an Aussie kid's feast

I have the most vivid recollection of Mum parking the car in Nan and Pop's driveway, and me getting out, racing through the back lattice gate, up the stairs past the clothesline {another story about that later}, into the sunroom, through the back door and, after an immediate sharp left, finishing up in heaven the pantry.

This was no ordinary pantry. Pop's house was built back when pantries were about the size of today's walk-in closets. For a kid, opening the door was like stepping inside Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. I would lose myself in there for 15, 20, 30 minutes even, before I finally reappeared to say hello to everyone. I marvel still that I was allowed to, but I was and it was the_most_awesome_thing!

Nan collected recipes for 70+ years and she tested them out on the harshest of critics - 7 children, countless grand children and an endless stream of visitors that always knew you could get morning tea, afternoon tea AND supper at Bub and Jimmy's.  That's right folks. Every single day, not a day missed, my Pop sat down to breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and supper, lovingly served by my Nan. The staple meals were regular Aussie {Tassie} fare - toast, cereal, meat and three veg, always a roast on Sundays. But the other 'meals' ... they were something else alright. They were the feasts that little kids' dreams are made of. And they were the reason I got lost in the pantry, via the back door, every time we ever visited.

Or at least that's how I remember it.

You might call it a strange, dissapointing irony that I don't cook {or like those that love me most, you might simply be deeply grateful}, given how much Nan's pantry shaped my love of food and treats. I prefer to look at it a little differently. If I could make the things that Nan made, if I could just pop down to the shop, pick up a few ingredients and whip up the most heavenly batch of afghan cookies, then all the magic would be gone. Did you watch the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympics in 2000? Or perhaps you saw the Wizard of Oz as a kid.  Or my favourite, Alice in Wonderland {swoon@Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter}. If you did, then consider for a moment that THAT is what my childhood adventures in Nan's pantry felt like. Utterly magical! Utterly astonishing! So I prefer to think I was destined not to cook, because I'm destined to live in awe of the magic that is someone else's pantry cupboard full of lovingly homebaked treats.

And that's where you come in.

I have a box of recipes carefully torn from magazines, hurriedly scrawled while listening to the radio, or later watching the {black and white} television, or lovingly gifted from friends and family, or even their friends and family.  All of them yellowed, fading, splattered with decades of cake mix.

I want to share these with you, one-by-one, in the hope that you'll share them right back with me. Would you be kind enough to make the recipes for your friends and family, and help me honour my Nan by sharing your cooking and eating stories and photos with me, here on 'nan's pantry'?

This is a community project and I'm hoping you will be my community, my Nan's community. If you're thinking "yes, yes I would LOVE to cook your Nan's recipes for the special people in my life" then I would love to hear from you.

And now I'm wondering when I should post the first recipe. Perhaps ... when I have 5 magnificent home cooks join me in this heart felt adventure? Yep, I think that feels about right.

Please ... will you join me?

Lis x