

A week of dining out
"Everything tastes better when it's eaten together." This is the last and in some ways the best, of four meals I ate away from home last week. Here is my glorious family in the home of my younger son - the one at back right - eating one of his pasta meals. Many of them are pulling silly faces, as family and friends often do in group photos such as this one, but you get the picture - adults at one end and loving cousins at the other. I guess you could say that it was not hau
Jul 16


A surprise mushroom bourguignon
"I always argued that most of the things people thought they liked about meat they actually liked about the sauces and braises and spices they were cooked in" Deb Perelman/Smitten Kitchen Last night we were invited to dinner at my son's house - for a French mushroom dish - his wife told me - when the invite was issued. A lovely surprise in itself but the meal was also a delicious surprise. I should say here, that although my younger son does indeed cook quite a lot, he most
Jun 15


Does it matter how good the food is?
"Hell, it's only food. Just enjoy it." Jill Dupleix This is my family - well most of them - on holiday four years ago, I have no idea what we were eating - probably some kind of barbecued meat and I'm sure it was at least good if not absolutely delicious. But really it wasn't what we are eating that was important, no matter how much thought and skill went into it. It was the pleasure of eating it together, chatting about this and that. Although, of course, that can some
Apr 14


What's a holiday?
"a time when someone does not go to work or school but is free to do what they want, such as travel or relax" Cambridge Dictionary I am currently on a permanent holiday. In the sense that I no longer go to some kind of paid job. Of course, being a mother and a wife I also have - had in part - another job. And even if I wasn't any of those things I would have little jobs - washing up, cleaning, cooking and so on. The things that need to be done in order to live an orderly
Jan 28


So proud
Last night we were invited to dinner - yet again - by my younger son. I think it was because David is going into hospital tomorrow for...
Oct 6, 2025


Easter - done✓ Now I can relax
This is Australia. It's not spring, it's autumn. So there is no connection to the symbolism of the pagan fertility, or the Christian...
Apr 21, 2025


A day off
"doing nothing much can be surprisingly productive." Anita Chaudhuri/The Guardian Yesterday and the day before were pretty hectic,...
Oct 28, 2024


The daily decision
"I don't believe in taking right decisions. I take decisions and then make them right." Ratan Tata Recently I wrote a post on planning...
Aug 18, 2024


The joy of meatballs
"I don’t have the evidence to back this up, but I am convinced that meatballs are the greatest food on the planet." Stuart Heritage/The...
Aug 5, 2024


Busy, busy, busy, - doing nothing?
"Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings." Jane Austen It's been just over a week since I wrote a post. I have been busy,...
Jul 11, 2024


The pleasures and pitfalls of dining out
"The other night I ate at a real nice family restaurant. Every table had an argument going." George Carlin Last night we dined out with...
May 31, 2024


When I was 64 - well I thought I was
"Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm 64?" The Beatles This is Collioure - on the Mediterranean coast near the...
Apr 22, 2024


Almost 100
"There is no old age. There is, as there always was, just you." Carol Grace (Apologies - I pressed Publish by mistake when I had written...
Apr 16, 2024


What's wrong with easy - and is it possible anyway?
"truly simple recipes are too simple to actually be published" "Learn technique not recipes." Reddit I began this post with one idea and...
Apr 13, 2024


Too many cooks spoil the broth - or - Many hands make light work?
At worst, it is the road to realising you are the sort of person who cares about how others crush garlic." Gwendolyn Smith/The Guardian...
Feb 1, 2024


Christmas was, Christmas is ...
"We've reached the most wonderful time of year" Coles Magazine "Christmas magic exists in the little things doesn't it?" Woolworths...
Dec 18, 2023


My grandchildren didn't eat the sausages
"I live in fear of the phrase "just enough". I regard just enough as nowhere near enough. Just enough means too little. It means one...
Oct 28, 2023


The challenge of feeding families
"Family dinners are more often than not an ordeal of nervous indigestion, preceded by hidden resentment and ennui and accompanied by...
Oct 7, 2023


French in Fitzroy
"the things Melbourne and France value in dining: character, charm, classics executed well and an atmosphere-charged place to take it all...
Jul 26, 2023


Kitchen satisfactions
"A kitchen is a good place to be, almost always the best place in the house." Michael Ruhlman This is my kitchen. I love it. It's one...
May 12, 2023

