cacio e pepe

last year we watched a program from Anthony Bourdain and he was in italy. I love italy and anything to do with italy, including the food and the language.

i studied italian for many years, but sadly i rarely get to speak it.  when i did show an interest in the language, it became quite apparent to me at the time, that i should learn the language after i began having dreams in italian, where i was talking to old italian women and in my dream i was speaking the language, even though i had no idea what i was saying.  so i took myself off to the Dante Alighieri and then onto study at university and then it all just fell by the wayside.

so back to anthony bourdain and the show.  he was in a particular town and ordered what he said was a very traditional pasta dish called cacio e pepe, which is just basically pasta with cheese and pepper. i was quite intrigued by this and set about googling till i found something that looked like it did on the good old telly, so i decided to give it a try. (not my photo by the way)

when making this dish, the aroma is quite intoxicating, as you have to fry the pepper on its own, similar to what you do when tempering indian spices.  I love the smell so much that i actually got some pepper oil from perfect potion and use it in a burner. apparently it promotes confidence and focus.  what's not to like about that!

i caught up with some girlfriends on the weekend and we went to lunch at the spaghetti house in south bank and there was so much great vegetarian food to choose from but i was instantly drawn to the cacio e pepe.

 

I would know if i was on the right track having tasted it from an italian establishment.  mine came served in this parmesan basket which was super tasty and the spaghetti was lovely - with all the right flavours, and it hate to say it but there is a but....one thing i found when making mine was that if you put the cheese in while it's too hot, it goes sticky, not saucy and my dish at the restaurant had this happen - but it didn't stop me eating it.

I am going to share my version of cacio e pepe, cause i was right on track with what i made taste wise, as to what i had at the restaurant.

You need spaghetti ( i used about 2/3 pack of barilla spaghettini 3, which takes 5 minutes to cook), pepper, butter (about 2 ounces) and quite a lot of grated parmesan cheese (about 3/4 cup or more if you love it) and a little bit of olive oil.

Trick for new players - you can either cook the spaghetti slightly beforehand and keep some of the pasta water or hot water to dunk it back into to wash the starch off, or cook the spaghetti and sauce simultaneously and drain the pasta straight into the sauce.

 

start by dry frying the pepper - you will want quite a bit to give it the warm flavour that it creates. and it will only take a few minutes for this. once it begins to give off the aroma, you can then turn down the heat and add the butter and let it just melt into the pepper and then let it start to sizzle a bit.  even add a little bit of olive oil here just to add extra moisture and let it heat as well.

turn the heat down and it's now that you add the pasta - either straight from the hot water, or from what was cooked earlier.

gently stir it through to coat the pasta with the pepper sauce.  if you intend to put the cheese in at this point, don't do it while it is still really hot, or it will split and not become sauce like.  last night i added the cheese in 2 goes, off the heat and stirred one section trough then let the next lot just sit on the top and slowly melt.

the first time i made it, i served it with rocket as i thought the peppery flavour of the rocket would enhance it, but it didn't, it just seemed to make it a bit bitter. so now, i either have it by itself, or like i did last night with baby beets and tomatoes and a flat bread i love to make using flour, yoghurt and topped with garlic and oil.  sadly that picture must have happened in my mind, cause i can't find it anywhere.

enjoy. and my plan is that if i go back to italy, i will be testing cacio e pepe in every village or town and i hope that it's something that you might try to make.

buon appetito, mangiare sempre e buona fortuna!

the what i wear project

I thought it might be a nice thing for me to do a bit of a wrap up of my week - really it's a wrap up of what i wore, because i'd love to think that maybe there is something that i wear and share that may inspire someone to think differently about how they style an outfit or even decide to wear a look that they may not necessarily think works.

Inspirational is how i have been referred to for some aspects of my life and i used to cringe at the thought of having public compliments, but not anymore, i accept them graciously, and feel happy that maybe something i have done or am doing makes a difference to someone else's life - in a positive way.

Not only do i share my fashion, but i have been blogging my way through a book called Don't sweat the small stuff and this project came about at a time when a great amount of turmoil started occurring in my life and it seemed like a way to help me get through it and it's not only helped me, but others as well.

I was really surprised this week when somebody messaged me and complimented me on my style and told me that they were taking more risks, adding more colour and suggested we go shopping.  I was blown away.

So, my plan is every sunday to do a quick share (wrap up) of what i wore, which may be pieces from our huudaverti label, pieces i just made ad hoc or items that i pick up along the way.  I am a lover of wearing things over and over so don't be surprised if items pop up more than once - in a different incarnation of course.  So here goes......

well monday rolled around and i put on a tube skirt.  There's a blog coming about said tube skirt, cause it wasn't something that i was comfortable in, or so i thought.

i  wore huudaverti animal print tube skirt, teamed with black top from temt (really really old) and a floral over overshirt i made (also a few years old) teamed with a sequin belt, shoes from betts and earrings from fiji.

tuesday saw me donning another tube skirt.  white top or black top, white or black - it went on for ages and eventually the white top won the battle.

i wore skirt from best and less on sale for 10 bucks, tshirt from target, shoes from whittner and necklace gifted from a friend.  this look was a little out of my comfort zone - well the white top and shoes were, but i went with it.

hump day. i love the tree of life store - have loved it for so long as i really connect with some of their stuff, not all, but a lot of it. in the 70's when i was a teenager - crikey doesn't that sound wild - i had an original indian wrap around skirt and i have a photo of me wearing it but do you think i can find it.....NO!  i was on stradbroke island with my sisters and i know i shared it on facey, but i can't find it.  grrrr.

so i had tooed and froed with the indian skirt but was inspired to get one after the aussie curves post challenge about inspiration. I didn't think it would compliment me, but it did and it got complimented all day long.  it just required some simple styling, cause the skirt really did most of the work.

i wore skirt from tree of life, top from target, shoes from novo and earrings from dissh.

thursday - i was busting to wear this combo that was a look that we showed at the curvy couture roadshow.  it was fun, it was comfy and when people saw it on me at work, they were loving it. expect the unexpected.

i wore top and skirt from huudaverti, belt gifted to me, shoes from whittner.

TFIF - thank F it's friday and i decided to whip out the tie dye jeans i made and make it a little more formal for work.  and i was really happy with this look.  again unexpected, yet suitable.

i wore jeans from target tie dyed by me, dress/top made by me, love necklace from target or tarjayyyyy if you are feeling posh.

 

finally it was the weekend and it's then i can relax and put on whatever i like.

my weekend ritual/routine is going to the west end markets and this week i decided to frock up.  i had a lunch date with girlfriends at the spaghetti house southbank as well and felt it necessary to really frock up.

i wore assym dress from huudaverti, sandals from jo mercer and then gold dress and earrings from huudaverti, shoes from whittner. i need to make a mention of the earrings. at the curvy couture market, i was talking to nick holliday -yes, tess holliday's partner, and he had nice things to say about these earring, so of course a pair went in the goodie bag we gave her.

 

and finally it's sunday and it's still hot here in brissy, so i whipped on  a comfy kaftan for my morning outing.

i wore kaftan purchased in fiji, giant gold hoops from lovissa and shoes from nine west.

my weekend was topped off with an invitation from my son to have scones. i will never say no to making or eating them.

 

the day didn't quite stop there, because i decided that i needed a haircut.  he isn't a hairdresser but what can possibly go wrong with a pair of scissors and a couple of elastic bands.  well, i will wait and see tomorrow, after i open my wardrobe door and begin the "what will i wear today" pose and the "i can't do anything with my hair today" craziness following the much needed hair washing and either relief or horror as to what the cut looks like.  

have a great week and i am not wishing my life away, but i can't wait to see what makes its way out of the wardrobe and onto my body this week.

DSTSS - here i am

54. Understand the statement, "Wherever you go, there you are"

I have been guilty of this in my life time, the desire to be somewhere else rather than where i am right now.  It's a bit of the old - my life would be better if.....

if i had a better house

 if i had a better car

or i was on vacation

or if i had Louis Vuitton Luggage to cart all my woes around in

it would always be something!

If you are wishing you are somewhere else other then where you are right now, you might need that LV emotional baggage, because where else are you going to put all those desires that are being carried around all day, everyday, stopping you from enjoying the moment.

Would you really be happier though if all these this were how you wanted them? Or would there be something else that you needed to make it better? again and again and again.  Just because we change a physical location or situation, doesn't mean we change a mental one.

I have been through this exact journey earlier in my life and what did i do, i made change.  It required some help along the way, but i made change. and the biggest part was making the conscious choice to be accepting of what was (even if it wasn't my ideal) and move towards what could be and doing it while remaining right where i physically was and enjoy what was around me at that moment.

So often we are caught up in habits which seem to show themselves automatically and without any after thought and guess what, it is possible to change habits and behaviours - it just takes a choice and choosing to be accepting of what you have and where you are right now, can be a choice.  And if the choice is to continually complain about stuff, it gets really tiring, not only for you, but for those around you.

After a while, luggage gets heavy when you have to keep carting it around, so why not put the luggage down, yep the luggage that is holding all the things you take with you everywhere, the life would be better if's.....and enjoy where you are right now.

Put out that Louis Vuitton trash.

Note to self: wishing that you were somewhere different all the time, is just wishing your life away. you know that old saying, life happens when you are busy making other plans... maybe by beginning to focus on what's good about where you are right now, may open a new perspective and you could see that what wherever you go, there you are, and it's actually kind of nice and a step towards inner peace.

Aussie Curves challenge - bridal

I may no longer be a married lady, but that isn't going to stop me sharing a post about bridal.  No relationship breakdown is ever nice, and for me it certainly wasn't what i was expecting when we made the commitment.  Sadly though a series of unplanned, un-navigatable events occurred that ultimately changed our relationship. I'd describe it like the continuation of the tides - they ebb and flow and you know the shoreline and then something happens and the sand moves and the shore is no longer the same.  I know it's called, erosion, but i'd prefer to think of it as a shift in the sands.

I did love my wedding and the dress was one that i had in my head and then had it made into reality by my mum. after searching and searching for just the right materials. I am non traditional that's for sure, so there was no white frock, veil or any of the other things that are associated with weddings - yes there was a rings, cake, a bar tab and a honeymoon, but that's about it.  Oh and i was given some pansy's out of my cousins garden.  they were given to her by my beautiful nana before she died and had flowered around the same time as the wedding.

Well here's the dress - it doesn't look as good hanging on a coat hanger, as it does hanging on a body, but it is full of detail - such as bells, crystals, sequins, braids and all hand sewn on by me in the time leading up to the day.

The dress is a black stretch top that my mum attached to the skirt she made.  It was tricky to do, but she is amazing and used her skills to make it work. It was hard to find the right top, but after a fair bit of looking around, i found one that felt just right. Once the pieces were joined, i set about embellishing.  As i said everything here is hand sewn on and each individual bell, crystal and the motifs below had to be put on one by one.

 

 

 

 

     

On a trip to india my sister and i came across a place that sold amazing beads, trims and motifs and i decided to use some on my dress and on my shoes.  The individual glass crystals and bells came from Bead Trimming and Craft, which is now at Stones Corner.

So that's my bridal post - and i am sorry, i can't share pictures of me in the dress cause it's just to weird.  What i will do though is wear the dress again, cause it is beautiful and holds great memories of a great day and I certainly shouldn't feel sad for having had such a great relationship with so many wonderful experiences along the way, including this one.

DSTSS - it's broken

53. See the glass as already broken (and everything else too)

I used to have a beautiful pair of blue bird earrings. They were a bit like these below and i got them way way back when i was young girl and i had kept them as part of my treasures. They went with me through life events, such as when i moved out of home, when i got married (for the first time), when i got divorced (for the first time) and through some other big life events. I kept them with things that were precious to me and would wear them on occaision.  I remember that one day i put them into a dish to soak clean along with some other things i owned and left them in the kitchen and headed off to work.  I was living with my lovely nana at the time - a neat freak - and i came home from work and the dish was gone. LIKE GONE and when i asked what happened to it, she said she poured it down the sink cause it only looked like a dish of water. she did have bad eyes....

is your heart hurting at that story? well mine did.  I was devastated. it was like this one item of significance that represented goodness knows what was gone and how would my life ever be the same without it.  But guess what, i survived and have gone on to live a great life.

Fast forward to 2014 when in November, we were hit by a severe storm.  Three rooms of our home were demolished, over 50 windows were smashed, items that were part of our life had gone things that i had emotional attachment too - the car, my nana's outdoor table, reels of cotton, antique furniture - gone, just like that and this situation was totally out of my control.

with this chapter comes the opportunity to gain perspective, to appreciate and be grateful for what we have knowing that at any time it could change. keep a place in your mind that what you have in front of you right now, could be gone in a moment, through an accident or even a deliberate cause and rather than feel sorrow, or anger as to the why it happened, be grateful in the knowing that everything has a life span - whether you are can accept it or not.  it was really hard to deal with the emotion that came with the storm. the reality of that day hasn't gone, because it still gets relived in parts due to the ongoing issues we have, but life goes on and the choice to hold onto the pain or let it go is one that I can make. Oh and those earrings - they pop up every now and then!

Seeing the glass as already broken as the chapter says, is a way of letting go and working toward acceptance and peace.

Note to self: Being accepting of the things we can't control is a conscious choice, as how we choose to react can make a moment memorable for all the right or the wrong reasons. Be grateful for the time you have with people and your pets (cause they are family too) as they are irreplaceable, and as for our other stuff, it's important, but not so important that it can't be replaced if need be.

my ootd - 17 March

well the 17th March is st patty's day and i didn't wear a lick of green.  I thought about it and re thought it.  i did however decide to be super girly girl and wear a satin skirt and top combo, which felt quite luxe to say the least.

i did set about on my way to work to find a place to take some pics, cause that's now half  the fun of sharing my looks, but how many times can you drive around a park without looking like a weirdo. Plenty in my case.  I did stop initially and was thinking that a beautiful tree i laid my eyes on would do the trick - but it didn't, so i didn't even bother putting my heels on.  I am not accustomed to having to drive myself to work yet, let alone in heels so sensible footwear is the go.

eventually i found a spot that seemed a great backdrop for my outfit pic.  hell, it even had some green in it.

 

one of my friends tongue in cheek asked if i was going to a funeral - i seem to wear bright colours most of the time, and then i trod in chewy, but was so thankful it wasn't dog shit, cause that would have just over shadowed the smell of samsara that was adorning me.  and i didn't even slide of my chair once at work, not once.  that is so unlike satin!

anyway enough about my outfit, let's get back to st patty's day. my sister christine was born on st patrick's day and i tried to skype her and call her to no avail before i left for work.  eventually, i got to speak to her and it sounded like she wasn't having the birthday she deserved.  she was even going to buy her own birthday cake down at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva.  Surely not.  I knew then, that i had to take evasive action and sort this nonsense out.

i phoned the hotel and asked if i could buy a cake for her as a surprise.  she was going there anyway, so seemed like a great idea.

there is a certain level of patience required when trying to do cross cultural relations and trying to explain that i would just like one of the cakes that was already made would be fine. no no no - they wanted to make me a special cake to pick up on thursday. that's not good cause it was her birthday right now. so they compromised and agreed to make a cake that could be picked up at 8.30pm that night. well that wouldn't work, cause her children would fall asleep in the car on the way to pick it up. i was then handed to someone else on the phone who agreed that the chef would make a cake to pick up on thursday......

finally it became apparent that i would be happy with a cake they had in their display.  none of this 8.30pm or thursday business it had to be pret-a-porter so to speak.  and we were in business. it didn't matter that it only fed 4 - 5 people (according to my sister, it fed many more) and i asked for some additions - macarons and chocolates to make it feel special.  the hotel even offered to ring her and tell her there was something to pick up, but this was prefaced with .....your sister has probably told you.... SURPRISE!

doesn't she look happy.

so, st patty's day was success both in the sister and the fashion stakes.

what i wore
black satin skirt from target
top and belt made by me
shoes from novo

what she ate from GPH Suva
chocolate divine cake with cream, happy birthday detail and a chocolate swirl
strawberry macarons
variety of chocolates

Thank you to the staff of the GPH Suva, who helped make my sisters birthday great.

my weekend diy tie dye project

guess what - i gave myself a little diy project over the weekend.  i was inspired by our friend Beck Jobson (@howardmoonage) who was wearing a pair of tie dye pants when we saw her last week in melbourne. they just looked effortless and fun, so i decided to get me some of those.

there was a just a few things needed for this - pants, rubber bands, bleach and time, and i had all of them except for the pants and the bleach.

i popped out to target and found some skinny black jeans and organised some bleach from  the supermarket and then i spent a bit of time wrapping the jeans in bands.  this was kind of fun, but kind of hard at the same time, as the ties bands needed to be tight to give the effect when bleached.

 and after a fair bit of soaking, i was ready for the big reveal.

at first i was a bit freaked out by the colour, cause they really are brick and i am not sure if brick is on trend at the moment, but i guess i am making it so.

it appears that i even managed to tie dye some weird bunny onto the pants.  what's the odds of that.

 

having deemed the project a success, i basically just needed somewhere to wear them and the local bowlo seemed like the perfect place.

  

before i headed out though, i needed to take a couple of snaps of the pants, and with the neighbours away, i decided to totally trespass on their property and use their shed as a backdrop (thanks neighbours)

 

 

 

and then i legged it, straight over the fence and off to the bowlo.

 

anyway, if you are going to do a getaway, you might as well do it in style and be dressed appropriately for a probable arrest.

verdict on this outfit - well it's hot and fun and worthy of trespass

what i wore:
jeans from target that i tie dyed myself
belt that i made
top from temt that is yonks old
giant gold hoops from lovisa
havaianas