Yesterday, tucked in a deep, dark corner of my mother's kitchen, I stumbled upon a vintage bottle of Bobo The Clown cordial, raspberry extract still inside! Memories flashed back - of scorching summer days in the late '60s and early '70s when my brothers and I would cool off under a sprinkler on the lawn and dash into the house to guzzle a glass or two of Bobo with a homemade biscuit. Reading the label today, however, I was quite taken aback. To make the cordial, the recipe calls for 1.5 kg of sugar to be dissolved in two litres of boiling water, the syrup is then cooled and ...
A Whale of a Winter
Mention Victor Harbor to any South Australian and evoke fond memories of fish and chips on the beach, dripping ice creams and trips on the horse-drawn tram across to Granite Island, home to a colony of fairy penguins.Just over an hour’s drive south of Adelaide on the Fleurieu Peninsula, ‘Victor’ has been a popular seaside holiday destination and weekend getaway for generations, while the surrounding Encounter Coastline offers a growing number of attractions.A few kilometres east of Victor the small seaside village of Port Elliot has an old-world feel and a number of charming boutiques, antique shops and cafes. It is also a popular base for walkers and cyclists, ...
On Travelling Light & the Gift of Chocolate
While in the process of looking for a new apartment, I have been living a rather vagabond existance, migrating between my daughter's apartment in the East End and my parent's place on the coast. Secretly, I am enjoying the freedom. There is something incredibly liberating about having 'no fixed address', no baggage to weigh you down and room to dream about all sorts of possibilities. Stripping oneself of material possessions brings a lightness of being, and some of my happiest times have been when I lived out of a suitcase.Another thing I am enjoying in this transient state is the stories around the dinner table with my parents. My father ...
The Bread Run
Flashback to 1969The yellow school bus pulls off the main road and lunges to a halt. My brothers and I cross the road gingerly, three small figures in the soft afternoon sun. There’s the drone of a tractor in a far-off paddock, the occasional screech of a galah in the tall gums above. I head straight for the four-gallon drum perched sideways atop a wooden post at the start of the gravel track that winds up the hill to the house. It is hot to the touch.I lift the little flap door that’s designed to keep out the birds and ...
On School Milk
Those of you who are old enough will remember ‘school milk’. How could you forget! This public health initiative called the Free Milk Scheme went national in 1950 and was aimed at improving the nutrition of all Australian children. Milk was supplied to kindergartens and primary schools so that, in theory, no child under the age of 13 would go without. The scheme ended in 1973, unable to be justified on nutritional grounds in children over seven.Speaking to friends about school milk recently, it seems this daily ritual divided us neatly in two camps; you either loved or hated it! ...
On Toasting Forks & Wood Stoves
The house is still asleep as my father lights the fire in the slow combustion stove; an Everhot that lives up to its name. A barrow load of wood sits outside the back door to fuel the day, red gum swiftly split with an axe. By the time he has fed the sheepdogs and milked the cow the kitchen is warm and the coals are red hot. He slices a loaf of bread, threads a slice onto the prongs of the long toasting fork, opens the door to the fire and gently holds the bread near the coals, not too ...