Cookies Diary

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COOKIE’S DIARY – Pt. 26

Published May 29, 2011 by Anna Johnston

 

 

Each week I post another fascinating true-life excerpt from my friend & mentor’s journals while she was Housekeeper & Cook at The Flamingo, during the period 1968-1999, titled Cookie’s Diaries. Together we’ve changed a few things around & set Cookies story in a fictional Australian country town so as to protect the innocent & the not so innocent!  We hope you enjoy Cookies journey from such humble & all but penniless beginnings to owning & running the highly successful country guesthouse, ‘The  Flamingo’. To read the last chapter click HERE.

 

The Two Edna’s & Competition Cooking

Each week on Friday, the two Edna’s would hold a stall just outside the Post Office to raise funds for one charity or another in our community.  The stall consisted of preserves, baked & craft items for sale, & was run by two God fearing, church going matriarchs, who both had the same Christian name of Edna.

These two strong characters had run this stall with an iron fist for decades, never taking a week off apparently, as they were quite elderly when I first came across them. Everyone referred to the Friday cake stall as ‘Two Edna’s Cakes’, but in actual fact, these old girls represented a wonderful national women’s group called The Country Women’s Association, which of course is still active today & still does some marvellous charity work.  Back in the 1970’s though, if you ever wanted to source a recipe for a cake or dish you’d admired, then you’d turn to one of the editions of The CWA Cookbook.

Each week, the two Edna’s would set up their card tables & create alluring displays of their cakes, along with other items generously crafted & donated by other CWA members.  The two Edna’s had been in competition with each other all their lives, with all manner of whispers & rumours causing their rivalry.  Some said it was because they both wanted to marry the same man & their squabbles resulted in the poor chap not choosing either of them, but others said they’d been locked in a fierce competition since they were girls at school.

2011 Presentation of Beef in Beer with Capers & Anchovies

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COOKIES DIARY – Pt. 25

Published May 22, 2011 by Anna Johnston

Each week I post another fascinating true-life excerpt from my friend & mentor’s journals while she was Housekeeper & Cook at The Flamingo, during the period 1968-1999, titled Cookie’s Diaries. Together we’ve changed a few things around & set Cookies story in a fictional Australian country town so as to protect the innocent & the not so innocent!  We hope you enjoy Cookies journey from such humble & all but penniless beginnings to owning & running the highly successful country guesthouse, ‘The  Flamingo’. To read the last chapter click HERE.


PARSNIP & MUSTARD SOUP & MAKING SENSE OF THE 70′s

Despite ourselves, we could not NOT watch No. 96 each week, the television show that had taken our world by storm with a level of titillation and taboo subjects that had never been seen on Australian television before. The night No. 96 premiered was to be known as “the night Australian television lost its virginity”.

Frederick & Jamie were great fans of the show, because for the first time ever the character Lawyer, Don Finlayson was openly gay & had several boyfriends over the course of the series. I imagine looking back both men looked upon this television series as profound in the least. You couldn’t walk down the street & chat with friends without everyone talking about No. 96′s most famous sex symbol, Abigail, & our guests would have caused a riot if the television was not turned on & tuned in to No. 96 at 8.30 pm each night for the show.

Our world was changing so rapidly with a social voice that just got louder & louder, it seemed the old ways were crumbling & my generation were responsible for actively pushing all the boundaries.  We all had our opinions on the politics of the day, the Vietnam War & thrilled that our marches & demonstrations had brought our boys home. Women’s Liberation was a term loosely thrown about and it was always interesting to guess which guest would be for or against, as it was not at all fashionable to simply not care either way for these hot topics back then. Even Frederick wore side burns & let his hair grow down, almost to his shoulders as a concession to fashion & the styles worn back then. Continue Reading

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