Thoughts From Becca

During the week I asked Twitter friends what were their favourite pumpkin ideas. Actually it was a simple request, one little tweet (Twitter miniblog post), and I was surprised by so many replies and retweets (repeat posts). Here are the responses: @ sgere : pumpkin polenta! we just had that for dinner on Sunday @ Amykr : I love pumpkin ravioli or since it is late some pumpkin bread @ Kimbitz : my 5 year old asked for pumpkin pie today - something in the air? I make my pie with honey and coconut milk - fantastic! @ achillesmama : RT @frombecca : so now have pumpkin on my mind ... maybe pumpkin risotto tonight ... other pumpkin ideas anyone? @ VeronicaFitzhug : after din din you should watch the christin ricci movie pumpkin. it's 1 of my favs & soundtrack is awesome. love that ricci chick @ fridley : Pumpkin pudding!! Had it the other night. Delicious!! @ crazybrave : try pasta with chunks of pumpkin roasted with cumin and chilli, grilled ricotta and pesto. @ JohannaBD : nothing...

While I have a great love of home cooking and comfort food, there are a few food moments that stand above all the great memories (food delights or otherwise) of my life. On food, one of my favourite times was enjoying a simple piece of artisan bread shared with some local NZ cheese on a parkbench on the banks of Lake Taupo, New Zealand. Another bread and cheese favourite, is of course enjoying fresh baguette and camembert in Paris (cliche! but unforgettable!) The greatest moments however have been above fine produce, and ultimately have included exceptionally crafted cookery. I'm talking the kind of food (and service), that no matter how much I do love to cook, and no matter how practiced, that I just could not ever achieve at home. My star amongst a handful of ultimate dining experiences is still a recent memory. I'd done some research on what would be my selected 3 star Michelin dream for this Parisian holiday. Yes, such 'fine' dining is a costly exercise, but, to me,...

There are a few friends and acquaintances that really impress me. They have outstanding manners. It doesn't matter if their sense of etiquette matches mine or not, if their manners are from a similar cultural background, or a same sense of generation. What impresses me is that they are always thoughtful. After all that's what the foundations of etiquette are all about.  I've been lucky enough to grow up with a fine example. On the second day after any event, there will always be a card arrive in the post from mum to say thank you. Maybe, heritage post is a lost tradition. I certainly am not as vigilant in using that medium. I do always try to show my appreciation for thoughtfulness that has been extended to me. Mum relates that if a woman left the table, or the room, the gentlemen would always stand. I think this is divine and always appreciate that courtesy (though rarely observed today).  Knowledge of the table setting, of how to act when dining, is an art that is worth ...

This week is mum's birthday, and I have a big '0' birthday not too long afterwards ...  I got to thinking about celebrations and the part that food plays, and has always played in the defining moments of our life. Birthdays are just one of the celebratory milestones of course. On a personal note we also have births, deaths, marriages, coming of age, and more. These celebrations mark the passage of our lives. There are also celebrations in community, whether that is spiritual or other.  Food is significant in all of these, and sometimes symbolic as well. Each year for mum's birthday, we try and make her feel even more special to us, by selecting the foods for her family birthday celebration from amongst her favourites. For her birthday in April, in Sydney, in Australia, this will mean that some of her favourites are in season: figs, persimmons, pomegranates, chestnuts, artichokes, spinach, white sweet potatoes, mushrooms... Mum's getting on and it only just dawned o...