What's in a name?

Welcome to my first ever blog posting. My blog aims to cover food and cooking in a non-pretentious and friendly way, acknowledging that while food can make or break an event, it is also not the be-all and end-all of existence (well it is, but shouldn’t be anything to obsess over).

In our house, we like to eat well and (relatively) healthily (though Dan is showing a chef’s disregard for low-fat anything preferring to stick to butter and cream, over Lite & Creamy evaporated milk and spray oil).

After a few years of realising that there are actually six people in the house that are very capable of cooking dinner for the rest of the members of the house, we (that is, I) have instigated a new dining regime whereby everyone is responsible for cooking dinner one night a week. (Un)fortunately we never got around to having that fifth child, so Saturday night is open kitchen night (ie whoever feels like it can cook) and in the absence of Jono who has succumbed to the travel bug, I have taken over his evening as well.

I will discuss the benefits of this wondrous institution in a later posting, suffice it to say that we are a family not only interested in eating food, but in the purchasing and preparation of it.

This blog will also cover other places at which we dine, mainly the cafes and restaurants of Wollongong, though we are not adverse to venturing beyond to Canberra, the Southern Highlands, South Coast, oh and the big smoke – Sydney. Reviews in the local press tend to be sycophantic to the point of sickening, so I would like to remedy that with a more realistic viewpoint.

I would also like to share with you the following, in no particular order:
• Cook-books I have read, borrowed or bought
• Dishes or meals I have prepared or eaten (guest cooks will be welcome here)
• Wonderful places to buy food or food related items
• Music to dine to
• Links to interesting food related news
• Last but not least, poems from Ogden Nash’s book of Food. Oh alright, I was going to save this one for later, but I’ll give you a preview:
“I like mustard,
especially with custard.”

And so, to the name. After some discussion with the car-load that went to the Night Noodle Markets at Hyde Park in Sydney on Friday night, the key point seemed to be that alliteration was essential. Thinking it through later was not easy, and as I was thinking I realised it was the sort of discussion that went well over a few glasses of champagne with a few people.

Which got me thinking about Champagne Hour. My introduction to Champagne Hour began several years ago whilst on a camping trip with my extended family. It became a time to get together, prior to dinner, maybe around 4 o’clock-ish, to crack open the champagne (the younger children scrambling to catch the cork) and everyone taking turns to provide a little smackeral of something to go with the bubbles. Coming home after every camping trip was a little bit depressing. Not the mountains of washing, the equipment to be packed away, the bills to face – but the loss of Champagne Hour, where everyone caught up with each other, not just stories, but laughs, tears, giggles, sighs, recipes and child-raising tips were shared.

Of course, Champagne Hour can (and is) enjoyed outside the camping trips and so I name this blog in homage to Champagne Hour (sorry about the lack of alliteration Lauren), and would like to think this is a place where I can share my stories and recipes with you, and hope you will do the same with me and the other readers.

I am new to blogging, though not completely technically illiterate, so the blog may change a little as I fine-tune it. I hope to post at least one post per week, maybe more, maybe less. Enjoy!