Caramel cake and hand biscuits

The other night I found myself in a sticky situation.  Literally.  It was a matter of a cake for a community event.  I've seen many an accomplished baker quiver at the very mention of caramel.  Yet I blithely put my faith in the Australian Women's Weekly and set out to bake a caramel cake.  Fortunately after throwing out two batches of caramel icing, I finally listened to intuition and made the sort of icing that would make my foremothers proud.

The cake was a variation on a basic butter cake.  But I couldn't work out the recipe for the caramel icing.  It said to stir brown sugar and butter until sugar melted and then to simmer without stirring for 3 minutes.  Then to stir in icing sugar.  The first time I think I overcooked the caramel and the icing was so grainy.  The second time I thought I had the caramel lovely and creamy but when I added the icing sugar it seized into a crystallised sugary mixture that set hard as soon as it cooled.

I actually thought the second caramel might work.  Yet once it was on the cake and set hard it was horrible.  Too sweet and sugary and flaked off at the merest touch.  I almost just left it at home.  But then I thought about how I would make the icing and decided to have a third go.  It was a moment when I heard the force calling me.  Only I think it was the voices of my mother and her mother and her mother and so on.  They were telling me to just do what we had always done and mix icing sugar with butter.  I added a bit of golden syrup for a caramel flavour.  Bingo!

I also made some plain biscuits and made them into hand shapes to reflect the theme of the community event.  (Raise your hand!)  I used the sugar cookies recipe that we used to make cookie wands a few years back.  I put a few on sticks but didn't have the energy to do them all on sticks.  I followed my mum's advice and only added one third cup of sugar and found that they were not at all sweet.  Probably not a bad thing at an event where there was lots of sweet food.

There were lots of great food at the event.  After all my stress about the cake, it was the biscuits that got all the attention.  It was probably the brilliant idea (I wish it was mine) to stand the biscuits on sticks in a wedge of watermelon.  E was happy I brought home some cake with soft buttery icing.  Sylvia seemed quite taken with the cake too.  The next day she was at her toy stove making caramel berry cake for Dolly's birthday.

Has anyone tried to make this caramel icing (or frosting)?  Do you have any advice on this caramel icing or a foolproof caramel icing recipe?

I am sending this to Archana at Tangy Minds for Bake Fest, an event founded by Vardhini of Cook's Joy.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
One year ago: WW Beetroot, chickpea, tomato and kale bowl
Two years ago:  Blogging: reflections and ch-ch-ch-changes
Three years ago: Gingerbread, mixed peel and grandmothers
Four years ago: Heidi’s Chocolate Cake
Five years ago: Rosy Russian Bread (and Grumpy Baker)

Caramel cake
Adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly Cakes and Slices Cookbook

Cake:
125g butter
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
1 tbsp golden syrup
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup self raising flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup milk (I used soy milk)

Caramel icing:
2-3 tbsp of nuttalex (or other margarine or butter)
about 3 heaped dessertspoons of icing sugar
1 tsp golden syrup
trickle of milk

Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla essence,  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then the golden syrup.  Gently stir in flours, cinnamon and milk.  Bake in moderate oven at 180 C until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.  (It took me about 1 hour and 15 min but the AWW recipe suggested 50 minutes.)  Sit in the tin for 5 minutes and then turn on to a wire rack to cool.

When cool, make the icing by mixing all the ingredients together until you have a smooth spreadable mixture.  Spread icing over cake.

On the stereo:
Back to basics: Billy Bragg

Yong Green Food: a raw adventure and more street art

Welcome to the brave new world where we eat raw food and draw on walls.  Oh wait!  That sounds like the life of a caveman.  I guess that Peter Allen was right when he sang "everything old is new again".  Well I am all for these new trends if the raw pizza at Yong Green Food and the street art of Fitzroy, Collingwood and Brunswick is anything to go by. 

Actually I am by no means a huge fan of raw food.  I read a lot about it on blogs but haven't dabbled in it much myself.  Having a partner who even thinks salads should be eaten warm, does not encourage much experimenting with raw.  I have read enough to have been curious about Yong Green Food for a while now.  So when my friend Will asked me to recommend a vegetarian restaurant for lunch, I had no hesitation in suggesting it.

It was not quite what he had in mind but he was up for a challenge.  So was Heather.  The menu has both raw and cooked foods and presents a tyranny of choice for vegetarians used to a token menu item.

Will chose the Kelp Pad Thai (above) - kelp noodles with vegies and a creamy chilli cashew sauce.  The kelp noodles were chewy and toothsome and the rest was very spicy. I asked him for his verdict and he answered in a typical convoluted way.  According to Will, salads only ever get a 3 or 4 out of 10.  The pad thai was a glorified salad.  He gave it 8 out of 10 - as a salad.  Make of that what you will!

I was excited to have the (raw) Hawaiian live pizza.  It had a macadamia-nut bread base, topped with tomato sauce, avocado, pineapple, olives, sprouts, cherry tomatoes and cashew cheese sauce.  It was wonderful.  Not at all comparable to regular cheesy pizza.  So much lighter and healthier.  Full of wonderful flavours and textures.  The salad that came with it was just green leaves with a dressing.  Nice dressing but not really my sort of salad.  I'd go back for the pizza though.

Heather chose the quinoa fritters with a spicy coconut sauce from the cooked menu.  They were crispy and tasty.  As with all the meals, the dish looked very attractive.  She was very pleased with her choice.

We decided to share a raw chocolate cheesecake for dessert.  At first I wasn't too impressed.  I love cheesecake to have a bit of cheesiness.  Otherwise it is just a cream filling.  Once I accepted it was more like a chocolate mousse tart than a cheesecake I loved the creamy chocolate filling.

Finally I tried the kombucha.  This is a drink I have read about on enough blogs to be curious.  The menu described it as fermented tea with lime and mint.  It was a cold drink with quite a sharp edge to it, possibly due to the mint.  I worried it was a little whiffy but wasn't sure if it was my drink or someone else's meal.

We were all very pleased with my choice of Yong's Green Food for lunch.  Will and Heather both enjoyed their meal and enjoyed something different.  I felt like I had satisfied a curiosity born of blogging.  Wonder if I am passing on the curiosity to you?

If you enjoy inner city life, you might also be interested to see more street art.  I posted quite a few pictures of choice street art recently.  There are some art pieces that I pass occasionally and decided to include on the blog as well.  Of course, as soon as I decided this, I found other pieces I wanted to share.  Like this Witch and her Cat on King Willian Street, Fitzroy.  We stumbled across it walking back to the car after lunch at Yong Green Food.

Another piece of art we saw that same day was this painting of an Aboriginal boy on Gertrude Street (between Brunswick Street and Nicholson Street).  I liked it, not just for the pensive beauty of the young face, but also because it reflects how Gertrude Street has been a meeting place for Aboriginal people. 

I have noticed pockets of street art as I go about.  One is near Jewell train station in Brunswick.  I have passed the art on the train and my bike, so I recently took some photos on a sunny day.  The above decorative letters are reminiscent of the Medieval Books of Hours I've seen in museums in Europe.  Any idea what they spell?  Cake-????

This above picture is a favourite piece of art.  The image could be a man catching a woman who was falling or it might be a woman flying with a man following at her heels.  I love the dream-like quality that is even more so when you speed past on a train and wonder if it was just a vision.  It is a paper picture pasted on the wall and is starting to peel off.  I will be sad when it is gone, though I love the ephemeral nature of street art.

Street art also has a great sense of humour.  Don't you love the picture of the hulk about to crush the car at the car park!  Be afraid.

A train speeding towards the train line.  Self referential, anyone?

I am quite fond of this cute little fish who needs a bigger fish bowl.  It has made me smile often while cycling past on the bike path.

From Brunswick to Budd Street in Collingwood.  Budd Street, north of Johnston Street is a hotbed of street art.  Take this Brick Wall Ink.  There is so much artwork and poetry here than it feels more like a student magazine than a wall.

It is a wall of much beauty and fun.  I wish it had been here when I lived in Collingwood.  I would have gone out of my way to walk past it every time I walked home.

Houses on a wall.  I love pictures of houses.  Perhaps that is why Sylvia spends so much time drawing houses lately.

In fact there are so many interesting images in Budd Street - or just off it - that I had to make a collage.  Most of these are from Brick Wall Ink.

Another lovely image.  I hope there truly is an angel watching over our city.

An intriguing image.  Don't Stop.  Don't stop what?  When I photographed this wall, I had a conversation with a passerby about whether the pattern on the wall was part of the larger image or encroaching on it.

Around the corner on Wellington Street is a sister picture to Don't Stop.  If I had been able to get the full wall into my picture you would see that this one says Won't Stop.  Curiouser and curiouser, said Alice.

These odd characters in Wellington Street, Clifton Hill are opposite a school wall.  Someone told me that that girls schools had high walls to stop the boys getting in.  Perhaps St John's School has a high wall to stop kids hanging over the wall getting ideas about painting on walls.  Can you spot the woman walking by in front of the picture?

On the other side of this building is the below picture.  As well as showing strong women, it has some verse by Shelton Lea.  I don't know what it all means.  Yet I still like to drive past when we are in the area.

So there you have a feast for the stomach (if you like to feast vicariously) and a feast for the eyes.  Goodness Melbourne has changed since I visited as a child and then lived here as a student before travelling.  I love the place.

Yong Green Food
421 Brunswick Street
Fitzroy
03 9417 3338

WHB Silverbeet, lentil, potato soup and Gertrude St tour

A few weeks back I bought a bunch of silverbeet on impulse.  Despite hating it as a child, occasionally I try to be adult and buy the stuff.  Yet every time I buy it I am at a loss for what to do with it.  This time I wanted something simple. I found a Silverbeet, Potato and Lentil Soup that sounded good.  I baked some Sweet potato and cheese scones to serve with them. It was exactly what I wanted.  The soup was hearty and healthy and very satisfying.

The following day I met my friends Heather and Will for a tour of Gertrude Street's historic architecture.  Miles Lewis knows his stuff and made me look at a familiar street with new eyes.  Apparently the street was almost wall to wall pubs at one time.  Oh the irony now that it seems to be almost wall to wall cafes and bars!  I also learned that I had lived in the same street at Alfred Deakin, Australia's second prime minister.

Here are some of the lovely architectural details we saw on the walk.  For those not acquainted with Gertrude Street, it is located in Fitzroy which was the first suburb of Melbourne and has lots of lovely little details to remind us of our history.  Below is a sign still visible saying "teeth extracted and stopped".  When was the last time you had a tooth "stopped"?

It was a perfect autumn day for walking about Fitzroy.  After the tour, we strolled along Brunswick Street to Yong Green Food for a lovely raw lunch.  (More about that soon.)  It was a long walk and when I got home I was glad of some leftover simple silverbeet soup for dinner.

I am sending this soup to Simona from Briciole for Weekend Herb Blogging #383, the weekly event coordinated by Haalo and founded by Kalyn.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
One year ago: FFF Zucchini slice - a childhood favourite
Two years ago:  PPN Avocado Pasta
Three years ago: St Nigel's Brownies
Four years ago: Mothering, Stew and Bread
Five years ago: Mum’s Banana Cake

Silverbeet, lentil and potato soup
inspired by Best Home Chef
Serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion
2 carrots
2 garlic cloves, crushed
6 cups of water
2 tsp salt
few drops of worcestershire sauce
1 cup dried red lentils
5 smallish potatoes, diced
bunch of silverbeet (chard), chopped (stalks and leaves separate)
juice of 1 lemon
freshly ground black pepper to serve

Heat oil in a stockpot.  Fry onion, carrots and garlic cloves for about 5 minutes.  Add water, salt, worcestershire sauce, lentils, potatoes and silverbeet stalks.  Taste and adjust seasoning.  Simmer for about 10 minutes.  Add silverbeet leaves and simmer for another 10 minutes.  Stir in lemon juice.  Serve black pepper

On the Stereo:
Folk Radio UK April Covermount podcast

WW Vegan chocolate tart

So this year I lacked the energy for a fancy pants novelty cake for E's birthday.  Yet baking a Victoria Sponge Cake for a family lunch presented very little challenge or difficulty.  I had a little energy over.  And there was no chocolate offering.  I decided it was a birthday.  I could be indulgent.  I even kidded myself that it would cater for the celiacs.  But really I was just making a chocolate tart that I had wanted to make for ages and ages.  It was every bit as good as Pinterest promised.

It is not a difficult tart to make.  I decided to make it that morning and used what was in my kitchen.  It involves a little melting, a little blending.  Press, stir and allow a little time in the fridge or freezer and there you have it.  I was a little nervous at taking it in the car to Geelong.  I put it in the freezer before I left so it kept its shape.

I used my new 6 inch springform tin.  We always have lots of food at family gatherings so I thought it best to keep it small.  The tin has rather a large lip around the base.  This looked rather odd with such a flat tart.  I suspect I would have been better off to carefully transfer it to a plate.  As I have said before, presentation is not my forte.

The base started as a Martha Stewart coconut base.  Then I found the coconut and butter had to be baked.  I had no time for cooling it down.  So I winged it and added a bit of almond and a bit of sweetener.

The filling was from Chocolate Covered Katie.  It was mainly melted chocolate and silken tofu.  I enjoyed the base but the filling was divine.  It was so silky soft that it melted in the mouth.

What did everyone else think?  Andy thought the base needed to be crispier, possibly baked.  My mum, Susie and E all thought it was rather rich and would be nice with a dollop of cream.  My niece Quin agreed with me that it was perfect just as it was.  (Obviously she has good taste!)

Despite being rather rich, it was lighter than a traditional dairy based ganache filling.  I'd like to experiment with the Martha Stewart crispy coconut base or even Janet's raw date-nut-cocoa base.  Actually I'd love any excuse to make this again.  It really was amazing.

I am sending this to Ricki for her weekly Wellness Weekends event, and wishing her good health.  Also a big thank you to Cass for the Best Moments Award (will write more about this later).

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
One year ago: Hotel Windsor - an elegant high tea
Two years ago:  CC Crunchy Salad, Tofu Nuggets and Sylvia
Three years ago: The case of the disappearing tart
Four years ago: PPN Cavolo Nero and Chickpea Pasta
Five years ago: Creamy Green Lasagne for Beautiful Bones

Vegan Chocolate Tart
Filling adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie
serves 10-12

base:
2 tbsp margarine (or coconut butter)
1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 cup coconut
2 tsp coconut sugar

filling:
150 silken or firm tofu (I used silken)
2 tablespoons coconut milk (or other milk)
1 tsp cocoa
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
pinch salt
150g dark chocolate (I used 45% but would prefer 70% though it might require sweetener)

To make the base, melt margarine in a small heatproof bowl in the microwave (or in a small saucepan on the stovetop).  Mix in remaining ingredients.  Press into the base of a round 6 inch springform tin.  (I don't think I bothered to grease it.)

Melt the chocolate.  You can now blend it with the rest of the ingredients in a food processor or blender.  But I chose to blend the tofu, coconut milk, cocoa, vanilla and salt in my little attachment for my hand held blender and then to stir this into a small bowl of melted chocolate.  Pour filling into springform tin on top of the filling.

Chill the tart to firm it up.  I set mine in the freezer for an hour or two because I wanted to take it in the car.  After that it was kept in the fridge because it became quite soft when out of the fridge for a while.  When soft it is delicious to eat but difficult to cut.

On the Stereo:
The Amber Gathers: Alasdair Roberts

Rhubarb and raspberry no knead focaccia and nature craft

It was a slow weekend.  E was poorly so we didn't get out much.  Some time at the park, a walk to find nature stuff for craft, a supermarket shopping trip.  A perfect weekend for slow bread.  Especially when there was no bread in the house.  I remembered this rhubarb and raspberry focaccia that Lucy made last year. It was delicious.

This is a no knead focaccia.  The ingredients are stirred together the night before and left to rise.  As you can see in the above photo, my dough rose as high as the clingwrap would allow.  Then we pressed in rhubarb and frozen raspberries and sprinkled with olive oil and sugar.

It was all fairly easy.  We are not an early rising family.  This was finally out of the oven and ready to eat at about 10.  I used to be the sort of person who had to eat as soon as I had risen and showered.  These days with a 4 year old around, it is no longer all about me and I sometimes find myself pottering about with Sylvia before breakfast.

The bread was soft inside, juicy, sticky and sweet on top, and crisp around the edges.  I loved it.  The rhubarb was cooked but quite tart.  I tried slices of bread with cheese, cashew butter, peanut butter, honey, and chocolate spread.  I think the cheese was the least successful topping.  It was wonderful without topping too.

Sylvia preferred to pick the rhubarb off but said, "can you make this bread again, it's too yummy".  Maybe her delight every time she tasted crystals of sugar on top was the reason.  E found it had too much fruit for him and the lack of any sweetener in the dough didn't enthuse him either.

I would definitely make this bread again.  It would be brilliant for entertaining at a lunch or brunch or even to take along to a potluck or family meal.  I am quite keen to try it as a savoury bread.  Probably with onion, olives and sun dried tomatoes and maybe cheese.  If I tried it as a sweet bread again, I think I might like to try plums instead of rhubarb.  It would be brilliant for Mothers Day next weekend.

As well as focaccia, we made pancakes, limeade and pumpkin soup.  Sylvia and I spent time in the back garden admiring the camelia flowers, and went on a walk to forage for goodies for craft.  Afterwards I realised that she had her cardigan on inside out and I had my old cardigan with the moth eaten holes.  If anyone had seen us reaching up for golden leaves off an autumn tree in our street, we may have looked like vagabonds.  We wouldn't have cared.  It was fun.  (Much better than the times in the weekend involving spilled milk and fingers caught in a car door!)

I thought it would be fun to make an autumn leaf crown. Sylvia decided she (and Dolly) wanted a berry and leaf crown.  Whenever she seems berries on trees around us she decides they are holly.  The berries weren't holly.  They did make a sweet crown with a bit of twisting and sticky tape.  (They are now hanging on our door as an autumnal wreath!)  I did make the autumn crown but Sylvia wasn't interested.  (I made holes in each leaf to thread the stem into and secured these with sticky tape.)

Sylvia also wasn't so interested in the twig and wool spider web.  That didn't stop me putting it together for her.  We found the idea at MollyMoo where there was also a spider made of pipecleaners.  We already had a plastic spider hanging around the house that Sylvia's cousin Gabriel gave her in Scotland.  (He has so many of these he wouldn't miss a few and his mother would love to see them all gone!)

Finally Sylvia decided she wanted to have a tea party with her dollies.  According to this article in the Age newspaper, "Celebrating superheroes like Wonder Woman ... provide children with a richer fantasy world than tiaras and tea parties can alone."  Goodness we loved playing Wonder Woman as kids.  But surely the writer would approve of tea parties where there is home made focaccia to eat and foraged decorations.

I wish I could say E is better but he is still poorly.  Sylvia has now come down with a chest infection and I am lacking sleep after she had a restless night.  Our internet connection is still as slow as a wet week.  Touchwood that by next week we will all feel better and the internet will be restored to its usual speed.

I am sending this focaccia to Susan for YeastSpotting.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
One year ago: Rhubarb and strawberry crumble
Two years ago:  Tea Towels of Scotland
Three years ago: Treacle Scones for Remembrance
Four years ago: Surprising Beetroot Risotto
Five years ago: Meandering Musings on Split Pea Soup

Rhubarb and raspberry no-knead focaccia
Slightly adapted from The Kitchen Maid

500ml warm water
1 Tbsp dried yeast
2 Tbsp olive oil
800g white bread flour
1 1/2 tsp salt

340g rhubarb, cut into 3cm pieces (from 450g untrimmed)
150g raspberries (frozen is fine)
3 Tbsp olive oil (or cream or chopped butter)
3 Tbsp raw sugar

Start the night before you want to eat it or at least 8 - 10 hours before you want to eat focaccia.  Take a large mixing bowl.  Place yeast into warm water and leave for about 5 minutes until you see the yeast is active (it should foam or bloom slightly).  Stir in oil, flour and salt to make a soft dough.  Note that I had to stir quite a bit to incorporate all the flour.  Cover with clingwrap and leave overnight or about 8 hours.  I left mine at room temperature.

In the morning, prepare the fruit and sprinkle a large baking tray with polenta.  Preheat the oven to 200 C (I did 220 C which worked for my slow oven.)  Carefully take the risen dough from the bowl - it is fairly sturdy but I needed a bit of flour on my hands for some slight stickiness - and place on a lightly floured surface. Pat it out in an oval shape about 35 x 25 cm.  Use a little flour if needed.  Carefully transfer to the prepared baking tray.  Scatter with rhubarb and raspberries and press lightly into the dough.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle the sugar on top.

Bake for 40 minutes until the fruit juices are running free and the sides are golden brown.  Eat hot or cool on a wire rack.

On the stereo:
London 0 Hull 4 - The Housemartins

How has blogging changed: reflections on my blog and my fellow bloggers

Blogging means sharing food.

A common topic of discussion with fellow bloggers is the changes to the blogosphere since I started blogging.  After celebrating my 6 year blogging anniversary last week, I have had a spate of navel gaxing posts.  Today I wanted to continue a little self-indulgence with my reflections on changes to my blog and fellow bloggers. 

Blogging means enjoying an interesting journey.

Changes to the blogosphere:
When I first started blogging, there were lots of blogs that were of the what-I-ate-for-dinner-with-a-blurred-photo variety.  I barely knew what I was doing.  It took me a while even to find out how to take close up photos.  These days many blogs seem to start with a glossy design, high quality photos and ambitions to be a success.  Perhaps this is a result of so much information about blogging.  Or maybe they are just the new bloggers with the higher profiles.

Changes to technology:
When I first started blogging, I remember tossing up whether to use Blogger or Wordpress.  I can't remember why I chose Blogger but I am still using this platform.  Sometimes I think Wordpress might have a cleaner look but I really like how Google continues to develop Blogger, even if I don't agree with all the changes.  Back when I started, the options for the side bar were far more limited and so were the design options.  Back then, no one who hosted blog events use the Linky tools. 

Blogging means you never have enough time in the day.

The rise of social media:
One of the biggest changes to blogging has been the rise of social media.  Back when I began blogging, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Eat Your Books were unknown.  Now they have made a huge impact on blogging.  It is not enough to enjoy reading a blog these days - even if Google Reader is closing so you need to find another feed reader for the RSS feeds.  Nowadays you can follow many blog on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest.  You might say that old bloggers never retire, they just are found on Facebook.

Changes to my blog:
I started my blog with intentions of merely sharing recipes but not my life.  Six years later I still like to write down my recipes but this blog is more than a large index of many vegetarian, vegan and gluten free recipes.  I now also write about places I have eaten and travelled (though I don't as a rule accept freebies and advertisements).  I have also created an excellent resource of nut roast recipes, discovered an interest in food history. and shared more of my life than I ever expected. 

Blogging means sharing old family favourite recipes
(this is the chocolate pudding that I loved as a child).

A large and gradual change is that I am less wary of revealing some of my life online.  And so my blog reflects my life far more than I had ever planned.  One other change is how death and birth have been reflected on the blog.  It has become a memorial and a celebration of a childhood.  Update: and I forgot to say that the blog is a place to record some of the craft that we do.

Lately the blog seems to have been recording some of the places we have enjoyed.  In fact I might be so bold as to claim that it is not just a food blog any more but also gives an insight into my Melbourne.  This is assisted by better photos that capture some of the sights around me.

However, I am still wary about sharing too much of my life.  I still resist sharing photos of myself and the faces of those closest to me.  But I am opening up in other ways.  I now share my cookbooks, my bookmarked recipes and even recently have started a page of recipe planning.

Another big change on my blog is the photos.  At first I was stingy with photos and struggled to find the close up button.  Then I found that bigger photos looked better, I collected more food props, our kitchen space improved for photos, I bought a DSLR camera and now I just like putting is esoteric photos that record our day and not just our food.  In line with better photos, I have made quite a few improvements to the blog design.

Blogging means lots of photos at a fancy meal.

Changes to other bloggers:
It is fascinating to look around at other bloggers who I have followed since around the start of my blog and see all the changes in their blogs.  Some have become more professional, learn to take better photographs, accept advertisements, hold giveaways or promote products.  Many but not all now post with less regularity than when they first started.  Best of all, they still continue to delight me with their recipes as well as sharing some of their life.

Most of us have had many life changes: travels, babies, illness, deaths, marathons, graduations.  There have been celebration cakes and cleansing detoxes.  Many post round ups of ideas for traditional feasts because we all have such amazing archives of recipes.  Some fellow bloggers have had dietary changes that influence what recipes they post.  Katie and K have been diagnosed as coeliac.  Ricki has embraced an Anti Candida Diet.  Lisa has found her wheat allergy has abated since her pregnancy.

With all the fantastic recipes being published, it is not surprise that many of these bloggers are becoming published authors.  Ricki has self-published a cookbook and many e-books, and she now has a cookbook soon to be published by a commercial publisher.  Lorraine has just had a book published  about her journey as a blogger.  Anh is writing a commercial cookbook with a fellow blogger from another country, Lucy and Kathryn publish a cooking e-magazine. Kathryn also writes a column for Readers Digest and Jac writes regularly for Baby Centre.

Blogging means more colourful food.

Many of the bloggers whom I knew from the start of my blog are now hosting blog events.  Susan started My Legume Love Affair and Black and White Wednesday.  Lisa and Jac co-host No Croutons Required.  Jac has resurrected two events: Bookmarked Recipes and Pasta Please.  And Jac also started the Food Blog Diary to keep track of blog events.

There are so many contributions and achievements by bloggers.  I have only focused on a few that I met at the beginning but there are many more great stories of those I have met since.  If only we had the time.  But I can tell you that I am lucky to have met bloggers at potlucks or just for a meal, to have exchanged emails, comments and parcels, and to have found friendship and support in this community.   And if I ever need to think about where to eat in Melbourne, I can consult the amazing list of reviews by Cindy and Michael.

As an aside:
This is the last of my self indulgent blog anniversary posts.  I have lots of recipes to share and will be posting some soon.  However my internet has been slow for the last week or so and will be for a few more days so it is all slow going here.