cool! I’ll have to check it out.

Ratatouille
No, I don’t mean the Pixar movie (which I still haven’t seen). I mean the real stuff. Eileen asked for “easy and tasty” recipes, and this is my contribution. You can eat it as a side dish on its own, put it on pasta as a sauce, or even just spoon it over bread. (It tastes even better the next day!) There’s not much to the prep other than chopping, and it freezes pretty well. Also, we had a surplus of eggplants, zucchinis, and tomatoes from our last two veggie boxes so it was a good way to clear the backlog. Read on for the recipe and photos of the preparation.Recipe: This is from the Better Homes & Gardens: New Cook Book, which I absolutely love. I have yet to think of a dish that isn’t in here.

1/2 cup finely chopped onion (1 medium)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil or cooking oil
2 cups cubed, peeled eggplant
1 small zucchini or yellow summer squash, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices (1 cup)
1 cup peeled, chopped tomatoes or one 7-1/2-ounce can tomatoes, cut up
1/2 cup chopped green sweet pepper
2 tablespoons dry white wine or water
1-1/2 teaspoons snipped fresh basil or 1/2 teaspoon dried basil, crushed

I had enough to do a double recipe, so the quantity you’re seeing here is way more than what the recipe will make. Also, note that even though my pan gets quite full at times, the veggies do “cook down” quite a bit.

Step 1: Onions and Garlic
Chuck your onions and garlic in the olive oil and cook til the onion is tender. You can make this in a frypan/skillet, but I knew I was going to have a lot so I went with a saucepan.

Step 2: Everything else
Seriously, it’s that simple. Here I’ve chopped up the eggplant…

…and then I add it to the pot. Note: I’ve turned the temp down to medium-low at this point.

Tomatoes: I had fresh ones, but I’ve used canned before too and it’s fine. And no, I didn’t peel them. That’s just insanity.

Tomatoes are now in the mix.

Zucchini is all chopped up…

…and added to the pot.

Normally I just use dried basil, but our plants are still going nuts so I used the fresh. I chopped it up and added it to the pot.

Okay, so at this point you chuck everything else in the pan too: wine, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. (Note: Rodd doesn’t like green pepper/capsicum, so I left it out.) Bring to boiling. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, 20 minutes or till tender. Uncover; cook 5 to 10 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.

And that’s it!
Like I said, you can now put this over pasta for a delicious sauce, or just serve it as a side dish on its own. Put the leftovers in a container in the fridge and it’ll be even more fantastic the next day. Seriously, cold ratatouille on chewy sourdough? BLISS.

Feeling a little stressed? You need more purring kitten in your life.

Petey was being very cuddly and affectionate last night, so I grabbed my camera and decided to share. For the record, he really likes having his head rubbed and held. If you have your hand hanging anywhere, he will come up and literally headbutt your knuckles. So that’s why I’m grabbing his head like that.

Hooray! Sydney Buses decided to give me an early birthday present today. The 461, 480, and 483 are once again travelling to the Domain (i.e. right by my office). Fantastic news, especially since the Snook will have a different commute in a few weeks.