My Monthly Chronicles November 2024

In November, Australia recorded its hottest Spring on record.  It was hot then rainy and often humid.  That meant arriving at work soaked from the bike ride one morning followed by my first day travelling to this job by public transport due to more rain.  We then spent an afternoon at the air-conditioned shopping centre during a 37 C day.  We have also had lots of amazing meals and morning walks.  I have written about a fun day out at Melbourne Cat Cafe, Good Measure and the Queen Victoria Market and another going to Le Bajo Milkbar, Publique Bakery and Joy Exhibition at the Immigration Museum.  After the US Election it was some solace to finally cross over from Twitter (X) to BlueSky where I am enjoying reading about crazy politics in Australia and abroad.  And if you want to see what I have been eating at home, check out my November In My Kitchen post or read on to find out about eating out and outings.

As we reach December, Christmas looms large on the horizon.  But so many signs of festivities have already appeared in November.  I enjoyed seeing Christmas decorations in the lobby of one of the buildings where I work.  We seem to have more and more Australiana sneaking in to Christmas decorations in Melbourne.  The wattle and gum leaves in the Christmas tree decorations in the above picture are a case in point.  Usually I move around three offices a bit more but this city one is the only one I have visited in the last 2 weeks.  I wonder if my other two offices will be festooned when I see them in the next few days.

Tokyo Lamington, Carlton

One of the highlights of the month was doing the Onigiri Map trail.  I will write about it separately but will share a few highlights here.  We love Tokyo Lamington (258 Elgin Street, Carlton) and cannot have some onigiri without also sampling the wonderful lamingtons.  I had the neapolitan lamington and Sylvia had a strawberry orange lamington.  Sylvia loved hers.  I enjoyed mine and, while I appreciated the wafer crumb coating to go with the theme of a favourite ice cream, I missed the texture of the traditional desiccated coconut mixed with sweet icing on the outside.

Market Lane Coffee, Brunswick

Another participant in the onigiri trail is Chooka's Cafe, a favourite with us.  I went there on the trail with Sylvia and another time for lunch with Faye.  After our lunch, we had a walk down Sydney Road and stopped at Market Lane Coffee (383 Sydney Rd) for a hot drink.  I had an excellent hot chocolate.  Sylvia joined us because she had been out with her dad in Brunswick.  She and Faye both enjoyed the coffee.  The cafe had lots of scandi-style wooden panelling and plenty of space so it was a relaxing place to sit and chat.

Morning walks I

Sylvia ad I enjoyed a walk home from Market Lane Coffee and decided we would do some morning walks.  This was our first one to the Moreland train station.  Sylvia had a coffee and a raspberry and white chocolate muffin from the tiny Young Leopard (170B Moreland Rd, Brunswick).  I had a bite of the muffin and can attest that was delicious.  It was nice to sit at the playground by the train station before heading home again.

Movember morning tea

My current job is fascinating I miss all the foodie gatherings at my previous workplaces.  I am such a hot-desking vagabond I am not there enough to be about for much shared food.  In fact it was only after months at the job that I found that there is a regularly morning tea at one of the offices where I regularly go once a week but not on the day I am there.  So it was nice that we were able to help ourselves to the leftovers of an impressive Movember morning tea in November.  As well as the moustache cake and the moustache gingerbread men, someone had also brought in amazing jelly slices topped with blue jelly and a chocolate moustache on a stick! 

Tylers Milkbar, Preston I

We returned to Tylers MilkBar (656 Plenty Road, Preston) for lunch.  I had an amazing lunch with the humourous name "Oh Honey!" ($16).  It was a toastie with sweet potato and leek, goats cheese, hot honey and spinach.  Wonderfully sweet and salty, a little spicy and very messy.  I had to wash my hands after it but it was worth it.  Sylvia loved the Top of the Morning burger so much last time that she had it again.

Tylers Milkbar, Preston II

We could not resist sharing a Monte Carlo after our lunch.  On instagram it was described as "honey & butter cookie filled with whipped cream cheese and raspberry grappa jam".  This was a triumph of flavour over sweetness".  Monte carlos are perfect for Tylers retro aesthetic.  Just hearing the name makes me want to sing "there are Monte Carlos and shortbread creams" in an old Arnotts Assorted Creams advertisement.  But Tylers version was far superior to Arnotts.  While we ate, I enjoyed reading Eamon Donnelly's Milk Bars Book Vol II.  It was a great nostalgia trip.

Morning walks II 

I have done some of the morning walks alone.  One morning I walked to Coburg Lake and on another I rode my bike.  This sign gave me a laugh.  And I needed a laugh after the US presidential elections.

Media Watch on ABC: It is sad to see Paul Barry step away from hosting this short tv show that holds the media to account.  I enjoyed the retrospective in his last show and will look forward to Linton Besser taking over as host next year.

Rose Street Artist's Market, Fitzroy

We had two trips to Rose Street Artist's Market (69 Rose St).  You can see some purchases on In My Kitchen November post.  It has so many beautiful and quirky stalls: cat hats, soaps in the shape of dumplings, tiny crocheted floral earrings.  This plant stall was really beautiful and so welcome when we visited on a rainy day because it was undercover.  Among the plants were gorgeous vintage Japanese salt and pepper shakers.

Elektra Himalayan Alchemy House, Fitzroy

After the Rose Street Market, we went for lunch at Elektra (268 Brunswick St).  It is a riot of colour, fun and plants.  Sylvia had an iced Himalayan dirty chai that she loved.  I had the Crushed Avo-mandu ($24) with edamame, coconut feta, seasoning and Himalayan spiced scrambled tofu on gluten free bread.  It was quite spicy but really good, even the gluten free bread, which we all know is hard to get right!  Sylvia had the Mandala Pancakes ($25).  The green lentil pancakes were stacked with, hummus, spiced chickpeas, avo, mushroom, coconut yoghurt, ad tomato,  plus a cute mushroom on a skewer. 

Morning walks III

We had a morning walk after the rains stopped.  The gardens along the Upfield walking path were soaking.  The most bizarre sight was all the snails hanging off the spindly plants, looking for all the world like flowers or fruit.  The snail in the above photo amused me with its dramatic bending over backwards as it hangs off the plant.  How did I not know that snails hang off plants!

On the telly: We got a bellyful of laughs from The English Teacher (USA) and Fisk (Australia).  Kitty Flanagan is brilliant as Fisk.  She wrote the comedy series with her sister Penny Flanagan who made an impression on me with her sweet sweet harmonies in the band Club Hoy that I loved seeing when I was a student.

Project Turkish, Brunswick

We had a beautiful lunch at Project Turkish (80 Dawson Street).  Sylvia had The Spread: This was an impressive plate of scrambled eggs topped with sumac, cucumber, tomato, halloumi cheese, sigara borek, olives, Nutella, honey and cream, pide bread and a cup of Turkish tea. She had a vegetarian version with avocado and more haloumi was added instead of the meat.  I had a Kofta Platter which usually had lamb koftas but I had the vegan koftas with the spread of rice, salad, cacik (yoghurt and cucumber dip), simits and pide bread. 

While I was not so keen on my koftas which were cold patties of burghal wheat and too spicy for me, I loved my meal.  The simits (sesame covered bread rings) were the best I had had since being in Turkey.  I could have just eaten these with the lovely cacik.  Sylvia's sigara boreks were amazing.  We were too full to try the hyped sans sebastian cheesecake with its tempting drizzle of chocolate sauce.  And the staff were so friendly and interested in chatting to us about the food that we left with a warm glow.

Ondo, Melbourne CBD

As I have mentioned, we don't have lots of meals and morning teas at work so it was fun to have a group meal at Ondo (115 Little Lonsdale St).  This is a very elegant Korean restaurant.  I had the vegan version of the Yukhwe Bimibap (usually served with rare beef tartare - ugh).  I chose the single ($29) because some of sides in the set ($35) such as the soup were not vegetarian. It was absolutely delicious with a bed of garlic rice, gochujang, soybrean sprout, cucumber and crispy seaweed topped with a wonderful pile of thinly sliced fried tofu strips in a spicy sauce (maybe the gochujang).  What a revelation!  

I haven't eaten much Korean food in restaurants and I have never had it so beautifully presented.  And Ondo does a lime and pinapple kombucha.  One of my colleagues loved her matcha cloud drink.  But the colleagues who ordered the plain croissants were bemused at how they didn't even come with a pat of butter.  Having said that, the bakes looked wonderful.  So nice to get out for an early lunch but sad that the reason was that one of my colleagues was leaving.

Locale 542, Ascot Vale

We shared a La Francesca focaccia at Locale 542 (542B Mt Alexander Rd ).  The focaccia was great with the chargrilled vegies, pesto and cheese.  Unfortunately it is just a hole in a wall with a few pavement tables.  Usually this would be fine but not on the day they were spraying stinky weedkiller nearby.  I amused myself by taking a photo that made the tree across the road look like it was growing out of the pot on our table.

Jacarandas in bloom, Ascot Vale

While in Ascot Vale, we were in awe of all the jacarandas.  When in bloom in spring, the purple blossoms are so beautiful.  I am a little jealous of the people in this street who have jacarandas on their nature strips.  

Sylvia has additional reason to love them.  On her favourite The Best Aussie Christmas album, one song (Christmas where the gum trees grow) has the line "When the bloom of the jacaranda tree is here, Christmas time is near".

Olivia Spring Cafe, Moonee Ponds

It is a long time since my first visit to Olivia Spring Cafe (637 Mt Alexander Rd) in Moonee Ponds.  It is a plant-based restaurant that offers lots of vegie packed salads, noodles, banh mi etc with a Vietnamese influence.  We were running late for an appointment so I asked for a quick service and was really impressed.  

My Almighty Salad ($21) was a huge bowl of quinoa, lentil, mushroom, mixed lettuce, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, baby spinach, cucumber, alfaa sprouts, kimchi, almonds, and goji berry served with homemade white miso dressing.  It was delicious especially with the miso dressing.  But I had to take a tub of it home because I ran out of time to eat it and there was so much of it.  We both want to get back to try more from the extensive menu.

Daikokuten, Hawthorn East

We have been to all the Onigiri Map participants over a few days.  My favourite place was Daikokuten (1/398 Tooronga Rd).  I had a Sweet Purple Potato Croquette onigiri and Sylvia had the Tamago Onigiri.  They were amazingly delicious with lots of tasty seasoning coating the rice as well as a generous filling.  We are keen to return and try more dishes.

Labor cutting HECS debt is not a perfect policy – but why the feigned outrage over ‘fairness’? by Greg Jericho in the Guardian, 6 November 2024.

If George Washington was the father of America’s democracy, Donald Trump is its undertaker, by Peter Hartcher, The Age, 6 November 2024.

Media hysteria around Sofronoff report fuelled ‘mob mentality’, Bruce Lehrmann prosecutor Drumgold says, The Guardian, 5 November 2024. 

University of Wollongong to cut 137 jobs due to $35m drop in international enrolments, ABC News, 5 November 2024.  It's outrageous that these job cuts include a complete history department.

The social media ban is just another political smokescreen, by Eddy Jokovich and David Lewis in New Politics, 20 November 2024.

How meaningful reform by Labor is killed by the mainstream media, by Victoria Fielding in Independent Australia, 28 May 2024.  It is so sad that this is still true.

Australia’s immigration regime is violent and cruel. Labor’s rushed bills will devastate traumatised people, by Behrouz Boochani in The Guardian, 30 November 2024.

In My Kitchen: November 2024

The end of November shouldn't have these storms and heatwaves.  It feels like the middle of Summer rather than the end of Spring.  I am being spoilt by all the early stone fruit.  The garden is going gangbusters with this sun and rain.   The nights are long, which was just as well while our kitchen light was not working for a couple of weeks.  We have been eating well with soups, noodles, salads, and mostly managed to ignore all the festive goodies in the supermarket.  It has been a busy month that started with a scream platter and has ended with Sylvia sneaking in as much Christmas decorations around the house as she can.

Above is a bowl of the bounty of fruit available in Spring.  We are eating lots of stone fruit: nectarines, apricots and cherries as well as some berries and a banana. I recently shared easy chilled Strawberry and apricot chia puddings with granola that I made one warm night.

There has been a lot of soup for dinner and collage-making on the kitchen table.  We both love this cauliflower, potatoe and cheese soup.  I love it because I have got into the habit of buying whole bunches of celery.  I love it in a salad or just chopped for snacks.  When I make this soup, I add the rest of the celery bunch to it.  I fry the onion and celery, then add a chopped cauliflower and potato or two, add enough water (with stock powder, seasoning, herbs and mustard) to cover the vegetables and simmer until vegies are soft, then blend and then melt in grated cheese.  It is pretty easy and satisfying.

I also posted an easy Udon noodles with miso and edamame that has been made in the microwave regularly in our kitchen lately.

Since we did a great collage workshop last month, we have had a few collage sessions at the kitchen table.  This is my favourite.  It is the queen of the greens battling sugar mountain!  I'd love to find time to talk about our collaging as we have enjoyed it so much!

When Sylvia was at primary school, they had an annual trivia quiz fundraiser.  It is a while since I have been to one but I am still friends with some mums whose kids are still at the school and was invited to this year's quiz.  Each table had a dress up theme.  Ours was pirates so I made skull and crossbone pizza.  I made my favourite fast track sourdough pizza bases (v), vegan mozzarella, a tomato sauce with charcoal colouing and Sylvia made her skull mushrooms.  It didn't work quite as I had hoped but was still impressive.  The mushroom "crossbones" were too thin and the mozzarella "crossbones" were too thick.  I would like to try with a thinner nozzle for the crossbones.  Maybe next year I will try again.

I had my 15 year old daughter ring me while I was at a history talk because she could not find the vodka!  Argh! Don't judge me!  She was making vodka pasta for dinner.  At the time our kitchen light was not working so when I got home and helped to wipe up the spills in the dim light, I thought all was clean.  The next day when the sun was streaming through the window, it looked sadly less clean.

We enjoyed a couple of trips to the Rose Street Artist's Market in Fitzroy last month.  I loved this bowl with the green flowers by the lovely and talented Jade Tran.  It is always a pleasure to meet the person who made the crafts I buy.

Here are a few other bits and pieces we brought home from the Rose Street Market.  Sylvia was delighted to see the stalls of It-Atelier where she bought the sweet little gingerbread house and Moon Clayground where she got the lovely pottery acorn tree ornament.  The Australiana foodie postcard was also gorgeous.  Everything was but we just could only bring a few things home.

We love to grow cherry tomatoes in a pot over summer.  This year we have a tomato plant that went gangbusters after lots of sun and storms.  It is healthy enough it has survived some wilting during hot weather - I hope!  We are expecting a bumper crop.  You can barely see to the right of the tomato plant where we had a couple of smaller pots, also from my mum, with silverbeet and rhubarb.  It has struck me with rhubarb that when unfamiliar with a plant, it is so much harder to know when the fruit is ripe and ready to eat.

Sylvia continues to add to her garden of pots.  In fact it is taking over our table and chairs in the backyard.  It looks lovely despite it being harder to sit down out the back.

I am a big fan of minestrone.  Sylvia is a recent convert.  She brought me this Minestrone recipe to try.  I used kale instead of spinach and left out the green beans.  She loved it but she wasn't so keen on the celery still having a bit of crunch.  I love celery in a stew but it seems to take longer to cook than other vegetables. 

On another of the hot day, we made Edamame Salad with Smashed Cucumbers.  It was very green and very lovely but not perfect.  It surprised me that my favourite part of the salad was the cucumber.  In fact I wished there was more.  I found the edamame a bit much.  I think it needed more cooking to be soft enough.  And some avocado would be a nice addition.  I liked the dressing which was less spicy than intended - I only used 1 tsp of chilli paste instead of 1 tbsp of chilli oil - and a furikake garnish.  But I still prefer our favourite Pearl couscous, cucumber and rocket salad.

This photo does not show how amazing this version of Okinawa Tofu Rice.  I found a recipe in The Age newspaper weekend magazine and I loved the sound of taco rice with some Japanese flavourings.  The recipe called for minced beef so I found a vegetarian version with black beans and I combined the two recipes to make my own.  Crispy rice with melty cheese topped with beautifully flavoured beans, lettuce, tomato, avocado and spring onions.

I made the amazing Charred corn and quinoa salad with tahini ranch dressing again.  It was so good served with low carb Easy Cheesy Cauliflower Muffins.  They reminded me of years ago when substituting cauliflower rice for carbs was all the rage but these were tastier with lots of vegies.  The muffin recipe is easily gluten free.  Ours was not.  As well as breadcrumbs, we added a tablespoon or two of flour to bind the mixture.  It was such a tasty accompaniment to the salad and a great snack to take to work.

As soon as Sylvia heard miso and banana bread in the same sentence, she was making plans.  We found an amazing miso maple banana bread recipe and she baked it.  This was one of the best cakes I have had for ages.  I really loved the glaze made out of icing sugar, maple syrup and miso.  It was poured over the cake in the recipe but we used it to spread on the warm soft slices straight out of the oven.  It wasn't toothachingly sweet and went so well with the cake.

We were so amused to see a Pavlova Kombucha in the supermarket.  It had a cute label and was on special so we bought a couple of bottles and a couple more of the Merry Cherry kombucha.  The pavlova flavouring is quite subtle and the merry cherry flavouring is a bit too cherry but they are healthier than a lot of seasonal treats.  Kombucha is such a refreshing drink on the ridiculously hot days.

At the end of November we were doing an Onigiri Trail which was a great way to visit some different Japanese cafes and pantries.  At Haiku Future in Camberwell, we loved the great Japanese grocery.  So many beautiful tempting foods and cookware but it was all quite pricey.  I bought some Yuzu tea powder and Sylvia chose a packet of dorayaki (pancakes with red bean filling).  Both were items we love but are unlikely to encounter in your average shop!

And I need to finish with a festive touch and a expression of surprise at how quickly Christmas has come around.  We seems to have hit full festive mode as November has become December.  Sylvia has festooned the house with Christmas tea towels, tinsel, tiny trees, and of course a wreath on the door.  We bought this wreath last year but it needed some colour.  Sylvia found some little red berries and glued them on.  I have so much that I hope I have time to share.  Not all of it will appear on my blog. December is already shaping up to be a busy month.  What I can guarantee is that there will be Christmas posts ahead!

I am sending this post to Sherry of Sherry's Pickings for the In My Kitchen 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 to visit more kitchens and her gorgeous festive hand drawn header.