Unseen Ripples

In the course of our lives we meet more people than we can keep track of.
In just a day we come into contact, however brief, with countless lives other than our own.
There is an exchange in every one of these encounters; be it a smile, a nod of the head, two words at the supermarket check out.
Our lives briefly touch someone else's, then we move on with our day. Perhaps never to meet again.
Sometimes these brief exchanges can mean more to someone than we know.
Sometimes they can save a life.
I am so fortunate in my job that I come into contact with very inspiring, wonderful people. I am so fortunate that I get to be a player in their lives for a brief amount of time.
It is very easy to measure the clinical outcomes of these relationships.
It is harder to measure the true wellness outcomes of our partnerships.
I was told today by someone that had it not been for our time together that they were not sure where they would be in their lives, their marriage, their friendships.
I was told that I had made a positive difference, that the universe had thrown us together at the right time. Two souls who just clicked. Two positives that equalled a positive change.
I cannot claim the reward of being responsible for the hard work she has put in to making changes in her life.
All I can say is.
Pay it forward. Be kind to strangers. Smile at everyone you meet. Offer a hand.
You never know what the cost of the smallest gesture will mean in the currency of someone else's life.
There are ripples we don't see when we toss a rock into a pond.

Multitasking? Take a Moment.

We are a society of multitaskers; proud when we can cleave a second into its millis and cram each one full of tasks to accomplish simultaneously.
We read and answer emails while we run or walk or cycle or cross train.
Take phone calls while we drive, at the same time planning dinner and questioning what to wear to brunch on the weekend.
Eat our breakfast while making family member's lunches, feeding the cat and packing school bags.
We overlay our lives with coatings of to do lists and check boxes.
Make a day only seem worthwhile if every moment is filled with accomplishments, stresses, and further goals.

I too am guilty of this.
Only recently I found myself sticking my earphones in while I took the ten minute walk from my car park to my office. I strode up the hills and wound my way through the back streets until I reached my office with no recollection of how I had gotten there.
Had the agapanthus finally blossomed along the pretty picket fence one street over?
Was the grey cat sunbathing in the driveway again, peering at me with his tawny eyes?
Were the mock-orange trees still perfuming the air with their tiny star shaped white flowers?
I had no idea.
I had been listening to some music, writing a note and focusing on whether I should really expose my feet to the sighted world now that they were emerging from a winter spent in hiding and might possibly blind innocent bystanders.
When I went to walk back to my car that afternoon I left my iPod in my bag. I listened to the birds chatter in the warm afternoon sun. I stopped to take a photo of some pretty blooms that made me smile. I scuttled away from the bougainvillea bush when I heard rustling underneath and saw a scaled tail disappearing into the under brush.
I arrived back at my car feeling refreshed, quiet inside, ready and happy to go home and do a little more work and enjoy dinner with my family, see my boyfriend on Skype.
I realised that sometimes you just need to turn off the noise. Just let the world exist for a moment without trying to interact with it, without trying to change it, organise it, get ahead in it, reply to it.
Just take a moment to let your mind breathe.
Multitask some meditation, some quiet time into your day.
Couple it with some breathing, a few smiles, and some random happy thoughts.
Just take a moment to be in the world, be in yourself.
Just take a moment.

Nothing Goes To Waste

I believe in life, as in the kitchen, that nothing should go to waste.
Time, opportunity, inspiration, talent, hope, love; these are all gifts of the universe that should never be easily discarded.
There are an infinite number of minutes that my human heart will beat in this life; we all pass through time much faster than we would like.
Opportunities are often only presented to us once, take adventure in your hands when it comes flowing into your life; just give into the ride sometimes.
Inspiration, that thread of our muse's laughter that we catch the barest whisper of at times. Follow it's song, you never know what parts of your soul you may uncover.
Don't hide your light under a bushel, or a life not lived. When you feed your talent, when you let it shine and make use of it in your life; you are not only filling your life with light, you are shining it on others.
Hope. Four letters whose power can never be underestimated. The binding agent for all of human kind. The protector of our hearts and souls in the darkest of times.
Love.
There is no greater crime in this life than to waste an opportunity to love. Show your love for those who are closest to your heart. Let others love you in return.
Fall shamelessly every day.
Never waste these gifts, for you never know when there will be none left to open.

When it comes to food, I don't believe in waste either. So when I remembered the fresh blueberries I had purchased on the weekend were still sitting in the fridge I knew that I needed to get baking.
Fresh blueberries (especially when they are on sale) are a real gift in Brisbane. They have a short lifespan here in this hot climate and so whenever I see them in the supermarket I treat myself to a punnet.
Unfortunately I forgot about them, and so now they have new life in these muffins that will be enjoyed by my co-workers for morning tea tomorrow.
Friendship, and an opportunity to foster it, is another gift that should not be left to waste.

Blueberry Muffins
Adapted from '100 Favourite Muffins and Slices' by Simon and Alison Holst



Ingredients:
1 - 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 cup plain wholemeal flour
3/4 cup self raising flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup apple purée
3/4 cup golden caster sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large egg
1/4 cup plain yoghurt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla essence

Method:

1. Heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius and line 18 holes of two regular muffin pans with paper.
2. Mix together flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
3. In a separate bowl mix together apple purée, sugar, oil, egg, yoghurt and vanilla.
4. Add flour to wet ingredient mix and stir until just combined (there should be some streaks of flour still visible).
5. Add blueberries and gently (very gently) fold through mixture so that you avoid breaking up the berries.
6. Spoon mixture between the cases and gently slide pans into the oven.
7. Bake for about 12 - 15 minutes, then remove from oven and allow to cool in tins for 5 minutes before removing to cool completely on wire racks.

Enjoy.

A Simple Spicy Cookie for Tuesday

I was born into a stable home, a place I have lived for my entire life up to this point. But I have always felt the pull of faraway lands, exotic experiences, daring adventures; the beat of a misplaced gypsy heart.
However, sometimes I crave the simplicity of the everyday. The comfort of home style and handmade.
On a wet spring night, all I really want is a good book, a warm jumper, a cup of tea and cookie on the saucer beside it.
These cookies call to mind far off lands with their date and spice studded dough, but the texture, the very warmth that emanates from the act of eating a cookie are comfortingly familiar.
Please enjoy.

Date, Walnut and Cinnamon Cookies

Inspired by 'Indulgence Cookies' from Murdoch Books.

Makes 24 Cookies
 

Ingredients:

125g unsalted butter, softened

140g brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup chopped dates

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

100g plain flour

110g plain wholemeal flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line two baking sheets with baking paper.
2. Cover dates with boiling water and leave for about 10 minutes, then drain well and chop.
3. In a small bowl whisk together flours, baking powder and cardamom.
4. Cream together butter, sugar and vanilla until fluffy using electric mixer (or really working those arm muscles).
5. Add egg yolk and beat until just combined.
6. Pour in dates and walnuts and stir with wooden spoon to combine.

7. Add flour mixture and stir until a soft dough forms.

8. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to make dough easier to shape.
9. Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls and place on trays about 4cm apart and flatten slightly.
10. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges begin to turn golden brown.
11. Allow to cool on tray for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

These pair perfectly with a good cup of Irish breakfast tea.

Happy Halloween

Legend has it that once a year the thin veil that exists between our world and the world of the spirits is lifted, but only for a night. On this one night the spirits are free to roam the human realm and cause mischief and mayhem….and screams……

Source

I have loved Halloween for the longest time, in fact I think I can trace it directly back to my primary school days when I devoured 'The Baby Sitter's Club' books, and noticed that there were so many seasonal traditions and holidays that were different to the ones we celebrate in the Great Southern Land.

The autumn and winter holiday period has always fascinated me the most. From late September Australians are preparing for the longest, hottest, and (sometimes) rainiest period of the year; a time when it becomes impossible to be bothered doing one's hair because humidity makes a joke of even the sternest attempt, and when as a child it was perfectly normal to run under the sprinklers at school in our togs (bathing suits) at lunch time. Our northern cousins meanwhile are watching the leaves change colour, getting their winter wardrobes ready, baking all sorts of tempting treats, and celebrating traditions like Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Source

So this year, I am bringing a little Halloween down under. I have two massive and gorgeous pumpkins decorating my table, a bucket of spooky toys and treats for the few trick-or-treaters we may have visiting our door tomorrow night, and these beautiful cupcakes to share with my work family tomorrow.

Of course, I have taught myself to cackle in an appropriately witch like manner as well.

I want to be prepared just in case that really is a goblin knocking at my door on Halloween night….

Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, thanks Martha

In other news, this is evidence of exactly how much more clever and talented the mini chickpea (my sister, Jess) is than I am.

Yes, we now worship at the altar of Jess.

A Change of Season

Every September the whole of Brisbane turns a brilliant shade of purple as Jacaranda trees blossom; heralding the start of spring. Ever since I was a little girl I have loved these trees, and every time I pass them now I am taken back to afternoons in my childhood where the blooming Jacarandas sent the message that the summer school holidays were not far away. I spent many lunch times in high school seated under a particular Jacaranda, laughing with my friends, sharing tales and secrets, and enjoying the strengthening spring sunshine. When I had graduated and my sister had moved into high school, she and her friends sat under the same tree; Jacarandas are to me a little piece of growing memory, living history, that comes back to me every spring.

Perhaps these lilac tinted memories are part of the reason that spring is my favourite season of the year. Yes, I love the long days of summer and the heat and humidity that soak into every pore as the sun practically beats the earth into molten copper some days. The relief of autumn is always welcome as the days grow shorter and food more hearty, and winter nights snuggled in my bed with a cup of tea and a book feed the soul during a time of hibernation.

But that first bloom of spring; the whisper that starts in a corner of the garden and spreads rapidly until it is a chorus of colour and scent throughout the garden, the street, the city; that is where my joy lies.
If you stand quietly in the garden at this time of year, you can nearly hear the earth waking from her winter slumber, look closely and you can see daily progress in the leaves and flowers that celebrate the longer sunlit hours, and breath deeply of the life that seems to fragrance the air along with the flowers.
Let yourself feel lighter. Take a message from the trees, and the flowers and let yourself blossom.
Come into the sunshine.

How Do I Thank You?

I believe in saying thank you.
Two little words that can mean so much.
A mere pair of syllables that can beat out the drum of emotion gathering in my chest when something good comes my way.
I need to verbalise my gratefulness when the universe sends positivity into my life.

I believe that thanking people should extend along the spectrum from acknowledging everyday courtesies like opening the door for someone, to the efforts that come along once in a life time or less.
Every time someone takes effort from their own life and puts it into yours, donates their energy to your universe, paints your sky blue again: I believe in saying thank you.
But sometimes, I don't know how to thank people enough.
Sometimes people make such a big difference to my life that these two words spill from my lips and seem like rocks next to the jewels they have offered to me.
Sometimes I don't think that I can offer them compensation for their effort by merely using these two syllables.

Today a dear friend of mine made a grand gesture, a selfless offer that made my world a whole lot brighter, and banished a load of worries from my mind.
All I have are these two words:
Thank You.