YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT

Heathly food, clean food, raw food, hippy food, vegan food, organic food, whaaaaaaatever! Whatever you call it, whatever takes your fancy, I just can't get enough of it. 

I've have always been concerned about "eating right" and trying to be "healthy" but this past 6 months or so it has really become a passion of mine. Learning about food and nutrition has become something that I REALLY enjoy. I can watch food documentaries all day and I love spending hours in my kitchen preparing nutritious food. 

I have a special interest in "raw food", to me it's the bees knees and makes me feel so amazing from the inside out and I'm going to share some of my most used recipes on this blog. To avoid preaching I'm not going to ramble on about why I love the food that I do but I will leave you a link to one of my favourite food documentaries if you care to watch it, its even free!

I could easily say that this documentary changed my life…

PREVIEW HERE

WATCH FOR FREE HERE

http://documentarylovers.net/food-matters/

Have a lovely evening all, and if you're in Melbourne I hope you're enjoying the bizarre 36degree rain we are having right now.

Kitty xx

TO TWO TODAY!

Today marks mine and Micks two year anniversary!

I can't believe how fast the time has gone and how much we have done with it.

These past two years has seen me move to Victoria, the two of us move into Melbourne city, our very first house together, our second house together, three beautiful fur babies, our own private tattoo studio and traveling to more than a few countries together. 

I count myself lucky every single day to have such a strong and compassionate man by my side. Mick has been my rock when I have felt adrift in this world and I honestly don't know where I would be with out him. He is my absolute bliss and I love him more every day and I am so proud of him and us for the life we have forged together.

I love you unconditionally this anniversary, next anniversary and the many more to come.

May everyone be as lucky in love as I count myself.

Kitty xx

TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT

As my absence may have indicated it has been quite a busy time around the Dearest house. I don't even know where to start to catch you up on all that has past since I last typed an entry. So…I'm just going to give you the cliffs notes version of my past 4 months.

Mick, Peanut Butter and I are all moved into our new humble abode. It's a very quirky old converted shop. We have concrete floors, pressed tin ceilings, two stories, a spiral staircase, a fish pond and a bigger backyard for our little furry munchkins. Yes munchkins plural. We now have a second furry edition to our family, the squishiest of squish face dogs, Mr Humphrey the British Bulldog came home with us from out latest over seas trip. 

From the first day I met the little fellow, the day we brought
him home & hanging on the couch with big sis Peanut.

We recently journeyed to the ever green north island of New Zealand. Where we attended a tattoo convention before indulging in a road trip holiday around the island. We saw snow capped mountains, geothermal hot springs, geysers, caves and what felt like a million cow and sheep inhabited rolling green hillsides. New Zealand has definitely been one of my favourite holidays so far, everything is so picturesque and there are countless outdoor activities to partake in everywhere you go.

Mount Taranaki, Hells Gate geothermal pools,
road trip view & Huka Falls from the jet boat.

It feels as if the time in between entries has sped past me and I'm already looking down the barrel of the holiday season and it would seem that the Dearest house is already filling up with Christmas cheer. The decorations are up, the candy canes are out and the live Christmas tree is filling the house with the loveliest scent of pine. 

I hope all of you are getting into the holiday spirit however you chose to celebrate.

Kitty xx 

LOOK MUM IM FAMOUS

Ok maybe I'm not famous, but I feel pretty gosh darn special. I recently got some of my work published in a magazine for the first time ever! It's a really big deal to me and I am ever so grateful to Vanessa and the whole team at Inked for the beautiful spread. Hopefully I'll be lucky enough to see my name and tattoos in print again, because it's pretty nice to feel proud of myself. Yay! :D

If you would like to support me or just get your hands on a great tattoo publication go pick up the latest issue of Inked Artists, it's in news stands now.

Kitty xx

HIP HIP HOORAY FOR TEMPEH!

If you happened to peruse my last blog entry you will already be familiar with my new found love of winter cooking. I am especially fond soups and stews, they are such a great way to get my 3 serves of vegetables a day and make sure no vegetable ever goes to waste in our house. So I thought that I would share one of my favourites of the season.

TEMPEH AND AUTUMN ROOT VEGETABLE STEW

ingredients

1/2 cup orange juice

1 tbsp orange zest

1 tsp tamari

2 cloves finely chopped garlic 

2 tsp fresh grated ginger

1 tsp honey

4 tbsp canola oil

1 packet of tempeh (about 300g I think) cubed

2 carrots sliced 

1 cup diced potato

1 cup diced sweet potato

1 cup diced turnip

1/2 cup diced parsnip

approx 2 cups of vegetable stock

1 can diced tomatoes 

2 whole start anise

1 cinnamon stick 

1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2tbsp water

salt and pepper to taste

chopped coriander

method

1. combine orange juice, zest, tamari, garlic, ginger & honey in a bowl and set aside.

2. in a massive post heat oil over medium heat, add tempeh and brown on all sides.

3. add orange juice mixture and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.

4. add vegetables & the tomatoes with their juice and then enough stock to almost cover them.

5. add star anise and cinnamon & bring to a boil.

6. reduce heat to low & simmer, cover, until vegetables are tender, for about 30mins.

7. uncover, increase heat to high, add cornstarch-water mixture & cook for 1-2mins until stew thickens

8. season with salt, pepper and additional honey as desired

9. serve with fresh coriander.

ENJOY!

Everyone in our house seems to be getting into the spirit of winter this year. Both Mick and I have spent many a day pottering about the house fixing things up and generally making our house a home, and there is no doubt that little Peanut Butter is enjoying the extra company on the couch snuggled up amidst a sea of throw blankets. 

I'll leave you with a photo of Peanut Butter strutting her latest winter wears. My last jumper cost $4.50 from the op shop near work, Peanuts cost $50. Go figure. I love her more than me.

Kitty xx

EMOTIONAL WINTER WARMERS.

One of the biggest changes I faced moving to Melbourne was the weather. It gets cold here. Really cold. A lot. It might even be cold the majority of the time. 

I don't like the cold. Or at least I didn't. I find myself fast becoming a "Winter person". I figure that there's no point fighting it, trying to catch the odd sunshiny day and hopelessly clinging onto my summer dresses. I'm just going to embrace the cold, let it happen and I love what I can about Winter.

So this is a small list of my current winter wonderland…

• Scarves - especially my new Burberry scarf my charming man brought me back from London this week.
• Beanies - They solve so many problems. Bad hair days? Sorted. Regrowth? Sorted. Don't know anything about styling your hair and secretly think this makes you a bit rubbish at being a girl? Sorted.
• Knitted sweaters- They're comfy and comforting and makes me feel like I'm wearing a big hug and that no one can see the extra mugs of hot chocolate I've been indulging in.
• Aforementioned hot chocolate - and hot chai and hot beverages of any variety really. If anyone has a hot cider recipe, send it this way!
• Vitamin D tablets - Sunshine in a pill, I take 2 every day to help ward off any seasonal affective disorder that might be lurking in the next rainy day. I'd recommend it to everyone. Better stock up on Echinacea while you're at it.
• Reading - Obviously a favourite past time of mine at any time of year, it is especially enjoyable under a collection of snuggly blankets on our oversized couch with my favourite french bulldog hot water bottle substitute.
• Making my own soup - It makes me feel fancy and makes the house smell completely delicious. 
• Torrential rain - Yes a bit dismal but I love watching it throughout the window whilst safely inside. It feels like a vertical moat that cuts our home off from the rest of the world.
• Rationalising that wearing my pyjamas at 3.30pm is completely acceptable because it's rainy and dark outside.
• The abysmal weather allowing me not feeling guilty about spending the whole day inside cross stitching, reading, cooking, working on designs, snuggling with Peanut Butter Dearest the wonder dog and generally being a 20 something hermit nana.

Better rug up Melbourne.

Bring it on WInter, I can take it.

Kitty xx.

HOME GROUND ADVANTAGE.

So two weekends ago was the second annual Rites of Passage Tattoo Convention and the first ever tattoo convention that the boyfriend and I have worked in the same booth.

It felt strange not having to pack our gear and board a plan to get to the convention and even stranger to be going home every evening and not to a hotel. Home ground advantage did however allow us t bring extra odds and sods for our booth. So we packed up our taxidermy friends from the living room and some extra heavy fabric and got to decorate our booth a little more extravagantly than our usual weight restrictions would allow us.It was such a fun weekend and I was lucky enough to tattoo three fun tattoos on beautiful ladies over the three days.

Top of arm.

Side of thigh.

Our friends Jeff and Kim stayed with us for the week surrounding the convention which only made the even more delightful. We all enjoyed some post convention animal adventures at the safari park and the wildlife sanctuary.

I love the way that conventions bring artists together, its so amazing to have that huge reminder that you really are a part of something great.

Kitty xx