a jar of jam & a basket of beans: niçoise salad

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Every time I go home to Melbourne my mother has an array of boxes waiting for me in some corner of the house.  Shoe cartons filled with Sade and George Michael cd's, larger boxes bearing my carefully tissue swaddled collection of Guy…

life in a small town 2: gifted fruit, zucchini and tents

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I remember long summer breaks at Jamieson that involved endless swims in the river, shorts with gumboots and lots of stamping through long grass in the aforementioned boots to ward off snakes.   There were cubbies and fetes, blackberry…

autumn gold: pumpkin risotto

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The best Italian pumpkin is to be found in the Mantova in the North of the country, about halfway between Milan and Venice and just above the super food cities of Parma and Modena.  This is where the Alps tumble down onto the wide Padana…