The CWA Cookbook

   This year at the 2011 Perth Royal Show, the CWA did not have its customary tea room-that safe haven away from the frenzied crowds where an inexpensive cup of tea and a few cookies could restore sanity. This year, it settled for a 9square foot booth extolling its virtues and selling a few classic items.

     The Country Women’s Association, guardian angels of women and children all over this sunburnt land, publishes a cookbook.  Actually, each state’s organization publishes their own. Western Australians have been clutching  a dark blue book with white lettering  now for 75 years.  This was a lifeline for rural and remote families who needed resources and reassurance which could not be found close at hand. 

     And while there still are families in remote areas – indeed, much of Western Australia is “remote”-  modern technology has closed the distance.  Still, the familiar blue book remains in memory and in practice an integral part of Australian living. People can quote you the page number of their family favorite [“page 109, Chocolate Sauce Pudding”] , they’ll want to make sure the Yorkshire Pudding recipe [page 56] is right or the real name of Lemon Fizz [Lemon Swiss, page 140]. Microwave instructions have brought it up to date.

     It’s not all recipes.  Starting on page 379 are special hints on banishing cockroaches (boric acid), washing sparkly glassware (lemon juice in rinse water), cleaning wine stains (tomato juice) or curing warts (lime powder).   For the still self-sufficient remote resident, there are instructions on how to make soap and weave doormats from “motor tubes”.   Want the instructions for Dry Tanning sheepskins?  Look it up on page 385.

    You’ll be pleased to hear that it has an international section. I find it rather …interesting…that recipes such  as Chop Suey, American Hamburger and a two ingredient (?!) Waldorf Salad are included in the American section.   A rather interesting window on how Australians view our cuisine.

    You might ask how well I did at the Perth Royal Show. Alas, no ribbons this year.  The judges did agree that my citrus marmalade was tops in the taste department but the chunks of rind were too large for their sensibilities.  Oh well. Simply beyond my ability is the single highest point winner. It is a decorated cake, a Christmas "log" with extraordinary detail in the little birds near the top of the stump, marbled tea tables outside, the Christmas tree and baker's detail and the texture of the bark.   Totally drool worthy.

The Summer Kitchen

   Antebellum homes and people in equatorial countries have it right: all of the cooking should be done outside.  At least in the summer, anyway.
    Our townhome has a lovely,
white new stove. But the little beauty is not only electric, the heating elements are solid. It takes forever to heat up and twice as long to cool down.  This is not ideal in a home without air-conditioning in the summer. (Or any other time if you are asking the cooks.)  So, as a matter of self-preservation and adding a touch of urban bushman, we shifted the base of culinary operations to the back yard.

  And "yard" really is the operative word here.  It is narrow and also has to function as storage area, tool shed and lanai. We try to satisfy all functions without feeling we are in a junkyard. I insist upon that.  Our herbarium is split between the front porch (where onions, basil, oregano and rocket grow) and the side path (where mint & parsley thrive and green onions, chives, garlic give their best shot.) All close enough for clipping regardless of where one cooks.

Our Summer Kitchen is pretty much outfitted the same way our camping trips are: compact essentials gleaned from endless garage sale hunts.  Our two burner gas stove, the "Walkabout" model fits two small vessels or one large skillet with paella in it.  Outdoor cooking is also handy when somebody doesn't like the smell of the lamb kidneys I made just before he made the fishy paella.  But I digress.  Our gas can, a 1.25 kg "Jackaroo" (could these names get any more Australian sounding?) is as small as they come but the size works for us when it comes to space in the backyard, in the car and the time it takes to use it up.  Those large tanks are very heavy and are capable of keeping those mansions-on-wheels  retirees drive around in operating for awhile.  

You've seen outdoor kitchens- in photographs if not in person - and may wonder if our little set-up is really convenient. To this I say: We don't live on a sprawling ranch. Second, I spent a year cooking on a single burner which used hairspray can sized bottles of gas in Korea. Call me a spoiled One Pot Wonder with two burners and no need to change the hairspray can mid-meal.   And thirdly, one can get tired of tuna fish sandwiches five nights in a row. Boiling water is truly one of God's many miracles.