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[penelopemiles]

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[marblefeet08-blog]

The little ceremonies | Tahini, orange + coconut toasted museli

How is it already thisclose to being June? I'm holding tight to the well-worn marks of weekly routines to remind myself of the borders between these days, rather than accepting them as a smear across the calendar.

I am happiest with a schedule, and yet want Monday to feel different than Wednesday. Saturdays are for the farmer's market and tacos for breakfast, Tuesdays are often a standing bibimbap lunch, and Sunday night is when I make granola.

When I was fine-tuning the recipes for my book, certain ones that had always been part of my weekly to-do list became even more so entrenched in the way we do things around here. The soft sandwich bread took over the bread box, instead of sharing the space with the milk-and-honey-enriched loaf that was our alternate. I was giving away jar after jar of the pickled strawberry preserves. I had a freezer's worth of variations on the Walnut, Cherry Butter Tart Pie (there was one with milk chocolate, one with bittersweet, and one with cacao nibs; then one with pecans instead of the walnuts, another with bourbon, and one with dried cranberries, and every permutation in between).  The clumpy granola became our one and only, and it was made with such devotedness that there was usually a surplus stashed in the pantry.

Once the book was done and out in the world, I took a break from many of those recipes, first off because—and nobody tells you this—while you're promoting a book you end up doing very little cooking. Then it was summertime, when our schedule had only the loosest of parameters. Slowly, slowly with fall and winter and school and holidays, I found my way again to the little ceremonies of my kitchen.

I'm back to a varied bread baking program, and the yeasted ones from the book are supplemented with a rye-heavy sourdough on the regular. The butter tart pie was was on the table at Thanksgiving, and it'll be shuttled to the cottage this summer. 

Now the granola has its antithetical compatriot sharing a shelf. While mine is rough with clusters, this one from Emma Galloway's My Darling Lemon Thyme, is snappy, crackling and light. Hers is a toasted muesli, with a combination of flaked grains, coconut, seeds, and nuts, plus such a collection of dried fruit that each bite is a change from the one before. The kicker really is Emma's ingenious binding agent; tahini, mixed with coconut oil and honey. The resulting syrup is rich without going overboard, and not overly sweet. It is fragrant yet not sickly, evocatively savoury almost. In short, it's compellingly good. 

Sarah wrote about this recipe just last month, so I consider this adding my voice to the chorus of praise as this muesli is one for encores. 

EMMA GALLOWAY'S TAHINI, ORANGE + COCONUT TOASTED MUESLI

"Muesli-making was always my dad's domain when we were little. Late at night he would set himself up in the kitchen, toasting and chopping like a mad man, before decanting the goods into his giant glass muesli jar. I remember him saying how expensive it was to make but, and this is a huge BUT, homemade muesli beats that store-bought sweetened stuff hands down. This is my favourite version, and it's filled to the brim with the goodness of quinoa flakes, shredded coconut, nuts, and fruit all bound together in a sweet (but not in-your-face-sweet) mixture of coconut oil, tahini, honey, and orange zest. To keep things strictly mean you can use pure maple or brown rice syrup in place of the honey. Also, whole-grain oats can be used in place of the quinoa flakes."

— From My Darling Lemon Thyme: Recipes from my Real Food Kitchen by Emma Galloway (Roost Books, 2015)

Makes 1.5kg | 2 pounds

INGREDIENTS (please see below and the note for my changes)

5 cups | 500 g quinoa flakes 

2 cups |180g unsweetened shredded or flaked coconut (I used both)

1/2 cup | 65g cashews, roughly chopped

1/2 cup | 75g whole raw almonds, roughly chopped (I used flaked)

1/2 cup | 65g pumpkin (pepita) seeds

1/2 cup | 60g sunflower seeds

1/4 cup | 35g sesame seeds

1/3 cup | 80ml virgin coconut oil

1/3 cup | 80ml un-hulled tahini

1/3 cup | 80ml honey, pure maple or brown rice syrup (I used maple)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

The finely grated zest of 2 oranges

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 cup | 200g natural raisins or sultanas 

1 1/2 cups | 165g dried cranberries

1 cup | 95g firmly packed dried apple slices, roughly chopped 

1/2 cup | 80g pitted dried dates, roughly chopped

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C. Combine quinoa flakes, coconut, cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower and sesame seeds in a large bowl using your hands to combine thoroughly. Combine coconut oil, honey or syrup, tahini, vanilla, orange zest and sea salt in a small pan and bring slowly to the boil, stirring constantly until melted and combined. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well.

Transfer to a large deep baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until toasty and golden brown. Watch those edges like a hawk as they have a tendency to burn. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Stir in the dried fruit and transfer to a large glass jar or airtight container. Will keep for 2-3 weeks as long as airtight.

NOTE FROM TARA:

Instead of quinoa alone, I used 3 cups rolled oats, 11/2 cups quinoa flakes, and 1/2 cup buckwheat groats. I tailored the fruit to my sons' preferences, using 1/2 cup sultanas, 1/2 cup chopped figs, 1 cup dried cranberries, 1/2 cup dried cherries, 1/2 cup dried blueberries, 1/4 cup minced candied ginger, and 1/2 cup pitted dried dates, chopped.

Last but not least, thank you for the generosity of your kindness in response to my post about my grandfather. You guys are the absolute best. xo

Newer:All the things | Rum and Ginger Toffee CakeOlder:The width of the universe

Source: http://sevenspoons.net/blog/2016/5/15/little-ceremonies

[manxfile84-blog]

The little ceremonies | Tahini, orange + coconut toasted museli

How is it already thisclose to being June? I'm holding tight to the well-worn marks of weekly routines to remind myself of the borders between these days, rather than accepting them as a smear across the calendar.

I am happiest with a schedule, and yet want Monday to feel different than Wednesday. Saturdays are for the farmer's market and tacos for breakfast, Tuesdays are often a standing bibimbap lunch, and Sunday night is when I make granola.

When I was fine-tuning the recipes for my book, certain ones that had always been part of my weekly to-do list became even more so entrenched in the way we do things around here. The soft sandwich bread took over the bread box, instead of sharing the space with the milk-and-honey-enriched loaf that was our alternate. I was giving away jar after jar of the pickled strawberry preserves. I had a freezer's worth of variations on the Walnut, Cherry Butter Tart Pie (there was one with milk chocolate, one with bittersweet, and one with cacao nibs; then one with pecans instead of the walnuts, another with bourbon, and one with dried cranberries, and every permutation in between).  The clumpy granola became our one and only, and it was made with such devotedness that there was usually a surplus stashed in the pantry.

Once the book was done and out in the world, I took a break from many of those recipes, first off because—and nobody tells you this—while you're promoting a book you end up doing very little cooking. Then it was summertime, when our schedule had only the loosest of parameters. Slowly, slowly with fall and winter and school and holidays, I found my way again to the little ceremonies of my kitchen.

I'm back to a varied bread baking program, and the yeasted ones from the book are supplemented with a rye-heavy sourdough on the regular. The butter tart pie was was on the table at Thanksgiving, and it'll be shuttled to the cottage this summer. 

Now the granola has its antithetical compatriot sharing a shelf. While mine is rough with clusters, this one from Emma Galloway's My Darling Lemon Thyme, is snappy, crackling and light. Hers is a toasted muesli, with a combination of flaked grains, coconut, seeds, and nuts, plus such a collection of dried fruit that each bite is a change from the one before. The kicker really is Emma's ingenious binding agent; tahini, mixed with coconut oil and honey. The resulting syrup is rich without going overboard, and not overly sweet. It is fragrant yet not sickly, evocatively savoury almost. In short, it's compellingly good. 

Sarah wrote about this recipe just last month, so I consider this adding my voice to the chorus of praise as this muesli is one for encores. 

EMMA GALLOWAY'S TAHINI, ORANGE + COCONUT TOASTED MUESLI

"Muesli-making was always my dad's domain when we were little. Late at night he would set himself up in the kitchen, toasting and chopping like a mad man, before decanting the goods into his giant glass muesli jar. I remember him saying how expensive it was to make but, and this is a huge BUT, homemade muesli beats that store-bought sweetened stuff hands down. This is my favourite version, and it's filled to the brim with the goodness of quinoa flakes, shredded coconut, nuts, and fruit all bound together in a sweet (but not in-your-face-sweet) mixture of coconut oil, tahini, honey, and orange zest. To keep things strictly mean you can use pure maple or brown rice syrup in place of the honey. Also, whole-grain oats can be used in place of the quinoa flakes."

— From My Darling Lemon Thyme: Recipes from my Real Food Kitchen by Emma Galloway (Roost Books, 2015)

Makes 1.5kg | 2 pounds

INGREDIENTS (please see below and the note for my changes)

5 cups | 500 g quinoa flakes 

2 cups |180g unsweetened shredded or flaked coconut (I used both)

1/2 cup | 65g cashews, roughly chopped

1/2 cup | 75g whole raw almonds, roughly chopped (I used flaked)

1/2 cup | 65g pumpkin (pepita) seeds

1/2 cup | 60g sunflower seeds

1/4 cup | 35g sesame seeds

1/3 cup | 80ml virgin coconut oil

1/3 cup | 80ml un-hulled tahini

1/3 cup | 80ml honey, pure maple or brown rice syrup (I used maple)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

The finely grated zest of 2 oranges

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 cup | 200g natural raisins or sultanas 

1 1/2 cups | 165g dried cranberries

1 cup | 95g firmly packed dried apple slices, roughly chopped 

1/2 cup | 80g pitted dried dates, roughly chopped

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C. Combine quinoa flakes, coconut, cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower and sesame seeds in a large bowl using your hands to combine thoroughly. Combine coconut oil, honey or syrup, tahini, vanilla, orange zest and sea salt in a small pan and bring slowly to the boil, stirring constantly until melted and combined. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well.

Transfer to a large deep baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until toasty and golden brown. Watch those edges like a hawk as they have a tendency to burn. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Stir in the dried fruit and transfer to a large glass jar or airtight container. Will keep for 2-3 weeks as long as airtight.

NOTE FROM TARA:

Instead of quinoa alone, I used 3 cups rolled oats, 11/2 cups quinoa flakes, and 1/2 cup buckwheat groats. I tailored the fruit to my sons' preferences, using 1/2 cup sultanas, 1/2 cup chopped figs, 1 cup dried cranberries, 1/2 cup dried cherries, 1/2 cup dried blueberries, 1/4 cup minced candied ginger, and 1/2 cup pitted dried dates, chopped.

Last but not least, thank you for the generosity of your kindness in response to my post about my grandfather. You guys are the absolute best. xo

Newer:All the things | Rum and Ginger Toffee CakeOlder:The width of the universe

Source: http://sevenspoons.net/blog/2016/5/15/little-ceremonies

[chardscarf12-blog]

The little ceremonies | Tahini, orange + coconut toasted museli

How is it already thisclose to being June? I'm holding tight to the well-worn marks of weekly routines to remind myself of the borders between these days, rather than accepting them as a smear across the calendar.

I am happiest with a schedule, and yet want Monday to feel different than Wednesday. Saturdays are for the farmer's market and tacos for breakfast, Tuesdays are often a standing bibimbap lunch, and Sunday night is when I make granola.

When I was fine-tuning the recipes for my book, certain ones that had always been part of my weekly to-do list became even more so entrenched in the way we do things around here. The soft sandwich bread took over the bread box, instead of sharing the space with the milk-and-honey-enriched loaf that was our alternate. I was giving away jar after jar of the pickled strawberry preserves. I had a freezer's worth of variations on the Walnut, Cherry Butter Tart Pie (there was one with milk chocolate, one with bittersweet, and one with cacao nibs; then one with pecans instead of the walnuts, another with bourbon, and one with dried cranberries, and every permutation in between).  The clumpy granola became our one and only, and it was made with such devotedness that there was usually a surplus stashed in the pantry.

Once the book was done and out in the world, I took a break from many of those recipes, first off because—and nobody tells you this—while you're promoting a book you end up doing very little cooking. Then it was summertime, when our schedule had only the loosest of parameters. Slowly, slowly with fall and winter and school and holidays, I found my way again to the little ceremonies of my kitchen.

I'm back to a varied bread baking program, and the yeasted ones from the book are supplemented with a rye-heavy sourdough on the regular. The butter tart pie was was on the table at Thanksgiving, and it'll be shuttled to the cottage this summer. 

Now the granola has its antithetical compatriot sharing a shelf. While mine is rough with clusters, this one from Emma Galloway's My Darling Lemon Thyme, is snappy, crackling and light. Hers is a toasted muesli, with a combination of flaked grains, coconut, seeds, and nuts, plus such a collection of dried fruit that each bite is a change from the one before. The kicker really is Emma's ingenious binding agent; tahini, mixed with coconut oil and honey. The resulting syrup is rich without going overboard, and not overly sweet. It is fragrant yet not sickly, evocatively savoury almost. In short, it's compellingly good. 

Sarah wrote about this recipe just last month, so I consider this adding my voice to the chorus of praise as this muesli is one for encores. 

EMMA GALLOWAY'S TAHINI, ORANGE + COCONUT TOASTED MUESLI

"Muesli-making was always my dad's domain when we were little. Late at night he would set himself up in the kitchen, toasting and chopping like a mad man, before decanting the goods into his giant glass muesli jar. I remember him saying how expensive it was to make but, and this is a huge BUT, homemade muesli beats that store-bought sweetened stuff hands down. This is my favourite version, and it's filled to the brim with the goodness of quinoa flakes, shredded coconut, nuts, and fruit all bound together in a sweet (but not in-your-face-sweet) mixture of coconut oil, tahini, honey, and orange zest. To keep things strictly mean you can use pure maple or brown rice syrup in place of the honey. Also, whole-grain oats can be used in place of the quinoa flakes."

— From My Darling Lemon Thyme: Recipes from my Real Food Kitchen by Emma Galloway (Roost Books, 2015)

Makes 1.5kg | 2 pounds

INGREDIENTS (please see below and the note for my changes)

5 cups | 500 g quinoa flakes 

2 cups |180g unsweetened shredded or flaked coconut (I used both)

1/2 cup | 65g cashews, roughly chopped

1/2 cup | 75g whole raw almonds, roughly chopped (I used flaked)

1/2 cup | 65g pumpkin (pepita) seeds

1/2 cup | 60g sunflower seeds

1/4 cup | 35g sesame seeds

1/3 cup | 80ml virgin coconut oil

1/3 cup | 80ml un-hulled tahini

1/3 cup | 80ml honey, pure maple or brown rice syrup (I used maple)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

The finely grated zest of 2 oranges

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 cup | 200g natural raisins or sultanas 

1 1/2 cups | 165g dried cranberries

1 cup | 95g firmly packed dried apple slices, roughly chopped 

1/2 cup | 80g pitted dried dates, roughly chopped

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C. Combine quinoa flakes, coconut, cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower and sesame seeds in a large bowl using your hands to combine thoroughly. Combine coconut oil, honey or syrup, tahini, vanilla, orange zest and sea salt in a small pan and bring slowly to the boil, stirring constantly until melted and combined. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well.

Transfer to a large deep baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until toasty and golden brown. Watch those edges like a hawk as they have a tendency to burn. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Stir in the dried fruit and transfer to a large glass jar or airtight container. Will keep for 2-3 weeks as long as airtight.

NOTE FROM TARA:

Instead of quinoa alone, I used 3 cups rolled oats, 11/2 cups quinoa flakes, and 1/2 cup buckwheat groats. I tailored the fruit to my sons' preferences, using 1/2 cup sultanas, 1/2 cup chopped figs, 1 cup dried cranberries, 1/2 cup dried cherries, 1/2 cup dried blueberries, 1/4 cup minced candied ginger, and 1/2 cup pitted dried dates, chopped.

Last but not least, thank you for the generosity of your kindness in response to my post about my grandfather. You guys are the absolute best. xo

Newer:All the things | Rum and Ginger Toffee CakeOlder:The width of the universe

Source: http://sevenspoons.net/blog/2016/5/15/little-ceremonies

[risevessel4-blog]

The little ceremonies | Tahini, orange + coconut toasted museli

How is it already thisclose to being June? I'm holding tight to the well-worn marks of weekly routines to remind myself of the borders between these days, rather than accepting them as a smear across the calendar.

I am happiest with a schedule, and yet want Monday to feel different than Wednesday. Saturdays are for the farmer's market and tacos for breakfast, Tuesdays are often a standing bibimbap lunch, and Sunday night is when I make granola.

When I was fine-tuning the recipes for my book, certain ones that had always been part of my weekly to-do list became even more so entrenched in the way we do things around here. The soft sandwich bread took over the bread box, instead of sharing the space with the milk-and-honey-enriched loaf that was our alternate. I was giving away jar after jar of the pickled strawberry preserves. I had a freezer's worth of variations on the Walnut, Cherry Butter Tart Pie (there was one with milk chocolate, one with bittersweet, and one with cacao nibs; then one with pecans instead of the walnuts, another with bourbon, and one with dried cranberries, and every permutation in between).  The clumpy granola became our one and only, and it was made with such devotedness that there was usually a surplus stashed in the pantry.

Once the book was done and out in the world, I took a break from many of those recipes, first off because—and nobody tells you this—while you're promoting a book you end up doing very little cooking. Then it was summertime, when our schedule had only the loosest of parameters. Slowly, slowly with fall and winter and school and holidays, I found my way again to the little ceremonies of my kitchen.

I'm back to a varied bread baking program, and the yeasted ones from the book are supplemented with a rye-heavy sourdough on the regular. The butter tart pie was was on the table at Thanksgiving, and it'll be shuttled to the cottage this summer. 

Now the granola has its antithetical compatriot sharing a shelf. While mine is rough with clusters, this one from Emma Galloway's My Darling Lemon Thyme, is snappy, crackling and light. Hers is a toasted muesli, with a combination of flaked grains, coconut, seeds, and nuts, plus such a collection of dried fruit that each bite is a change from the one before. The kicker really is Emma's ingenious binding agent; tahini, mixed with coconut oil and honey. The resulting syrup is rich without going overboard, and not overly sweet. It is fragrant yet not sickly, evocatively savoury almost. In short, it's compellingly good. 

Sarah wrote about this recipe just last month, so I consider this adding my voice to the chorus of praise as this muesli is one for encores. 

EMMA GALLOWAY'S TAHINI, ORANGE + COCONUT TOASTED MUESLI

"Muesli-making was always my dad's domain when we were little. Late at night he would set himself up in the kitchen, toasting and chopping like a mad man, before decanting the goods into his giant glass muesli jar. I remember him saying how expensive it was to make but, and this is a huge BUT, homemade muesli beats that store-bought sweetened stuff hands down. This is my favourite version, and it's filled to the brim with the goodness of quinoa flakes, shredded coconut, nuts, and fruit all bound together in a sweet (but not in-your-face-sweet) mixture of coconut oil, tahini, honey, and orange zest. To keep things strictly mean you can use pure maple or brown rice syrup in place of the honey. Also, whole-grain oats can be used in place of the quinoa flakes."

— From My Darling Lemon Thyme: Recipes from my Real Food Kitchen by Emma Galloway (Roost Books, 2015)

Makes 1.5kg | 2 pounds

INGREDIENTS (please see below and the note for my changes)

5 cups | 500 g quinoa flakes 

2 cups |180g unsweetened shredded or flaked coconut (I used both)

1/2 cup | 65g cashews, roughly chopped

1/2 cup | 75g whole raw almonds, roughly chopped (I used flaked)

1/2 cup | 65g pumpkin (pepita) seeds

1/2 cup | 60g sunflower seeds

1/4 cup | 35g sesame seeds

1/3 cup | 80ml virgin coconut oil

1/3 cup | 80ml un-hulled tahini

1/3 cup | 80ml honey, pure maple or brown rice syrup (I used maple)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

The finely grated zest of 2 oranges

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 cup | 200g natural raisins or sultanas 

1 1/2 cups | 165g dried cranberries

1 cup | 95g firmly packed dried apple slices, roughly chopped 

1/2 cup | 80g pitted dried dates, roughly chopped

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C. Combine quinoa flakes, coconut, cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower and sesame seeds in a large bowl using your hands to combine thoroughly. Combine coconut oil, honey or syrup, tahini, vanilla, orange zest and sea salt in a small pan and bring slowly to the boil, stirring constantly until melted and combined. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well.

Transfer to a large deep baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until toasty and golden brown. Watch those edges like a hawk as they have a tendency to burn. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Stir in the dried fruit and transfer to a large glass jar or airtight container. Will keep for 2-3 weeks as long as airtight.

NOTE FROM TARA:

Instead of quinoa alone, I used 3 cups rolled oats, 11/2 cups quinoa flakes, and 1/2 cup buckwheat groats. I tailored the fruit to my sons' preferences, using 1/2 cup sultanas, 1/2 cup chopped figs, 1 cup dried cranberries, 1/2 cup dried cherries, 1/2 cup dried blueberries, 1/4 cup minced candied ginger, and 1/2 cup pitted dried dates, chopped.

Last but not least, thank you for the generosity of your kindness in response to my post about my grandfather. You guys are the absolute best. xo

Newer:All the things | Rum and Ginger Toffee CakeOlder:The width of the universe

Source: http://sevenspoons.net/blog/2016/5/15/little-ceremonies

[jeremystrele]

The Tools I Use · Jeffrey Phillips, Illustrator

The Tools I Use · Jeffrey Phillips, Illustrator

The Tools I Use

by Sally Tabart

Photo – Amelia Stanwix. Styling – Ashley Simonetto.

Photo – Amelia Stanwix. Styling – Ashley Simonetto.

Photo – Amelia Stanwix. Styling – Ashley Simonetto.

Jeffrey Phillips (aka Jeff the Peff) in his Collingwood studio. Photo – Amelia Stanwix. Styling – Ashley Simonetto.

Photo – Amelia Stanwix. Styling – Ashley Simonetto.

Jeffrey Phillips (aka Jeff the Peff) entered the professional illustration game in his mid-20s, although he’s been drawing ever since his family relocated from India to Australia when he was a young teenager. Back then, he drew to observe the new sites he found himself surrounded by.

It was only in his 20s that Jeff enrolled in a Design and Multimedia course. Now a full-time freelancer, Jeff’s clients include organisations like Aesop, Facebook Australia, Ernst & Young, MYOB Australia, Studio Round and yes, even The Design Files. We asked Jeff to take us through his go-to tools.

The tools i use · Jeffrey Phillips

1. Noodler’s Bulletproof Black Fountain Pen Ink

This is a handcrafted black ink that is archival, fade resistant and water resistant when dry. It is pretty rare to have a waterproof fountain pen ink, so these are quite highly prized and can occasionally become sold out. I keep a bit of a stash to last me through dry times.

I think it’s good to be consistent with the type of ink, especially when you are combining different pens. Different inks fade in different ways. Some fade to a bluish black, others go a bit brown. So if you aren’t consistent, the drawings can start to look a bit funky as they age.

Find it here. 

2. Pentel Water Brush

There are loads of brands and styles out there, with different sized tips and so on. Both of mine are filled with water, but the grey one also has a few drops of black fountain pen ink for a nice grey wash.

Find it here. 

3. Daler-Rowney Ivory Sketchbooks

These tick every box for me. The hard-cover is great for support, the pages are perforated for easy removal, they have a lovely ivory colour and work really well with my pens and inks. I often try other sketchbooks but these are my mainstay. Unfortunately completely unavailable in Australia, but you can find them on eBay.

Find it here. 

4. Namiki Fountain Pen

This one has a 14k gold nib (fancy!) which has a nice amount of flex for creating variable line widths. Gold nibs are great. They give your lines a wonderful wobbly character! Also means you can swap five pens of different widths for a single one.

The Namiki Falcon is a very delicate pen and so probably not recommended for beginners or if you don’t use fountain pens regularly. An ill-timed bump or wrong move will probably permanently ruin the tip. So it can be stressful to use but the lines are AMAZING and worth it. Here it is in action.

Find it here. 

5. Lamy Fountain Pen with an EF Nib

This is my main drawing pen. It’s a no bullshit, reliable and versatile pen that has given me years of great drawings. It’s much easier and safer to use than the Namiki Falcon. A great beginner pen actually. I originally meant to get the yellow one and accidentally bought the neon-yellow – but what are you gonna do? I had a second one as a backup but lost it on the NYC Subway. I wonder what it’s up to now. It’s funny when you lose the backup and not the thing you wanted to back up. Here it is in action.

Find it here. 

6. Pentel Pocket Brush Pen

This pen must be one of the worlds most popular black ink brush pens. Every illustrator I see on Instagram seems to have one. Even though the black ink cartridges it comes with are great, I have replaced the ink in them with my standard Noodler’s black for consistency. Here it is in action.

Find it here. 

7. iPad

I have the 12.9inch iPad Pro second gen. The second-gen version has a slightly higher screen refresh rate than the first gen. If that makes a difference to you. I don’t know if I can tell! It also has 256gb of Memory – I heard that the higher memory allows you to run larger files without impacting performance.

I use it with the Apple Pencil which is great – except the lightning port you charge it from is the same one that the iPad also uses. So god help you if both are flat.

Find it here. 

Photo – Amelia Stanwix. Styling – Ashley Simonetto.

Jeff’s TOP shops, Apps and Tips

Favourite apps related to your practice?

AstroPad Studio – an app that effectively turns your iPad Pro into a Wacom-Style Cintiq tablet, allowing you to draw in Adobe Photoshop on the iPad. At $117AUD per year, it’s not the cheapest app but in terms of the time it saves me it’s worth it.

Best place to shop for gear?

Jetpens for pens and inks. They have almost anything pen-related you can imagine, including great reviews and handy guides.

Most visited websites?

Dropbox, because good backups are life. About a year ago I decided to sync all my working files and folders with Dropbox. It took a couple of weeks to finish uploading but it’s been the best thing I ever did – it syncs everything across multiple locations and keeps previous versions of all files, too. I can generate a link to any file at any time from any device. I also have an external HDD backup just in case.

Xero has changed my life. Having an easy and intuitive accounting system has freed me up to focus on the fun stuff. If I wasn’t using something like Xero, I’d be mentioning Microsoft Excel instead and not in a positive way.

Reddit – fun to browse, but the worst when you have deadlines.

Ozbargain Forums, where people find and share bargains basically – pricing errors, specials, voucher codes etc. and they get voted up/down depending on whether it’s a good deal. It’s really handy to check when you’re shopping around for something. And when you are procrastinating…

Inspiring reference books?

The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman is hands down the best book I have read about running any kind of practice. It’s very agnostic in terms of what ‘business’ means to the reader, so you bring your own agenda to it and come away with loads of good stuff.

What do you listen to when you work?

Spotify is always on. Otherwise I’m listening to podcasts. I enjoy streaming WNYC, Radio Melbourne, The Economist, or Design Matters with Debbie Millman.

What’s something you wish you’d known before you learnt it the hard way?

Your environment shapes your behaviour in mysterious yet significant ways. Having known the 9-5 grind before starting out as an illustrator, I thought working from home would be the Shang-ri-la of working lifestyles… Hell no!

Even though I had a separate room set up as my work space, I would find myself keeping extremely odd hours, seemingly always in PJ’s, not leaving the house for days, and always feeling guilty that I wasn’t doing enough work.

Now I have a hired a studio space, so I’m required to get up, get dressed and leave the house. It means I get physical activity, social interaction and a dedicated space for work. When I leave that space, it’s play time!

I think this delineation is very important for people who do something for work that they also find fun or pleasurable. The conventional boundaries are blurred, so you need to work out where the line is. Inevitably, it will be different for each person and situation.

Catch Jeff on Instagram, and check out his personal and professional illustration work via his website. 

[theglobediary]

Guys. Why did no one tell me that LA is basically foodie heaven?! I ate my weight in food. No jokes. We ate out every meal. But I don’t regret a thing. It’s no secret that we travel to eat, and some cities boast too many eateries to choose from. So, to help you out, here are a few of my recommendations for the LA Downtown area.

Breakfast:

Bottega Louie (700 S Grand Ave, CA 90017)

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Craig had spotted this place on the drive in to downtown towards our hotel. BUT he hadn’t checked the name, he just reckoned it was totally our vibe. Small problem though, Craig sucks at direction, so we had no way of figuring out where this magical place was.

We ended up being recommended this place for breakfast, and as Craig walked up to the street, he realised, as fate would have it, that we had actually found his restaurant! Luck again was on our side when we accidentally found ourselves in line at the waiter’s desk for the actual restaurant section to open at 9am – skipping several other people who then queued behind us.

What we hadn’t realised was that the restaurant was actually a bakery/cafe, with a separate area for meals. We got a table quickly and had impeccable service from our stunning waitress. The menu is french-inspired but varied with quite a list to choose from. In fact, I had difficult choosing! In the end, Craig and I shared the Parfait yoghurt & muesli (which is gluten-free) and then had egg dishes.

If I went again? I’d do that Parfait dish a hundred times over. The Greek yoghurt is fresh, thick and creamy with a hint of lemon zest to cut the bitterness with a tang. The Nuthouse muesli is heavenly, but you can expect no less from a bakery. And the strawberries, heavenly. Craig and I still talk about this dish. Yet, it’s so simple. Stay tuned for a replication.

They’re also open for lunch and dinner, so don’t limit this gem to a breakfast option. Check out the menus below.

Website | Instagram | Twitter | Menu

G & B Coffee at Grand Central Market (317 S Broadway, CA 90013)

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Markets are by far my favourite thing in this world (if you haven’t already seen on previous blogs) and this particular one was an absolute gem. We had walked through the market in the evening just to have a look and it was definitely a lot busier, but instead we popped in our last morning for a quick coffee and breakfast for way more chilled vibes.

We had their muesli with milk (mine, almond milk) but we were immediately food jealous of the two next to us chomping on a freshly baked waffle (which smelt more like a croissant). AH. Food envy was real. Times like these when I hate being gluten-intolerant. But you should do it. Seriously.

And their coffee, 10 out of 10.

There are also plenty other stalls at the Market that will definitely strike your fancy. Follow Grand Central Market on Twitter here.

Website | Instagram | Twitter

Lunch:

Otium (222 South Hope Street, CA 90012)

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Otium, was another restaurant that we happened upon – and by happened upon, I mean we did a Google search of restaurants in the area and this one made the cut. It’s a contemporary restaurant situated beside the Broad Museum. We strolled in at around 2pm on a Saturday to a packed. Instead of waiting on a table, we opted for the bar. Make use of those barmen and grab a cocktail or two – they’re incredible! The Peanut Butter and Jelly Cocktail is mind-blowingly odd but surprisingly great.

This pick was my favourite out of the lot and we would even break my rule of always trying something new: and return a second time! BUT I’d book ahead!

Website | Instagram | Twitter | Menu | Reservations

Kreation Organic (Several locations online found here)

Obsessed with this smoothie: immortal from @kreationjuice packed full of cacao, cacao nibs, grass fed butter, banana, chaga, mesquite, tocos, cashew, chia seeds, flax seeds, coconut oil, coconut mylk, and plant protein. Basically, all the good stuff 👌😍

A post shared by Leigh Candice Dorkin (@theglobediary) on Apr 12, 2017 at 12:05pm PDT

If you want to do like the celebrities, hit up this juice joint for an all-health-errythang. It’s all organic, gluten-free, freshly-made, and raw. If you want a recommendation? Go with the Immortal Transform Smoothie. It’s the best smoothie I’ve ever had! It’s also packed full with nutrients.

Website | Instagram | Menu

Dinner:

Water Grill (Several locations but we went to the Downtown LA location)

To be totally honest, this was the only place Downtown that we could get a last minute booking for Saturday night. We were definitely unprepared for the food scene that awaited us. In future, I’d come armed with pre-booked and pre-planned meal outings but this wasn’t a bad spot to end up either.

The buzzing restaurant was packed at 9pm – and is evidently a popular one with the locals. Craig and I both had seafood, of course, and the food was impeccable. BUT if you only order mains, I’d order an additional side of veg!

Website | Instagram | Menu | Reservations

Broken Spanish (1050 S Flower St, CA 90015)

A post shared by Broken Spanish (@brokenspanishla) on Nov 23, 2016 at 12:31pm PST

Another one of my favourites, the food was divine. This Mexican/Latin restaurant is more of a hip, casual eatery. And again, I’d keep returning to this one.  We each had a starter and shared two of the big mains. There was not one bite left.

Website | Instagram | Menu | Reservations

Bars:

Birds & Bees (207 S Broadway, CA 90012)

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This hidden gem (quite literally) is off the beaten path. In fact, we struggled to find it with no signage just a mere bee-hive symbol on the floor-path alongside a building – and just by that, it’s cool factor escalated majorly for me. Not many places survive off little or no outside advertising, so the fact that this place is busy almost every night, must make it worth the initial game of “Where the eff is this bar?!”

If I didn’t think the place was cool enough yet, they go and decorate the bar in full-industrial-basement-retro-chic gear and then I’m one hundred percent sold the cool kids hang out here.L

While the cocktails (that we tasted) were not my favourites in LA (Otium takes the cake on that one), they did the job and the atmosphere made it one of the best nights.

Website | Instagram | Facebook

Everson Royce (1936 E 7th St, CA 90021)

A post shared by E.R.B. (@eversonroycebar) on May 27, 2017 at 12:29pm PDT

Hidden bars were the theme of the weekend in LA – clearly. But I think this one was my favourite. The jug of margaritas went down too quickly, and the snacky foods filled the spot until dinner. The beautifully lit courtyard buzzing with music and people chatting added to the incredible atmosphere.

Yes, this place didn’t look like much from outside, especially because we felt like it was in a  particularly dodgy area in Downtown LA. Even our Uber driver was worried about us when dropping us off. BUT looks are really deceiving. So go check it out for yourself.

Website | Instagram | Reservations | Menu

I hope you enjoyed reading all about our food adventures in LA. I’m sure your mouth is watering – like mine was while writing this! Please let me know if you visit any of these!

{PIN THIS FOR LATER – YOU MIGHT NEED IT!}

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Thanks for stopping by and be sure to follow along on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook.

~ Leigh

Los Angeles | Where to Eat in Downtown LA Guys. Why did no one tell me that LA is basically foodie heaven?! I ate my weight in food.