Skip to content

Posts from the ‘Issues’ Category

Mar 15

4 Comments

Podcasts that make life worth living

 

Good

 

I have been meaning to post this list of addictive podcasts for a while now. Podcasts are window into other worlds, into the past and the future and version of someone’s truth. They are travel and taste and transportation. So for your aural delectations here they are …

FOOD

BBC Food Programme http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qnx3

A short sharp fix of excellent specialist topics discussed in some detail. Asking big questions not just following trends.

BBC Kitchen Cabinet quiz http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01klvhq

A foodaphile’s take on the comedy panel show. Hosted by Jay Rayer (Guardian food critic) with a nice spread of panel guests including chefs, bloggers and food writers, historians, scientists. Have a laugh at some of the most ridiculous food trends and facts along side the live audiences they are recorded in front of.

BBC SCOTLAND Kitchen Cafe http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b010t0x5

Transport yourself via the Scottish accents of the presenters and the conversation to colder climes of Scotland to discuss food both local (to them) and exotic.

ABC RN First bite http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/rnfirstbite/

To the other side of the world now, this Australian article based programme that will deliver a nice slice of the food scene across the country. Think coffee, immigrant community food trends, seafood and discussions about food security.

MONOCLE 24 The Menu https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/monocle-24-the-menu/id475220376 (Other Monocle podcasts inc. The Urbanist/Globalist/The Stack)

UK based sister outlet to the design magazine Monocle. Hosted by the affable Finnish accented Markus Hippi who guides listeners though the luxury, primped and poised world of food styling, on-trend bars and restaurants from Berlin to Caracas and little diet discussion. Listen out for the hilarious sexual tension between Markus and Santiago Rodríguez Tarditi in the ‘Santiago’s Basket’ spot at the end of each episode.

 

CULTURE/NEWS/SCIENCE

Chicago Public Media This American Life http://www.thisamericanlife.org/podcast

Very entertaining and sometimes touching window on the life and times of real Americans. I have caught myself laughing out loud on more than one occasion listening to this one.

ABC RN By Design http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bydesign/

A higher discussion about architecture and design from Australia. From homes designed for footballers to theoretical discussions on sustainability, features on classic design and industry discussion.

BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007qlvb (I listen to this religiously!) (5 star)

My absolute religious MUST LISTEN daily podcast. Their tag ‘a programme that offers a female perspective on the world’ says it all.  Woman’s Hour’s presenters intelligently and professionally guide the listener though a huge variety of topics without ever patronising or over hyping. Good mix of serious and frivolous topics, this programme is everything that is good about radio.

BBC Radio 4 Thought for the day http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0145rtw (a bit of an odd one but I quite like it)

A concise two minute thought for the day often related to a topic in the news delivered by hosts of all faiths.

BBC Radio 4 From our own correspondent (FOOC) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/default.stm

More little windows on the culture behind the global headlines. I think of it as conversation with a foreign corresponded – what they would really want to tell us if they could.

BBC Radio 4 Infinite monkey cage (science) http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/timc

Science blows my mind but at least Dr Cox and co make it applicable and wondrous.

BBC Radio 4 More or Less (statistics) http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qshd

Ahhh statistics – dry topic right? WRONG! Well, actually right but again, this little BBC goodie opens up an entertaining world of understanding of how statistics are used and abused in the media.

 

DRAMA

BBC Radio 4 Drama of the week http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/ptw

For those who enjoy a good old fashioned radio play with sound effects and everything!

BBC Radio 4 The Archers http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qpgr (I also listen to this religiously but that’s cause I’m a bit odd)

The world’s longest-running radio soap opera – need I say more? Listen for an amble through the British countryside.

The New Yorker Fiction https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/new-yorker-fiction/id256945396?mt=2

For those of you that enjoy good prose and the voices behind their creation.

 

MEDIA 

BBC Radio 4 The Media Show http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00dv9hq

A hard-nosed report on hard-nosed reporting. Host Steve Hewlett’s attack-dog mentality can be a bit full-on but ultimately revealing.

ABC RN The Media Report http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/mediareport/

A softer Australia version of the above.

 

Do  you have a favourite? I’d love to add to my list.

Oct 22

2 Comments

Kitchen detritus

 

The pot bubbles, you taste it, add some seasoning and stir. You taste it again, a ha! I know what it needs. A good squeeze of lemon juice. Grabbing the only lemon left in the fruit bowl you slice it in half and crush the juice into the pot. Perfect. Dinner is served and delicious it is too.

You wash the dishes and put out the compost and as you wipe down the bench, there it is. Sitting all smug and yellow; the other half of the lemon.

‘Oh well’ you say to yourself, I’ll use it tomorrow, I’ll just pop it in the fridge.

You open the door and your hand holding the little half moon of lemon absentmindedly goes to the place on the door where you keep all the half used things and DOH! There’s already one there.

Don’t you just hate that!

What clutters up your kitchen? What lurks, half used in your fridge? I’m sure most of us have a fair collection of one-use only utensils that clutter up a drawer or two but, I have been noticing the biodegradable items more lately.

A friend commented that she’s forever collecting half used tea bags as she’s a drinker of weak tea. ‘Half used’ tea bags of the common and green variety decorate her kitchen sink awaiting their second cup. Another friend tells me for her family it’s chillies: not a fan of their heat but of their flavour she cuts them in half and the unlucky half languishes in the fridge. Slowly shriveling up with dehydration.

Avocados are a classic. Although I’ve never understood why you don’t just eat the other half there and then with a spoon and a squish of that half of lemon you have spare. Half onions, half cloves of garlic, half a cucumber, half bunches of herbs, all of these seem to suffer the same fate.

Even the best of us are guilty of it. Food waste.

If you want to find out some more fast facts about the ridiculous amount of food waste Australians produce each year Do Something! Foodwise is a good place to start. And there are so many great and dedicated people out there attempting to sharpen up their end of the food waste equation. Second Bite, Food Bank, Oz Harvest, Fareshare to name but a few.
There are also people adding value to our food waste to turn it back into an asset to the community. Food not Bombs, Salvos and numerous others.

But the best place to start is in your kitchen. Make sure you use up your kitchen detritus.

Sep 14

1 Comment

inherited

Hi, my name is Anne and I am a nostalgia addict.

A recent discussion about the design of the modern kitchen and a request from a friend for an image of my little kitchen have got my brain ticking over. I have a small but very functional kitchen. It’s got deep benches (and hence cupboard space), pull-out small pantry storage, a goodly portion of drawers and some decent cupboards for my odd collection of serving ware. One of my favourite elements is the two level revolving wire shelves that enable me to have full access to the very corner of the corner.

All this storage allows me to welcome new additions to my kitchen collection without much thought to where I might put it. At least for a while. And it was with this welcoming spirit that I accepted a gift of a Kenwood Chef circa 1980 from my Nonna. Truth be told she never really used it. Too heavy for her to lift up and down from her bench space (lucky she never bought a Kitchenaid) and she is of the era where doing things by hand means literally using one’s hands only. My mother on the other hand had one of these glorious beasts and I have fond memories of the baked and blended items it produced.

And now I have inherited one of my very own. But it isn’t the only inherited item in my cupboards: I have cookbooks (mother), a waffle press (Nonna), a beautiful white milk-glass bowl (Nanna), a 1800ml green glass sake bottle where I keep my rice in the Japanese way (a foreign friend) amongst others.

I love that when I use any of these items I have an image of the person who gave them and a warm sense of their generosity. I know not everyone feels this way about handed down items but then again not everyone’s a nostalgia addict.

Are there any inherited items in your collection that inspire you?

« Older Entries