In my kitchen: May 2020: lockdown comfort food, craft and garden

It is interesting that it is getting colder in Melbourne and yet the cases of CoVid19 are decreasing at a incredibly hopeful rate.  Government plans for a temporary hospital and morgue have been put aside (for now).  Our federal government is pressuring our state government to send the kids back to school.  At home I am very aware of the colder weather, now that I am spending so much time there.  No long warming bike rides to work or sitting in a heated office.  So last week I headed out to Bunnings hardware store to buy a heater and a lamp for my home office corner of the bedroom that is getting very cold and dark in the autumn gloom.  (I like the idea of light sensors in theory but don't miss the sensors in my work office that never seem to know I am there and leave me in the dark too often unless I get out of my seat and dance.) And did I mention record-breaking heavy rains!  Ironic after the year started with bushfires and heatwaves that by end of April we have had as much rain in 4 months as we had in 12 months last year.

So it will come as no surprise that comfort food is on the table a lot lately.  The top photo is a version of my favourite vegetarian lasagne which I make from time to time.  I am still feeling very time-poor and low in energy, which does not make sense as you would think I have more of both being at home so much.  But I did not think I would be able to make the lasagne in one go.  So I made the tomato, beans and veg sauce on one night and served it with short pasta.  Then I made the lasagne the next night but as it always takes me a while I made the cheese sauce and put half into a mac and cheese that Sylvia loved and ate other leftovers to avoid a really late dinner.  It was worth my cunning plans to outwit my tiredness and kept me happy at dinner (and occasionally lunch) all week.

A couple of weeks ago I took this photo as it seemed to sum up my Sunday.  I baked bread, did the washing, found the Easter eggs when checking the pockets of a jumper of Sylvia's before it went into the washing machine, and relaxed some some samurai suduko.  I took some notes on my suduko page while listening to the radio.  Not terribly exciting but at least I could finish the day feeling I had a few achievements.

I made a Japanese curry with tofu nuggets.  Stay tuned to hear more about that!  The tofu nuggets used to be a favourite and I was surprised how much Sylvia still loved them.  I should make them more.  We had quite a few leftover and some were great in tacos with cheese, vegetables and salsa.

It is the time of year for stewed fruit.  I love stewed plums and we ate these mostly by the spoonful but occasionally with toffee yoghurt.  They were really good with a bit of cinnamon and a squeeze of orange juice.  I have some apples and more plums that need stewing when I find a bit more time.

After the great toilet paper shortage in the supermarkets, our shopping zen is much restored as the shelves return to normal.  Flour has been slower to return than toilet paper but the supermarkets have removed restrictions on how many products can be bought.  Even so I was so excited to see a lone 5kg bag of flour that I managed to tie it to the back of my bike with a cloth bag.  My 12.5kg bag of flour was just about finished.  When I went shopping a few days later, there were a few large bags as well as many more smaller packets but I was glad we had seen the flour when dropping into the supermarket because I had needed it for bread before my next visit.

One of the great things about Melbourne's CoVid19 diagnoses being so low is that it is more relaxing going to the supermarket.  No longer does a trip to the supermarket seems like a dangerous mission that might end in death, where you look at each person with suspicion and wonder who else has touched any product you pick up.  It feels a bit more normal now.  Though there is still a need for vigilance.  We still need to get through the winter.  But everyone is hoping to be out of lockdown soon.

And here is my e-bike.  I took this photo when out of my ride a couple of weekends ago after I bought some Good Brew Hibiscus, Lemongrass and Ginger Kombucha at Ray's.  It ended up in my kitchen where my bike is usually parked in my kitchen until I get some outside storage sorted.  I miss having kombucha in my weekly catch up with other mothers after school and buying it at the farmers market but it is still nice to bring home a bottle of it occasionally.  My biggest regret during lockdown is not having got a scoby started.

My garden is in flux outside my kitchen.  Basil and strawberries are on the way out, my baby leeks are ok, my parsley is returning after going to seek and the kale plant continues to thrive.  I am most excited about the parsley because it took me years to get it to the stage where now for a couple of years I have had it regrow in its little patch.

Our camelia is flowering.  It seems amazing, given how much it has been neglected, but the recent rains have helped.  The catnip is at the top of the photo.  I am still amazed how it thrives.  It is less surprising though, when I remember it is related to mint.  Mint is one of the hardiest plants in my little garden.

The fruitful lime tree is also a pleasant surprise after some garden neglect over summer.  Sadly the lemon is a bit sadder and not about to give us any fruit right now though there is some flowering happening.  The limes have started to fall off the tree so we made limeade tonight.

Sylvia has been getting through school at home in plenty of time and keeping herself amused at home with some craft projects.  We went out in search of autumn leaves for her to give faces.  They are so cute.  It is odd every now and again though when I find one of her leaves on the floor staring up at me!

She made bath bombs, which make for relaxing baths.  The pink bombs are scented with rose essential oil and decorated with rose petals from our garden.  The yellow bath bombs are flavoured with a buttered popcorn food flavouring.  Sylvia loves how they fizz in the bath and make her skin feel soft and sweet smelling.

And when we have cute cupcake papers and Sylvia sees an idea for making them into owls, she can't resist.  She did two of them and I had a go at one.  My green and blue owl at the back looks a bit unsure of itself.  They were not as easy to sticky tape together as they look!

As well as her own personal projects, it is interesting to see much more of Sylvia's school work than I usually would.  She has had some fun art projects to do at home.  Today she made the little tinfoil person and tomorrow she gets to play with coloured iceblocks!

I bought these Pumped Up Pumpkin Lentil Bites in the supermarket.  I think the amusing pumpkin character on the packet made me want them but I also liked that they were almost half lentil and chickpea flour with not too many other ingredients.  They tasted very pleasing but I am not buying them again as they have individually packaged bags and sometimes I can resist excess packaging.

And we have had some evenings playing board games.  I prefer Scrabble because I had forgotten how long Monopoly takes but Sylvia is rather fond of a long night of Monopoly.  Life in lockdown is odd at the moment but we are lucky in Melbourne that is is not as bad as elsewhere around the world.

I am sending this post to Sherry of Sherry's Pickings for the In My Kitchen event, that was started by Celia of Fig Jam and Lime Cordial,  I am grateful to Sherry for soldiering on despite all the upheaval as In My Kitchen is always a fun event. If you would like to join in, send your post to Sherry by 13th of the month.  Or just head over to her blog and visit more kitchens.