February was hot and busy (though not as busy as March which is already getting away from me before I can reflect on last month).  I joined a protest against the visit of the Israeli President.  We had vegan adventures for Sylvia's birthday and ate lots of good meals at cafes.  See more about my month: In My Kitchen: February 2026 post.

The final evening of February rang in the craziness of March with the USA bombing Iran and my sister turned back homewards midway on the first leg of her flight from Dublin to Melbourne via the Middle East.  There is lots more I could write about this but that will have to wait until my March post.  

Above is a delicious Summer salad I had at Wild Timor Cafe in Coburg.  It had apple, lettuce, goats cheese, tomatoes, carrot, cucumber, a pretty swirl of vinaigrette and something crunchy (nuts?).  I didn't take notes.  Just the thing for a hot summer day.

Hareruya Pantry, Carlton

I had this miso brownie at Hareruya pantry (15 - 17 Lincoln Square South) while on a lunchtime walk.  It is opposite Lincoln Square, a lovely green urban park.  I have not been there for ages and was enchanted by the kids play area with rope ladders and a little wooden house on a pole.  There are lots of shady trees so when I met a friend I used to work with, we met here on a warm day and were pleased to get out of sunshine.

Tylers Milk Bar, Preston

I have raved about Tylers Milkbar (656 Plenty Road) so many times; they always impress.  We love it.  Sylvia and I had a great lunch there.  I had the Caesar salad of "Crispy cos lettuce, chickpeas, roasted carrots, green peas, croutons, crispy bacon bits, capers, dill, chives & creamy tahini dressing finished with a cheesy seed crumble".  I had the tofu bacon option to make it vegetarian.  Sylvia had "The F*#%ing amazing toastie" with a chickpea omelette.  More about this toastie further down.  We were both very satisfied.

Pan Pan Theatre's Casando, North Carlton

This photo of a gorgeous sunset was taken on my ride home on a thankfully cool evening after immersing myself in Pan Pan Theatre's performance of Casando by Samuel Becket.  (An fantastic birthday present - thanks Chris.)  We met in the Wild Geese pub on the Southern end of Sydney Road, Brunswick and then crossed into Princes Park in North Carlton where we donned black hooded cloaks and noise cancelling headphones with a recording of Irish actors reading the play.  We walked in single file around the park with our heads down (mostly) and steady footsteps that made rhythmic crunch on the gravel.  I would have loved to have been an onlooker.  Nevertheless it was fun to be part of the spectacle and occasionally look up to see reactions of passers-by.  

I felt like a monk taking part in an ecclesiastical assembly as we paced among the trees in silence and meditation.  With our earphones hidden under our hoods, it looked silent but actually we were listening to Irish voices, intoning a script in which the mundane becomes portentous, and the occasional bursts of discordant music.  One bloke in a ute, driving past us on Royal Parade, yelled out "what the hell?" and who could blame him in these apocalyptic times! 

Protest against visit of the Israeli president, Flinders Street Station, CBD

On a Monday night I rode to the city after work to join the protest against the visit of the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, who was invited by our government despite him being found by the UN to be responsible for inciting genocide.  I finally had the fire in my belly and the circumstances where I could get to a pro-Palestine protest.  I wish it had been earlier but was glad finally to demonstrate my anger and concern!  I was met by a sea of Palestinian flags, political placards and thousands of people gathering in one of the busiest intersections in Melbourne (Naarm).

As it was I stayed for an hour of speeches and then went home rather than continue with the March.  The speeches were varying in quality.  (When Lidia Thorpe spoke about the links with the Australian Indigenous experiences, I was amused to overhear someone say that they didn't know that Israel was oppressing Aboriginal people.)  When I got home and saw that the mainstream media only focused on the Sydney protests where the state governments recent legislation allowed the police to created conditions for unnecessary clashes and violence.  I was so angry I contacted our local radio station the next day but it is so frustrating trying to comment on a complex issue in the short space allocated.

Most moving and insightful at the Melbourne protest was the speech by Mai Saif who starts by saying "I was asked what would you say to Herzog if he was right in front of you ... I just looked at the reporter and said what do you say to a person who cannot see you as a human being."  She told of her memories in Palestine as a 6 year old having a soldier point a gun at her head, of being tear gassed when coming home from school, of her grandfather released from prison being beaten and broken but refusing to be silenced.  You can see more of her speech and more footage of the protests as well as insightful and compassionate commentary on The Shot's episode on 15 February 2025: Cohesion, Division and State Violence – with guests Crystal Andrews and Antoun Issa.

Ballards, Thornbury

We shared an amazing 9 dish dinner at Ballards vegan restaurant (915 High Street).  I loved that the courses were lots of vegetables, nut and seed sauces and whimsical touches with no mock meat.  Having a non- alcoholic sangria was also a treat.  This was such a great special meal that Sylvia organised for my birthday.  You can read more about our dinner in my Ballards blog post.  

Tylers Milkbar, Preston II

I had a pleasant lunch at the wonderful Tylers Milkbar (656 Plenty Road) with my friend Jo in the courtyard.  She had a vegan version of the Top of the Morning burger.  I had the "The F*#%ing amazing toastie (Vegan option, GF option): Spring onion omelette, Six Eyed Scorpion crispy chilli oil, more spring onion and double tasty cheese with a side of our roasted sesame sauce for a dipping good time".  I had a vegan version so I could have the spring onion chickpea pancake which was so so good.  Sylvia earlier in the month had had hers with tofu bacon and asked for minimal chilli oil.  I forgot to ask for either of these and loved the chickpea omelette that I didn't mind but I did scrape most of the chilli oil off my sandwich and found that it was a nice spiciness for me.  It was fun to have Jo's company for most of the bike ride home.

Croix Croissant, Flemington

Sylvia and I had a visit to Croix Croissant bakery (185 Mt. Alexander Rd) soon after Valentine's day.  She was delighted that they still had their seasonal specials available and ordered the vegan Pink rose brulee danish  and the soy Pink latte with a sweet berry flavour.  She loved them.  I had a (not vegan) Banoffee cruffin which was lovely but my personal preference would have been more caramel and less custard.  Then because we got there so late, we were given a freebie vegan Passionfruit coconut cruffin topped with the cutest vanilla cream with a centre of passionfruit and coconut jam.  Again Sylvia enjoyed it more than me as I am not really into vanilla cream but the pastry was amazing.

Damona factory, Williamstown North

One of Sylvia's heart's desires on her birthday was to visit the Damona factory (40 Chelmsford St) to buy offcuts of their fantastic vegan cheese.  We rang first to see if they had offcuts before leaving home that morning.  They were very friendly and we got samples of mozzarella, American cheese, pecorino, feta and brie.  It is Sylvia's favourite vegan cheese and we are so happy it is made here in Melbourne.

 

Adventures in the western suburbs of Melbourne

The above birthday trip to Damona was just the start of Sylvia's birthday adventure in the west of Melbourne.  We are not out that way often so we made the most of it by shopping at the wonderful Helping Hands op shop (85-89 Hampshire Road, Sunshine), purchasing Dubai chocolate pistachio paste at iPantry (99-101 Proximity Drive Sunshine West) and finding more bargains at Savers (33 Albert Street, Footscray).  See my In My Kitchen: February 2026 post for more about these and also Sylvia's birthday presents.

Along the way, I found out the hard way that if you don't take the correct lane on the West Gate freeway to skirt around the new tunnel you have to go the long way over the bridge and back to turn off to Williamstown.  I also enjoyed seeing some beautiful street art and have shared these among other photos in my post on  Street Art in Melbourne: North Melb and West of Melbourne.  We also had a fantastic lunch at One for the Crow in Maidstaone which as you can see above had some wonderful crow wall art.  You can read below more about our scrumptious meal.

One for the Crow - burger

Sylvia was already a big fan of One for the Crow (9 Commercial Street, Maidstone).  She could not wait to try more after enjoying the Big Brekkie at this vegan cafe previously.  On this visit she ordered the "Nashville Hot 'Honey' Burger: Crumbed enoki mushroom drizzled with a hot 'honey' glaze, served with cabbage slaw, pickles and a side of chips, $24".  She declared it one of her best ever burgers.  

We also ordered one of their vegan fried eggs on the side because although Sylvia had had it previously I was curious.  I had intended to order it on the Hummus and Avocado (Beetroot hommus, sliced avocado topped with almond feta, smokey soy and sesame roasted pepitas, lightly pickled cucumber with fresh herbs on toasted sourdough.  Perhaps fortunately it was unavailable because am not sure I could eat a whole one of these eggs.  The yolk is a carrot and sweet potato mixture and the white is seasoned tofu.  It was gooey in a way that I find icky in regular eggs and was too eggy for me.  Sylvia enjoyed it though she found it less flavoured than regular eggs.  But it was fascinating that it looked so real and like regular fried eggs, it makes a meal look so much fancier!  We just had it on the side on a plate and even then it looked amazing.

One for the Crow - Reuben

Instead of the Hummus and Avo, I had the Reuben Toasted Sandwich: "Pastrami spiced tempeh, cheese, pickled cabbage, almond feta, dill pickles and kimchi mayo on sourdough toast, $21".  I am so sorry my photo does not do justice to this amazing sandwich.  It is the best Reuben I have ever had and I just loved the spiced tempeh and the vegan cheesiness with the tart pickled veg.

One for the Crow - waffle

Our lunch was so good and it was a birthday celebration so we splurged on the "Creme Brulee Waffle: served with cashew custard, honeycomb, strawberries, roasted almonds and ice cream, $20".  I was glad we were sharing as we were pretty full by now.  But it was a wonderful waffle.  The combination of nuts, honeycomb, ice cream and berries was superb and the waffle was hot and crisp as it should be.

It was a great experience.  For our drinks, Sylvia had the Biscoff milkshake with a shot of coffee and loved it.  I was happy to have a kombucha.  The staff were friendly and happy to help.  We were both very full as we left but very happy to have eaten such good food.

Red Sparrow Pizza, Fitzroy

Sylvia is fond of a week of birthday celebrations so a few days later we went to Red Sparrow Pizza (60 Rose Street).  It claims to be Melbourne's first and only vegan pizzeria.  We are lucky it is only a few suburbs away.  Sylvia had eaten there before and raved about it.  She started with the Garlic Parmesan Not Wings which she enjoyed but asked me if chicken is always so stringy, having never eaten the stuff herself.  On her last visit, she loved the Cheeseburger pizza (Tomato Base, Mozzarella, Crumbled Burger, Red Onion, Pickles, Burger Sauce and Sesame Seeds, $30) so she ordered it again.  I chose the Verde pizza (Pesto Base, Mozzarella, Artichoke, Spinach, Broccolini, and Toasted Pepitas, $28 with optional goats style cashew cheese).  It was the prettiest pizza with edible flower garnishes and tasted good but I preferred the Cheeseburger.

Red Sparrow Pizza II

We also ordered mocktails: a berry and a matcha.  Mine was a bit tart but Sylvia's was really delightful and she loved having a vegan foam on top.

Of course we ordered too much and took some pizza home in their cute Red Sparrow box (with the lost in sauce illustration) that our cat now enjoys sitting on.
 

Wild Timor Cafe, Coburg II

On another warm day, I returned to the Summer Salad at Wild Timor Cafe (282 Sydney Rd).  It had apple, lettuce, goats cheese, tomatoes, carrot, cucumber, vinaigrette, dukkah and pomegranate arils.  While I loved it this time, especially all the crunch from the dukkah, I was less keen on the dukkah's spices.  I preferred the previous version of the salad that you can see at the top of the post.  I had a chat to the staff who said I could try it without the dukkah next time.  

In the News:

The media have continued to be focused on Epstein and Israel, with some the Winter Olympics offering some light relief.  In Australia there was a lot to be said about pro-Palestine protests (see more above), immigration and the Liberal and National parties joining up once more to be the Liberal National coalition.  Our Prime Minster put his foot in his mouth when he called Grace Tame 'difficult' and our Treasurer is looking at reforming Capital Gains Tax.  Some interesting reading below:

Jeffrey Epstein Couldn’t Stop Emailing People About Eugenics, MotherJones, 10 February 2026.

When peaceful protest is allowed to work, democracy works, Pearls and Irritations, 11 February 2026.

Canberra bar declared a crime scene as police seize 'clearly satirical' posters under new Commonwealth hate laws, ABC News, 19 February 2026.

Albanese changes tune on immigration and 'ISIS brides' as One Nation effect hits, in ABC News, 23 February 2026.

Could Andrew Mountbatten‑Windsor’s arrest bring down the British monarchy? in The Conversation, 20 February 2026.

Left-wing plumber helps Greens sink ruling Labour and far right in surprise U.K. election win, NBC News, 27 February 2026.

Nearly 5,000 sailors, malfunctioning toilets: What’s happening on US’ largest warship amid Iran tensions? Firstpost, 25 February 2026.

Notable deaths were Jon Kadulka, the sharp-witted Tasmanian political cartoonist, and James Van Der Beek who is remembered fondly from Dawsons Creek and his good humoured sending himself up in later years.

Watching and listening (highly recommended):

Stranger Things, series 5: the final series of this coming of age, sci-fi, horror Netflix series.  Great characters, fascinating plot, amazing scenery, disturbing villains, 1980s nostalgia and memorable lines like "well butter my butt and call me a biscuit" from Murray.  My favourite character has to be Joyce because Winona Ryder makes me nostalgic for my days as a twentysomething.  

Tales from outer suburbia: an animated tv series based on Shaun Tan's otherworldly graphic novel, shown on ABC iview. 

Emily Kate Genatowski: My year living with a robot: Fascinating Ted talk podcast about considering on the day to day and policy challenges we will face with AI-powered robots in our lives rather than panicked statements on robots taking all our jobs and destroying our world. 

A short history of the innovations that have shaped human progress: a Conversations podcast with Andrew Leigh about his book on the history of innovations and how they change people's lives in both good and damaging ways (eg the printing press, the industrial revolution and AI) and how when a society is stable they are more likely to emerge.

We love the Coburg Night Market every year in December.  It is a perfect way to welcome in the summer relaxing in the shade of the trees with good local food and local live music in good company with the option of catching up on Christmas shopping at the craft markets.   This year Sylvia went each day and I went two of the three days.  It is one of the many reasons to love Coburg!

 

On Sylvia's first evening (with her dad) there she went to Nohadra's Kitchen for the (vegan) Taste of Iraq mixed plate with 2 crispy falafels, 2 savoury Kuba Haleb (crispy rice balls with mushroom filling), 3 tender Dolma, zesty tabouli, fresh salad, tangy pickled turnip, soft flatbread, and tahini sauce (no spicy sauce for us).  She loved it and I had it on my second day and loved it as well.  I was pleased that Sylvia finally was singing the praises of dolma (vine leaf wrapped rice). So much good food in the plate.
 

Sylvia also had an earl grey matcha RYU which she rates very highly.  It is a gorgeous green colour.  She went back the next night for a fine blueberry matcha. -earl grey
 

Mela Patisserie, who have a cafe in the Pentridge shopping centre, had a stall of festive bakes: minced tarts, puddings, fruit cake and gingerbread.  The puddings were wrapped in gorgeous cloth with star and candy cane patterns.  Sylvia bought a tree shaped stack of gingerbread stars.  I was so curious about the DIY gingerbread house kit for $40, which you can see at the right of the photos.  I am sure it must be better than those dry supermarket versions.

We have always enjoyed the gorgeous smelling candles in tins at Leaf Candle Co (see a photo in my 2024 market post).  Their gingerbread candles smell so cosy and spicy.  This year they had darling little fabric oranments that had been stitched in great detail by the owner's mum.  You can see some of the little houses with the door, windows and garden stitched in them.  Sylvia could not resist buying one.

I went on the second night with a friend while Sylvia was also there with a friend.  It gave me time to look around a buy for her without her about.  We both love this stall with all the dainty ceramic houses by Fiona Howes.  It is one of those displays where I want to bring everything home even if I don't have any space for it.  Sadly I know that at home it is easy to take for granted what seems so exciting and gorgeous when browsing.

 

Another regular stall holder is Elvedee Design.  She makes gorgeous cards, tea towels and coasters with illustrations of local icons such as Pentridge, Bin Chicken Island and the Coburg Drive in.

A newcomer was Claire Mosley Art.  I really loved her local flora and fauna artwork.  She had a few different cards and tea towels with creatures from the Merri Creek.

Continuing in the theme of unique Australian artwork were the Dancing Grass designs on tea towels, table cloths and bags.  It is great to see so much creative reimagining of flora and fauna.  I was very tempted by the tea towels and bags.  

By the time Jo and I had browsed the craft stalls, were ready for dinner.  This was when we bumped into Sylvia who recommended the Lucy Oi rice paper rolls with caramelised tofu.  By then it was so crowded that it was impossible to walk up to a order dinner without waiting.  It was even hard to get to see all the options.  

So we joined the Lucy Oi queue while Sylvia and co went to find us a seat.  They even found us some bean bags!  We had lots to catch up on so before we knew we were seated with our fantastic rice paper rolls - I wish I could roll a rice paper roll that tightly with such delicious filling.

Jo's family joined us and it was a lovely listening to the mellow music of Miss Emilia and watching the crowd as a hot day turned to a pleasant evening.  The roving performers from Sanctum Studio passed us by with what was described online as the "Braxadragon – an incredible intergalactic specimen cultivated from cuttings collected on Planet Bird Colourful Jelly Sparkle".  Excitable kids followed the giant pink puppet on the wagon yelling "eat me" and screaming when it turned their way.  

When we decided we wanted ice cream, Sylvia went to Billy Van Creamy for a chocolate ice cream for me and Jo's kids got her a lemon sorbet in an lemon from Taste of Amalfi  local lemon sorbet.  Then we were all ready to go home as the daylight was waning and the lights were coming on.

Here's more of the stalls we browsed:

Top row: Fiona Howes, Maho's Drawing, Fiona Howes, 
Middle row: Mela Patisserie, Elvedee Design, Bumi Botanicals
Bottom Row: WOZWASTE (a spinny hanging made from recycled toothbrushes), Claire Mosley Art, Green Candle Co.
 

The next day I returned to the market with Sylvia soon after the market started at 12pm,  It was so quiet after the bustling previous night.  Not even any music had started.  It was warm enough that people were gathered under the shady trees. 

Being there early meant there were no queues for the food trucks.  Sylvia had her eye on the Spanish leek and seitan sausage from Artesanos Catering and I bought myself a Taste of Iraq mixed plate from Nohadra's Kitchen that Sylvia had had on her first visit (scroll up to the second top photo for more info).  The sausage was nice but not amazing.  After we left Sylvia read that Mr Baller's meatball subs had vegan versions.  I hope they are there next year because if they are, we will not assume they are all meat.

The standout dish of the market was the vegan mushroom bitterballen from the Amsterdam inspired Mokum.  This stall was run by the staff of the cafe of the same name in Brunswick.  I have meant to go there for ages.  The fritters were freshly fried with a crunchy outside and a creamy herby filling with field mushrooms.  I was so impressed I have finally visited the cafe since the market.  
 

We also bought some stuffed cookies from Oh My Crumbs.  They were huge so we took them home for later.  Sylvia got a gingerbread cookie and I had a Dubai chocolate cookie.  

Instead of the cookie, I had half an Alfojores from the Coburg Primary School bake sale which were sandy cookies sandwiched together by a lovely dulce de leche.   Walking on we were happy to have a slice of watermleon from the Greens political party.  

Also on the above photo collage are Vegan Tibetan momos from Chemi's Momo and rice paper rolls from Lucy Oi.

Then Sylvia and I had a quick look at some favourite stalls.  We stopped to admire the charming display at Bumi Botanicals.  The woman behind the counter was interested to hear that Sylvia still has a dream catcher that she bought at their stall 2 years ago.  She seemed pleased it had lasted.

 

We didn't stay long on Saturday but were still feeling warmed by the memories of the fine evening on Friday when we mooched on beanbags with the sun setting behind the large palm tree.  This market is a great tradition that I hope will last for a long time.

Read previous posts about my visits to the Coburg Night Market in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019,  2022, 2023 and 2024.

Coburg Night Market
Bridges Rd Reserve
Thursday 11 Dec - Saturday 13 Dec 2025
www.merri-bek.vic.gov.au/coburg-night-market
www.facebook.com/coburgnightmarket

We are galloping towards the end of the year at some pace!  October was a busy month with a roller coaster of hot days turned to pouring rain, of getting life in order only to sink into a feeling of being totally overwhelmed, and of crazy busy days at work following a wonderful holiday in Daylesford.  It was the month for getting updated: a haircut, a car service and a bike service.  

Above is a picture of some rosemary and flowers I collected after pruning the garden last weekend when we had barely finished before the rain soaked the plants and the washing on the line in what turned out to be the wettest day in 18 months.  The weather was so wild that there was a hurricane in Werribee.  I heard a woman on the radio the following day describe the wind peeling the roof off her pergola like the lid of a sardine tin and lifting her husband a foot off the ground.

We brought a few souvenirs home from our 4 day Daylesford holiday.  These gorgeous spoons, with fancy metalwork on the handles, were found in a box of cutlery in an op shop.  They are in regular usage.  You can also seem some retro chunky beads that was one of Sylvia's jewellery purchases and the edges of a batch of Lemon slice made by Sylvia to take to Daylesford for snacking.

I bought this Spring Bouquet Japanese stoneware dinner plate at the Daylesford Mill Market.  It was overpriced at $28 but I had never seen a green version the commonplace brown floral stoneware dinner plates that are sold dirt cheap in op shops everywhere.  I love using it in the kitchen.  No no regrets!   

I also bought 3 of these gorgeous greeting cards at Daylesford Mill Market at a reasonable price (I think they were $3 each).  Sylvia bought the fairy card at the Daylesford Convent Gallery for a lot more.  I have been meaning to put the one of the hungry cat with ukelele above the cat food bowl.  (It reads: Let me play you a song: it's called there's no food in my bowl!)

When it comes to food our cat Shadow is very needy.  He is able to go and eat by himself, but if we are about he likes to scratch and glare and even reach his paw around my computer screen to let me know he needs someone to come with him to his food bowl in the bathroom and give him a pat before he will eat. 

He loves his dry food.  Sometimes I wonder if he used to be given cat food from a tin because he always is a bit excited whenever I open a tin.  But it is not just tins.  He is often interested in any food, especially cheese.  If I get out cheese for anything he just appears just magic.  He loves the stuff and if he could he would live on the stuff.  Recently my neighbour bought chicken necks for her cats who refused them.  So she tried them with Shadow but he would not touch them either.  I was a bit proud of him!  And relieved he did not suddenly demonstrate a love for chicken necks because I could not and would not serve them to him.
 

One more souvenir from Dayelsford is a light shade to go in Sylvia's room - from the Dayelsford Bazaar.  If there had been two I might have got one for my room too.  The domed shell has green leaves and trim in a lovely shade.  I have put it away carefully until I can get a light shade for my room and have an electrician convert the light fittings in the bedrooms.

In September I finally posted the recipe for these wonderful Easy brownies that are mixed in the tin.  On a whim, Sylvia made them again in October.  Midway through making them she discovered that we had no eggs.  She was already up to her armpits in mixture so I suggested she instead add a couple of chia eggs (where a chia egg is 1 tablespoon of chia seeds and 3 tablespoon of water).  It worked fantastically.  She was less impressed than me but I would do this again - perhaps a little flatter but still were easy, chewy and tasted amazing.

My favourite new recipe of the month was this Crispy rice salad that Sylvia found online.  Rice was cooked and mixed with oil, panko crumbs and seasoning before being crisped up in our airfryer (much quicker than the oven in the recipe).  This crispy rice was scattered over a salad of dinosaur kale, cucumber, avocado, edamame, spring onions and herbs with a dressing of kewpie mayo, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, chilli, honey and sesame oil.  It was delicious and then being It was great because - twice rice and edamame - about 1/2 tsp chilli paste in dressing and rice basmati (did not have to cool too long - ok warm) 8-10min at 200c in liner in airfryer.  The fresh veg with the creamy dressing and crunchy rice was amazing.  This is one to repeat as the weather gets warmer.

Sylvia had fried rice from a food court at Highpoint shopping centre that she loved.  She told me I put too much soy sauce in fried rice and need to be more like that fried rice.  She found me a recipe - 'dad's' fried rice.  I was happy to try it but it had too much egg.  So I found a recipe for a vegan egg fried rice using a besan egg.  In addition, instead of frying the veg, I steamed it in my microwave steamer with vegies (peas, carrots, corn, edamame and later spring onion) on one layer and rice warmed up on another layer.  It was a good fried rice but I would make changes.  I needed to leave the besan mixture to firm up a bit more before stirring in the rice which became very clumpy.  As I finished cooking it occurred to me I had doubled up on the seasoning and in future if I used the two recipes together I needed to ease off on the seasoning.  This is a recipe I want to work on.  Stay tuned!

I made a barley stew one night.  I used what was about: onion, celery, carrot, potato, green peas, green lentils (that should have been soaked), edamame and of course barley with some simple seasonings of stock powder, dried herbs, vinegear and honey.  It worked really well and filled up our tummies!

When I heard on the radio that it was international mashed potato day on 18 October my mind went into flights of fantasy about having time to make lots of mashed potato dishes and writing a long blog post about my love of mashed potato and all the ways I loved to feature it in recipes.  In reality, it took me a few days to make one easy celtic mashed potato dish with the wonderful name of Rumbledethumps.  When I had previously made it I steamed the leek, cabbage and broccoli and it was really green.  This time I fried the leek and cabbage and steamed the broccoli and it was more beige.  Nevertheless it tasted lovely and felt like a healthier way to eat mashed potatoes.

Another recipe that appeared quite easy was a Miso, tomato and oregano pasta by Ottolenghi.  After congratulating myself during the week of using up a tub of cherry tomatoes, I found that they had been intended for this pasta.  So it all changed.  I added sundried tomatoes, green olives, butter beans, parsley and spring onion.  The miso, maple and garlic granule dressing was good but I needed more because we used more pasta.  Sylvia tells me we need to do it Ottolenghi's way next time! 

While at Preston Market, we found these mil tea Kit Kats.  I think we bought it based on the cute red tartan packaging, thinking you can't go wrong with Kit Kats.  It was ok but the white chocolate was a bit sweet for my liking.  If only they were as amazing as the packaging!

My manager had 6 weeks of leave.  It was great to have time to catch up on my to do list without having more added to it constantly.  But it was also good to have her back.  She bought us all a pair of chopsticks and a cute little cat chopstick rest from Japan.  It was very generous and so nice to see all the different pairs of chopsticks around the desks.

Sylvia's dad found her a tub of 2 minute mac and cheese topokki.  It is like a modern update on the 2 minute noodles of my youth.  Just add boiling water.  Sylvia found the sauce a bit sweet but loved the instant chewy rice sticks.  I liked the sauce and topokki and thought it a decent stab at Korean fusion fast food.

I liked the look of these Vegetarian "Hacao" dumplings at KFL supermarket.  (Wikipedia tells me that traditional Cantonese dumplings can be anglicised as har gow, ha gow, hau kau, or ha kao.)  The ingredient list was not as disturbingly long as some frozen dumplings. They were filled with seasoned Yam bean, Caro, Tro, Mung bean, Black fungus, Chinese mushrooms and "Bean cur sheet" (which I think is meant to say bean curd aka tofu).  I took a bad picture of the filling but was more impressed by my photo of them in the microwave steamer,  I'd love to have them again but Sylvia less certain.

Sylvia is a big fan of Frys vegan soy and linseed schnitzels but had not liked their vegan nuggets.  The new packaging for the nuggets got our attention more than the "new and improved" claim.  Sylvia at the nuggets in the packet with one going to me to taste but we were not enthused enough to buy them again.

I stopped at Terra Madre and bough some eco sponge cloths and eco scouring pads.  It seemed the right thing to do especially with the pretty patterns on the cloths.  In my ideal world I use them to replace my usual blue kitchen sponges with a scouring pad attached. Yet they are so pretty I have been reluctant to use them.  It is the dilemma with kitchen and cleaning clothes that it is so nice to have them looking pristine but we really want them to use them as intended they get very manky.  I am working on it!

I am a fan of Remedy kombucha which is readily available in my supermarkets and cafe.  Even so, I have noticed that there is less kombucha available in cafes lately, as though the enthusiasm for kombucha is waning.  There are now many more low-cal  adult sodas on the market that aren't tooth achingly sweet.  I remain faithful to kombucha and wish every cafe offered it.  It is interesting to see some newly packaged Small Batch kombuchas being produced by Remedy.  Is this to get attention in a crowded market.  I was not a huge fan of the Lychee and Strawberry (unlike Sylvia) but loved the Yuzu and Madarin.  They are photographed with a couple of Sukin products.  It is a skincare range I like using with aromatic essential oils.

We are a sucker for a new version of an old product.  Peters drumsticks have brought out a Banana Caramel drumstick.  It was nice with a decent banana flavour.  I prefer more chocolate in mine but Sylvia was a big fan.  Kudos for the cute packaging and linking the flavour to the Big Banana, an Australian road trip icon.

October ended with Halloween and not much energy.  We had plans to look at some houses but in the end were defeated by tiredness and wet weather.  Earlier in the day I stopped at Back Alley Bakes for some Halloween baking.  I had orders to buy a pumpkin scroll but found they were only available on weekends.  So instead I bought her a skeleton gingerbread and a lime and olive filled ghost biscuit.  

I also bought the Spooky Special scroll with swirls of black sesame fnagipani, a yuzu custard filling and a meringe flourish on top, and a loaf of seeded sourdough.  As so often happens at Back Alley Bakes she did not like my choices but at least the skeleton was a hit!  I loved the dark and delicious swirls in the scroll. I could have done with less custard but it had a lovely citrus flavour.  And as always the bread is lovely for some easy weekend meals.

I am sending this post to Sherry of Sherry's Pickings for the In My Kitchen event. If you would like to join in, send your post's url to Sherry by 13th of the month.  Or just head over to her blog to visit more kitchens and her gorgeous hand drawn header.  Thanks to Sherry for continuing to host this even that brings together some wonderful bloggers who share glimpses into their kitchens.