Last Sunday afternoon, a gracious friend of mine took me
to a High Tea at

 St Stephen's Bayswater.

 The afternoon was organised by an NGO called

Australia Aids South Africa.

As the name implies, the organisation works to assist

AIDS victims in South Africa.

 The hall at Stephen's was packed.

There was wonderful music from talented local people.

As well as my friend and her lovely family,

I also enjoyed the presence at our table of

St Stephen's vicar, Father David.

Each table had its own host.

The host (or hostess if you prefer) provided
all the beautiful napery and tableware.

I thought this was a great idea -

since it split so much of the organisation, responsibility and work.

Beverages, it should be noted, were not limited to coffee and tea!

I did enjoy the champers in beautiful fluted glasses -

and the flowers and chocolates, too.

I think the afternoon was a marvellous social success.

I am sure the hard work was rewarded, as well, with financial success.

Thank you, Australia Aids South Africa.

Tabling: Ancient Prayers and Blessings

I am indebted to Following the Ancient Paths for bringing to prominence the ancient prayers of the Jewish tradition - particularly those that relate to blessings before meals and after meals. Truly beautiful.

A table and a couple of chairs...happiness

In a comment on this post, Val said that she thought tabling was Miss Eagle's forte. Below is something from the much beloved Michael Leunig. He seems to think tabling is rather important, too.

Tabling a dream

Photo Friday: Dream

Is Miss Eagle psychic? Surely, it would be good to be a psychic blogger: to know what people were wanting to read and blog it. How good would that be for those concerned to drive traffic to their blog?

Now what has led to Miss Eagle querying her psychic capacity? The fact that she recently blogged her sponge recipe, complete with picture. Then this week, in Epicure in The Age, there are not one, but two articles mourning the demise of the sponge.

Article #2 has some history to it. Miss Eagle thinks beating her eggs with rotary beaters and folding in her flour with a trowel-shaped spatula is quite traditional. But traditional soul as Miss E is, she will not be attempting this way of whipping egg-whites:

The State Library's yellowing copy of Australian Cookery, Canned Fruits, Summer Drinks, Preserves, Jellies, Jams as Given at The Fruit Carnival of The Royal & Brighton Horticultural Societies Exhibition, Exhibition Building, Melbourne 1890 by Margaret J. Pearson, has - despite the lengthy title - a brief and efficient description on how to beat eggs by hand. The trick is to beat the yolks and whites separately. "The yolks in a large bowl and the whites on a shallow dish until the whites are solid."

At this time knives were used to beat egg whites. The flat of the blade was lifted and swirled through the albumen to incorporate as much air as possible.

It took me more than 20 minutes to beat four separate egg whites until stiff, trying to recreate this method. A first attempt with slightly older egg whites proved the sponge-cake mantra to "use the freshest eggs possible". The albumen of the two-week-old eggs did not hold together and simply rolled off the knife. Fresh egg whites have an almost soft jelly-like appearance and stay bound in a loop as they are whipped.

This method of whipping was replaced when cheap mass-produced hand beaters - patented in the 1860s - at last became available after the 1900s.

But, seriously, dear Reader, this blog is about traditional Australian family cooking and keeping the tradition alive by sharing with readers in Australia and around the globe. So-o-o... perhaps, I'll give the CWA a ring.

What do you think, dear Reader?

Coffee Can and Beads

This week's Photo Friday challenge/theme is Amber. Miss Eagle's contribution is a pair of amber bead necklaces surrounding a Susie Cooper coffee can and saucer with an amber interior. These beautiful things have come to me from other women who love/d beautiful things. The beads were given to me by my former boss, Margo, who remains a good friend. The Black Fruits coffee can and saucer and part of a set of six from my late aunt, playwright Kathleen Carroll.

The family that tables together.......

• 
  Throughout history, humans have tabled together to break bread.
  The simple ritual of the shared meal reunites us with our families and brings balance to our lives.
  These words are taken from the review of Art Smith's book, Back to the Table: The Reunion of Food and Family. Art is Oprah's personal chef.
  Counterbalance this with the views of Australian educationists that more children than ever are present at school with language difficulties. And what do they think is to blame:
  "Families aren't sitting around the dinner table any more every night talking about what's happened during the day and engaging with the children," Ms Trimper said. "Children are sitting in front of televisions more and computers playing computer games. It's dinner in front of the television, video games after dinner, or parents both working and time poor — all those issues have to impact on children."
  Back in 2005, Miss Eagle recalls hearing or reading that Kathy Letts, that well-known expatriate Australian, had rid her London house of the dining room table so that the room could become a home theatre. Miss E was horrified. Letts was reported as saying that, if the family wanted to eat together, they went out to eat. More horror!
  What about privacy - what if something unforeseen invaded mealtime: argument and debate, outrageous laughter and hysteria, practical jokes. All of these Miss E knows can arise at family meal time and a good thing too. But what happens in a restaurant or some public eating place: a child’s terror of having to behave?
  The failure to table together as a family shows no respect: no respect for the food, where it came from, the person who prepared it. It shows no respect for ourselves and what connects us to life and to each other. And now the kids are paying the price at that most basic form of human connection, language.
  In Britain, there is now a movement called Back to the Table - because Mealtime is Realtime they say. There are some big names swinging behind the campaign - including celebrity chef, Gordon Ramsay. Miss Eagle would love to hear from you, dear Reader, on this subject: your projects involving food and kids; kids recipes; fun meal time stories etc. If you want to email me to include your contributions as a post complete with pictures, all the better. If you really have something to say about families, food, and connection you might also like to guest on Food from Oz. Please email me. Lets put fun, families, and people into meals. Let's get rid of the pit stop mentality where food is just a refuelling of whatever is handy. Let's take time to think about our food, how it is produced, where it comes from. Then let's take time with its preparation. And above all, let's take time for one another.