Cadbury

Thank you for such a fascinating glimpse into your world. Gorgeous pictures, gorgeous food and gorgeous children. Totally addictive, I think I'll have me some garlic fried rice.

I often refer to 100 Recipes from Japanese Cooking (Hata Koichiro and Kondo Kazuki) from Kodansha Bilingual Books. This has black and white photos of each dish and the recipe is in Japanese on the left of each page, English on the right. There is also a glossary, including illustrations, of common ingredients, cutting techniques and utensils. The ISBN is 4-7700-2079-1. (Sorry, I can't remember how to do an amazon link thru eGullet.)

Several years ago I was doing an "edible science" topic with my students (aged 9-12 years old). On this particular day they were in small groups of two or three following written instructions to make ice cream. Each group had a small ziplock bag, a large ziploc, ice, salt and milk sugar etc to make the mixture. The idea being that the mixture was zipped into the small bag which was then placed in the large one with the salt and ice, and then given a good shake. I'm sure you can guess where I'm heading here... One group (just one!) got ahead of themselves, didn't bother reading all of the directions and poured their icecream mix over the ice and salt. They didn't even observe what the other groups were doing and had no idea they'd messed up until they actually tasted the very salty icecream. You should have seen their faces.

Baby 3 has actually been the worst of all three pregnancies. I had trouble eating or drinking anything which contained sugar in any form (even milk), it all left a really awful taste in my mouth. Morning sickness was worse in the afternoon, but thankfully has gone now. No cravings though - and being number three and 50km to the nearest shops, I don't think I would have been indulged with them anyhow!

I can't think of any that I didn't like. When I first went to Japan, fresh bread was somewhat of a novelty (for me, not the Japanese). The filling combinations were interesting. I used to occasionally have sandwiches for lunch instead of obentoo and l particularly liked the cabbage and bacon filling my host mother would make. Anything with egg was a winner too.

Unopened they are OK, but once opened they really don't last as long as one would think.. they don't go off per'se, but the flavour does degrade into something not too pleasant! ← Yup, and if the lid is left off, it will dry up somewhat and become harder to spread. That said, i have been known to use vegemite from a jar three years past its date (what can I say - I was desperate!!)

I think you would be better off asking for several smaller jars of vegemite, that way it remains fresh. Unopened jars will last for a long time, well passed the use-by/best-by date. I've not seen NZ marmite - but then I've never looked. We're vegemite and promite eaters in this house. I know that shops specialising in NZ products can be found. I can recommend toasted/grilled cheese and vegemite sandwiches as well as vegemite and finely grated cheese sandwiches (untoasted). If you ask for Tim Tams, go the regular variety not the double choc, cuppacino or other varieties - there are more in the regular pack.

I don't miss sweetcorn on my pizza but I do miss the sachets of sweetcorn cup-a-soup concentrate I used to get. They had a lovely smooth flavour. Any sweetcorn soup found here has hard bits of dried corn in it and the flavour is not so crash hot either.

And here I was thinking you meant the peanut butter my youngest takes great delight in smearing around the place (I still call it peanut paste as it was known in Aust while I was growing up - she takes "paste" literally )

Rachel, thank you for such a wonderful blog, full of kind words, wisdom, food and fairies. I've thoroughly enjoyed every moment. I will be printing off your poem for my Oma to see, as she used to write little poems (with illustrations too) for us to enjoy.

What a fantastic poem, Rachel, and a most enjoyable blog. My little Rachel is sitting here wondering why her Mummy has tears rolling down her cheeks. I'm sure she'll enjoy the poem, I just don't think I could read it out loud yet without becoming a jibbering mess.

Klary, it was an internet search for banket that first drew me to this thread last year. I can remember my Oma making it for many a Christmas. I made it for her last Christmas (and more for her birthday in March). I did cheat however and used bought puff pastry. I find the filling hard to resist, I could happily eat it by the spoonful. It's great to see this fabulous thread reappearing at intervals, especially with your photos.

I found this reference to fish maw in wikipedia: The gas bladder (also fish maw, less accurately swim bladder or air bladder) is an internal organ that contributes to the ability of a fish to control its buoyancy.

Damn these pregnancy hormones, the day started with a few tears and got worse when I came on here and read this wonderful blog and the lovely references and memories of grandparents. I had a Grandma on my dad's side. Grandma made chutney and jam and cooked wonderful meals with fresh veges from grandpa's garden. She made cakes, lamingtons and all things sweet and bad for you. She was a lot older than my Oma. Oma is Dutch and her cooking was/is not standard Australian fare (thank goodness). Oma's kitchen was big enough for me to "help" from an early age. She had a wood stove and we were allowed to heat up stew or casserole etc in the saucepans from a little metal tea set. Oma made food with lovely spices and flavours. My children have a Grandma and Grandad, and an Oma and Grandpa as well as Great-grandmothers - Granny and Oma Mab (my Oma).

My husband and I are always on the look-out for finger food platters to share when having a couple of drinks. Something that doesn't require two hands or a knife/fork - need a free hand for the drink . Mini springs rolls are good (if homemade), wedges to dip in a couple of sauces, perhaps a variety of mini-meat pies to introduce your new range of flavours, like a sampler. I'm not sure how wide spread meat pies are in the states but here each variety can be identified by some sort of difference in the top of the pie, for example an extra diamond of pastry or two leaves or three cuts across the top etc, that way you know you're getting the pie you want.

If anyone in Australia is looking for speculaas spices and other Dutch items, I have found this online store very good to deal with. The Silvo brand of speculaas kruiden is a little more peppery than the Euroma brand I'm used to, but good none-the-less.

Okay, here's my take on things - it's difficult to cater for food aversions as they can be very much a day to day thing. Although I certainly agree with Tepee about the food cooking smells. Others have mentioned foods to stay away from - liver/products, soft cheeses, shellfish, undercooked meat (I expect that's why lamb has been mentioned). Also included in the no-no list are deli meats, salamis etc (it's not just the nitrates, but because of listeria fears). Salad vegetables also need to be really well washed. As for heartburn - if there's something delicious on offer, I'll risk the heartburn anytime.

I'm going to start by suggesting a tour of Fremantle Prison clickety. We have done tours inside the prison, and last month did the tunnel tour (this last is over budget but they may want to come back to do it). There is heaps of Perth and Fremantle history involved in the prison, and it has great views. It's within walking distance of many Fremantle attractions and not that far from the train station either. Weekends are not the best time to visit Fremantle, it gets pretty busy. Also interesting is the "Zig Zag Scenic Drive" through Gooseberry Hill National Park. This is a one-way road that zigzags its way down the side of the hill. It's probably better in late Winter, early Spring (August/September/early October) when the wild flowers are at their best.

Local for me IS Australian lamb. Actually, it's running around in the paddock in front of my house. Far superior taste and quality compared to what's available even from our (very good) local butcher. Now if some calves would just wander in our front gate ...

Spring roll is the term I am familiar with, I have only heard "egg roll" in American movies. I make my spring rolls in a similar manner to you, although I often use ground pork because it's easier for children to bite into. Now I'm hungry .

Another vote for smaller portions. I would also like to see something on the dessert menu that I can't also get from the restaurant next door. On the other hand, if traditional desserts are on the menu (tarte tartin, pavlova, apple strudel etc) then I would appreciate knowing if the chef plans on doing his personal interpretation of the dish. I'm not keen on messing with the classics (or surprises). Edited for clarity

Let's see... Baby 1: I craved ice (I was low in iron) and vegetables. Couldn't drink coffee until after food in the morning. It literally tasted like ****. Baby 2: Orange juice had to be available at all times. I only needed a mouthful but drove a 50km round trip to the closest shops once to get some. I could not eat chocolate and since I was newly pregnant at Easter time, my chocolate eggs and bunnies lasted a long time. Once again vegetables were the order of the day. Baby 3: Nothing so far, although I gave the lamb chops a miss last night. I hope my mum doesn't read this as we haven't told anyone yet. Just enjoying our first non IVF pregnancy after 10 years.

Mini-quiches are fabulous with a puff pastry base. You can also roll out into 10" squares, thinly spread with a filling and roll. Slice into small "pinwheels" and bake. Your choice of fillings is only limited by your imagination. We like corn relish and cheese, pesto, smoked salmon etc. If you fancy a puff pastry item for the dessert end of the meal, make "matchsticks" by cutting rectangles of pastry 2"x3" bake, split in half when cold and fill at the last minute with jam and well-whipped cream (perhaps a dash of vanilla and confectioner's sugar). Dust with confectioner's sugar. If it is a more low key dinner, the matchsticks are nicer (crisp) if guests can fill their own.

Wow! I particularly like "Belleza Espanola", I thinks it's the subtle addition of blue that appeals. I come from a place where fruit cake and white fondant is the traditional wedding cake (and groom's cake doesn't exist). Although things are changing in our cities, we're a little more traditional here. I've done a few wedding cakes myself and can appreciate the work that goes into them.

What a fabulous dessert. I've got the limoncello happening but I can't help you with the baba. I'll be watching this thread with interest.