Revival

A message from Brigid ....

I have been a blogger since 2005. At the height of my blogging busy-ness, I had "a small stable" of blogs on different topics: social and political commentary; desert spirituality; food; waste and ....

A few years ago I called time and ceased blogging altogether - although there was an occasional post. I had called it quits. I am an aged woman these days with a couple of serious illnesses. I am not allowed to drive. I am no longer active in organisations. I think it fair to say that I am housebound. I am active on Facebook, although I am not there as often as once I was. I have decided to embark on a re-entry into the blogging world ... beginning with The Trad Pad and, possibly, a return to my food blog, Oz Tucker. I have always used a lot of photographs on my blogs ... and I miss not being out and about with my camera.

The Trad Pad has been my blog for the lovely things of life. The controversial or political has seldom intruded. Occasionally, the spiritual has found its way in, but I kept spirituality for the blog, Desert. I don't yet know if I will revive that. I will stick pretty much to food and the lovely things of life. If I have some regularity with those two categories, I feel that I will be doing well. I hope that, with this blog new friendships can be formed and old friendships renewed; new lovelies discovered; new reflections can enter into the meaning of modern life. I would love to hear from you - particularly if you have suggestions for new topics to enter into the conversation. So, it is a new year. Let's see what it has in store, what it can bring to us. And I hope that those who share the spirit of The Trad Pad can spread the message of a world of beauty, the creativity of humanity, and the joys of simplicity and tradition. ~~~ February, 2017

Saturday, December 24, 2005

A comfort from the past: Vegemite Soup




One outcome of my journey to and from lapbanding is that I have made some decisions/resolutions to implement even as the New Year progresses. I am having minimal fat - have had nothing cooked in fat for a month so the only fat I eat is that included in food. I have not had any red meat - and that contains a fair bit of fat. So I plan to do without fat and red meat. I have also had no caffeine of any sort for five weeks. For a girl for whom caffeine was the drug of choice this is no mean feat. My favourite method of ingestion of the substance was Pepsi Max and Diet Coke. Now I have that out of my system, I intend to do without. For something cool and sweet there is diet cordial (yeah I know about aspartame). But I have reverted to comfort food from my childhood - Vegemite soup by the cupful. For those of you outside Australia who are not aware of Vegemite as an Australian icon and national food since 1923, Vegemite is a concentrated yeast extract of a black, thick, muddy consistency. It is an acquired taste so Aussies don't hold it against you if you hate it. We acquire our taste as babies when our mums mix it in with our pureed potato and pumpkin. Mums love this too and tend to put on weight eating the leftovers. We have Vegemite soldiers - vegemite spread on thick butter on thick toast cut into strips. For Vegemite soup you put a teaspoon or a dessertspoon (I prefer the dessertspoon) of vegemite in a cup or mug of hot water and stir to dissolve. If it doesn't quite dissolve, when you get to the bottom of your cup there is a nice little bit to scoop out and lick with your spoon. Vegemite is one of the world's richest known sources of Vitamin B. Aussies have always known this but now Kraft skite about it and put it on the label. The calories are low, there is little protein, virtually no carbs, and even less fat. However, if you are on a salt free diet, you had better pass this buy since it is salty. You can read all about this vital part of Australia's heritage here. And don't be surprised if you invite me for a cuppa and I turn up with my bottle of Vege.

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2 comments:

Sharon said...

You are on!!!!

Gina E. said...

Yum....we are also Vegemite lovers here. An American friend brought her 10 year old son to stay with us about 15 years ago. We introduced them to many Aussie foods of which Nutella was adored and taken back to the USA in bucketfuls, while Vegemite was spat out at the first tasting!

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