Kitchen.

This is my kitchen this morning, complete with my sidekick:

This is my kitchen now having just cooked chocolate brownie for afternoon tea:

I cheated and used a packet - if you know me pick yourself up off the floor as you know that I have NEVER done this before as I usually cook EVERYTHING from scratch. For $8 I bought this:

After five minutes of everyone having a stir, followed by half an hour in the oven (the box said 40 minutes yet mine was possibly a tad overdone even after 30 minutes) we ended up with this:

And considering the almost zero effort that was involved, it was not bad. Although I shudder to think of what might have been in it. I couldn't help myself and tried to salvage it with organic butter and free range eggs.

I spend a significant part of my life in this room:

I always coveted a chandelier in the kitchen and this house came with one in every room. My mum said it was a ridiculous thing to have in a kitchen as chandeliers are notorious dust collectors. She was right, but I still think it's beautiful.

This is the view of the backyard from the window:

You can see my veggie patch reproaching me for it's neglect. As are my cumquats which are desperate to be turned into Moira's cumquat compote:

This is my narcissistic collection of 'R's':

I bought the elephant as a souvenir of our trip to India last year:

On our way out of Udaipur I had the car stopped so that I could run into the shop to negotiate it's purchase thinking I would never see it's like again. I shouldn't have bothered as they were for sale at Mumbai airport......for less. It was worth it though as it conjures up memories of this.......sigh:

Because I am a creature of habit, I went to Bikram Yoga this morning.....my sixth class in as many days:

It may have been five degrees in downtown Hobart yet it is always 40 degrees in the hot room. So if you feel like a tropical interlude that also works out your mind and body, why not give it a try? I go for preventative healthcare and because it is cheaper than therapy. I take my medicine here. If you live somewhere other than Hobart, find your closest Bikram Yoga studio here. Later tonight, once I've fed the masses, I think I might go back for a second dose. Well, I'm wagging tomorrow as I'm going out for lunch.

R

Cumquats.

This morning I harvested my first crop of cumquats for the season:

And between the million things I did today I made Moira's Cumquat Compote - the recipe for which she so kindly gave me just before she relocated to Melbourne.

All you do is get your hands on 500g cumquats:

Make sure they are clean and get rid of all the bits of stalk. Put them in a heavy, non reactive pan and add just enough water to not quite cover them. Bring to the boil and then simmer for half and hour:

 Stir in 350g raw sugar and boil for five minutes before putting into sterilised jars. Et voila:

It's meant to be delicious with cheese or ice cream and let me say that Moira wasn't kidding when she said that it was very simple to make. It was. So if you are stuck for cumquat recipes, give it a burl.

In other news, I have recently purchased this water bottle:

And yes, you are really seeing a stylised image of Bikram Choudhury, from way back in the day when he was about twenty years old, emblazoned on the front. Don't let that put you off as this bottle is insulated. That means that even if you add tap water on your way into the hot room, it will keep it cool and magically transform it from mere tap water to icy cold nectar from the Gods.  How did I survive for so long without one?

R