west six kitchen

Glamping

 

A couple of weekends ago John & Karen took us glamping.  These guys are professionals, and they ensured that the experience was 100% more positive than our last tent based adventure.

We stayed at Honeymoon Pool, near Collie, which was pretty idyllic.

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The Loose Box

Conor and I spent last night at the Loose Box in Mundaring.  Eight course degustation with wine + rolling into a cottage next door afterwards + homemade (gf) brioche for breakfast = Happy Hannah*.

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* Conor was quite happy too.

Under the sea

The final chapter of our Exmouth adventures: The underwater photos.

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Whale rider

Whilst in Exmouth we swam with an eight metre female whale shark.   We had a quick briefing beforehand, with rule number one being: Nobody is to attempt to ride a whale shark.  Not that disappointing for me; I was far more concerned with attempting not to get eaten.

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Exmouth

Conor and I spent the last week on holiday in Exmouth (pronounced ex-mouth), which is around about here. 

Highlights included swimming with an eight metre whale shark; not being eaten by an eight metre whale shark; cracking sunsets; a giant prawn; beach suppers; star gazing; and not hitting any kangaroos in the car.  Lowlights included a cracking jellyfish sting, but the less said about that the better.

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Sourdough pastry class

I spent yesterday in the capable hands of Yoke Mardewi, making sourdough pastries.  It was an amazing class, partly because I learnt so many new skills that it would be really hard to teach yourself at home.

We made croissants, almond croissants, pain au chocolat, escargot and tarte tartin.  I came home with a big block of croissant pastry that I'm going to bake (in various forms) today.  Results to follow...

If you're in Perth and are a keen baker, I can't recommend Yoke's book or classes highly enough.  She is an amazing teacher, and is so generous with her time and resources.  I'm going to miss visiting her a lot when we leave for London.

Oy vey!

Yesterday I made bagels.  It's just a shame that Dan wasn't here to give them his seal of approval.

I used Nigella's recipe, from How to be a Domestic Goddess.  Here is my (slightly adapted) version:

 

Makes 15 bagels

 

1kg strong white flour

1tbsp salt

7g easy-blend yeast

2tbsp caster sugar

1tbsp vegetable oil

500ml warm water

2tbsp malt, or caster sugar

 

Combine all dry (except last 2tbsp malt or sugar) ingredients together.  Combine wet ingredients together.  Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, and pour in the wet.  Mix well with a spatula.

Knead for ten minutes by hand or with a food mixer fitted with a dough hook.  The dough should be dry, but smooth and elastic, when you've finished.  Put in a lightly oiled bowl to rise for 1 hour.

Divide the dough into 15 pieces each weighing 100g.  Roll each portion into a sausage, then into a ring.  Seal the ends by overlapping them a little and pinching them together.  Lay the bagels on trays lined with baking paper, well spaced apart, to rise.  Cover with tea towels.

Put a large pan of water onto the heat.  When it boils, add the malt or sugar.  Preheat the oven to 240C.

When the water is boiling and the bagels are puffy, add them to the water two or three at a time.  After 30 seconds flip them over, and take them out after a minute.  Put them back on the baking sheets, and repeat with all the bagels.

When you've poached them all, put them in the oven for 10-15 minutes until they're shiny and golden brown.

This week

Has been full of G&Ts on the beach, impressive sunsets, oversized cakes and colourful salads.

Things I'm going to miss about Perth #1

We spent tonight at Cottlesloe beach, with a cracking sunset, cold beer, questionable scluptures and persistent seagulls.  It was pretty idyllic.

A weekend of triumphs

Yesterday I tried Orgran's alternative grain bread mix, with pretty pleasing results.  It was ridiculously easy, and so nice to be able to eat bread hot from the oven.  The standard loaf is pretty boring, so next time I'd add a bit of salt, and some nuts/seeds/dried fruit.  Overall much more satisfying than buying supermarket GF loaves.

This morning I got up at the crack of dawn to do the 2XU Women's Triathlon. Despite two people swimming over me (apparently this is pretty standard triathlon behaviour), I am still here to tell the tale.