Last night I caught up with a friend/professional colleague in Canberra. I was back in the nations’ capital for some meetings. Naturally when I am in town, I try to catch up with people I so enjoyed getting to know, when I was living there. This particular friend lives in Kingston, where I had also had a small apartment. Once we decided we would have dinner, I was obsessing over having curry at my favourite Thai restaurant in Kingston. Fortunately she was agreeable, and I had the yummiest meal of an old fave …. Green Chicken Curry and steamed rice.  Since leaving Canberra eight months ago, I have only had GCC a couple of times and that has been when I have been back in Canberra.

When in Canberra a few weeks ago, I caught up with my IT friends (you 2 ‘gorgeous geeks’ know who you are and you know how much I want to be like you when I grow up!!) and we had a meal at a restaurant where they serve the best beef cheeks I have ever tasted. So it got me thinking about food/menu choices. Why is it when there are so many choices and so many places to eat, we go back to old favourites? Obviously there are a lot of physical, psychological and genetic reasons why that happens, HOWEVER I don’t want to analyse it that much!!  …… I am just saying that, this is the real meaning of comfort food, isn’t it? You just choose what you know will be reliable, tasty and enjoyable.

Now I am thinking of what other foods have I always cooked, chosen or ordered. Those who know me well will probably predict, fairly accurately, what features on my list. So I am now challenging myself to stop being so predictable and start choosing differently. I now set myself the challenge of trying at least one new taste/flavour/dish each week – for one year. At the end of Feb 2014 I will check out the list and see how I have expanded my taste horizons!

In some ways I have already started – last Sundays’ traditional roast Lamb (one of Tezza’s absolute favourites) I cooked using a new recipe and it was awesome. New ways with Sunday roast lamb …..very tasty! DC xx

Recently, I attended a “Chocolate Making” class, after I was given a voucher. The person, who invited me to join them, had a voucher for two people and wanted to share the experience with someone else who liked chocolate.
 
Well … she came to the right person for that! 

Then I had another chocolate experience this week, watching Nigella. She made chocolate pasta with pecan and caramel sauce. Well that spiked my memory bank and I recalled years ago when I used to make chocolate fettuccini, turned it into a birds nest, filled it with eggs and there were our treats for Easter.

Those of you, who know me well, know that I am A CHOCOLATE LOVER. I love it, adore it and think it is the best taste ever to hit my taste buds. I believe chocolate for breakfast is the best time to eat it. Enjoy it for lunch, or wait for dinner time if you must. But definitely have supper with a choccie to complete the day. YES….. I am a chocoholic. I admit it and I declare it here on cyberspace, so it will be public forever!! 

Well apparently there is science behind the fact of the taste I already knew instinctively!!

The class was very busy and full of information. Each of us used different moulds, ganache/fillings and designs. So we were able to share and take home a box of mixed chocolates that we had made that evening. My contribution was salted caramel filled Buddhas. The milk chocolate Buddha had a golden belly, while the dark chocolate Buddha had a very rosy  complexion.

All this talk about chocolate has inspired me. This weekend I will experiment with some new recipes. I am thinking that there is opportunity for chocolate pastas, chocolate risottos and chocolate curries to be developed in the PCH kitchen!! 

What is your favourite way to do chocolate? DC xx

This title may sound a bit “hippy trippy” (but I feel I should be indulged given my teen years!!), however a couple of things happened recently, that created this thought to churn in my brain.   

Firstly, my beloved friend AG and Ike celebrated their 20th anniversary as life partners.  AG has been my “bestie” for nearly 35 years.  My soul mate, my “glomesh” (the good looking accessory, when I needed a partner to many events and functions over the years), my travel companion, my house mate on numerous occasions and my witness at my wedding. So to be present for this celebration of their togetherness, was particularly special to me. Together with P & T, R & R and Tez, we put together a delicious dinner and celebrated their milestone with them on New Year’s eve. How wonderful and what a lovely celebration we had. I even attempted my first major cake decorating effort.

This photo was taken that evening.

Over the Australia Day long weekend one of my most gorgeous “girlfriend besties” came to sleep over for a few days. Bella and I have loved each other and our girl-friendship has existed for 30 years. In fact, we recalled that we met at hospital orientation in early 1983, when we both commenced work at the old Prince Henry’s Hospital in Melbourne. We reminisced, as Bella sat on one side of the kitchen bench and read recipes to me while I was on the other side and cooked, about how many times we had lived this very scene. In a kitchen talking, laughing, crying, sharing our feelings across a bench, with food always in the mix (especially cake – OH so many cake stories!). 

While we chatted, Bella made some observations about my other dearest best friend and life mate, Tezza.

Nearly 20 years now since Tez, my other soul mate and I first met and 17 years of marriage this year. Tez enriches my life in so many ways and it is so comforting to know that we have reached a place of such rhythm and harmony that facilitates our diverse personality traits. How fortunate we are that we found each other and decided to make the commitment to be each other’s life partner. Both interested in food, wine, our home life, garden and travel, means that so much of our life revolves around food and the art of conviviality. We plan our travel around food experiences, Tezza’s hobbies include researching wine and buying it, researching restaurants we must try and of course, he is my quality controller/critic/advisor of everything I cook. In fact, everywhere we go, Tez searches for the equivalent of the good food guide, so he can research where we should eat - more often than not, we just go to what appeals to us as we walk past!!

Now, I know I run the risk of making some people cranky ‘cos I am not going through an incredibly long list of so many wonderful, fantastic and beautiful people and naming you all. But with so many friends (not to mention the children), I will never get this blog finished if I start to name everyone. Just know, I know who you are and my life tapestry is so rich and colourful because of you all.

Anyway, back to the point of this particular blog ……. Just about everything, every experience and every event that jumps into my head with friends, seems to be associated with food. Either an event of amazing food (Tez and my 10th anniversary at Le Cinq in Paris, for example), bad functions when we have not had enough to eat or had really bad food, or the thousands of meals, picnics, restaurant dinners that have been shared. But all the food events are always with friends.  So I got to wondering what do people who are not into food do to connect? What are the ingredients that keep other friendships/relationships together?? So is comfort food really about the nurturing of our souls through our friendships?……because I just can’t imagine enjoying the company of my plethora of “besties” without a shared table being involved. 

As I continue to plan and develop the schedule for Plough Creek Cooking School, plan our holidays for 2013, 2014 & 2015, as I reminisce and keep in touch with our extended network of friends and family, I realise the centrepiece of it all is Food!

I guess the two just belong together – Friendship and Food.

DC XX