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Jac’s Pork n Black Beans
IS yummy and it IS easy.
Spiders in the garden
Readers may recall the column about ants. This time it is about spiders. Like ants, spiders can be a mixed blessing and we are guaranteed to have spiders in our gardens. Spiders do a wonderful job at keeping insects in check. Most spiders spin webs to ensnare insects, some spiders
Late April start for footy in 1975
Front page news in April was all about local football upheavals, as the Heathcote League commenced without Tooborac, which had been on-again, off-again, right up to the first bounce. The withdrawal left just Elmore, Heathcote, Colbinabbin, Rushworth, and Mt Pleasant which was given a bye in the opening round. Photographed
As the seasons change...
Gosh! Where did spring/summer season go? It feels like the busy season has been a bit of a blur. The weather is shifting, leaning towards much cooler nights, shorter days and longer nights. The flow of baby birds has ceased but the gathering of plover pairs on nature strips
Logistics
There was plenty of demand for firewood from Melbourne, with the bulk of the transport needs being met by the railways up until World War 2. Looking back to the pre-war years, The Argus newspaper estimated that Melbourne needed 500-600,000 tons of firewood each year, as well as 100,
Dire wolves, de-extinct?
Dire wolves were not a fictional species of wolf created for Game of Thrones. Dire wolves (Aencyon dirus) actually existed in the Americas and went extinct as recently as 10,000 years ago. Their remains show they were bigger and lighter in colour than the modern-day grey wolf (Canis lupis)
April 17, 2025
Forest yarns
It is hard to understate the amount of timber that was used for firewood in the early days, before people had access to electricity and gas. Almost every house had a wood stove in the kitchen, as well as fireplaces in other parts of the house. Many workplaces required timber
Anne’s chocolate cake
I’ve told you before that I can’t do light and fluffy – which is why I don’t cook sponges or cakes much. But my daughter’s friend, Anne, assured me that this was an easy-peasy, one bowl, one spoon chocolate cake – that ANYONE could make.
The majestic mountain ash
By Neil Laurie
Tragedy and heroism at Basin outlet
By Alan McLean
Cooks Column
Mei Goreng
Mei Goreng This is a classic Indonesian dish using traditional flavours of garlic, chilli, palm sugar and lime. You can substitute the tofu with chicken, adjust the ingredients to suit the fresh produce available in any season, and experiment with different mixes of Asian greens and herbs - the final
Cooks Column
Caramelised Honey Almond Slice
School holiday time means you should probably top up your cake tins for the hordes of children. Here’s a slice for you to try:
Cooks Column
Versatile Fruit Slice
Versatile slice - so named because you can choose from such a wide variety of fruit for the filling. It makes a great Christmas treat to use fruit mince for a take on mince pies during the festive season. Slow-baked quinces was another very successful filling.
Cooks Column
Orange and olive oil cake
With oranges aplenty, this is a lovely citrus dessert cake.
Cooks Column
Beef and Vegetable Casserole & Chicken Casserole
We have a couple of recipes this edition, sent in by one of our regular readers. Norma has sent us recipes before, so I hope you enjoy these. You’ll notice the recipes come from the era of imperial measurements (and so do Norma and I!). Beef and Vegetable Casserole
Cooks Column
Mary’s egg and bacon pie
There are many ways to make an egg and bacon pie - but this way was new to me.
Cooks Column
Pumpkin Soup
Pumpkin and apples aplenty? Put them together for this warming soup.
Cooks Column
Roast potatoes - everyone’s favourite?
I can remember walking into a neighbour’s kitchen, many years ago, to see her carefully manoeurvering a large roasting pan of hot dripping out of her oven, ready to put her potatoes in for roasting. At the time, I’d already gone ‘healthy’ so was rather shocked by her
Cooks Column
Chicken/Sausages with potatoes, onion and rosemary
This recipe started out with pork sausages but I only had chicken thighs in fridge! So that’s what I used. Feel free to go with the ‘snags’
