I have the world on my plate...

and in my pantry. My abundantly overstocked pantry. Along with my unashamed obsession with cook books comes a directly related obsession with ingredients. All my reading about food has bred an avid curiosity and collectors approach to food products.  I am also the direct descendant of a man who couldn't pass a butcher or delicatessen without swishing aside the plastic fly strips and entering the world within. A man whose idea of a Saturday afternoon of fun was to travel to towns far and wide, pulling the family Holden up out the front of the local butcher, baker or (less often) candlestick maker and disappearing inside for great lengths of time. It was such a ritual for my Dad to traipse the countryside in search of interesting food that my Mum permanently harboured a plastic bag of unfinished knitting beneath the front seat while my brother and I had back seat fighting down to a fine and precise art. Conflict and unfinished craft were pushed aside when my Dad would emerge from the shop carrying a bundle of  fancy sausages or bread to share on the return trip. On special drives he might even finish the adventure with a stop at the local milk bar for that other exotic treat, the 50c bag of mixed lollies, still one of my favourites.
Since he's been gone I have continued the tradition. I love nothing more than wandering the aisles of food shops in all their shapes and sizes. Even the local supermarket, without kids in tow, is a magical wonderland and I inevitably leave with several packages of odds and sods that I just fancied trying. (With kids it's more like hell on earth complete with threats, bribes and cursing upon arriving home to the realisation sixteen things have been forgotten including milk and toilet paper.)
Yesterday, we bundled ourselves in to the family Toyota for a journey to the big smoke. Now, the true purpose of the trip was to visit good friends, but we go to Melbourne so rarely that every trip has to have some value adding, otherwise it just doesn't seem worth the effort. The value yesterday was added in the form of a couple of stop offs at foreign food importing treasure troves. I read an article in the paper about six months ago about shops specialising in ingredients from other countries and I've hung on to it with the intention of visiting them all eventually. Yesterday we went to a Dutch shop complete with clogs in all sizes and a few obligatory windmills. Having a husband of Dutch descent this was a bit of fun. I wandered around like a kid in a candy shop picking up all sorts of goodies. The kidlets, on the other hand, wandered around like a pair of bulls in a China shop so eventually I had to give in and get out. But, not without a packet of sugary sprinkles to eat on bread, a packet of speculaas spice (used in those yummy Dutch bikkies), some gelatine leaves, some fruity tea bags and a salty licorice Chupa Chup (wierd). I also found a ready mix for those poffertje, mini pancakes they sell at markets sprinkled with icing sugar. We already have the special cast iron thing for cooking them in at home, but have only so far managed a poor impression of the real thing using an old fashioned pikelet recipe. I can't wait to try them.
On the way home, amid torrential rain and at a time traditionally referred to in our house as cactus hour (in Melbourne terms, peak hour) we pulled up in Sydney road for a visit to the Mediterranean Wholesalers. I had visions of idly perusing the goodies lining the shelves. Sniffing and trying to interpret the Italian labels while dropping the odd thing in to my basket. In reality it was a frantic dash along the shelves dodging staff sweeping up after a busy day while trying fruitlessly to ignore a one year old lying on the floor screaming and simultaneously re shelving the products the three had gathered in his travels. Flustered and weary we left the shop with a big bag of pasta in weird and wonderful shapes and sizes, a tinge of disappointment lingering at being unable to look at anything properly, leaving behind all manner of yummy looking jars of pesto, fancy pastries and serious bottles of plonk. For all the coeliac folk in the house, this place is also worth a look for their big range of gluten free pasta.
I'm already planning my next international food tour of Melbourne. Perhaps an Asian grocer or two and Casa Iberica in Johnston street for a little taste of Spain perhaps? What an awesome city. Four seasons and several countries, all in one day.

This is a lovely rustic looking paper mache box I picked up in a craft shop. At the moment it's one hundred percent potential. I have an idea of what I will fill it with and I'm looking forward to doing the designing and development. But, buntyandsars is again suffering from some school holidays/teacher husband neglect. You would think with him home I'd get more done. Definitely not the case. Does anyone else have a teacher for a partner? I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels the whole world slows down and the house-workload is amped up. You'd think the opposite would be true with a spare pair of able hands to help out. I have almost made it to the bottom of my blog though, so that's a win for buntyandsars! Oh, and pencil in a trip to Daylesford on Easter Saturday, too. I'll be there with lots of other talented makers selling our lovelies for what is traditionally a bumper weekend in a rather lovely place. I have my fingers crossed for a glorious Autumn day with warm sun sprinkled over every shade of Autumn leaf and a very relaxed vibe in the air.
Last but not least, a cool link for you, you precious thing... http://www.myrtleanseunice.com/ Awwww, too cute. This one is everything I would love my blog to be. It's also just the thing to spend hours scrolling through going ooooh and ahhhh. If only I had an i-pad, oh the couch time joy I could have being immersed in such beautiful and inspiring wisdom and cleverness. Santa, can you hear me???