Melbourne dispatch - Kinfolk Cafe

There is a hand-drawn sign just inside the door of Kinfolk, a little social enterprise cafe on Bourke Street in Melbourne, and this is what it says.

rules of kinfolk

allow yourself to BE you...open up to receiving generously and giving generously...

teach others with your smile, learn to let your heart sing, your soul

dance... savour every mouthful. give thanks. Take praise. DO

what you do best and enjoy it. Share. Care... sit a while... and come again...

I've been wanting to share Kinfolk with you for literally years. It was one of my favourite places to go eat and read a book when we first moved to Melbourne, before I had kids and had to factor pram-parking into my eateries of choice. You'll find it right down the bottom of Bourke Street, near Southern Cross Station, so it's also where I used to meet friends visiting from interstate or overseas, giving them somewhere lovely to relax after they stepped off the airport bus and before we had to board the tram.

Run with the help of up to 30 volunteers, Kinfolk is a not-for-profit space, directing its income between development projects for communities in need in Rwanda, Ghana, Palm Island and Melbourne. Customers can choose where they would like the profit from their meal to go by popping a coffee bean into a jar, or trust Kinfolk to distribute it where it's most needed.

As you'd expect, the food is seasonal and wherever possible organic, biodynamic, locally-sourced and fair-trade managed. Oh and delicious. What you see on my plate is a chicken tagine with seasonal vegetables, but there are always vegetarian and vegan options on the menu too.

Last year they ran a crowd-funding campaign and successfully raised enough money to lease the space behind the cafe, enabling them to install a commercial kitchen, build on the catering side of the business, expand the menu, add 30 percent more table seating, and increase trading hours. Through all of this, they are now able to raise more profits for their project partners.

Food legacy

This is the sort of thing you see in overly-sentimental movies, like The Notebook, or read about in books like Anne of Green Gables. And it is beautiful. Sarah of The Yellow House, a foodie blogger living in rural Virginia, recently became the recipient of a rather emotional bounty from the women of her fiance's family.

A bundle of yellowed, dog-eared, food-splattered recipes, stretching through the generations, hand in hand, across more than a hundred years.

There were several recipes for nut bread and other popular dishes from the 50s and 60s. Thrift-inspired preserves and pickles from the Depression and War eras. And turn-of-the-century recipes, made immensely and timelessly personal for being embedded in letters written from a mother to a daughter.

When I cook my mother and my grandmother's salmon rissole recipe, I think about them, and the times they taught me to cook these rissoles, and our many, many family meals together. I can still picture the oil spitting in the pan in Nanna's tiny kitchen. It was not much bigger than my pantry is today.

What an extraordinary gift these pages must be to Sarah. A chance to absorb, through food and words, something beautiful of her new family.

Meals on Wheels - Let's Do Yum Cha

Sometimes ideas come at you and you can't think where they came from or why they decided to show up but, what the hey, you figure you might as well go with them anyway. That is the story of our night picnic. The Let's Do Yum Cha food truck parks outside our local park every Sunday. Last weekend Madeleine slept extra late during her afternoon nap, so we figured she could have a late night and we'd head on over for a picnic in the dark.

It didn't seem like that big a deal when I suggested it but, as our family was walking along the empty street by just the light of the street-lamps, bundled up to the nines against the icy autumn wind, with Madeleine exclaiming an astonished "Night! Night!" every few steps, the strangeness of the outing began to seep in.

Then as we turned into our friendly, much-used and oh-so-familiar park, it felt positively eerie. The park was not bathed in soft moonlight, nor lit by elegantly-placed garden lamps. It was a well of black and deeper black, the shifting leaves above alive with the wind and the squeak of fruit bats. A ring-tail possum ran ahead of us as we searched for a place in the grass to lay our rug. In the end, we chose a spot right next to the road, to take advantage of the nearby street light and avoid having to walk too far with our dumplings.

So, the Let's Do Yum Cha food truck: think steamed dumplings and dim sum, pork buns and spring rolls. We bought about six different styles, because none of us is good at editing when it comes to food choices! It was super fresh and super delicious and I will definitely be stopping by this truck again, but next time I'll do it in the day time… or take it back to my cosy and well-lit home.

Favourite things - leave an impression

From paper to photos to pancakes, here are five clever ways to leave an impression. Brought to you, for no apparent reason, by the letter P. 1. Photos

How great is this "Lightcase"? It's a small, portable studio that you can use to take professional-style photographs of the things you make and love, even with just an iPhone.

2. Pandas

The sweetest little friends ever to sit on your finger: these miniature crocheted animals from SuAmi in Vietnam are the best! This one is a red panda. (Seen via B for Bel)

3. Pancakes

We make a lot of faces out of food around our place these days. But nothing quite as clever as this "Crack a Smile" pancake mold!

4. Paper

These Haibara letter-and-envelope sets caught my eye a few months back, and I keep coming back to them. I love how bold and clean they are, and those red outlines make them look like drawings of envelopes. (Seen via Swiss Miss)

5. Paintings

This has to be one of my favourite public art projects and if you didn't dream about moving to Paris before, you will now. Etienne Lavie replaced billboard advertisements all over the city with classic works of art. Not long after that, he did the same in Milan. Tres belle, oui?

Melbourne dispatch - local burger picnic

Reason #17 why I love living in Melbourne's Inner North: our burger shop doesn't just do take-aways, it does take-away picnics! Next time you're wandering past The Local Burger Co on Rathdowne Street and the weather is just right, ask them to pack you a picnic. You don't need to bring a thing. They'll pop your order into a big wicker basket along with a water-proof blanket and some lovely bamboo cutlery.* All you need to do is amble across the road to the park and crack open those famous sweet potato fries.

This post was brought to you by my very hungry family, and the Live North Facebook page, who sponsored our outdoor dining adventure. Photos brought to you by my trusty iPhone because I was too busy stuffing my face to pull out the camera

* For a $20 deposit, refunded when you return the basket and blanket

ps. I'm pleased to announce the winner of last week's competition for family passes to the Melbourne Museum and IMAX, also thanks to Live North. Congratulations Tawhi, I hope you have a great time!

Favourite things - I did not expect that

Lately a lot of my favourite things collections seem to be about food. Which means that as I've been meandering my way around the Internet late at night while nursing Harry, it's the food posts that have caught my eye and inspired me to hit "save." Maybe it's because I'm a breastfeeding mother who is also racing around after a toddler, and I am permanently hungry. Be that as it may, I think you may just like these unexpected food combinations and constructions, too. 1. Instagram marshmallows

What a fun, quirky, tasty gift these would make! Seen via Poppytalk

2. Beaker BLT

This made me laugh. I'm all about making pictures out of food lately, to get Madeleine to eat her vegetables. Although this certainly blows my smiley-face and cat-face bean-and-carrot concoctions out of the water! And it's just in time for the new Muppets movie, too. Seen on Handmade Charlotte

3. Kombi toaster

Have I shared this one before? I feel like I have. Or was that the Kombi tent. Either way, I'm still a fan and if you are too, you can buy your own from The Fowndry. It's like those burger-shaped telephones we all wanted in our rooms as teenagers (I never got one. Did you?)

4. Beyond burgers

Take a look through Fat & Furious Burger, a bizarre website featuring totally over-the-top photographs of insanely decadent (and somewhat weird) burgers. Then you will look up and think "Wait, where did those three hours just go?"

5. Chocolate terrariums

I've saved the best for last. Look at these. Just look at them! Beautiful works of art, and deliciously tasty too. I would SO love to have one of these served up to me at the end of a meal. Apparently they're actually pretty easy to make, so maybe I'll try them out one day. The tutorial is on The Design Files if you want to have a go.

First harvest

Once upon a time, our remote hunter-gatherer ancestors figured out that they could improve the quality and quantity of their food supply if they helped it out a bit, by adding a splash of water here, a spot of compost there, and keeping the weeds and predators away. And so it came to pass: the first vegetable patch. Fast forward several millennia, to February 14, 2014: I received a vegetable patch for Valentine's Day. And ever since, this little patch has given me so much pleasure. We live in a terrace house with a pocket-handkerchief sized, fully-tiled courtyard out the back. Not exactly plant-friendly. So to grow my vegetables, we turned to the Little Veggie Patch Co for a no-dig, organic garden crate. If you want an easy, affordable, space-efficient garden, I highly recommend these guys. The veggie crates come in different sizes and, if you want to, you can have them delivered with organic soil, compost, worm-poo and anything else you need.

I really like the idea of everything a garden can teach Madeleine and Harry. At its most basic, the garden will teach them where food their comes from. You hear all these stories about children not knowing that apples grow on trees. My children will understand the whole process from paddock (or crate) to plate. The garden will also teach them about patience, about waiting for sunshine and rain, and about the slow rotation of the seasons, the time it takes for good things to grow. They will learn how to nurture and care for something, by giving the plants food and water and weed-free space to breathe. And they will learn about caterpillars and butterflies and snails and ladybirds.

That's a lot to learn from one square metre of dirt, wouldn't you agree?

I harvested my very first produce from this new garden on the weekend: baby heirloom beets. People have been growing and harvesting vegetables for tens of thousands of years. It's not exactly rocket science. But I was incredibly proud as I pulled those baby beets out of the warm earth. It's just so satisfying to grow your own food. Something else I'm glad my children will have a chance to learn.

Last night I steamed then lightly-sauteed the beet leaves in sesame oil and a splash of soy sauce, to go with our beef gyoza for dinner. Do you eat beet leaves? They taste mostly like spinach, with a hit of the earthy sweetness we associate with beetroot. Delicious!

As for the beets themselves, I paired them with baby Dutch carrots (not mine: I did plant some but they're not ready yet) and roasted them with orange and thyme. Those home-grown beets were some of the tastiest roast vegetables Mr B or I had ever had. Next time, I think I'll add some steamed green beans, and perhaps some dry-roasted almond slivers over the top for crunch.

How about you? How does your garden grow?

Favourite things - sweet treats

In my home, sleep deprivation and general exhaustion breed sugar cravings. We know it's not good for us, but Mr B and I are both guilty of over-indulging on the sugar front when the world around us just won't stop. (Even at 2am. And 3. And again at 5. Stop already, world!) It's not even lunch time and as I type, I'm already starting to dream of a sweet treat. Anyway, this collection of favourite things may not be the healthiest I've ever made, but it suits the mood around here. And it sure was fun to do.

1. Cupcake ATMs

Cupcake ATMs are popping up everywhere. This one is in New York. Ahoy there, Sprinkles: in Melbourne, we REALLY LIKE cupcakes too. Just sayin'...

(Photo via East Midtown on Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons)

2. Piñata yo face

This DIY on Photojojo teaches you how to make a piñata out of somebody's photo. They suggest it could be a lovely gesture for, say, a birthday. I put it to them that bashing a picture of somebody's face as hard as you can with a stick until it bursts open isn't exactly a traditional sign of love and affection. On the other hand, all that candy goodness to tumble out would be pretty sweet (pathetic dad-joke pun intended).

3. Sweet Paul book

Sweet Paul has gone from online magazine to print mag and now to book (called Sweet Paul Eat and Make)! If you don't know Sweet Paul, it's all about delicious food, beautiful craft projects and clever home tips.

4. Don't be rude to food

I have bookmarked this post so that I can refer back to it when Madeleine and Harry are old enough to say "Yuck!" about trying new food. I think it will help.

(Photo is of Madeleine being distinctly not rude to a piece of chocolate cake she made herself. Question is, does she extend the same courtesy to broccoli? I think we all know the answer to that.)

5. Teddy-bear bread rolls

And just like that, you will never say no to carbs again. (Look at that little face. How could you say no?) Here's the recipe to make them yourself.

(Seen via the Frankie blog)

In the kitchen

Mummy-blogger creates amazing recipe for cake that she cooks with angelic children in pristine kitchen. Cake tastes like extra-rich mud cake but is actually made from organic beetroot, powdered kale and sun-dried goji berries. No sugar or gluten in sight. Mummy-blogger and aforementioned angelic children cover cake in silky-smooth icing, then use tweezers to artfully place edible flowers all over, creating culinary masterpiece. Only, not in my house. I won't be winning any Mother of the Year awards for healthy toddler foods (or clean kitchens), but Madeleine, Harry and I have been having a ball flexing our baking muscles of late.

Madeleine is going through an "I can do it myself" phase, which is frequently excruciating to watch but also so sweet, seeing her confidence and independence burgeon. Also, Harry is a most appreciative sous-chef, grinning and gurgling and kicking his little feet with gusto from his front-row seat on the kitchen floor.

Lately Mr B has been working a lot of nights, meaning Madeleine is in bed before he gets home. She is really missing him. Everything right now is about Daddy. I convince her to eat her vegetables each night by shaping them into a face on her plate and calling it "Daddy." I talk her into wearing pants on a cold day (when she would much rather wear a tutu) by telling her, "These are Daddy's favourite pants."

When we baked chocolate cupcakes last week, they were "for Daddy." When I told her in the morning how Daddy had gobbled his cupcake up when he got home, and that he said it was delicious, she radiated pride. "YEAH!" she yelled, balling her chubby little fingers into fists and punching the air.

Then yesterday, we made sugar biscuits "for Daddy." She was so excited, and determined to do it all herself. Madeleine mixed the dough, rolled it, pressed out the shapes, made the icing, chose the colour, decorated the biscuits. Harry was helpful, too. He laughed and said "Hoo" a lot.

I texted Mr B a picture of Madeleine decorating the biscuits and told him she was making them for him.

Then at around 6.30 that night, just as she was finishing her dinner and finally about to have one of her biscuits for dessert, Daddy walked through the door. He'd seen my text and thought, "That's it." He packed up a whole lot of work to do from home at night, and hurried back here to surprise her before she got into bed.

I pulled out our best floral china, and Madeleine and Daddy had a tea party with the biscuits she had made all by herself.

The Food Justice Truck

It's no secret I'm a fan of a good food truck. I've been slowly eating my way through a good number of them, and you can share that journey with me if you want to, here. But this may well be the best food truck idea yet.

Called the Food Justice Truck, it is a social-enterprise initiative of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC), and the goal is to make fresh, healthy food available to asylum-seeker communities who could otherwise simply not afford it.

Riddle me this. On average, it costs $130 a week for an Australian adult to eat well. Most asylum seekers have about $20 a week to spend on food. It doesn't take a mathematical genius to figure out that you have $110 worth of hunger and chronic malnutrition going on right there. In our back yard. On our watch.

The Food Justice Truck will buy locally-sourced, ethically and sustainably produced fruit and vegetables, then resell them in asylum-seeker communities at a 75 percent discount on the rates they'd pay in the shops. In effect, asylum seekers will be able to buy $80 worth of healthy food for themselves and their families, for $20.

By using the truck to get around to communities where the greatest numbers of asylum-seekers are congregated, they estimate they'll be able to help bring healthy food to 2000 asylum-seekers a month. This little video helps explain it all.

If you think this is a great idea, too, you can donate to help them buy a truck and get started via their crowd funding page. If you can't afford to donate but still want to help, how about spreading the word? Let's help get the Food Justice Truck on the road!

Image credits: food truck is a screen shot from the promo video above; market produce is by Natalie Maynor, licensed under Creative Commons