Margaux’s French Apple Tart from the Apple Isle

I’ve been struggling with how to restart this blog, which I all but abandoned while I was living is Tasmania in February and March of 2017 at Ratho Farm, an upscale farm-stay and wedding venue sited on Australia’s Oldest Golf Course. I stopped writing, not because I didn’t find the project interesting anymore, but because I got…

Acute golf addiction and chasing Mardi Gras ingredients

I remember at some point believing that I would find time to house-make andouille sausage for this Saturday’s Mardi Gras event; the garlicky spiced and smoked pork sausages that many Cajun and Creole recipes rely on for flavor. That was almost certainly before I became hopelessly addicted to golf, a lifestyle change that has been molding my body…

The sauce is alright! (After panic, negotiation and phoning a friend in Memphis)

I shouldn’t be sitting down: there’s still mac and cheese, coleslaw and red velvet cupcakes to make. But I just experienced all the highs and the lows that come along with cooking in a strange kitchen in a foreign land and also cooking new-to-me food (Memphis BBQ sauce). It seems a bloggable moment. As much as…

On the Hunt for Greens and First Staff Meal at Ratho Farm, Bothwell, Tasmania

I’ve got my first night and my first meal behind me at Ratho Farm, in Bothwell, Tasmania, where in addition to a series of pop-up dinners of American Southern food, I am apparently going to make all of the staff meals when I’m in residence. Or at least that was the request from my co-workers…

Pickling Practice

Quick pickling is the “put a bird on it” of the culinary world.