Phat overalls

Whooaaa.. it's been a while since I've been here. Finally I'm a confirmed PhD student, not a silly probationary one. I'm back to working more regular "9-5" sort of hours again. I have been keeping up with your blogs (although sorry for not commenting with regularity) so now I'm hopefully back to my regular blogging schedule. At least until the next time I have a massive deadline, which hopefully shouldn't be for at least a few more months.

Edit: Oopsies, I should clarify!! I've just finished the 1st year of my PhD, which is a probationary year. Now I get to call myself "PhD candidate" rather than "PhD student"... another 2.5 years to go (with luck!) before I get it all over and done with.

I've made my overalls and I think they're hilarious - no, ridiculous - but incredibly comfortable. Not the best sewing I've ever done (there is wonky cutting and wonky sewing) but I was aiming for function, not perfection, as they're going to be oil and paint stained and snagged and covered in dirt, so I wasn't going to put in my best effort. Have I mentioned that I love my overlocker? The one I was too scared to use for a year? I'm now super keen to learn about my overlocker's potential, because it's such a fantastic tool. And I love how fast it goes. Going back to my sewing machine seems kind of lame now.

The pattern itself was very simple. I made the legs slightly longer (8 cm) so they were full length for me. In my excitement to have overalls ASAP, I forgot to sew the pockets on first, a mistake which I wont make in future because it's a massive pain to sew on pockets once you've sewn the rest up. It worked out ok in the end because it meant I could applique on some big white stars onto the pockets. I realised once I'd finished the overalls that they were a lot like phat pants (not as wide as my friend's pants though) and I just couldn't help but play that up a bit. Anyway, they're fun, comfortable and cheap to make, so I can feel free to work on my car in my rad new overalls!

Me, my boy and my dad, working on my poor car


Overalls, full length view

Recipe review: Leek & Aubergine Tart Tatin

I decided to follow Maggie and Simon's Leek & Aubergine Tart Tatin recipe, featured on the program last Wednesday. We substituted vino cotto for balsamic vinegar, sugar for honey in the syrup and made the dough half with wholemeal flour. Although, I did that silly thing when you take a hot pan out of the oven and place it back on the stove top, and then forget that it's been in the oven and grab the handle of the pan... not so smart. It was a joint success between Gib and I: It took a little bit of time to put together, but worth every minute. It was a definite success, smelled divine, tasted absolutely delicious.

Gamer pants!!!!1!!!!11!

We had some friends come around yesterday to play computer games with Gib. While I don't mind some games, yesterday they decided to play Diablo 2, which just leaves me cold. Gib decided to wear his gaming pants, and our friends were very jealous. I offered to make them some, because we know from experience that wearing gaming pants definitely increases gaming prowess, so we took a trip to Spotlight, they bought some polar fleece, and I merrily spent the afternoon sewing their gaming pants while they played away! By late afternoon I'd finished them, and after wearing them around a bit, they decided that their gamer pants had an area affect of +5 to everything (or, for the uninitiated: while wearing the pants, everything around them becomes awesome)

My friend said he wanted the fattest pants possible, so I used the entire width of the fabric for each pant leg. He was very satisfied with the result. Our other friend's fabric, with the little aliens, made my eyes go funny while I was cutting it out hehehe. Here's the lounge room gamer pants photo shoot:

Recipe box swap: Open theme month

Mmmm... I absolutely love this rain we have finally been getting! It was so lovely to go to sleep last night to the pitter-patter of rain falling. This sudden cool change is wonderful and already I've pulled out my nice, warm hoodie and have been flicking through my cosy comfort food recipes! Bring on autumn! So this month for the Recipe Box Swap, hosted by Randi, I'm going to share with you one of my favourite comfort foods.

Grilled polenta with melted cheese

1 cup instant polenta
1.5 cups water
1.5 cups milk (I used reduced fat, but you can use either full fat milk or water)
Olive oil spray
Your favourite cheese: mozzerella, blue cheese, camembert, good ol' tasty cheese! (but never, ever use Kraft singles)
Fresh herbs: basil, thyme

• Spray a 24 x 16 cm dish with oil
• Bring milk and water to a gentle boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add polenta gradually, whisking constantly. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until thick (I love watching polenta bubble up! Like lava bubbling away). Season with salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture into prepared dish and smooth out with a spatula. Refrigerate for about an hour or until firm.
• Cut into squares/triangles/fingers, and cook the bottom in a fry pan until golden.
• Top with herbs and cheese, and place under a grill until bubbly and golden. Alternatively, you can make them into little polenta and cheese sandwiches, layered with polenta/cheese/herbs/polenta, and grill the whole lot until warm and the cheese has melted through.

Serve as a side, or with a hearty tomato soup, or just eat on its own!

Photo courtesy of Patricia Scarpin

A day when maths and food meet...

Hahaha, this cracked me up! Janet at Adventures in Ethics and Science pointed out that Tuesday's date, 03-03-09, was a Square Root Day! She marked the occasion appropriately by creating an evening meal that included square roots: diced sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips, chiogga beets, and potatoes, and sliced leeks, roasted in olive oil.

Veg about... in the hot weather

Last year I shared with you my flourishing herb garden as a part of Bellgirl's Veg About. I'd just thought I'd like to update you on how my herbs are going during all of this crazy hot weather...

I had started pushing the native mint back a wee bit to make way for some kangaroo paws and correas, but then it just died right back all by itself in the heat. It has almost all died, in fact. Even though it looks really feral, cutting it back will prompt it to start growing again, and then die again in the next heat wave.

Native mint before...

...native mint after

We lost our oregano, but the parsley and thyme survived, although is looking a little spindly. Our regular mint pot is looking fine though, although a bit burnt at the bottom.

Herb pot before...

...and after! Uh oh! Oh well, it'll grow back.

Regular mint, looking happy as ever.

However, there are two plants that didn't bat an eyelid during this weather (although not veggies):

The ptilotus spathulatus, a perennial shrub native to Melbourne's western planes, and the asterolasia phebalioides, a rare native found in highly exposed, rocky/swampy areas of the Grampians. I bought another one and decided to see how it would go in the ground rather than potted. In fact, these plants thrived in the 40+ weather. I bought a second ptilotus (my first one is in a pot, see below) and royally cocked up planting it: I completely mashed the roots and it didn't get much watering, and two days after planting it was when the real heat wave hit. It dropped a few leaves, but then bounced right back within days. In a pot or in the ground, this plant is indestructible.

My two awesome indestructible plants!

Eye spy... something that makes me happy

Exercise. It doesn't matter what: Karate, jogging, weights, skipping... but if I don't get my daily dose, things get nasty. I get surly and I don't really like being like that. In fact, just the other day Gib said to me, in a very serious and concerned tone "Beth, you're sounding quite negative today. I think you need to go to the gym". But with a daily work out, I feel happy, positive and often like a super hero. I feel totally invincible.

Easily pleased: exercise - anything, anywhere, anytime - makes me happy!
These are a slightly cleaner version of my shoes. I love orange (my orange runners make me happy too!)

Thank you Iris + Lily: I love happy themes! And Cindy, our wonderful host of Eye Spy!

Messenger bag trials

I've been playing around with a messenger bag design for some time and I think I've finally got to a pattern I'm happy with. I love the convenience of messenger bags, being able to carry large items comfortably but still have hands free. Making messenger bags is fairly easy and a little bit time consuming, but it's just been things like how to do the base of the bag, the best way to attach the strap so it can withstand a lot of wear and tear and how to attach the cover flap for both strength and so the seam is nicely and easily concealed. I tend to load my bags up with loads of books, papers and wallets full of annoying change, and I've destroyed many messenger bags from flimsy strap and flap attachments. In my messenger bag making endeavours, I also made my first ever trip to Lefflers, the leather and saddlery heaven, where I spent ages sorting through their slides and clips and threads and buckles and twill tape and leather scraps and rivets... ohhh I spent so long poking around there, and a bit of money, hrmm.

So here's the first messenger bag I made that I'm happy with and prepared to share with you all. It's big enough to carry A4 sized books/folders and has some cute pockets in the front. The base of the bag I constructed in the same way as for the jordy bag tutorial that I found a while ago. It's a convenient way of adding width to the bag, and it sits well. I have some more ideas for messenger bags, and have some cute girly fabric to make them with!

I'm pretty happy with the quality of this one, so I think I'll mail it off to assist with the Handmade Help cause!

Eye spy... love

When I saw this week's theme I just had to share this. It's one of my all time favourite songs, by PJ Harvey.





Thank you to Cindy for hosting another wonderful Eye spy!

On dagginess and overalls

A while ago I lamented how overalls are just extraordinarily uncool these days, unless you're under the age of 4 or pregnant. I'm a bit proud like that, concerned about first impressions and running into people I know down at the shops while looking frumpy. I would love to wear overalls in public anyway, but just don't have the charisma to carry it off. And I don't really want people thinking I'm expecting when I'm not.

Anyway, I have been working on my car recently and I usually just wear grotty old clothes that I don't mind destroying, but then Gib said to me "Geez dude, you totally need a pair of overalls". Why had I not thought of it before? Finally an appropriate place to wear daggy overalls! I did some searching at all of my local op shops and online, and it seems that overalls for people my size are quite hard to come by: the kids sizes don't quite extend to size 12-14, and adult overalls are mostly men's ones, and are far too big for me. So I decided to just buy a pattern and make them myself.

As an aside and while we're on the topic: why do all pattern magazines always have models with really dorky hair-dos? And poor colour coordination? I always wonder when I buy a pattern: am I really going to look as un-cool as this person in the photo? Will my clothes be poorly fitted like on that model? Pattern magazines have a way of making really hot people look ugly. It all adds to my nervousness about making my own clothes.

There were only two overall patterns I could find, both in Burda's "Young fashion" magazine. This pattern was "easy" and had wide legs (I love wide leg pants). Although, I think these might be a little too wide-leg to the point of being impractical for my purposes, so I might need to make them narrower, and and I'll need to check the length, but often 3/4 pants are just right for me. We'll see. So soon I'll have my own pair of overalls to wear in the comfort of the garage, where it wont matter if the pattern does turn out to be a bit crap and where it doesn't matter if I look like a big dork! Here's the pattern:

Burda 7822: These two sporty and super-comfortable outfits really fit the bill for leisure and holidays/vacation! [...and even working on cars]

8 foot giant squid pillow

Following up from how to make a giant squid cake is how to make a giant squid pillow! (Not by me this time though). I'm seriously impressed.

Just amazing...

I've been lying low a bit this week, one of the few times when I have been totally lost for words. Everything seems to pale in comparison to what's been going on around me. It's impossible describe the devastation that the bushfires have caused, but we all have seen the enormity of it so I wont even try.

Courtesy of The Age

It's amazing to watch everyone rally around though to help out. I've been cleaning out the cupboards (which we've been meaning to do for some time anyway), donating old blankets and sheets for the RSPCA, donations to the Red Cross, and scrounging together bits and pieces to furnish a house that Gib's parent's church is offering to fire victims who have lost their homes. I'm absolutely amazed and inspired by the work of Cindy who has established the Handmade Help blog featuring all these wonderful things that wonderful people are making to raise funds, and Meet Me at Mikes for getting together the Handmade Help recipe book.

It truly warms my heart to see the work and efforts of all of these people, and all of the generous actions from the whole community.

Eye spy... my secret (food) shame

I loved this week's theme. I do have a massive food shame. No, really, it's truly awful, and actually I'm really embarrassed to admit...

I love eating butter. That's right, you heard it:

Beth eats butter. On its own.

Salted butter, of course.

Tragic. I know you're cringing. This is, I think, is my worst habit. In my defense, it's not something you'll find me doing every day (I know the harm of saturated fats), but if I just happen to be cooking with butter, then I've been known (ok, I can't resist) to shave bits off the block and just pop it in my mouth, like thin slices of cheese. There, I said it. It's off my chest.

Thank you, Jade, for helping me admit my shame to the world and Cindy, the wonderful host of Eye spy!

How to make a Giant Squid cake

Yesterday was the hottest day in Melbourne on record: 46.4°C. We have massive bushfires raging throughout the state. Needless to say things have been a little stressful* in these parts. It also means it's not the best weather for making a birthday cake. However, I headed to my parents' place where they have air conditioning in the kitchen and a spare fridge out the back. I started nice and early in the morning, so it was all done before the worst of the heat kicked in.

The specifications:

• Make a giant squid cake. I couldn't do a 1:1 scale giant squid, and I wasn't sure how people would know it's a giant squid if it was cake-sized, because it would just look like a regular squid then. So I went with some sort of giant squid reference point: a boat.
  
• The cake should be a white chocolate cake. That didn't happen. I ran out of time, and the day that I was able to make the cake was way too hot and it was going to be really nasty for the oven to be on for that long (1.5+ hours cooking time). So a vanilla cake it was (only 40 min cooking time). Sorry Sarah!
• Must be iced with butter icing (my friend dislikes the sugary soft, mouldable icing). Butter icing, in 46.4°C weather, was going to be far too unstable. So I went with white chocolate ganache, in the hope that that would be more stable and would make up for the lack of white chocolate cake.

How to make a giant squid cake

You will need:

• Double quantity of vanilla butter cake batter (I doubled the vanilla so it was more vanillary)
  
• 1 large loaf pan (23 x 13 x 8 cm)
• 1 slab pan (25 x 25 x 4 cm)
• 750 g white chocolate
• 250 ml cream
• Plastic ice cream container lid, cut into 2 triangles for fins
  
• Red & blue food dye
• Candy necklaces (I got a massive bag for $2 at the Reject shop)
• Toy boat
• Toothpicks

Baking the cakes:

A few days before you need the cake is a good time to bake them.

• Transfer ¾ of the double quantity of cake mixture to the loaf pan, and ¼ to the slab pan. Make sure your pans are well greased and have a layer of greaseproof paper on the bottom. Bake the slab for 30 mins, and the loaf for 40-45 mins.
• Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely. Freeze the cakes. (I do this even when it isn't hot weather, so it makes the cake easier to cut, and it crumbs far less).

Shaping the cake:

• Allow the cakes to thaw slightly before carving.
• Using a sharp knife, shape the loaf cake into the shape of a squid's mantle. I used this squid anatomy site as a reference. I wont feature the pictures here because they're kind of gross. Because it's a cake and we need to maximise the amount of cake to be consumed, mine is somewhat more squat than an actual squid. Refer to the shape below. I also made a slight ridge (0.5cm) where the mantle finishes and the eye section begins.
  

• From the slab cake, cut the arms and tentacles by making wiggly strips from the cake. Cut 8 arms and two tentacles. Each arm is about 3 cm wide and 18 cm long (although I then later cut some shorter to fit on the cake board). Each tentacle is 25 cm long and 3 cm wide. I cut the two tentacles from the bottom 6 cm of the slab. The tentacles have a little diamond shaped bit at the bottom. Be careful with your arms and tentacles. If you break on don't fret. Use some icing and toothpicks to glue them back together.
  

My wiggly squid arms and tentacles. You can see that some of the legs have been cut shorter to fit on the cake board.

Make the ganache:

Melt together 700 g white chocolate and 250 ml cream over a double boiler. Set aside the spare 50 g white chocolate (don't eat it!). Stir through 5 ml red food dye and 1 drop of blue food dye. Beat together until blended, allow to cool to room temperature.

Assemble the cake:

• Prepare the cake board. I used a wooden chopping board covered in a couple of layers of blue plastic.
• Place the mantle in a back corner of the cake.
• Arrange the bottom legs around the cake, below the ridge of the mantle, and use toothpicks to hold them in place. I had 7 legs/tentacles below, and 3 on top. Don't bother with the top ones until later.
  
• Ice the cake with the ganache.

The toothpicks poking out there are just place holders for the top legs

• Add the plastic fins. Ice them too. I saved the fins until a bit later so I could ice the sides of the cake better.
  

• I used two white chocolate buttons and placed them in the centre of the bottom end of the mantle/head area, for a beak.
• Place the boat at the end of the cake board. Drape the top legs over the top of the boat, and use toothpicks to insert the legs into the body, and carefully ice them too.
  

Beak and positioning of legs against the body. You can see it was getting a little messy in there! It's ok, ganache cleans up really well.

• Put the squid in the fridge for a bit to set the ganache. Once firm, take it out and wtih a spatular or knife dipped in hot water (be sure to wipe off the water) smooth over the icing.
  
• Add your candy necklace suckers along the sides of the arms and tentacles.

The eye:

This was a bit of serendipity. I didn't have any Orchard icing to mould into an eye and refused to go out into the heat. My mum had these small glass spice bowls. Originally I was going to use them as a chocolate mould (with the leftover 50 g white chocolate): fill the bottom with a centre of white chocolate dyed black, let it set, then fill in white chocolate over the top, then tip it out once its all set together. However, they didn't tip out. So I then decided to just keep the chocolate eyes in the spice bowl, and use the whole think as the eye. It really got that freaky eye lens thing going that squids have. I just pushed the eye/glass spice bowl into the side of the head.

The clean up and presentation:

Using a damp paper towel and some ear buds, carfully clean up around the cake board and tidy up any icing that has oozed into weird corners. And here it is...

Happy birthday, Sarah!

And, because I am lazy, this is also going to come under this week's Eye Spy something delicious theme, because, you know, white chocolate ganache is freaking delicious. This week's theme was suggested by the super crafty Handmaiden and hosted by the wonderful Cindy!

* My aunt lives in Whittlesea, one of the townships south of Kinglake where the worst has been that is assisting with feeding people and providing temporary shelter. We have friends who lives in Wallan and they managed to rescue their horses, fire came to within 3 metres of their house, but their house was been saved.

Phantom ant syndrome

We have ants in our kitchen. In the bathroom. In the cupboard under the stairs. You know, I've even found them in my undies drawer. Everywhere. Is. Crawling. With. Ants.

In the last few days the hot weather has brought them out in what seems like the millions. I'm now so used to flicking them off my arms, my legs, the back of the neck, extracting them out from under my clothes, that now I'll be anywhere - even at work or on the bus - and think I have one of those little blighters crawling on me. It's driving me completely mad!