Posts Tagged ‘Spaghetti’

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COOKIE’S DIARY – Pt. 20.

Published April 17, 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.

 

A typical 2011 presentation of Cookie's Spaghetti

 

A note from Anna:

Originally, when Cookie gave me her old journals of her time at The Flamingo, we all hoped it would be possible that Cookie whip out that apron again & show us some of her magic, but sadly Cookie’s health doesn’t allow her to participate in this project at that level.

So, once again, I’ve recruited my mother to step into Cookie’s shoes & cook one version as it was described in the journals & I’d cook another.  It is becoming such a fun project to see what each other comes up, we’ve decided to continue cooking our way through many of Cookie’s recipes as the story unfolds like this.

Cookie’s Spaghetti is one dish we’ve never changed much, although the presentation has had many variations over the years, this dish became a firm family favourite when I was growing up after Cookie so generously shared the recipe with Mom in the mid 1980’s when we first stayed at The Flamingo. Continue Reading

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COOKIE’S DIARY – Pt. 19

Published April 10, 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.

 

Peitro

I have never considered myself a particularly sensitive or spiritual type of woman, although I do accept there are some things impossible to make sense of, or adequately explain for that matter.  However, it’s these profound & unexplainable instances in life that tend to change you or the course of your life permanently.

One such profound moment in my life was when Sara was placed in my arms after a gruelling 30 hour labour in childbirth & yet, I knew pure perfection in those exquisite moments when we looked so deeply into each other’s eyes for that first time when she was finally born.  I knew at that moment, as I do to this day that my Sara is an old soul living amongst us in the guise of my eldest daughter, she has never failed to astonish me with her wisdom.  Another such instance was the nod of acceptance both Frederick & Jamie gave each other before throwing themselves into action & helping our worn out travel weary selves into The Flamingo for the first time, but alas, I could easily go on as when you look back on 70 plus years on this planet & have been as blessed as I have been, there have been many such moments.

I believe life is an interesting adventure made up of rewarding work & duties, intercepted with rare & unexpected moments that deep down somewhere inside you there is a knowing that this was meant to happen & this is why your here; at least that is my experience.  These are the profound moments of our lives & it was one such moment for Peitro & I when we first met that day, although neither of us knew what to make of it at the time of course. Continue Reading

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