April 8, 2021
On the Plate: M’jadrah – a beaut budget bite!
There’s only so many ways you can stretch your dollar – with fuel and food prices all creeping steadily upwards – I find I’m...
March 17, 2021
On the Plate: French-inspired refreshing dessert
Many years ago at a convention for chefs, cooks and all manner of foodie-types, I recall one sagely piece of advice. “Life’s short –...
February 11, 2021
On the Plate: Fish ‘n chips – must be Friday night!
Having a routine can be very liberating – or totally constraining. Anecdotally I've heard the stories that you could tell which day of the week...
December 3, 2020
On the Plate: Lunch for one please
Yippee! It is so lovely to be able to get out and meet up with friends at your favourite local café, restaurant and we...
November 19, 2020
On the plate: Reconnect with food
Yay! Time to reconnect with family, friends but still observing the masks and hugs at double-arm's length! That requires strong resolve because we surely...
November 5, 2020
On The Plate: To can or not to can
It was the freshly picked broad beans that started me up. Sure, I love them lightly cooked and double peeled so that you just...
October 8, 2020
On the Plate: Call me?
One thing’s for sure over these past several months, and that’s the amount of time we’ve been spending on the phone. And I hope...
August 27, 2020
On the Plate: Kinda blue
The word ‘blue’ has many connotations.
The one that springs to my mind first up is ‘blue with cold’ for obvious reasons! What an icy...
August 13, 2020
On The Plate: August – marking a midway point
Not that you can really see ‘em as I grit my teeth to face another crisp mid-winter day, but believe me, I am grinning!...
July 30, 2020
On the Plate: Rocketing along
As we snuggle in and mark off the chilly winter days, my thoughts seem to return often to the restorative power of home cooking...
July 16, 2020
On the Plate: Reaching for the chocolate – and blonde brownies – again
It’s been so chilly I find myself reaching for a mug of hot chocolate again as we slide into winter. And what better way...
July 2, 2020
On the Plate: Wintery, toasty times – a call to all crumpets
Nuffin like a bit o’crumpet, eh? Yes indeedy, and this time, you can make your own!
During COVID lockdown, it seems to me that mastering...
June 18, 2020
On the Plate: Minestrone – a meal in a bowl
Brrr… winter well and truly arrived right on cue with those icy winds and horizontal rain on June 1.
My friend and I bravely headed...
June 4, 2020
On the Plate: I see red, I see red, I see red
It’s true to say that during lockdown and isolating there seems to have been more time for me to read, read, read.
And I can...
May 21, 2020
On The Plate: Introducing the böreks
A gift of surplus silverbeet from my green-thumbed neighbour was very welcome (I hasten to add it was passed over to me keeping strict...
May 7, 2020
On the Plate: Occasion food – the new normal
The routines we’ve all had to adopt over these past several weeks are often described as the “new normal”.
Always a glass half full kinda...
April 9, 2020
On the Plate: Out of hibernation comes creativity
It was the ancient Greek philosopher Plato who sagely advised “Necessity is the mother of invention”. And it’s sure been necessary to be inventive...
March 26, 2020
On the Plate: Sweet potato, the super vegetable
Never trust a vitamin in a capsule.
There, I’ve said it - and I realise that many of you have for a long time sought...
March 12, 2020
On The Plate: A stocktake of resolutions
Not everyone goes through the annual rigmarole of making resolutions for the New Year - I certainly don’t.
But to kick off a new decade,...
December 5, 2019
On the Plate: Feeling like a yo-yo as the ho-ho season looms
Well, I don’t know about you, but with the wild swings in our weather, massive winds, soaring temperatures that plummet the next (or same)...
October 14, 2019
On the Plate: Small changes add up to a big difference
Several recent articles and events have really focused my attention and thoughts on what each and every one of us needs to do -...
August 1, 2019
ON THE PLATE: Chocolate can be good for you
“Go on treat yourself!” is what my dear friend used to say. We all owe it to ourselves to break out from time to time...
July 18, 2019
ON THE PLATE: Chocolate can be good for you
“Go on treat yourself!” is what my dear friend used to say. We all owe it to ourselves to break out from time to time...
July 3, 2019
ON THE PLATE: One-pot wonder is no balls up
Don’t you just love a one-pot wonder? Recipes often lay claim to this, but here, dear readers, is my definite one-pot plus one-bowl recipe to reduce the washing...
June 19, 2019
ON THE PLATE: Forgive me if this column gets a bit cheesy
What’s in a name? For some time now only the product actually produced in a specific region can correctly, even legally, be given a...
June 6, 2019
ON THE PLATE: French Onion Soup served on a trip down memory lane
The way we eat today, and the way we have so wholeheartedly embraced the cuisines of many cultures certainly makes for a plethora of...
May 22, 2019
ON THE PLATE: Let’s dine in tonight refining the art of the table
A recent extravaganza exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria, The Best of the Best – Art of Dining, was truly an over the...
May 8, 2019
ON THE PLATE: Green-banana flour power
Well, I recently wrote about green oranges – now it’s green bananas! And again, there’s an element of synchronicity on three levels, which will become...
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