Counting Sheep in Sydney in the Spring Time

Where to begin? Sometime ago we reset our mechanical clocks one hour forwards. The hour of sleep I struggled with losing was strangely difficult for my body clock to adjust to but is a small price to pay for the extra hour of sunlight I have gained with each new day- And it is a personal gain as I feel wonderful when I wake up now.
I’ve spent a great deal of time travelling to see friends in various locations over the past five months since moving to this busy metropolis and the long days have certainly played havoc on my sleep bank account. Debit, debit, oops you’ve overdrawn… Those closest to me may have noticed I have become a little grouchy when tired but a note to you dear people: I am aware of it now and have taken measures to ensure Bubbly Bella is back and is here to stay. Earlier to bed, swimming and walking to work to ensure I am actually tired when my active mind hits my pillow- Oh and I’ve brought my bed back from sleepy Armidale… I can almost see my sleep account growing, by one jumping woolly sheep* at a time.
* I could easily substitute woolly sheep for Maximilian, my nocturnal cat who tends to perform running laps of my bedroom until I evict him around 2am. Maxi made the arduous journey with me in the car to Sydney last weekend with my good friend Mitch, to whom I owe a very big ‘Thank You’ for assisting with the move. Thank you, Mitch :o).
In other Bella news I thought I would update with a few pictures.
Remember when I mentioned I was going to visit the photo booth? Well here are some of the pictures from that day…

My beautiful friends Tim and Michael..

It was seriously cramped in that tiny photo booth, and YES, we are having as much fun as it looks like we're having...

These are some highlights from last weekend in Armidale when we visited the gorgeous Blue Hole…



Here are Tshiamo and Erin enjoying the picnic we brought down the hill with us...



The boulders at Blue Hole..I'm standing in the middle...



…And these pictures follow on from our harbour side visit to my sunny hometown. Ahh the memories- both from that weekend and my happy childhood.



Here I am captured in time by my good friend Stewart Hayes, looking at fossilised shells near Lake Tabourie..we were later stranded on this island when the tide came in.


We collected driftwood sticks for a fire...


Here I have captured Stew and Tim discussing some of life's mysteries on our tiny island around the blazing fire...




The next day at the harbour side market with some second-hand tools Tim purchased.



A BIG thank you to Stewart and Jade for their photos, mixed in amongst those from the photo booth and my own. I hope you have enjoyed the different photographic styles.

Right now I am going to stretch (never underestimate the value of a long stretch when you get out of your massive pillow-top bed- Bliss!) and I am going to make crepes for my French girlfriend Audrey (Read: adopted sister), whom I collected from a 21 hour flight from Paris, via Seoul yesterday morning (seriously, where does she get her energy from?).

Oh heck: I forgot to update the food portion of my blog!
Yesterday I made Greek green lentil soup and we enjoyed it after taking a long sun-drenched stroll around the Sydney Harbour foreshore. I also made Minestrone Primavera for lunch today and pizza dough ala Uncle Rudi Valentino’s Italian recipe for pizzas. I will make one pizza bianco and another with Spanish chorizo, tomato and chilli**.

This afternoon we will venture over to the annual Glebe Street Fair. Stay tuned for more exciting stories and a picture or two..

** Sadly in this blog post there are no food pictures as my new camera has a corrupted memory disk and I am too poor to replace it just yet ha ha! Sad but true and who wants to look at green lentil soup anyway? It tastes like a Greek dream but looks like green mush... To appease your interest in the Italian recipes, feel free to look up Franco Leoni’s Italian cookbook. The recipes are simple, yet mouth-wateringly delicious and you will not be disappointed.

Buon Appetito…or with my French company in mind, Bon Appétit!

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Goodbye Sleepy Armidale

On Tuesday my new housemate and one of my closest friends, Mr Tim Fisher bragged to one of his friend’s and fellow ‘foodie’ that I write a food blog. I felt rather guilty as it has been months since my last entry and decided it was time to update but how??? Since then I had been procrastinating about it until this morning when my friend Becky asked me if I still had a blog and it occurred to me that some people might actually enjoy reading it so here goes- and my sincerest apologies to all you closet blog readers…



In my short lifetime I have realised that time inevitably flies by when you are having fun, are really busy, or want something to last. In the past couple of months I ‘put the feelers out’ for a new job and new direction. Since embarking on this journey, I have had a nerve-wracking interview, been to 'The Gong' (where Tim made us this delicious French Toast breakfast) for a coastal weekend with Delia to learn to kite surf and forget all about the silly interview.... Then I somehow secured the job and have moved from my 'safe', quaint and endearing community (Read: Bubble) in Armidale to the big smoke. Sydney.


It's nice to wake up and walk 100 metres down the road for a lovely flat white.
In the past few months since I left you lingering on the idea of my sticky date pudding, I have formed new friendships, lived a little on the wild side and grown closer to my small circle of existing friends in the Dale. I have danced all night, studied all day, pained over my French, learnt two new songs on the piano, kissed someone, gone on a city adventure with amazing people, watched the sun rise from a rooftop spa (after leaping into the outdoor rooftop pool, in the rain, in the middle of Winter and middle of the night with my friend Jared Nicholas…ha I remembered his middle name). I’ve played around with the guitar, ran off the road in the wet in my little red Getz en route to my new city…and new home (Oh my God, how will I make this my new home?), I’ve started to read Under The Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes on the train to work each morning and I have inevitably cooked in my new, albeit small kitchen. Apple pie, chicken pad thai, yellow curry, Italian bread…..the list goes on.
I’m pleased I am now living in a terrace house, loaded with character and charm with the following amazing people: Tim, Lyla, Ali and Kristina.

This is the view towards the garage (mind our washing!), which has been converted into another room.

View from the terrace towards the house. I live above the kitchen so all the lovely aromas from downstairs waft up to my bedroom. It's wonderful!

I do miss my friends back home, in particular Erin, Jade, Kailee, Kate (about-to-pop) Kirby and Maxi (Yeah! Maxi cat!).

As the weeks progress I’ll post more entries about my Sydney adventures and a heads up for those who have read this far… Tonight I will bake my favourite peach cobbler for new and ‘old’ friends, then I will embark on a night time adventure with the one and only Michael ‘Mini Braz’ Brazier as we traverse five floors of dilapidated abandoned hospital with naught but torch light, enthusiasm (a touch of insanity?), and a keen sense of adventure. We will visit a 1950s style milk bar on Parramatta Road, a café that time has forgotten, have our pictures taken and printed in black and white from an old-school style ‘print-while-you-wait’ photo booth in Broadway, and will conclude our evening walking about the lights and sounds of Sydney town.

Tim just bounded up the stairs (thump, thump, thump!) and burst into my room with a freshly blended strawberry smoothie, complete with mint sprig and sweet strawberry garnish. I opened my window to let the cool breeze in and will enjoy my breakfast listening to the birds as I start my day. I love sleep ins on Saturdays!
Have a wonderful weekend!

Bella xx

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Sticky Date Pudding

Ohhh I forgot to mention I made a delicious, moist sticky date pudding late last week. Unfortunately I did not take pictures of the whole pudding, nor do I have 'pretty' pictures of a slice of it with the warm caramel sauce and fresh cream oozing over the top. Instead you will have to take my word for it that it was possibly the best pudding I have ever made and the ants will be chasing me as I devour the leftovers with my dear friends.

Erin and Dan were very pleased with how soft the moist pudding was as it slowly sprang back to shape after they dipped their spoons deep into the hot centre.

I've included a 'not-so-pretty' picture of one of the slices I heated the next day.
If you have to make a dessert this winter, sticky date pudding is both easy to prepare and far more delicious if homemade than any store bought imposter! Enjoy with dollop cream or a good quality vanilla bean ice cream but just be careful not to eat it all at once. Winter Sweets Perfection!

Mmmm....

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Bella Goes Home

I had a thought that I have spent more time in the kitchen than what I have creating my art in recent months so it is with this late realisation that I have decided to turn this blog into my food blog. As I create more pieces, I may add them but for the time being I will harness my creative expression through cooking and happily share with you possibly my greatest passion in this world- cooking.

It has been a month since I left the golden Autumn hues of Armidale for a warmer climate to spend time with my mother. Upon my return I was surprised to see what was left of the leaves on the spiny trees had turned cool red. I never realised red could make the views seem colder but it that is quite fitting as Armidale has settled in for the icy Winter chill.


Officially it is Winter tomorrow, though Armidale got a racing start and I caught a cold early. Talk about typical.
Before returning home I bought two small pumpkins and two pineapples at the market stall near my mother's home. I had a wonderful fairy godmother moment when I turned the first pumpkin into a creamy pumpkin soup for Erin and a friend of hers from her hometown.


One thing that did please me was to see my flatmate, Erin again and of course Maxi and the budgies. Since my return we've been cooking together in the kitchen. Mostly crock pots as I am finally using the wonderful Christmas gift from my grandparents and can highly recommend this cookery method if you live in this chilly region or can relate. There is something almost magical about the aromas as you come inside the front door.

We had the monthly markets in town yesterday so Erin and I bought our usual honey (redgum this time) and vegetables from the man who drives up from Tamworth. It is funny he knows us by face and despite visiting him for many months, yesterday was the first day we introduced ourselves. Our fresh vegetable supplier's name is John.
He always greets everyone with a smile and packs our vegetables into a small box that quickly becomes heavy as we make our way back to Erin's car.

I did see a few familiar faces at the markets but we were in a hurry to return because we'd also just played and won a game of football (soccer) and I scored my first goal so I was on a bit of a buzz, despite the chesty cough and blocked nose. Armidale isn't a town you ought to roam around in soccer shorts and a hoody if it's Winter and take my word for it, we froze.

We came home, started the gas heater, showered, and began the second half of our Sunday in the kitchen (Read: Perfect Sunday with football win, markets and cooking).
One chicken and vegetable crock pot 5 hours later, a dessert* and some fresh orange juice to blitz this cold and I was feeling relaxed and happy to be home with great company. I've attached some pictures of the pudding below to show you how I used the banana and soaked mixed fruit. I soaked the fruit in fresh orange juice and the sherry for a bit over half and hour and result was juicy, plump fruit sprinkled over the top of our leftover breadstick-turned-mouth-watering-pudding. That's the beauty of this dish, you can use virtually any bread you have or cakes and brioche.


*I baked a bread and butter pudding with banana and cream sherry for dessert. The dates complimented the banana beautifully and I am thankful Erin had some ripe bananas to experiment with in this dish.


Cooked it a little longer and I was so chuffed that I had to post a picture of me about to eat it... I know you want to make one now...


It's good to be home.

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