winosandfoodies

Signs of Summer

Summer tomatoes

Hay Hay It's Donna Day #2 Roundup

Glutton Rabbit has completed her Donna Day  round up.   Check out the entries and cast your vote for the cutest.

Thank you to everyone for joining in.  I am very impressed with the creativity of the entries.  You are all STARS.

4 x 8 Meme

I've been tagged by Rose at the Hungry Rose  for the latest meme  doing the rounds of blog world.

4 Jobs I've Had
Strawberry Picker
Airline Cabin Crew
Fashion Boutique Manager
Sales support for a Wine Distributor

4 Movies I could watch Over and Over
Tampopo
Amelie
Babette's Feast
Glen Miller Story

4 Place I've Lived
Northcliffe, Western Australia
Perth, Western Australia
Noosa Heads, Queensland
Auckland, New Zealand

4 Websites I Visit Daily
My Bank
Sydney Morning Herald
New Zealand Herald
Chocolate and Zucchini

4 TV Shows I love To Watch
Coronation Street (The writing is really very good)
Sunday (Australian Current Affairs programme)
What Not To Wear (I'd love a makeover from Trinny and Susanna)
A Place In The Sun

4 Of My Favourite Foods
Prawns
Aged Iberian Ham
Pork Spareribs
Paella

4 Places I'd Rather Be
Paris
Any white sand beach on the east coast of Australia so I can watch the sun rise out of the ocean.
In Kate Hill's  kitchen or on her barge in the South of France.
Did I mention Paris?

4 People I'm now Obliged to Pass This On To

Ryoko at kiwish
Mary at La Tavola
Bron at Green Eggs and Spam
Celine at Angel At My Table

Butter Buddha

Buddha carved from butter at the New Zealand Hospitality Show 2005.

Do You Take Your Appetite Forgranted?

I didn't realise how important  appetite was until I lost mine.   Like all food bloggers I love food. I think about it constantly, talk about it with food passionate friends, blog about it, cook it and most of all enjoy eating it.   Until I lost my appetite. 

Imagine not being able to think of a single thing you felt like eating at any particular moment. Having a plate of appetising  food placed in front of you and not wanting to eat it.  This is how my life was for five weeks post surgery.  Then last week my appetite returned and I've had a week of  looking forward to breakfast and  lunch.  Dinner is still a problem as by the end of the day the nausea has kicked in again.  Watermelon never tasted so good as it has this week.  Last week I even managed a Thai lunch with a glass of Singha beer. Today I'm going to Yum Cha.

Tomorrow I start a 5 months  regime of chemotherapy designed to kill any remaining cancer cells lurking in my body.  If it is anything like my last round of chemo my appetite will say see you in a couple of months.  I'll lose a few kilos is about the only positive I can see here.

However it appears I have found my own special  way of coping. This week Bryan and I had a counselling session with the Cancer Society.  One of the points Bryan raised was my crazy (his words) demands for what and how I eat.  It wasn't until I said it out loudly I realised how crazy they must sound to others.  We have decided to call these little tricks of mine "temporary insanity" .

In no particular order of importance here is how I cope at the moment.  Food must be served on a white or beige plate.  Soup must be  in a noodle bowl.  Tea must be in a blue and white mug but coffee can be in a different colour if it is  a bone china mug.  My daily marmite drink (Lots of goodness) must be in a white cup but I don't ever want a saucer under it.  Bread must be cut a different way depending on the filling or topping.  Toast, always buttered right to edge and crusts removed, with honey must be cut into 9 little squares, with marmite 4 diagonal pieces, crumpets with honey cut in half.  Chicken sandwich (don't remove crusts) cut into four on the diagonal but a ham sandwich, remove crusts and cut in half.  This may all sound totally silly but it appears it is my own way of coping with my situation.  It works for me!

Donna's Lime Macaroons

Here are my macaroons for the second Hay Hay It's Donna Day hosted by Pearl of the Orient .

To bake them I scooped out 1/4 cupfuls of mixture,  dropped onto an oven tray lined with  parchment paper and placed them in a  180 degree oven for 15 minutes.   I got to thinking they would be rather nice with the bases dipped in dark chocolate don't you think?

Thanks to Glutton Rabbit at Pearl of the Orient for hosting this month. Check out her round up.

Schoc Choc

Plum  alerted me to these New Zealand   made chocolates way back in August 2005 and I've been on the lookout ever since.  I still haven't seen them north of the bridge in Auckland so was very pleased when a block of  Schoc  arrived in the mail this week.   It was kindly sent to us by Mary, an  overseas friend of Chris',  who  spent a few days with us while passing through Auckland on her way to the South Island.   

This Schoc Bloc  was a perfect blend of  coffee and walnut in a rich dark chocolate. 

World's Simplest Dessert

This pic looks terrible and I blame my son who used my camera, set the ISO at 1600 for a band shot and then forgot to reset the ISO. Yes I know I should have checked it first but I didn't. I've      played about with it to make it reasonable.

This is my favourite simple summer dessert when I have guests and little time.  It is just sour cream, brown sugar and strawberries.  To eat  dip the strawberry in the cream, then in the brown sugar and pop into your mouth.   The tartness of the sour cream with the sweetness of the brown sugar blend well with the fruitiness (is that a word?) of the berry.  Then use your finger to scoop up the little puddle of juice, sour cream and brown sugar left when the strawberries have all been eaten.

Hay Hay It's Donna Day Again

Yes we have another Donna Hay Day for you.  This months event is being hosted by last months winner, Glutton Rabbit, over at Pearl of the Orient .  Glutton Rabbit has posted a wonderful sounding Donna recipe for Lime Macaroons for you to make the weekend of 22 - 24 January, post your photo and be in to win the prize of a cute set of cookie cutters. 

Go to Pearl of the Orient  blog for the recipe and details.

Meringues Strawberries Cream

Christmas Eve dessert at our house.

My Blog Birthday

January 6th is my blog birthday.....and wow hasn't my life done a full circle.  Like many food and wine bloggers, my first food blog discovery was  Chocolate and Zucchini.  Blogs soon became my contact with the outside world as I was confined to home while undergoing chemotherapy and  too sick to venture out the front door.

In the 12 months I have (cyber)met the most interesting and fun people from every corner of the world who share my passion for food and wine.   I even had the chance, while on a visit to Perth, to meet a fellow food blogger - Anthony, The Man That Cooks.  We enjoyed a lovely picnic of local delicacies on the banks of the Swan River.

It is the sharing and support from within the food and wine blogging community toward each other which  pleases me.

So as I begin another round of chemo the food and wine blogs will entertain and inspire  me for another 6 months.  Over the next 6 months I shall be thinking about where I will go on holiday in the later part of 2006.

Happy New Year

Here's a thought. Imagine December 31st 2006 and our city governments took all the money they spend on fireworks for New Years Eve celebrations and give it to countries lacking resources to take care of their own people.  Then at midnight, imagine the entire world, saying a prayer for peace, all together.    Let's try it - just once.