WW Cauliflower cheese burritos

I was not alone when I was excited by Susan's amazing cauliflower cheese sauce on Fat Free Vegan recently.   You only have to look at the comments to know that others were similarly intrigued by her lowfat vegan cheese sauce using blended cauliflower for the base.  I am pleased to report that it is brilliant.  Deliciously creamy and virtuously light.  In fact it was so good that my plans to bake enchiladas were abandoned in favour of a simpler burrito meal that featured this sauce.

As you might have seen in a recent post, we have been eating a lot of cauliflower lately.  I bought a white cauliflower for the sauce and then I found a purple one in Lygon Street.  We had just been to storytime at the library and then played at the park.  I don't have any photos of the huge autumn leaves collected for the kids to stick on a collage so I have a photo instead of dolly in her teddy bear's picnic mask today.

I had been planned to feature cauliflower in a Mexican meal.  I had the tortillas in the pantry.  My plan was to make Joanne's Cauliflower Enchiladas.  Once I found the purple cauliflower I thought I would do her Stacked Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas.  I roasted up some purple cauliflower and roasted onions in preparation.  While they cooked, I made the cheese sauce.

I didn't quite follow Susan's recipe.  For a start, I made this in the microwave and blended it with a hand held blender.  I added some soy milk and - after discovering the dregs of a packet of white miso were a bit crusty - I used tahini.  It was amazing.  And so ridiculously easy.  Andy healthy.  So I stopped there.

I realised dinner could be so much earlier and simpler.  I microwaved some broccoli to add to the onion and cauliflower and the I threw in some walnuts. The warm tortilla was spread thickly with cheese sauce, piled with vegies and then wrapped into a burrito.  It was delicious.  Not quite Mexican but inspired all the same. 

The next night I cooked brown rice, fried onions, microwaved vegies and topped them with cheese sauce.  Again the cheese sauce made a simple meal taste delicious.  Honestly, the cheese sauce was so good I wanted to just eat it by the spoonful.  (Having said that I think it was best on the first night.)  I still had some left and used the last of it in a lazy lunch.  I made some Heinz tomato sauce and addded besan, brown rice and cheese sauce.

I will definitely be making this sauce again.  I am just wondering if I am brave enough to make a purple sauce if I find a purple cauliflower again.  I love a bit of colour in my life but even I find the idea of purple sauce a bit confronting (albeit exciting).  But I can share some local colour with you.  Above is a photo of a newly painted signal faults box in Victoria Street mall in Coburg.  We sat eating our lunch yesterday watching the artist working on it.  Today we were excited to see it was finished. 

I am sending this cauliflower cheese sauce to Ricki's Wellness Weekends.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
One year ago: In my Kitchen: May 2012
Two years ago: CC Moody Blues - the juice and the colour
Three years ago: GF Peanut Butter & Choc Chip Cookies
Four years ago: Preserved Lemon Stews and Intuition
Five years ago: Baked Bean Soup

Two cauliflower cheese burritos

1/2 large cauliflower, chopped, roasted in olive oil and smoked salt
1 head of broccoli, chopped and microwaved
1 large onion, sliced and fried til soft and browned
1/3 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted
cauliflower cheese sauce (below)
tortillas

Mix cauliflower, broccoli, onion and walnuts.  Warm tortillas and cheese sauce.  Spread cheese sauce down the middle of the tortilla.  Pile vegie mixture on top of the cheese sauce.  Roll up tortilla into a burrito.

Cauliflower cheese sauce
Adapted from Fat Free Vegan
Makes over 2 cups

1 cup water
1/2 large cauliflower, chopped into florets
1 teaspoon granulated onion powder
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
1/8 teaspoon turmeric

1 cup soy milk 
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1 tablespoon tahini (or white miso)
1 tablespoon cornflour (cornstarch or potato starch)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tsp salt, or to taste

Microwave the water, cauliflower, onion powder, garlic, smoked paprika, mustard and turmeric in a largish microwave tub until the cauliflower is cooked so well that it is falling apart at the touch of a fork.  (I don't remember how long this took but I guess between 2 and 5 minutes - if unsure microwave for a minute at a time until done.)  Add remaining ingredients and blend with a hand held blender.  Microwave until thickened.  This took me about 3 minutes, stirring well after each minute (don't worry if there is a slight hardened 'crust' at the edge, just stir it in).  Our cheese sauce kept for a few days and was reheated in the microwave when required.

On the stereo:
The Crook of My Arm: Alasdair Roberts

Golden Syrup Dumplings and a confession

There was great excitement in our house a few days ago when I decided to make golden syrup dumplings for dessert.  I don't make proper dessert very often.  Sylvia was up on a chair begging to help with stirring.  She oohed and aahed at the golden syrup and tried to get a fingerful despite my stern words.  E just loves anything caramel, especially if there is no chocolate or fruit involved.  And everyone loves comforting dumplings on a cold wet evening.

So let me deviate from my recipe and make a confession about one of my favourite dumpling dishes.  I love making Mexicale Pie with Cornmeal Dumplings.  It is a recipe that I found soon after I went vegetarian twenty-odd years ago.  I posted about it on my blog soon after I started this blog about 6 years ago.  I still make it regularly.

It is a mystery and an embarrassment that it has taken me until last week to find that I had written 'plain flour' rather than 'self raising flour' in the blog version of the recipe.  I have now added baking powder to the recipe (which will turn plain flour into self raising flour).  I just hope there haven't been many people making horrid unleavened dumplings like the ones I made last week.  If you have, I apologise.  (But I suspect anyone who tried that recipe may never have returned to my blog.)

Fortunately the golden syrup dumplings were far more successful.  I combined the simple recipe from Kate at No Meat and Three Veg and the richer recipe from the Australian Women's Weekly's Old Fashioned Favourites.  It was very very sweet.  E and I loved them.  Sylvia loved cooking them more than eating them.

Next time I might scale back some of the sugar, as Kate did (and as I suspect is more old-fashioned) and even try a little lemon in the sauce as I have seen a few recipes do.  I also made the mistake of serving it with vanilla ice cream that was too sweet for the dumplings.  Regular cream would be preferable.  (I would just eat it without cream or ice cream but E would not.)  I also quite like my friend Will's way of baking the dumplings with a lump of chocolate in them.  Another time.

I have wanted to make golden syrup dumplings for a long time.  It is a dessert that I ate as a child.  A good old fashioned recipe.  Kate rolled hers into neat balls but I love the cloudy shapes that the dumplings make when dropped into the syrup.  They were more caramelly than I remember, possibly because I used brown sugar.  No complaints.

I am sure I will make them again.  The recipe is quick and simple, using only store cupboard ingredients.  Not at all fancy.  Exactly the sort of desserts I ate in my childhood.  I was sure it is the sort of thing to be made throughout Australia's history but there is very little online or in my history cookbooks.  Nevertheless eating golden syrup dumplings feels like your grandmother wrapping a warm blanket around you.  Just the sort of comfort food we need over winter.

I am sending this to Janice of Farmersgirl Kitchen for this month's Credit Card Munch. This is an event founded by Helen of Fuss Free Flavours and Camilla Fab Food for All that promotes frugal recipes. This recipes is frugal because it provides a delicious dessert without any fancy or expensive ingredients.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
One year ago: Buttery quince and almond cake
Two years ago: St Andrews Market - crafts in the bush
Three years ago: Sophie's moreish tofu - adapted
Four years ago: WTSIM ... Red Onion, Feta and Olive Tart
Five years ago: Promoting Promite

Golden Syrup Dumplings
adapted from Not Meat and three Veg and AWW Old Fashioned Favourites
serves 4

Dumplings:
1 cup self raising flour
2 tbsp butter or  margarine (I used Nuttelex)
80 milk (I used soy milk)
1 tbsp golden syrup

Sauce:
3 tbsp golden syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 and 1/4 cup water
1 tbsp lemon juice (I didn't use but will try it next time)

cream to serve

Rub butter into flour in a medium bowl.  Stir in milk and golden syrup to make a soft dough.

Put all ingredients for the sauce into a medium saucepan and bring to the boil.  Reduce to a simmer and gently drop spoonfuls of dumpling mixture into the saucepan.  You should have about 8 dumplings.

Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.  Turn over about once or twice to make sure all dumplings are covered with sauce.  Use a spoon to take a small piece of dumpling to test they are cooked.  The sauce should have thickened up.

Serve dumplings with sauce spooned over them.  Serve cream on the side if desired.

On the stereo:
Super Trouper: ABBA

Wintery Warm Vegetable and Lentil Salad

It was a weekend of colour and comfort, frustration and fixing, markets and modems.   I went to Fitzroy Market, found our modem had died*, ate a colourful vegetable salad, spent time at the park watching Sylvia climb trees, walked through piles of autumn leaves, experimented with a cauliflower pizza base and made homely golden syrup dumplings. 

Good fun was had at the Fitzroy Market.  The bbq stall had vegan vegetable and lentil soup in cups.  I sampled and enjoyed.  It was tasty, albeit not terribly filling.  The icy poles have been replaced by waffles.  I had a peanut butter waffle which was delicious.E played with the ukelele players, Sylvia climbed trees and had a mermaid painted on her face, I was amused by a Gene Simmons doll but more attracted to the sourdough loaves. 

On the home front, I had purple cauliflower.  I don't find it often.  I wished I hadn't seen a purple cauliflower while a whole white one sat in the fridge at home.  But it was too beautiful to leave in the shop.

One of my favourite radio talk back shows often has a segment called "What are the chances...?"  Here are a few of my odd coincidences and occurrences lately:

• We are not long over internet problems due to a new internet account and then on the weekend our modem dies.
• I ordered a book for E's birthday.  A month later I emailed the seller because the book still hadn't arrived.  An hour or two later the book arrived in the post.
• Sylvia and I took her bike to the petrol station to pump up the tyres.  On the way home one of her training wheels fell off while crossing a road in busy traffic.
• Would you believe that a four year old is more willing to believe that fairies turn on the street lights at nightfall than that there are electronic sensors!
• I bought a cardigan for Sylvia that was blue because I am not really into pink.  She is fixated on a good pink cardigan.  I give up.  I decided I would just use a pink permanent marker to colour in the white flowers on the blue cardigan which is bought as a knockabout top.  Yes life is crazy!

The salad was less crazy.  Just colourful.  When we got home from the Fitzroy Market I had some of the sourdough loaf of bread with peanut butter.  We had lovely blue sunny skies at the market but once we got home the grey clouds and rain reminded us that winter is truly on the way.  I was happy to turn on the oven and roast lots of vegies.

This was a great way to clear out the fridge.  The dressing was rather tasty too.  I loved the salad and found it very satisfying.  We ate it without an bread or grains on the side.  Perhaps this was due to scoffing the fresh bread in the afternoon.  The next day I had some of the leftovers for lunch and added some cooked rice I had in the fridge.  It was lovely with rice.  Just not necessary. 

I am sending this salad to Catherine of Cates Cates for her Anyone can cook fabulous vegetarian food challenge.  The theme for May is legumes.  I considered two tins of legumes in this salad but decided to use some feta as well.  The feta gave the salad a freshness but it is not essential because there are so many other great flavours.  More beans or some walnuts would make a lovely substitute or you could just leave it out.

*I meant to post this yesterday but the internet was playing up.  We woke and found our modem was not working.  Sylvia was concerned when we said it might be the power because she had just seen a Peppa Pig episode called Power Cut.  We bought a new modem and E spent quite some time getting it working.  Then Blogger refused to load my photos!  Then today the modem stopped again.  And started. Not great when combined with a narky child and bad television reception.  Argh!  Let's just think about how pretty the salad looked!

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
One year ago: The University of Melbourne - historic buildings and lazy lunches
Two years ago: My ten rules for food blogging
Three years ago: Dan Lepard’s multigrain and honey bread
Four years ago: Pumpkin Hummus
Five years ago: Condensed Milk: Heirloom Comfort Food

Warm lentil and vegetable salad
Adapted from In Pursuit of More
Serves 2-3 as a main meal

Olive oil
Salt
2 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced
1/2 large purple cauliflower, cut into small florets
8 brussels sprouts, halved and roughly sliced
1 large onion
400g tin brown lentils

Dressing:
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce

To serve:
feta
fresh basil
black pepper
spinach

Firstly chop and roast the vegetables.  I put them in three separate trays, each with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt and then I tossed to check they had enough oil to cover them.  I roasted the sweet potato for 60 to 70 minutes at 230 C until soft and charred slightly around the edges.  The purple cauliflower roasted for 40 to 50 minutes at 230 C until the edges of florets are slightly charred and it is soft but not falling apart.  The brussels sprouts were roasted for 20 minutes at 230 C - enough for the small bits to char but some of the larger slices were not quite soft. 

While the vegetables roast, heat 2 to 3 tsp of olive oil on a large heavy based non-stick frypan.  Fry the onion over medium to high heat for about 10 to 20 minutes until soft and slightly charred at the edges.

Make the dressing by shaking all ingredients in a jar (with a lid on).

I cooked my vegetables in batches so by the end some had cooled.  I mixed all roasted vegetables, onions and lentils in one of the roasting tins and returned to the oven for about 10 minutes at 180 C to warm everything through.

Once the salad was warmed, I tossed about 2/3 to 3/4 of dressing through.  I arranged chopped spinach in the dinner bowls, served salad over the spinach, then sprinkled with feta, scattered with torn basil leaves and gave a good grind of black pepper.

NOTE: my oven is slow so other more efficient ovens may bake vegies quicker and at lower temperatures!

On the Stereo:
Oak, Ash, Thorn: Various Artists

Mel's Tofu Fish Fingers

I didn't grow up with fancy fresh fish and seafood.  If we didn't have fish and chips on a Friday night in my Catholic childhood, the other fishy alternative was sometimes fish fingers.  Often with salad.  Dipped in a blob of mayonnaise. It has long been a dream of mine to find a vegetarian alternative.  So I was excited to see Mel posting about her Tofu Fish Fingers.

I made these some months ago so my memory is not brilliant.  Photos help me remember that I went to some lengths to press the tofu (see above).  My notes remind me that we went to a friend's place and unexpectedly stayed for dinner on the night I planned to make them, so they marinated for 30 hours.  But I can't remember how I arrived at a stir fry sauce full of molasses.  An online recipe, I am sure.

I finally made the fishfingers after catching up with friends at the botanic gardens.  In an ideal world I would have waited for dinner and served the fishfingers with chips or potato gems, just like my mum would do.  As it was, we had a grumpy hungry child on the way home from the gardens, so we shared a tub of chips at the train station. 

At home I made Sylvia's dinner, put together the dipping bowls, chased Sylvia away from them, put her into her pajamas, crumbed the tofu while E read her a story, put her to sleep, fried the fishfingers.  No fancy side dishes.  I suspect a fish finger or two might have made its way into a sandwich with mayo.  In retrospect, it is amazing I took any photos the night I made them. 

The next night I made more of an effort with the sides and made oven baked chips.  I refried the leftover fishfingers.  Everything looked rather well cooked but it tasted delicious.

The crumb coating was crispy and delightful.  Given how good the crumb coating was in my memory of fishfingers, this was important.  The taste however was not strong enough and tasted a wee bit too much of (blackstrap) molasses.   Sylvia loved them.  That is no surprise given her fondness for tofu and nori.  It is a great reason to try again.

I suspect I need to get my 'stir fry sauce' ingredients tweaked.  I also would love to try a tofu x-press like Mel's.  Next time I think I might try some more soy sauce and a less intense sweetener.  I enjoyed it but the slabs of tofu were missing a flaky fish texture.  I wonder if it would be possible to grate the tofu and then press into fingers.  Actually there are a few interesting recipes that combine vegies and flours that I might try.  So while it is not quite what I was hoping for, I am far closer to finding my ideal vego fish fingers.

Other vegetarian fish finger recipes out there:

• Beer battered tofu fish fingers - The Sweet Life 
• Faux fish fingers - Cook Vegetarian
• Old Bay 'fish' cakes (in fish finger shape) - Tal Ronnen, the Conscious Cook
• "Redwoods" style fish style fingers (made with gluten flour) - Vegetarian and Vegan Society of Queensland forum
• Tofu fish sticks - Schmooed Food
• Vegan fish sticks (with zucchini and gluten flour) - Veg Web
• Vegetarian fish fingers (with pasta, celery and boiled egg!) - Best Recipes

served with:

• Tartare sauce - Where's the Beef?

Tofu "fish" fingers
Adapted from Notes from the Vegan Feast Kitchen via Veganise This!
makes about 14 fishfingers

500g firm tofu, drained and pressed
1 cup water
3 tablespoons vegetarian stir fry sauce (I used 2 tbsp plus 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp molasses)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tablespoon raw sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 - 1 sheet of nori, shredded in a spice grinder (I shredded 1 sheet with scissors)

For the coating:
3/4 cup plain flour
3/4 cup soy milk
1 and 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
4 toast slices of wholemeal bread, processed into breadcrumbs (I used fresh bread)
Peanut oil or other vegetable oil, for shallow frying

Cut the tofu into thirds lengthwise, then cut each piece of tofu into 6 even sized sticks. Whisk together the water, vegetarian stir fry sauce, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, sugar, salt and nori in a deep sided dish and add the tofu ensuring that it is well coated in the marinade. Allow to rest covered in the refrigerator for several hours if possible, or at least 30 minutes.

Organise 3 bowls for coating the tofu fingers, plain flour in the first, soy milk mixed with apple cider vinegar in the second and breadcrumbs in the third.

Heat oil in a deep sided frying pan. Test the oil's readiness by placing a breadcrumb into the oil, if it sizzles the oil is hot enough. Cook the tofu fingers in batches. Fry on one side for about 3 minutes and then flip over and cook on the other side for a further 3 minutes. Remove and place on paper towels to drain the excess oil.

On the stereo:
No Earthly Man - Alasdair Roberts

Caramel cake and hand biscuits

The other night I found myself in a sticky situation.  Literally.  It was a matter of a cake for a community event.  I've seen many an accomplished baker quiver at the very mention of caramel.  Yet I blithely put my faith in the Australian Women's Weekly and set out to bake a caramel cake.  Fortunately after throwing out two batches of caramel icing, I finally listened to intuition and made the sort of icing that would make my foremothers proud.

The cake was a variation on a basic butter cake.  But I couldn't work out the recipe for the caramel icing.  It said to stir brown sugar and butter until sugar melted and then to simmer without stirring for 3 minutes.  Then to stir in icing sugar.  The first time I think I overcooked the caramel and the icing was so grainy.  The second time I thought I had the caramel lovely and creamy but when I added the icing sugar it seized into a crystallised sugary mixture that set hard as soon as it cooled.

I actually thought the second caramel might work.  Yet once it was on the cake and set hard it was horrible.  Too sweet and sugary and flaked off at the merest touch.  I almost just left it at home.  But then I thought about how I would make the icing and decided to have a third go.  It was a moment when I heard the force calling me.  Only I think it was the voices of my mother and her mother and her mother and so on.  They were telling me to just do what we had always done and mix icing sugar with butter.  I added a bit of golden syrup for a caramel flavour.  Bingo!

I also made some plain biscuits and made them into hand shapes to reflect the theme of the community event.  (Raise your hand!)  I used the sugar cookies recipe that we used to make cookie wands a few years back.  I put a few on sticks but didn't have the energy to do them all on sticks.  I followed my mum's advice and only added one third cup of sugar and found that they were not at all sweet.  Probably not a bad thing at an event where there was lots of sweet food.

There were lots of great food at the event.  After all my stress about the cake, it was the biscuits that got all the attention.  It was probably the brilliant idea (I wish it was mine) to stand the biscuits on sticks in a wedge of watermelon.  E was happy I brought home some cake with soft buttery icing.  Sylvia seemed quite taken with the cake too.  The next day she was at her toy stove making caramel berry cake for Dolly's birthday.

Has anyone tried to make this caramel icing (or frosting)?  Do you have any advice on this caramel icing or a foolproof caramel icing recipe?

I am sending this to Archana at Tangy Minds for Bake Fest, an event founded by Vardhini of Cook's Joy.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
One year ago: WW Beetroot, chickpea, tomato and kale bowl
Two years ago:  Blogging: reflections and ch-ch-ch-changes
Three years ago: Gingerbread, mixed peel and grandmothers
Four years ago: Heidi’s Chocolate Cake
Five years ago: Rosy Russian Bread (and Grumpy Baker)

Caramel cake
Adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly Cakes and Slices Cookbook

Cake:
125g butter
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
1 tbsp golden syrup
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup self raising flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup milk (I used soy milk)

Caramel icing:
2-3 tbsp of nuttalex (or other margarine or butter)
about 3 heaped dessertspoons of icing sugar
1 tsp golden syrup
trickle of milk

Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla essence,  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then the golden syrup.  Gently stir in flours, cinnamon and milk.  Bake in moderate oven at 180 C until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.  (It took me about 1 hour and 15 min but the AWW recipe suggested 50 minutes.)  Sit in the tin for 5 minutes and then turn on to a wire rack to cool.

When cool, make the icing by mixing all the ingredients together until you have a smooth spreadable mixture.  Spread icing over cake.

On the stereo:
Back to basics: Billy Bragg

Yong Green Food: a raw adventure and more street art

Welcome to the brave new world where we eat raw food and draw on walls.  Oh wait!  That sounds like the life of a caveman.  I guess that Peter Allen was right when he sang "everything old is new again".  Well I am all for these new trends if the raw pizza at Yong Green Food and the street art of Fitzroy, Collingwood and Brunswick is anything to go by. 

Actually I am by no means a huge fan of raw food.  I read a lot about it on blogs but haven't dabbled in it much myself.  Having a partner who even thinks salads should be eaten warm, does not encourage much experimenting with raw.  I have read enough to have been curious about Yong Green Food for a while now.  So when my friend Will asked me to recommend a vegetarian restaurant for lunch, I had no hesitation in suggesting it.

It was not quite what he had in mind but he was up for a challenge.  So was Heather.  The menu has both raw and cooked foods and presents a tyranny of choice for vegetarians used to a token menu item.

Will chose the Kelp Pad Thai (above) - kelp noodles with vegies and a creamy chilli cashew sauce.  The kelp noodles were chewy and toothsome and the rest was very spicy. I asked him for his verdict and he answered in a typical convoluted way.  According to Will, salads only ever get a 3 or 4 out of 10.  The pad thai was a glorified salad.  He gave it 8 out of 10 - as a salad.  Make of that what you will!

I was excited to have the (raw) Hawaiian live pizza.  It had a macadamia-nut bread base, topped with tomato sauce, avocado, pineapple, olives, sprouts, cherry tomatoes and cashew cheese sauce.  It was wonderful.  Not at all comparable to regular cheesy pizza.  So much lighter and healthier.  Full of wonderful flavours and textures.  The salad that came with it was just green leaves with a dressing.  Nice dressing but not really my sort of salad.  I'd go back for the pizza though.

Heather chose the quinoa fritters with a spicy coconut sauce from the cooked menu.  They were crispy and tasty.  As with all the meals, the dish looked very attractive.  She was very pleased with her choice.

We decided to share a raw chocolate cheesecake for dessert.  At first I wasn't too impressed.  I love cheesecake to have a bit of cheesiness.  Otherwise it is just a cream filling.  Once I accepted it was more like a chocolate mousse tart than a cheesecake I loved the creamy chocolate filling.

Finally I tried the kombucha.  This is a drink I have read about on enough blogs to be curious.  The menu described it as fermented tea with lime and mint.  It was a cold drink with quite a sharp edge to it, possibly due to the mint.  I worried it was a little whiffy but wasn't sure if it was my drink or someone else's meal.

We were all very pleased with my choice of Yong's Green Food for lunch.  Will and Heather both enjoyed their meal and enjoyed something different.  I felt like I had satisfied a curiosity born of blogging.  Wonder if I am passing on the curiosity to you?

If you enjoy inner city life, you might also be interested to see more street art.  I posted quite a few pictures of choice street art recently.  There are some art pieces that I pass occasionally and decided to include on the blog as well.  Of course, as soon as I decided this, I found other pieces I wanted to share.  Like this Witch and her Cat on King Willian Street, Fitzroy.  We stumbled across it walking back to the car after lunch at Yong Green Food.

Another piece of art we saw that same day was this painting of an Aboriginal boy on Gertrude Street (between Brunswick Street and Nicholson Street).  I liked it, not just for the pensive beauty of the young face, but also because it reflects how Gertrude Street has been a meeting place for Aboriginal people. 

I have noticed pockets of street art as I go about.  One is near Jewell train station in Brunswick.  I have passed the art on the train and my bike, so I recently took some photos on a sunny day.  The above decorative letters are reminiscent of the Medieval Books of Hours I've seen in museums in Europe.  Any idea what they spell?  Cake-????

This above picture is a favourite piece of art.  The image could be a man catching a woman who was falling or it might be a woman flying with a man following at her heels.  I love the dream-like quality that is even more so when you speed past on a train and wonder if it was just a vision.  It is a paper picture pasted on the wall and is starting to peel off.  I will be sad when it is gone, though I love the ephemeral nature of street art.

Street art also has a great sense of humour.  Don't you love the picture of the hulk about to crush the car at the car park!  Be afraid.

A train speeding towards the train line.  Self referential, anyone?

I am quite fond of this cute little fish who needs a bigger fish bowl.  It has made me smile often while cycling past on the bike path.

From Brunswick to Budd Street in Collingwood.  Budd Street, north of Johnston Street is a hotbed of street art.  Take this Brick Wall Ink.  There is so much artwork and poetry here than it feels more like a student magazine than a wall.

It is a wall of much beauty and fun.  I wish it had been here when I lived in Collingwood.  I would have gone out of my way to walk past it every time I walked home.

Houses on a wall.  I love pictures of houses.  Perhaps that is why Sylvia spends so much time drawing houses lately.

In fact there are so many interesting images in Budd Street - or just off it - that I had to make a collage.  Most of these are from Brick Wall Ink.

Another lovely image.  I hope there truly is an angel watching over our city.

An intriguing image.  Don't Stop.  Don't stop what?  When I photographed this wall, I had a conversation with a passerby about whether the pattern on the wall was part of the larger image or encroaching on it.

Around the corner on Wellington Street is a sister picture to Don't Stop.  If I had been able to get the full wall into my picture you would see that this one says Won't Stop.  Curiouser and curiouser, said Alice.

These odd characters in Wellington Street, Clifton Hill are opposite a school wall.  Someone told me that that girls schools had high walls to stop the boys getting in.  Perhaps St John's School has a high wall to stop kids hanging over the wall getting ideas about painting on walls.  Can you spot the woman walking by in front of the picture?

On the other side of this building is the below picture.  As well as showing strong women, it has some verse by Shelton Lea.  I don't know what it all means.  Yet I still like to drive past when we are in the area.

So there you have a feast for the stomach (if you like to feast vicariously) and a feast for the eyes.  Goodness Melbourne has changed since I visited as a child and then lived here as a student before travelling.  I love the place.

Yong Green Food
421 Brunswick Street
Fitzroy
03 9417 3338