I’ve been quite sick, off from work with a virus. Mr B. is away for work (again) so, excluding the occasional visits from friends with offers of assistance (and frozen meals), I have been left to my own devices.
Most of my days have been spent walking from the bedroom to the medicine cabinet then back to the bedroom. Only occasionally detouring to the back door to let the dogs out because, lets be honest, the main reason to have a dog is to have something to cuddle when you’re alone and sick.
Amazingly I have had the experience of having a good doctor. Being so remote often means sacrificing good medical services but I have been very fortunate. He is not only a doctor but an avid writer and gave me a book, “My Father’s Compass”, to read in my down time. The tone of the book well….it got me thinking about my own father.
There are certain foods that we attach to life experiences. There are foods that we have when we are hot, cold, bored, sad, in love and sick. These are the “memory foods”.
My mother’s vegemite toast, whose buttery goodness mimics the way my heart used to melt whenever she made this for me when I was little.
Jess' Nachos. The food of friendship. A late night snack sitting on tiles, beside the hot oven chatting about nothing and everything.
Potato Gems at South Bank with Mandy. Calling them tater tots and watching people step on them. Juvenile pranks late at night.
"Cookie Moments"
Gelato and Kez. Lying by the river until it’s too dark to even make out the water. All you can hear are the sounds of the night and the city.
And baked goods – the food of my father.
My father worked hard but every Wednesday was his ‘day off’. Every Wednesday afternoon he made a point of driving to my school (with my little dog) to pick me up and take me out for an afternoon together.
Our afternoons always began at the Bakery. The aroma of an old-fashioned bakery is something I would love to bottle. I can’t even describe the combination scent of pastries, breads, cakes, cookies, meringues, pies and sausage rolls. After getting something savoury and, always at my father’s insistence, something sweet, we would head to the park across the road and eat while watching the ducks, turtles and eels in the pond until the sun went down.
These are some of the best memories I have of my father. He was a different kind of man on Wednesday afternoons. This was a tradition of ours for only a few years but remembering this is something special to me.
Old-Fashioned Sausage Rolls
300 grams of mince
A tiny portion of diced onion
Dried parsley
Dried mixed herbs
1 egg
Dash olive oil
Puff pastry
Turn the oven to 180 degrees and thaw the puff pastry sheets.
In a mixing bowl combine the mince, onion, oil, parsley and mixed herbs. Lightly whisk the egg and add to the mince mixture.
Halve a sheet of puff pastry and spread a portion of the mixture onto the sheet. Ensure it is spread evenly (lengthways) and not too thick so it doesn’t ooze out everywhere. Roll up the pastry sheet to enclose to mixture. Cut into portions and place on a baking tray and into the oven for around 25 minutes.
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