I cannot recall with clarity a time before we had her. Now, our little bundle is one year old! Hopelessly smitten, we orbit around our bright star, warmed by every cheeky smile.
The phrase “they grow up so fast” seems programmed into our DNA. Misty eyed, it springs to our lips in all its hackneyed glory, unbidden, but undeniably true. The last year is a blur and I sometimes look at her newborn photos, unable to reconcile the tiny inert little butterball with the smiling, pointing, laughing little girl who terrorises every bookshelf she meets and charms everyone in her path. What a treat to be your parents, our darling Ember Wren.
We gave her special toys for “Plastic Free July”. The preloved wooden toys have special significance because they were made by my maternal grandfather. We also found a beautifully illustrated book called “Time for bed, Miyuki” and “Little People, BIG DREAMS” learning cards. Both are from The School of Life, a bookshop stocking everything you wished you had learned in school, what a great premise. We stumbled upon it by chance, on a rainy day, jazz soundtrack on and complimentary peppermint tea provided. This is why brick and mortar bookshops are still relevant, a warm, comforting place, to disappear into for an hour or two.
We walked to the garden and met baby friend Alba on the way. We had brief fun with the garden group friends until the heavens opened, but what is a birthday without huddling in a tool shed as raindrops are devoured by thirsty soil?
Lunch with dad in the city. Both wearing matching lumberjack plaid shirts.
A summer baby myself, a wintry birthday is a new creative challenge. However, I found if you venture into the wind and showers there is immense reward in the patches of glorious sunlight that honour the brave. We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon, just the two of us, in the Royal Botanic Gardens.
Special moments, running wild, getting sandy and twirling around and around on the grass laughing. No clocks, no screens, just lengthening shadows as we enjoyed every last moment of our present.
Ember made a friend on the train. A kind woman who she bonded with whilst sardined between the commuters. They played “high five” and the woman told Ember she’d see her again next year on her birthday, same date, same time. A cute connection to close up a special day.
Have mushrooms started popping up their little umbrellas all over your soggy autumn garden? We’ve seen a few, but are leaving these tiny and more importantly unidentified offerings for the fairies.
On the weekend we decided to take a treasure hunt. Not for buried gold, but something more ancient and fascinating. Mushrooms! The secret underground lives of fungi are incredible, their elusive above ground form being only the tiniest hint of their immense underground network.
The pine forest we visited in Macedon Regional Park would not even be there without a scoop full of soil from their native forest floor in the Northern Hemisphere. Even before their symbiotic partnership between trees and their particular fungi friends was understood by scientists, foresters saw that their exotic imports languished in this foreign soil without a little something from home. A mutually beneficial nutrient exchange necessary for survival, could you get more permaculture?
As we descended into the misty pine forest we were engulfed in memories of our San Francisco adventures. Mornings where the world was just a few metres of clarity and the rest all foggy shapes and shadows.
Ember, our baby stowaway, delighted our fellow foragers by disguising herself as a heavy backpack. It was pure joy to confirm that the adventure doesn’t end with kids, in fact it becomes even better.
We took the flat option whilst the others scampered down the steep slope despite no evidence steepness results in a better harvest or reduced competition. As autumn turns to winter these pine forest are descended upon by mushroom foragers and some even sell their finds at farmers’ markets! The forest is immense though so there are still mushroom to go around. Most mushroom foragers stick to the European species of mushroom because there is little documentation on Australian natives.
Dylan found our best edible mushroom closest to the car park! It’s a beautiful saffron milkcap (Lactarius deliciosus). We had always called these pine mushrooms when purchasing from the farmers’ market, but I guess there are lots of different pine mushrooms! I love these ones not only for their wonderful taste, but because they are so easy to identify. Food goes down much easier when there is no fear of poisoning! Aside from the orange colour the stalk snaps like chalk.
Next we found parasol mushrooms which look more like deathcaps than I feel comfortable. According, to our mushroom guide, Jim, deathcaps like to hang out with oaks so he has never seen one in these forests. Once Jim IDed these two shrooms the hunt was on!
The forest was gorgeously creepy in typical pine forest fashion. Pine mushrooms love to hide under the pine needles, cheeky things!
The big parasol was a bit past its prime, but all these mushrooms are edible.
Ember enjoyed herself so much she fell asleep!
Another forager’s haul. But watch our some of these aren’t edible. The red amanita is the most obvious.
Some mushrooms that others collected can make you vomit. I overhead Jim telling someone if a mushroom smells like marzipan they are good to eat, but if they smell like phenol they make you sick. They couldn’t get a clear read on that one, so best to chuck it.
Back at the Sanatorium Lake Picnic Ground, Jim, who was a chef in a past life cooked lunch with a mixture of farmed and foraged mushrooms.
Jim’s cooking tips
To stop the enzymatic browning cook the mushrooms as soon as possible. Jim explained the difference between enzymatic browning (like an old banana) and non-enzymatic browning (like caramelisation of onions). Reminding us how much of a science cooking is.
Mushrooms pretty much can’t be overcooked as long as they don’t burn because their proteins are heat stable.
Cook mushrooms without fats first to remove the water from the mushrooms. If fats are added at the beginning then the mushroom absorb large amounts as it replaces all its moisture with the fat.
It is also okay to wash mushrooms before cooking despite what people say, but cook straight after washing.
Add a little water to the pan so mushrooms don’t burn before they release their own juices. Jim washes down the sides of the pan with some extra water after they have cooked for a while to make sure he captures all the mushroom flavour stuck to the sides.
Once the cellulose has broken down in the mushrooms they are ready for the fat to be added. Only a small amount is required. Jim cooked one batch with olive oil, one with butter and one with cream. All were delicious.
The left over mushroom liquid can be drained off to be used later as a kind of gelatinous stock or left in for extra flavour.
After a delicious lunch of mushrooms and vegetable soup Jim checked our baskets for edibility.
Ember tasted her first mushroom and judged it to be acceptable. She tried a buttered one. Then she flicked off her sock-gloves for a spot of crawling practice.
There is a moment of calm after the teething storm, bub asleep next to me gently snoring. A little time to catch up on the blog. She is exhausted after an epic cry session reminiscent of those early weeks when she got overtired because we weren’t yet in tune. The four teeth that are sprouting all at once to join her first two have smashed all routines and good intentions into tiny pieces. She needs so much hugs and love it’s back to feeding on demand with added late night cuddles in bed. I hope it’s giving her what she needs rather than giving in.
Anyway here are some photos of our latest trip to the zoo with our lovely friends Jess and Max. We somehow timed things perfectly with tiger training time and it was quite humbling to see this powerful creature up close. Max was unimpressed and played with his Christmas puzzle instead.
Dearest aunty cathleen has seen Emby almost every week since she was born and helped her stay fashionable whilst being ethical in second hand but not second rate clothes. Thanks for keeping mama sane and well fed with homemade treats Catty!
Here are some photos of Emby’s first trip out Daylesford way to Lavandula Swiss Italian Farm. It was packed with festival goers and there was a joyful laid back family vibe. While I waited for lavender cream scones, I watched what seemed to be grown adults dressed as Santa’s elves doing funny little hopping dances under garlands, which I assumed was some sort of celtic harvest dance. Then we just had to check out the emus and alpacas. An unlikely pairing that both seemed to bear each other’s presence without being particularly excited.
It was sizzling hot and not particularly conducive to portrait photography but we still enthusiastically waded through lavender and bees. I was getting pretty vivid flashbacks to when we were cycling around provence. The ringing of cicadas, the smell of pencil pines, that heat and of course the fields of lavender.
Emby and Dylan disappeared for a while and were discovered playing in the the dappled shadows of some birch trees.
We finished off the day at Cafe on the outskirts of Daylesford to avoid the masses. Cathleen had brownie and ice cream for lunch and is an inspiration to us all. Friends, French flashbacks and family are an excellent way to spend the day.
