in the beginning . . . .

All about me

I was born in Sydney. I grew up in Sydney. I live in Sydney.

I have lived elsewhere in between (Rome, NYC, Daytona) but only for short stints.

My mother is Australian, my father is American. That makes me both.

I have two brothers and two (step)sisters.

I have one Swedish (formerly vegetarian) husband.

Other random family that influence my life and my eating habits include distant relatives in Central/Eastern Europe, an adopted family in Italy, in-laws in Sweden and a mass of family in the USA.

I love to travel (who doesn’t), I love to eat (dito) and I love to experiment with ingredients and recipes.

Why did I start this blog?

Because my friends told me to. They were sick of me talking to them about food and wanted me to annoy strangers instead.

Also, they wanted an easy repository for my recipes so they could access them anytime. Lazy buggers.

I started the blog in May 2006. My aim is to explore international cuisines and try to cook my way around the world, as well as use interesting and exotic (to me) ingredients that I stumble upon.

Things to know

I like

- capers

- chocolate

- chilli

- feta

- gin

- lemon juice

- nectarines

- parmesan

- tequila

I don’t like

- capsicum (peppers)

- celery

- durian

- offal, except for tripe and sweetbreads

- pasta sauces from a jar, especially pesto. It’s just wrong.

- pastry cream

- paw paw / papaya

- sauces thickened too much with rice/potato/cornflour

- shitake mushrooms

- stir fries

Five random facts

When I was 9yrs old a window fell down on my nose and broke it. Instead of going to hospital I chose to go to the theatre with my Mum and watch West Side Story. My crooked nose is testament to this act of silliness and my mother's irresponsibility.

I drink only one glass of water a day, if that. I’m surprised I’m not dead.

My comfort food is soup. Whenever I’m tired, sad or have an upset stomach the only way to solve this is with soup. My ultimate favourite is tom yum goong (Thai) followed closely by pho bo (Vietnamese) with loads of extra chilli and caldo tlalpeño (Mexican). Despite the spiciness in all three, I still crave these soups as a cure for indigestion.

I project emotions into inanimate objects. This poses a serious problem when it’s time to say goodbye to an old toothbrush. It just feels like betrayal after it’s been so good to me.

I love jumping photos. Wherever I go I insist on taking a photo of me jumping in the air. Jonas finds them annoying and humiliating since he has to take the photo, but I really, really love making them (I laugh hysterically). One day I’ll make an album of all the jumps I’ve done around the world. So far I have jumping photos in Germany, Japan, Thailand, Sweden, Indonesia and Turkey. The earliest jumping photo is from 1989 and I even did one on my wedding day!

This photo was taken on the day I started my blog: at work, late at night, awaiting a teleconference with colleagues in Europe. If you look closely, you can see my very first post on the computer screen, moments after I published it.

Contact me at: morselsandmusings[AT]yahoo[DOT]com[DOT]au