IT'S been a slow weekend here. The weather is cooler, we haven't strayed far from the front door and generally we've been pacing ourselves for what will be a busy month of family and festivities.

With the last few days of winter trying to make themselves known in my parts of the world, I am taking every opportunity to enjoy the last of winter feasting.

That includes making Maggie Beer's rhubarb and blood orange crumbles and possibly this weekend, on the nudge of Jan, a regular reader of my blog, marmalade for spreading thick on hot buttered sourdough toast.

Are you still enjoying winter fare or are you busting for summer dining?

IN AUGUST:

I WENT TO... Melbourne. It was a lightning visit for work. I wish I could say I did more and saw more. I also camped on Taronga Zoo's concert lawns with 800 Girl Guides for the organisation's annual Zoo Sleepout.

I ATE AT... Our new local, The Ferryman. I had the clam bake and it was deeeeeeee-licious, made all the better by a lovely shiraz and the knowledge of a stumble home had we wanted to kick on past a single glass.

While in Melbourne, I stayed close to work in North Melbourne and also ate close by, meaning I frequented Parkville Store for breakfasts; Naughtons Hotel for easy after-work drinks and snacks; and Auction Rooms, as recommended by a colleague, for lunch with a friend.

I OP SHOPPED... A 1950s black wool suit with pencil skirt and the most beautifully cut jacket. The collar, with rouched wool detailing, circles the shoulders, but modestly doesn't show them, just hinting at a collarbone.

Being black, it's hard to photograph, and before I do, it'll need a little stitch here and there to hold the rouching in place where it's come away.

I always wonder at the previous owner. The suit showed no signs of regular wear and surprisingly didn't hold the smell of mothballs or worse, cigarettes, so my best guess is it was worn by a woman my age or younger, given the length of the skirt and its tiny waist, to a funeral. Like a wedding gown, it was bought and worn for an occasion and could neither be thrown out, nor worn again.

I MADE... I am a few finishing stitches from finishing this cardigan. It's only been two-plus years in the making.

I READ... through the stack of overdue library books on my bedside table, starting with Queenie, by Candice Carty-Williams; Dark Emu, by Bruce Pascoe; A Woman is No Man, by Etaf Rum; and,
The Eye of the Sheep, by Sofie Laguna.

The book to add to your bookshelf is Dark Emu. It should be read by every Australian and is an anthem not only for Indigenous recognition and acknowledgement of Indigenous culture, language and science, but it's an important book to read in the midst of an unprecedented and inescapable climate crisis.

Now that's what I call brisk. It's chilly out there, but that makes it perfect for staying in, slugging olive oil and salt over root vegetables and popping something gooey and full of brown sugar on the stove.

Last year, about the same time, I listed all the things that winter meant to me. This year, the crepe myrtle leaves fell earlier and the first of the spring bulbs has already flowered, but much is the same, with a few additions I noted this week.

1. Christmas plans are already being talked about
2. With Christmas planning comes talk of summer holidays
3. With the winter solstice almost a month behind us, the sun's starting to come up that little bit earlier
4. I am knitting
5. Roast vegetables are on high rotation 
6. Violets are flowering
7. Leaf buds are forming on the pomegranate
8. I am padding around the house in thick socks
9. Wool throws and blankets drape beds and couches
10. Clothing stores are spruiking 'end of season' sales

Enjoy the rest of your chilly weekend

The gift of a flower
Sewing machines to stitch strength
Are potters protesting here?
Four-ingredient gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate fudge cake
You'll want to make paper chains again

Winter's for soups, stews, gratins, roasts, bakes and puddings. It's for the warm smell of having something delicious on the stove or the oven. It's for having leftovers of the good no-fuss-dinner-or-lunch kind, not the rotting-in-the-bottom-of-your crisper kind.

NO WASTE, LEFTOVER VEGGIES SOUP

I have an unhealthy fascination with the menus of our past, and when I say unhealthy, I don’t mean hardening-of-the-arteries unhealthy.

I mean a why-would-you-attempt-these-archaic-food-fads unhealthy. Let’s face it, some recipes are meant to stay in our dark, aspic-riddled past. But sometimes, the recipes of the past, with a few modern modifications can throw up a gem of a meal.

Now, before I embark on this, cast your mind (for those able) back to 1972: the year Australian Women’s Weekly released its The Busy Woman’s Cookbook. I was born in ’74, so even I struggle with this one and what I do recall of my early culinary experiences is enough to tell me this was a troubled time in the home kitchen. Women were working and not home to put on the evening, or even lunchtime roast. To ensure dinner-time harmony, supermarkets offered up meal-time hacks. My mother was a fan of the Rice-A-Riso: a concoction requiring browned mince, a packet mix and water.

Through the ‘80s and ‘90s jarred simmer sauces made an appearance, along with “just-add-water” pasta dishes. Both had a weird ability to congeal, resembling the texture (and taste) of Clag glue if not eaten immediately.

However, despite the delights of simmer sauces, in 1972, the best dinner hacks documented by the The Busy Woman's Cookbook seem to rest on two ingredients: store bought mayonnaise and curry powder.

Curry Mayonnaise Chicken

Curry Mayonnaise Potato Salad

Best ever green bean salad

French dressing

When I came home from school, it was a good day if there was a packet of Arnott's Spicy Fruit Rolls in the cupboard, an even better day if there was a packet of Arnott's Royals, with fluffy marshmallow, crumbly biscuit base and thin, hard veneer of chocolate.

Lady Abbess' Cushion biscuits

Herb-infused drinks are on the list of top culinary trends for 2018, so I am well ahead of the game with this concoction brewed up on my stove-top for summer drinking. It's a herb-infused syrup to mix with fresh lemon juice and top up with a dash of your favourite tipple.

This cordial was inspired by a drink I had at Lost Boys, in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, more than a year ago.

I squeezed the juice in winter from a basket of beautiful, juicy lemons gifted to me by a colleague and froze almost two litres in anticipation of this recipe.

The cordial is sweet and fragrant, but not so sweet to lose the tart lemon, tangy lime or hint of thyme.

Enjoy it as a mocktail or cocktail.

Lemon, lime and thyme cordial

INGREDIENTS

Cordial base
3 limes
Small bunch of thyme
3 cups water
3 cups sugar

Lemon juice mixer
Lemon juice from 6 to 8 lemons, more if you have them.

To make up
Your choice of vodka, gin, soda water or water
Ice
Sprig of thyme
A wedge of lemon or lime

WHAT TO DO

Put the 3 limes, sprig of thyme and 3 cups of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer gently until the limes start to soften. You don't want the limes to split. Set aside to cool.

When cool remove the limes and thyme and set aside, you'll juice the limes when they have completely cooled. Add the sugar and return to the stove. Bring to a simmer and simmer until the sugar has dissolved. Cool until you can pour the cordial base into a sterilised bottle or jar.

Squeeze your lemons and the cooled limes. I like to squeeze a lot of lemons in one go and keep the juice in a jar in the fridge, or freeze until you'll need it. The limes will be quite pulpy and gel-like. Add this to your lemon juice.

To make up the cordial pour an equal mixture of cold cordial base and juices together. This is now your drink mixer. Store in the fridge to keep it icy cold and ready for summer guests.

To make up a drink, take a slug of your drink mixer and pour with soda water, or chilled water, to make a non-alcoholic drink. Add ice, a wedge of lime and a fresh sprig of thyme

Add a slug to gin or vodka, over ice, lime and a sprig of thyme, for a refreshing taste on your favourite gin or vodka cocktail.

It's true. Sit me down to a trimester of statistics and instead, I am well into organising my tax receipts, have started a household clean-out on a scale never seen before and am enjoying a season of procrastibaking.

HARVEST APPLE CAKE

It may be the last weekend before Christmas but there is still time to spread the Christmas spirit and delight colleagues, friends and family with a Christmas gift you've baked yourself or prepared in the kitchen.

PECAN NUT SHORTBREAD

Honestly, would I steer you wrong? These are easy to make and loved by all. Make them for your  colleagues. You'll be considered a rock star.

GINGERBREAD MEN

These require slightly more effort than Pecan Nut Balls, but again, rock star status can be expected. I never decorate my gingerbread men. Who has time for that? Rather, using the end of a straw, punch a couple of holes where waistcoat buttons might go. Stack three biscuits together and thread a ribbon through them, tying the ribbon off in a bow at the top. This makes a sweet, individual gift.

JAM SLICE

It doesn't scream Christmas, but it does scream "I love you so much I baked for you". Again, tell them you spent hours in the kitchen. You didn't, but they're not to know.

MANGO BUTTER

If you do want to claim points for extra effort, this mango butter is like lemon butter, but much better because it's made with a mango puree. I recommend giving it away as quickly as possible - it's too much of a temptation to keep in the house.

ROCKET PESTO

This is easy, peasy to make. Just bung all the ingredients in a blender and spoon into jars. Bundle it up with a nice packet of deli-bought pasta or gnocchi. Who doesn't want to know there's a simple, fail-safe made-ahead meal at home during the silly season? Bam! Christmas giving done.

TOMATO SAUCE

Make up a bottle or two of this and offer it up with a recipe card on ideas on how to use it. Eggplant parmigiana, lasagne, spaghetti sauce, pizza base, over barbecued meat... so many uses.

RED CURRY PASTE

This is soooo much better than a store-bought paste, and, you know, there's no harm dropping a hint you're free any time they'd like to host dinner and try it out.

BANANA CHUTNEY

Bananas are plentiful and this is an all-purpose, easy-to-make chutney. It's great with barbecued meat, with cheese and biscuits or as an accompaniment to an Indian curry.

CHERRIES

I know what you're thinking. This is too, too easy. Should that stop you? No. In fact, if you're looking for a gift for me, this is it.

Happy Christmas cooking.