Kitchen Alchemy

When I was a kid my parents attended many a party hosted by members of the Apex Club. This was an exclusive club for men under the age of forty, and where we lived, there were loads of young dads in the club. The rules for these parties were simple: blokes bring the booze, ladies bring a "plate" and kids run amok until you pass out with exhaustion. There would be tressle tables, sometimes in marquees, or maybe set up in the garage, covered with all sorts of culinary delights like cabanossi and cubes of cheese, pickled cocktail onions on tooth picks, slices of devon wrapped around mashed potato, and of course plenty of potato chips and a new concept in catering for a crowd - dip. I remember the Apex party we went to on new year's eve, 1976, very clearly because I was sitting on my mum's lap at midnight. "There goes 1976!" she said, pointing to the night sky. I started crying because I didn't want the year to go. I don't think Mum expected t

When I was 20 years old I got my first job in public relations, working for a boutique consultancy in Paddington, Sydney. Our office was in Underwood Street, which is parallel to Oxford Street, the main drag of Paddington and a major culture hub for the Eastern Suburbs. After working for a year in very boring and hum drum North Rocks, lunch times in Paddington were an exploratory delight. Apart from great shopping for nic naks at Opus (which is still there today) there was also a world of food that I was keen to sample. And because I was a mere slip of a girl in those days, I thought I could eat anything I liked, and dance it off at the clubs I went to four or five nights a week. One of my favourite destinations was the deli next door to the newsagency. They had a plethora of fillings to put on continental bread, but the thing they sold that I enjoyed most were Black and White Muffins. These were a black, squidgey, chocolate muffin topped with a gooey, cheesey white bit. The