HONESTLY!

Having to do a spot of shopping, a couple of us stopped and enjoyed a cup of tea (Earl Grey of course!) at a nice little coffee/tea shop in one of the arcades that are sprinkled around our small town.

We do this regularly - it not only keeps us up to date with all our gossip, but it also enables us to share a gripe or two, while at the same time indulging in a chosen special cake to accompany our tea. We're all big girls, so there's never any problem of one or two of them attacking any of the others for spoiling ourselves with a cream cake occasionally.

Why was this particular morning any different? I stood at the counter casually deciding which cake to choose, when a very small, smartly dressed woman came and stood beside me. I turned and smiled. She glowered at me and said, "you shouldn't even be thinking of eating anything like that - you're so fat. You should be using your willpower" 

So I did what any well-mannered, well-balanced plus-size lady would do. I looked down at my ample bust, leaned over and looked at my tummy, and turned back to her and said "Yes, you're right, I believe I AM fat. But I'm not rude to people I don't know. And might I say I certainly don't need any will power. Perhaps occasionally a little bit of "won't-power" could come in handy but not today. Which cake do you think I should choose? Ah yes, that beautiful fresh cream French slice. Don't you agree". She glared at me as though I had just flown in from Mars, mumbled and trotted off to a far table.

The rest of my group were seated by this time, waiting for their morning tea to arrive. The girls behind the counter were trying to hide their laughs and were in quite a twitter. After the snobby lady had left, the proprietor came across to me and said, "you know, that woman upsets so many of our customers with her rudeness and we've never been game to say anything. Thanks for saying what we've often thought and felt. You've made our day."
And yes, we all enjoyed our morning tea - VERY MUCH INDEED!!!

Comfort food!

Well, that was an interesting post on comfort food we had recently.   I heard from a friend through Google, and a variety of emails from ladies from around Australia as well as from Europe.

It's interesting to hear what any one person thinks of as "comfort food".   Here are some of the suggestions, and I have to say, I was in total agreement when I saw that Macaroni and Cheese was high on the list.  Then there's Spaghetti Bolognaise; Lamb Shanks and vegetables; Home made Meatloaf; Chicken Snitzel; Egg and Bacon Pie:  Irish Stew and Dumplings: Bread and Butter Pudding; Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding; Crepes and Big Pancakes.    And of course as in our earlier post, Sausages and Mash1

It's also encouraging to hear that so many are now preparing meals at home rather than going out for dinner more than a couple of times a week.   It could be stretching the budget or it could be that more and more women are remembering what it was like when they were younger and they came home from achool and or work, to find warm nourishing meals placed on the table.  And those meals were prepared with love by their Mums and Grandmas.

(Photos from the Internet).

Comfort food!

There's "comfort food" and then there's "comfort food". And all of us, from the Prime Minister down to the old gentleman who lives down the street, has our favourites. Even people like Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson.

One that comes to mind easily is Sausages and Mashed Potatoes, or as it is more commonly or popularly known, "Bangers and Mash". I see where it has become the all out favourite in Britain particularly during the economic down-turn.

And whatever you may think, (and I can hear some of you say, yuk when you look at the photos), it is a delicious and filling meal. That is, if it is cooked properly and if it is presented properly.  And made from top quality ingredients.  Why even my dear old Mum was able to throw a couple of snags (sausages) on the plate with a dollop of mashed potato, and we kids would be straining at the bit to get stuck into "dinner".

I can't think of when I've been so disappointed at a serving of "comfort food.   Until I recently had a spot of lunch at Stallions, that is. There it was on the menu (for kids alas, but I've heard that anyone can ask for whatever's on the menu as an adult serving and expect to be served), so I figured, yes, it's bangers and mash for me today. Even if it's just a teeny tiny serve!  The wait-person checked and confirmed that I could be served with an adult size, and I sat back in eager anticipation.  I knew I'd have to pay, but it was going to be worth it.  Wasn't it?

Well it fronted up, and if I'd served this to my kids, they would have thrown the plate and its contents at me. The above photos tell a story and even though the four have come from the internet (with full acknowledgement to the owners of the photo copyrights) they also tell it how it is when it comes to serving up simple tucker like bangers and mash. Or how it should be. 

But take a good look at this photo - this is a photograph of the ACTUAL meal I was served. And before I go any further, please take note that this was an "ADULT" serving!

You'll see what I mean by "you don't always get what you expect" even though you pay for it. This meal cost me $15 - so what?  While McDonalds or KFC are known to have "affordable meals", there are many local places where you can buy a good meal (even 2 course, either soup and mains or mains and sweets) for just $13 in nice surroundings, accompanied by table linen, and a house wine (on the house). Why didn't I go to one of those? Simply because it's nice to try out something new. But again back to the photo. You can even see the "grease"or "fat" that the sausages had been cooked in, smeared across the plate (to the right). This serving and plate presentation, did not endear me to the restaurant at all.  Especially when I asked for a glass of cool water, and was told I'd have to buy a bottle.  I didn't want a bottle (a plastic bottle at that), I wanted a simple glass of cool water.  I didn't get one!

Needless to say I didn't have any lunch at this restaurant - I returned the Sausages and Mash with the comment that I certainly wouldn't recommend Stallions to any of my friends.   All I got was a snort of disapproval from the chef.

And what's this got to do with being a blog on a plus size site? Everything. Because all of us are consumers.  All of us keep these businesses in business.  All of us have to eat. It matters not that we are size zero or size 20 or 30. And sometimes we need a bit of "comfort food". But not greasy food (even the mash was sitting in grease!) thrown on a plate and served up as though it were part of King Henry VIII's banquet!  (If he'd been there, there'd would have been shouts of "off with their heads"!!!!)

We think we'll regularly re-visit the subject of food and "comfort food" a bit more often within this blog. There's nothing quite as good as a bit of constructive criticism!

Have you got any favourite places to dine out?   Let's share them.

Devonshire Tea

A firm favourite for many decades, the delicious Devonshire tea continues to shine as an example of simple homely pleasures.

This blog is one that includes all sorts of trivia - but all with a focus on the enjoyment of life for the plus-size woman.

And where does Devonshire Tea come into this?  Quite simply - plus size women should have the privilege of enjoying their leisure time to the same degree as their thinner sisters, without being ostracised about being "too fat" and therefore by innuendo shouldn't be eating food of this nature.

I'm firmly of the opinion that we should ALL enjoy these sorts of pleasures without having to justify our choices or decisions to anyone.

I know of women who have been stared at;  who have been told they "shouldn't eat that!", and laughed at and ridiculed, all because they had the temerity to sit down to morning/afternoon tea.  What right does anyone have to inflict such discrimination on another person?

So I say - get out there and enjoy life.  Learn to love yourself for who you are and what you are and indulge in these little niceties to remind yourself that you are a unique and beautiful person.  No one has the right to treat you with any less respect than you deserve.

Food, food, glorious food

When I visited a favourite little cafe in Guildford recently, I chose some venison skewers served on 'cos lettuce and with pita bread, a small vegetable sausage cut in two, a small bowl of low fat yoghurt and some spicy no-sugar chutney. I reckon I did well. This was my main meal for the day, and apart from a small breakfast serving, I ate fruit throughout the day, with plenty of water.

With all the publicity about "obesity" and being told we're eating the wrong food and eating too much of the wrong food, it comes as a little bit of a surprise to hear that in a recent survey here in Australia, it's been found that one in five households are eating what everyone tells us we SHOULD be eating. That doesn't sound too different to people's choices of a decade or so ago, when you think about it.

Going further into the survey, meat and three vegetables is still the favourite meal. Well, we're told we should be eating more vegies but doesn't this contradict the theory that none of us are eating the preferred requirements?

Salads or vegetables are served as an accompaniment to meat, fish and chicken dishes. Salads go with lasagna and pasta meals. Stir frys are a regular weekly event and spaghetti bolognaise join stir frys as favourites. Many families eat fish at least three times a week. Chicken at least two.

Am I reading this all wrong or what? Because to me this sounds like what we should be eating.

Across the board however, the survey, carried out by Westinghouse (Australia?), found the following:

Top 10 home-cooked meals
1. Steak or chops with vegetables or salad
2. Roast/baked dinner
3. Spaghetti Bolognaise
4. Stir Fry
5. Seafood with vegetables or salad
6. Chicken pieces pan fried with sauce
7. Casserole
8. Barbeque
9. Schnitzel
10. Ready-made meals.

What the survey doesn't say, is that number 10 - ready-made meals are very often meals prepared by the person doing the cooking in the home (usually Mum) at the weekend in preparation of the week, and frozen in readiness to re-heat.   Quite often too, the ready-made meals are actually the remainders of the other meals, when too much has been cooked, and then frozen.

The re-emergencw of home-cooking is taking everyone by storm. And it doesn't take much to see that people, even when pressed for time, and pressed for money (with the economic downturn) will return to their mothers and grand-mothers cooking books and hints and tips.

Another thing that I'm hearing all the time is this. Most people have taken note of the "obesity" obsession with the media and the government and done something positive about their own sizings of meals. The number of women I've spoken to who have willingly reduced the plate size from a "mains" to a side plate, have to be taken seriously. Yet, as they, and I've found, this has no effect on body weight (by this I mean losing weight). In other words people are NOT over-eating, and they're eating what they consider to be good food, and what the experts tell us we should be eating.

I can't remember when I last heard anyone saying they had "sweets" or "desserts" following their main meal of the day. People have cut these out. The sales of fruit confirm this, as almost everyone now has bowls of fruit readily available for both the kids and adults.

Favourite Food Things - It's a fact!

Everywhere (here in Australia that is) we are being blasted with television shows all based around food.

Not only imported shows, but local shows as well. The first "Master Chef" series spawned at least two series, that of the winner Poh Ling Yeow (known more popularly as just "Poh") and runner-up Julie Goodwin (under the Coles sponsorship). No doubt before long we'll be seeing shows based on the winner and runner up of the second show.  Following the success of the Master Chef series, we were subjected to the Master Chef Kids programmes.  They probably were excellent, but for many of us, a little too often becomes too much (meaning the shows, not the foods).

We have Curtis Stone (under the Coles sponsorship), Nigella Lawson, Jamie Oliver, Rick Stein, Heston's Feasts (and his series based on the Little Chef restaurants throughout England); and a New Zealand lady who cooks ups feasts in her lovely farm kitchen.  We have a Vietnamese food show celebrating street/or river foods.   Last year we had two series based on natural/organic growing farms in the UK, which took us (and the contestants who stayed on the farms) through the actual planting, growing, gathering of seeds, the buying of chickens, sheep, beef and everything in between, and even included the slaughtering, cutting and storing. There wasn't much left to the imagination.  A similar show here told the story of a leading Australian food commentator selling up and moving to Tasmania where he too, took on the natural/organic farm concept.  Some people were enamoured by Gordon Ramsay but he soon distanced himself from many by his intolerable behaviour.

Two people who had a very popular series that lasted quite a few years were Simon Bryant and Maggie Beer (much loved here in Australia); their series "The Cook and the Chef" remained as popular at the last as it was when it first began. Good, no nonsense, happy, comfort, filling, delicious and delectable food.

But this segment within RoseMary's NoteBook© isn't going to be about chefs and cooks and all that. It's about food, everyday food, that we enjoy. It's not about recipes, unless of course you'd like to send in some of your favourites with pictures. It will be a blog about food as the group here enjoy it!

I saw this advertisement in a women's magazine

Inside I'm a free spirited gypsy

- an explorer who discovers new things everyday

a chocolate MONSTER

a QUEEN and a drama queen

inside I'm steel and marshmallow

a GODDESS, a Belly Dancer,
a BALLERINA and a sexy tango.

wanna dance?

Sorry, but I can't recall the name of the advertiser. Can anyone help?

Morgana de Courcy, 2010

Eating out!

A group of us decided to go out for lunch on Saturday.   The weather looked as though it was going to be kind to us, so off we trekked to Westfield Shopping Town at Doncaster.

While most of us had never even heard of TGI Friday - it seems that it's a well-known eating place for those in the "know".   And we've been converted!

The young staff are attentive, and eager to please.   Nothing seems to be too much trouble or inconvenience to them and most of the other diners around us were saying much the same thing.

So here are a few of the items chosen at our table.   A vegetarian burger;  baked salmon on a caesar salad;  something "Mexican" (we still can't even work out how to say the word!), and a few others for you to consider.

 And to finish off the meal, what better than one of their mini sweets - delicious little mousse like sweets that melted in the mouth.  

 The meals are thoroughly recommended.   (A bit pricey, but for a special treat, very acceptable!).

Comfort food!

There's "comfort food" and then there's "comfort food". And all of us, from the Prime Minister down to the old gentleman who lives down the street, has our favourites. Even people like Jamie Oliver, Rick Stein and Nigella Lawson.

One that comes to mind easily is Sausages and Mashed Potatoes, or as it is more commonly or popularly known, "Bangers and Mash". I see where it has become the all out favourite in Britain particularly during the economic down-turn.

And whatever you may think, (and I can hear some of you say, yuk when you look at the photos), it is a delicious and filling meal. That is, if it is cooked properly and if it is presented properly. Why even my dear old Mum was able to throw a couple of snags (sausages) on the plate with a dollop of mashed potato, and we kids would be straining at the bit to get stuck into "dinner".

I can't think of when I've been disappointed at a serving. Until I had a spot of lunch at Stallions yesterday. There it was on the menu (for kids alas, but I've heard that anyone can ask for whatever's on the menu as an adult serving and expect to be served), so I figured, yes, it's bangers and mash for me today. Even if it's just a teeny tiny serve!

Well it fronted up, and if I'd served this to my kids, they would have thrown the plate (and its contents) at me. The above photos tell a story and even though the first four have come from the internet (with full acknowledgement to the owners of the photo copyrights) they also tell it how it is when it comes to serving up simple tucker like bangers and mash. Or how it should be. But take a good look at the fourth (bottom) photo - this is a photograph of the ACTUAL meal I was served. And before I go any further, please take note that this was an "ADULT" serving!  For which, I might add, they certainly charged me.

You'll see what I mean by "you don't always get what you expect" even though you pay for it. This meal cost me $12 - so what? There are local places and I'm certainly not talking about McDonalds or KFC where you can buy a good meal (even 2 course, either soup and mains or mains and sweets) for $12 in nice surroundings, accompanied by table linen, a house wine (on the house) for $12. Why didn't I go to one of those? Simply because it's nice to try out something new. But again back to the photo. You can even see the "grease"or "fat" that the sausages had been cooked in, smeared across the plate (to the right). This serving and plate presentation, did not endear me to the restaurant at all.

And what's this got to do with being a blog on what some people think is a plus size site? Everything. Because all of us have to eat. It matters not that we are size zero or size 20. And sometimes we need a bit of "comfort food". But not greasy food (even the mash was sitting in grease!) thrown on a plate and served up as though it were part of King Henry VIII's banquet!

We think we'll regularly re-visit the subject of food and "comfort food" a bit more often within this blog. There's nothing quite as good as a bit of constructive criticism!

The "humble" hamburger

Many people have hamburgers regularly.  In fact we know of some who have hamburgers every day, without fail.   Whether it's because it's their favourite food, or whether it's the most affordable (as they see it), is a moot question.  But most people do like hamburgers at some time or another.

Jess (a distant cousin) only enjoys hamburgers occasionally.  She finds them either too "more-ish" (McDonalds - is it something they put into their hamburgers that make you feel you should have seconds?) or far too filling.

On Saturday she went for a drive out to the outer suburbs and called in at the local "pub" for a bite to eat.   She'd only had some fruit for breakfast, so felt a "good sized" meal would be OK for lunch/afternoon break.   She ordered a hamburger with the lot, and this is what she got. 

 

Needless to say Jess didn't bother about an evening meal!     According to Jess this hamburger was everything she could desire as far as a hamburger with the lot is concerned.    (She shared the chips!)

You've just got to visit this website

Most of you who receive the e-magazine RoseMary's NoteBook© will know of Dorinda Hafner who we quote often and who has appeared within its pages over the years.

Well this lady is quite phenomenal - and she HAS to be one of the most energetic, bubbly personalities around.  Her humour is infectious - as are her recipes!

Visit her website, do.     See what she's up to now and some of her plans "to do".    Dorinda Hafner - the one and only.

What have "favourite food things" got to do with self-esteem?

Well may you ask.  In fact a number of visitors to the blog have asked us this question.  And the answer quite simply, is "everything".

Because we all know people (including ourselves) who because of age, size, shape, and looks have often "gone without" some of these special little treats, all because of other people's attitudes and comments over time.  In other words their disparaging and discriminatory attitudes have embedded themselves into our feelings of confidence and indeed our worth.

I've been an advocate for a long time in encouraging women to see themselves as being deserving of enjoying life's little pleasures, including "favourite food things".   None of us here in the team suggest going "overboard" but having the freedom to choose when to enjoy adds to our own personal self-esteem.  Why not try it for yourself?

..... © Leonie Stevens

What you discover in small laneways!

Enjoying the sights of a city you may not have visited before is always an adventure. Leonie recently visited Perth and having been persuaded by the group not to neglect London Court as a special place to visit, came back with her comments about a lovely little coffee shop she found half way down the laneway.

"I popped inside the small cafe to have a latté. On entering the cafe I was confronted with this marvellous array of foodstuffs, all presented in such an inviting way. Who could resist? Not me. Having my camera on hand I asked permission (always a wise thing to do) to take a photo of their shelf displays. Must have won them over because I got a free cake with my latté. Now, that made my experience even better."

As with many of us, Leonie was also impressed by the fact that so many "small" cafes and coffee shops over in the West are designed along Feng Shui lines. Does this have anything to do with the "feeling" of being made really welcome into these establishments and being embraced by happy moods?

Getting ready for the beach/pool

It's getting a bit warmer, well Spring is taking it's time in arriving, but the sun when it does come out gives us a fair indication that our Summer is going to be a hot one! Quite hot!

So perhaps it's about time we thought of how we see ourselves when it comes to dressing for the beach or the pool. Because too often we get all "het" up and talk ourselves out of enjoying summer as much as we could, all because we feel we have to hide behind voluminous garments that hide our figures.

In dressing appropriately for the beach or pool, is it too much to expect that we, the plus sizers, should be free to wear what we choose, within reason of course, without being subjected to all sorts of rude comments? It's not as though we go around pointing the finger at slimmer women and discriminating against them. So why should others do that to us?

You know, there's no reason whatsoever. It's about time we realised that it's not our problem, it's theirs!

The sooner we get to the point of being comfortable with our figures and size, and enjoying life which includes sunning ourselves as well as swimming during the warmer months, then the happier we'll be. And when we're happier, then we'll be more confident. It's a natural progression of steps in gaining self esteem. 

What's in a name?

Checking the menu before ordering a sweet recently, I was intrigued by the description "Tipsy Gypsy". The wording appealed to me and I was hoping that the sweet itself would appeal as much to my eye and to my appetite.

I ordered two, one for my partner who really wasn't so interested in having a dessert, but he nodded. 

Along came two small dishes with the "Tispsy Gypsy"(s). The tilt of the pudding was humorous in that it just wouldn't fall over. I couldn't figure out what may be holding it up. But having tasted it I didn't care - it was absolutely delicious. A taste of citrus, a taste of golden syrup, a taste of cinnamon.  Served with two lovely dollops of cream.   It reminded me of many of my mother's steamed puddings. My partner complimented me on choosing something that even he enjoyed.

.....© Gwenda B of Daylesford, Victoria