I am staying with some very good friends and their daughter while I wait to move into my new house in Victoria Park Village – the house is just such a lovely buzzing hive of activity. It’s beautiful in summer, as the house just opens up to the back garden. Somehow, it was decided after we had all been pottering around all day, that we would make welsh cakes for afternoon tea.
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So I’ve locked myself in this gorgeous little attic cottage on top of a country estate house in Lincolnshire. I have some work to do, and thought I’d get away, rejuvenate, and stop letting myself get distracted with the spoils of London.
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Today we visited Butterfly Wonderland, a new butterfly museum with the largest conservatory in the United States.
We watched a 3D movie on butterflies then saw a hatchery where the butterflies were coming out of their chrysalis.
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The citrus trees in our yard are bursting with fruit. Grapefruits and tangelos are dropping off the branches and littering the lawn like glistening, vivid spheres.
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Starting a lazy saturday with freshly baked danishes is probably one of my favourite things.
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Christmas morning goes pretty much the same every year in the Kingston-Williams household.
Wake up, make coffee, grill some ham and cheese croissants, mix up apricot jam, desiccated coconut, 1/2 sour cream 1/2 low fat yoghurt, and chopped crystallised ginger to taste, chop all sorts of fruit to dip into this apricot dip, and consume too much of the above. I made danishes from scratch this year too, and filled with blackberries, papaya and coconut, almond and apricot, and pear.
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Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house – people were lying spreadeagled on the floor or curled up in foetal position in the corner from eating too much dessert. We made a raspberry white chocolate cheesecake, a custard fruit tart with chocolate pastry, chocolate cranberry brownies, and a lemon curd tart.
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I left the comfort and safety of my home, left behind all the friends that I had forged into family, left behind the town I loved from rooftop to gutter. There is so much for me in Melbourne, but I left because I wanted to see what (and who) else the world had to offer.
I left to meet new people, cook, hear stories, share food, laughter, wine.
I flew in to the USA late sunday afternoon, my first stop on my new life of adventure, and on Monday I was fortunate enough to go to Davis, California, to stay with Francisca Rodriguez. She is an inspiring woman, full of stories of the old days when she worked at the Berkeley Food Collective with her Chilean husband. Francisca is from Mexican descent, and together, along with the other Latin American workers, they contributed one Latin American recipe each to the menu. Francisca learnt how to make empanadas there, both in the Chilean way and the Argentinian way, and I was blessed to have her spend the day showing me how to make them. My first day away from home, and I was launched straight into my new life with a bang – what better way than to be taught empanadas in California from such an interesting, amazing woman.
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Edward made me a cake today. The first time a man has ever made me something baked. My Nanna said: ‘what a brave man!’. Most people refuse to cook pastry or cakes for me – it’s the curse of the pastrychef.
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One of my favourite things to do is to cook with friends, and I have been blessed with friends from all around the world in Melbourne. This has the excellent side effect of cooking nights with every cuisine imaginable.
A few months back, my Persian friend Pouya taught me to make a number of dishes from Iran (post on that night here), and tonight, Edward, who previously lived in Korea, set up a cooking night with his Korean friends. We were making Gimbap, steamed white rice rolled with various fillings in dried seaweed.
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It’s my last weekend working with Joint Councils Access for All Abilities – it’s the longest I’ve ever stayed at a job (almost 3 years), and it’s the only one I have loved from beginning to end. JCAAA really launched me into my culinary adventures. My interest in food came early, but my jumble sale of a career of culinary adventures combined with media was instigated by my appointment as program coordinator of the community kitchens. I went to pastry school because it was the same price as a food handlers license. I started a blog because I was cooking so much I wanted to record my recipes. And the rest is history….
On top of that, I met my best friend there. Our Abbott and Costello party routine would go:
‘How do you two know each other?’
Angela: ‘Well….’
Lani: ‘Don’t do it!’
Angela: ‘She’sssssssss..’
Lani: ‘I’m not!’
Angela: ‘She’s ma bawss!’
*both laugh hysterically while question asker giggles mildly uncomfortably*
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Party. of the. year.
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It isn’t often I head north of the river – it has a very different, grungy, hipster vibe than down south, and I love to visit because it feels like a different city.
Tonight my friend Nick invited me to a dinner party at his AWESOME converted warehouse apartment. He definitely has the coolest house out of all my friends. On top of that he is a great cook, and we were planning on going out to the LuWOW to see a ska band afterwards. Oh, and I LOVE Nick. Spending time with him is always so ridiculously fun and nice. We always do super cute things, like bike rides along the river, picnics in the botanic gardens, afternoon tea with home baked scones, or going to the promo launch of Legally Blonde The Musical.
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I’ve been blessed with some incredible friends in Melbourne. What’s more, most of them join me in my passion for good food. They have been more than willing to initiate me into the cuisines of their home countries, by cooking me their favourite dishes, or in this case, teaching me to make what I can only refer to as a banquet.
I met my friend Pouya through Angela, and he is such a welcoming, friendly man. Him and his partner Shohre are marvellously interesting people and are always a delight to be around. They come from Iran, and have so many stories to tell, and so many friends around the world. I count myself lucky to be counted among them.
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