There was a higher purpose for this annual leave I’m taking right now. And that purpose was to be on hand to supervise proceedings when various electrical appliances around SSG Manor drew their last breaths. The oven expired on Sunday after reheating half a leftover pizza for breakfast. Perhaps it was also a sign that we needed to rethink our Sunday breakfast food choices.
Thankfully, the task of finding and installing a new oven wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be. If you haven’t already tried Appliances Online, I wholeheartedly recommend them. The whole online transaction ran smoothly and the man who came to install the new oven and then remove the old oven did a perfect job. He arrived when he said he would, left the house spotless and even turned the oven and grill on for me to get rid of the factory smell so that I could use it straight away. I didn’t need to disconnect anything beforehand either. I hope I’m not going to jinx things but I don’t think I’ll be as anxious should the ancient dishwasher or fridge keel over.
The interesting thing about the whole encounter was that the total price for the oven, installation and waste removal was $250 cheaper than buying the oven outright from another Australian bricks and mortar business with negotiable prices. Appliances Online also have a wider range of models for each price range as well as accurate measurements and product descriptions online. The help page was very comprehensive and I understand that they operate in most states of Australia. Thanks again, Appliances Online and I look forward to buying from you again.
With the new oven settled into its new home, it was time to think about other things in the kitchen.
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| No wonder Grain Waves were on special the other week, there are less of them in a packet these days. |
Like how Grain Waves have fallen victim to stealth downsizing. The ‘full size’ packets are tiny these days! They’re practically the same width as a packet of flavoured rice crackers. I hope the latter haven’t downsized as well….
My decluttering energies have focussed on the pantry this week. I’ve been trying to find recipes to use up as many of my stockpiled dry goods as I can. If there is a downside to shopping at Costco, it is that your spare room ends up looking nuclear winter ready very quickly. My key ingredient today was canned chickpeas plus some Krummies I’ve had for a while. In keeping with the light and healthy approach to springtime dinners, I decided to make these Spicy Chickpea Patties.
I even got to use a toaster muffin up in the process as well. Turns out there weren’t quite enough Krummies for the recipe.
The muffin was the perfect texture to crumb in my food processor.
The last lemon on my tree was sliced for making the cucumber and mint raita to accompany the patties. The recipe suggests a chutney based sauce but I’m so focussed on using things up, buying mango chutney was against the rules of engagement.
The kitchen always fabulous when I’m cooking with fresh herbs.
After pulsing the lentils in the Kitchenaid, it was time to add the breadcrumbs, yoghurt, curry powder and egg.
Turned out into a bowl for the final mixing of the patty base with fresh herbs, the colours just really popped. I love the smell of curry powder. It made this recipe smell like curried egg. Which is a good thing.
Then things got a bit tactile for the patty rolling. The recipe makes around 16 patties which got popped into the fridge to firm up for shallow frying.
Leaving me time to indulge in another couple of my Laduree macarons. This afternoon’s flavours were bitter chocolate and a strawberry macaron with marshmallow filling. The bitter chocolate was my favourite of the two. Do you find that tea tastes better when sipped with a couple of macarons?
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| www.abcnet.au |
Is anyone else watching and loving season two of Rake? I’ve only just caught up with last week’s episode. While season 1 was kept me guessing as to how much of the plot was taken straight from the goings on of the legal world in NSW, there’s no mistaking the reliability of the sources for season two. The plot lines are even closer to the bone in NSW and Federal politics than last year. Toni Collette was fantastic as the NSW Premier and Richard Roxburgh as Cleaver Greene clearly relishes the role and the diatribes he delivers in character. It’s intelligent of the moment drama and I’m so glad the ABC saw fit to make this second season and to cast Don Hany in a supporting role.
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| www.abcnet.au |
I never quite got over his character leaving Offspring way back in the previous season.
The patties turned out really well. They had quite a light texture from the chickpeas and are very filling. I didn’t miss my usual meat for dinner at all. Vegetarian dinners always make me feel so healthy and more aware of the body as a temple philosophy to eating.
And I will now leave you with that thought from a higher spiritual plane. Have a lovely evening.