

Joy - lunch at Dame Nellie Melba's place
“A thing of beauty is a joy forever.” John Keats “Laughter is wine for the soul - laughter soft, or loud and deep, tinged through with...
Dec 26, 2021


Don't mess with Christmas dinner
"not in our family anyway" Above are two shots from our recent Christmas dinner with the family before half of the family left for Spain...
Dec 3, 2021


Elizabeth David's Carbonnade Nîmoise
is it 'authentic' or did she make it up? On Saturday we finally ate Carbonnade Nîmoise - a very old favourite recipe of Elizabeth...
Nov 15, 2021


A bee adventure
"Australia is a major exporter of bees and by keeping our population healthy we have the potential to re-populate the world’s bees." Bee...
Sep 29, 2021


Whose kitchen is it anyway?
"Happiness is a small house, with a big kitchen." Alfred Hitchcock First of all this post may, at times, sound like a complaint about...
Aug 8, 2021


A winter picnic
"Everything tastes better outdoors. There is something about fresh air and the liberating effects of nature which sharpens the appetite...
Jun 21, 2021


May Day
"As full of spirit as the month of May". William Shakespeare It's May 1st. May Day. The heralder of Spring. Well not here in Australia....
May 1, 2021


A winery lunch
"Drinking good wine with good food in good company is one of life's most civilized pleasures." Michael Broadbent So to my other lunch -...
Apr 27, 2021


Lucky dip harira and Ramadan
"Ramadan is not a complete fast at all, but a strict discipline between the hours of sun-up and sun-down: at night there is feasting." ...
Apr 19, 2021


Quattro gatti (four cats) and bread gnocchi
a moment in time Back in 2016 on the way from France into Italy, we stayed at a divine bed and breakfast - the Palazzo di Monteoliveto...
Apr 10, 2021


Melbourne - a blog and Covid
"We celebrate the rich diversity of Melbourne as one of the most multicultural cities in the world. Over 150 nation groups here in...
Apr 8, 2021


Bring a plate
"Yes, bring a plate is an Aussie thing, but what does it mean? According to the Australian National University’s ‘Meanings and origins of...
Mar 30, 2021


Celebrate with lunch
"Lunch is for wimps" Gordon Gecko - Wall Street "It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather...
Mar 24, 2021


Same old same old ... Part 1 - Parmesan and ricotta
Every day - 365 days a year - for I don't know how many years now, this lady makes ricotta twice a day, and helps her husband make...
Mar 18, 2021


High tea and other in between meals
"The high tea is a meal that must be eaten and the afternoon tea is one we have because we can." Helen Razer That picture above is sort...
Feb 25, 2021


Photographs, textiles and food - Gabriel Gaté and France
"Every man has two countries: his own and France." Thomas Jefferson I feel I actually have three - England, France and Australia - in...
Jan 24, 2021


Pigs in blankets or pig in a blanket - not the same
Still on Christmas - sorry still a couple more things to say about Christmas. Maybe it's not having cooked the Christmas turkey for the...
Dec 31, 2020


Christmas overkill panic
This is just a quickie because - guess what - it's just over a day to Christmas and I am in my usual Christmas panic even though I am not...
Dec 23, 2020


A day out
We are blessed here in Eltham with our proximity to the Yarra Valley - one of Victoria's most beautiful - and there are many - regions. ...
Dec 13, 2020


Hot chocolate
"Trying to make hot chocolate into a health drink is, in my opinion, wrong." Felicity Cloake Indeed Felicity, indeed. Although it did...
Dec 12, 2020

