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 mention it here is that it allowed us to get a brand new and totally modern (for the time) kitchen, vastly superior to the one before the renovation. Trenna’s “spare” time also meant she could devote more time to a growing interest in cooking (and as it turned out, record keeping!).

Almost everyone who came to our place around that time remarked on our fabulous new kitchen.

A real feature was the “Wisteria” coloured Laminex benchtops. They were noteworthy because it wasn’t a common choice of colour, but Trenna had surmised, and it turned out to be exactly right, that they would look good against the white kitchen cupoards and pantry we had chosen.

Also, after the renovation we had more benchtop space than most people had in their homes at that time. And a way bigger pantry than anyone we knew.

We had an electric oven and a seperate gas cooktop. Also a Panasonic microwave oven that my family had all chipped in to pay for (they were expensive in those days) which we recieved as a wedding present. Thanks Fam!

The Menu Diaries

From about this period Trenna started to expand the range of recipes she used.

This moved into top gear when in 1994 we moved to Darwin and Trenna started watching Geoff Jansz’s TV Show What’s Cooking on Darwin’s one commercial TV station (Channel 8 from memory).

Then in December 1995 she took out a subscription to Gourmet Traveller magazine and the food exploration went into top gear.

For most of our time together meal planning and preparation went like this.

Trenna would figure out what we would be eating in the following week. She of course would consult me to ask if I had any requests, but usually I was more than happy to leave the planning to her.

She was meticulous in checking what was in the fridge and pantry that needed eating. Until Trenna’s last years pretty well nothing ever rotted in the fridge or cupboard and needed throwing out. She was right onto it.

She also took into account the seasons and what vegetables would be available. Back then, food miles weren’t such an issue, purely because not all that much of our fresh food was imported. If it wasn’t in season you didn’t get it. Also, the horticulture industry was less developed and so the seasons were quite limited. Unlike now when some locally grown items are available year round.

Meal Preparation

Then each day she would do most of the food preparation. Also often preparing side dishes.

Sometimes she would ask me to do some preparation the night before. For example she might ask me to cut up the meat or onions for a curry, or to moulie two or four cans of Roma tomatoes if she was planning on doing a pasta sauce.

Each day, by the time I came home from work Trenna was pretty much exhausted so I would take what she had prepared and do the final touches and serve up.

So if she had made Tren’s Original Curry, and some tomato and onion sambal during the day, I would cook the basmati rice, and papadums – cooked in oil in the wok, NOT in the microwave!

Record Keeping

In the mean time Trenna would have an A4 sheet ruled up (in a very specific and uniform way) and would record on the next day what we had eaten, and what her reaction to it was.

As with pretty much all the stuff on this website it was done purely for her and my eyes.

I’m taking a moment here to point something out. I say Trenna ruled up the page “in a very specific and uniform way”. I’d like to point out that that, and some other things she insisted be done in a consistent manner, were because of her eyesight. If she knew exactly how the page was structured she could immediately find the rectangle she wanted to write in.

Collectively they proved to be amazingly useful documents. In the last years, when I had to come up with the menu ideas Trenna encouraged me to look back at the same month in previous years for inspiration. I still do that today.

They were also useful in that she would incidentally record events which impacted on what had been chosen for dinner eg on 29 March 1992 “Session at Lyle & Milka’s [so we only had] Tomato Soup”.

A number of times, particularly when she was putting her photos in order (there will be a separate post on that one day) she would ask me to go through the Menu Diary sheets to see if the date of an event was noted.

Trenna had a remarkable memory for dates and she could usually accurately suggest where I should start.

Their Demise and Legacy

Trenna maintained the Menu Diaries for years. At some point I took over the ruling up of the pages, and then later again took over the actual writing of them.

Eventually I felt it wasn’t a priority and I stopped. I think Trenna was sad that I didn’t see the importance of it (then), but she was very understanding of the need for us both to pace ourselves. She didn’t complain.

For another few years, and even now I kept an A5 sheet with what was on the menu for the coming week, but this was a poor substitute for the magnificent memory jogging the Menu Diaries evoke.

Occasionally there are blanks in the records, usually when we were away on holidays, or when Trenna was in hospital, but by and large it recalls all our evening meals for more than 26 years. (Hmmm! That’s more than 300 sheets!)

Looking back at the original documents from the 1990s and beyond I can see the changes in food tastes, changes in our lifestyle and also Trenna’s ability to spend hours and hours – sometimes all day – cooking.

I find them a fascinating record.

So, How Will I be Doing the Menu Diaries Series?

What I intend doing is publishing a post with a photo of one or more months of the Menu Diary sheets. I will look through them and make a few remarks about things I notice about the entries.

I suspect they will spur a few stories (of course!) which I will either include in the post or add to my ever increasing list of draft posts for future publication.

It may also prompt me to publish particular recipes.

I would love it if the entries prompt comments from readers, asking me to elaborate on the food choices or Trenna’s comments. If there is an entry you don’t understand, please feel free to ask.

I should be able to rattle these posts off fairly quickly, but I’m not going to commit to any particular time line for publication.

Insights

I’m writing this post, sitting in the beer garden at the Balmoral Hotel in Victoria Park, after having a pretty average (read below average) Sunday breakfast. Trenna wouldn’t have been impressed with that meal!

I’m thinking about these Menu sheets and it occurs to me that for some people they aren’t going to be particularly exciting. And that’s fine.

PLEASE, just read the stuff you want to.

But, I am also thinking, to a large extent they encapsulate a very large part of Trenna’s essence. Especially of our time together.

A deep understanding of food preparation and an appreciation of good meals was very important.

I hope you too get a lot out of Trenna’s menus.

ENJOY!

So, “onwards and upwards, learner!” * To go to the first of the Menu Diaries (March 1992) click here.

* This was an expression used by Mark Frobose, the presenter of “French Behind the Wheel”. A set of 8 CDs you are meant to play whilst driving, to help you learn the french language. Trenna and I purchased them many years ago. They actually weren’t bad, but there are better alternatives now. In 2022 I have Googled them and they still seem widely available. I see they are on Audible and there are samples on YouTube.