out of the closet

It's not as if it's a secret, but I thought it was time I came out.

No longer just another outspoken female, I'm Gill. A first wave blogger who got lost in the twitterverse and finally washed up at Instagram.

In recent years this blog has become collateral damage, that comes from too much time spent developing recipes, writing articles and hanging out on social media - under my own name.

I'm a naturopath who has been in the game for more than 26 years (gasp!). Most of my time has been spent in Melbourne, running my successful CBD clinic City Natural Therapies. I also hung out at 3RRR as the voice behind Health Trip for twenty years, with occasional appearances elsewhere on the grid talking about food on Eat It!

Since 2014 I've been a Sydney-sider hanging out in the Inner West, eating vegan pho, sushi and the rare pescatarian feast at Tetsuya!

I believe that healthy food should taste great and be a delight to eat.

If you're interested, I have a free, monthly newsletter with health tips, and often an original recipe or seasonal food updates. I continue working with people to eat well and feel better - online, anywhere in the world. As a naturopath, food and herbal medicine are my great loves. But like this blog, it's often the simplest remedies and lifestyle tweaks that can make the biggest difference to how you feel.

Though the odd travel-related post might creep back in here, all new recipes are on my naturopathy website. Check out the resources section for my recipe archive.


I love the friendly, inclusive world that blogging opened to me way back when. The delicious friendships made over so many meals remain a lasting legacy.

Making, eating, planning

Though semi-retired, this blog is still my cook's journal. A place to remind myself how I cooked something new. It's much easier to search this online repository, than hunt for scraps of paper. 

Notes to self:

Made

Vin de pêche - Zoe visited my little community garden plot and me last month and spied a rather neglected peach tree in the far corner of the block (past where the redback spiders dwelling and whatever makes my skin itch, near the mulberry tree). Vin de pêche! She exclaimed. I did a test batch with half a bottle of leftover, dry French rose. I followed the recipe to the letter, only halving the ingredients.

Result: Strong marzipan flavour (phew! right tree! You say almond. I say marzipan). Maybe my taste buds differ a little from Leibovitz's - I found it a little too sweet, though chilled right down with a load of ice this was less noticeable. Nor did I find it as potent as he and Zoe claim. 

Next batch: less sugar, more brandy. Will try 40 leaves (a bit less marzipan), 2 - 3 tabs sugar, 5 tabs brandy, in a fruity bottle of red.

Serve with a lot of ice. If too strong, douse with soda.

Vegan chocolate rough "cookies" - a variation on carnival cookies utilising 4 very ripe bananas and most of a 250 gm jar of 'hazelnut chocolate spread' (a very healthy organic, dairy-free alternative to Nutella and about 4 x the price - fortunately it was at use by date at the local coop so bought at wholesale price). Hacked the recipe by adding a couple of decent handfuls of shredded coconut instead of nuts (plenty of hazelnuts in the spread) and a heaped teaspoon of mixed spice. I had the remains of a block of 85% dark chocolate so whizzed them into chunks. With the added banana and the chocolate spread it was a wetter batch than usual so used closed to double the usual amount of oats, semi chopped. Taste fab.

Eating

Nori butter at Bannisters - I must work out to make this! I'm guessing toasted nori, blitzed to a powder and combined with good quality butter but will consult Dr Google before attempting. It's up there with the miso butter. I'd eat flavoured butter all day if my body could tolerate it!

Who knew Rick Stein has an Australian restaurant, in an unlikely location over three hours drive from Sydney? It's coastal but not on the beach, in a hotel/motel complex (calling it a resort would be going too far). Fortunately I was having a great weekend out of town with friends, just 20 minutes down the road. I think we've found our new Christmas tradition - the festive lunch you'd like to have if you didn't have to be with your family on the day. 

Food was delightful, relatively simple but the stunner was really fresh, good quality produce. The menu (except sides) is exclusively seafood. And at a premium price. The setting is lovely. The staff do their best. Don't think a city restaurant of this calibre would put someone on the floor with such an extensive skin condition but as she said in response to our "see you next year" - "Yeah I'll probably be here. There aren't many jobs down here" in a despondent voice. She was a good and attentive waiter nonetheless.

I ate: paprika dusted Kiama prawns (a special on the day), stupendously fresh marlin/swordfish/snapper/salmon sashimi, shoestring fries (not my choice but very more-ish) and Stein's signature Blue Eye Madras tomato and tamarind based curry. A lunch to remember with my wonderful Sydney friends. 

Planning

I'm back on Christmas duty with my dilutive New Zealand family. How to make breakfast/lunch/dinner for three adults remotely interesting? Suggestions please. On the upside - for the first time since the birth of the internet - there will be Wi-Fi at home! At least that's got the entertainment sorted.Any fish/veg friendly, simple festive food ideas? Things are a little limited over there, I'm so used to an abundance of fresh fruit and veg here I could outsource the entire day from the fish market, Marrickville market and the likes. Wellington, despite the holy grail of Moore Wilsons (not looking forward to the trolley crush there next week), I'm working in a limited kitchen with none of the basics I'm used to (including a sharp knife and a gas stovetop!).When I get back from the homeland - I know that Santa is bringing me a fermenting crock! The new year will be kimchi/sauerkraut and pickle central. Let me know if you have a dairy-free ferment fave to share.

I hope you have a good one and that 2016 is an inspiring year full of delicious experiences.

The (almost) tenth birthday post

As I write and post about food, travel and health elsewhere in the blogosphere these days, it's a bit of a shock to realise that this neglected blog is about to hit it's tenth birthday in a couple of weeks.

If you've lost the plot in recent years (as I indeed have) - here's a recap of the past 48 months.

1. I ate and massaged my way around Chiang Mai for a big birthday with a zero on the end of it.

2. Two months later I was wheeled into surgery to remove a rather large cancerous tumour from my belly.

3. I visited Hades, in the guise of 'modern' oncology. Drugs that f*ck with your tastebuds are a new kind of hell for any food lover. 

4. While hanging out in the underworld, I was overwhelmed by the support and generosity of so many friends from the blogging community. Especially those veg*ns! Thank you. I will never forget your kindness.

5. Strangely before this life disruption I'd been brewing a huge change in my work/life. The big move to Sydney I'd scheduled was only put back one month in the end.

6. The paint was barely dry in the hastily spruced up Inner West pad, when I headed to Europe for 4 weeks. I fell in love with Lisbon's colour, tastes and experiences, ate the best seafood pasta in Amalfi and scoffed homemade liqueurs in Sicily. I had a bit of a WTF? experience in Prague, long dreamed of visiting but it was overcast and full of pigs knuckles. Fortunately 9 days in Berlin (and a further week in London again) got my mojo back.  

7. After having some downtime from my business (being sick, convalescing, moving home and relaunching a new way of working online) I commissioned a designer and web builders and launched a fully updated site. I've talked at an international conference, run my first online course and fronted teleseminars.

8. Back to food - it's fun getting to know the cuisine of a new city. But Sydney is no Melbourne. The thing I've had to learn about eating here is there are no 'equivalents', no 'where's somewhere like (Melbourne restaurant)?' It's a different kettle of fish. Will share some of new faves here soon.

9. In May this year I had three amazing weeks in Sth America. Santiago was a bit like Wellington in the 1970s but greyer. Buenos Aires was fab - especially Palermo and environs. Rio was bonkers, a city on speed with amazing topography and views. I flew over the Igussu Falls in a helicopter!! And Peru is a land of contrasts from the first world food culture of Lima to a near siege experience at Juliaca airport (nothing like being in a tiny terminal surrounded by machine gun slinging police). I experienced the wonders of Machu Picchu and drank many pisco sours. It's an amazing country, though I'm glad I passed on the guinea pig.

10. I've just celebrated another birthday. The first spent in Australia in many years. Billy Kwong was the perfect place to toast the coming year. 

I'm very pleased to say I'm alive and (officially) very well. Looking forward to experiencing more of my local flora, fauna and food.

So what have you been doing while I've been gone?

a tale of two screen grabs

In July The Age declared 

"Food section Epicure here to stay, says Fairfax

Fairfax Media says it has no intention of axing Epicure, saying it would continue to provide strong local content."

In December "Food section Epicure here to stay" - page not found.

Is it just me having trouble navigating the new 'Good Food' section online? It seems so crowded but with so little content.

Update: Viewed on an iPad, the redesign makes sense. But what percentage of Fairfax online readers use that device over a PC or smart phone? Is it worth alienating everyone else with such a clunky design?