Fridays Feast

Appetiser
Who is your favorite news anchor/reporter? Why?

Rob Kelvin. He is a news reader from my hometown: Adelaide, South Australia.

I am not all that into news readers, but I have always felt a considerable amount of compassion for this man.

His son was kidnapped and murdered in 1983, and though, I never saw him read the reports concerning his son's disappearance or the subsequent proceedings against his son's murderer, he was present alongside his co-anchor, at least during the reports concerning leagl proceedings.

The boy was found dead, after being lost almost two months , and although I was only 10 when this boy disappeared, I always felt that it must have been terribly diffcult to present oneself professionally, while this private turmoil was taking place. He always seemed like such a nice man.

Soup
Name 3 foods that are currently in your freezer.

Raspberries (mmmm)

Falaffels

Frozen veggies

Salad
If you were to have the opportunity to name a new town or city, what would you call it?

Sunnybrook. 10 years ago, in Australia, I had a vision of being present in a place with a delightfully green park and a giant tree, like a majestic elm, spreading its sturdy limbs out before me, like assuring open arms. A woman with ash blonde hair, wearing a bright red jacket, was standing under the tree to greet me. Standing beside her, was a child, also wearing red. As I looked around this lovely scene, I asked the woman, "Why am I here?" She said "I don't know". Then I asked her "Where am I?" and she said "Sunnybrook". So in my effort to end the search for this idyllic spot, I would ensure that a large public park were created in the middle of the town, where a gentle creek ran nearby. I would plant an elm, in the hope that it developed similarly to the one in my vision, and I would name the town - Sunnybrook.

Main Course
What will most likely be the next book you read?

"Snow Falling on Cedars". A couple of days ago my friend said she would lend me her copy.

Dessert
What's the first thing you notice about the opposite gender?

Energy. It is not something you notice. It is something that grabs you, forcing you to delve deeper, with heightened curiosity. Then I notice a conglomeration of various physical attributes to justify why I was drawn to further scrutinise, this particular individual from the sea of faces that present themselves daily. You know what I mean? We don't notice everybody.

fridays feast

Appetizer
Name two things that made you smile this week.

Finding "Up there Cazaly" on youtube and remembering my youth growing up with aussie footy. I even blogged about the experience. I was so overjoyed.

And getting my socially reluctant 4 year old to participate in a Spring Break Day Camp. He refused to stay the first day, which I feared would be the case, yet again. But asked to go the second day, and he allowed me to leave. He said he had so much fun. The remaining days were no problem. It was a small win for me, but an enormous win for him - he is so shy.

My trick was to draw a "magic heart" on his hand before I left. The magic heart was a symbolic promise that I was thinking of him and would be back at 12 to pick him up. I have had to use the heart at various time as a token of reassurance - hey, if it helps...it helps.

Soup
Fill in the blank: Don't you hate it when: you spend good money to buy fresh healthy food ,and make a tasty hearty meal, only to have the kids turn up their noses and refuse to eat it, because it is "something different"?

Salad
When you can't go to sleep, what is your personal remedy to help yourself drift into Lullabyland?

Dear me, nothing much works for me, I am afraid. I tend to stay up writing or watching TV until the wee small hours until I actually am sleepy.

Main Course
What is something about which you've always wondered but have not yet found a good answer?

I am an idiot just for admitting this, but I just don't get how colours are created and then communicated to our brains so we can differentiate between the various hues and subtleties. It has been explained to me, but I still don't get it. Please don't offer me any explanations, I fear my brain might explode.

Dessert
What is your favorite pasta dish?

Tortellini with butternut pumpkin, sage and cheese

Pre-heat over to 220 degrees Celsius or 405 Fahrenheit.
Place 1kg of butternut pumpkin/squash, peeled, deseeded and chopped into a large (5cm deep 20x30)roasting pan along with
2 table spoons chopped fresh sage
1 clove garlic
and salt and pepper to taste
Toss well
Roast for 20 minutes or until tender

Cook 500gms spinach and cheese tortellini (or other cheese tortellini) for approximately 6minutes.
Drain well

Combine 1 cup thickened/whipping cream
250gms mini bocconcini
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
stir
and pour over roast pumpkin mix
Bake for 15 minutes until golden
and serve with a leafy green salad.