Hungarian Meat Soup - Husleves

Husleves - pronounced 'hoosh lehvesh'

This time last year we both caught a cold this week so I am making this hearty, fullsome soup. Trying to avoid that side-aching, hacking cough that comes with a cold and lingers. This recipe is on the list with the others, accessible here.  I always make Nokedli to go with it.

and, as always, there is a bag of goodies, from all this soup making, for #Snowcone - catch up with her (our dairy cow in retirement) here on our you-tube channel.

                                                                                                                                        STUDIO WORK - did you see the 'pocket finds' i have been doing over the last few weeks. There is one post here and the other is here. It is something i have always done but really happy to find the perfect name    for the activity (thanks to Tara Axford).   See THIS POST of a few #pocketfinds and    some are going onto instagram.                                                                                                                                                                         i would love to hear your thoughts.                                              

When Endangered is right in front of you

 

This beauty was found on my office bench one morning this week. So intact, so beautiful. A bit of googling established it is a Bogong Moth.

My studio and office is a giant shed so i find critters around from time to time and watch a spider in her webs, around my window overlooking the paddock, catch and wrap flies.

In googling i discovered the Bogong Moth is endangered and recorded my sighting on a website dedicated to tracking these amazing creatures. They aim to support Bogong Moth research, and promote Moth Tracker.

Common name: Bogong moth

Aboriginal name: The name Bogong is apparently derived from the language of the Dhudhuroa Nation of North Eastern Victoria.

Scientific name: Agrotis infusa

Population: Declining

Conservation status: Endangered 

• Bogong moths also provide critical food for the critically endangered Mountain pygmy possum, lizards, antechinus (broad-toothed rat) and spiders across the Snowy Mountain region. 

• Each spring, Bogong moths emerge from beneath the soil in Darling river plains of Queensland, New South Wales and Western Victoria and navigate their way to the Alpine region. This journey can be more than 1,000 kilometres. 

• After spending the summer in the cooler mountain caves, they return to their birthplace to reproduce over winter: new larvae again growing under the soil from plant roots and other plant matter. 

The Bogong moth is missing in the wild

Just 20 years ago, hundreds of thousands of Bogong moths disrupted the Sydney Olympics when they were attracted to stadium floodlights. And in Canberra, many residents remember how the night air could be thick with Bogong moths getting lost in the city lights on the way to the mountains. 

Yet the Bogong moth was just added to an international red list of threatened species as endangered — it was assessed along with 123 other Australian species, 56 of which are now listed as threatened with extinction.

Australia is already ranked 4th in the world for extinction so this is dire news.

Read more here about the stories of the Bogong Moth

                                     Three days ago out of my peripheral vision right in the centre of the studio, this lil fellow was running around, face covered in spider webs from crawling around under the benches. You see him here in this image after i 'swept' him (with a broom) into a plastic tub and then proceeded to 'sweep' away the cobwebs which was blinding him.

Mum's Hungarian Recipes (and other favourites)

I had the idea to post my mum's recipes here on the blog - a record that is not lost of recipes i  wrote down in my 20s when i learned to cook each dish. A record to pass on to friends and family.  My sister and i took turns, under mum's guidance, to learn and cook each weekend. Dad always said 'not enough salt'.    

You can find them ALL here - a list of individual dishes linked to the full recipe for each. A single place to find them all.  The list will be regularly updated - keep an eye out and do let me know if you try any and what you think.

and always, when cooking, there is a bag of goodies for #snowcone.