Why do we need food?

My best friend Poppy and i have had numerous discussions regarding this.

She enjoys food, however she doesn't cook a lot and when she does... lets just say that she should perhaps use recipes and follow them accurately rather than making things up. There is the story that my brother continues to tell of her once cooking sausages and a basic salad for her and her boyfriend (now i would never cook sausages, and would never have someone over and offer that as a meal, and my brother was horrified that she was serving that to a guest!!) she thought it was fine though. This is by no means written to offend you my sweets, i love you and think you're great.

I will let you all know that i made her a wonderful cook book of all the recipes i cooked that she liked that i knew she could cook, including tuna stir fry, bruschetta etc. She still rings me for some advice but she is getting the hang of it, and really... she wouldn't starve if she didn't have that as a lifeline.

But Poppy is a special one, she has always said to me that and i quote

"if i didn't have to eat to live i wouldn't eat at all"

Now i believe she thinks differently to that now, but she has always said it is a waste of time and has never had the same passion for food as i have. I am of the complete opposite opinion. I think life is about enjoying yourselves and doing what you love most. And for me that is food. Whether is be eating, cooking or shopping. I love it all and see it as a hobby rather than a chore. i always try new recipes (at least 1 a fortnight) but there are always the classics that i go back to, homemade lasagne (yes yes... with homemade pasta, pasta sauce and a different twist to the white cheese sauce), zucchini slice, risotto, warm chicken salads, sushi, and soups for those cold nights in winter.

I have been of this mindset for years now. I have been a poor uni student for the past 4 years and even though money was tight, the one thing i never stinged on was food. I was happy to pay a little more for quality and eat really yummy ineresting things, and go for the occasional splurge of some green prawns or some atlantic salmon. I have also been lucky to have my family have a shack at Coffin Bay, so most holidays am fortunate enough to feast upon crayfish and lots of whiting and we do the occasional diving days for scallops which are amazing too.

I always thinks it's interesting to see what peoples preferences are, i remember going to uni and other students commenting on my pasta salads, or sandwiches saying they look fancy and hard work.

To be honest they aren't.. i often have tuna, rocket, pesto, roast pumpkin, spanish onion and cherry tomatoes etc in my fridge. They are all basic staples for me so to put them in a salad or sandwich or pasta is really not that hard. I seemed to make a lot of people jelous but never really understood why people thought, actually still think its really difficult to do.

confused...

Cooking New Years Resolutions.

Ok, so every year i usually set new years resolutions including the obvious, exercise more, work and study hard etc but i have always set 'Cooking new Year Resolutions'

Previous years i have attempted the 'Risotto' which is not anywhere near as hard as i thought it would be and with a little help from Jamie oliver, a friends mum and a few practices i have it down pat and have altered the recipes to suit my needs.

My most fav one is chorizo sausage, bacon and mushroom with plenty of white wine in it too!

This year however, i have set a rather large challenge and am going to attempt to make the famous dessert 'Croque en Bouche' which is delish, and even though i am more of a savoury fan i absolutely love the sweet pastry with the custard center and the amazing toffee on top. I mean seriously, who could honestly resist that! mmm... my stonach is growling at the thought of it.

I am also attempting to make perfect omelettes which i have been taught by my brother and his girlfriend. Seeing as breakfast is by far my most favourite meal of the day i am keen to master this one asap.

The omelettes are rather easy:

Simply separate 3 eggs (whites from yolks), and beat each or them lightly.

The whites do NOT need to be peaking, just simply combined together.

Cut all your ingredients into bite sized pieces- this can be any combination of things. Some suggetions are:

chorizo (yes i love it and use it frequently)

spring onions, grilled/ sundried tomatoes, mushrooms, bacon, cheese, holoumi, feta or goats cheese, asparagus.

Anything you like really.

In a hot pan heat some butter or oil and pour in the egg white and make sure it covers the whole pan.

Then pour over the egg yolks and gently swirl it through with a fork.

let it sit for a second then add your topping to the top of the egg.

Cook until base is browning and then using 2 flips, gently flip one side over.

this will only need to cook like this for a short while.

Serve on a plate with yummy crunchy turkish bread or something similar.

Its truly amazing, a little fussy but totally worth it!

Will keep you updated when i start attempting them both!!

Garlic lover.

To begin with....

Food.

It is part of everyday life.

we need it to survive.

But...

I find that all social engagements revolve around food and drinks.

I mean who doesn't enjoy a beautiful glass of red wine and a bowl of homemade chorizo and mushroom risotto or perhaps pizza and a beer would suit you better? either way, the combination of good food and drinks remains to stand as the best and foremost carefree way to socialize.

I am a food lover from way back, and would choose a cheese platter over a cheese burger anyday! (although i will admit to you- that if you do need a cheeseburger fix get:

a Cheeseburger from Maccas

but ask for:

• no pickle
• no onions
• add a rasher of bacon

this is similar to one they have at the moment but it needs the original sauces NOT the BBQ sauce. This altered version of the cheeseburger is now referred to as

'The Mc Noods' it totally rocks.

Let me know what you think if you end up trying one!

But one thing i ponder is how much... is too much?

My 3 best friends and I often catch up for dinner, picnics and various other food engagements, (seeing as 2 of them live out of town- the catch ups are long and therefore need large quantities of yummy to get us through) and although we all love good food we seem to eat in excess rather than being satisfied with small amount of quality.

We recently had our christmas picnic catch up.

The day started as follows:

Hung over-

11am Went out for breaky

Feeing full, went home to pick up things for picnic in the park, then went to the park around 1pm.

1.30pm Ate food at the picnic, put food away and chatted.

3.30pm pulled out the food again and re-snacked

5pm Headed home to change, picked up other people and proceeded to drive to henley beach to get fish and chips for dinner.

Now seriously that is wrong...

but the funny thing is none of us were sick!

and we would all do it again in a heartbeat!

I will continue to log random food/ drink events and post easy meals i cook for myself and my awesome girlfriend. I love to cook and want to share some of the fun.

My next post will be about eating to live and living to eat. Which is something my friends and i discuss a lot!

Bye now.

Garlic Lover. x