This is the dream

Have you ever opened your pantry to look for something & quickly thereafter decided it isn’t worth the effort?  I have been doing this for the last 4 years. Instead of looking I will just go to the market & buy more of whatever I was looking for. Even when we moved house I decided it would be far too traumatic to actually look inside containers or clean anything.

Such laziness has resulted in dozens of unsorted health food store bags full of nuts, cocoa, salt, assorted flours. Hundreds of random spice packets, loose tea, half empty bags of rice. You name it I have it hidden away in the dank corners of my pantry.

It was the perfect system, until a bucketing wet weekend meant I was too afraid to drive my dodgy little hatchback to the only store in my area that stocks gelatin sheets rather than the awful powdered kind. I knew they were in there somewhere.

This was  a search & rescue mission.

Step 1)

Remove every single item from pantry. Recoil in disgust at several containers containing more weevils than food. (I found  a sheet of lasagna & that looked like someone shot it with a tiny shotgun)

Notice how every single bench space is occupied with crap?

Step 2)

Thoroughly clean shelves & remove any sticky goof that might have spilled from honey/glucose/vinegar bottles. Gumption or any other gritty cream cleanser will be useful, heck even bicarb soda & water will work a treat.

Step 3)

Ruthlessly kull any expired, unused or unknown mystery items. This totalled about 40% of my pantry inventory. It really kills me to throw anything away but I really wasn’t going to use 1/3 of a cup of mouldy pumpkin seeds was I?

Step 4)

Wash out any plastic storage containers & clean the bottoms of any bottles.

Step 5)

Any items previously in opened packets or brown paper bags  & place in zip lock bags labeled with a sharpie. This was great as it consolidated all my inventory. You know I found 5 separate packets of raw almonds? Place like items in plastic containers together. (I now have one plastic storage bin for each of the following – grains (barley, a few kinds of rice, quinoa, couscous), pastas, baking items, chocolate buttons)

Is there anything sharpies aren't good for?

Step 6)

Contain all sticky items in a shallow flat bottomed bowl or serving tray & repeat for all oils, vinegars & other bottles. This is great because if anything spills you just clean out the tray..not the whole pantry.

Step 7)

Place “random open spice packets” alphabetically in an index box like this (I forgot to get a photo) I got this tip from Better Homes & Gardens. I think they deserve a Nobel Prize for that idea.

Step

Fill big plastic containers with bulk items such as  flour, sugar, almond meal ect & attach labels.

Step 9)

Rearrange all items as you see fit & sensible. For me it was Cans on the bottom shelf, bottled items & some baking items on the second bottom shelf, Bulk baking items on the 3rd shelf & pastas, grains, tea, international items on the top shelf.

Step 10)

Scream bloody murder when you realise the 6 hours you spent looking for gelatin sheets were in vain, you don’t have any after all. Oh well, at least the pantry is clean for next time.

Clean for now. I wonder how long this will last?

I am aware my pantry is still not the most attractive of spaces, but I am proud to say it is now dirt, mystery goof & weevil free. Some day I will rip out the shelves & replace them with those pull out wire contraptions to ensure nothing is ever forgotten about in a dark corner but for now zip-lock bags & a sharpie are all I need.

Why did I need gelatin so badly you might ask? Well a certain somebody may have an audition for a certain reality TV cooking show tomorrow. More about that later, wish me luck!

xoxox Shannon

Here’s to weekends, here’s to spring, here’s to fresh fragrant cherry tomatoes, here’s to wine, conversation & laughter, here’s to making gnocchi with the people we love.

To me there’s nothing more special than making pasta with loved ones. I learned to make gnocchi with my step mother’s, mum (Nonna Donni) when I was young & the novelty never wore off. I’m sure these days I don’t do it correctly & I would get a smack over the hands if Nonna Donni saw, forgive me! The expression “for god” in the ingredients refers to having a little extra of things because you never know how much liquid flour will adsorb & so on, charming no?

Potato Gnocchi

(adapted from “The Silver Spoon“)

Ingredients:

• 1kg floury potatoes
• 1 egg + 1 yolk lightly beaten
• 1 cup plain flour + 1/2 cup extra “for god”
• Approx 1 tsp sea salt
• Simple tomato sauce
• 2 cups baby rocket
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan

Peel & steam the potatoes until cooked through. Using a potato ricer, puree hot cooked potatoes into a large bowl. Add salt to taste. Sift in four in batches stirring with a fork, finally add the eggs. stir with the fork & then turn out onto a floured surface to lightly knead. Please for the love of god do not torture this dough! Bring it together gently until just combined. Bring a large stock pot of salted water to a rolling boil. To shape the gnocchi, split the dough into 4 balls. Roll each ball into a sausage about as thick as a mans thumb  & cut into pieces the size of your thumb tip. Roll with your hands & roll a fork over one side of the gnocchi, leave to rest on a floured tray.

Cook gnocchi in batches until they float to the surface of the water, remove with a slotted spoon. Serve hot with simple tomato sauce, parmesan & baby rocket.

(serves 3-4)

Simple Rustic Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cup cherry tomatoes
• 1  tablespoon bottled caramelized onions (please don’t judge me!)
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt & black pepper to taste
• 5 large basil leaves torn

Heat the oil in a frying pan & add minced garlic, fry until fragrant & add the cherry tomatoes. Cook until skins begin to blister & roughly mash with a potato masher. Add caramelized onion & season to taste. Reduce heat to medium & continue to cook until sauce is slightly reduced. Add basil leaves & turn heat off.

As you are probably aware I am on a bit of a health kick at the moment. That doesn’t mean I am going to stop eating deliciously though. Perhaps I should learn the fine art of portion control & start making my cakes 90% smaller (I would probably just eat 90% more of them)

I am pretty sure my doctor is better off not knowing about the entire shelf in my fridge stocked with butter & eggs but here is something he would be proud of.

Does it really get any better than a warm bowl of porridge on a crisp Saturday morning? You will find no recipe here, just the suggestion that you revisit that old breakfast friend the rolled oat. Treat it as something special. I have topped mine here with blueberry syrup, chopped bananas, chopped raw almonds & coconut palm sugar. 

I also often use:

• Dried apples
• Raw macadamias
• Fresh Pear
• Dried apricots
• Spices like cinnamon & nutmeg

What are your fave oatmeal toppings?

I have managed to find a little zen amongst all the noise though by ditching my local supermarket for the organic farmers market. You can’t even imagine how big an improvement this has made on my life. The feeling of community is wonderful, talking to the growers, seeing the same friendly faces every week, children playing, touching & tasting. It gives me a feeling like “this is how life is meant to be”

Clockwise from top left: The markets, "my banana man", yummy lady finger bananas, Relish Organics stall

Shopping at the market allows me to eat fresh, seasonal organic produce quite affordably. This weeks purchases included: curly kale, broad beans, zuchhinis, navel oranges & beetroot from the “big veggie tent”. Dark chocolate & rolled quinoa (which I used in a super healthy banana cake I am posting tomorrow) from the Relish Organics stall.

Yuuuuum. The smell when I took the lid off was amazing!

 Not convinced yet? here’s my top 5 reasons to swap to farmers markets:

1. No enormous ques! Yes you still have to line up sometimes but not for nearly as long & if you only have one or two items they usually let you jump the line.
2. You spend less money. I have almost eradicated the impulse purchase from my shopping bill. We’re all guilty of grabbing a candy bar or a magazine while we’re out shopping. Do you need it? No! I once worked out I was spending over $700 a year on impulse purchases.
3. It’s less stressful. Sure you have to get up early on a Sunday to do it, but that’s a part of the beauty. Your weekend seems to go forever because you got up at 6:30am on Sunday morning to “get the good stuff” You call breeze around & pick what you like at your own leisure. It’s less crowded, you’re outdoors enjoying the sunshine, you can bring the kids & let them play outside.
4. It’s better produce. It’s completely fresh, you know where it comes from & that never includes cold storage. I find it lasts longer too.
5. You meet people. Can you honestly ever remember making a friend at the grocery store? I make new friends every week at the farmers market.

Greens are good

The markets are a constant source of inspiration for me. I never decide what I am going to make that week until I have been to market. Those pumpkins look nice huh? I wonder if I could make a cake out of them?

Take a little time for you ladies, it will make you happy…. promise!