Bourke Street Bakery Christmas Cake

Republished with Permission. Allam, P and McGuiness, D Bourke Street Bakery Christmas Cake, Murdoch Books, p338-341.  The recipe is not difficult but if you read through it all you will discover you need to start making about 15 weeks ahead of when you plan to have it ready to eat. That being said, when I made it I only fed the cake about four weeks … Continue reading Bourke Street Bakery Christmas Cake

More skills please, less housework

It’s 10am and I’m trying to mend my new dress I bought. I’ve been trying to mend all week to bring in the top and bodice because it’s too big for me. The alteration I had planned was designed with a friend’s help but it’s just not working. It’s hard to explain. I’ve been persisting all week with it amongst taking breaks to mend other … Continue reading More skills please, less housework

Becoming a mother; learning to nurture a baby

My husband Tim and I welcomed a healthy baby boy to the world at the end of May in Broken Hill in far west New South Wales. We named him Bryan James Andrew Waite after my husband’s grandfather. We arrived in Broken Hill when I was 30 weeks pregnant and within a week of arriving the first shutdown restrictions began because of COVID-19. Antenatal classes … Continue reading Becoming a mother; learning to nurture a baby