A grand part of this adventurous lifestyle is the diversification of our diet.

The beauteous, bountiful, delight of flavoursome flavours and seasonal sensations….

What we eat and when we eat and where we are at the time, becomes significant in our days and our memories.

Meals shared, simple or imaginative become one of the threads woven into our travels.

“remember the first cherries of the season, fat and almost black, on that 42’c day, edging closer to Melbourne with bushfire smoke in the breeze and a trail of cherry pips behind us like Hansel and Gretel…”

There is simply more time to apply to our meals, and where and how we procure them {usually}

Sometimes we gather our own.

Often we go grower direct at farmers markets or roadside stalls or community gardens or your garden…

we may invite our hosts, our neighbours, strangers or friends…

I am patient enough to include the children in the preparation when they are interested.

I am relaxed enough to leave the pancake making to Lily and not fret about the floury kiss she leaves.

We often times eat outdoors which brings it’s own magic to dining.

Splendid sky shows or animal shows, scents or sand or sweet water trickling, the diversity of our surrounds keeps us amused as we are cosied up in our own dining room watching the world.

Places are noted by what we ate or found there.

Mealtimes become a simple time of togetherness and sharing.

we may sing or say a blessing while holding hands or we may dig in

we may play apples and onions, a game in which each shares the apple {high point} and onion {challenge} of their day

we may not talk at all or there may be silliness and giggles, playing with food creatively or coaxing children to eat what they aren’t interested in. there may be sadness or stillness, tiredness or crying, tantrums and food on the floor, abandoned plates or plates licked clean, cosy inside, crammed inside, on the ground mat, in someone else’s home, in a carpark, by the sea the creek or the sand, we may be in the park or in your garden, it’s not like the rhythm of our table at home, but in it all there is a rhythm and hum of family time wherever we are sharing food and the making of memories.

sometimes it’s the gratitude of cooking in a kitchen provided by a generous friend, the joy of baking in ovens and hot water on tap and the warmth of friendship around the table

thankyou to all of you out in the world who support our journey, it means so much to me xx

some glimpses…

Oatlands, salmon pasta, each of us making our plate uniquely and organic Callington mill woodfired bread.

Circus Festival, 4 kg organic Blueberries picked ourselves and as big a grapes {well small grapes}

Cockle Creek, cockles found with our toes and served with risotto, tomato mussels and watching Jesse slurp palm sized oysters

Hobart playground, 4kg sweetest apricots, 1 kg silvanberries, 1kg blackberries, 1 kg cherries, and oh more blueberries… mmmmm

Hobart dock front, fresh bread and eggs, kale and tomatoes and basil fresh from market while the others are in bed still, hands cold from the chill morning wind

porridge porridge lots of porridge {and stirred with my new Huon Pine Spurtle to replace my hand lathed NZ pear wood  spurtle from 2008}

Niyahitiny’s, pancakes and pancakes and pancakes and hot potato chips salty with rosemary and fresh garden salads and also berry sago coconut pudding

and let’s not forget the yumminess of vanilla icecreams in mini cones with fresh rasberries mashed into it found on the way there…

Cloudy Bay, abalone and fish and 40 strawberries

Ferry off Bruny Island, $50 of cheeses and fresh bread warm from the oven

each cheese round has it’s ‘birthday’ inscribed on it

Liffey Falls, picnic with Lily in the middle of the river on a wide rock, nori rolls and dried fruit

Tasmazia, popcorn in the middle of the hexagon maze, flopping in the sunshine feeling glorious

Cygnet, savory pancakes with punchy Swiss style goats cheese

Port Huon, more pancakes with blueberries watching the sunset over sailing boats and golden hills and then an invitation to go sailing on Thursday afternoons if we return…

Hobart Italian Street fiesta, huddled in the shade with fresh pizza and the italian chatter over our heads

Warburton, raw zucchini pasta salad with all ingredients picked from the public gardens except olives and cheese

Little Peninsula, bean tortillas, the benches are all rotted out and wet so we all perch on the table, it’s really messy and the kids have their feet on the table and love it…

Dancing Ground Festival,400 people, happy queues for wholesome catering under a glowing red tent, kids and parents to the front!

endless delicious meals in the grandparents kitchen, sitting on the stools playing ‘whats your favorite pottery’ with Lily

many meals in our welcoming friends homes and gardens

many meals quietly and unremarkably pass by also…

hmm reflecting on this above, it’s an awful lot of fruit, pancakes, cheese and bread… varied diet?

{absolutely, I just don’t photograph the steamed veg and rice meals and other as they are all too familiar …}

are you hungry now?

is food central in your family connection?

do you grow/make/forage your own?

do you have a lovely foodie memory with us?

xx

peace and mung beans