what did you have for breakfast? what's that you're making for lunch? have you been to the chinese emporium yet? do you think mango cake would work? did you know that you dip anything wrapped in seaweed? do you want to try this sauce? is carob and licorice not the best invention ever?
food is a topic, much to my partner's dismay, that i never get sick of. i am not a 'foodie' in the critic-sense of the word. i am just as excited by a banana rolled up in a peanut butter-smeared square slice of bread as i am by a twice-baked triple choc brownie for dessert. i love talking about food almost as much as i love eating food. sometimes talking about it is even better. my imagination runs wild and the combinations i create in my head are astronomically amazing.
there is nothing better when you meet other people that want to discuss at length what they had for breakfast that morn and how they plan to improve on it the next. for example here is an exert of an email i received earlier this week...
"this morning before riding to work I had tiny slice of toast (freshly made sour dough bread made by a friend) with a thick spread of vegemite, some avocado and tomato on top and a small cup of coffee. then got to work and ate muesli, banana, goji berries and LSA with yoghurt. had a coffee with oat milk and just polished off a slice of toast with ABC spread and honey. did you end up making that haloumi veg stack for dinner last night?"
from job to job i have always sought out other people who share this passion for food. good food, naughty food, hot food, raw food, new food, old food... its all good. i have been lucky to find these food-loving souls in my last couple of jobs. felicity and her grated carrots, beetroot and herb freshness; oanhy and her roast pumpkin haloumi surprise.
currently i am in a delightful group with the other half of i love lamp, coen and our mate carita, which we call 'the salad club'. to be part of this club you must love the taste of raw veges fresh off the stalk and straight on the plate. when 12 noon shows up on my computer and i gayly skip down the hall to the kitchenette, i am excited by the unknown. what will end up in my tummy today?
its amazing how amazed people are to see such an array of veges on the same plate. the reactions from people are hilarious and everyone loves to comment: 'i have never seen beetroot that's not in a can before', 'health nuts', 'freaky vegetarians'.
my mum always said you should eat a rainbow of food everyday, and she wasn't referring to fruit loops. we were on a steady diet of mung beans and brown rice as kids. she even invented a fast food restaurant called McPriddican's which was similar to McDonald's in name only. McPriddican's only served lentil burgers, eggplant chips, and water with two tear drops of ribena.
if you want to know what we eat each day we pictured it for you... it kind of looks like mother nature spewed on our plates and we called it lunch!!
don't be afraid of food. talk about it, get ideas, try them at home. enjoy the taste of a crisp snow pea on its own without steaming, sauteing, mashing, stir frying it.
carita took our humble club to the next step and prepared a dinner feast for our tenderised taste buds.
i do love an all in chop fest of raw food but it takes consideration and time and love to put something together for friends in your home.
the quiona pilaf that we ate over a few bottles of wine was some the tastiest morsels i had moved from plate to mouth since i could remember.
nice work, carits. now let me share with our readers this glorious recipe. don't forget to add the love!
all measurements very rough... use your intuition
tspn fennel seeds
tspn mustard seeds
tspn ground coriander
tspn cumin seeds
tspn turmeric
chopped green chili
garlic
onion
fry this up then add cup of quinoa, fry for a couple of minutes
add 2 cups of vege stock then just stir until done.
add any veggies a bit later - last night i put in shitake mushrooms
add roasted cashews or almond on serving, and fresh coriander. currents would be good too.
i love lamp loves you too.
thanks to all our fellow marketeers, shopoholics, happy yessers, flatmates and everyone in between who came out to the inaugural market day yesterday afternoon. it was a great success--more pictures will be up soon.
rule 1: find an excuse to clothes-swap regularly. this weekend, one of our friends is going to new york and one of us is going to melbourne for a snazzy wedding.
rule 2: make a night of it. make sure your wine is chilled and ready to serve, your dinner menu is new and out of the ordinary, and the stereo is set the band your partner doesn't usually let you listen to.
rule 4: girls just wanna have fun. be slightly loud, tell stories that make everyone giggle, dance around a little, splurge and let yourself have that cheeky ciggie, and stay up too late on a school night.
rule 5: ride your bike. eliminate the issue of finding a sober driver, but make sure to have your helmets handy. get your heart pumpin with a lovely ride home with your friends through late-night deserted streets.
rule 8: come shop with i love lamp. we play dress up too. i wanna annoy you readers more than the shitty advertising that interrupts your free iphone aps (honestly, dishing out the $1.19 for the full version of angry birds will change your life.) non-stop, shameless plugging is the name of our game--yes, come shop i love lamp at our happy yess market stall the last sunday of every month.
