I wasn’t born a Queenslander, but I spent most of my childhood there and remember fondly the mango trees in my Nan’s backyard in Coorparoo. The house has gone now, as of course are the trees, but as kids my brother and I spent many happy summer days in the branches, gorging ourselves on small, […]

I swear, this is not going to become a blog about Masterchef, but my recent post about contestants posting on Facebook has sparked many comments and a few conversations that have gotten me thinking. I been thinking about the structure of the show, particularly in light of some comments that have been made about the […]

Disclaimer: I know Mat Byer via twitter and the Melbourne food blogging network, however I haven’t spoken to him about the incident nor the contents of this post. These are my thoughts alone and definitely not his, nor any other contestant current or prior. So, according to the Herald Sun they’ve expelled Mat from Masterchef […]

  Shopping at my local farmers’ market is a joy – such a joy that sometimes I end up with waaaaayyy too much of a good thing.  I decided last year that the next step in my pursuing a more ethical lifestyle was to stop wasting food: to eat it all. Quite a challenge in […]

My philosophy of using all the food I buy has led me to seeking out some better ways to serve my old favourites.  There is nothing better than freshly picked corn on the cob. They say that corn is best eaten a few hours after picking, so if I buy it at the market, I’d […]

Sights, sounds and tastes from childhood can seem so ephemeral, but appear to be hard wired. Since my mother’s death some 9 months ago a few things have bubbled up to my heart and head and set me to thinking about how the past influences the past – and the future. If you grew up […]

I had spied the cumquat tree in a friend’s back yard a week ago, and had been craving the preserved cumquats I had eaten at The Hardware Societe one morning on their famous brioche.  There was also a thought about making mustard fruits and cumquat mustard fruits are my favourite, and so a plan was […]

There are times when I am very grateful for my mother’s approach to feeding my family as I was growing up.  Alhough Dad’s parents were British and Australian (4th or 5th gen); and my Mum was 6th Gen White Australian, we rarely ate the kind of food my friends often complain about – “English Style […]

I’m not sure why I’m surprised really… For those of us with memories of a George Calombaris with more hair, practically having to beg us to eat his food (in the days of Reserve); it’s a bit of a hard ask to ignore the elephant in the room.

I love a good challenge!  Don’t you?  So join me on this one and help me with some inspiration. I often cook for one or two mouths, and I don’t really love eating leftovers the next day for work .. so I have a freezer full of odds and sods, bits and pieces, and “that’ll […]