Tomato, butter bean and chorizo salad

When I made this tomato, butter bean and chorizo salad for a family lunch this week, I knew it was about time I shared it. Last December, our lovely neighbours made it as part of dinner and I immediately asked for the recipe. They went one step further and loaned me the recipe book it was taken from - The Edible Balcony by Indira Naidoo. So strong was my love for this salad that I brewed it up numerous times over the festive period. Since the ingredients aren't highly perishable, I found it a good salad to make while travelling around the countryside to family gatherings. In the morning, I'd cook up the chorizo, cut the onion and mix the dressing, then transport them in separate containers to avoid the dreaded salad sludge. Once at the destination, I simply had to chuck them all together with the tomatoes, tinned beans and parsley. Delicioso!

Tomato, butter bean and chorizo salad
adapted from a recipe by Indira Naidoo

Serves 4 as a side dish or 2 as a main course

400g butter beans, thoroughly washed and drained (original recipe specified 100-150g butter or cannellini beans. I chose to use a whole tin of butter beans as I like them and it makes the salad go a little further)
1 x 250g punnet cherry tomatoes, halved (original recipe specified 20 cherry tomatoes which is a similar quantity to one punnet but too specific for a salad if you ask me!)
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
handful flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped
Olive oil, for pan-frying
250 g mild or spicy chorizo, sliced
salt and freshly ground pepper

Sherry vinegar dressing

1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (original recipe says you can also use sherry vinegar)
squeeze of lemon (optional)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (the 1/3 cup specified in the original seemed too oily)
salt and freshly ground black pepper

• Place the beans, tomatoes, onion and parsley in a bowl.
• To make the dressing, place all the ingredients in a jar with a screw-top lid and shake to combine. Pour the dressing over the salad and set aside for a minimum of 5-10 minutes for the flavours to infuse.
• Meanwhile, heat a frying pan over medium-high heat and add the oil to the pan. Toss in the chorizo and cook for several minutes until crispy.
• Mix chorizo into salad and serve immediately. 

Buen apetito!

New York treasures for home

New York treasures for Charles Whyte HQ. 

L-R: 36 alphabet discs from PB Teen, Jonathan Adler Cheval salt and pepper shakers, 

Anthropologie 'J' and 'E' hooks, clock doorknob and chalkboard jar. 

A couple of years ago my brother returned from a holiday to the US with friends and disgustedly told me that a girl he was travelling with got so excited at Disneyland that she ran ahead of them all day exclaiming how excited she was. At the time, my brother and I rolled our eyes together and I empathised with him wholeheartedly. How annoying indeed.

Fast forward a few years to my New York City holiday last month and I found myself frequently so excited that I wanted to run into places and I had to stop myself exclaiming "oh my God, this is so exciting." Times a'changing and so are we all. If my brother ever reads this, he will give me heaps. Que sera sera!

One of the things I was so looking forward to on our holiday was the chance to visit some of the US stores that I'd heard so much about through blogs, the internet and TV/movies. Homewares stores are my kind of Disneyland, especially in a country that does everything bigger.

Armed with my list of 'must visit shops' and the Google maps on my mobile, I rushed around the city and finally got to see for myself amazing stores like ABC Carpet & Home, Jonathan Adler, Anthropologie, West Elm, Crate & Barrel and Pottery Barn. The prices were so good in most places compared to here in Australia. It killed me not to be able to buy everything. Here are my main finds for our house, after the shower curtain that I blogged about here. 

The Jonathan Adler store in Greenwich Village is so gorgeous and colourful, it was impossible for me not to be happy in there. I'm a big fan of his book 'Jonathan Adler on Happy Chic Colors' so I knew I had to take something home with me. 

I finally settled on the Cheval salt and pepper shakers because they screamed JA to me. And they were small enough to cart home. With only a tiny hole on the top of each, they look just as comfortable in a living room as a dining room so it's a cheat's way to get a piece of the happy chic aesthetic. 

I would have loved a couple of these Jonathan Adler horses but at around 35cm high and $US295 each, it wasn't going to happen.

The cheval shakers have found a home on the mantle and inspired a few other changes here too. A pop of red worked for me for about a day until the clutter of extra frames irked me and I moved the two red pieces to a new picture ledge in the kitchen. Not very "happy chic" of me, I know, but the red wasn't good with the yellow and pink touches in this room. If you look closely in these pics, you can see another Jonathan Adler influence though in the form of his Greek Key print that I painted last year (full post here). 

Anthropologie is a store I've waited years to see and because of that, my expectations may have been slightly overinflated. It was more rustic than I anticipated but I loved the home accessories and the prints used in the clothing (not so much the styles, a little old for me perhaps?).  I went to both the Rockefellar Centre store and the one at Chelsea Market. The 'J' and 'E' hooks, clock doorknob and chalkboard jar in the top picture are all Anthropologie finds. The hooks have found a home behind our bedroom door. I love, love anything with vintage typography, especially initials. They probably deserve a more public home but we didn't really have a space and at least here they can be put to use to hold towels and things. 

Hanging towels on the hook behind our door wasn't working anymore because of my scarves. I should have tidied them for the photo, oops! Keepin' it real for ya. At least you can see that hanging a damp towel over my scarves wouldn't have have worked. Gotta look after the scarves people and keep them smelling sweet! And now there will be no mixing up our towels with a hook each. 

Speaking of vintage typography, I continued the theme with the alphabet discs I picked up at PB Teen. I'll be using these discs (by Chronicle Books, see here) around the house as labels or decoration and as gift tags. Think I'm too old for PB Teen? Ah, uh. I've heard plenty of people online lusting after the colourful bedding, cute cushions and even beds from PB Teen, particularly their 4 poster bed. When I saw a store on Second Avenue (at 76th Street) just a few doors down from the Upper East Side apartment we rented in our second week, I had no problem paying a visit. It's a very small store but full of treasures for teens and non-teens alike. There's more range online, so have a look and tell me you wouldn't be happy to own some of it. 

As for the Anthropologie jar, it is hanging out on our kitchen bench. I wrote 'bribes' on the little chalkboard label and we pop favourite lollies in there for each other if we need to bribe the other to do something! The Anthropologie clock knob hasn't been put to use yet but I have no doubt a home for it will be found one day, giving us another means of remembering a wonderful trip. I just love having little things in our home to remind us of special people, periods, events and especially holidays. Are you the same?

Coming home

An amazing dish from 'The Pint of Milk': sauteed exotic mushrooms, walnut sourdough, taleggio and truffled chestnuts $14

As we head over the Queensboro Bridge bound for JFK in a yellow cab, I soak up every last glimpse of the Manhattan skyline. For the first time in weeks, I am truly still. No plans, no must-sees, nothing new to take in. Flashes of the past weeks fill my thoughts in a pleasant blur, yet I’m not sure I’m ready to leave the frenetic energy of this awe-inspiring city behind.

“I’m really sad to be leaving,” I say aloud as my eyes glaze momentarily.

“Me too,” says the Mister beside me. “But it was a really great holiday.” He squeezes my hand.

A day later, another cab drops us at home in Footscray. It’s Sunday morning and the street is deadly quiet. Nothing moves, just our breath as it hits the cold air. Our car is still here! Inside, everything is as we left it. Not perfect, but clean, and it feels like home. The deep chill in the air has permeated inside, yet somehow I feel cocooned and warm. I love seeing all my things again and, for the first time, feel as though we have plenty of space. I remind myself, not for the first time in the last few weeks, that we are lucky. So easy to forget.

While nothing changed on the home front while we were gone, the rest of the west seems to have progressed at a rapid pace. In the weeks since returning, I’ve been like a kid in a "candy" shop checking out all the fabulous new places - Common Galaxia in Seddon is hitting all the right notes for me and just down Victoria Street, A. Bongiovanni & Son is winning my heart by making it easy to source speciality groceries (too many wonderful baking supplies for my own good). The Mexican taqueria chain, Guzman Y Gomez has made a quick bite before a movie much more attractive at Highpoint. The Reading Room at Victoria University in Footscray is now providing a coffee fix and eats to the wider community, not just students, so of course I had to sample their tasty wares. I made the effort to (finally) try The Pint of Milk in Newport and was not disappointed. I can't stop thinking about the nutty, earthy dish I ate there (pictured above). I’ve revived my sense of community by getting re-acquainted with my not-so-old favourites: Besito in West Footscray, Elceed in North Melbourne, and neighborhood favourites West 48 and Ebi Fine Foods.  Is the west really going off or am I just trying to tell myself that I don’t need New York, there is plenty happening here?!

I've discovered that it's possible to wish you were still on holiday and be happy to be home at the same time!

Treasures from Bali

Wow, we've nearly been back from our holiday a week and I haven't managed to write about any of my little finds yet, but here I am now. Bali surprised me in so many ways, some good, some less so. The best surprises were the cosmopolitan restaurants and the classy homewares stores. In hindsight, I should have spent a little more time doing nothing but there was so much to see and do. Not to mention a very beautiful wedding to attend and a bride to admire. I'm still kicking myself for getting all emotional and raspy during my reading :(

First trinkets to show off are the silver leaf dish above and the yellow beaded bracelets and necklace. The leaf dish came from a silver shop at the Seminyak end of Jl Raya Kerobokan, opposite the Geneva Handicraft Centre (less than AU$10 from memory). Beads from the Ubud markets for their lovely colour! I've worn them once so they might have a purpose other than adding some colour to our monotone living space.

This confused giraffe is my other find from the Ubud market and plays happily next to the TV when he's not pretending to be a zebra. The lady at the market told me he is a baby's toy, but I'm not letting that stop me. Big kids need toys too. He was AU$5-6. Note: new TV unit found on eBay just before we left. Yay, the hunt is over! Now need to convert some drawers to doors with hidden hinges so the DVD player etc can live inside.

I mentioned the Geneva Handicraft Centre before and this is where I found this carved, wooden tray stained black for 44,600 rupiah (just over $4.50 in Australian dollars). Located at Jl Raya Kerobokan No 100, this shop is basically a supermarket of everything you'd find at the markets in Kuta, Seminyak and Ubud. There is a lot of junk but it's nice to see price tags after days of bartering and it was very quiet (no crowds or atmospheric cries for your attention).

I'm using the tray to hold remote controls on our ottoman (painting of white legs in progress...see the masking tape?!). The zebra print coasters were found at Carrefour, a cheap French department store on Sunset Road, Kuta for 5000 rupiah each.

Next up is a piece of hand-woken ikat, the result of an extensive search. I had my heart set on yellow but I was twice told no-one in Bali likes yellow! So pink it is but I know there are lovers of sunny hues over there. All my inspiration pictures had one bright colour and white but in Bali this was impossible to find. The threads were always dyed in complimentary colours. I found this at a tiny factory on the way to Ubud - our kind driver worked very hard to find it for me:
Perusahaan Tenun Ikat Bali
"Wisnu Murti"
Jln. Pura Selukat Keramas, Gianyar

Like many things in Bali, it was hard to say whether this was a steal at 500,000 rupiah for 2.25 metres or we got taken for a ride. In any case, it was lovely to see where it was made by women toiling away on their wooden looms and it seems to be a genuine piece of quality ikat. Thinking of making some cushions with it for some colour on the couch, like so...

There were so many foodie and home finds that I didn't bother to look for clothes in Bali, but I did find a few little souvenirs of the personal variety. Some onyx earrings (a nod to the royal wedding that took place while we were away) from Seluk on the way to Ubud (300,000)...

And a bag from the Discovery Mall (299,000 approx). The obligatory fake sunnies from a nondescript stall in Seminyak (35,000 each).

Everything was so, so cheap that it made us feel bad at times. We realised how lucky we are to earn reasonable livings and call Australia home. I do love having little mementos of our holidays around the place though and I hope these remind me to be thankful for all that we have. Do you like to collect things from your travels? Is it a collection of a certain thing or something significant to that place? Or perhaps, like me, just anything that will work with your decor or wardrobe at home?

At a later date, I plan to post on some of the restaurants and housewares stores in Bali that really made my heart sing.