as still as a river can be | coriander pesto

Sometimes, I like to think of months as people. To me, November is a tall, slender male, with long fingers and a pointy nose. When you're least expecting it, he creeps up behind you, and suddenly it's November and that's the second to last month of the year. I've been calling Maitland home for almost two years, I've become used to the warmer weather, the kōwhai bloomed and dropped its leaves all over the street, and then the yellow rotted into gold and blew away down the drains at the bottom of our street. The salt water pool's opened up again, I'm back from travels and back into the real world, with goals and lists of 'things to do before Christmas'.

Despite the somewhat inevitable frantic nature of this time of year, I'm really loving November at the moment. Cycling home from the pool last night, I came around a corner to see another cyclist passing the other way. He gave me a big smile and lifted his head to say 'sup, and then I realised I too had a big silly smile on my face, for no particular reason. I just felt happy - the simple kind of happy that doesn't require a reason.

At Maitland, the garden is also very happy. This time of year I am always amazed by the speed at which things grow out there - all the salad greens say 'hello', and 'eat me!', the coriander grows tall and sometimes sprouts tiny flowers, the carrots have had enough of growing roots and put all their energy into their green tops. Our neighbour has seedlings she's been nurturing in wooden crates outside our front door, and seemingly overnight they've turned into bright green lettuces.

We had so much coriander we didn't know what to do with it all. I remember this time last year (although a bit later) I nearly wore out our blender making spice paste out of the coriander roots. This time we've had two big harvests already, with more just sprouting out of the ground, and we've been mass producing pesto.

Pesto is one of those delicious but luxurious food items. Also on the list would be avocados, organic balsamic vinegar (quite expensive), hummus unless you make it yourself, good cheese.. Can you tell I'm hungry writing this? We rarely, if ever, purchase pesto at Maitland, as the stuff you can buy can be so expensive. However, one of our local pasta making places sell their pasta, and also pesto, at the Farmer's market. They have several different types, one being coriander pesto. It's a bit different, fresh but a little spicy. So when we had lots of coriander, pesto inspired by the pasta d'oro one was the first thing that came to mind. And the great thing about making your own pesto is it's much cheaper, especially if your garden produces the greens, and so you can stop feeling guilty about piling it on bread or crackers, or making a pasta sauce by just warming up some pesto ..

coriander pesto

2-3 cups coriander leaves and stems, chopped roughly

1 cup nuts and seeds - we use a mixture of almonds and sunflower seeds

2 garlic cloves

juice of one lemon

a good pinch of salt

300-400mL olive oil

optional - 1 tsp cumin seeds

This is really a very simple recipe. Roast the nuts and seeds in a hot oven, 200ºC, for about 10-15 minutes. You might hear a couple crackle or pop, that's when they're ready. They shouldn't look browned. We usually use almonds and sunflower seeds, but you could use cashew nuts, or macadamia nuts if you're feeling fancy and are blessed with a suitable nut cracker. I usually use 3 times as many sunflower seeds as almonds, because they're cheaper and they're also pretty delicious.

Roast the garlic cloves too - I usually do this separately because they only need five minutes. They just need to be soft. Blitz the nuts and seeds first. If you happen to put the lid on your food processor the wrong way, some very hot water run over it, and 20 minutes of frustration, will help to remove it! Add the coriander leaves a small amount at a time, alternating with the oil. Add the lemon juice and salt to taste. If you want to use cumin seeds for a slightly different flavour, add them at the beginning. Keep adding oil until your pesto is the consistency you want it. If it's too sticky, you need more coriander leaves. I found that I used more salt and more oil than I was expecting to.

Et voilà! Pesto for crackers, on toast, over pasta, in just about anything you make in a frypan... Enjoy! You can freeze it in plastic containers, or store it more short term in the fridge, in glass.

We've been busy around these parts - although it's the time of year where everyone's busy in their own way. Maitland's lounge has hosted a range of visitors, all of them lovely. H baked often, and filled our freezer with soups we're still enjoying, and D & L made the most delicious tarte tatin, and I learned the word for nasturtium en français, which is the lovely sounding word capucine, in case you were wondering. 

Speaking of Europe, there are still travelling stories to tell, and many photos to sort through and perhaps share. I think they'll come, eventually...! I had to end this blogging hiatus with a recipe and real life - travelling seems like a different time now. I found a recipe over the weekend for borscht, I think I feel cooking inspiration returning, just like the garden's growing. 

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title from bill callahan - rococo zephyr. I think I'm addicted to Bill Callahan's voice at the moment. 

a song for someone who needs somewhere to long for

It was going to happen sooner or later - all the moving around, all the seeing new things, the wanting to have only the best time - it always catches you in the end. For me, it came after a slightly weird unpleasant experience trying to find my train to Vienna, and the subsequent night of broken sleep on an overbooked sleeper train: there were people everywhere and at 4am in the morning, when we were woken by what felt like the fifteenth passenger having an argument with the conductor about how unfair it was there were no seats, I thought by comparison Indian overnight trains seemed rather pleasant.

Since I last wrote, I've spent time in Rome and Vienna, and tomorrow I head to Croatia for just over a week of basking on the beach with a dear friend I haven't seen for a few years. I've had fun travelling by myself, but it's a different kind of fun, one where you're more often checking where your stuff is, checking what time your train is, watching all of your bags, keeping a tight hold on your camera (mine would've been stolen today if I hadn't had such a tight grip on it). Over the past week, I've spent time in three different countries that speak three different languages.. I can handle a (small) bit of French, but German and Italian are pretty impossible. Today, I spent time wandering around and realised I hadn't eaten lunch at 6pm - it's just that when you're so unfamiliar with a language, and by yourself, it becomes much more of an ordeal to purchase something.

I hope this post doesn't seem too negative - although I am missing my people a bit and missing cooking (I had a dream about cooking Hugh's roast parsnip salad the other night..) I'm also enjoying the time to reflect and think, time to sit in strange street cafés and write, wandering around streets and finding myself in an interesting modern art museum here in Vienna - mumok. I am lucky, I just keep reminding myself.

The next time I write here it'll be in retrospect, I think. I am purposefully stepping away from the computer until I'm back in New Zealand - I need a holiday from the internet. Hope you are all well and happy, and to Anna: see you soon!!

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title from kings of convenience - homesick

photo from rome - the only place where you can say 'so there's the colosseum down the end of that street'.

make a new cult every day to suit your affairs | lausanne, switzerland

It feels like a long time since I last wrote from Paris - so much has happened since then. I attended my first ever international conference, held in Lausanne, Switzerland. It's a small city about 40 minutes by train from Genève. It has a fantastic public transport system, so it's very easy to get around, and many central city pedestrian zones - inspiring for Dunedin! 

The conference itself was both fantastic and intense - I am still processing all that I learnt two days later! We had very long days of interesting presentations, lots of strong coffee, many discussions about science with potential future collaborators and other like-minded individuals. I met the two other people in the world working on similar things to me, one of whom we may end up collaborating with for future publications. She is based in Spain and the Netherlands, so there may be options over there for future work - we'll see... I am feeling a renewed inspiration for research upon returning to New Zealand, and it was rewarding to meet, and talk to many other people like me: struggling PhD students. I feel extremely lucky to have had this opportunity. 

As part of the conference, we had a formal dinner, which was a cruise on Lac Léman (also called Lake Geneva, but not by those who live in Lausanne!) It was a still evening, and very beautiful to watch the sun set from a boat on the lake. 

Currently, I'm in Rome, and tonight I am catching the train to Vienna for the weekend. I'll write more about Rome next time - it's a crazy place. Never before have I been so often complimented on the colour of my eyes! I am hoping Vienna will be a little quieter... As of today, I'm travelling by myself for a few days. It takes some getting used to, but it's rather pleasant (and indulgent) to be able to follow any particular whim I may have. I am enjoying having lots of time to reflect. 

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title from belle & sebastian - the stars of track and field. 

fin de l'été à Paris | late summer in Paris

Many times, wandering with Mum around parts of Paris, I find myself thinking "I could live here." I really could - as much as Paris is busy and unexpectedly dirty if you have romantic visions of the place - it's also so beautiful. There are many things to look at, many baguette to eat, many hours to spend wandering, looking at whose planter boxes are the most colourful. It's been wonderful, spending time here with my Mum, spending time staying in the suburbs with our lovely family friends, hearing French spoken around me. 

The last time I was in France, I was much younger. Despite that, I remember many things - the strange escalators at Charles de Gaulle, taking the Metro, the crazy fountains at the Pompidou Centre. I am also finding bits and pieces of French coming back to me, albeit slowly. I think that I'll try and keep learning (somehow) when I am back in Dunedin. Many people here have good English, which makes me feel embarrassed that my French is so bad! 

It's warm here, very warm. It feels somewhat strange to be plunged into summery temperatures without the build-up of spring, but I am revelling in it nonetheless. In amongst all the feelings I have, there's still a part of me that misses home: Dunedin. I am obsessed with pedestrianised streets over here, and learning how the velo-hire and electric car hire systems work - I can have big dreams for Dunedin right? 

I hope you are all well, wherever you are in the world.