Lili Wilkinson's Blog, page 8

Tonic

I'd never really thought about making tonic water until I saw this on Scott's blog. Then I googled, and found this recipe, and was intriuged.

I don't really like soft drinks – too sugary. I don't mind tonic because it's not quite as sickly-sweet, but it still packs a mighty sugary punch. So the idea of a less-sweet more-savoury home made tonic sounded pretty appealing.

The key ingredient of tonic water is cinchona bark – that's where the quinine comes from, as well as the distinctive bitter taste (except in supermarket tonic water, where the flavour all comes from numbers). The bitterness is offset with citrus, lemongrass, allspice and sometimes coriander or juniper, and then sweetened and made into a syrup that can be mixed with soda water (we recently purchased a SodaStream, which is saving us a fortune in fizzy water and plastic bottles).

Cinchona: looks like tan bark

Simmer with lemongrass, citrus peel/juice, allspice, water and citric acid

Strain the bits out

Mix in agave syrup (and a little bit of honey from Dad's bees). Then add soda water when required!

It tastes so good! Sort of like a combination of tonic water and bitters, but less sweet and more refreshing. And just a quarter-cup of bark made over a litre of syrup, which in turn makes LOTS of tonic water. We have it most nights just on its own with a wedge of lime, but it is also very good with gin.

Student

Today is the first official day of my PhD. I think I might:

eat instant ramen
play Playstation
drink too much beer
say pretentious things about postmodernism
participate in some avant garde theatre project
sleep until midday

On the other hand, I'm a graduate student, so perhaps instead I'd better:

get some elbow patches
drink many cups of tea
do some actual work

The Girl Who Was On Fire

I've written another essay for Smart Pop – this time for a book about The Hunger Games. My essay is called Someone to Watch Over Me: Power and Surveillance in The Hunger Games. You can read the first section of it here, as well as learning more about the book and the other contributors.

On covers

I have a guest post on Literary Clutter this week, talking about book covers, and sharing the never-before-seen initial designs for the Pink cover. Check it out.

Kitchen things

As I've said before, there is something very satisfying about making things. Not just books and quilts, but food-things too. Lately Mj and I have been trying to make a lot of things that we'd ordinarily just buy from the supermarket. Like pasta, for example. We inherited a pasta-maker from a friend, and nothing tastes as good as your own pasta. Mj always makes the actual pasta itself, and I do the sauce, and the filling if it's ravioli (we made this crab ravioli for Christmas and it was AMAZING). Mj has also started making tortillas to go with my pulled beef chilli. I have the bone from our Christmas ham in the freezer, waiting to become pea and ham soup. And I've also just started making tonic water, of which more tomorrow.

I love learning kitchen techniques and tricks – like how to properly cut a mango. And without a doubt my favourite kitchen trick is removing onion/garlic smell from your hands by "washing" them with stainless steel – like a spoon or just the edge of the sink. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of rationale behind why this works – but it does. I choose to believe that it's magic.

Giveaway winners

#1: What piece of clothing did you love when you were younger?

Broede said: A piece of clothing that was once particularly important to me was my school jumper. It reflected a sense of belonging to an institution where I excelled (and yes, it once did and still does reflect a level of conformity, but in a good way that I never appreciated until now). Looking at it hanging in my cupboard has made me realise how sheltered a school life is, in comparison to being thrown into the depths of the 'big and scary' world out there.

#2: Share something awesome and pink!

Emi said: I'm obsessed with outer space and cannot think of anything more awesome than this image of a galaxy taken by the Hubble Telescope! The hydrogen that forms the stars glows pink amongst the other particles and blue baby stars. Amazing AND pink!

#3: Your favourite weird place name

Thais said: There's a place named Acock's Green in Worcestershire, UK. That's really weird.

#4: Your favourite snippet of internet trivia

Debora B said: Recently I discovered that James Blunt was a captain in the British Army before he became a famous musician! I would have NEVER imagined that! Am I the only one shocked by this or did you already know? o_o

#5 Would you rather eat two tablespoons of toenail clippings, or gargle half a cup of sweat?

Rebecca Raisin said: I think I'll take the sweat. My own after a zumba class with a squeeze of lemon and a dash of lime. One of those cute little umbrellas perched on the glass might help, too.

Shiny signed copies of PINK will be winging their way to you all very shortly!

One Day Left for Giveaways!

Here they all are – I'll be announcing the winners sometime tomorrow.

Giveaway #1

Giveaway #2

Giveaway #3

Giveaway #4

Giveaway #5

PINK giveaway #5

PINK comes out in the US this week! To celebrate, I'm going to post an excerpt or behind the scenes piece of trivia every day this week, as well as giving away a copy of the lovely shiny US edition.

Would you rather eat two tablespoons of toenail clippings, or gargle half a cup of sweat? To win a copy of PINK, leave a comment telling me which one you'd choose.

This is an international giveaway. Make sure your comment includes a way for me to reach you!

This extract is from chapter 6 – it's the first time Ava really meets the Screws.

I wasn't here to make new friends. I had plenty of friends already. Nice friends. Who dressed well and took some pride in personal grooming. I was just here so I could hang out with Alexis and Ethan and the others at lunchtime.

'How about you, Ava?' said Kobe, snapping me out of my reverie. It was the first time I'd heard him speak.

'What?'

'Would you rather eat two tablespoons of toenail clippings, or gargle half a cup of sweat?'

I was horrified. Was this some kind of weird initiation ceremony?

'Er,' I said. 'Neither?'

'You have to pick one. That's the rules.'

I screwed up my face. 'Toenail clippings, I suppose. As long as they were clean.'

'Fair enough,' said Kobe, balancing a hammer on the palm of his hand. 'So, would you rather eat a person, or two cats and two dogs?'

These people were weirdos.

'Cats and dogs,' said Sam immediately.

Jacob considered. 'Can I shave the cats and dogs first?' he asked.

Kobe shook his head. 'Nope. As they are. Hairy and raw.'

'Can I pick the breed?'

'No. They're randomly selected from an animal shelter.'

Jacob made a face. 'Person then. I'm not eating fur.'

Sam attacked a piece of wood with a saw. Sawdust flew everywhere like honey-coloured snow. It smelled great.

'My turn,' said Jacob, taking off his glasses and polishing them on his T-shirt. 'Would you rather have sex with a really hot dead chick, or with a ninety-six-year-old lady with no teeth?'

There were cries of disgust. Jen chucked a piece of sandpaper at Jacob's head.

'What?' he said, jamming his glasses back on. 'How come Kobe's allowed to talk about eating a dead person, but I'm not allowed to talk about boning one?'

'I'm so not answering that,' said Jen, shaking her head.

Jacob sighed. 'Fine. It's your turn, Ranga.' He nodded at Sam.

Sam finished sawing the piece of wood, and the end dropped off onto the floor with a clunk. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the wood, thinking.

'Would you rather,' he said at last, a tiny smile twitching at the corner of his mouth, 'have an uncontrollable urge to sing Disney songs every time you get turned on, or get uncontrollably turned on by Disney characters?'

'Characters,' said Jacob without hesitation. 'The chick from The Little Mermaid is a babe.'

Jen laughed. 'But what about The Lion King?' she asked. 'Do you really want to get turned on by something that could give you a hairball?'

'Oh come on,' said Jacob. 'What about Jasmine from Aladdin? And the chick from Beauty and the Beast?'

'Belle,' I said. 'Yeah, she's hot.'

Did I just say that? I swallowed. I should have said something about one of the men in Disney films. What if they guessed? I racked my brains, trying to think of something to say, but I drew a blank.

'I think I'm going to go for option A,' said Jules. 'All the boys in Disney films are a bit chisel-jawed and one-note for me. And having an urge to sing Disney songs when I'm getting hot and bothered sounds kind of awesome.'

Phew. I'd got away with it. Also, Jules was gay?

'Your turn, Ava,' said Jen. 'Make one up.'

'Er,' I said. Everyone stared at me. I shook my head. 'Sorry. I can't think of anything.'

There was a pause. Kobe put down his hammer. Jacob scratched his head.

Sam looked at me. He looked … disappointed. I felt terrible, like I'd really let them down.

Then he smiled briskly, and without an ounce of warmth. He really hated me. 'Doesn't matter,' he said. 'It's lunchtime anyway.'

PINK giveaway #4

There's a question in the Teacher's Notes for Pink about why the school is named after Billy Hughes. When I saw that, I blinked. It hadn't been a big decision – I wanted to name it after an ex-Prime Minister, and rather randomly picked Billy Hughes. I didn't know anything about him. So, curious, I googled. Here's the introduction to his Wikipedia page:

William Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952), Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923.

Over the course of his 51 year federal parliamentary career (and an additional seven prior to that in a colonial parliament), Hughes changed parties five times: from Labor (1901–16) to National Labor (1916–17) to Nationalist (1917–30) to Australian (1930–31) to United Australia(1931–44) to Liberal (1944–52). He was expelled from three, and represented four different electorates in two states. He is the longest serving member of the Australian Parliament, and one of the most colourful and controversial figures in Australian political history.

Colourful! Get it? A

nd he couldn't decide where he fit either – he kept trying on different identities and political parties.

So it turned out to be TOTALLY relevant, even though I didn't intend it. I love writerly serendipity.

To win a copy of PINK, leave a comment with your favourite piece of internet trivia.

This is an international giveaway. Make sure your comment includes a way for me to reach you!

PINK giveaway #3

So Dennis Station is totally a real place. Actually, most of the places in Pink are real places in Melbourne. Billy Hughes is based on a cross between Melbourne High School and MacRobertson Girls High School (where I went). Kalahari is actually called Sahara, and used to be very grungy but is now quite fancy. The Westgarth cinema is just as I described, and does hold 24 Hours of Sci Fi events.

To win a copy of PINK, leave a comment telling me about your favourite weird place name.

This is an international giveaway. Make sure your comment includes a way for me to reach you!