How do you wield your knife and fork?

Recently Susie mentioned that her Australian sister in law still kept a number of her Aussie ways even after living more than 30 years in the U.S. I was curious as to which habits she maintained. When Susie replied that her SIL used her utensils in an unusual way, this got me to thinking again about why Americans have a different way of eating than Europeans and Australians.

Briefly, the American method is the cutting of a piece of meat, fork in the left hand, knife in the right, then putting the knife down and swapping the fork to the right hand, whereas elsewhere the fork and knife remain in the left and right hands respectively. I jokingly wrote to her that I was going to research the reason for this on the internet, Google being the font of all knowledge, of course!

Well, with a simple search of "eating utensils", I found the following at
A history of eating utensils in the West: a brief timeline. Basically it boils down to the lack of forks in early America. You can read more about it at the link given, but here are the most relevant entries.

Early 17th century

As forks become more common implements at the table and are used for holding food steady while cutting and for conveying the food to the mouth, it is less necessary for knives to be made with pointed tips. They begin to be made blunt at the end.

1630

Governor Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony possesses what is said to be the first and only fork in colonial America. The fad for using a fork has not yet reached the Americas, but Americans continue to import their knives from Europe. The blunted knives imported from Europe are not so easy to eat with as pointed ones were, and many people begin to use a spoon to steady food while cutting it. They then switch the spoon to the right hand to scoop up the bite of food -- the beginnings of what is known today as the zig-zag method.

I don't know about you, but I found that very interesting, and continue to be amazed that the internet could provide me with this information.

So how DO you wield your knife and fork? I asked Pea, my only Canadian reader (that I'm aware of), and it would seem from her answer that Canadians also use the zig-zag method, indicating that this is a North American thing. I'd be interested to hear from people who know of different methods used in other countries.

Laugen Bretzeln!

Today Meow and I had lunch together, near a bakery that makes those special large soft pretzels (Laugen Bretzeln) you often see in Europe and in some cities in the U.S. but they are not so common here. I do love eating those pretzels, and made a big deal of them when I found them in the Barossa Valley recently. Here's Meow and I doing a silly pose, showing off our pretzels. (Sounds rather rude, doesn't it?).

Meow, aka Connie, is quite a clever and artistic person, as I discovered when I dropped her off at home after our pretzel expedition. I was especially impressed with her DVD show, complete with appropriate music, of her trip to Broken Hill last year. Absolutely stunning!

Coffee/tea meme!

How do you take your coffee/tea?

This is from Stu out in Western Australia. I have strong feelings about my coffee, so this meme is ideal for me.

Whether you're a coffee or tea drinker, you too might have fun answering the questions and posting a photo of your favorite coffee cup or mug.

What's your preference - coffee or tea?

Mine is definitely coffee. "Regular" tea makes me cough (something to do with the tannin?), but I do like peppermint tea.

Instant or Brewed?

Instant coffee is a contradiction in terms for us. And it has to be filter coffee, none of this new fangled plunger stuff for us. When we go on holiday, we make sure beforehand what the coffee making facilities there are like, and if necessary bring our own filter and other equipment, even on the train to Adelaide.

How do you take it?

Black. The Man Who Cooks weaned me off the tiny splash of milk I used to put in it, and now HE drinks lattes! (but only when he goes to a cafe).

Do you have a favorite cup?

For coffee we use the cups and saucers that go with our every day dinner set. I use a couple of mugs for my afternoon tea, both from my library days.

How many will you enjoy during a normal day?

I used to drink a lot more, especially when I was living in Germany years ago - they used to call me the Kaffee-Tante (coffee aunt). But now I have my two strong cups in the morning and will rarely have coffee after that.

Does it matter if you don't start the day with a coffee/tea?

Absolutely!! I do not venture outside the house without first having my morning coffee. This has two implications:

1. I am not a candidate for going out for breakfast. This fits well with my preference for having my breakfast while still in pajamas.
2. When I have to fast before having a cholesterol check, I am an absolute wreck until I get the all clear to have breakfast and coffee. Just don't get in my way on those mornings.
   

Anyone else care to do this meme? Let me know!

The Iced Coffee Con

Ok, this will be the last post I write on this theme, but I was thinking about the big disappointment the Man Who Cooks and I had when we were in the U.S. last year. Here in Australia, an iced coffee is a double whammy of coffee (duh) with ice cream and sometimes cream in it, served in a tall glass with straw and long spoon. This is a great appetite spoiler, a good way to have coffee when the weather is hot, and doubles as a dessert as well.

So it was a real surprise that when we ordered an iced coffee, we got...coffee with ice in it. When we queried this with the wait staff, we were told where the sugar and half and half were, and we could help ourselves.

It just goes to show that things can have the same name but be entirely different entities altogether. This was also the case when we moved from the east coast to the west coast of the U.S. in 1960. I can't remember many examples now, but there was one having to do with hush puppies. In one place it was a type of shoe or shoe brand, but elsewhere (the south?) it had something to do with food??? I'm sure someone will have more specific info on that.

While I'm on the subject of recreational eating, I've just come back from morning coffee with former colleagues. It was great to catch up with them, and also to sample the bakery goods of a local cafe. Almond croissant with custard filling - YES! It was quite large too, and I thought I would take home half of it, but no. I ate the whole thing. I think I'll just have an apple for a late lunch.

The big Chocolate Con

Last Sunday the Man Who Cooks and I wanted a nice warm drink after driving back from the country. Mr Tulk's, the state library's own excellent cafe, was not open (and why not?), so we went next door to the Queen Victoria complex, expecting to have a choice of cafes. Not so, it seems, only a very busy chocolate cafe, so we thought "great". This would fulfill two requirements: warm drink and rich dessert-type sugar hit in one.

After a bit of a wait, and getting close to the time when I'd have to leave for the talk at the library, our "hot" chocolate drinks arrived. Well, they were not so much chocolate drinks, definitely not hot, but more do-it-yourself chocolate drinks, similar to if you ordered a salad and the waiter brought the lettuce, tomatoes and other ingredients, along with a knife and chopping board, as well as bottles of vinegar and oil, etc. and then you proceeded to make your own salad.

What arrived at our table was a cutsy-poo ceramic structure with a candle at the bottom to keep the thimble full of milk above it warm. And this is essential because you need that "heat" to - wait for it! - melt the chocolate chips which were supplied separately on a plate! These you are meant to gradually add to the thimble of milk and stir and sip it with a very clever metal device that was a "straw" with a round bit at one end for stirring. If you're wondering what that would look like, just think of the little mirror-thingie your dentist uses to see into your mouth. Oh, and when you run low on milk, the tiniest of ceramic jugs, which wouldn't be out of place in a doll's tea set, was there for you to generously add to the little "warming tower". To make this an even more interactive experience, the candle kept going out and we needed to flag down a busy staff person to reignite the drink warming flame.

By this time, I did not have time to fiddle around waiting for my chocolate chips to melt. Yes, I know it's special chocolate but it's only a hot chocolate drink, folks - get over it! So I scooped up the remaining chips, popped them in my mouth, and left the MWC to ponder where the value was in the $6 per drink. And it wasn't even warm.

P.S. Susie's comment gave me an idea. I didn't have a camera with me, but I could certainly find a photo on the internet. Here tis! The jug here is bigger than the one we had, and there weren't as many chocolate chips. But you see what I mean about the dentist's mirror thingie?!

Where do you eat dinner these days?

No, this is not a question about your favorite restaurants. I'm talking about the dining habits of those of us who started out in a two-person household, then were invaded by some hangers on (= kids), and now are back to two again (at least sometimes).

When the Man Who Cooks and I met all those years ago, the preparation and consumption of food was a shared interest, dare I say, mania. Because we were students we lived in a small apartment, with a table in the tiny kitchen to serve as a dining table. Occasionally we would turn the tiny "living room" into a pretend dining room. Oh, for the day when we'd have our own house which would of course have a separate dining room.

That eventuated, and we always set the table nicely, including candles, a ritual that has even become a habit with our sons when they were old enough to understand. Dinner was the time when everyone was present, none of this trend of each person heating up their own meal at various times (our household is one of the last holdouts in the developed world NOT TO HAVE A MICROWAVE). There was always conversation, catching up with everyone's day, maintaining that family togetherness. (Sidetrack: recent research has pointed to decreasing time children spend talking with adults as a possible reason behind the fall in children's language development and that the fact that modern families often don't eat meals together means less opportunity for adult conversation).

Now things are changing in our household, especially the first half of this year with Techie Son studying overseas. Number One Son is now in a job with odd hours which often has him working from late afternoon to midnight, so he too is often missing from the dining table. That dining table, and the dining room, now appear way too large and lonely! And although I would have never thought this would happen, the two of us find ourselves gravitating back to our comfy and cosy kitchen for the evening meal.

I guess a lot of people have gone through this...

Some photos from our student days in our apartment. This must have been a special occasion. A tablecloth on a card table does wonders! (I've just figured it out: These first two photos were taken in August 1973, so that was probably my 28th birthday)

My sister made my dress, with a beautiful appliqued animal (?) on the front. Unfortunately I outgrew this dress years ago.

An early photo of the Bread Nazi!!

We still have that bread board, made by my brother in his high school workworking class.

What's for Sunday dinner?

Diane has a regular Sunday feature on her blog: what are you having for Sunday dinner? The last few weeks we've had just leftovers, but tonight I made what has become a Forbes Family Favorite. Again it features lamb, so you non-Aussies may not find this so attractive. But here lamb is very popular although no longer so cheap to buy. Lately I've been buying lamb chops and braising them for 1 ½ hours so they get very tender. Here's the recipe - it includes olives, so Alice, look away now!

Slow-braised Greek lamb with olives

1 kg lamb chops (forequarter or chump, or from the leg or shoulder)
4-5 tbl olive oil
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
½ cup red wine
2 tbl red wine vinegar (or balsamic vinegar)
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
1 cup tomato puree
about 1 cup beef stock (or any leftover meat juices you've saved from another meal)
½ cup pitted green olives (I've recently discovered anchovy stuffed olives, which is great with lamb)
some chopped oregano (or like I did tonight, left it out altogether)
salt and pepper

Heat oil in heavy based pan over medium heat. Brown lamb pieces, 1 minute each side. Remove to a plate. In the same pan cook garlic for 30 seconds, then add wine and vinegar and simmer 2 - 3 minutes.

Add cinnamon, bay leaves, tomato puree and stock, and bring to the boil. Return lamb to pan and reduce heat. Cover and simmer gently for about 1 hour or until lamb is very tender. Add olives and cook for 1 ½ hour longer. Season with oregano, and salt and pepper. Serves 4.

The original recipe called for preserved lemon, but I'm always hesitant about using this very strong tasting ingredient. You need to rinse off the rind to use it, and I figure, well why not just use a squeeze of lemon if you want a bit of lemon tang?

So you're thinking: 1 ½ hours to cook lamb chops??? This household goes for slow food, as opposed to fast food, and it's a microwave free zone. Currently there's a slow food festival on in Melbourne. This is to be encouraged. Unfortunately it looks like our favorite country town Castlemaine has finally succumbed its first international fast food outlet, a Subway franchise.

From popcorn to real food

In an email Granny asked me if I would share the recipe for Greek meatballs I mentioned in an email to her. To counteract my previous non-gourmet post on popcorn, here is said recipe, a Forbes Family Favorite clipped from the newspaper.

Greek meatballs with tomato sauce and green olives

3 slices white bread, crusts removed
¼ cup sweet wine, marsala or sherry
700g/1.5 lb ground lamb
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 egg, lightly beaten
salt and pepper
1/2 cup plain flour
olive oil

tomato sauce

400g/¾ lb can chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup hot water
2 tbsp chopped fresh oregano (or some rosemary leaves)
¾ cup green pitted olives, rinsed and drained
salt and pepper

Soak the bread in wine for 10 minutes to soften. Preheat oven to 180 ºC/350ºF. Break up bread and combine in a bowl with ground lamb, garlic, cinnamon and egg, mixing (with hands!) until well combined. Season with salt and pepper.

With damp hands, mould walnut-sized amounts into balls and set aside. Roll each ball in flour to coat.

Heat oil in a large frying pan and fry meatballs until golden brown (this may need to be done in 2-3 batches). Place meatballs in an oven dish and set aside.

To make sauce, combine ingredients in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over meatballs. Bake for 35-40 minutes, stirring once to prevent sticking. Serves 6.

Popcorn - the thrill has gone

Popcorn was always one of my comfort foods. There was nothing like being at home on an overcast day with a good book or the newspaper, and a cold beer to wash down that wonderful combination of popcorn, butter and salt (representing the three major food groups, right?).

First of all, my lifelong love of beer has taken a hit, because I just can't handle more than a glass or two of beer, usually medium strength, per week. The exception to this is when Dad is here to visit, in which case it's a two-week testing of a variety of beers for quality control purposes only...

So the other day, when the overcast day came around and I still had some of the newspaper to read, I thought "Popcorn!", but without the beer. This was my first popcorn in quite a while, and it just did not do anything for me. Does this mean I am finally growing up? Or that I'm too worried about cracking a tooth on some stray unpopped kernels? Be that as it may, I can still get a kick out of sites such as the Encyclopedia of Popcorn, which is clearly aimed at primary school kids. So maybe I haven't grown up after all.

Kitchens, food and the meaning of (family) life

I have always felt that the preparation of food for people you love, and the sharing of that food around the dinner table, is the cornerstone of family life. You are caring for family members as well as having time to communicate with each other. There are many things in modern day life that get in the way of that scenario, but it's worth getting right, and it's not impossible to achieve. Since I've been blogging I've come across so many people who also value those things and it makes me feel so good when I read their posts. In the last couple of days there are two special posts which talk about families, gathering to prepare and eat meals together, etc.:

Lee-Ann at Pear tree cottage, who writes about the women in her family
and shares some corners in her kitchen with us
and
Alice at A growing delight, who writes about the kitchen, the heart of the house

Thank you, ladies!

We will be spending a couple of days in the country - see you when we get back.

Farewell lunch

It was such a fun and happy occasion. Colleagues had put in a lot of thought to what I would like. Much evidence of the Carlton Football Club, giraffes, trams and trains. Wine, food (even pumpkin pie!), and a powerpoint slideshow to summarise my working life in the library. Found out they've been getting ideas from this blog. For that, they get to be in my blog, here are just a few of the photos. Even Denis Pagan was there to wish me well.

My funny Valentine

I am so lucky to have met my soulmate, he can still make me laugh, which is why he is my funny Valentine. We have so much in common, especially food and eating. Speaking of which, we are going out tonight to a local restaurant that we've always wanted to try, so will finish this post later...

Ok, back now (10.30). The restaurant specialises in the most incredible steaks, which are arrayed in an impressive display case. Also impressive is the fact that the chef cooks all the steaks and sausages right there for everyone to see, but a very powerful exhaust system let not one bit of smoke escape into the dining area. Didn't seem to make any noise either, but then it was a full house and conversation level was pretty high. Everyone seemed to be happy campers. The steaks were cooked perfectly, soft as butter. We couldn't decide on which cut to go for so we got a mixed grill. No fear of going home hungry, and VEGETARIANS NEED NOT APPLY! As if that weren't enough, we both had dessert: walnut crepes with cream or ice cream. Burp.

No, we didn't get home by 6.46, that's when I posted the first bit, just added to it later. Melbourne people DO go out of an evening!

Feeding frenzy

I love going out to eat with people who really enjoy their food, and as usual, those Pope girls do not disappoint. Especially Phine (aka the Food-Phine) - last night she finished off her pizza while we were still working on ours, and then had the nerve to ask if we were going to finish our pizzas!


And here's me, looking just plain silly.

These photos were taken with the tiniest mobile phone (and "enhanced" with some software by me), and I hate to say it, but I can see how this type of thing (camera phones) has become so popular.

Turkey - first time in 35 years!

Turkey has been a no no in our household for more than 35 years. The man who cooks, not having grown up with it in the Australia of mid 20th century, was just not that enamored of it. So we've "made do" with duck, poussin and other yummy representatives of the poultry world, and not to forget the humble chicken for which there are so many ways to prepare in a tasty and interesting manner.

But this year a recipe by a trusted chef was spotted in the newspaper's weekend magazine, and we've decided to give it a go. It has a Middle Eastern flavor, with a spice combination (baharat), which I will have to make myself. That holds no terrors for me as I'm used to roasting and grinding Indian spices. The recipe also calls for dried cranberries (so there's a bit of tradition there) to soak in orange juice to make the sauce. Now where would you get dried cranberries? It appears that it is marketed here as "craisins", which I've picked up from the ever reliable Leo's Supermarket.

I used to hate going grocery shopping until I discovered Leo's. The muzak alone was enough to set the teeth on edge as soon as I entered a Safeway or Coles supermarket. But at Leo's you're treated to interesting real music, often Latin American, so that I've had to stop myself from salsa-ing down the aisles. Aside from that, they have so many unusual food products, a great cheese section, in addition to the usual grocery items. So now I don't mind going grocery shopping if I can go to Leo's.

I'm off now to prepare the big bird (it's already Christmas morning here in Australia as I write this). I wish everyone a calm, safe and happy Christmas!

Here's the little beastie (not me, the turkey!) before covering in foil and putting in the oven. Photo taken earlier this morning. It's now almost 1 p.m. and I've taken the foil off for browning, another 90 minutes to go, I hope. The house is smelling wonderful!








Nice and brown (and didn't need another 90 minutes after all)














Drinks in front of our Christmas "tree"

34th wedding anniversary - so who's counting?

October 3rd was, incredibly, our 34th wedding anniversary. We took a long weekend and drove down to Geelong, Victoria's second largest city. It is on a huge bay, and is only a half hour drive from the ocean beaches, see map.

Speaking of maps, it is amazing that our marriage has survived this long, as Mel's lack of a sense of direction has gotten us into many a heated argument over the years. I usually navigate, but when he ignores my carefully planned instructions, as happened in Geelong, I can get a bit stroppy. The poor map is showing a bit of wear and tear due to my slapping it in disgust after he blithly sailed past the turn that I had told him to take.

That aside, we had a great time, mainly walking and eating. We had lunch at the nice friendly waterfront restaurant we had stopped at earlier this year when Dad was visiting, The Wharf Shed Cafe.



We also ate at the place next door, the Fisherman's Pier, which had a lovely ambience and very nice food indeed. We both had a fish called harpuka - sweet and a beautiful texture. I started out with a couple of oyster shooters = decadence!

We spent hours walking along the Barwon River, which included boardwalks through wetlands. And we even saw one of the world's strangest animals, the platypus - had never seen one in the wild before. They are very shy, besides being weird-looking.
We also walked through the botanical gardens, spent a morning looking in the fabulous National Wool Museum.

To round things off, we found a cookware shop in Geelong, and stocked up on wooden spoons, pastry brush, a new sifter and other goodies. Nice to share that interest. The saleslady was most impressed to see a husband taking an interest in cooking and food. I didn't tell her about the downside, i.e. about the bread nazi.

We took a number of photos, of course, and I've posted them in a new online photo album service. You can even choose to look at them as a slide show, there's a link at the top right corner of the screen, and it will also enlarge the photos. Try it!

Our anniversary always coincides with the first weekend after the football season finishes, and going on a trip to celebrate our anniversary helps to fill the gap left when there is no football to watch, listen to, look forward to. 6 months without football... an eternity!

Food blogging??

So, just after I uploaded my last post about how important food has been to us over the years, I chanced on a whole group of blogs devoted to people talking about food. Some are professional writers, and their blogs are so interesting to read. I'm afraid of the time I'm inevitably going to spend reading them though. Some of the ones I like:

The accidental hedonist:
http://www.accidentalhedonist.com/
Chronicles of a curious cook:
http://www.cheapcooking.com/blog/
A girl's gotta eat:
http://www.aproposofnothing.net/food/
Kitsch'n'Zinc:
http://kitschnzinc.blogspot.com/
Cook sister!
http://cooksister.typepad.com/cook_sister/

And then of course there are the numerous cooking shows, but the one that we always watch is the bizarre but hugely entertaining Iron Chef, a Japanese cult show that treats cooking as a competition, complete with sports-like commentary and a time limit of one hour.
Here's a link to one of the many Iron Chef sites.
This one is about the Kitchen Stadium:
http://web.archive.org/web/20030605110826/www.ironchef.com/ironlocation.shtml

And from an Iron Chef fan site:
You’re an Iron Chef fan if…

* You can't cook dinner unless your spouse first shouts, "Allez Cuisine!"

* You can't cook a meal unless you have a challenger.

* When you taste something you like, you giggle and exclaim, "The flavors dance in my mouth!"

* You start every sentence by saying, "If memory serves me correctly..."

* You ask for an ice cream maker for Christmas so you can try out a good trout or scallop ice cream recipe.

* You learn to sew in order to dress like Kaga.

Time goes by...

Where did the first half of the year go? We are now mid-winter and past the winter solstice. At uni we're enjoying a relatively student-free campus as the mid-year exams are over and no classes are on. However, that means that our own two uni students are home, and as Mel usually works from home, the house is no longer "mine". So off I go to work, happily and in the knowledge that I will arrive home to a beautifully cooked meal - husband is a great cook, and the boys are developing good skills. Last night Ben prepared a lovely roast chicken and potatoes, with a salad and homemade dressing. No bottled stuff in this family! The boys may not turn out to be foodies but they do appreciate well cooked food. So sad to witness families not sitting down to meals together, instead heating up something in those dreadful microwaves at odd hours to suit the individual. They're even building houses these days with minimal kitchen facilities (can't call them kitchens) as people move more towards fast food, prepackaged food, eating out a few times a week, and so on.

Well, this post has taken an unexpected turn, but this does fit into the title "Time goes by..." Food: it has been the recurring theme of our courting and marriage, starting in 1969. How much we have shared our pleasure in preparing, serving and eating food, with each other, and with family and friends over the years. The enjoyment of food has been the cement in our relationship, we have great memories of past meals, although Mel's memory for specific dishes eaten years ago has always amazed me. But it's all part of our history, even the pots and pans we bought as students in Berkeley are some of the ingredients of our family history (ok, so the boys laugh at us when we reminisce about how long we've had this or that kitchen utensil - are we crazy, or what). But it's a shared history, and so much fun to look back on.

This was taken at our 10 acre block last year. We're having breakfast (see faithful coffee pot on the table, bought in Alice Springs in 1990 - yawn). We tend to spend as much time as possible outdoors, which is another recurring theme of ours. Look at that sky, can't see that sitting indoors. Ditto the stars and moon in the night sky. Glorious.
Click on picture to enlarge.

Orzo, rissoni, whatever you call it, rice-shaped pasta is great!

I love this pasta because it's like having two starches at the same time. And let's face it: the rice shape makes it so much easier to eat than other pasta shapes. Here's a recipe Mel made last night.

1 ¼ cups walnut pieces
good olive oil
2 cups orzo
170 g (6 oz) firm feta, crumbled
2 quarters preserved lemon, sliced (see below)
rocket leaves (didn't have this on hand, but results were fine without)
sea salt and pepper (what's with this sea salt lately in so many recipes??)

Heat a little olive oil in a pan over medium heat and fry the walnuts until golden.
Cook the orzo in boiling salted water for 11 minutes. Drain and place in a warm serving bowl. Sprinkle over the feta, the preserved lemon and walnuts. Top with a good handful of rocket leaves and drizzle with olive oil. Grind over some black pepper and serve immediately.

The recipe is from a book lent to me by Dennis, another colleague of mine. Don't you appreciate these men who cook? Dennis is best known for the cakes he bakes and brings to work. One has become a Forbes Family Favorite, and we refer to it simply as "The Dennis Cake". I'll post the recipe one of these days.

**WARNING on the preserved lemon: MIX WELL! Last night Mel made this again, but some of us got more preserved lemon than we would have liked. In some recipes I've seen instructions to rinse the lemon first.