Week 47 - Food Week - We round off the Week with our favorite food fanatic

Edited BY


G P Kennedy


Simon - Perth, WA



 I suppose my earliest food-related memory IS cake and biscuits at birthday parties.


Then, would be walking in the house after coming back from primary school and hoping that some wonderful smell would be coming from the kitchen.


My Mum was a great cook, and a few times a week, we would have something really nice in mid-week. like chili or even spare ribs. I got pretty good at guessing what it was from one or two sniffs.


 After a while, I sometimes got involved in helping out, stirring a pan, or sometimes chopping things up. At around the age of 12 or 13, I loved spending some time in the kitchen with Mum and helping to prepare family meals.



We had a sort of unofficial roster of about 15 or 20 dishes that used to make appearances about 4 times a week.


Friday was quite often take-away, Saturday was get-it-yourself day, and Sunday was a roast.


 Before I knew it, I could basically cook all of these dishes pretty much by myself just by sticking to Mums’ unofficial verbal recipes. 40 years on.


I still cook most of these for my family exactly the same way. Mum passed away 17 years ago, but food gives me a great connection with her, and I like to talk to my kids about her and how she helped me to learn to cook.





 At high school, at the age of about 14, I had the choice of studying woodwork or home economics.


Without hesitation, I chose the latter and was amazed when I found out I was the only boy in the class of about 25!


 My friends thought it was hilarious and called me all sorts of names, some of which you might get arrested for today. They soon shut up when I marched out bearing chocolate cake and pizza while they showed me a half-finished tent peg. Then I told them I had 25 girls in my class…


My wife thinks I’m mad, as I would quite happily spend 10 hours at work and then sit in the kitchen for 2 or 3 making dinner. If I could get away with it now, I would.





 As the kids get older, they are showing some culinary interest, which is great.


Hopefully, in a few years, I can start passing on the family recipes properly. We don’t use any prepacked or premade sauces, mixes, or any of that stuff. 


 Sure, cooking takes a little longer, but it’s cheaper and contains no nasties. The Kids know this, and seeing the state and the size of some of their friends in school helps to remind them.





 Food shopping becomes something I really look forward to, and often I will buy something seasonal, or that is on special and just wing it.


 Having chickens and a bit of a veggie patch is a massive bonus, and we are self-sufficient in herbs and citrus, which is great.









So last weekend we had,

Saturday - Thai Green Chicken Curry. Our son was out on a sleepover, and our daughter had a friend over, so we made this old favorite.


Sunday - A roast, of course.

Pretty much my favorite meal of all time with heaps of vegetables and a great way of having leftovers for everyone’s lunches for a few days.


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