Girlbooker's Tea and Toast

I’ve been intrigued by the possibilities of connection between food and mental health for a number of years now. A few years ago, I went through a really tough time, and one of the things that acted as a life buoy for me was cooking. I had never been an especially engaged or talented cook, but through this time I slowly developed familiarity with ingredients and techniques, and came to rely on the soothing, calming process of kitchen creation so much that I now get sad and moody if I go more than a few days without cooking.  I’ve spent some time musing over what exactly it is that works such magic on me, and I’m not 100% sure, but I do know that I’m not alone in seeking solace in food, and in particular, food creation. I have been delighted to discover some books in the last couple of years that have shared these ideas with me. The Happy Kitchen by Rachel Kelly is most explicit about this topic. It’s been written by a writer who has struggled with depression, and a nutritioni...

A pomegranate tree grew in the front garden of my childhood home. It was therefore normal to us kids, but I don’t recall ever having seen one anywhere else until I was an adult. Just the other day “pomegranates from Joe’s farm” were on sale in my local (and completely adorbs) corner store, and it got me thinking about how common they have been, especially in Australia, over the last few decades, so I decided to find out a little more. I began my research the way all good research should begin, and called my mum for a chat. She had grown up in the same house, and I was curious to know how much she remembered of the pomegranate tree in the garden. It wasn’t there when she was a child, but it was there when she and my father bought the house from my grandfather and moved in when I was a baby. So how did it get there? Pomegranates are not a very 'Anglo’ fruit, so would, I thought, have been a little unusual in suburban Adelaide back in the day. According to mum*, the plant was pop...