my sweet strong beautiful brave aunt.
6.03a.m.
Monthly Archives: January 2012
(past christmastime at mediterranean wholesalers, or whenever really, you can pick a little cake from the display and sit yourself down at a table at the coffee bar. the pistachio bigne comes filled with a smooth custard of palest green, and encrusted with chopped nuts like so many barnacles. do not feel like you must order a hot chocolate to go with. it is made with cadbury’s powder, and even then, not nearly enough of it. if it’s still close enough after christmastime, they will sell you a generous slice of panettone for a dollar to go with whatever beverage you end up with.)
in the weeks leading up to christmas, we embarked on a mission of reconnaissance at mediterranean wholesalers. down the back, where it’s normally wafers, stood a great wall of panettone. there was plenty to choose from, but our choice was mostly immediately clear: the etna. the year before, we saw actual etna from a great distance as we rode the sicilian railway from agrigento to catania. now was our chance to observe the volcano close up. the box was very persuasive: see how the candied fruit dances above the cake, just like an erupting volcano! before we left for the countryside, we returned to the shop to claim our own.
in fact, this was one of those times when the product matches quite closely the depiction on the packaging. despite the manhandling at the cash register, it was more or less perfect when unwrapped. the food technologists in italy are doing a sterling job. it was melty hot outside, but the stabilisers in the vanilla icing — rich and creamy — worked hard to maintain the illusion of a snow-capped mountain in our kitchen.
underneath, the chocolate cake was the bready sort, not too sweet and possessing a pleasant cocoa flavour. much of the sweetness came from the hidden reservoirs of blood orange sauce, and the candied… something.
it wasn’t orange peel; my memory seems to recall the packaging listing maybe arrowroot as an ingredient.
it made for a run of festive breakfasts as we counted down to christmas, but all too soon, it was gone.
2012 clicked over without too much of a to-do. i think it was about 11.55 on the night of 31 december when i went to bed, no longer willing to play the guessing game of “will harlan wake up for a feed in ten minutes, or three hours?” i heard the fireworks going off in the city. harlan awoke about two hours later. but it’s not like we’ve been having an uneventful summer.
just shy of xmas, we hightailed it out of the city, into the northeastern corner of victoria, where the boy has a little patch of dirt. we brought along our kmart xmas tree, and scattered a handful of presents underneath. then we got along with the business of a summer holiday. bike rides for some…
and dipping our toes in sunshine at the nearby woolshed falls…
(while others of us dozed in the shade of the björn)…
(and elsewhere).
there was the endless washing of washers.
evenings, we walked the town, listening to birdsong and spying on wild bunnies. around the train station it’s rife with bunnies.
during the day we hid from the heat, or we searched out local delicacies. at the aldi in wodonga, we bought ham steaks and maple (flavoured) syrup and a six-pack of mince tarts. dinner sorted, we said, pleased, as they came up the conveyor belt. (though we were kidding — dinner was at the local chicken shop.)
another day, i came across a wonderful mulberry dacquoise at the beechworth pantry. crunchy hazelnut meringue sandwiching fat berries in cream. there may be no better cake in this pocket of victoria.
and then there was christmas, at the town called the rock — a glut of prawns and an endless supply of miniature chocolate bars. there was lemon tart and cream sprayed from a can. there were presents, oh my word, yes.
back in chiltern, we resumed the evening strolls. the weather had cooled down some and everything was green,
green,
green.
