Fathers day feast

Earlier this week my Mum, staring fore longingly into the scarcely filled pantry, commented on how she is "So over thinking about food". In fact she hates it. The nagging mid afternoon thoughts about what to cook, the mental search through files of meal options that will suit, the carnivore, the sometimes vegetarian, the big eater, the small eater, and oh the lactose free girlfriend. The moment your mental shopping list is deleted every time the little automatic gate swings open to welcome you into aisle upon aisle of post-work zombies trying to piece together a meal.
Don't get me wrong Mum appreciates great food, but I think the 20 something years of unappreciative children and this afternoon routine has beaten the joy out of cooking for her family... Sorry mum.

I think the commercialized industry which now surrounds our shopping and cooking practices has alot to answer for in creating such a stale and detached eating culture. For fear of harping on like an old git about this, I'll be brief. Fluorescent lights, plastic bags, chewing gum checkout teens, sticky lino and curry in a can is a far cry from early morning market banter, shiny heaps of olives, dewy cobblestones, flapping fish, wafting smells of fresh baguettes and roasting nuts, smiling stall keepers and horror story animal carcasses gaily decorated with Santa hats and flower garlands. Perhaps my mother is just lamenting the sounds, smells and sights of these European Christmas markets.
I should mention the saving grace for my mother in the laborious task of preparing the evening meal is the clean skin Shiraz she ceremoniously sozzles during preparation. (I'm aware sozzles' isn't a word but it seems a fitting description.) It makes the whole task frightfully more enjoyable.
So as we come into Fathers day and the final family gathering we will have before I head back over to London and I couldn't be happier than to relieve mum of the cooking pressures and let here mellow down with a great Australian red.
This is the joyful thing about food. For foodies there is no greater pleasure than cooking for others and the reward you get from seeing people coming together simply to eat and be with each other. When I think back on great memories most of them have involved a good meal and coffee with friends and family.
I'm still finalising the menu for Sunday but I'm thinking Blue cheese, pear and rocket salad and a pork roast of some sort as a final farewell to winter. You can't go wrong with crunchy crackling and sweet seasonal apples. Finally for grandad I'm making my sticky date pudding. Under the watchful eye of my grandmother I doubt he has had many opportunities to indulge in this his favourite dessert. I can't wait.

Zokoko Emu Heights

In other developing food encounters this week and in keeping with the local produce theme, Ben and I headed to 'Morgans' at Emu heights. My fellow Blue Mountainers will be familiar with this coffee house as the Mountains boasts many great cafes which carry this brand of coffee. From bean to cup owner Dean Morgan is truly passionate about the perfect cup of coffee and at the office in Emu Heights you can taste the result, straight from the source. Years of searching for the perfect equiptment to accompany the perfect raw produce are evident as I had one of the best coffee's I have ever had. The office cafe is small but modern and there are a few tables if you want to put your feet up and watch the machinery through the window. Most excitingly Dean's wife Michelle has developed the same passion for chocolate and the company has now launched Zokoko (also the name of of the cafe in Emu Heights) which specialise in hand crafted chocolate. What a special thing to have so close to home! There really is a huge gap in the Australian market for bean to bar quality chocolate and I can't wait to sink my teeth into a piece when dad opens his father's day present. 

Hope everyone has a great Fathers Day!

xlaura