What's in that...Friday and other bits

I was putting some hot sauce a woman bought today in a bag and as she saw its crumpled self (the bag, not the sauce) she said, oh good! You recycle these! I couldn't help but laugh a bit. A year ago, I would have been using *used* bags...without any of the current (and very gladly so) cache of them being recycled. Finally, some aspects of common sense are being seen as *cool* by the average person, rather than only those who have a niche label of 'radical tree/bunny hugger who'd kill you to save a spotted owl' applied.

The Frugal Meal © Estate of Pablo Picasso (Paris) / SODRAC (Montréal)

Rather, it is Mr. & Mrs. Suburbia of the World who are on the wagon of being against waste these days. Well, not entirely of course. I'm still picking up way too many plastic cups and water bottles...and grocery bags and snack bags and...

Which led me to thinking about how frugality needs a brighter image, rather than its most common one, well reflected by the above art of Picasso. No doubt he had his share of frugal meals by necessity and he lived in the land(s) of wonderful food. It was a time (and perhaps still is) when men of means were what we would now consider fat; a sign of their wealth and stature. It's time for a sea change, and the wave is already breaking. Frugality can be a choice rather than a need, and it can be done with grace instead of drudgery. It's a mind set...not prison, so it can change. Join in, join up! To paraphrase an old commercial..."And I'll halp!"



Because my friend Sa is one of the coolest women on the planet (and doesn't act like it one bit) along with being a wonderful writer, I'm going to use this space to give you a LOT of very wonderful recipes and a hit for her cookery book On a Shoestring. She can go off at will on many more subjects beyond food, but food is the focus here and food it shall be...opera, wine, opals, theater, history etc. will just have to wait for another day.


I've owned a LOT of cookbooks in my life and I've enjoyed them for many reasons. I like this one so much because it entertains me and challenges me to try new combinations of foods I already like. Yes, Sa can get ingrediants I couldn't find without going back to America, but I'm pretty good at making do and you can do as well. The site is full of all sorts of info, complete with some sample recipes. Give them a go, order the book and enjoy a frugality that is full of joy and fun and tearing your hair out and eventually laughing solutions to the ever ongoing question...what's for dinner????

A note: Samela is an Australian as well as a journalist/reporter, so all of those odd bits of language usage? Be kind; she can't help it.