It's always now And nothing ever goes away

Willie Nelson, who  reminds me a little of the great Charles  Bukowski. Who else would title his autobiography Roll Me Up and Smoke  Me When I Die? Willie on  staying in the present and  not paying attention to doomsday prophecies:

“Well, I really do believe that you can’t worry about yesterday or dwell on mistakes. There is a lot to worry about if you choose to. The doom-and-gloom people are out there. Only this week I was reading about how many people believe the world’s coming to an end this December 21st. But I see reasons for optimism. It’s like my song, It’s Always Now. Look for the hope.”

It’s always now
And nothing ever
Goes away
Everything
Is here to stay
And it’s always now

Another  breezy morning with the temperature climbing. All the blue hydrangeas and  blue agapanthus are in  full blooms and the garden is a sea of   blue. The  Great Dane is  happily digging a  hole in the gravel under an olive tree, so he  can lie in the shade watching  me come out with a spade to fill in the hole and thumping his tail on the gravel with approval.

The gas  has  run out — another  unforeseen expense, but better now than January. I am wondering if I  can use up  surplus apples and bananas in a chicken curry dish I will make once the gas  cylinder has been replaced. Fruity curries are not always successful. And  kitchen experimentation can  fail in quite spectacular ways as this article in the Guardian  relates:

My own father retired in 2011 and over the past year has grown incredibly enthusiastic about cooking. Recently, when I popped over to visit my parents, Dad decided to reheat the leftover curries from the night before. In a spirit of thrift he decided to toss in the cooked bacon that wasn’t eaten at breakfast, and the black pudding, and the fried egg. Not content with this masochistic approach to clearing out the fridge, he finished off his creation with three crumbled chocolate digestives that had been hanging out in the biscuit barrel for longer than he deemed appropriate. I’ve never missed my mother’s cooking so much.

What I  may try later if the weather stays fine and dry, is this very special almond-pistachio nougat recipe from my friend Nancy in Tasmania:

“Now . . . soft nougat recipe.  There’s a few myths and legends about this, and the ones I’ve personally found to be true are – 1)  you need to use a candy thermometer because the temperature is crucial, unless you’re good at estimating the soft ball stage another way, and 2) don’t make it on a humid or rainy day; it needs to be a dry day or it won’t set properly.

 

Ingredients

 

rice paper or baking paper

1/4 cup honey

1/3 cup liquid glucose (make this yourself with equal amounts caster sugar and water, heated until clear)

1 cup toasted almonds, chopped or at least cut in half

1/2 cup toasted pistachios

1/3 cup warm water

2 cups caster sugar

2 egg whites

3 or 4 drops rosewater or vanilla

 

• Line a shallow baking tin with the baking paper so it hangs over the edge
• In a heavy bottom saucepan heat the caster sugar, glucose, honey and 1/3 c warm water; keep stirring until sugar is dissolved;  Use a pastry brush dipped in water to brush down sides so sugar doesn’t form crystals
• using a candy thermometer, heat mixture to 140 C
• when temp. reaches about 120, beat egg whites into stiff peaks; add rosewater or vanilla
• with beater running slowly, add the sugar syrup when it reaches 140 C; pour it into the egg whites in a thin stream; beat for another minute or two until mixture thickens
• add nuts and mix with wooden spoon (do this quickly or it may start to set)
• spoon into prepared pan and pat down gently to even it
• cover with another piece of rice paper or baking paper and let it set at room temp for 8 hours
• don’t put it in the fridge or it will crystallize
• dip knife into hot water to cut into pieces

This makes a wonderful gift . . . hope you enjoy making and eating it!”

About these ads