I was standing at the deli case at Woolworths when I learned that I’d made Kidspot’s Voices of 2013 top 100 bloggers list. I can’t remember for sure, but I suspect I made an involuntary squeaking noise when I read the email. I'm pretty sure I kept most of the cereal aisle amused with my end of the animated conversation I had with Bearhands. I know for a fact, I was so distracted by the news ...
time-worn tucker
maggie’s nut brown hare
A few years ago Sonia the Zucchini Farmer gave me a copy of Maggie’s Kitchen. It's signed by the doyen herself; the inscription reads To Amanda, I hear you love to cook. Have fun with my food. Best Wishes, Maggie Beer. It’s become a prized possession but not for the obvious reason. Soni is shy. She gets star struck easily. Last year at a charity lunch, Soni was rendered mute for ...
moussaka and mediocre mothering
The school holidays are killing me. The Big Sister is dino-stomping on my last nerve. I adore her inquisitive nature and her tenacious approach to life; but as luck would have it, I'm not strong enough to survive life in the cross-hairs of her quest for knowledge. Not everyone dreads the holidays. Every year when the shops roll out their Back to School sales before the bin man’s done the after ...
eggplants, beauty, sex and death
In gardens, beauty is a by-product. The main business is sex and death. Sam Llewelyn This year at Casa de Cooker the gardens have been more of the later and very little of the former. When I started Cooker and a Looker I had intentions of sharing photos and information about some of the species we've planted on the farm, timely posts about what veggies to plant when and a little secret ...
making mud pies and banana choc chip cake
Regular readers will probably recall my joy at replacing the Oven of Certain Mediocrity a few months back. The Oven of Certain Mediocrity bugged me. It didn't have a timer. In fact, it didn't even have a temperature knob – you needed asbestos fingers to turn the remaining screw and even then you were guessing what temperature you’d chosen (the degree marks having worn off years ago). Since the ...
two birds and a little about Loving
There's love in the air at the farm. A pair of owls called back and forth to each other all night. In the early hours of this morning, I hoped they'd found time to eat - what with all the shouting sweet nothings and lifelong promises at each other across the paddock. Then I remembered you don't need to eat when you're in love. I lay next to husband and remembered falling in with him. It was ...