Josephine Moon's Blog, page 9
February 13, 2021
Jo’s Apricot and Vanilla Jam
Ingredients
1 kg apricots, halved and stones removed1 vanilla bean pod, halved lengthways1 cup of water750g white sugarJuice of one average-sized juicy lemon (Meyer lemons are a good choice).Method
Put your apricot halves, the halved vanilla bean pod and the cup of water into a heavy saucepan and simmer with the lid on until the fruit is soft.Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Increase the heat and bring to boiling. Stir in your lemon juice. Keep stirring and boiling with the lid off until the fruit has turned into a consistent mixture and the jam has reached setting point.Remove the vanilla pod and pour the hot jam into hot sterilised jars and seal with the lid right away.Tip: Don’t let the jam wait around in the pot as it will harden by the second. Pouring the jam into hot jars and sealing right away will create a tight, air proof seal and give your jars that ‘pop’ when you open them for the first time.
Tip: Using the vanilla pod in this way makes vanilla the dominant flavour of this jam. If you’d like to taste more apricot and less vanilla, try using just half a pod. If that’s still too much, you could take it out of the pot earlier.
Enjoy with toast, crumpets, pikelets, scones or straight from the spoon!
February 4, 2021
Maggie Beer and Me
I have pretty much written a love letter to Maggie Beer in my new novel, The Jam Queens. My love for Maggie began so long ago I can’t remember when it started but I’d like tell you a little about me and Maggie.
I have watched Maggie’s wonderful television show The Cook and the Chef. I’ve collected and read her books, sinking into her stories about her early years on the orchard and with then pheasant farm with her kids and husband Colin. Just about the only episode I can remember of MasterChef was the one which she was a guest competitor. A friend once offered me a last-minute ticket to see Maggie at the State Library of Queensland, just before Christmas time, and I cancelled everything to get to the sold-out event to hear her speak. She was, as you’d expect, warm, funny, engaging and generous. (I bought one of her books there and stood in line for an age to ask her to sign it but as it was a sold-out event and the line snaked around the terrace I didn’t have time to lavish her with my adoration… probably to her good fortune.) Twice a year every year, my friend Kate and I go on writing retreat together and have often daydreamed and drooled about making the next one an adventure down to Maggie’s Orchard House to cook in her drool-worthy kitchen. My husband works in aged care and we enthusiastically snapped up her book Maggie’s Recipe for Life and encouraged everyone in the company to go buy it too. Maggie’s foodie values–love, family, sharing, sustainability, celebration, honouring the source of our food, and growing food–are values I share and find their way into my books as I write.
You get the drift, right? I’m a big fan.
I suppose it was inevitable that when I decided to set a book in the Barossa Valley, Maggie’s spirit would find its way into my story. One of the driving plot points of the book became the annual jam competition at the Royal Adelaide Show. As my main character Aggie’s family is full of jam queens, they have created a system where one queen may nominate herself to enter in a given year while the others stand aside. But this year, there is an extra incentive to win, with the triumphant jam queen invited to cook with Maggie on her television show. Perhaps then, the rules could be broken just for this year? After all, it is Maggie Beer they’re talking about! Who could resist the opportunity to spend time with her? While it might be Aggie’s turn to enter, her mother Valeria is torn. Maggie is her idol. How could she not enter?
I travelled to the Barossa in 2017 with my husband and then five-year-old son. (The flowers in the valley were well and truly out. Aren’t they gorgeous?) Of course, at the top of my list of things to do was to head to Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop, which we did three times in less than a week. The lake, the olive trees, the grounds, the shop… it’s all gorgeous. (And she has the best gluten free bread rolls I’ve ever had! And I’ve been gluten free for 30 years, so I’ve eaten a lot of them.) I confess I was hoping to simply bump into Maggie by good fortune, but the closest I got was seeing her disappear out through the kitchen door, and it was all I could do to stop myself leaping over the counter to chase her down… which, of course, probably wouldn’t have ended too well for me, so it’s lucky I haven’t been a high jumper since primary school.
This is all just to say, ‘Thanks, Maggie, for nurturing the hearts, minds, bodies and souls of food lovers throughout the country, including mine’ and inspiring a a plot line through my new book. I hope you love it.
Love
Jo x
January 28, 2021
The Jam Queens Inspiration
With competitive jam makers, a variety of jam, The Ghan rail travel, the Australian outback, the Barossa Valley, Maggie Beer, four generations of women, IVF, grief and new beginnings… The Jam Queens covers quite a bit of territory. Here’s an introduction to some of the inspiration behind these elements.
The food
Deciding which food to pursue is never an easy task for me as there is an endless supply of wonderful foods to explore. I always research my foods as much as I can and I practise making them from scratch (e.g. tea, chocolate, cheese, cakes, jam), with the exception of coffee (in The Gift of Life), which requires a lot of specialised equipment (though I certainly watched talented craftspeople doing it).
My apricot and vanilla jamI have to love the food in my story as it’s ‘the hero’. In order to write about it with enthusiasm, I need to pick a food I enjoy and and am fascinated with. (For all the wine lovers out there, I’m sorry to say I haven’t yet found enough enthusiasm for wine to take it on.) It was actually my husband who suggested jam and after initially thinking it was too limited, I began to wonder about the whole competitive jam making scene and its place in our modern world and that caught my attention. I taught myself to make jam from the internet and realised I would have to enter shows to truly understand the process. I entered the Royal Brisbane Show in 2019 with my strawberry jam and was delighted (and shocked!) to win first place in the novice category. It was a lot of fun and I got a little bit ‘hooked’ 
I then entered my gluten free Persian Love Cake into the Noosa Show and won second place, and another cake into the Eumundi Show (which one first place) and if Covid hadn’t cancelled everything in 2020 I would definitely have gone back for more. (As an aside, the recipe for the Persian Love Cake is included in the back of The Cake Maker’s Wish.) There’s a lot to be said for country shows and their cookery competitions and there is still more I’d like to explore there in the future.
Location research
My foodie themed novels always come together from ‘the outside in’ and my setting is usually the first thing I decide on. I’m a strong world builder so I want to really know that world well, and that usually involves a research trip. For The Jam Queens, I travelled to the Barossa Valley in South Australia with my husband and young son back in 2017. I wasn’t certain about my food theme at that stage but I was interested in fruit and especially apples. (I’ve had an ‘apple book’ floating around me for years now that just hasn’t quite settled yet… One day I’ll get to it.) While in the Barossa, I was lucky enough to be invited to tour the Trevallie orchard with Sheralee Menz, who took me around the apples, pears and apricot trees on a freezing, windy and grey day. My poor sub-tropical Queensland hide was shaking incessantly but Sheralee charged on with enthusiasm and effortless grit. The highlight was seeing a tree there that was over one hundred years old, majestic and magnetic.
The Ghan
I literally have no idea where the idea of journeying on The Ghan came from, other than I was driving the two hours home from a day trip to Brisbane and it simply popped into my head. I mentioned it to my husband, who enthusiastically agreed and declared it done (he’s fabulous like that), and told me to take my sister. I have been lucky enough to take Amanda with me on nearly all of my research trips, including to the Cotswolds and to Italy, and she is the best travelling mate. We have a ball. Somewhere on that trip, we found our alter egos in Myrtle and Dolce and those two characters became the ones you find in the book. I adore Myrtle and Dolce and wish them a lifetime of wonderful journeys to come (and hopefully a book of their own!).
The teenage pregnancy
The character of Aggie is a forty-five-year old woman who had her first child when she was seventeen. The origins of that backstory came about because while I was promoting The Gift of Life, a friend came to see me speak and the bookseller mistakenly believed she was my mother. My friend has a great sense of humour and we had a good laugh while she mused what sort of teenage mum she would have been. I was in the early stages of playing around with the character of Aggie and I was inspired to explore this idea of teenage pregnancies. I watched many episodes of the reality TV show 16 and Pregnant and was rather horrified at how dreadful so many of the family members behaved towards the pregnant teen and how, in every episode, the pregnant teen was actually the one holding it all together while people all around her fell apart. From that, I knew Aggie would have been a good and capable mum, especially if she got the right support. I also knew it could be a cause of serious separation between her and her mum (Valeria).
The IVF journey
Early on in The Jam Queens we discover that Aggie has been through IVF and now finds herself at a crossroads in that journey, along with her ex partner, Gideon. That particular storyline was specifically inspired by a Mamamia podcast called The Quicky, which provides daily news updates followed by a ‘deep dive’ into a particular issue. In this case, the issue focused on the unique position couples find themselves in when they have ‘leftover’ embryos and must decide what to do with them. I was really captivated by this, not having ever considered it before and wondering what I would do in that situation. I was especially interested to consider how a couple would work it out if they were no longer together.
These are some of the themes and issues The Jam Queens explores. Keep an eye out for my forthcoming post on Maggie Beer and how she made it into the novel too!
The Jam Queens is out 13 April 2021 and you can preorder now from all good books stores and online retailers.
January 27, 2021
Book Club with Julietta Henderson and Norman Foreman
Reading By the Moon Book Club is back again in February with The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman by debut author Julietta Henderson.
Click this link to register.
The blurb reads…
Norman and Jax are a legendary comedy duo in the making, with a five-year plan to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe by the time they’re fifteen. But then Jax dies before they even turn twelve.
Norman’s mum Sadie knows she won’t win Mother of the Year anytime soon, and she really doesn’t know, or care, who Norman’s father is. But her heart is broken when she discovers her grieving son’s revised plan: ‘Find Dad’ and ‘Get to the Edinburgh Fringe’.
If meeting his dad and performing at the Festival are the two things that will help Norman through this devastating time, then Sadie is going to make them happen.
So mother and son set off from Cornwall, with their friend Leonard in his vintage Austin Maxi, on a pilgrimage to Edinburgh – to honour Jax and to track down a few maybe-fathers on the way . . .
I hope you can join us!
December 28, 2020
The Wonderful World of Clark
Inspired by Belinda Alexandra’s new non-fiction book, The Divine Feline: a chick lady’s guide to woman’s best friend (which is next month’s book club read), I tried to count all the cats I’ve lived with in my life, since early childhood, but my memory gave out at 20. Of those 20, however, I can confidently say that our current black-and-white boy, Clark, is by far the most amiable lad I’ve ever encountered.
We met Clark when he was three years old, two years ago at the local shelter in one of their cat enclosure spaces. He was in his own cage, one of many in that building. To put it bluntly, he started yelling at us the moment we walked in the door. ‘Oh, isn’t he a talkative one.’ We put fingers through the bars and he sniffed and rubbed up against us, talking to us the whole time. We continued around the hub of cages, seeing who we might connect with, and Clark followed us in every direction as far as his confines would allow him and did not stop calling to us. He was determined that our attention would not go anywhere else and eventually his persistence won us over.
While signing the paperwork at the counter, the volunteer told me she didn’t like cats, which I thought was rather alarming, given she worked at a rescue organisation where fifty per cent of her clientele would be felines, and when she bustled into the cat enclosure to catch Clark, it was clear she lacked cat communication etiquette and he immediately jumped to the highest point of his cage to get away from her and refused to come down. ‘Would you like me to have a go?’ I offered, hopefully tactfully. She was most relieved to step out of the way. I squeezed myself inside, looked up into Clark’s eyes, patted the bench below me and invited him to come down. He didn’t hesitate. He was absolutely convinced we were the best option coming his way and he made haste to get himself out of there, quick smart.
From the moment Clark arrived, he was at home. He leapt out of the carry box into the bedroom, looked around for a few moments, then started batting at a piece of fluff on the floor. When it was time to introduce him face-to-face with the other cats, he waited politely for them to approach him, and when the first feline hissed at him, he simply lay down calmly and waited for his natural charisma to win them over, which it did. Lacking even the slightest twinge of any kind of aggression, competition or jealousy, Clark is everyone’s best friend. Even the cats that don’t like other cats, like Clark. He is frequently to be found entwined in cuddles on bed tops, or robustly grooming another cat. In fact, his love of washing his friends is so intense that he recently landed in hospital with a severe fur ball because he not only washes himself but the other cats too, ingesting many times the fur he should.
Clark is one of those cats that seems to live in ‘another realm’, one only he can see but which he enjoys immensely. He continues to talk and it’s not uncommon to find him sitting in an empty room, chatting away to himself… or invisible friends. He isn’t a cat that enjoys being picked up but does love to be patted, to be involved in whatever we’re doing and enjoys a good belly rub. Our cats love Christmas time and Clark’s particular love is for tinsel and wrapping paper. He is also an avid fan of Lego and will happily ‘play’ Lego with our son and then eventually pick up the pieces and carry them around the house (and unfortunately try to eat them). When our son was smaller and loved Thomas the Tank Engine, Clark was enamoured with the motorised trains and would follow them around the tracks, patting at them gently with his paws. He plays ‘chasey’ with our small dog but has maintained a sensible degree of wariness for Sunshine, our golden retriever who is still an enormous and boisterous puppy who quite likes to ‘love squash’ cats. For Clark, every day is a new opportunity to find friends and fun. He will never be the alpha cat and he lacks confidence, yet he is the relentless ‘best friend’, the all-important sidekick. His quiet, unwavering companionship and loyalty manages to win him the ‘people’s choice’ award without even trying. If Froddo needed a best friend to follow him into the hell mouth of a volcano, Clark would be first to put up his paw.
He truly is the most delightful, loving, generous soul I have ever met in a feline… or in a human either, for that matter. He will give up his food, his space, his bed and his time for others. Our lives are so much richer for having his funny, eccentric self in our family.
If you love cats, or want to know more about cats, and would like to join our book club chat with Belinda Alexandra, you can register here. (Book club is 7.30pm, Tuesday 19th January 2021.) I would love to hear about the cats in your life too. We hope to see you there!
October 14, 2020
Book Club with Monica McInerney and ‘The Godmothers’
You’re invited to join myself and a panel of excited readers in a live book club chat with Monica McInerney about her new book, The Goodmothers.
We chat live via Zoom and you can nab yourself a seat in ‘the bleachers’ and ask Monica questions via the chat box. This is a free event by you do need to register to join in. Just follow this link.
I hope to see you there!
July 25, 2020
4 Weeks to Find & Grow the Time to Write Your Book
Lovelies, do you dream of writing a novel or maybe a memoir? A children’s book or fantasy trilogy? Is finding the TIME the thing that is holding you back?
TIME is a writer’s greatest resource yet I find few of us really have a handle on how to work in harmony with it. If you are doing the ‘life juggle’ and trying to find the time to get to your passion project, then this four-week e-course might just be the thing you need to break through your time blocks.
I know what it’s like to write with an array of competing deadlines and priorities and I’ve done it badly and I’ve done it well. If you want to learn how to find the time to write your own book, I’m delighted to share with you the techniques, wisdom and strategies I’ve developed over the years. To find out more about this e-course I created just for you–the time-challenged writer–head on over to this link.
If you already know this course is right for you, you can enrol now!
[image error]
[image error]
June 29, 2020
Write a review for your chance to win
Thank you to all the wonderful readers who have bought The Cake Maker’s Wish so far. Your support means we need to print more copies! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!
If you’ve read the book already, remember that just by writing a review for Goodreads or Amazon (and posting it to Facebook or Insta and tagging me so I can find it), you’ll go into the draw to win an indulgence pack including Ruby Olive jewellery, Fresh Chai Co chocolate chai, a block of chocolate and a signed backlist book. Winner drawn 2 July!
Thank you so much for your support
June 4, 2020
Cake and Cover Competition
This week, The Cake Maker’s Wish finally made it out into the world after I began working on it five years ago! I had a wonderful time launching it online last Sunday afternoon. If you’d like to see the video, you’ll find it on Facebook here.
Now… for your chance to win a gorgeous prize pack!
Once you have your copy of The Cake Maker’s Wish, simply take a photo of it with some cake (any cake!) and post it to Facebook or Instagram, tagging me so I know it’s there, and using the hashtag #cakeandcover
Here’s an example:
[image error]
The winner will be chosen from a shortlist and win this wonderful prize pack, including a brooch and matching earring set from Ruby Olive, a copy of The Beekeeper’s Secret (for you to enjoy or pass on to a friend), my favourite brand of chai (and this one is chocolate chai!), and Lindt chocolate.
[image error]
The winner will be chosen on 2 July. I can’t wait to see your entries
May 30, 2020
Three Course Dessert Degustation, drinks, music and more
Mini meringues, espresso martinis, Persian love cake, green tea, flourless chocolate cake, raspberry martinis and more…
It was my absolute pleasure to speak to Christine Anu on ABC radio last night on the ‘Evenings’ program and to create a virtual three-course dessert degustation for listeners to enjoy. I took the recipes from my book, The Cake Maker’s Wish, and matched them with accompanying drinks and (as spontaneously requested on air!) music as well. I had a wonderful time talking about one of my favourite topics: food.
You can catch the degustation discussion here and the segment starts at 2:10.
Music matches came from Pink Martini, The Cat Empire and Katie Noonan.
Thank you so much, Christine and ABC radio for supporting Aussie authors!
If you’re looking for my recipe for the Persian Love Cake, you will find it at the back of The Cake Maker’s Wish.
Jo x
[image error]
