Diary of a Food Geek

I have been in love with food since I was a "youngun" in Tennessee helping my Nana cook every weekend. In fact, my earliest food memory is helping her make biscuits on Saturday mornings...actually she made the biscuits, but I always got to make my own Biscuit Man in my very own biscuit pan! From there my love of food grew...I started to create my own dishes at around age 10 and started to experime

nt with recipes. No simple after school snacks for me! This only continued as I became an adult...in fact my ex-husband used to say, "You put more effort into a snack than most people put into a meal!" He was right! I have attended culinary school and have worked in several restaurants in the States, but I am no expert. I am just someone who loves food and has learned a few tips and techniques over the years. Now I make Perth, Western Australia my home, which has only reignited my culinary passion because of the amazing local produce available as well as the great new ingredients to play with! I admit, it is a challenge to not have some of my tried and true staples here but I find a way and I'm happy to share that with you as well. I strive to eat healthy foods. I don't like to use packaged or processed foods. I believe natural is best and the less steps a food has endured between nature and my shopping trolley, the better. Having said that, I am not strict about anything, other than enjoying great foods! I don't exclude anything, sugar, fat, carbs, or anything thing else currently being axed by many people for one reason or another because I know that for me, that will never work. I seek a balance...yes, sometimes I will bake a nice dessert and enjoy it without guilt, but not every day! Everything in moderation...even moderation! I have a secret desire to be on the television show, My Kitchen Rules, but since I'm not, I will sometimes use a packaged spice mix or some other shortcut such as frozen pastry...this is real cooking, not competition but I still want to do the best I can for myself, my family and you, my readers. But I won't make apologies for it...honestly I don't see any reason to spend the time to fold and roll and fold and roll, rest, fold and roll, fold and roll pastry to make puff pastry...they have fantastic puff pastry at the supermarket...as well as filo dough. Those are two pastries you won't see me make from scratch! LOL In fact my culinary instructor in culinary school told us the same thing...buy them... no need to make them! So Manu, I have the utmost respect for you, but since you aren't at my table, I will use the store-bought items from time to time! :-)

So, since some things are different here, my learning and experimenting continues...and so I thought I would share my continued culinary adventures with you...

I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I do!