Month: January 2010

Smashed Radishes

Mum made these at Christmas, and I finally got it together to make them at home. My grandfather used to make them for Christmas every year, and it just wouldn’t be Christmas without them, even though he is gone. George was a really, really good cook – he could taste a dish in a restaurant, and then replicate it perfectly at home. Or even improve on it. Though we usually struggled to get him to go to restaurants, because he complained that he could do better himself. He was usually right, but he needed an army of staff to clean up after one of his banquets!

Because of his amazing talent at mimicry and invention, I have no idea if this recipe is stolen or made up, but it is awesome, and you should try it, even if you aren’t mad about radishes. Like me.

Smashed Radishes

1 bunch radishes, washed, tops and tails given to a bunny
1 heaped teaspoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons finely grated ginger – young ginger if you can get it
Soy Sauce to cover

You’ll need a large cleaver to lay flat over the radish so you can bash your fist down to smash the radish. If you’re going to be eating them soon, go for more smashing, if you have a day to marinade, you can get away with less bashing. I usually chop larger radishes in half or quarters before smashing.

Once your radishes have been subdued, put them in a steep sided bowl, and add remaining ingredients. Leave in a warm spot for at least an hour to congregate, or overnight in the fridge.

Eat! Keeps for a few days in the fridge.

iPad

When someone invents a waterproof cover so I can read in the bath, I might sell my firstborn to finance one. And so I get some time to read in the bath.

But then again…

When Iggy does something dangerous, I get down to his level, look him in the eye, and ask him, “what’s the most important thing in the world?”. Usually, he answers, “Iggy’s the most important thing in the world”, and I say “that’s right, and I need you to be safe”.

Today, unbidden, he said, “Mama’s the most important thing in the world”.

I will keep him. Definitely.

Which reminds me…

Mijal’s comment on the Iggy video reminds me of our flying trip to Newtown to catch up with Mijal and Miya and their adorable 6 month old boy, Marley.

Inigo’s sleep issues continue, and of course he fell asleep in the car, only to be woken up and adored, which rather upset his equilibrium.

And being the evil woman that I am, I took pictures.

Isn’t Marley adorable?

Commitment

You know how it goes, you’re chatting with an old friend, and they say something like, “I’ve just enrolled in *circus school”, or some such, and you think, “I’ve always wanted to learn highwire acrobatics”, and so you ask them for the flyer, and then you sit on it until ten minutes after applications close, and then you say, “bugger, I really wanted to do that”.

So, when Miriam mentioned a textile printing course, I naturally thought I’d never get around to it. But somethings got into the water around here, and I seem to be in the mood to get shit done.

I’m enrolled.

In semi related news, Inigo harvested the first strawberry from my his garden today.

Buck Up*

I have a new policy for the blog. Bad news has to give way to good. I won’t leave unhappy posts at the top of the blog (unless I am incapable for some reason).

So in that light, here is a post that I hesitated to put up yesterday because I thought it would bore most people senseless. So without further ado, here is a conversation with Inigo, in video.

*The title of this post comes from a text message, sent by a football player to a woman that he had sexually assaulted, the full text of which reads, “Buck up you sad bitch, nobody likes a whinger”.

Goodbye Custard

We took Custard to the specialist today. He had deteriorated since yesterday, and the vet said that he would have a less than 50/50 chance of making it through surgery. He was in a lot of pain, so I had to make a decision on the spot to say goodbye.

Custard survived a lot in his lifetime. As a baby, I took him from a petshop with a nasty abscess. A vet said then that he probably wouldn’t live for more than six months, but he did. Later he had another abscess, which went all through his jaw and into his skull. Again, we didn’t have much hope that he would live for long. But he did, and he had great quality of life, especially in his last years, living with the adoration of his lady love Jasper.

He gave her his last kisses this morning, and 10:30 this morning, we said goodbye for the last time. The vet will do a necropsy, so that we know exactly what he was going through, and we will bury him at home on Thursday.

He would have been 10 on Valentines day.