My Food Odyssey

May 15

Forces of Nature

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. One man’s weed is another man’s wildflower. Dandelions are in full bloom at this time of year. To me, they are beautiful – a sea of gold as far as the eye can see. All parts of the plant are edible – leaves, petals, seeds and even the roots. They are an all-in-one superfood and they’re free, yet we’re mowing them down at a rate of knots. Quite apart from their beauty and their use as food, dandelions are incredibly important to plant life in general. They are a key source of food for bees in early spring when they are just coming out of hibernation. Bees are essential to growing food and vegetables as they cross-pollinate flowers, enabling fruits and vegetables to develop. To me, perfectly manicured lawns devoid of daisies and dandelions are lifeless and insipid. I prefer my garden to be wild and free. Give me a host of golden dandelions any day. Read more

May 12

14 Comments

Planting a Greenhouse

I tend to divide vegetables into three broad categories – those I love, those I can’t abide and functional vegetables that I’m nonplussed about in their own right but which are essential flavour builders, such as carrots and celery. I guess I’m quite lucky in that there aren’t too many vegetables I don’t like. Swede (rutabaga), or turnip as we always called it when we were kids, is one of them. Boiled onions (especially if swimming in a white béchamel sauce) and puréed carrots will both send me running. But for the most part I love vegetables and I try to eat as wide a variety as possible. Read more

May 6

39 Comments

Building a Polytunnel

In our village almost every house has a small greenhouse. Sometimes they are sturdy constructions made with metal frames and glass or hard plastic windows, but mostly they are hand-built with frames made from either off-cuts of wood or PE piping, covered with a sheet of thick, clear plastic. Read more

May 1

15 Comments

Man in Motion

Whatever about me being a big kid, Arūnas is an even bigger one. He doesn’t do stationary – he likes to be on the move. Despite the motion blur you can still see the determination on his face to get higher and higher. It’s all part of his boyish charm, I guess. Luckily the swing was well cemented down – otherwise there probably would have been an injury. Read more

Apr 27

33 Comments

Saving Water (and my Sanity)

Ah, marital bliss. It can’t be beaten. It’s a myth, though – right? Like perfection – something to aspire to but never quite achieve?
In our house we have a deal – one cooks and the other cleans up. You’d think that this would work well for someone who loves to cook – all the fun and none of the drudgery. Alas, it’s not so. Read more

Apr 19

Rosslare Harbour | www.myfoododyssey.com

6 Comments

Afloat

In the early morning sunlight we watched as the boat pulled away from the shore, leaving Ireland in our wake. As the coastline slowly faded and disappeared we turned to look ahead. Wales would be first, we knew, then England and France. After that we had no plan – we’d just have to see where the road took us. So far, so good. Read more

Apr 15

43 Comments

Death of a Ladies’ Man

We both knew it had to be done but we had been procrastinating for weeks. Months, if I’m honest. He was a menace and he needed to go, but somehow neither of us had the heart to do it. Read more

Apr 11

Surfing on Manly Beach in Sydney, Australia | www.myfoododyssey.com

24 Comments

Blur

When do you stop being a kid and start being an adult? Eighteen? Twenty One? Read more

Apr 6

Homemade Mayonnaise | www.myfoododyssey.com

15 Comments

Easy Homemade Mayonnaise [Recipe]

Mayonnaise is my favourite condiment. It seems to go with just about everything. A thick, creamy dollop on a hard-boiled egg. Spread thickly on sourdough toast and topped with a slice of ripe tomato for a quick and tasty lunch. Combined with gherkin and pungent capers for a piquant tartare sauce. Mixed with your favourite ketchup for a perfect seafood dressing. The possibilities are endless. Read more

Apr 1

33 Comments

A Bright Pink Cock

As some of you will know, I live with a feisty cock who causes me no end of trouble. I have tried a number of approaches to keeping him at bay, including whacking him (judiciously) over the head, but nothing seems to work. Read more

Mar 30

13 Comments

Why did the elephant cross the road?

Picture the scene. You arrive in the world’s smallest airport on the world’s smallest plane and step out into sweltering heat. Your guide arrives to take you to your campsite and you look forward to your first glimpse of wildlife. Read more

Mar 26

3 Ingredient Chocolate Mousse | www.myfoododyssey.com

21 Comments

3-Ingredient Chocolate Mousse [Recipe]

When trying to live self-sufficiently it is important to make good use of ingredients and not let anything go to waste. I make a jar of mayonnaise about once a fortnight. It takes 5 egg yolks to make the full jar, which leaves me with 5 egg whites. During the summer I use these egg whites to make my no-churn chocolate chip ice cream, but in the winter (when I also have no milk for cream), I make this easy chocolate mousse. Read more

Mar 22

22 Comments

The end of an era

Without any fanfare, she drove away from the house. The sky was grey and sleet was falling at an acute angle, spurred on by an intensely cold wind. I watched from the warmth of our conservatory as she rounded the corner and disappeared from view, Arūnas smiling and waving from the wheel. That’s it – she’s gone. Read more

Mar 18

14 Comments

Wall

If you saw this wall around your holiday accommodation would it inspire confidence or fear? This was the wall surrounding our hostel in Johannesburg, South Africa. Similar walls enclosed all neighbouring buildings. We had driven all the way from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth through towns and vast areas of countryside and we had felt completely safe at all times. When we arrived in Jo’burg, where we were only staying for one night before an onward journey, we were immediately struck by a sense of fear, between the appalling driving of our host (in a car with no seat belts) and the ominous walls and fences around almost every property. We ventured out for about 5 minutes to buy a phone card and I have never felt so threatened and uncomfortable in my life. The lions and leopards we subsequently encountered on our safari were pussycats by comparison. Read more

Mar 12

18 Comments

Orange Glow

For the bulk of my childhood heating in our house was provided by fire. We had a stove in the kitchen that afforded both heat and an always-on cooking surface. The fire itself was safely tucked away behind a little door that was opened only when a draft was required to spur on the flames. But in our sitting room we had an open fire, and this was the one I loved. I could sit and stare into that fire for hours on end as another child might watch TV. There in those orange flames I saw rabbits and fish and ghosts and princesses and endless other creatures. It was an ever-changing story dancing before my eyes. It fuelled my imagination at a time when I was still reading fairy stories. I’m sure I wrote some of my own, at least in my head. We haven’t had a fire in our house for a long time, so these days the only time I get to stare into the flames is when we cook šašlykai (Lithuanian barbeque). I’m sure people think I’ve had one beer too many as I gaze into the flames and smile at the story that unfolds before me. Read more