mountain masala

Interactive Christmas 2012

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new t-shirt

for those who've come across the seas
we've boundless plains to share
sounds fair

This is a new t-shirt that I've made over on redbubble to make a statement about asylum seekers. You can order it in different colours and sizes here, along with other shirts of a similar vein.

As someone with aboriginal people in my family, I'm VERY aware that this sentiment is not necessarily shared by our indigenous people.

I've chosen to put it out there for now as a message to Australian society in general, as a commentary on our national anthem (writeen by Europeans)

I may change my mind on that, but for now its available.

Summer Salad and Almond Cake

I admit to posting on food a bit. I am chronicling my cooking, just because i want to. This is where I remember what I did.

The salad has watercress, spinach, thinly sliced zucchini, julienned carrot, thinly sliced red onion, sliced tomato, basil leaves, toasted almond slivers, currants, bocconcini cheese, and a vinaigrette of lemon juice, garlic oil and wholegrain mustard. Very nice indeed.

Almond, Cardamom and Sour Cream Cake

This is about the sixth cake I've made in my life. Ellen said this was 'amazing' and 'best cake ever'. Maddy refused to eat it because it has orange in it. It's from "Arabesque" by Greg & Lucy Malouf. I was worried because Yvonne doesn't like cardamom, but you couldn't really taste it. I'll have to post the recipe. Served with thickened cream.

Spinach and Feta Ravioli

I learned from the Masterchef TV show that you can use gow gee or wonton wrappers to make ravioli. Tonight I used gow gee pastry circles to make ravioli filled with spinach, feta, gruyere and parmesan cheeses - along with some garlic, paprika and and an egg.

Served up with a sauce based on Philip Johnson's Open Ravioli, with bacon, kalamata olives, basil leaves, and some extra gruyere on top. Quite fine. Although too much on the plate!

Warm Asian Pork Salad

Home after two interstate trips. A 35 degree day. I wanted to go to the city for a few reasons, and one of them was the Adelaide Central Markets. I love going there and haven't been for months. You can't buy Asian ingredients in Mount Barker, so I was stocking up. That's my excuse anyway. A whole day could pass in that place and I wouldn't notice. I came home with lots of fresh veg and herbs, bottles of sauce and spice, and three kinds of pork!(loin, ribs, belly....)

Here's the kind of meal that i don't cook often but need to cook more - a tasty salad (yes, with meat... OK?)

The pork loin was baked and basted in (I'm guessing here because I just made it up) 1 tsp sesame oil, 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 2 tbsp kecap manis, 1 tbsp chinese caramel sauce (or use 1tbsp palm sugar or regular sugar), 2 tsp minced garlic, 1 tbsp minced ginger, 2 tsp minced chilli, 1/3 cup oyster sauce).

The salad was adapted from a Donna Hay recipe and consisted of vermicelli noodles, shaved carrot and white radish, watercress (I have never bought this before, but it was the start of this whole meal, since I came home with some..), coriander leaves, Thai basil, thinly sliced red onion and diced birds eye chillies, topped with sesame seeds.

Grace said that the combination of flavours was great, and wanted more. Yvonne thought Thai basil was too strong. Maddy ate it all apart from the things that she never eats, and that was a success for me.

On a 35+ degree day, welcome to the summer of healthier food...

new music

yeah, some new stuff, actually, a bit of a backlog to report on.... still listening to it all.  once again glad of my ongoing emusic subscription, and sorry that Australians can no longer join...

"Lux" by Brian Eno - new ambient work. true to form. remarkable. buy direct from him.

"Luxury Problems" by Andy Stott - part of the 'new techno' scene, whatever that means. soundscapes, I guess. it works for me.

"A List of the Burning Mountains" - Oneida - yeah, soundscapes. 2 x 20 min tracks. some walls of noise. don't file under 'easy listening'.

"Movement" by Holly Herndon - so the theme this month is soundscapes... apparently she's doing a PhD in this stuff. electronic deconstruction and reconstruction. like a sound effects disc that you cut into pieces and then glued back together. I actually like it. this will get an alt worship workout...

but wait, there's more...

The Word in worship

This weekend I've been at the Assembly Standing Committee meeting in Sydney - the group who govern the national affairs of the Uniting Church in between our triennial Assemblies. Three meetings per year - two down, seven to go. 18 members, about half new (including me) plus senior Assembly staff and Synod Secretaries. It's a fascinating, challenging, sometimes tedious in detail, often boggling in scope, meeting, with a remarkable group of faithful Christians. I am most deeply moved by people's mature faith, integrity, wisdom and love for God and the church.

I led the closing prayers. Rosemary Young had started the weekend with a reflection on Mark 1 and the call to serve the outback. Last night Deidre Palmer drew us into the story of a suffering woman and spoke of her work with women recovering from abuse. I figured that by the end of the weekend we would have had enough of words...

[Brian Eno music playing in the background throughout - "1/1"]

Prayer
(adapted slightly from the "Celtic Wheel of Year" by Tess Ward)

Blessed be you, Spirit of God
You speak in every different tongue
through the vitality of our language and custom
Yet you share with us the common parlance of the heart
Show us the One Love across every tribe and neighbourhood
as we leave this place and return home.
Praise to you, Word of Life
who speaks from the depths of the silence
to our depths, in our heart-language
not in sentences or commands but in Spirit
reaching to the bottom of our souls
before we can think straight or arrange what we mean
Like when we were held at the beginning and there were no words.
Be still in the silence and aware of God's love with and within...
As the rain and sun come down from the heavens making the earth to grow
so may your word not return to you empty
but embed itself in our souls
May we discover what makes for peace, whatever our language
and know your blessing this day, on which our peace depends.

Kangaroo Kofte

Tonight I made a kangaroo version of this Lamb Kofte. No pistachios so I used almond meal. I half-remembered that I might have cooked it before, so it was a bit of a surprise to find that tonight I'd cooked almost the same veg - baked beetroot, and a leek-carrot-sweet potato-shallot puree with ginger, garlic and honey. Plus some spiced eggplant. Served up with yoghurt, coriander leaves and a slice of lemon. The recipe worked quite well with the roo mince, which some of the family find a bit strong in flavour. Really nice.

The Virtual Church: Technology, Ecclesiology, and Ethics

The current issue of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics (online) has a bunch of articles about technology and theology. Thanks to Discerning Mission for the tip (the website for the Centre for Missional Leadership at Luther Seminary, St Paul Minnesota.) Facebook page here.