Miso grubs (truffles) two ways and a birthday tea

Before I had heard of truffles, rum balls, energy balls and bliss balls, we often ate grubs as kids!  I thought everyone called these balls of chocolate goodness "grubs".  I still do.  They were made from condensed milk, coconut, cocoa and marie biscuits.  This year I have had fun trying a couple of different versions of these childhood favourite with an unmami addition of white miso and different sorts of biscuits.  One was a dark version with black cocoa and chocolate ripple biscuits.  Another was a gluten free version for a birthday afternoon tea that had choc chip cookies, quinoa flakes and seeds.

Lately we haven't made lots of sweet baked or unbaked goods in our kitchen.  We love a sweet treat but our household is small and we don't go to as many events where we take a cake.  Occasionally I get the urge for some sweet comfort food and grubs are at the top of the list.  When I make something often I am familiar enough with the recipe to experiment.  Say, in the case of these grubs, I wondered how they would be with miso added.  The black cocoa and chocolate ripple biscuits were just serendipitous.

My original title for this post was "Black miso grubs for dark times".  It was earlier this year when I made these grubs for comfort.  I was delighted in how the dark mixture reflected the dark times ushered in by Trump returning to the presidency of the USA.  Together with the polarised attitudes on te Israel-Palestine war, immigration, global warming and diversity, it feels like we are inhabiting an impossible conundrum. 

At the time I heard an interview by David Marr on ABC Nightlight and jotted down some of the ideas that resonated with me: how can we show care for one another and have political debate, law and order wont fix the problem, we need brave conversations to navigate difficult questions, we need to sit with the discomfort of disagreement.  I would add to these that empathy is important in understanding behaviour and opinions we might not approve in others.

The black cocoa made an amazing difference in colour.  So dark!  It really begged for balls to be rolled in black cocoa for the ultimate darkness!  I was busy and tired.  There was no energy for even this small task.  Instead I sprinkled coconut onto the bottom of a small baking tin, evenly dolloped the mixture into the tin, pressed it down and smoothed it out, and then sprinkled more coconut on top.  It was in the fridge for some days where I would just cut a chunk or two when needed!  The result was my childhood comfort sweetness with the miso adding a welcome adult touch of umami.  

I liked these black miso grubs so much that I kept dreaming of making them again.  The opportunity arose when I wanted to take a plate of food to a family gathering.  I wanted to use the chocolate ripple biscuits again.  As we have celiacs in my family, I was excited to try the gluten free chocolate ripple biscuits that had excited my sister Susie.  It was disappointing to hear that Arnotts is no longer making them due to lack of sales.  Susie has told me that there is an uproar in the celiac community!

How disappointing!  I found a packet of Woolworths free from gluten choc chip biscuits.  It was only 160g compared to 250g in a packet of chocolate ripple biscuits.  (As a bonus they are also vegan.  This means if you use a vegan coconut condensed milk as well, you can have vegan gluten free grubs!)  They were easy to crumble with my hands.  I added some seeds and quinoa flakes to add the bulk lacking due to the smaller biscuit packet.  This worked really well.  I love a bit of texture.  But even Sylvia enjoyed them despite her wariness of bits!  

Alas I had used up my black cocoa.  So I could not claim that I had made dark and seedy grubs.  It sounds like a lowlife in film noir who might be shown in the shadows outside the halo of street life.  I was still happy to take them along to a birthday tea of find food!
 

My family were celebrating my twin nieces 21st birthday.  I have found memories of baking with Ella and Grace as little kids.  It is hard to believe these smiley cheeky cherubs are now grown women.  They were gorgeous as kids and continue to be so as adults.   It made me reflect on how 21st birthdays don't seem to be as momentous these days as they were when I was that age.  It seemed such a milestone in becoming an adult for my peers.  These days perhaps it is not seen as so important because we accept that it takes until well into the mid 20s for the brain to fully mature.

It was a lovely birthday tea.  My brother's girlfriend has amazing creative talents in food presentation.  She set out a gorgeous table of cheese, dips, chips, vegetables, popcorn, fruit, (and something for the carnivores), with even a jar of my sister's fantastic Frankly Raw peanut butter, with a flourish of charming flowers.  My mum made hedgehog and profiteroles.  Susie made a chocolate ripple cake with Coles Ultimate gluten free cookies with 40% triple chocolate chips.  (These biscuits worked beautifully.  Note though that they are not vegan like the Woolworths biscuits.)

Susie, the mother of the birthday girls, ordered a birthday cake each: a chocolate mud cake for Grace and a red velvet cake with cheesecake filling for Ella.  She present them with a lovely birthday speech.  Everyone enjoyed mingling and ate well with three dogs darting around us.  (My brother brought his dogs to play with Susie's dog.)

 

After the cake had been served, we spent a bit of time taking photos, as is the way with my family.  It was great to get together with my parents, siblings and niblings.  That is balm for the devastating politics and  polarised opinions of our time.

Unfortunately, Susie's dog was just a little enthusiastic about the celebrations and helped himself to the fabulous chocolate ripple cake.  So Susie and Grace spent the evening at an emergency vet clinic.  Fortunately Banjo recovered well and I am sure that he will be well monitored next time chocolate ripple cake is on offer to the humans.

I was struck with a great idea that I could substitute the stale bread crumbs from the freezer for the biscuit crumbs and tried it in a variation on the seedy grubs.  The bread crumbs did not give the heft and sweetness needed for the recipe   More crunble than trufflem grainy rubble than soft grub.

This does not diminish the success of my latest seedy version.  It is so much fun to play with my favourite recipe for grubs and so satisfying to find the seedy verson that suits me better in these days when I want more texture and less sweetness in my baking.  It ensures that this is still a recipe I love to turn to for a celebration or comfort and I hope will continue to be so.  

More chocolate and coconut "grubs" or bliss balls on Green Gourmet Giraffe blog:

Chocolate almond and coconut balls (gf, v)
Coconut almond-tahini balls (gf, v)
Chocolate tahini maca bliss balls (gf, v)  
Grubs (v, gf)
Grubs - with Tim Tams  

Miso Grubs - two ways 
Two original Green Gourmet Giraffe recipes based on a childhood recipe
These recipes each have different ingredients but the same methods! 

Gluten Free Seedy Miso Grubs 

160g packet of gf choc chip cookies (woolworths brand)
1 cup desiccated coconut
1/4 cup quinoa flakes
3 heaped dessertspoons cocoa
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp poppy seeds
400g tin condensed milk
1 tbsp white miso
extra coconut for rolling (about 1/2 to 1 cup)

Black Miso Grubs 

250g packet of choc ripple biscuits
1 cup desiccated coconut
3 heaped tbsp black cocoa
400g tin condensed milk
2 tbsp white miso

Crush biscuits to the size of lentils with some larger chunks and some finely ground.  Mix with dry ingredients in a medium to large bowl.  Pour in condensed milk and drop in the spoonful of miso.  Mix the miso into the condensed milk with shallow strokes and then mix into dry ingredients until you had a thick sticky mixture.  

Shape mixture into walnut sized balls (I use my hands and like to have a glass of water by me that I regularly dip my hands in to dampen my hands every time the mixture starts to make them sticky and/or clings to them.)  Roll in a small bowl coconut until covered evenly and shake excess coconut back into the bowl.  (Alternately, if you prefer they can be rolled in dark cocoa to keep to the dark theme.)

I prefer them at room temperature - which makes them softer - and keep them on the bench in an airtight container for days but you can also keep them in the fridge.

NOTE: My seedy miso grubs were gluten free.  Both versions could be gluten free and vegan with coconut condensed milk and vegan and gluten free biscuits.

On the Stereo:
The Boatman's Call: Nick Cave 

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