On this fine Autumn morning, I took my coffee outside to enjoy the fine offerings of a cloudless sky and not a breathe of wind.  Lying in bed this morning before sufficient motivation to exit, I started to rattle through the list of things to do today in my head.  A typical weekend thought process where lists get longer and days get shorter.  By the time I'd got up, frothed milk for coffee and put pen to paper - was buggered if I could remember much of it all.  The list usually entails ingredients of grand cooking plans that are rarely executed and the whilst the list may ..read more

Easter time  - not quite given the equal marketing campaign that the other Christian calendar slash Santa bearing gifts time of year brings, but worthy of a celebration none the less.  Whatever your chosen God bothering beliefs no doubt there will always be an occasion for traditional feasting and family even if you make it up yourself.  A bit like my made up Easter Cake.  A quick version of a very basic chocolate and yoghurt cake with a teaspoon of vanilla extract provides an opportunity to smother it in white icing and a useful sticky surface for your chosen eggs to lay ..read more

Minnie has high expectations of my cooking.  Like our dog Bennie, the ever constant kitchen companion, Minnie too has worked out that life under the chopping board has its benefits.  Unfortunately her expectations are that we have roast chicken every night.  She's often disappointed.  She's learned the routine from Bennie that he who waits will be rewarded.  She'll sit in the kitchen waiting patiently in line behind Bennie until passed an offering of the leftover evening meal.  Unfortunately waiting in line for kitchen scraps isn't the only thing she's copied fro ..read more

When I was very small I recall a cartoon about a little chicken who got around with half an egg shell for a hat.  His name was Henny Penny Chicken.  From what I remember Henny Penny or Chicken Little as he was also known believed the sky was falling.  He was one of those glass half empty folk.  Whenever you tuned in he was crying and through yolk tinted tears you would constantly hear 'it's an injustice it is'.  Over and over.  Now, every night when I turn on the television program loosely titled 'news' it's the same.  The injustice cry.  Over and over ..read more

'Sorry, she's not old enough to serve alcohol'.  That's what he said when our drinks arrived at some point after our meals had been eaten.  We didn't criticize, we understood.  This run off his feet waiter was trying to offer a level of hospitality in an industry that is in dire straights.  As we sat and watched out over the balcony of a regional town now welcoming the returning tourists in their Tesla loads, the signs on the shop fronts said it all.  Staff Wanted.  Our first attempt at a lunch was met with a locked door on a normally opened venue with a sign say ..read more

I often wonder what the next 20 years or so will be like when it comes to our lifestyle and food choices.  With the impact of the famous virus it appears that the majority are happy to outsource health and happiness choices to anyone deemed an expert. I'm old enough to see the difference between a time when people knew how to fend for themselves through limited choice, to a time with even less choice now as we rely on others to feed, clothe us, and determine our medicine choices.  We use well remunerated influencers to influence our lifestyle decisions and if we're not careful the n ..read more

I've long given up on commercial breakfast cereals to be a good start to the day.  No matter what the fortified advertisements tell you some are not a healthy option at all.  Whether high in sugar or enough salt to rival a packet of crisps you may find more fibre in the packaging.  For the time it takes me to peel or chop up fresh fruit, I admit the commercial cereal consumer would have been at work for at least half an hour before I've even got a bowl on the table.  The rushed breakfast might work for some parts of our lives but I find that inadequate breakfast only leads ..read more

Gosh what a nightmare we must be living in.  No sooner did we think we had overcome the dreaded virus only to be given a deadly dose of the recommended scary treatment about a deadly mosquito from the far east.  The invading kamikaze blood sucker has dive bombed the top story in the news and caused the almost sane to hide indoors behind triple enforced fly screens.  There's no mention of insect spray but our ever ready pharmaceutical and medical industries have PCR tests ready to go.  How convenient. Who would have thought that those unused boxes and boxes of PCR tests mig ..read more

It's dark these morning when I get up.  The sun is tucked away under the tops of houses and the only sounds are the magpie tunes from the back gum tree. Our patio sits in shadows and our concrete warriors continue sleeping on. We have two of them and they've travelled long distances in our house moves. They are a removalist's nightmare and are not something you want to rearrange at whim.  Although the Tasmanian westerleys would blow them sideways here in regional north east Victoria, they've retired to a quieter guardianship.  As the alarm goes off, waking and rising resembles ..read more

  Now that we have been allowed the privilege of getting in our cars and heading off on road trips and weekends away, the thought of a food stop occupies my mind.  No longer do I rely upon the small town cafe or bakery to provide us with a suitable morning tea option.  Whilst many have been smashed by two years of shutdowns and lockdowns, just staying afloat these days means changes must be made.  Unfortunately what this often results in, is reduced food costs.  Making money in the hospitality sector is bloody hard. Having to reduce your costs is sometimes the only wa ..read more