Writer, Eater
Ten months after I last donned my patissier gear and squeezed out a few hundred macarons, I returned to the piping bags for a brief baking blitz. My back hurt for two weeks. So then I made a cake instead.
Vanilla slices – glorious, perhaps mundane, quite mysterious
The vanilla slice is one of those standard, humble Australian bakery items that qualifies as "good old" for its longevity and as "humble" because of its modest level of finesse. But there are mysteries in all this (and questions for readers at the end)… What was your childhood vanilla slice like? Did it have a different name? And how long has it been around?
Mint ice-cream, and ice-cream machines
Have you ever met one of those people who looks ascance at you when you suggest having an ice-cream in winter? "But it's 8 degrees and raining!" they exclaim. So bloody what? Of courrrrrrrrrrse you should eat it all year round. So here we are at the winter solstice (in the southern hemisphere) and I decided to do a flavour that straddles ideas of cold and wishes for warmer weather.
Corsica: not the easiest foodie destination
Five days in Corsica, surrounded by the azure waters of the Mediterranean, dwarfed by mountains and cliffs, eating myself full with sausage and cheese. That was the plan. The food part of it didn't quite come together. I blame the tourists.
Duncan's Degustations – Dr Oetker frozen pizzas
Like a gift from the heavens, a PR person offered me frozen pizzas to sample. I'm not the ideal candidate, but with my Duncan's Degustations series underway, how could I resist the opportunity to add to my spectrum of likely-ick experiences? Little did I know I'd end up with a freezer full of Dr Oetker's odd pizzas.
TASTY PRESERVES
Confessions of a Rice Bubbles (Rice Krispies) addict
Everyone who knows me well enough to welcome me into their home on my travels knows that I eat one thing for breakfast. It verges on religion. If I stray from the one true breakfast, I am punished with bad moods and heavy stomach (or growling hunger). What's more, perhaps unusually for something so mundane, I'm quite faithful to one brand...
Read more Fri 23 Oct, 2009Plummy goodness: plum and cardamom cake
Before the last juicy plums vanish from the markets and fresh produce displays, buy up and bake a cake! This delightfully fragrant cake is dense and moist, strong with the aroma of plum and cardamom and lifted by tangy pieces of plum. The perfect cake...
Read more Thu 20 Mar, 2008Easter goes creme-free, heathen and beany-filled
A gorgeous Easter in Melbourne came and went, leaving us full of bready and chocolatey goodness. For me, this Easter brought memories of childhood eggy joy and contemporary disappointment, alongside my special Hot Heathen Buns.
Read more Fri 06 May, 2011Mint ice-cream, and ice-cream machines
Have you ever met one of those people who looks ascance at you when you suggest having an ice-cream in winter? "But it's 8 degrees and raining!" they exclaim. So bloody what? Of courrrrrrrrrrse you should eat it all year round. So here we are at the winter...
Read more Wed 22 Jun, 2011Travel 2008 – returning to Portugal, Elvas
"In Portugal, every website is broken," says the concierge as we try for the third time, in vain, to book a bus ticket online. I suggest that he is exaggerating slightly. Three or four years ago I might have agreed, but nowadays the situation is...
Read more Fri 13 Jun, 2008
