The End of a Decade, 31 Dec 2009

I normally hold a pre-Christmas party for friends but this year, with so many people having already left for their holidays, I have given it a miss. So I toyed with the idea of having a New Year’s Eve gathering for those of us left in Sydney instead, but it turns out many people already have plans. A friend has since invited us out for an end of year meal, although Monsieur Poisson and I were quite prepared to spend the evening at home as per usual.

As the year and decade both draw to a close, it is a most opportune time to reflect on significant personal events – completing university, forging a career, farewelling said career, getting married, and many dramas in between these events along the way. This past year has proven to be a huge learning experience in the things that are important to me in life: family, loyalty, honesty, responsibility, integrity, love, respect and friendship. And with these aspects firmly defined so that they have a place or will have a place in my life, I feel better equipped to face the next decade as someone’s wife and hopefully someone’s mother.

Just around the corner I will be starting a new career in a field related to my past but in a role somewhat different to what I am accustomed. The prospect is exciting, promising and frightening all at once. This will also have a direct impact on my blogging habits thus far – if you don’t see anything new here for a while, please be patient and be assured that this baby will not be silent for too long an extended period!

As well as embarking on a new career, I am going to challenge myself to make use of recipe cards sent to me by the always lovely Anna. The set of fifty cards were a free offer from The Age and feature recipes by Jill Dupleix. (Was there a similar offer from Sydney Morning Herald that I missed?) Inspired by My Food Trail’s Cookbook Challenge, I aim to cook from one recipe card per week so that I’ll have worked through all fifty of them by the end of the year. Otherwise I fear these recipe cards will just look cute amongst my cookbooks and go to waste whilst gathering dust. Ambitious? Slightly. Somewhat mad? Always!

And what better way to end the year than with an award! I recently received an ‘Over The Top!’ award from Foraging Otaku and once again feel very humbled that I have been chosen amongst the throng of quality food blogs that are around. Although I’m completely puzzled what qualifies this blog as ‘over the top’, I’m happy to receive any awards as long as they’re given in a positive sense! Click here to see whose esteemed company I shared, and have a read through Forager’s posts while you’re there – you get a real sense of how grounded a person she is.

According to the rules of this award, I must provide readers with the answers to the thirty-five questions below in one word. I also must thank my award-giver for this fun award (Thank you once again, Forager!) and grant six of my favourite bloggers this award, then give them the heads-up that they have been nominated.

So after much thinking, choosing, reading, more thinking and reviewing, here are my nominated six:

• Kitchen Butterfly
• missklicious
• FoodiePop
• pass the peas
• Panda & Cakes
• penguin says…feed me! 

Again, as far as I can tell, none of the above have been previous recipients of the ‘Over The Top!’ award. Congratulations, and now it’s your turn to pass it on and answer these intriguing questions! Here are my answers:

1. Where is your cell phone? Nearby
2. Your hair? Abundant
3. Your mother? Dependent
4. Your father? Absent
5. Your favourite food? French
6. Your dream last night? Weird
7. Your favourite drink? Juices
8. Your dream/goal? Contentment
9. What room are you in? Study
10. Your hobby? Food-blogging!
11. Your fear? Disappointment
12. Where do you want to be in six years? Domesticated
13. Where were you last night? Home
14. Something that you aren’t? Pushover
15. Muffins? Yes…?
16. Wish list item? Handbags
17. Where did you grow up? Sydney
18. Last thing you did? This!
19. What are you wearing? Pyjamas
20. Your TV? Off
21. Your pets? None
22. Friends? Integral
23. Your life? Evolving
24. Your mood? Positive
25. Missing someone? Secret
26. Vehicle? Invisible
27. Something you’re not wearing? Jewellery
28. Your favourite store? Book
29. Your favourite colour? Depends…
30. When was the last time you laughed? Now
31. Last time you cried? Forgotten
32. Your best friend? Fishy
33. One place that I go to over and over? Dreams
34. One person who emails me regularly? Everyone
35. Favourite place to eat? Kitchen 

happy new year & happy eating!