Tassie Trip - homes & gardens

Holding the camera to the window of the mini bus and clicking is a really fun way to work, heavily relies on pot luck and full of surprises. This is the method I used as we zoomed along, it's no fuss and lots of fun. While I do enjoy the digital SLR it is also fun to have a camera that one is not so precious about, it fits in the pencil case and can be operated one handed. The old homes and accompanying gardens especially in and around the Hobart area are delightful and we captured a few through the lens and we also paused in a few spots to sketch - a perfect balance.

caramelised onions & onion skin dyeing

Making preserves is something I've enjoyed for some time; I have fond memories of learning to make Apricot Jam with my Grandma. This morning I made up a patch of caramelized onions, they are a good accompaniment to cold meats, a great base for savory tarts and easy to make. 

You cook the onions slowly to caramelize their natural sugars, and the addition of brown sugar and balsamic vinegar helps the process along. Instead of throwing the onion skins out I popped them in a saucepan (one that is designated to art & craft tasks) with a couple of pieces of PFD (prepared for dyeing) fabric. I brought it to the boil, reduced the heat and let it gently simmer while I cooked the  onions. 

For the caramelized onions: I put olive oil into a heated fry pan, added 6 sliced onions, a splash of balsamic vinegar and slowly let the onions soften. Once the onions were soften I added the sugar and a hand full of cranberries, reduced the heat and let everything cook slowly until the onions were nicely caramelized; this took about an hour. The 6 large onions gave me a 250 ml jar of caramelized onions which I keep in the fridge and use over the next 1-2 weeks. 

The Fabrics: the top piece of fabric I removed from the liquid after an hour of gentle boiling and rinsed it with hot water so it's lighter than the bottom piece which I left in the liquid for 3-4 hours. I've put together a Caramelized Onion & Fabric Dying Recipe Sheet that you can download, it's in PDF format.

Related Posts:
A little bit of jam & cordial - Rosella Jam & Cordial

Delicious Cherry Jam

Inspiration even when doing the dishes

powerhouse farmers markets

As we head into summer here in the Southern Hemisphere the selection of summer fruits is wonderful - a great time to re-stock the homemade preserves. Last weekend we enjoyed an early morning visit to the Farmers Markets at the Powerhouse in New Farm. I firstly grabbed a couple of photos of the Powerhouse Building and then took in the wonderful selection of summer fruits available. The raspberries and strawberries were too good to leave behind as were the nectarines and peaches. The kilo of berries became 4 jars of Berry Conserve with a little bit left in the pot. That little bit went perfectly into the center of a sponge cake - yum. The markets at the Powerhouse are held on the 2nd & 4th Saturdays of each month. 

Tassie Sketching Adventure

 Incredible views, lots of inspiration

 even 1270metres above sea-level mother nature astounds

 the cold wind didn't stop our enthusiasm to sketch

 time for the ink to dry

here we all are, on top of Mount Wellington

What a treat to have a full week of sketching, photographing & discovering our island state - Tasmania. A state so full of preserved heritage, beautiful scenery and delicious produce. The sketching trip was organized by UAB (Urban Art Binge) and we enjoyed five sketch filled days based in Hobart. A mini bus was hired which enabled us to day trip down to the Port Arthur area, Royal Botanical Gardens and up to Mount Wellington. Following the five days two of us hired a car and stayed on a few more days before flying out of Launceston.