Not a lot to report this week – it was mainly business as usual with a heap of catching up on those annoying errands that need to be caught up with from time to time. Weather wise it’s been a real mix, and a few of our morning walks have been in the rain – lucky I love walking in the rain.
It’s a public holiday here tomorrow (for Australia Day) and it feels a tad as though the rest of the country has taken today off as well. If like me, you’re one of the few logging in, I salute you. Anyways, here’s the round-up.
1.Listening
I’m on a break from audiobooks at the moment as I catch up on podcasts. I was especially thrilled to see new episodes from Gary Mehigan’s A Plate To Call Home and Margie Nomura’s Desert Island Dishes. Both have been keeping me company on my afternoon walks.
2. Watching
The new series of Death In Paradise and re-watching The Brokenwood Mysteries – both on Foxtel. If you haven’t seen The Brokenwood Mysteries before, give it a watch – it’s like a Kiwi version of Midsomer Murders. In fact, and this is a really big call, if I’m unable to fulfill my ambition of being an extra on Midsomer Murders, I’d be happy to be an extra on The Brokenwood Mysteries. There, I said it.
3. Reading
I just finished Nickie Edward’s “Settle The Score” – the second in her Off the Field series. While I’ve never met Nickie in real life, we’ve gotten to know each other through social media and I’m yet to meet a novel of hers that I haven’t enjoyed – this was no exception.
As is usual for me I’m reading a couple of books at a time: Rick Stein’s memoir, “Under A Mackeral Sky” (in hardback) and “Becoming America’s Food Stories” by Antoinette Truglio Martin (on iBooks). I’m thoroughly enjoying both.
My journey through “Wuthering Heights” with my book club is also still continuing.
4. Writing
“Escape To Curlew Cottage” is now ready for formatting ahead of the release date of March 12. In advance of the release I’ll be putting Wish You Were Here on sale for a limited time. I’ll also be offering newsletter subscribers the chance to read the first 2 chapters – but you’ll need to sign up for my newsletter to get the details. You’ll also need to be quick as it’s due to go out on Friday.
In terms of blogging, I posted something about Hervey Bay Eco Marine Tours and on the foodie site, I posted a recipe for parkin – as inspired by Wuthering Heights. You can find that one here.
5. In the kitchen
Aside from the afore-mentioned parkin, we had friends over on Saturday night and cooked up a bit of a curry fest.
On the menu was butter chicken (spiced up) and Bombay potatoes and, to finish, a mango fool with cardamom shortbread.
While the shortbread is a bit of a faff – they’re made with ghee and icing sugar and the dough is a right pain to work with – the fool is an absolute doddle to make, and the perfect end to a spicy meal. It’s from Rick Stein’s “India” and the recipe is below. If you’re after a recipe for the shortbread, you can find it here.
Chilled Mango Fool
300g fresh mango flesh – that’s 2 large mangos or 3 small ones
1 ½ tbsp lemon juice
150g natural (full fat and unsweetened) yoghurt
200g double cream
75g caster sugar
zest of 1 lime, to serve
Blend the mango in a food processor or using a stick blender. Tip it into a large bowl with the yoghurt and lemon juice and mix well.
In a separate bowl whisk the cream and caster sugar until it has soft peaks and fold through the mango mixture.
Spoon into 6 glasses or serving dishes and chill for at least an hour. Serve with shortbread and with the finely grated zest over the top.
And Anyways... 
Jo, I love all your ocean and food photos in this post. I made a note to look up Nicki Edwards books. Antoinette Truglio Martin and a few other published authors participate in my Weekend Coffee Share link up. Great progress you’ve made with your writing. Have a wonderful long weekend!
I always enjoy the photos you share on social media during the week, Jo. A good part of my day. An extra on another series, too?……They would be lucky to have you.🙂 I have Antoinette Truglio Martin’s book on my TBR. Interesting, unique recipes. I am very fond of mangoes and it sounds like a doable recipe. A great post!
Hi Jo – exciting times with the novel completion and I loved all your photos – you could have done the “cloud and fog” challenge that everyone else seems to have embarked on this week! As far as watching stuff goes, I’m in the middle of “Escape to the Chateau” on Sue’s recommendation – and enjoying it thoroughly – genuinely lovely people doing amazing stuff.
We’ve not had as much rain I don’t think. It’s threatened a few times but minimal if there’s been any. Of course I get spoiled with my spot on the hill as I get a breeze so don’t even notice the heat as much. Other friends were hoping for rain last week to cool it down a little. I’m heading to Mbro for a couple of days today and it’s usually hotter there so I will have to force my mother to put her airconditioner on!
Hi, Jo – I’m glad to see you reading Becoming America’s Food Stories. I really enjoyed it.
Your Butter Chicken, Parkin and Chilled Mango Fool all sound amazing. As usual, I would prefer you to make them for me!
The description and recipe for the mango fool have me craving a bedtime snack now. So hard to get back to eating better in the new year. I am listening to a fabulous audio book but need to catch up on podcasts, too.