Chickens, a plot of green, maybe a goat.

Like many friends of mine, I’ve grown wistful for a more home-grown life. Those who know me too well however will probably scoff at my pipe dream. This junior urban warrior did not grow up with grass stains on her knees after all. Plus I scream at the sight of tiny caterpillars, which really does nothing for my gardening cred.

But the current Spring weather has been delivering bucket loads of sunshine and our balcony garden is, for a change, blooming. Never mind that the strawberries are miniscule and mouth puckeringly sour or that the blueberries are ripening at snail’s pace. Against many odds, our withered lemon verbena has sprung back to life and every day, a row of baby fennel gathers girth slowly but surely. Lots of lovely salad greens have become regular additions to our dinner plates. The nasturtium in particular has been very useful. A gift many years ago from a friend, it has now blossomed and withered then risen again from its potted crypt countless times. The gift that keeps on giving.

With some nasturtium trimmings, I made scones for dinner last night, since I was home alone and there wasn’t anyone around to tut disapprovingly at my meal choice. A generous handful of the leaves were snipped and worked into the dough along with buttermilk and a pinch of salt, before portioning and baking. The scones were still good the next day, so I had them for breakfast, cold and smeared with nasturtium butter.

Maybe we are inching towards a greener life after all. I’m already dreaming up names for the chickens.

Cluck Norris, Miss Omelette and perhaps McNugget.

After our recent trip to Shanghai, I feel the need to slow down again. Shanghai was a blur of crowded streets and brightly lit concrete towers by night. By day, the streets remained crowded, while sunshine sifted valiantly through pale dusty skies. I remember the sounds – of street karaoke, car horns and bicycle bells, of people having animated discussions on park benches, and the shout of street sellers hawking their wares. All overwhelming and exciting at the same time.

My favourite moments were visiting Fuxing Park for a bit of people-watching, and strolling through Dong Tai Road, admiring the collections of objects on display at the antiques market. Quiet little moments you would not expect to experience in such a bustling city.

And now I’m back, incidentally also armed with a few new baking tins that I bought at a massive kitchen warehouse in Shanghai. They’ll be put to use eventually.

This Nutella cake comes via Nigella Lawson’s “How to be a Domestic Goddess” and was made after something moist and very chocolate-y was requested for dessert. It reminded me of the chocolate orange cake from one of the House of Flour stores in Shanghai. I had not intended to seek out cake during that trip (why would you, when there are so many dumplings and crispy duck bits to be eaten?) but after spending the whole afternoon negotiating the perils of being a pedestrian and getting intermittently lost, it was somewhat comforting to spend just half an hour contemplating nothing more than a piece rich chocolate cake and a cup of tea.

As luck would have it, we bought fresh hazelnuts from a farmers market in Melbourne recently, so these were shelled and ground into meal for the cake. In hindsight, we should’ve bought a bigger bag of nuts and then I could have made my own Nutella too. Maybe next time. Melbourne’s not that far away afterall.

If you don’t have the book, her recipe is also online here. Now I’m off to enjoy another quiet cake-filled moment.