Some things are too good not to share, like the recipe for this
gourmet vegetarian pizza. I'd share the actual pizza but it hardly lasted long enough for me to take this photo. What you'll need to serve two people:
~ 2 pieces of pita bread
~ 3-4 tablespoons tomato paste
~ 1/2 eggplant (or a small one)
~ 1/2 red capsicum
~ 1/2 red onion
~ 6 button mushrooms
~ small block of goats cheese (or soy cheese, to make it vegan)
~ small handful of baby spinach leaves
~ one teaspoon golden syrup
~ olive oil
Then do what I did...
1. I had to defrost the pita bread (it lives in the freezer), so I set the oven to about 200 celcius and left the pita in there to thaw while it was heating up.
2. Meanwhile, I cut the half capsicum in half (or, err, quarters) then put it under a hot grill.
3. Slice the eggplant into thin rounds, cover with a small amount of olive oil (spray is even better) then put in the oven to cook. This is a good time to take out your pita bread and spread it with tomato paste, and leave to the side.
4. Next, slice the red onion in strips as thin as you can, mix up with a spoonful of olive oil and the golden syrup (that's all I had instead of brown sugar and it worked wonders for that slightly caramelised effect). Fry on a medium heat until soft, then set aside.
5. Slice up the mushrooms and fry in the leftover onion oil, then set aside.
6. The capsicum is probably black by now - which is good! - so turn off the grill and peel the skin off, then set aside.
7. Now you've done all the setting up, putting it together is easy. To your pita bread bases (which should be covered in tomato paste), add the cooked eggplant slices, then capsicum strips, then mushrooms, then red onion, then spinach leaves (uncooked) and finally crumble the goats cheese (or soy cheese) on top.
8. These only need 5 minutes in the oven, pretty much just to warm it all up. I turn off the oven a few minutes after putting them in, since the residual heat will finish the job quite nicely.
9. Take them out of the oven and eat.
I feel like I just wrote an essay, but I hope it brings someone joy - it really was so delicious!
I've been away for a few days, enjoying the country air and coastal waters... now I'm home and refreshed, it seems like a good time to share my new year's resolutions for 2009:
1. New York 2009 Calendar (Zetta Florence), 2. Coo Ca Choo cardi, 3. Cupcake Afternoon Tea Set, 4. Paton's wool & pattern book, 5. Recycled newspaper coasters, 6. Miscellaneous goodies.
I've been given an award from The Vintage Year, which is one of the most inspiring blogs you can read. Here's what it says:
I was so proud of my presents this year, mostly for the stamped brown paper wrapping! Despite rushing between the various family parties, it was a really lovely Christmas, full of food, fun and festivity. I hope everyone else had a great day too.
My stamps have well and truly been broken in today with all my Christmas wrapping! Possibly the best present-ation I've ever created. Har har har.
I went to the Makers' Market at the Abbotsford Convent on Sunday. There were lots of stalls full of gorgeous handmade things like clothes, badges, jewellery and bags. I'm planning to visit the next one on Sunday 18 January and you should too! This photo was taken from under a tree in the convent gardens.
I managed to muck up the pattern for this blue crocheted beret and am now making it up as I go, doing increasing circles of double crochet. At some point I'll need to start decreasing, then maybe knit around the bottom, since it's not getting a brim. If it turns out to be at all wearable I'll post the pattern - fingers and toes crossed because I love this colour and can't wait to wear it!
Here is my excuse for a lack of posts this week - I was at the muddy banks of the Meredith Music Festival! I spent Thursday night gathering supplies like gumboots ($26 very well spent), and packing up my festival camping kit (tent, camping chairs, tarp and eskii) then hit the road on Friday to what would end up the wettest festival ever. Typical. We still had lots of fun! Today... I clean.
After getting the hang of granny squares, I'm now embarking on something circular in the form of a blue crocheted beret! Yes, it's altogether the wrong season for it but the on-again-off-again rain makes me think anything and everything is possible. My cute little red fingerless mittens might even come out again... I'm still so proud of those.
Discovered: on a wall during a recent walk around Carlton. It's nice to be outside more often, now the weather's warming up. I'm hoping to find more time to fit in some crafting too; which is what I always say, but this time I've bought the materials and should have photos to share soon!
I had some sewing instruction tonight and finally got back to these green velvet cushions. The overlocker is my new best friend - hopefully the other three won't take over a month to complete... whoops!
