Fish & Chips

There are lots of things I love about Australia and one is Aussie fish and chips. Growing up I ate fish and chips about once a month - a  rare take out meal in our family. We drove to the local shop where they cooked the battered fish and hand cut potatoes in bubbling beef tallow - delicious memories. So, when I was back in Melbourne, my mother and I went to pick up dinner and let me relive my childhood. 

 

 As we pulled up I realized I'd forgotten the wonderful graphics these store have.......

Legumes Oubliés

Do you know what vegetable this is? Neither did I, but luckily there was sign in my market telling me. Later in the week I saw it again packaged with a picture of two jolly men, the growers. This vegetable loves sandy soil and grows well in Brittany and Loire.

Silence is golden

Perhaps it is finishing a manuscript or seeing the movie Social Network, but I just needed to unhook myself from the noise of endless information that keeps coming in my direction. So I have stayed off my computer, giving myself time to smell the roses, or in my case, lemon blossom.

Cooking American in Paris

Just as I was finishing the first edit of my new cookbook ODDBITS:What to do with the rest, and packing to leave for Paris the request came - "Would you cook a recipe from James Beard's American Cookeryand blog about it?"

Elections & Sausages

The Australian elections were held a week ago and the result is a hung parliament. Discussions are on going with the two major parties attempting to woo the independents. Although I am Australian I have been out of the country too long to vote, nevertheless I accompanied my friends to the local polling station, a school, and witnessed the famous Sausage Sizzle. I don't remember this at all when I was still living and voting in Australia, but it is now a popular tradition.