Category: General
Last week, my friend Steve came over for dinner. Steve and I go back a long way. He's one of my dearest friends. It doesn't matter how long it is since I last saw him, it always seems like it was just yesterday. He's what I'd call a "kindred spirit".
I made Steve lamb shanks — wonderful winter comfort food. (I'll post a recipe when I make it again and get a decent chance to photograph it. Sometimes photographing food just interrupts the flow. :-) ) When Steve arrived, almost everything was ready and there were just a few finishing touches to be made. He watched me bustle about, finishing things off, for maybe a minute — then he cracked up laughing.
I looked askance at him and he said, between bursts of laughter, "Do you remember when I used to visit you in Bullsbrook, and [your ex] was making dinner and would describe to me what he was cooking, and your eyes would just glaze over…?"
Hrmph. :-)
But it's true. It's only since my marriage break-up 3½ years ago that I've showed any real interest in food and cooking myself, and it was a while after that before I became aware of the Slow Food movement and all it stands for. I am still very much learning as I go along, so it's kinda sweet that Steve noticed the difference between then and now. (And is still alive to tell the tale!)
It's about people
Over the weekend I installed the free Australian Gourmet Traveller iPad app and purchased the (thus far) three available magazine issues. I had subscribed to the print mag for a while but had let the subscription lapse in the last few months. Getting the iPad app seemed like a worthwhile experiment, to see if the magazine worked better for me on the iPad than in print…
It definitely does. I now want all my foodie magazines like that. I really do! It's so well done. I'm so impressed! But that's another story and I digress. More to the point, I was reading a comment in the June 2010 issue by Eamon Sullivan, Olympic swimmer and Celebrity MasterChef. He said:
If people respond well to your food, it makes you feel good. That's the sort of thing you get addicted to: pleasing people through food.
That so aptly describes where I'm coming from. Living alone, I find there is little pleasure in cooking just for myself. The food may taste good but the experience is somewhat lacking.
So I've become aware of just how much, when I cook, it's for other people. Enjoyment of food is inseparable from the enjoyment that others get from the food, and the pleasure of spending time with them. The terms "cooking from the heart" and "cooking with love" sound so corny and almost ridiculous in this cynical day and age, but that really is what it's about for me and for many people. When that's the case, I believe it shows — not just in the food, but in the total experience of eating with the folks you cooked for, and perhaps also with.
This is why, of course, in the absence of a live-in guinea pig, I like to invite others over for meals. And that doesn't seem like a bad thing, as addictions go. :-)
Posted by Vicki on Monday, August 02, 2010 at 10:58 AM in
General and
Slow Food.
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CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet Book 2.
As mentioned previously, we started the New Year with a decision to lose weight. We dug out the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet (Book 2) after a long period of neglect. This healthy weight loss program is based on proven scientific principles. It includes a balanced diet that is high in protein and moderate in carbohydrates. High protein diets keep people feeling full for longer. It also has an important exercise component.
The book is friendly and the principles behind it are well-explained in simple language, making sure the reader understands why the diet is structured as it is. It contains over 80 beautifully presented and really delicious recipes and encourages flexibility (within the constraints of healthy eating, of course). It's a very simple diet to follow and easy to maintain, because overall servings are generous and it shows how healthy food can taste wonderful.
Chermoula Lamb Fillet with Avocado and Coriander Salsa recipe.
We're not following the diet religiously, but we are using it as a guide and generally abiding by the principles. We are finding we are eating very well indeed and not feeling hungry at all. (Actually, I usually can't eat the full ration of meat.) We do, however, love our carbohydrates, and changing the way we'd pile rice or potatoes or couscous on our plates has been probably the biggest challenge for us in terms of eating. We are honouring the suggested proportions and to be honest we're not suffering for it, which goes to show how much of our previous habit was just that — habit. But perhaps the biggest overall challenge has been carrying out the exercise component. We'll have to work on that... sigh!
We are lucky because we work from home and taking time to prepare fresh and healthy food isn't a big issue for us, especially as we usually do it together, but I do remember how difficult it could be after a long day at work then a commute home. Cooking is generally the last thing I felt like doing then, and anything that took more than half an hour to an hour to get on the table was out of the question. But this is the beauty of the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet: just maintain the principle of low fat, high protein, moderate carbohydrate meals with lots of vegetables and salads and some fruit — and try to get regular exercise — and you won't be far wrong.
Healthy and tasty lunchbox ideas.
You soon get a feel for the recommended proportions and, quite apart from the recipes and meal suggestions in the book, there is a vast range of suitable meals — homemade or otherwise. Just about any low-fat meal will be suitable or can easily be adapted. We're eating a lot of our prior favourites as well as previously untried recipes from the book.
Even despite sneaking in a small glass of wine with our meals (and I don't recommend you do this — it's more of a confession for which I require absolution!) we're losing weight and, while we still have a way to go, we're confident we can maintain it as we are enjoying our "diet" food so very much! If you take a peek at my Edible365 Flickr set you'll see some of the healthy yumminess we've consumed so far this year, and lost weight while doing so!
If you've been thinking you'd like to lose weight in a manner which is healthy, enjoyable and sustainable in the long term, then the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet might be of interest to you, too.
Posted by Vicki on Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 05:04 PM in
General and
Healthy Eating.
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Some of my Edible365 photos to date.
It's well into 2010 now (well, a week or two, anyway!) and for us, it's been quite a food-focused time. Neil and I started 2010 by joining the Edible 365 Flickr group.
The Edible 365 project is a Flickr group anyone can join. Members aim to take a photo of something they've consumed (food or drink, homemade or otherwise) each day for a year.
Different people are using the project for different purposes. I'm trying to improve both my food presentation and my food photography. The latter is not easy with a cheap and ancient point-and-shoot camera, but it's making me think about what I can do to improve.
Other people are using the project to record what they've eaten during the year, so they can look back on it.
It's day 10 as I write, but folks are still joining and it's not too late to join if you'd like to do this too, for whatever reason appeals to you. You can drop in or out as you wish and you don't have to take a photo a day if you don't want, although it's more of a fun challenge if you do.
We also started the year with a commitment to lose weight as we've both been feeling icky about the extra weight we've put on, so the photos we have contributed to the group so far have all been of low fat and nutritious foods, which you can also see in my Edible 365 photoset on Flickr.
Hope to see you there — look out for me as "Ozfoodie". :-)
Posted by Vicki on Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 01:54 PM in
General.
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How it all began
I've always enjoyed food, and for a long time I've disliked junk food (though it hasn't always been that way) but it was only when my marriage broke up and I had to actually learn to cook(!) that I gained a real interest in matters epicurian.
I'd had little cooking experience for many years as my husband had really enjoyed cooking and I was thus banished from the kitchen. I must say, that suited me just fine. He cooked well, and kept me supplied with wine, cheese and crackers while I waited — what more could one ask?
However, when I moved into my own place, it was a different story. I had to cook! Eek! I really was not the best cook. (And heaven knows, I still have rather a lot to learn.) Totally uncreative, I relied on following recipes to the letter. Except even then, things still didn't always turn out right...
The first time I cooked for someone else, it was my friend Sarah. She thought it was hilarious that I had my laptop in the kitchen so I could follow the recipe, which I'd found online. She just had to take a photo!
Me referring to the recipe the first time I had a dinner guest.
There's been, and still is, a lot of trial and error. But when the meals do turn out right... yesssssss! Nothing beats having taken time and trouble to create something nutritious and tasty and maybe just a bit different, and to share and enjoy that meal with others. Along with my enjoyment of cooking and the resulting meals, mealtimes themselves became something really special. I think that too often we rush through our meals because we have somewhere else to go, or something else to do — or maybe we sit in front of the television while we eat, hardly tasting the food let alone savouring it, while our attention is mostly on the screen. Often there is no conversation, no sharing. And that is normal for many people.
Midway through 2007, I was introduced to the concept of Slow Food. I then devoured all I could learn about the Slow Food Movement. To quote from the Slow Food web site, the philosophy of Slow Food is:
... to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.
This really, really gelled with me and the things that Slow Food, and the Slow Food Perth Convivium are doing and working towards are nothing short of awesome. "Movement" is definitely the right word there.
Flowing on from the principles of eating fresh, seasonal, locally-produced food, I soon acquired an interest in sustainable agriculture, organics, and in general food that is simply "good" in every sense of the word. I now view food in a far more holistic way.
As someone who is very passionate about food, and (by default, I think!) wine, I would love to share my experiences as I go along. Hang on tight — and loosen your belts!
Posted by Vicki on Friday, September 18, 2009 at 10:34 AM in
General.
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