Diamonds and Garlic Pearlers

I'm not one for fiddling much with earrings, but for this year's aromatic little pearlers, I thought I'd make an exception. 

Forget 'diamonds on the soles of her shoes' (not that I'd have a problem with a few sparkly rocks). 

For me, it's more like 'bulbs on the end of her lobes'.

Culinary Regards, 

Julia Svoice

(Julia Hebaiter in Another Life)

FoodLit Writer, Feel-Good Food Lover & Storyteller
www.foodlit.com.au

Because Food Sans Story is Bland

My Type of Xmas Tree... Day 82, 9 To Go..

Local loquats, sweet and sublime. The first stone fruit of the season, loquats abound in my neighbourhood right now and probably in yours. Eyes open and arms outstretched, fellow food lovers.

For those who are yet to be acquainted, pick when bright yellow and soft (or a bit sooner if you need to beat the birds). Peel and pop into your mouth, spitting out the three large, brown pips inside. A bit melony, mangoey and perhaps peachy, they're very deserving of your love and attention.

Is anyone else sick of all the Christmas marketing yet? Makes you want to run away and live off the grid. Now, there's an idea.

Foodliterary Regards,

Julia Svoice

(Julia Hebaiter in Another Life)

FoodLit Writer, Feel-Good Food Lover & Storyteller
www.foodlit.com.au

Because Food Sans Story is Bland

Lemon Balminess - Day 74, 17 To Go...

Waiting for inspiration can mean wallowing in blah. A few days' absence from my blog have reminded me that taking action is the way to inspiration. During a brisk walk just now, sweetly seasoned by a few purloined, plump mulberries, I decided to write a blog when I got back, on what I wasn't too sure. 

By the time I arrived home, lips nicely purpled by mulberry juice and telltale fingers similarly stained, I had lemon balm on my mind, which is much more pleasant than the negativity that sometimes pervades my mind prior to a big full moon. (If the world's tides are affected, to think that we aren't is plain arrogance.)

I first stumbled across it outside a cafe in the Dandenong Mountains after cherry-picking with my daughter's fiancee and future in-laws last summer. What better way for everyone to get to know each other than over a good food adventure?

Naturally, I surreptitiously yanked a stem up with roots intact. I didn't know what it was then; I just knew I loved it. After planting it at home, it struggled and looked quite dead by the end of winter, but must've shed a few seeds because it's now sprouting up all over the place of its own lovely, lemony accord. 

I'm very excited about the addition of this little lady to the herb family out back. She's pretty, fragrant, minty, makes a great tea and is known for her calming, sleep-inducing and digestive qualities. 

She's also now infused with the joys of getting to know my daughter's big, extending family better and the memories of a fun cherry picking expedition. Throughout the writing and the sipping, she's also now fixed in my mind as an ideal natural antedote to any pre-full moon blues.  

I feel so much better, whether it's the tea, the memories, the decision to inspire myself - or the fact that I got to use the word 'surreptitiously'. 

Surreptitious, in itself, is a delicious word that also happens to rhyme with same. Neat, huh? In my world at least!

Image by Permablitz

Foodliterary Regards,

Julia Svoice

(Julia Hebaiter in Another Life)

FoodLit Writer, Feel-Good Food Lover & Storyteller
www.foodlit.com.au

Because Food Sans Story is Bland

When It's All Too Much, Shell Beans ... Day 72, 19 To Go..

..and peas if you have. It's easy to get caught up in, well, the crap, the things you think are all so important, but really don't matter at all. If there's one thing that brings perspective, it's nature, whether in the backyard, at the beach or in the hills. 

Feeling a little off centre yesterday afternoon, I clawed myself away from the computer and sunk into the garden, which is an almighty, blessed mess at the moment. No order, structure, routine or plan. The rest of life demands enough of that. Just nature's plan doing her own thing and me in there messing about and helping her out when I have the time.

I shelled broad beans and peas, the mind slowed, my feet hit the earth, the knot in my stomach released and the sun came out. The top broad bean still in its shell contains beans the size of my thumb, my whole thumb, hence the peas for an attempt at visual perspective.

With balance in mind, or the heart calling for it if truth be told, I'm off to walk the beach with my feet in the water, followed by sensory fulfillment at Taste of Melbourne. Food isn't all about the stomach; you see it, smell it, touch it and wonder at it before you even taste it.

Wishing you balance and blessings in whatever size, shape or form that means for you.

And remaining open to editors looking for a fresh voice in food, the land and the inextricable link between them.  

Foodliterary Regards,

Julia Svoice

(Julia Hebaiter in Another Life)

FoodLit Writer, Feel-Good Food Lover & Storyteller
www.foodlit.com.au

Because Food Sans Story is Bland

Do You Know The Arnott Family? Day 64, 27 To Go ...

I don't either, but if we did know the family who grew these veggies, their farm and their story, our roasted beetroot and  pumpkin soup would taste even better because it'd be infused with story. 

Food we've nurtured to fruition in our backyards tastes better too, not only for its peak freshness, but because it has story, a known history and sometimes adventure. 

Food sans story is bland. Lifeless. Story tastes good. So does adventure and, as the gleaners out there would know, smugness is particularly flavorsome. 

Taking it a step further, stolen fruit tastes better still. Please masticate a while on this little story I wrote. 

And please share with me any great food finds you've made.

Foodliterary Regards,

Julia Svoice

(Julia Hebaiter in Another Life)

FoodLit Writer, Feel-Good Food Lover & Storyteller
www.foodlit.com.au

Because Food Sans Story is Bland

Oasis Emporium. Anyone for Brekkie? Or Cheese? Day 63, 28 To Go ....

Our favourite local food store, Oasis Bakery, isn't just a bakery, it's an emporium that just had a makeover including new deli (with more than 100 local and imported cheeses), dessert bar and fresh produce section.

There's a buzz around town, in store and, of course, in my belly. After today's Lebanese breakfast (which also come with chilli labneh balls) with my daughter and a serious exploration of all the latest additions, it's a thumbs up. Don't underestimate the size of this 'store' with more. It even has its own information booth, with new Mornington store planned on a 1.6 hectare site. Mind blowing. 

Even if I don't eat cheese, I'm excited. Sometimes the excitement is in the concept, the visual, the watching a business grow from a tiny, single-fronted shop to a mega pleasure palace - and, of course, I do eat prosciutto, good ham, pickled things, nougat, halva, turkish delight and, and, and..

Have you been? More importantly, what did you eat?

Foodliterary Regards,

Julia Svoice

(Julia Hebaiter in Another Life)

FoodLit Writer, Feel-Good Food Lover & Storyteller
www.foodlit.com.au

Because Food Sans Story is Bland

Foraging Funnies. Day 66, 25 To Go...

When standing in a paddock, most see a paddock. I see a salad or bowl of lovely steamed greens. It's an Italian thing. We find food everywhere we go - but finding a neat, knife-peeled orange on the nature strip in suburbia is just too confounding a find to get my mind around.


Some of you know I've found oranges on sandy stretches of beach. Some of you also know we've found pumpkins in the bush, such extra-territorial finds posing both perplexing questions and exciting adventures.

What's the strangest food item you've ever stumbled across? Or the strangest place you've found food in?

Foodliterary Regards,

Julia Svoice

(Julia Hebaiter in Another Life)

FoodLit Writer, Feel-Good Food Lover & Storyteller
www.foodlit.com.au

Because Food Sans Story is Bland

Hands up to Win Taste of Melbourne Tickets!

Do you see fingers? I see forks! Lots of them, aptly, given Taste of Melbourne is about to roll out across four delicious days al fresco at Pelican Lawn at Albert Park.

Am I excited? Yes. Can I wait? No. Want to go?

FoodLit has two double passes up for grabs (with either fingers or forks). All you need do is subscribe. And, no, I won't spam you and send you endless emails full of self promotion. I don't have time.


See you there. I'll be the one juggling several taster plates dished up by some of Melbourne's best restaurants as well as food samples from the artisan market, where some 80 stallholders will be keeping tatsebuds hopping.

I'll also have the first of the seasons cherries dangling from my ears - and a box of them under my arm. 

While I don't often use over-used acronyms, 

OMG.

Foodliterary Regards,

Julia Svoice

(Julia Hebaiter in Another Life)

FoodLit Writer, Feel-Good Food Lover & Storyteller
www.foodlit.com.au

Because Food Sans Story is Bland

You Can't Keep a Good Passionfruit Down - Day 64, 27 To Go..

Image by Jeffrey Friedl

We had a prolific passionfruit. Heavy with fruit and lively with life, its leaves caught the light, its tendrils caught the trellis, and its flowers caught the infectiousness of spring and would starburst to life. 

We'd watch her from the kitchen window, taking the chore out of washing the dishes. 

Until the neighbour poisoned her last year because of her weighty presence on the fence. 

Let's not get into it. Why spoil what was a particularly shiny spring day?

A passionate and vigorous bearer, she obviously wasn't going to take it lying down, springing back to life this year of her own accord. I'd pulled out her lifeless trunk, so it was a feisty, determined little seed that righted the wrong.

At first I mistook her first few shoots as some sort of citrus and popped her into a pot to see whether she'd grow up to be an orange or a lemon, so was elated to recently discover the elegant tendrils announcing her true identity.

She'll be relocated to a fence soon, but not the same one, of course. We need to remain neighbours for a while yet.

Have you had any not so neighbourly garden situations?

Foodliterary Regards,

Julia Svoice

(Julia Hebaiter in Another Life)

FoodLit Writer, Feel-Good Food Lover & Storyteller
www.foodlit.com.au

Because Food Sans Story is Bland

Lunch Italian Style - Day 63, 28 To Go....

That's all.
No plate. We have hands. 
No cutlery. We have fingers. 
No napkins. We have the back of our hand. 

 If lost on a desert island like Tom Hanks in Castaway, we would even trade Wilson the basketball for prosciutto, a loaf of good bread (this one has a semolina crust for extra crunch) and a few salted, dried olives (these ones 'borrowed' from a tree around the corner and 'consati' or 'fixed'.)

You can't eat a ball after all. 
Unless it's a ball of mozzarella.

Foodliterary Regards,

Julia Svoice

(Julia Hebaiter in Another Life)

FoodLit Writer, Feel-Good Food Lover & Storyteller
www.foodlit.com.au

Because Food Sans Story is Bland

A Really Tasty Broad - Day 62, 29 To Go...

How well do you know her? Those of you already acquainted with the broad bean know she makes a delicious dip, especially when made with a punchy, creamy feta and mint for spring zing. 

The Italian classic, pasta e fave, hits the heart spot, while broad beans sauteed in a little onion and garlic with fresh garden peas until soft are simply sublime. Of course, what grows together goes together, so finish with a hit of mint for a last minute lift. These three humble numbers are currently having spring dance parties in my garden at night.

What many don't know is that fresh broad beans, ideally soft and tender so best home grown or bought from a farmers' market, are really, really good with really good bread. Say that a few times over. 

Actually, don't. Save it for chewing on a chewy sour dough baguette and broad beans. It's a very surprising flavour and texture combination that speaks volumes. 

Do as many Italians are doing right now as we speak given the peaking broad bean season - and try it.

Foodliterary Regards,

Julia Svoice

(Julia Hebaiter in Another Life)

FoodLit Writer, Feel-Good Food Lover & Storyteller
www.foodlit.com.au

Because Food Sans Story is Bland

Hello Editors & Publishers! Day 57, 34 To Go...

Lakshmi Rising From The Lotus (Or Me From A Well-Satiated Zucchini)

When the editor of one of your favourite magazines reads your blog and calls to say we want you on the team, it doesn't matter that:

-  your blog isn't optimised for mobile friendliness
-  you've been trying to upload images to Instagram from your laptop instead of your phone..
-  your social media strategy lies in a paper (yes, the stuff that grows on trees) mess with 
   sticky notes, highlighter and confusion written all over it

It's such a mess, in fact, that the sight of it makes me want to hurl myself into the kitchen, fridge, stove and oven (not literally) and cook myself (not literally) into escapism - or tramp to the garden and dig myself a hole with my shiny, new red spade, not to bury myself in, but to plant a new tomato seedling after the cat next door scratched out the last one, peed on it and killed it.

Editors, I'm available for writing work with the right mags. Here's my profile.  

Publishers, I'm making good progress on my book.  

Everyone, I'm taking two days off from my keyboard and my un-optimised mobile to be in spring.

Foodliterary Regards,

Julia Svoice

(Julia Hebaiter in Another Life)

FoodLit Writer, Feel-Good Food Lover & Storyteller
www.foodlit.com.au

Because Food Sans Story is Bland

Multi-Generational Mulberries - Day 56, 35 To Go...

 Image by Shuttershock

A tradie comes around first thing in the morning, sees a bowl of mulberries on the table and gets excited. That in itself is interesting. Many tradies wouldn't know a mulberry from a mung bean.

'My grandfather used to have a tree,' he says, the nostalgia lighting up his eyes as happens when recalling fond memories married with food.

'Take some.'

'Oh, no. It's okay,' he says politely.

'Please. Take some.'

He accepts.

'I'll have them with my son.' He's animated, naturally.

'You know mulberry leaves are fed to silkworms so they make better quality silk?' I say.

'Really? Wow. Good food's not such a big thing these days, is it?' he laments.

'Er... it is in some circles.'
  
And it will be even bigger if I get out of my way and let my work be done.

That's all. Good food-love shared. My work for the day done - and by 9am!

Foodliterary Regards,

Julia Svoice

(Julia Hebaiter in Another Life)

FoodLit Writer, Feel-Good Food Lover & Storyteller
www.foodlit.com.au

Because Food Sans Story is Bland

Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Heart - Day 55, 36 To Go...

Image by All Remedies

She's simple and sweet - both today's blog and the honey, lemon and mint tea lubricating  strained throats as my place today. Ginger is optional. If you have a hot liver, avoid it. Otherwise, go for it.

Sore throats, contrary to common belief by the masses, aren't a bad thing. As with all ailments, they're speaking to you. This one's saying shut your mouth and open your heart. Who am I to argue?

Sweet dreams, folks. Mine will visit early tonight.

Foodliterary Regards,

Julia Svoice

(Julia Hebaiter in Another Life)

FoodLit Writer, Feel-Good Food Lover & Storyteller
www.foodlit.com.au

Because Food Sans Story is Bland

Berry Exciting - Day 54, 37 To Go....

Round and round 

The mulberry bush

Like a for-a-ger.

 One step, two step,

Tickle under there.

How did these blushing beauties end up in my kitchen and my mouth? 

Find out here.

 

Foodliterary Regards,

Julia Svoice

(Julia Hebaiter in Another Life)

FoodLit Writer, Feel-Good Food Lover & Storyteller
www.foodlit.com.au

Because Food Sans Story is Bland

Grounding Spring Bling... Day 53, 38 To Go...

My Crimson Flowering Broad Beans

Words can't capture, photos to an extent, reality (as with everything) in their full glory.

A bonus to the brightness they bring to the winter/spring garden is that they make beans. Even if they didn't, they're still worthy of a plot. Short pods with three or four sweet, tightly hugged beans. Snug, warm from spring sun. More.

Locals can visit to experience the reality. I have seeds available.

Culminating in my idea of spring bling (with hats left on given they're young and tender):

Maybe with a little broth, short pasta and parsley or tossed through a penne pasta with spring cousins, mint, zucchini, fennel, lemon zest and year-rounder, Parmesan, (capitalised as it's earned it).

Polish off and sing. It's spring.


Foodliterary Regards,

Julia Svoice

(Julia Hebaiter in Another Life)

FoodLit Writer, Feel-Good Food Lover & Storyteller
www.foodlit.com.au

Because Food Sans Story is Bland

As Random as a Treehouse in... Day 52, 39 To Go...

Having been through my share of life's challenges, nothing much surprises me anymore. 

Take the recent loss of my credit card. I did all the normal things: retraced my steps; checked all pockets; dug into all those sneaky little pockets in bags and purses; did contortions in the car checking all possible places; searched the house; got the bank to put a temporary lock on it; and constantly checked my account to ensure no one had flown to Brazil on it regardless.

All the while something was telling me not to worry, that it wasn't 'out there', lost on the streets, or in the hands of an identify thief or Nigerian scammer. So I didn't.

Today, looking out the kitchen window at the rain blessing my garden and the hail simultaneously hammering it, I saw this:

Yes, as random as finding  a treehouse in a head of broccoli.

And, yes, a sign of the treasures that lie in gardens.

Foodliterary Regards,

Julia Svoice

(Julia Hebaiter in Another Life)

FoodLit Writer, Feel-Good Food Lover & Storyteller
www.foodlit.com.au

Because Food Sans Story is Bland

'Deconstructed' Re-defined - Day 51, 40 To Go...

By John Cherry

Planning a lunch for around 60
With a few factors, 
As the word suggests, to factor in.
Food is to be bought at a reasonable price
And transported three hours by car. 

Chorus:
It will be prepared 
By several people
With different ideas 
And cooking abilities
In a very small kitchen.

It must be substantial given dinner will be late,
But must have different main proteins than dinner
For the sake of variety. 
It must suit vegetarians, carnivores and children
And be ready at a specified time.
 
Chorus:
It will be prepared 
By several people
With different ideas 
And cooking abilities
In a very small kitchen. 

Repeat chorus for a third time.

Luckily it unfolds, or unravels, at a meditation centre where the Gods will be smiling upon and around us. Otherwise, it'd be a recipe for a deconstructed disaster.

Foodliterary Regards,

Julia Svoice

(Julia Hebaiter in Another Life)

FoodLit Writer, Feel-Good Food Lover & Storyteller
www.foodlit.com.au

Because Food Sans Story is Bland

Truffle Kerfuffle.. Day 50, 41 To Go

Finding a humungous truffle on my suburban nature strip had me envisioning truffle buyers jostling for prime position as they lined up at my door with pockets full of cash.

Doing a little further research had me waving my imaginary buyers goodbye with a sniff - of disappointment, not one of pungent, prized, expensive truffle. 

While my local specimen smelled mighty good, it turns out that Australia is home to thousands of varieties of native truffles, all largely inedible. Sniff sniff. 

I've since found dozens all over, from my virtual doorstep and the Beaumaris coastal path to the clifftops of Anglesea and the two below in the hills of the Grampians. 

While supposedly inedible, I remain curious. I mean most people think many foraged foods are inedible, right? Still, and even though our local truffles are said to be non-poisonous, would you be game to try some unknown fungal specimen protruding from the ground? Not me. I love my life. I mean, did someone taste-test every single variety? And of course, if they struck a poisonous one, they wouldn't be here to tell the tale, right? 
 

Foodliterary Regards,

Julia Svoice

(Julia Hebaiter in Another Life)

FoodLit Writer, Feel-Good Food Lover & Storyteller
www.foodlit.com.au

Because Food Sans Story is Bland