SIZZLIN’ HOT
If your sock-covered toes are shivering in sub-zero
temperatures as you read this, just know that we are happily enjoying long,
sunny days at the pool—and sunburns!
While I love the long days and warm weather here, this past week was excessively hot. Combine
really hot days with a really dry climate, and you get lots of wildfires (aka
bushfires—‘cause we’re in the “bush”, you know). I mean, a ton of fires. Fortunately, we have been safe, and no one we know here has
been affected, but there have been something like over 100 fires in this area
recently. Scary!
SOME LIKE IT HOT--CORA DOES NOT!
On Saturday, a family from church invited the whole ward over for a BBQ. They live about 1 1/2 hours away in a place called Cromwell. (Can you imagine driving 1 1/2 hours each way to church each week? Well, they do it. Talk about dedication!!) Their house is situated on a huge piece of land, removed from anything else, really. The drive out there was absolutely beautiful. The Australian landscape (or at least the parts I've seen) is extremely open, covered with golden grasses, and dotted with the occasional knotted tree or bush. (Their house was actually in serious danger of the bushfires, but nothing happened, as far as I know.)
We arrived and everyone was sitting under a great big tree on lawn chairs while the kids ran barefoot between the inflatable pool and food table. Unfortunately, as soon as we got out of the car, Cora's face got really blotchy, her eyes started to swell, and her nose became runny. I don't know where she got her allergies! The pollen, with the dry heat (like about 104 degrees hot), made for a not-so-happy Cora. Everyone was so nice, though! People took turns trying to soothe Cora, got her a blanket to play on, and such. Not long after we got there, I just took her inside, the host got us a cool washrag to put on her head, and I took off her clothes to cool her down. So sad. They even offered to let us give her a bath. We decided to just take her home instead. As we got in the car, Cora totally crashed. Australia has not been kind to Cora's skin, but the people hear have blown us away with their kindness!! People in the ward are always looking for ways to help us out. I wish we could have stayed longer at the BBQ, but I am glad we at least got to go for a little bit.
To cool off, I took Cora to the pool for the first time a few
days ago. She really loved
it. I was super paranoid about her burning her skin, so I applied sunscreen very liberally—and it worked! However, I didn’t apply any, and I
definitely got a red tint. Whoops!
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| Cora's first swim |
It has become a tradition in the Jackson home, to eat a big, spicy, stinky (kimchi, anyone?) Korean meal on Christmas Eve. Sterling and I have carried on the tradition in the Larsen residence. Because we weren’t able to be in Utah this year for the holidays, we decided to go out for our Christmas Eve meal. (Yes, we ate all that meat...)
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Korean BBQ on Christmas Eve
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Let me say that, first and foremost, I am smitten with my dear
husband, Sterling. I feel so blessed everyday
to have a husband who loves God, me, and our little Cora, so much.
Now I can’t compare my love for my husband and
daughter to my feelings for a cookbook in the least bit, but if I were going to, this may
be for The Smitten Kitchen
Cookbook by Deb Perelman.
Sterling’s brother, Dallin, gave it to me as a Christmas gift and I
haven’t been able to stop pouring over its deliciousness. Who says you can’t read cookbooks like
novels?
If we invite you over in the near future, expect
something along the lines of grapefruit olive oil pound cake, tomato scallion
shortcakes with whipped goat cheese, or whole-wheat raspberry ricotta
scones. (That is, if I can make the recipes
turn out the way they are supposed to!)
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| My new favorite cookbook! (Thanks, Dallin!) |
In just three short weeks, we will be reunited with
family, friends, and then shortly after, be moved into our new place in
Virginia. I am extremely excited about all of
those things. But! You know what makes it even better? I will also be reunited with my
non-stick pans, my sharpened knife, a full-sized oven, a gas stove, our cheese
grater and food processor (*woot*).
WHAT'S COOKIN'?
The idea of writing my own cookbook has been swirling in my head for the last several months now. And looking at The Smitten Kitchen cookbook has pushed those swirling thoughts into action! Just this week I have committed to being serious about it. Yesterday I started taking notes on possible recipes to include, ingredients to experiment with, and the like. (Keep in mind, this may be a 2-3 year project, but it's underway as of now!) So, if you like food, let me know and maybe we can arrange a meeting. We'll need food testers. Sterling and I don't need to be eating 5 batches of rhubarb shortbread cookies as we figure out which one has the best butter/sugar ratio! (Even though we might be able to!)
(How am I going to do this while I'm off dairy? Hmmm.... Not sure yet....)
DATE DAY
Sterling and I go out on a date every Friday night. Canberra is funny, though. Everything closes at, like, 6 pm. This makes it hard to do things at night. Soooo.... Sterling had the idea of doing a day date today. He took a long lunch and came home so we could go out at noon. (He'll have to work late tonight, though.) We went to this warehouse full of funky little boutiques and local artists' work. Before we left, I told Sterling that we should take some photos of us while we were out (for the blog), but of course, I forgot. Photos of Cora are probably more exciting anyway. And we have a ton of them. Here's a cute one:
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| Cora smiling at Sterling |
Cora making random sounds
LAKE BURLEY GRIFFEN
Last week, we also went on a lovely evening walk around Lake Burley Griffen in Canberra. It's a huge man-made lake in the center of the city. Despite its artificiality, it was really nice. You can see the National Library across the lake in the photo below.
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| Lake Burley Griffen, Canberra |
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| Commonwealth Park (off of Lake Burley Griffen) |
In our ward, I was asked to make some diaper/nappy cakes for three women that are expecting in the next month or so. The Relief Society sisters donated various baby things, and I just put them together. This one right here is for the Relief Society President. I never imagined myself making one of these, but here it is. It actually was kind of fun. More cakes to come!
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| Nappy Cake #1 |
Love you all. See you soon!!!
Nate and I volunteer to be taste testers. :) I think it's awesome you are going to write a cookbook.
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