Categories
1990s Menus

The Menu Diaries No. 10

January 1993

For an introduction to what these Menu Diary posts are about, please click here.

It looks like we ate a few home grown vegies in January 1993. That was probably the peek of our vegetable growing as a short time later we built a swimming pool that took up most of the sunny space in the back yard.

Having said that, we always (and still do) grew quite a wide range of herbs and still grew the … Read the rest ... “The Menu Diaries No. 10”

Categories
1990s Menus

Menu Diary No. 9

November 1992 and into December

For an introduction to what these Menu Diary posts are about, please click here.

Monday 2 November. Cardboard sausages. These were left overs from Colin and Julie’s barbecue the day before.

Tuesday 3 November. Once again Tren’s Original Curry, as discussed in previous Menu Diaries.

Saturday 7 November. Muresk is an Agricultural College affiliated with the university at which I was working. It is about an hour and a half drive North East … Read the rest ... “Menu Diary No. 9”

Categories
1990s Menus

Menu Diary No. 8

October 1992 AND a reconnection to the Andersons!

For an introduction to what these Menu Diary posts are about, please click here.

Monday 28 September. Roast Pork. I would have made this one. Mainly because Trenna would have real trouble lifting a hot pork roast safely, and secondly because in those days I always got the crackling perfectly crispy.

Wednesday 30 September – Sunday 4 October. I went away to the National Australian Institute of Tertiary Education Administrators (AITEA) … Read the rest ... “Menu Diary No. 8”

Categories
1990s Menus Recipes

Menu Diary No. 7

September 1992

For an introduction to what these Menu Diary posts are about, please click here.

Tuesday 25 August. Trenna made moussaka again, which I’m sure I enjoyed – it would have taken her ages.

Thursday 27 August, chilli spaghetti is a really easy and fast meal. As it was a Thursday we probably did the grocery shopping first (the only night supermarkets were open late) and then I would have cooked it after we got home. … Read the rest ... “Menu Diary No. 7”

Categories
1990s Menus

Menu Diary No. 6

August 1992

For an introduction to what these Menu Diary posts are about, please click here.

Tuesday 28 July. “Basically” with the “Basic” underlined. I’m sure it would still have been good.

Wednesday 29 July. Trenna remarks that penne is a good choice of type of pasta. As long as I can remember, which is obviously not this far back, I thought we ALWAYS had that favourite meal with penne, but obviously not. It is the same meal that … Read the rest ... “Menu Diary No. 6”

Categories
1990s Menus

The Menu Diaries No. 5

July 1992

For an introduction to what these Menu Diary posts are about, please click here.

Tuesday 30 June 1992. Steak and Kidney Pie. “Really Yummy”. Trenna developed a recipe for this, and another, very similar, for Steak and Mushroom Pie. Both were favourites with us and I am sure they are going to appear all through the years of these menu diaries (I last made it about a month ago). Eventually I will publish the recipes for those … Read the rest ... “The Menu Diaries No. 5”

Categories
1990s Darwin Writing

The Darwin Letters No. 2

By Trenna, Intro by Greg

It’s been a long time coming, and then it is only a short piece! The whole Chapter is only three paragraphs long.

Future installments will be in a different format, as you will see.

If you missed Chapter One, you can find it here.


By Trenna

Chapter Two

Leaving home

Finally, after months of consideration and anticipation, and weeks of preparation, departure day Thursday 10th November 1994 has thankfully arrived.  The past couple of … Read the rest ... “The Darwin Letters No. 2”

Categories
1980s 1990s Menus Recipes

The Menu Diaries No. 4

June 1992

For an introduction to what these Menu Diary posts are about, please click here.

Friday 29 May 1992. A date which will live in infamy. Our good friend Helen invited us to her pace for dinner with her and her then husband, David. I fell asleep at the table. Big Whoops! Helen and David were good about it….

Tuesday 2 June. I see we had flathead fillets and really enjoyed them. Looking ahead at the next … Read the rest ... “The Menu Diaries No. 4”

Categories
1990s Menus Recipes

The Menu Diaries No. 3

May 1992

For an introduction to what these Menu Diary posts are about, please click here.

Monday 4 May. Steak with green pepper sauce, herbed spud, beans, carrots. Tren describes it as gluggy but yummy. She is referring to the green pepper sauce. I haven’t had it for years. It was made with peppercorns that came in a small green can, and evaporated milk was the other main ingredient. It was delicious, but hard not to make gluggy. We … Read the rest ... “The Menu Diaries No. 3”

Categories
1990s Menus Recipes

The Menu Diaries No. 2

April 1992

For an introduction to what these Menu Diary posts are about, please click here.

Saturday 4 April. “Ragaletto”! A pasta sauce from a jar!? Could this be right? Then I remembered that when we were first together and both working it wasn’t uncommon for us to have Dolmio brand pasta sauces from a jar. On this occasion I suspect we had it because it was Saturday and we had probably been busy all day – most … Read the rest ... “The Menu Diaries No. 2”

Categories
1990s Menus Recipes

The Menu Diaries No.1

March 1992

For an introduction to what these Menu Diary posts are about, please click here.

The first thing I notice about this menu sheet is that there are a number of crossings out. I think at first Trenna was drawing up the sheets with what she expected we would be eating. Then when circumstances changed she had to cross out what was planned and write what we actually had.

I believe after just a few sheets she cottoned … Read the rest ... “The Menu Diaries No.1”

Categories
1990s 2000s 2010s Menus Recipes

Introducing the Menu Diaries

A New Series of Posts Based on Trenna’s Records of Evening Meals

A New Career and a New Kitchen

In 1990-91 Trenna and I employed builders to do our first home renovation. Trenna had recently resigned from her job at the Hospital Benefit Fund (HBF) and therefore had the time to keep a record of what tradesmen came when.

I believe I’ve still got that record, but that will be the subject of a totally different post.

The reason I … Read the rest ... “Introducing the Menu Diaries”

Categories
1960s 1970s 1990s 2000s Craig House Kitchen Tapes Travel

Floor 7 1/2

… and Trenna’s Voice, Recording Kitchen Tape No. 8

By Greg, and then Trenna’s own voice

The popular-culturally literate among you will immediately be thinking “Being John Malkovich“.

What’s this got to do with Trenna?

Well….

I have decided that in most cases I’m NOT going to put the original sound recordings on this website – at least for now.

However, I thought I should put up at least one, to provide an idea of what the original … Read the rest ... “Floor 7 1/2”

Categories
1990s Darwin Love and Marriage Writing

Commencing the Darwin Letters

By Greg, and then Trenna

Trenna and I lived in Darwin the capital of the Northern Territory from 1995 to 1997. Darwin, for our international readers is well and truely in the tropics.

This is our copy of Microsoft Word Version 5. It came with 5.25″ floppy disks, 6 printed manuals, and a keyboard overlay.

During that time, thankfully, Trenna took the lead in writing home to friends and relatives. Yes it was the era of letters and expensive long … Read the rest ... “Commencing the Darwin Letters”