Good stuff: Seasons

Having grown up in Australia, experiencing a genuine change of seasons is a relatively new experience for me. I was used to rainy, cool and rainy, warm and melting. In New York, there are SEASONS. You need a couple of different coats, like a light one, a warm one, and a ridiculous puffy marshmallow one. I don't think they even sell the last kind in Australia. It's also acceptable to wear hats, in fact, it's advisable. You wear these with your wellies when it snows. It's great, this socially sanctioned public wearing of wellies. And it's everywhere!

Having a very visible change of the seasons is lovely. When the leaves have turned for Autumn, they not only look beautiful, but you appreciate those warm days even more, because you know it's all going to change soon. There's pumpkin pie and Winter produce in the markets, and you start to think about a scarf and a cup of warm cider to walk around with, instead of iced coffee. The first snowfall is very exciting. Before the yellow spots from dog pee, and grey slushy bits of god knows what come along, it's perfect and clean and white and quiet. The first nice day of Spring brings cherry blossoms and women in floral dresses and bare legs, and everyone smiling, sitting outside sharing happiness that the cold bits are behind us. They sometimes come back, but that just means you get to do the first bit again. Summer is HOT, it's really, really hot, and it's awesome.

It's dramatic and lovely to mark the passage of time like this, it helps to really commit memories when you can remember what it was like outside when something happened.

Good Stuff: Marriage Equality

This ad is truly beautiful and moving. I welled with tears when I saw it for the first time. It's particularly timely for me as it's coming up to our wedding anniversary. I am lucky to be married to the man I love, and able to build a life together. All the ups and downs life entails are made easier by that support and the love he gives me in return. I can't imagine what it must be like to be lucky enough to find someone you'd like to make a family and a life with, and then not be allowed to due to a discriminatory law. I was proud to be a New Yorker when they passed their law, and I hope I get to be a proud Aussie too.

Beautiful Things: Clothes with birds on them

Good stuff: Living near the ocean

We are so extremely lucky to be staying with friends on the Spanish Island of Ibiza for the next few months. It's quiet, relaxing and beautiful. We are so, so lucky and grateful for this. We could be cooped up in our apartment in New York, Wee Man methodically destroying the house out of utter boredom while the vitamin D leeches slowly from our bodies, OR we could be here. I am so happy we're here.

The most amazing part about it all is being surrounded by water. My mother always said that water had healing properties, that by just being close to it, you were able to achieve a sense of calm, and that it helped you think. This is really true for me, whatever mundane or stressful thoughts I have racing through my head, stepping outside and seeing the water glinting in the sunlight immediately stops me in my tracks to think: "Wow, that's really beautiful." The things I was worrying about just don't matter that much when you line them up next to the vastness of nature.

We are up on a point with a port to one side, and cliffs and beaches on the other. It's really spectacular. It's beautiful in the sunshine, but the rainstorms bring big dramatic black clouds and an unusual purple and blue light. I like it both ways.

I've been giving a lot of thought to what I'd like to achieve during the coming months here, and what I'd like to experience in Spain.
I have it narrowed down to three things:
1. Develop enough knowledge of Spanish to at least try not to open every interaction with: 'hablar Inglés?'
2. Enough exercise to finally stop looking three months pregnant, since this state of being was now a year ago.
3. Something fun and new for Wee Man, every day.


Achievable and fun goals, wish me luck.

Good stuff: A baby, on a flight, being good.

We're talking New York to Madrid, with a delayed connecting flight to Ibiza. No tears, no tantrums, no mess. Thirteen hours of Dream Baby. Hats off, Wee Man.

Yum Stuff: One Chook Dan Chicken

My friend Dan had been travelling the world for almost 18 months when he came to visit us in New York for dinner. I made the dish below. I had one piece, Mat had another. We then watched in amazement as Dan slowly and methodically ate the rest of it. There, in our kitchen, we watched one man eat almost an entire chicken. He only stopped periodically to exclaim : 'It's so great to have a home cooked dinner!', and to take the occasional breath.

That is how the legend of One Chook Dan was born, and the One Chook Dan Chicken got its name.

One Chook Dan Chicken:

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 small to medium sized jar of apricot jam
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 3/4 teaspoon black pepper or peppercorns
• 1 whole chicken cut into pieces.

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400° F/200C. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes, jam, vinegar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of the pepper. Simmer until the sauce has thickened slightly, about 15 minutes.
   Alternatively, you can just make the sauce cold and pour it on, this gives you more juices to pour over everything at the end.
2. Meanwhile, rinse the chicken and pat it dry with paper towels. Arrange the pieces in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and season with the remaining salt and pepper.
3. Pour the barbecue sauce over the chicken. Roast, spooning the sauce over the chicken once, until the chicken is cooked through, about 1 hour.
4. Serve with mash or rice, something to soak up the yummy sauce. Broccoli and beans are nice with this. 
   Make sure you get some for yourself before Dan takes it all!

Yum Stuff: Tuna Rice Bake Comfort Dinner

Eating Tuna Rice Bake is like being hugged by your dinner. It's good for when you're feeling a bit sad or a bit sick and need a warm full belly to feel better.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter, and enough for greasing the dish, or grease it with PAM.
• Big tin of tuna in water, drained
• 1 small onion, chopped finely
• Pinch cayenne pepper
• Couple of minced garlic cloves
• 1 package frozen spinach, thawed, drained and chopped, or peas and carrots and corn
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar, plus extra for top. Parmesan is also good.
• 4 cups cooked brown or wild rice
• 2 stalks of celery, cut small
• 1 teaspoon freshly chopped parsley leaves
• 1 teaspoon freshly chopped thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon chopped basil leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper. Lemon pepper is nice.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a large casserole dish.

In a large pan over medium-high heat, saute onions with 2 tablespoons of butter and cayenne until translucent, add the garlic and the celery towards the end, just enough to soften them a little. Add the spinach and cook for 3 minutes. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together milk and eggs.

Add the tuna, cheese, rice, parsley, thyme, basil and spinach mixture and combine well. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour into prepared casserole dish and top with extra shredded cheese. Bake for 45 minutes until the cheese on top is nicely browned and it's bubbling hot.

*Some people might like to add paprika to this at some stage, I think that's gross. Each to their own and all that.