Stovetop lasagna two ways: in a soup and in a sausage ragu (vegetarian)

I love lasagna.  But it is an effort.  I was excited to hear about lasagna soup.  It fits my lifestyle so much better.  To make a traditional lasagna involves lots of pans and steps.  There is a saucepan for the the vegetable/protein filling, a frypan for the cheese sauce, the even layering in the roasting tin and then waiting for it to bake.  It is a revelation to hear that you can have all the joy of sheets of pasta with a creamy sauce of lots of vegies and protein with a melty cheesy topping with a lot less of the slog!

Sylvia first made lasagna soup last year.  It was amazing with a vegan bolognaise made with a cauliflower, walnuts and mushrooms minced meat from this vegan ragu recipe.  It was rich and thick and reminded me of a lasagna that is hot out of the oven and will not hold its shape.  Sylvia liked this because it was easier to make bolognaise sauce and break up up lasagna sheets rather than doing the layering.  She topped it with basil and spoonfuls of ricotta that had been mixed with parmesan, salt and pepper.  The soup with ricotta mixed through tasted great.  There was grated cheese in the soup but it was not so noticeable. 

When I asked for the recipe, I found she did not have one.  This year I had a go at a lasagna soup based on warm happy memories of Sylvias soup but making it even easier without making a vegan minced meat.  I could not find the recipe of my dreams so I read a few and then did my own thing.  

I made this lasagna soup in August in the depths of wintery weather.  It was the third soup I had made in a week and still we welcomed its comforting mass of creamy beany pasta.  I used cashew cream because I prefer its taste to dairy cream and Sylvia prefers it because it does not upset her stomach like pasta.  But we used mozzarella and ricotto when serving it.  It would not be difficult to convert to all vegan or all dairy if it suited.

As a bonus, it used up lasagna sheets that were years out of date.  They were found in the shadows at the back of the pantry and were still good to eat.  This is the beauty of this soup: it is great for using up broken bits of lasagna and the odd ends that have not fit the exacting nature of layers of traditional lasagna.  There are so many reasons to make this soup!

I found Em the Nutritionist's social media after linking from The Annoyed Thyroid's IMK post.  While idling browsing her recipes, I found this one, which it was intended for carnivores.  The creamy ragu looked great delicious and was easy enough to convert to vegetarian.  

The downside to not layer the lasagna sheets is that it clumps together.  I guess the Italians had figured this out!  I have found that even when stirring lasagna sheets into the ragu a little at a time, it still clumps I have tried to separate them with a spoon and fork but have given up on ever getting rid of all the sheets the cling to each other.  It just is a nature of the dish.  And they still cook through.  The upside is that it is satisfying to break up the lasagna sheets and not have to be precious about trying to keep them whole as I layer them.  (There is always one that breaks when it shouldn't and another that I break badly as I try to fit it to the dish in a traditional lasagna.) 

As always the fresh kale piles high, well over the top of my pan but, like the leek and mushroom, it cooks down.  What seems like so many vegetables does not look quite so generous a helping once cooked into a dish.  Despite this, I really love all the vegies in this dish.  The veg and sausages are so satisfying that it would be fine to make this vegan without cream cheese or mozzarella (and you would need to check that your sausages are vegan).  I love the lasagna sheets getting crisp edges under the grill.

 

I also love the cheese crisping up under the grill.  a bit of crisp lasagna as well as golden brown gooey lasagna very pleasing in the topping.  I think I did this one under low heat on the grill because it took longer than the one below that I made tonight.

Indeed, we loved it so much that within two weeks of making it, we had it for dinner again.  This time there seemed to be more vegies but it was excellent yet again.  I didn't have chestnut mushrooms this time so I used more button mushrooms but also added in some wood ear and one chestnut mushroom from an exotic mushroom pack.  It is one of those dishes that seems different every time and can be tailored to what is on hand.  Sylvia is already declaring it a new favourite dish to eat over and over.  It is a good one coming into summer.  Although it is quite rich, at least we don't need to turn on the oven for this lasagna!

More recipes with vegetarian sausages on Green Gourmet Giraffe:

• Baked curried sausages (vegetarian) (gf, v)  
• Creamy vegan gnocchi soup with sausage and kale (v) 
• Pumpkin and sausage roast (v) 
• Tomato sausage barley soup (v)
• Warm pasta, lentil and sausage salad (v)
  
  

Vegetarian Sausage Ragu with Broken Lasagne
Adapted from Em the Nutritionist's tiktok
Serves 6-8

6 vegetarian sausages (300g)
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 large leek, diced

2 sticks celery, diced

200g chestnut mushrooms, diced

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tbsp fresh sage, chopped (or 1 tsp rosemary)

600-800ml boiling water


2 teaspoon of vegetable stock powder
1-2 heaped tbsp cream cheese

1 heaped tsp seeded mustard

250g packet of lasagna, broken into pieces


2 large handfuls of kale, torn
Handful or two of grated mozzarella

Heat a deep ovenproof pan (mine was cast iron) over medium heat.  Meanwhile, slice and then chop sausages into small uneven pieces.  Fry the sausages over the 5 or so minutes in olive oil, stirring occasionally so it has a chance to brown.  Add leek, celery, mushrooms, sage and garlic with a pinch of salt and some freshly ground pepper.  If it is too dry, add some more olive oil (vegetarian sausages don't release all that oil like meat sausages).  I added these as I chopped them so they were soft and cooked down by the time I finished but if you want to add together then fry for about 10-15 minutes.

Add the boiling water (I added 750ml at first but found I needed to add more water), stock powder, cream cheese, and mustard,  Check and adjust seasoning.  Gradually add lasagna sheets.  (I piled my lasagna sheets on top of each other but it would be better to add a few and stir to cover with sauce, add a few more and stir and so on and until they are all in the pan.  This will reduce the amount of trying to separate the lasagna sheets so they don't clump together and cook unevenly.)  Bring to the boil and simmer for about 15 minutes until the lasagna is almost cooked.  Stir occasionally to make sure the pasta is not sticking to the bottom of the pan.  Add more water if it seems to be sticking.

Stir in kale and simmer for a minute or two, then  remove from heat.  Sprinkle with mozzarella and place pan under the grill (broiler) for 5 to 10 minutes until cheese is golden brown. Let sit for 5-10 minutes (if you can).  Serve hot or warm.  Can be kept in a fridge a few days or frozen.

Vegetarian Lasagna Soup 
An original Green Gourmet Giraffe recipe 
inspired by Midwest Foodie, Easy Cheesey Vegetarian, and Ela Vegan
Serves 

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2-3 sticks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp dried Italian herbs
400g tin of diced tomatoes
3 cups water 
2 tbsp tomato paste
400g tin of brown lentils, rinsed and drained
400g tin of canellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp salt (I used smoked salt)
1 tsp stock powder
freshly ground black pepper
4or 5 large kale leaves, ripped into small pieces 
2/3 cup cashews*
1 1/2 cup water 
2 tbsp pesto
handful mozzarella
few spoonfuls of ricotta cheese 

Fry onion, celery and carrots in oil over medium heat until softened (5-10 min).  Stir in tinned tomatoes, 3 cups of water, tomato paste, lentils, canellini beans, mustard, salt, stock powder and pepper.  Check and adjust seasoning.  Break lasagna sheets into the soup, gradually adding with stirring between every few sheets so they don't clump so much.  Boil then simmer for about 10 minutes .  While it is boiling, blitz cashews and 1 1/2 cup water to make a pouring cashew cream (*I make cashew cream in a high powered blender - if your blender is less powerful either soak cashews and use cashew butter).  Once lasagna is almost cooked, stir in cashew cream, water and pesto.  Simmer for a few minutes until kale is bright green and softened.  Serve and swoon!

Notes: Since making the recipe I have added extra tomato paste and cashews to the recipe because it needed a bit more.  It is quite flexible with adding more or less of the vegies or changing the herbs and pesto flavourings.  I saw a few recipes use red lentils and that would be a nice alternative to the beans and brown lentils, and perhaps I will try it some time with a vegan mince meat.
 

On the stereo:
The Köln Concert: Keith Jarrett

Potter Gallery First Nations exhibition: 65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art

 

The Potter Museum of Art at the University of Melbourne has had a large extension and renovation over the past few years.  To celebrate it's reopening, its first exhibition in this new space is an exhibition of First Nations art that goes by the name of "65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art".   The title does not mention Indigenous people but, given that Australia was invaded by the British only less than 250 years ago,  to frame Australian history as being 65,000 years illustrates how the colonisers are only a small part of the country's rich culture.  It also places First Nations people at the centre of Australian history since colonisation.

The extensive exhibition, 10 years in the making, is curated by Distinguished Professor Marcia Langton, Senior Curator Judith Ryan, and Associate Curator Shanysa McConville.   Marcia Langton was the first Indigenous professor at the University of Melbourne and coincidentally was there on both my visits (one visit was not enough) and I would have loved to have congratulated her on the achievement if she had not been busy talking to other people.  The gorgeous colourful design, the thoughtful text, the helpful staff and the selection of artwork give a great insight into Aboriginal history and the diversity of First Nations art styles in Australia.  

I have written up this overview, with my best intentions to be respectful as a non-Indigenous person.  I loved the exhibition so much but must note that what I am sharing here is by no means comprehensive.  Over 400 works of art can be viewed in this exhibition with rooms on three levels.  It is a lot and yet not enough to represent all of Australia's First Nations.  The exhibition is intense and joyful and spiritual and thoughtful and painful.  It covers distressing issues such as colonisation, massacres, stolen generations and Aboriginal deaths in custody.  Yet it also a wonderful celebration of the richness of Indigenous culture and creativity.

Art of Victoria and Lutruwita (Tasmania), Ground floor:

This room of 19th Century artworks and modern pieces reflecting on first contact give an insight into this brutal period of colonial history,  

 

This wall displays the diversity in this room with portraits and other illustrations by European artists, small artworks by Indigenous artists and historic artifacts.  These are images traditionally associated with the history of the Aboriginal people in South East Australia.  

As with Australian post-colonisation history, the European perspective (in the large paintings) stands out but if we look we will see the Indigenous perspective.  The top left artwork is Corroboree (1890), an ink drawing by Tommy McRae, an Indigenous artist of the Kwat Kwat people from north-eastern Victoria.  It shows a line of Wathaurong men performing a ceremonial dance, with one white-skinned, hat-wearing man who is thought to be William Buckley, an escaped convict who lived among Indigenous Australians from 1803 to 1855.  The ship in the background is perhaps the Calcutta from which Buckley escaped.

This painting, Tunnerminerwait and Maulboyheenner by Marlene Gilson is from 2015, memorialises the first public hanging in Melbourne of two Palawa 'outlaws, Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner for killing two whalers.  The textbook below the painting belonged to Irish born Redmond Barry, inaugural Chancellor of the University of Melbourne and judge.  He had written notes here as he questioned both the reliability of the evidence and the legal basis of British authority over the Aboriginal defendants who weren't citizens.  

The hanging of the two men on 20 January 1842 was held on what is now the corner of Bowen and Franklin streets in front of 5,000 people.  This part of the painting shows the different sections of society watching: soldiers, colonists and Aboriginal people.  What was going through their minds?

First Encounter and Responses, Ground floor:

This room has artwork that re-interprets traditional first contact images from an Indigenous viewpoint.  The above The Island VI from The Island series by Brook Andrew has red painted layers in 2008 over a photo in the mid-19th Century.  

Opposite this are sculptures by Lin Onus called Taking the Children Away, 1992.  Seeing these broke my heart with the grey harshness of the European official and the drooping defeated sorrowful posture of the young Aboriginal child who has been wrenched form family and culture as depicted by the rich colours.  The stolen generations history is shameful when we look at the amount of hurt, broken relationships and loss of culture it has caused in many Aboriginal families.

Drawings by inmates of the Fannie Bay Gaol were hailed as the 'Dawn of Art' when they were displayed in the 1888-89 Melbourne Centennial Exhibition. This was the first time that works by Indigenous artists were exhibited and acknowledged as art in Australia.  This artwork above from the exhibition has the following text under the title: "Original Sketches and Drawings by Aboriginal Natives of the Northern Territory of South Australia, executed without the aid of a master. Exhibited by J. G. Knight, Deputy Sheriff, Palmerston, NT." This way of describing their art says a lot about the way these artists were seen.

Celebration of Women Artists in stairwell:

 

This fibre art display includes baskets, string bags, fish traps and ŋanmarra mats from across Arnhem Land and woven eel traps and rusted metal narrbong (bush bags) from South East Australia.

The website says "These contemporary works of art are at the forefront of the exhibition, in acknowledgement of the importance and continuity of women’s intergenerational cultural knowledge."  I read that Marcia Langton noticed that there were no artworks by women in the University's collection so the curators commissioned works to include.  I am not clear if these were among these commissioned works but they are a great contribution to the exhibition.

Art of Central and Western Dessert, First Floor:

This gallery showcases the linear designs and dot paintings developed at Papunya in 1971–72.  Traditional designs that were drawn on the ground, bodies and artefacts were transferred onto board and canvas.  The layers of dots were used to camouflage sensitive images.   This was the foundation of the Western Desert art movement.  I wish I had taken more time in this room but there is so much to see.

Art of Arnhem Land: First Floor 

 

I loved this gallery of the earthy ochre bark paintings against the striking green walls.  The painting are from the Yolnu people in Arnhem Land at the top end of the Northern Territory.  The paintings with their cross hatching and x-ray styles are very different to the dot painting of the Western Desert artworks.

Many of the painting were collected by anthropologists in the early to mid 20th Century, including the significant ethnographic art collection of Donald Thomson collected between 1935-1942.

 

Above are bark paintings of the ancestral spirits and spirit figures that were commissioned from 1912 onward by Baldwin Spencer (then professor of biology at The University of Melbourne) and Paddy Cahill in exchange for sticks of tobacco.  It is notable that these non-Indigenous collectors did not record the names of the Indigenous artists.

The First Nations experience of first contact with the British colonisers happened so much later than in the North than in the South East of Australia.  Compare this art with that in the Art of Victoria and Lutruwita room where so much culture had already being taken from Indigenous people by the mid 19th Century that much of the remaining artistic representations from that time are by European artists

At the end of the Arnhem Land room was a display of 21st Century art.  The modern bright blues and pinks are so different to the traditional earthy brown and white pigments.  The large blue picture is "Welcoming the refugees / Scott Morrison and the treasure 2020-2021" by Dhambit Munungurr.  It shows her Djapu clan welcoming the refugees who came across the water with escorts and ceremony, while the depiction of the politicians is Yolnu pushing them out to sea in a canoe!

Art of Groote Eylandt, First Floor

 

The artworks here, from an island off the coast of the Northern Territory, were collected in the 1940s by a curator of anthropological collections at the University of Melbourne.  Many of their paintings are on a black background and range from traditional animals to the ships of first contact.

"A new Australia flag" was painted in 1969 by Liwukaŋ Bukulatjpi.  He was the brother of David Burrumarra,and an important leader of the Warramiri clan at Galiwin’ku (Elcho Island). The quote from Burramarra in the information panel focuses on the need for a new Australian flag to replace the present one which symbolises war.  This, he says, is will give recognition of Aboriginal people in the past and present and be a step towards bringing black and white together.
 

Scientific Racism: At the University of Melbourne and Beyond, First Floor 

The painting of Professor Richard Berry in front of a traditional academic desk becomes disturbing when seen in the context of the truth telling in this room.  He is one of the researchers who studied Indigenous remains stolen from burial sites to justify their racist eugenic theories of Aboriginal people being inferior and defective. The exhibits in this room have photos, letters, academic journals and replicas of bones to tell the story of what was done to Aboriginal people without their consent.  In recent years, Richard Berry has been so reviled by activists that they succeeded in arguing for the Richard Berry Building to be renamed.

Alongside the exhibition of the wrongs done to Aboriginal people are contemporary artworks responding  to these distressing acts.  "A preponderance of Aboriginal blood" by Judy Watson in 2005 is a powerful look at the archives.  She has taken copies of archival documents that demonstrate the oppression of Aboriginal people in an era of constriction and control.  She then showed this harm by simulating blood stains to blot the pages.

In this room the University grapples with its own shameful history.  As a white non-Indigenous person, it is uncomfortable to be confronted with the sins of my ancestors (it is uncomfortable even to write about this room) but important to understand and see it from an Indigenous point of view.  

Cultural Astronomy, Second floor 

From the Scientific Racism room, I went upstairs to a more celebratory display in the Cultural Astronomy room and yet there are still disturbing men in these stories.  The Tjanpi Desert Weavers created a large installation using woven wild grasses that conjures forth the ancestral story of the Kungkarangkalpa (Seven Sisters) in 2020.  The sister flee across country, relentlessly pursued by Wati Nyiru who wants to court the eldest sister!  They finally launch into the sky to be transformed into the stars that form the Pleiades constellation. Wati Nyiru follows to become the Orion constellation.

This grouping of cultural objects, paintings and sculptures is from Cape York, Arnhem Land, the Tiwi Islands, and the Kimberley.  I spent some time wondering at The Last Supper (2021) by Jonathan 'World Peace' Bush from the Tiwi Island.  The joyous scene with traditional ochre colours and motifs is such a different interpretation of the bible story that I grew up with.  Notable is the kangaroo on the plate in the middle of the supper.  (Or is it wallaby?)  Also from the Tiwi Island are the figures carved from ironwood from the 1950s.

I loved this bright painting called "Milky Way Dreaming" (1986) by Larry Jungarrayi Spencer, a Warlpiri from the Tanami Desert, northwest of Alice Springs.  The Milky Way, stretching across the sky, represents the Jungarrayi-Japaljarri ancestral beings who created it.  This is a great example of how dot painting can make it seems that the picture is moving like a living creation.
 

Resistance and Innovation: in city and bush studios, Second Floor

This gallery features more recent artists who use art as a form of political activism over the late 20th and early 21st Centuries.  These artworks showed more confidence and range in moving away from traditional styles while still retaining elements of them.  Here we see bright colours and fun as well as pain and anger.

I found the paintings representing Indigenous people in prison very moving.  Above is a painting called Deaths in Custody (1993) by Vincent Serico who is a Waka Waka / Kabi Kabi man, from south east Queensland First Nations.  He paints Mopoke the owl watching over the prisoners.  The owl is a powerful symbol of their connection to their country, culture and family.   

Art of the Kimberly, Second floor

This was the last room that I visited in the exhibition and it left me feeling heavy of heart.  Perhaps that is why I have found it difficult to write about.  This is an art movement that grew out of an unsettled time of dislocation and unemployment for Gija people in the East Kimberley region, Western Australia.  In 1998, Gija-owned Jirrawun Aboriginal Arts was formed. The Jirrawun artists' ochre canvases conceptually mapped their lands and recorded sites of massacres and other atrocities in their region.  No wonder there is so much black in these paintings!

The above painting is Three Nyawana in Yariny Country (2016) by Rusty Peters.  It is of a Garnkiny (Moon) Dreaming place.  The story of the place starts with an old man who fell in love with a beautiful woman of the wrong 'skin' so a relationship with her was forbidden.  He was instead meant to marry her daughters but he got shame and walked away, turning into Garnkiny (the moon) and cursed everyone, turning these Nyawana (straight skin or potential wives) into trees. 

More of the artworks in the room related to massacres that were so awful it was difficult to read the information panels.  This painting of "Major" (1999) by Freddie Timms had a different angle on the violence done to Indigenous people.  Gija hero Major, a Wardaman rebel and bushranger, was shot dead in 1908 by the Western Australian police after killing whites at Blackfella Creek.  Major is said to have acted in retribution for terrible murders and atrocities and, after killing the whites, he rescued Timms' grandmother and her sister.  The style brings together elements of dot painting and the influence of (non-Indigenous) Sidney Nolan's iconic Ned Kelly paintings.

This exhibition sits uneasily in a university that has done great harm to Indigenous people but in recent years has celebrated the resilience and centrality of their culture in our nation, albeit in a patchy way.  Truth telling requires looking at Indigenous history through the lens of empathy rather than the lens of other.  It can be confronting to try to understand history with nuance where it is not the good and the bad but real people who strive to be good but don't always manage it because our lives are so very complicated.  

After seeing this groundbreaking exhibition, I was unable to walk past the (copies of) European sculptures that adorn the walls of the Potter Gallery without feeling conflicted.  But I was very glad to have the opportunity to view  and learn about the amazing breadth of artworks from such talented and diverse First Nation artists.

65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art
The Potter Museum of Art (aka the Potter Gallery)
Corner of Swanston St and Masson Rd, Parkville
30 May – 23 November 2025
https://potter-museum.unimelb.edu.au/whats-on/exhibitions/65000-years

NOTE: It has taken me too long to write this to share it before the exhibition finishes tomorrow.  If you don't have an opportunity to visit, there are ways to learn more about it.  In writing this, I have drawn on the Potter Gallery's website as well as the rave reviews with photos and insights from the exhibition in Artlink, The Guardian, The Conversation, ABC News, The Art Newspaper, The Age and SBS NITV.  There is also a book of essays and artworks, with the same title, as a companion to the exhibition.

Dubai chocolate caterpillar cake and a Halloween lunch

 

Early in November, we had a small lunch for family to remember our sons, Alex and Ian. I wanted an easy cake and decided on a classic caterpillar based on one I used to admire in The Australian Women's Weekly Children's Birthday Cake Book.  In the end it was quite different.  Ours was a cake for an adult gathering so we took inspiration from the Dubai chocolate sensation and sandwiched two chocolate brownie cupcakes together with Dubai spread which were covered with pistachio frosting and coconut.  They were amazing.  Sylvia also did a very impressive savoury Halloween platter and few sweet Halloween treats.

Dubai chocolate caterpillar cake  

My inspiration started with a Dubai chocolate cake I wanted to make.  Sylvia wanted a Hungry Caterpillar cake.  That meant lots of different greens in the body and more detail in the face.  We compromised with a hairy caterpillar cake from the Women's Weekly with the Dubai chocolate flavours.  The energy I saved on having a simple caterpillar cake was instead required for the complexity of the Dubai chocolate components.  I tried to minimise the work I needed to do on the day.

The chocolate cupcakes were made the previous night.  They had to be intensely chocolate. I found a brownie cupcake I had made previously because it had so much melted chocolate.  In my notes I had written it was a bit dry.  This time I cooked it for 20 minutes but it was still on the dry side.  I read a post on brownie cupcakes that advised that it should cook til the crumbs (not wet batter) cling to the skewer and it if got dry it cooked too much.  I tried these cupcakes again for 15 minutes and found them a nice soft almost fudgy consistency but the skewer came out clean.  There is a delicate balance between getting the cupcakes to hold their shape but not having them dry.

The Dubai spread (aka Dubai chocolate cream or Dubai pistachio crunch to name a few alternatives) sounds quite easy. The pistachio cream is a blend of white chocolate and pistachios in a similar way that nutella is a blend of milk chocolate and hazelnuts. To make the spread, I intended to fry the defrosted packet of the thin strands known as Kataifi pastry and mix with the pistachio cream.  On the day of the lunch I was tired enough to return to our local Al Alamy Middle Eastern grocery and buy a jar of the Bayt al Helou Dubai spread so I could skip that step.

 

Now I also had the pistachio cream that I had bought at Al Alamy the day before the lunch when I had been more optimistic about my energy levels.  It was not wasted.  I had also intended to add it to a buttercream frosting to make our pistachio frosting.  This ended up super sweet.  A bit of salt tamed it.  I had liked the suggestion of a spoonful of tahini but Sylvia was not keen.  The colour was a light mustard yellow with hint of green.  I added a couple of drops of a good green food dye and liked the look much better.  

I was not sure how thick the frosting had to be to cover the chocolate cupcakes.  I considered dipping them like lamingtons but worried that the pistachio cream would be too watered down to make any impact.  The thicker pistachio cream worked well with the slightly dry cupcakes to add the creaminess they needed.
 

 

Putting the cupcakes together was messy work.   Initially I had planned to make domed cupcakes and dig out a little plug of chocolate cake so I could fill the hole with Dubai spread and then return the plug in place like these pistachio cupcakes.  into the cupcake.  My half spheres of cupcake were too small so I trimmed the flat end and sandwiched Dubai spread between them. It was a really stiff spread that needed some oomph to spread it.  The mixture of creamy pistachio cream and crunchy kataifi pastry strands tasted so amazing it was tempting to abandon the cake and just eat the jar of spread.

I ended up with only 7 balls by which time they seemed long enough for a caterpillar and plenty to feed our small group of 5 people.  They were very rich and we had leftovers after the lunch.  I really loved these cupcake balls with lots of crunchy Dubai spread and creamy pistachio frosting giving style to the chocolate cupcakes.  

Savoury Halloween Treats 

 

I was able to concentrate on the cake while Sylvia made the rest of the lunch.  She loves Halloween food and made some recipes she has made before like the pumpkin cheese ball and she also tried out a few new ideas like the jalapeno poppers and apple teeth.  I just arranged them on the platter with a couple of plate for some sweet treats.  Here is a rundown of what she made:

caterpullar, apple teeth - biscoff, rice bubbles, strawberry tongues,  oreo bats, mummy japapeno poppers, cheese pumpkin, cucumber ghosts, carrot ghosts 

 

Witches fingers: vegetarian sausages were wrapped in sheets of puff pastry with lines scored by a sharp knife.  At this point they were frozen overnight.  The net day Sylvia put a blob of tomato sauce (ketchup) on one end and placed an almond half on the the sauce.  They were baked from frozen in a hot oven until  golden brown.  We didn't consider glazing them before they went in the oven and I am still unsure if we should have.  They were very popular!

 

Mummy jalapeno poppers:  We could not find jalapenos so Sylvia halved mini capsicums instead.  She mixed cream cheese with chill paste, smoked paprika and stock powder.  This was stuffed in the capsicum halves which were then wrapped in strips of puff pastry like mummies and gave them slices of olives stuffed with piemento.  Then we baked them til the pastry was golden brown.

 

Jack Skellington brie: Sylvia used a sharp knife and a steady hand to cut a Jack Skellington face in a round of brie and fill the holes with berry jam.  It made an impressive centrepiece for the platter.

Ghost carrots and cucumbers: Sylvia cut thin slices of carrot and cucumber.  Then she made a zig zag line at the bottom of each and use a metal straw to cut out the eyes and mouths .  Bits of vegetables got stuck in the straw and she had to blow a few out.  They added fresh vegetables, colour and a touch of spookiness to the platter.

Pumpkin cheese ball: Sylvia mixed cream cheese with grated red leicester cheese, grated smoked cheddar cheese, chopped olives and chilli paste (which she used instead of the chopped pickled jalapenos that she usually uses).  Then she spread out a large square of clingwrap on the table, scattered it with grated red leicester cheese and wrapped it up in a ball.  She wrapped a few rubber bands around it to make pumpkin-like indents and let it firm up in the fridge overnight.  When she served it, she unwrapped it and added a stalk from a capsicum on top.  It was so delicious!

Sweet Halloween Treats 

Oreo bats: Sylvia took a third of the oreos and twisted them apart into two biscuits.  Then she cut them in half.  The other two third of the oreos were twisted apart.  She used pistachio paste to glue down the two halves as wings and pressed the other half of the cookie on top.  (She says next time she would used melted chocolate so it would harden up and keep them in place better.)  She found the pistachio paste good for adding candy eyes and choc chip eyebrows. These were pretty easy and cute.

Apple mouths: Sylvia cut green apples in eighths (fourths were too chunky).  Then she cut a wedge out of the skinned edge and covered the insides with pistachio spread.  She cut the strawberries into strips that were thin enough to curl and arranged them on the  pistachio spread like a tongue.  The she placed rice bubbles (rice krispies) around the edge of the pistachio spread like teeth.  They were a nice fruity snack but the pistachio paste was quite sweet.
 

Postscript - comparison with the Women's Weekly's caterpillar cake

Before posting this I realised I had only briefly looked at the picture in the Women's Weekly children's birthday cake book.  So I read the recipe properly and found that their cake is called a Crawly Caterpillar cake and hadn't that much in common with my fancier cake.  Their cake is a vanilla cake I never liked a lot and they cover it in"vienna cream' and green dyed shredded coconut.  It looks much meaner than my caterpillar and a bit silly with the cardboard bonnet.  I always loved the look of it until I had my own caterpillar cake.  

Their directions are so much simpler than my own.  I was initially confused by their instructions to "press fork in sides of cake, cover entire cakes with Vienna cream".  Then I realised they meant to stick a fork in so you could hold the cake a loft while you covered each little cake in icing/frosting.  The writing back then might have been far briefer because print is so much more limited than online but they did have good ideas.  I will definitely try sticking a cake on a fork if I make this again! the cake

If I made this cake for kids I would make a boring vanilla cake because kids are far more interested in a fun looking cake than a great tasting cake and no one does nuts for kids birthdays these days.  However I don't have as many kids to make cakes for any more so I am happy to spend a bit more time on a delicious cake with a simple decoration, even though my teenage kid had made me promise to do a proper Hungry Caterpillar cake soon!  Watch this space!

More fun cakes on Green Gourmet Giraffe blog that are suitable for adults:

Aboriginal flag cake 
Choc Mint Drip cake with candy mountain 
Halloween cake - eyes in the dark 
Medieval castle cake for chocolate lovers
Vegemite jar cake

Dubai chocolate caterpillar cake 
A Green Gourmet Giraffe original recipe

• 12-24 round/domed chocolate brownie cupcakes - see below
• Pistachio frosting - see below
• Desiccated coconut - about 1 cup
• 1/2 to 1 cup Dubai paste (pistachio cream mixed with fried katafi pastry)
• 2 candy eyes, choc chips or raisins to be eyes
• 2 toothpicks 

If you your brownie cupcakes are regular size cupcakes, slice in half.  Prepare your half spheres or half cupcakes if necessary trim the flat edge to be smooth and even for spreading.  

Take a generous spoonful of Dubai paste and spread over the flat edge of a cupcake half sphere and sandwich together with another sphere.  You might need to smooth the Dubai paste at the join of the half spheres if it is jagged and sticking out.  

Spread frosting around the edge of the ball and roll in coconut.  I found that handling the ball with my fingers left dints in the balls.  I would try using two forks next time to minimise the marks from handling.  (If the cake was sturdy enough, I would try to stick a fork in so that it could hold the cake aloft or in place while I covered it in the frosting.  (See discussion of the Women's Weekly recipe in the introductory text.)

Arrange the balls on a plate (I only used 7 balls but could have used more if there were more people at the lunch).  At one end stick the choc chips or candy eyes or raisins on with extra frosting to a ball to represent eyes.  Stick toothpicks in to be like antennae.

Chocolate brownie cupcakes
Adapted from Cupcakes Galore via Green Gourmet Giraffe 
Makes 24 small cupcakes or 12 regular cupcakes

180g chocolate
80g butter
120g brown sugar
2 eggs
150g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt 

Preheat oven to 180 C and grease or line 1-2 x 12 hole cupcake trays (The tray I used is known as a gem scone baking tray in Australia but was not a heavy cast iron.  It has half sphere holes.  For the brownie cupcakes a silicone tray would be better than a cast iron tray which is common in gem scone baking trays because you want brownies under rather than over baked.  I didn't quite fill each hole and I got 2 x 12 trays of the small cupcakes.  Alternatively you could do 12 cupcakes and split them in half but your tray might not give the round shape that my tray gave.)

Melt butter, chocolate and sugar.  Stir in eggs one at a time to make it glossy and thick. Gently stir in flour, baking powder and salt until combined.  

Spoon mixture into prepared cupcake holes so they are only about 2/3 full.  Bake for 12 to 16 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out with some crumbs on it. (If the skewer is clean it is too dry.)  Cool on a wire rack 

Pistachio buttercream frosting 
adapted from Annika Eats

1/2 (125g) cup butter, softened
1/2 cup pistachio cream
1 tbsp tahini (optional)
1 1/4 cup icing sugar (aka powdered sugar)
1/8 tsp fine salt
1-2 drops of green food dye (optional)

Use electric beaters to beat the butter and pistachio cream (and tahini if using) until creamy.  Gradually add the icing sugar, a few dessertspoons at a time, and then salt until well mixed.  If you want the cream to be greener, add a drop or two of green food dye.

On the Stereo:
Eyes Open: Snow Patrol

My Monthly Chronicles: October 2025

October was a busy month with a holiday in Daylesford as well as exhibitions, concerts, shopping, convents - yes we visited two former convents -  and good food.  (See my In My Kitchen post for more about our food at home in October.)  Our spring weather has been a yo yo between bleak grey skies of rain clouds and glorious sunshine.  The above photo was taken a on a lovely warm day when the the sunshine dappled the shadows of the magnificent trees of the Flagstaff gardens in the CBD. 

I had ridden my bike to pick up a Colin Thompson book that Sylvia had ordered.  I highly recommend you check out his wonderfully detailed whimsical illustrations in his children's books.  The roadworks at Victoria Street near the Vic Market meant a detour to my usual route, taking me past the Flagstaff Gardens.  It was such a pleasure to see many people enjoying the sunshine in such a splendid green space in the city centre of Melbourne.

Tylers Milkbar, Preston

We dropped in on our favourite Tylers Milkbar (656 Plenty Road).   It was the last weeks of the winter menu so we enjoyed drinks and soup from the specials menu.  I had a milo hot chocolate with home made marshmallows.  Sylvia had an iced popcorn matcha latte.  The Roasted broccoli soup was thick and spiced and warming with a generous sprinkling of pangratta.  We also shared the wonderful "There's a leek in my toastie" filled with cheese, garlic, leek, pickles and tofu bacon.

Holiday in Daylesford

We had a wonderful short holiday in rural western Victoria at Daylesford.  The Daylesford Convent Gallery was one of the highlights with its gorgeous artwork and architecture . Above is the view of the town from a balcony at the gallery on a  on a sunny day.   It was also one of the fine places we ate well.  You can read my posts about our trip at:

• Daylesford Accommodation 
• Daylesford Hotel: a grand country pub
• Daylesford Convent Gallery  
• Daylesford eating out: Cliffys, Hot Chocolate Apothecary and Daylesford Larder 
• 12 Daylesford shopping and sightseeing highlights 

 

Abbotsford Farmers Market

We got along to the Abbotsford Farmers Market in the grounds of the former convent in Heliers St, Abbotsford which operates on the second Saturday of the month.  It was a smaller market than I expected but had some good food: baking fresh fruit and veg, coffees, drinks, preserves, plants, pottery etc.  We stopped for a chese and vegemite pretzel - so good - and an amazing banana bread iced matcha latte.  If we hadn't planned to have lunch, we would have been tempted by more food to eat there but as it was, we mostly bought food to take home.

Abbotsford Convent

I enjoyed wandering around the heritage convent buildings while at the Abbotsford Farmers Market.  The old convent once housed an industrial school and Magdalen Laundries for 'wayward girls'.  Today it is a community space with artists studios and many events.  I got so lost exploring the warren of corridors and staircases - including the grand Bishop's Parlour - that I forgot to go outside to wander around the beautiful heritage gardens at the back.  We spent most time enjoying the splendid courtyard (see above photo) with the cloistered walkways, a huge in the middle  and a jungle of plants under a pergola.   

Cam's Kiosk, Abbotsford Convent

At the beginning of the year I had promised to take Sylvia to Cam's Kiosk and then life got in the way so finally she put this it in my diary.  It was a really beautiful place to eat.  There were seats outside on the edge of the courtyard.  We chose to sit inside in a generous sunlit room with an arched doorway, a wooden bar and warm lamp shades on stylish arched stands.  

I was pleased to find a new fizzy drink called T.I.N.A. which stands for This Is Non Alcoholic!  They have a few flavours.  Mine was high mountain oolong, calamansi, rose & lemon myrtle.  It was not cheap at $12 a can but was lovely and refreshing with subtle flavours.  To eat I had the vegan Fusilli with porcini & cashew cream, cime di rapa and pangrattato ($30) and Sylvia had the Spaghetti with Napoli sauce, buffalo mozzarella and oregano ($30).  We loved our meals with fantastic fresh pasta. 

The pasta sauces were so good that we would have loved bread to mop it up at the end.  But I was not prepared to pay $14 for the sourdough bread with carraway butter.  It made me yearn for the old school Italian restaurants which serve free bread with a bowl of pasta.  I wrote about this sort of restaurant this month in my post on Tiamo in Carlton,

Holy Grail Plant, Abbotsford Convent

We dropped in to the pop up Holy Grail Plant store in another door off the courtyard at Abbotsford Convent.  It was beautifully arranged with a gorgeous couch around the fireplace which was only fitting for the rare and exotic plants that were some of the most expensive I have never seen.  Prices of $500and $1000 are unusal where we usually buy plants!

At the Movies:  Saw The Ballad Wallis Island about a has-been musician paid handsomely to play a concert at a tiny island in the UK.  It was a heartwarming story with an unexpected twist and some great humour.

Son in Law, CDB Melbourne

We love the cute bao at Son-in-Law and decided to eat there before we went to the Water Music concert in the city.  We were ordered more than we could eat: a blue and a pink savoury bao each filled with fried tofu, cucumber, [omitted peanuts], coriander, tamarind ($7.5), tempura broccoli with chilli sauce ($8), a bowl of chips ($7), crispy soft boil eggs with tamarind sauce ($9), a green tea filled sweet alien bao ($7.80).  The baos are so gorgeous but the green filled green alien was the one we really ooed and ahed over on this visit.  We took some leftovers with us after a fine meal.

Water Music by Brandenberg Orchestra

I happened to see free tickets at work for the Water Music concert in the Melbourne Recital Centre in Southbank.  I don't see a lot of classical music live but this filled me with a desire to attend more.  The Brandenberg Orchestra, with their conductor playing the harpischord, played Handel's Water Music interspersed by modern compositions by composers Nick Wales and Rrawun Maymuru (Nguy Gapu, Harbour Light, and Cloud Beneath the Sea).

I was absolutely mesmerised. The 18th Century triumphant music of Handel was written for the King George 1 to ride a barge down the Thames in London to demonstrate his power to the crowds. The 25th Century pieces had music that brought to mind swirling, rippling, running water.  The music from different periods and cultures were brought together seamlessly with the most impressive moments being when sung in his Indigenous language.  He is a Yolgnu songman from North Arnnham land in the far north of Australia and the grandson of the late esteemed Dr Yumupingu.  I wished so many more people could see this amazing performance.

Archibald Prize 2025, Geelong Gallery

The Archibald Prize is the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia.  Each year it tours to different regions and this year was on show at Geelong Gallery. This regional gallery is still in the fine Victorian building (above) that I remember visiting as a child.  It is in a great creative community precinct of impressive architecture with the Geelong Performing Arts Centre opposite and you can see a part of the impressive dome of the new Geelong Library building in the top right of the photo.

Archibald Prize portraits 2025, Geelong Gallery

This was my third visit an exhibition of the Archibald Prize.  Each time I have been blown away by the diversity, the whimsy, the beauty, the skill and the creativity of the portraits.  Here is just a sample of the portraits.   So many different ways to paint a person.  Some of the faces are familiar Australian celebrities, such as Aaron Chen, Kathy Lette, Nicole Kidman, Miranda Otto and Costa Georgiadis.  Others are artists, Indigenous people, politicians and other notable people.  It was great to take time to read about each painting and subject before heading to see my parents and siblings in Geelong for my dad's birthday afternoon tea.  My mum had done a great job of baking scones, profiteroles, hedgehog and Guinness chocolate cake.

Tammy's Boreks, Preston Market

We dropped in at Tammy's Boreks at Preston Market for their famous vegan boreks.  I was most impressed with the Green Power borek with caramelized onion, green lentils & kale (above), but also enjoyed tasting the Spicy lamb and potato and the Cheese and spinach.  I hope to return to try other boreks.

On the telly: I had a lovely evening repairing a hole in a bathmat while watching Jarvis Cocker interviewed on Take 5 where celebrities discuss 5 favourite songs (a bit like dessert island discs).  I love his stories.  They are always entertaining and insightful.

Highpoint shopping centre food court

I always have trouble finding something that is satisfying and healthy at a shopping mall food court.  So I was pleased to have a vegie bento box at Highpoint Shopping Centre food court recently.  It had silken tofu on salad, pickles, seaweed salad, a crispy potato croquette, corn on the cob, edamame and rice.  Sylvia loved having veggie sushi handrolls and seaweed inari.  We had some clothes and Christmas presents to buy before heading down to Geelong to see my mum before she flew to Ireland to visit my sister in Dublin.
 

Baguette Studio, North Melbourne

I try to take lunch to work most of the time but occasionally go for a walk to buy something to eat.  Recently I went to Baguette Studios (15–27 Wreckyn Street) who do beautiful French Korean fusion baking.  I had a large soft pumpkin and honey scone and I took home a fudgy matcha brownie for Sylvia.  We both keep talking about returning because it was so good.

Reading Small Island: I happened across this book by Andrea Levy in an op shop while Sylvia was browsing and started reading it.  The story of a Jamaican serving in the British airforce in World War II and then returning to the UK as a migrant in 1948 was a perspective on the war that was new to me and fascinating.  It had some similarities to Australian Aboriginal people who served in the war and then were subjected to appalling racism when they returned home.  I loved this book that I finished recently and would love to read more books by Andrea Levy.
 

The Presentation Our Lord Greek Orthodox Church, Coburg

I often pass this Presentation of Our Lord Greek Orthodox church (29 Victoria St) which is tucked away between the supermarkets and railway line in Coburg,  I had time while walking by a few weeks back to go into the courtyard to look up close at the portico and artwork.  It is a sign of the diversity in the suburb that has always been a magnet for migrants, whether on the way to the goldfields in the 19th Century, in search of postwar industrial jobs in the 20th Century or to be welcomed as a refugee in the 21st Century.

Beit Siti, Coburg

After tasting the amazing focaccia from Beit Siti (150 Bell Street) earlier this year, we were excited to finally go there for a meal.  It is a set menu made for sharing with two choices: vegetarian or vegan.  We had the vegetarian Mama's Breakfast Sofra which was a great spread of : hummus, ful, tomato sauté (Galayet Bandora), soft cheese, fermented yoghurt, labneh, stuffed eggplants, olives, pickled cucumbers and zaatar oil, all served with flatbread.  There are also gorgeous pastries and cakes at the counter but we were really sad they are no longer making the focaccia.  This delicious Palestinian food is based on the owner's traditional family recipes.  I hope to write more about this place soon to give it the write up it deserves.  

Saprito, Southbank

I arranged to meet with my dad and my friend Heather at Saprito (12-16 Kavanagh St) before the 2025 final of the Herald Sun Aria competition.  Our plans went awry and we got there late.  It was a day of miserable wet weather that meant no bike riding, our trains cancelled and the tram where my dad and I met was mysteriously changed from no 1 to no 3.  It meant a very quick meal from the display.  I had this spinach and cheese pastry roll with a hot chocolate to warm myself.  

I am pleased to say that the Herald Sun Aria performances was uplifting.  The performances from young opera singers were so impressive and I loved May Nicholson's introduction to each with an entertaining explanation of the opera and the context for the solo, as well as some random information about each performer.  And my uncle Brendan brought along licorice allsorts that seemed fitting.  It was my grandfather who kindled the lover of going to the Herald Sun Aria in my dad's family. 

 

 Wild Timor, Coburg

I continue to visit Wild Timor cafe (282 Sydney Rd) regularly with my friend Kerin.  Lately they have introduced some great juices.  The photo above is of my Beetroot, apple, lemon and ginger juice with a slice of gluten free cheesecake for sharing.  Another juice I enjoyed was an Apple, kale, celery, lemon, ginger juice .  I even saw a bottle of kombucha in the fridge on my last visit so I will check that out next time.

Halloween, O'Hea Street in Coburg

We had planned to go out to see houses on Halloween night but were too tired.  I did take a photo earlier of one of the local decorated houses when riding past earlier in the month.  I loved the grave in the yard that said" O'Hea Street Cemetery: Please don't wahe the residents. It would be a grave mistake.

Celebrity deaths in October: Jane Goodall, Dianne Keaton, Prunella Scales.  All three left an amazing lasting legacy.

In the News 

October was momentous in Australia with our nation's first treaty with the Indigenous people, which I am proud to say was in my home state of Victoria.  Such a relief to have good news in a time rife with disappointing governments and divisive Israel-Gaza politics.  The latter was in the news with the 2 year anniversary of 7 October, a "peace plan", release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and a ceasefire that does not stop.

Senator David Pocock thrown out of Parliament Sports Club after criticising gambling link, by Michelle Grattan, in the Conversation, 10 October 2025.

All living Israeli hostages freed and hundreds of Palestinian detainees and prisoners released as Trump leads Egypt summit, The Guardian, 14 October 2025.

Yes … er, no: The Australian backflips after signing on to Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon reporting rules, in The Guardian, on 17 October 2025.

Why frogs, chickens and T rexes are taking over anti Trump protests, in The Age newspaper on 20 October 2025 (originally from the Washington Post). 

What we know about the Louvre jewellery heist, in ABC News, 20 October 2025.

The armistice of 1918 and the 'ceasefire' of 2025 by Douglas Newton in Pearls and Irritations, 21 October 2025. Insightful reflections on the ceasefire in Gaza.

‘The Rushmore story is hard to tell’: how an Indigenous park leader revealed the monument’s dark side, in The Guardian on 27 October 2025 (as Mt Rushmore memorial marks 100 years).

No Joy, only Division: It’s just the stupidest stupid we’ve yet seen, Amy Remeikis (on Australian opposition leader accusing prime minister of being antisemitic for wearing a Joy Division t-shirt), in The New Daily, 29 October 2025.

VACCHO condemns 'race-baiting' over Melbourne hospital's Indigenous care policy, in National Indigenous Times, 30 October 2025.

Selling the left’s message in the digital age is an art – Ireland’s new president mastered it, in The Guardian on 31 October 2025.

Australian-first treaty legislation passes in Victorian parliament, in ABC News, 31 October 2025.