When I organised the staff professional development program at my workplace in 1996 to learn basic computer skills, I had no perception of what a story that was the beginning of. When the instructor asked me when I would do my sessions, I laughed and replied, “I don’t even know how to spell computer – is it with a ‘C’ or a ‘K’?“

Here we are just over a decade and a half later, with iPads, iPhones, desktops, laptops digital cameras, earphones etc, etc. Not to mention the mind blowing world of Social Media (SoMe).

Today I spent 3½ hours on a video conference with people all round Australia and worked our way through a huge agenda, watched presentations and discussed all sorts of things. I could have had my PJ bottoms on under the desk – no one would know!! I had not left home!!

My ever developing and evolving interest in technology and SoMe has allowed me to follow, meet and engage with people that I would probably never have had the opportunity to meet previously. 

Let me introduce you to Mel – she is wonderful. We actually “physically” met one day a few months ago when we both happened to be in Canberra. In the mean time we keep in touch by blogs, Facebook, twitter etc. The Cooks Notebook.

I have mentioned Carly before. WOW…she is so  inspiring. I first read her blog more than 12 months ago when I was looking n for some thoughts around patients experiences in hospitals. Since then I have been enthralled by her musing about so many things. You will track her blog through her Facebook page.

This lady I have never met. But she has and tells such a beautiful story. Her spirit of generosity is amazing and I love her blogs and photos.

It is also obvious that technology and SoMe means that all the interests in my life are a lot more interactive/interwoven than they would normally have been. We don’t seem to differentiate between work, home or social time as much anymore. The different aspects of our lives cross over much more these days.

I have been asked to speak at three different conferences/forums over the next three weeks. None of the three have anything to do with what my entire career has been about – Nursing & Midwifery. Yet they are all interrelated to my professional life, personal life and social life. How amazing is that?!

In the last five years I have met some of the most inspiring people from all round the world…..NO -  it started earlier than that, when we were in Indonesia…..NO -  even further back than that – 1976, when I first took off to Europe as a 21 year old “to see the world”.  I am still in contact with people I met from that era! Now technology makes it so much easier to be in touch.

Each and every Chef and Presenter that has spent some time in the Plough Creek Kitchen has been incredible. I have been reflecting how my attitude, usual habits/practices and my thinking has changed in so many ways because of each of them.  Lloyd Morse, Jane Webster, Eitan Doron, Katey Rodgers, Jasper Avent, Brad Warton, Kate Spina, Alfie Spina and Sophie from Party Cupcake have shared so much knowledge, expertise, interest and fun with us since we kicked off Plough Creek Cooking School last November with the Plum Pudding class.

What inspirational stories there have been in that last 10 months! People who said they have never cooked are now regulars and buying “blow torches” to make Crème Brulee at home, medical scientists have gone off to do pastry chef apprenticeships and there are homes around the valley who will never buy pasta again, ‘cos they are too good at making it the traditional way!!

My MS role takes me away again soon and I have an opportunity to attend a research conference in Copenhagen (never been there before) and attend a conference and meeting in Berlin (never been there before, either!). 

Today is my Dad’s 80th birthday. Wow…. that seems old when I think about the man that was so big, strong, loud and Italian when I was a little kid!  Happy Birthday, Mauro Cerasa!!

Mauro Cerasa & daughters circa 2005.

DC XX

The girls have been laying well. Love having ‘home grown eggs’ to use especially for the classes. A friend in Canberra - Sarah, would provide us with eggs from her girls and she taught me the great idea of writing the laid date on the shell. 

Clever girls dating their eggs!!!!

Of course this always creates comments from others – “how do we get them to lay with a date on them???” Derrrr……Humour is subjective – isn't it? :-)

Tezza with Delphinium visiting me at the back door!

While Andrew and Andrew were visiting for a few days over the weekend, I was able to use some of the eggs and visit an old favourite recipe of scrambled eggs, made the way I learnt by watching “the two fat ladies”. Recently endorsed by watching the Heston Blumenthal method of scrambled eggs. It is simple – put the lightly whisked eggs in a bowl over a saucepan of boiling water or top layer of a double saucepan. Lots of cream, butter and seasoning as desired. Let the eggs “scramble slowly”. Takes a bit longer to do it this way but the delicious result is so worth it.

Andrew and I spent some precious time together in the garden and planned the re-design of a couple of garden beds. Sadly, some very nice looking flowers (alstroemeria and cobra head lilies) have mutated into noxious weeds by overtaking a couple of beds and the only way to control was to do a drastic clearing. The upshot of this is that I can have a re-design. Of course, there will be new roses and I think the opportunity to install some sculpture and creativity. I love obelisks – so that is a very satisfying compensation to having a “clean out”.

We also spent some time planning holidays while we were mooching around in the garden……..dinner in Budapest next July? Yep, sounds like a plan!

Spring is just around the corner and lots of new recipes happening, so - Happy Flowers and Happy Tastings!!!

DC xx

 

Chef Brad Warton returned to PCH yesterday and with a full class; some new participants and some frequent PCH Cooks – (Paul, Pauline and Samantha – always great to see you), he shared a list of seven new Tapas dishes.

• Pulpo estofado lento - Slow braised octopus, kipfler potatoes, smoked paprika
• Calamares en tinta de calamari -  Fresh calamari, squid ink batter, sauce Romesco
• Dos veces cocido cerdo vientre – Twice cooked pork belly,  Pedro Ximenez glaze, fried onion
• Cebollas asada bebe -  Roasted baby onions, thyme, Valdeon
• Huevo suave y trufa -  Soft boiled egg, brik pastry and chive crumb, truffle aioli
• Spain Choi Bao -  Chorizo mince, almonds, coriander, mint, iceberg lettuce
• Bacaloa con tomate y vinagre de Jerez -  Salted cod, tomatoes, eschallot, mint, sherry vinegar

Brad has a casual style and such an obvious love of Spanish fare. He has worked in the Tapas inspired restaurant PARLOUR in Canberra, and he told us he is back there for a while working for them when they re-open following a recent renovation.

He certainly engaged in some great chats throughout the class and shared lots of stories about food, recipes and restaurants.

Chef Brad Warton and DC.

The sweet tooth that I am, I have to zone in on the most delicious tasting sauce that I have experienced in a long time. The Pedro Ximenez glaze was so gooood!! The pork belly was incredible to complement it, but my goodness, that glaze!!!!!

The most visually “interesting” dish of the night was the ‘Calamares en tinta de calamari’.

This was Tez's favourite dish of the night!

Hopefully we will be able to negotiate some more dates with Brad and offer some more classes soon.

Happy Tastings!!! DC xx

This morning, I had this thought? What happens to old cookbooks?
 
Now, you need to bear with me while I take you on this little journey to get back to the question……. 
 
Recently I posted on Facebook the question of how should I best organise and catalogue my recipes? I have so many and I really do need to have an attitude adjustment, do some serious culling and disposing and then catalogue the ones I keep. How will I do that? – I have no idea!!
 
I also have quite an extensive cookbook collection. I have been collecting them for quite a while now. Not long after Tez and I were married he decided instead of spending a lot of money on cards to attach to gifts he gave me, he substituted and purchased cookbooks, in which he always writes an inscription to mark the occasion.  
  
So many birthdays, anniversaries, and Christmas’ etc., commemorated with great books annotated with lovely inscriptions. 
 
This morning I had arranged to meet a lovely young woman named Lauren, who is the energy behind The Interior Hunter (check her out here). We arranged to meet at the Coffee Cog at The Red Book Shop. Of course before I left, I had to have
a quick look in the cookbook section. I picked up a book that had the following inscription.

In case you can’t read it:
Dear  Lyn, Very best wishes for your 18th Birthday and for the many years
to come. I hope this will always help you! Love Marion x 15.6.69

(Now the spooky part is that my Andrews’s birthday is 15 June!!) 
  
So, did the Art of Good Cooking by Paul a Peck help you Lyn? Marion you can be assured that this book has now found a very loving bookshelf to live in for the next “chapter” of its life.
 
But it does make me wonder what will happen to all my cookbooks. When the day comes that someone has to clear out my “book shelf of life/living” what will they think of all the books? What will they think of all the love and romance in the inscriptions from Tez? Where will the books end up?

Happy thinking about this one! Oh Yeh,  Happy Tastings!!! DC xx  

You often read those cute cliché type messages on greeting cards, Facebook posts and in magazines, that say in real friendships don’t matter when and how often you see each other. They reassure you know you just pick where you
last left off, whether it was 3 days or 3 years ago!

The truth is that life keeps moving on for all of us….YES it does! However, I did have one of those wonderful “time did not matter” occasions last night.

Those who understand “birth language” will understand when I say I met Jackie when she was “at 6cms” during her first birth experience. A few hours after we met, her beautiful son was born and a couple of years later her next beautiful son was born. I was so privileged to be present at both births. From the first moment we met, we just connected….we have been through many life experiences since, shared tears, birthdays, laughter and weddings–many life events. Those two babies were amongst the gorgeous gang of kids at my wedding in 1996.

DC and beautiful Jackie – many moons ago.

My life as a midwife was the most passionate aspect of my career and so enriched my life’s journey….. however; that is another story, for another time.
 
Life has been busy, the boys have grown up – in fact, the eldest has just announced he will be a father in approximately 5 months. Jackie and I have not caught up for a while, so it was a good opportunity to have a quiet night together and fill in some gaps. 

Of course there was food. One of the many loves that Jackie and I share is “wet” food. She prepared the most delicious Vietnamese chicken salad dinner and it was so very yummy wet!! 
 
While jumping from one “have you seen …..” to “How is…. ”, to “What is going on….?” It got me to thinking about how we meet people and what influence it has on us. Does the meeting actually contribute to the strength of the foundation – or does it not matter? Is it simply human factor chemistry? I don’t know the answer, but I did keep thinking about why you can so easily and comfortably just babble on like no time has passed with some people. Jackie sent me a note this morning that said that after 5 hours of non-stop chat, there was still so much to catch up on – she was SO right. 

Many moons later and that red headed “guardian angel” still hangs out behind us!!

My life has so many beautiful friendships…..how blessed I am! DC xx

Just the sound of those three words fill me with excitement. Yes, I do get revved up easily and do tend to err on the side of
over dramatic (in the nicest possible way – I would like to think)!

Had lunch with a darling friend today – Tony. Tony has a gift for imagery…..his photos of textures and surfaces never cease to amaze. He did a wonderful book when 10 of us were in Symi for holidays in 2011 (five couples who have more than 200 years of accumulated friendship amongst us).

Check him out here:  www.filmbooksanything.com.au

Wonderful images during 2011 Symi holiday

So we got talking about “things” and he quietly suggested a few ideas that we might consider……..

WELL, I have to say the potential, possibility and promise of what we might be able to do, is VERY, VERY exciting and
stimulating!!!

So I guess I just have to say – watch this space.  DC xx

Tez has done quite a bit of maintenance around the garden recently. So in the spirit of creativity and recognition, thought I
should have a little walk around to check things out!!

You have seen in other blogs that I do love winter. But Spring also rates a mention – must be spoken about with great LOVE and RESPECT! One can’t stop being in awe of her magic and wonder.

Curtains of Orchids

Pots of orchids left by my grandfather to my mother and then shifted to Plough Creek Homestead after Barb (my mother) passed away. They are so amazing this year! Others have told me how they also have incredible blooms this year.

Michaela tree in bud.

This tree is so pretty when it blooms. It has literally 1000’s of small white flowers all over it. It does not stay in bloom very long, but the flowers are mega fragrant and so gorgeous when we do have them.

White Helebores

You all know how much I love these…..winter rose is the common name and they just make winter so wondrous.

Daphne and Pink Azalea

The winter sun can be seen peeking though in the North garden, warming up the verandah

 Yes, I was pleased with the maintenance carried out by husband. 

All that needs to happen now is a few more weeks and spring will be sprung. I loook forward to sharing more pics with you.
 
How is your garden growing? Little bells all in a row? DC xx

A funny thing happened in cooking class the other day.

Chef Brad Warton – Classic Spanish and TAPAS 1 (classes at end of July) sent his recipes and shopping list to me
– as do all the guest Chefs and Presenters. I do the “admin” work and make sure we have all the provisions ready for when they arrive.

The Spanish recipes required considerable oils to be provided….. as do many of the recipes from the Italian and 
Mediterranean classes. I was confident that I had plenty of supplies in the pantry.

My OIL sliding cupboard!

So in the recipe that required Vinegar…..I was equally confident that my vinegar cupboard was well
stocked.

My mirror image VINEGAR sliding cupboard!

However, I was so wrong!!  – all he wanted was plain “no brand” white vinegar – which I had none of. I had to go 
to the granny flat where my mother-in-law lives and ask her for white vinegar!!

Who would have guessed??!! DC xx