Entries by Debbie Worgan

Immunity honey tea

Ingredients: 

1 tsp of honey
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp thyme
½ tsp ginger root
¼ tsp turmeric root powder
1 cup of boiled water

Method: 

Add the dry and fresh ingredients to a teapot with freshly boiled water. Brew for 5 minutes. Pour tea through the strainer. Sip while warm.

Spiced honey and orange mulled wine

Ingredients:

5 -10 whole cloves
3 whole cinnamon sticks, + extra to serve
¼ cup honey
½ tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
2 star anise
2 cups water
flat slivers orange rind
fresh orange juice squeeze
dash vanilla essence (optional)
1 bottle fruity red wine

Method:

In a saucepan add all the ingredients except the wine and orange juice. Bring it all to a gentle simmer and simmer for 5-8 minutes … Read more »

Labneh, honey & walnuts

Ingredients:

340 g Greek yogurt
sea salt
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
¼ cup honey (for drizzling)
1 tablespoon chopped walnuts

To make labneh:

Line a fine strainer with a few layers of cheesecloth or muslin and set over a bowl.

In another bowl, combine the yogurt, salt and lemon juice. Stir to incorporate. Spoon the yogurt mixture into the prepared strainer and fold layers of cheesecloth or cotton over the yogurt to cover completely.

… Read more »

Finding The Heart of the Nation

Reviewed by Wendy Tucker

Thomas Mayor
Hardie Grant
This is a wonderfully engaging and inspiring book. Thomas Mayor travelled for over eighteen months with precious document, Uluru Statement from the Heart, tucked safely under his arm.
Mayor starts by sharing his own journey to Uluru. As a Torres Strait Islander, he grew up in Darwin on Larrakia land where he learnt to hunt traditional foods with his father and was taught dance by the Torres Strait … Read more »

What’s in a name?

Mark Evans

As gardeners, we should all try and learn the botanical names of our plants as well as their common names. The reason is that because the same common name sometimes applies to multiple plants and, conversely, a single plant may have multiple common names! Knowing the botanical name helps to remove any confusion, especially when you are talking to other plant lovers.

Each botanical name is unique to that species and is composed of two, (usually) Latin … Read more »

All the Broken Places 

by John Boyne 

reviewed by Wendy Tucker 

All the Broken Places is a sequel, of sorts, to the best-selling Boy in the Striped Pyjamas that, like Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, was originally published as Young Adult Fiction but both books quickly became best-selling novels in the adult fiction category and both were made into successful films. Both are set during the Holocaust of WW2. Both authors felt that Young Adult readers should know about the Holocaust and both were criticised by survivors for a too soft approach. That … Read more »