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Barbies up the Hawksbury River By Lydia Jensen  'The Adventures of Lydia Jensen'
	Whenever I think of good times and barbecues (or grills, as they are often called in Europe), I revert back to the fabulous times we had along the Hawksbury River in New South Wales, Australia. We were about six couples who rented a piece of land along the Hawksbury River, for Australian $ 25.00 a year! Honestly, that was all. We had a wonderful spot right on the river bank. We drove up on either Saturday or Sunday mornings, spent the day in the river swimming or water skiing and finished the day's activities with an "Up the River Drink"  - a mixture of ginger ale and scotch with  a couple of chunks of ice, which we had brought  along in the eskies (ice chests), and then made preparations for a most chaotic half hour of barbecuing. We were usually about 12 adults, plus our offspring - about 15 children.  While we were enjoying our drinks, two or three of the men took a large cast iron plate, propped it up on four bricks and stuck a long log under the iron plate. Fortunately or unfortunately, male and female roles were definitely defined. The men took care of the barbecues and cooking the food, while the women looked after the children and served them their food. We gathered small sticks and branches or sometimes firewood from home and lit the fire.  The men just kept shoving that log under the iron plate as it charred away. Once the iron plate was announced ready, the children settled down in anticipation of a good "tucker" near the fire provided by the burning log, the women scurried about bringing the food, and the master chefs maneuvered it around  on the plate calling out instructions and giving directions . . . "Somebody's snags and bangers are done. Come and get them.  The egg rings are on the plate, who wants fried eggs? My word, the potatoes are turning crisp and the zucchini is stewing away.  Anybody else want onion rings? There are plenty here. Brought some extras.  Somebody have some butter they would like to donate to these lamb chops, otherwise you will need plenty of ketchup to help them down.  Garlic bread needs to be turned. Foil is turning black. Coleslaw is on the table, there's a bit of potato salad, and there's a bit of hot spaghetti in the pot on the side. Food's ready, kids, tuck in!" As the children's food came off the plate, the fire was kept going so that we could begin with the adult portions.  Amazingly, a stillness descended, and all the children seemed to find places to sit. The only sounds to penetrate the dusk were the hum of those pesky mosquitoes, the murmuring of adult voices encouraging the children to eat - "Eat your num-nums, daaahling.  Try the veges. They are good for you. Don't leave until you've eaten everything on your plate. Don't winge (complain), just eat. Yes, you'll get your sweets (dessert), but you have to eat up first. Now isn't this Micky moo (delicious).  and the cutlery tapping away on the plastic plates, while the iron plate was scraped clean by the male chefs ready for the adult scenario.  Once the children had eaten, they were taken to the river for a simple scrub and clean-up, encouraged into their pajamas and eventually settled into their sleeping bags which would later be carried to the cars. It was easy. Once we reached home, we just deposited the lot into their beds. The adult session of the evening was much calm as the master chefs continued their food production on the old iron hot plate. We tucked into snags and bangers, eggs, lamb chops, enormous hunks of steak, baked or roasted potatoes, corn on the cob wrapped in foil, fried onions, garlic bread wrapped in foil and many more delicacies. We set the old kettle on to boil for "a cuppa" tea and/or  coffee and by some miracle, a couple of tasty cakes and biscuits always seemed to appear and, of course, always greatly appreciated. Some things have changed. All our dear friends stayed in Australia while our little family moved on. The children now have their own families and tell their children about the barbies on the riverbank. But some things are still the same. The "Up the River Drinks" still hit the spot, we still toast our friends in Australia, enjoy our  barbies wherever we are, and keep in touch by E-Mail.  So, here is a toast and a cheereo to the "down-under crowd" and a great time it was!    I've included recipes from the Australia days in this Newsletter. RECIPE: Dream Bars RECIPE: Orange Cake RECIPE: Apple cake RECIPE: Barbecue sauce I RECIPE: Barbecue sauce II RECIPE: Lamb chops RECIPE: Chicken with Special Sauce RECIPE: Teriyaki steaks RECIPE: Creole beans RECIPE: Layered salad

Back to School Lunch Ideas By: Brandie Valenzuela

It is that time of the year again - back to school! While some are returning this next week, others have been back for quite a while...my own children returned to school over a month ago. However, it goes without saying, that no matter when your children started school, you can never have too many lunch ideas! Here are some suggestions for lunches which I have found very useful: 1) Save your yogurt containers! After eating the yogurt, wash them thoroughly and fill them with liquid Jell-O or a pudding  mixture (before it sets), cap, and refrigerate. This gives  you individual snacks at a fraction of the cost. 2) Take leftover cooked chicken and make chicken strips. Pack dippers such as salsa, ranch dressing, barbecue sauce, ketchup, honey mustard, or pizza sauce. 3) Use a variety of breads. Try Italian varieties, sourdough, different grains, Hawaiian bread, and different rolls. 4) Pack string cheese or cheese cubes. Send along bread sticks or crackers to eat with them. Or pack a prepared cheese spread with bread sticks for dipping. 5) Cut fresh fruit into bite-sized pieces and use fruit-flavored yogurt or pudding as a dip. Or mix the fruit with your prepared Jell-O (see Jell-O tip, No. 1 above). 6) Each day include a short note to your child. Anything that shows him/her that  you love your child and that you care. 7) Layer creamy peanut butter on a flour tortilla with jelly or fruit spread and roll up "wrap" or "jelly roll" style. Slice crosswise into pieces. Select the size tortilla depending on your child's appetite. 8) Heat frozen waffles and make a sandwich with them, using peanut butter and jelly. Or cut them into bite-sized pieces or sticks and send syrup for dipping. 9) Add fun to your child's lunch by using colored plastic wraps. Or during the holiday's, use special prints that are used for plastic wraps, zipper-type bags, and napkins. 10) Cut open a bagel and spread each side with cream cheese. Lay several slices of luncheon meat on top of the cream cheese and make it into a sandwich. 11) Kids love to dip! Send baby carrots, celery sticks, or broccoli trees with their favorite dip or dressing. Or send peanut butter as a dip, and include some sliced apples. 12) Create your own "Lunchables"...cut meat slices and cheese into pieces that will fit on crackers. Pack the meat, cheese, and crackers together. Have extra mustard or mayonnaise  packets from your take-out.   Pack those along for condiments. 13) If your child loves sandwiches and won't let you try anything new, have fun with the sandwiches - cut the sandwich into interesting shapes or cut them out with cookie cutters. 14) It does not  have to be jelly everyday! Some other ideas for sandwiches with traditional peanut butter are: sliced bananas, honey, butter/margarine, raisins, and thinly sliced apples. 15) Did you know you can create "wraps" with bread? Simply take a slice of your favorite bread (softer breads work better), and lay a slice or two of your favorite lunch meat and cheese on it. Roll up the bread tightly, making sure to press the edges of the bread together to seal. ©2001 Brandie Valenzuela About The Author: Brandie is a freelance writing mother of three children. She is also the editor of the Family First Newsletter at: http://members.aol.com/BMValen/index.html and The Creative Scrappers Newsletter at:   http://www.geocities.com/creativescrappers

Cooking Without Looking By Maureen Pranghofer

After becoming totally blind in 1993 following an accident, I needed to learn many new things,  among them was how to cook without a look at what I was preparing.   At Blind Inc., a local adjustment to blindness training center, I found that cooking without looking did not call for a lot of fancy high tech special gadgets.   I could make the same foods as sighted cooks, and that some of the techniques I learned to make things a bit easier were things that just plain made a lot of sense.    So, if you want to cook with a bit more organization and a heck of a lot less mess, try these tips and tricks:    Always keep a sink full of hot soapy water so dishes can be washed as they are used and put away if they are not going to be used again.    Set out all the ingredients you need as well as measuring    utensils so you won't have to leave some sitting while you     search for the next item you need.    Keep a wet dish cloth handy so any dough can be quickly wiped     off you hands before touch ingredient containers.  This    eliminates having to wipe off boxes or cans.    Keep spices in baby food jars so a spoon can quickly be dipped    into the container for easy measuring.       When measuring flour or any other ingredient, put the measuring cup on a plate so that as you scoop or spoon ingredients into the cup any excess will fall on the plate and can simply be dumped back into the canister. This makes for much less clean-up of floury counters etc.     To measure liquids, use a funnel to pour the ingredients into a glass whereby a spoon can simply be dipped into the liquid rather than having it poured onto a measuring spoon.  Liquids can also be stored in jars the same as spices.      When frying eggs, put a tuna can (with top and bottom removed from the pan) and use it as an egg ring.  Blind people use this to find the location of the egg but sighted people can use it to have nicely rounded eggs. Though I'm not  looking at what I'm cooking, I've made dishes ranging from chicken Kiev to Manicotti to peanut butter cookies and had a good time doing it.  Yes, there have been the occasional mishaps, because I didn't bother to correctly label things - like the time I put taco sauce on French toast or the time I added bananas to gravy thinking it was Jello, but who knows? A blind friend of mine was making dinner for her family and instead of putting tomato paste into a spaghetti recipe she put in crushed pineapple.  When her kids asked what they were having she said Hawaiian spaghetti.   You never know when some fantastic new food combination will be created. © copyright 2001 Maureen Pranghofer

Interview With a Strawberry By Lydia L. Jensen, Editor

Advertisers have appealed to our sense of hearing for  years when presenting food in commercials through  multimedia such as TV., radio and in some countries in  Europe the captive audience is reached at the cinema  where 10 to 15 minutes of commercials precede the featured movie.  Some years ago, at the risk of disclosing my vintage,  the producers of Folgers' Coffee and Mrs. Olson,  who purportedly was Scandinavian, appealed to our sense  of hearing by perking coffee at a most appealing rhythm.  Mrs. Olson always had the coffee ready for visitors; it  was a perking welcome for all. For years I thought that  Folgers' Coffee was good because it was European.  Likewise, Rice Crispies had a most successful number  of years selling a cereal that "snapped, crackled and popped." In Europe Marabou chocolate appeals to  our sense of hearing through non- verbal communication such as "Mmmnn." One of the most appealing  commercials in the summer time is the sound of coke cascading, fizzing and swishing melodiously over  ice to fill up a tall glass. And so the list goes on.  The sound of food is appealing and can be an unconscious factor in our choice of products. Food elicits a particular sound when we bite into it. A strawberry should be plump, juicy and ripe when we bite into it, a carrot should crunch and chips should sound "crisp." A good sausage should snap when we bite into it. Even the sound of the package plays a roll in our choice of products. My dog always comes running when I open a package of chips, because the bag rustles and crackles and sometimes it is darn difficult to open the ruddy bag quietly. By the time I have opened the bag of chips everyone in the house knows I have been hiding the  snacks again. It is the advertisers intent to create product awareness through whatever method possible, and sound  is a predominant factor.  An effective technique in sales promotion through sound is its appeal to our sense of safety. When a mother opens  a jar of baby food, it is important to her that she hears that safe "snap or click" when she opens the jar. It tells her  that the jar was sealed and that the contents are safe for  her child to eat. For some products, such as cereals, it is a sign of quality control when the product is crunchy and  crispy. In Africa we used to buy soft crackers which seemed revolting until we put them in the oven to dry them out and return the crispy sound and flavor. The taste was the same, they just sounded "crispy." Likewise, soft potato chips  probably taste just fine, but they do not sound right. When you open a can of beer and the tab just comes off without a "click" our first reaction is that it is flat. When pulling the cork from a bottle of wine, it must pop, or we check the cork to see if there is anything wrong before  we taste the wine. One form of quality control by the consumer is through sound. Sound expectation of food is important, as it stimulates our other sense such as sight, taste and smell. We some- times forget that the "sound of food" is important in our  every-day lives and food served at home. Have you  ever thought about salad that talks to us? What if the  salad looked good but the lettuce was limp, the cucumbers  were soft and the tomatoes mushy? How would we react?  The vegetables may look fine, taste fine and smell right,  but the sound does not fit, therefore, we think it does not taste good. When the strawberries first came on the market  last spring, I bought some which looked large, red and plump.  What a shock when I bit into the strawberry and it sounded  like I was biting into a crisp, juicy apple! It was not at all what  I had expected.  While our expectations may remain the same as far as food is concerned, as long as we are conscious of the marketing techniques and strategies advertisers use to  entice us to purchase certain products, we can become better consumers. Sound of food is perhaps one of the  senses which has not been developed to its full potential. So, Consumers be informed, be alert and beware! Enjoy your next shopping trip to the supermarket as a more informed consumer.

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