Sunday 19^th August

Happy birthday today to Rebecca.  42 – the Meaning of Life, for those of us who have read/watched/loved Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.  Rebecca, of course, thinks 42 is extremely old; Pete and I sigh and think…it is extremely young. 

Last night we were invited to dinner in Cremorne.  Hamish, who is 12, was cooking his first dinner and we were very honoured to be invited.  I imagined that it would be spaghetti Bolognese, which is, I think, everybody’s first adult cooking experience and a staple of ever family menu.  But no!  Much more ambitious.  Hamish had made a beautiful curry, reminiscent of rogan josh.  And not from a Pataks jar!  He had fried the spices to release the aromatics; it was all very wonderful.  By the time we arrived at 6 he had slightly lost interest and was happily playing cricket with his brother Angus and a friend.  Nicky said he had done a wonderful job with the meal but that he required prompting.

We sat around the firepot outside having a pre-dinner drink and reminisced about family meals of the past.  Nicky’s friend Namidja says she remembers coming to our house and we were always having tuna, in various manifestations.  Yes very true.  My repertoire leaned very heavily on a tin of tuna or a kilo of mince.  Many MANY variations on these themes… This didn’t stem from lack of imagination – I had very heavy budget constraints.

I also had many other variables as the children grew older.  At one stage I had:

·        A fussy husband (Thad) who wouldn’t eat this or that.  This is very unfair because he now eats all manner of things, as well as having transformed himself into a very nifty cook, specialising in delicate sauces and elaborately stacked vegetables.  He is now a Seasoned World Traveler and eats whatever is put in front of him – guinea pig, llama, no ingredient is left untasted. 

·        Nicky, who was very obliging and kind and ate whatever mince or tuna concoction I managed to produce, with good grace.  Thank you Nicky!

·        Claire, who had/has a complicated relationship with food and who, in her late teens, was a vegan and therefore wouldn’t eat anything I cooked.

·        Katy, slightly less complicated than a non-food-eating vegan, but a vegetarian nonetheless.  (She made exceptions for fish and, yes, would eat tuna mornay.  Thank God.)

·        Michael, who, until he left home at 18 and was very VERY hungry, would not eat food which was, in his opinion, “joined together.”  He only liked meat and vegetables neatly separated on the plate.  No stew, no pasta, no easy cheap casserole-ish things.  He would eat soup, fortunately, with many “joined together” items blended into one seamless puree.

My son-in-law Jeff swears that when he first met me I was patiently standing in the kitchen preparing four different meals.  I don’t remember and don’t believe this but…maybe I have wiped such tediousness from my memory…