It’s taken four days and hours of extra sleep but I’m finally living in the present.  I’m now back in Sydney in both body and mind.  It’s not bad considering the 10 time zones we crossed and Dr Wikipedia tells me that it can take as many days as time zones crossed to fully recover.  Mr SSG tells me that flying east to west contributes greatly to a killer jet lag.  On balance though, I still can’t wait to do it all again.

Bracelet (left) – Marni at H+M, horn bangle (right) – Mai Tai Collection.

To celebrate my return to the present, I thought an arm party was in order.  Today’s is courtesy of a horn bangle from Mai Tai Collection and one half of a set from the Marni at H+M collection’s bracelet range.  It’s not only a party, it’s a feat of engineering because my horn bangle is just a little large and the H+M bracelet helps to keep it from sliding off.

To put the arm party in context, this was the rest of today’s outfit.

Sweater – more Marni at H+M, skirt – Banana Republic.

I’ve also been cooking dinners like home cooked is going out of fashion.  As much as I loved eating out for every meal whilst on holiday, I did begin to miss my usual dinners towards the end.  The diiners I missed most were (thankfully) dishes that are easy to make, nutritious and needed only a large serve of blanched greens as a side.

After a rather expensive trip to Coles on Monday (beware the stone fruit, it doesn’t taste anywhere near as good as it looks), I was all set for a love in with the SSG Manor kitchen.

I kicked things off with a repeat performance of that old SSG Manor standard – Japanese beef curry with carrots and potatoes.

With loads of choy sum.

Then it was Fish Tuesday when I became reacquainted with my bottle of Masterfoods Lemon Pepper Seasoning.  It’s magic with some crushed garlic and a splash of olive oil over white fish fillets marinted in lemon juice.

By Wednesday, I was ready to party.  Responsibly with a Coke Zero and vibrant cookware.

Cooking really is almost a party when you don’t have to peel and crush the garlic or clean a garlic press afterward.

And cooked a chicken curry in my cherry red Le Creuset pot.

For a ‘sort of home made’ taste, I add tomato paste, soy sauce and some fish sauce to my curry paste.

Green really is the official colour of today’s post.  Anyway, if you use ‘light’ coconut products in a curry, it goes without saying that it’s going to be a healthy curry.

My mum would approve.  When she was last here, we introduced her to quinoa as an alternative to white rice with curry and she rather liked it.

After all that hard work making things from scratch, tonight was the night for delving into the freezer for a batch of bolognese sauce.  I won’t trouble you with a photo of this.  It’s pretty self explanatory.  I am looking forward to the cooler months because it will soon be time to do more bulk cooking.  Home made soups and baked beans are my favourite winter foods.

I’m getting ahead of myself.  I don’t think summer felt it had a fair showing this year because it’s hanging on for dear life around here.

Which is the perfect weather really for my favourite work lunch – cheddar cheese flavoured rice crackers, raw veggies and avocado dip.  With some dark chocolate and a peach for dessert.

I will check in again tomorrow.  I feel a London Shop Girl post coming on. Yay or nay?