Recently in Musings Category

Of late, we've had a fair bit of drama around here with freakish hailstorms, flash flooding, leaky house, husband falling off the ladder and an unexpected visit to the emergency room. Then there was a rather looong stretch (10 days to be exact), of doing it alone with the kid's, as Stephen had to fly to the U.S on crutches, for business.

Thankfully Stephen arrived home from San Francisco safely last Friday, to then develop a nasty oedema to his already broken foot! Yes - I know we *all* saw that one coming! So kiss goodbye any hope of heading down to the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival over the weekend, as I had to add Florence Nightingale to my already overtired repertoire.

Hence, after seeing the doctor and establishing that the patient was safe to travel, we decided to head down to my cousins beach house and have our own food and wine festival ourselves.

One of the main reasons why I started Gourmet Worrier was so that I could have a place to write as my focus has always been on 'words' not 'pictures'. Yet, very early on I realised that in order to maintain an audience for any length of time I needed to scatter some enticing images throughout my posts, otherwise people would soon tire of my voice.

And so I hesitantly picked up my Nikon and began to take photos of food, food and more food. The reason why I say 'hesitantly' is because I have never considered myself much of a photographer. Sure, I have taken thousands of travel and family photos over the years but I'm just a person who enjoys documenting life through pictures.

When we went away over the Christmas break I couldn't care less if the house fell down or if my neighbours forgot to take my recycle bin out. What did give me major anxiety were my tomato plants, especially with the insane heat that was forecast for New Years Eve.

I promised Ava and Steve that if they watered my tomato plants everyday I would make them a huge batch of chocolate gelato upon my return. So I guess I better go drag my ice cream maker out of the cupboard!

I've just had the most wonderful break, as we were able to steal away to the cozy coastal suburb of Jan Juc for a week. It's amazing how quickly you're able to relax and unwind when you deliberately leave your peripheral gadgets behind, so much so that I even managed to set fire to the panettone toast last Sunday.

Today marks a year since I published my first ever post on Gourmet Worrier and thus made my debut onto the blogging scene. In doing so, I unexpectedly joined the ranks of those suffering from what has been referred to by some as 'gourmand syndrome', which as far as I'm concerned is a most pleasurable and joyous condition to be struck down with.

In looking back at the year that was, I can honestly say that I didn't really think that anyone would be remotely interested in what I had to say, think or cook. Hence, I am completely gobsmacked that people actually take the time to read my blog and continue to do so every day!

I primarily started this blog for me, as I desperately needed a place where I could find my 'own' voice and 'vent my gastronomic spleen'. If truth were told, I never set out to write for any given audience, because no one was really out there, right? I was happy with my little piece of the blogosphere, content being Ms Gourmet the anonymous, naive, newbie blogger.

Yet within what seemed like a matter of moments I began to connect with other like-minded food centric souls who not only understood me, but also wanted to 'follow me' and get to know me. Your genuine interest, honesty and sincerity demanded that I shed my alias and reveal myself - pronto! So down went the 'bumblebee' avatar and up went the photo of moi! Yes I was cautious and tentative like the rest of you, but I allowed myself to be led by instinct and began to let you in one at a time.



I now enjoy the many conversations that fill my day with people I would never have had the chance to connect with due to the obvious constraints of time and geography. For someone who is painfully introverted, deeply suspicious and at times can border on paranoid - blogging has proven to be a most therapeutic outlet.

Despite my major faux pars and the huge learning curve before me, many fellow blogger's have proven to be incredibly generous and helpful with their suggestions and advice, and so for this I thank you!  Very early on there was Christie with her constructive, yet ever so gentle criticism, followed shortly there after by Ilva who although frank and direct is also incredibly seasoned, honest and wise. Then along came Bron, Deb, Jessica and Mona and to my utter joy came Heidi, Jamie, Anissa, Pip and Denise. Never in a million years would I have ever believed that Marcella herself would show up on Gourmet Worrier.

Dear readers I'm constantly blown-away by your friendship and incredible kindness, despite us having never met face to face or having shared a meal together. Well all except for Mona who not only shared a meal or two with Huxley and I when we were recently in Malta, but who then graciously allowed us to crash in her guest room after that unforgettable meal at Tal-familja.

It was only late last week that I found this gorgeous comment that Elaine had recently left on my very first post. Hence, Elaine managed to articulate everything that I am currently feeling at this time:

'Blogging serves a purpose if only to allow some to bloviate endlessly. However, when one magically connects with a food geek that is serious about their obsession then palates are expanded, relationships developed and food knowledge grows. Sharing meals, cooking marathons, or visiting markets together all virtually, makes those experiences all the more sweeter.


Thank you internet, for bringing together a food community we otherwise may never have known, with those such as Ms. Gourmet.'


So thank you for coming along with me on this journey of sorts and for helping me to understand that genuine, authentic connection is far more rewarding than hits and page views!

Last Sunday I decided to take the plunge and set up a flickr account. Yes I know, I procrastinate and dally about the obvious, but like I said to my dear friend Lenny 'I'm a slow learner, but my uptake is huge'. So here's a little slide show of a year in food at Gourmet Worrier, well almost a year.

We were fortunate enough to have had three weeks in three stunning countries, well four countries if you agree with the local distinction that Malta & Gozo are in fact two different countries. There were many magnificent meals, some incredible food experiences and I thoroughly enjoyed and savoured every mouth full and every last bite.

Before we left Melbourne I made a vow with my travelling companions that time was precious and we could not afford to have a bad food experience.  Malta, Spain and France did not disappoint us. There was only one slight hiccup, but you can read about that disastrous food experience here in your own leisure time.



As I flick through the four thousand odd photos that I took of my recent travels I am instantly flooded with countless food and travel memories. To my utter joy and delight I was fortunate enough to have connected with some wonderful people along the way. As a direct result, several unexpected friendships and alliances have since ensued.

I so wish that we could sit down over a cup of coffee and just chat for a couple of hours as I have so many things I want to share with you. Instead you have to bear with me as I attempt to resume life, as I knew it. Hence, as jet lag becomes a thing of the past and this weekend's birthday celebrations are well and truly over I will attempt to begin to chronicle and share with you in both word and image the amazing experiences I have had over the next little while.

Most days I feel like banging my head against a hard wall in sheer frustration as the often repetitive nature of parenting can be downright tiresome at best. 

And then there are times when I am quite overwhelmed by the sheer brilliance and intensity of my children and all the nagging, arguing and negotiating pales into insignificance. 

A couple of weeks ago I saw this quote on a wall at the Art Factory and thought to myself that I ought to tattoo these words of wisdom to my forehead, to help me during those times when I'm feeling utterly exasperated with my children.

When I started blogging late last year I had no idea what I was getting myself into. All I really wanted to do was write, and to be perfectly honest I hadn't given much thought about whether or not my trivial musings and personal slant on food and life would be appreciated at all. It still amazes me that people actually read my blog and faithfully continue to do so everyday.

Hence, from an early age I have journaled as I find it much easier to express my thoughts and observations in written form. To this day I have boxes crammed full of short stories and poetry that I frantically penned as an angst ridden adolescent. As I embarked upon my studies in my early twenties my writing became more technical as I studied human cognition and behaviour. I still kept a journal hidden away for my eyes only, but I would frequent it less often. As I became swamped with motherhood the journal disappeared altogether as who has the time to reflect and write when you're on the job twenty-four-seven?

So last September whilst lying on our favourite beach in Gozo, Huxley casually asked me what I wanted to do with my time now that Hoover was about to start kindergarten. I facetiously replied 'write for Gourmet Traveller' as food and travel is what motivates me most days. He then replied 'why not start your own blog'. As it turned out Gourmet Traveller weren't banging on my door, so I decided to take him up on his suggestion. And so here I find myself most days writing, cooking, meeting people, exchanging ideas, inspired and renewed.

An old friend who I have recently reconnected with on Facebook is now reading my blog. In an email she briefly mentioned that she'd love to catch up over a coffee and chat about a few things and 'exchange life stories and generally chew the fat'.  As you would expect I was thrilled to meet with her as we haven't seen each other for over ten years.  

So last Thursday she arrived at my door with a bunch of Iris's in her arms. We embraced each other as long lost friends and then swiftly came up to speed with the major events of the last decade or so. I must admit I was a little curious as to why she was sitting at my kitchen table after all these years, but the coffee was good and so was the conversation.

                 Photo - Ilva Beretta (2009).

Today Hoover, Fussy and I made Goop - inedible stuff but a whole lot of fun! All you need is a couple of boxes of corn flour, water, food colouring and two extremely stir crazy kids. Seriously, the kids had a ball and they left me alone for an hour or so to catch up on emails while they played on the decking and gooped away!


Although I am still trying to figure out how to get their hands back to a normal colour! Thankfully school does not resume until next week.