I find cooking to be one of the most grounding and nurturing activities in my sometimes crazy life. This is a fantastically easy and tasty recipe that works equally well for squid/calamari, firm white fish fillets, tofu, chicken or pork. Pair it with a white wine, beer or a smoky tea. And please think about […]
Guided Meditation for Panic, Anxiety and Fear
Fear is static that prevents me from hearing myself. ~Samuel Butler There are times when all of us will know fear, when anxiety will slowly cripple us, when panic takes hold. I’m not talking about those moments in life that truly deserve such a heart-jolting response; a gun pointed at us, the moment before a […]
The baby who needed to speak…
(this gorgeous image by Michelle Meiklejohn) Okay, so I’m a psychic. No secret there. It’s an odd thing to be in our mostly rational and scientific world, but I’ve come to accept who I am and I live in a way that honours this energy within me. Does it define me? Sometimes. But I am […]
Places that remind you of who you used to be…
The first time I went to Yum Cha was a revelation. It was a crowded barn of a restaurant in Sydney, and my small table were the only Caucasians in a sea of dark hair. They didn’t even have a menu in English. My friend Geoff, who speaks fluent Cantonese, took us there, and did […]
Everyone has a story to tell…
In these days of emails, tweets and text messages we can spend our days constantly communicating, but not really sharing at that deeper level of connection. One of my favourite forms of communication is a fairly old-fashioned one. It involves conversation and cups of tea. Yesterday, my dear friend Carly-Jay Metcalfe, a poet and writer, […]
Heavenly Chocolate Brownie Recipe
This brownie recipe is so good that my neighbour’s son prefers to be paid by the tin full rather than take cash when he works in my garden! As the picture suggests it is moist, dense and fudgey. It’s a pleasure to make, using only a large saucepan and a cup. You can have it […]
Coconut and Jam Slice Recipe & Country Funerals
Our town had a funeral this week. This is the sort of funeral I don’t mind – an old lady, well-loved, dying of old age after a full life. Country funerals are always well attended, and country people are big eaters, so there needs to be plenty of food at the wake, especially for the […]
Cow wisdom and farm life
Late yesterday afternoon, just as the cicadas started singing, just as the light began to soften, my favourite old cow, 767, came up to the fence and called me. We have a special connection, her and me. She is eighteen now, old for a cow, and an illogical keep, but I cannot get rid of […]
Celebration Chocolate Mudcake Recipe
It’s my friend’s 40th birthday today, and we’re having a ladies lunch in her honour. Of course we need good cake. There will be grandmas and new babies and friends coming from afar. Twenty cake-loving women, and we need enough cake leftovers to make the men happy when they join us later. Somehow it always […]