Nadine Williams

Sweet Peas, Pearls, Stories and Style

Congratulations to the indominable Maria Kenda, AM, who gathered together an impressive group of renowned women to relaunch the Adelaide Ladies Lunch Club at the Naval, Military &Air Force Club of South Australia (Inc.) this week.

Maria launched the club in the 1980s and due to the success of her jewellery design  business, Kendacraft, it lay dormant for years.

And what a flourishing rebirth with the elegant room filled with 30 women, adorned with much bijoux, (particularly pearls) and creating an ambiance as delightful as the sweet peas decorating the table.

Many years have passed since we met in such style and even though most of us are now older women, we recognised each other instantly.  We glowed in the joy of recognition and reunion and those shared stories of our changing lives flowed faster than the wine.

Because the event revealed that one unmistakeable fact, our lives have changed as most have moved from high profile roles into retirement and onto charitable boards, committees or causes.

Maria reintroduced the Golden Spoon idea whereby women are given two minutes to say anything they wish. (I, of course, plugged my website for older, computer-literate readers) and the women who spoke reflected exactly what my blogging hopes to achieve. I want to present women and men who  have metamorphised their lives in mid-life or in retirement, or to report on lives still firing into their dotage.

In my former journalistic career, I had written about a good sprinkling of these women and  Margaret de Zwart was one. Formerly of the Women Chiefs of Enterprise, she rose at the lunch and told us with such pride that her Wyona Alpaca Stud in Young, NSW began 20 years ago when she and husband joined their  children to buy three alpacas at the time of the drought.

One promptly died, another had a problem with mating, but the third went on to breed champions.

“Last weekend we achieved a wonderful achievement, our Wyona Sunsprite was elected Supreme Chanmpion of greys, which are extremely difficult to breed,” said Margaret.

It was at the Victorian Colourbration, Australia’s largest Colour Show in Ballarat and 540 alpacas entered and 205 fleece entries.

“We entered 5 alpaca and came away with nine ribbons.”

Helen Rice spoke about her role as chairperson of the UNESCO club in  Adelaide. “We do two projects every year to help people in need,’’ she said. “This year we are providng back packs for street kids who have been taken off the streets and put into school.  “It’s a special kind of school where they can relate better to what is being taught.

“Their back packs are full of all stationary needs, lunch boxes and things they would need but wouldn’t get from home.’’

At our corner of the table, we listened to  irrepressible baker’s wife, Rosemary  Milisits, who has been the other half of pie king, Vili Milisits for 43 years.  And her stories of daily life in the Milisits household also reveals the other story of women’s  lives – our partnerships with men.

“Vili is totally reliant on me to run his busy life (beyond the business),” she said.   And she told how she orchestrates his many extra community activities and she used as an example those 7am meetings on this or that government advisory council.  “I will have everything ready for him right down to stationery  the night before,” she said.  “Then  I’m the one who will drop  him off at the door of the meeting two minutes before 7’’.

Rosemary  has always been with him since she was 16 years old and he was 17 and an apprentice to renowned patissiere Cazzy.

“When we were married for the first three weeks instead of a honeymoon, his mother came over every night and Vili’s brother would have to bring her and she would stand there with her arms folded across her ample chest and watch me cook,’’ she recalled, immitating the stern stance of her late mother-in-law, Theresa.

“Back then I was the dearest, sweetest naive little girl of 19 and at the end of those three weeks, she said “Poof, this Australian girl can’t cook’’ and she started to send food parcels over to us and she did that for 38 years! “But that allowed me to work in the business.’’

“We have done a lot of work in the community and we never thought he would be in the position to do that.’’

Both are 61 years of age and they have been together for 43 years.

This partnership produces millions of pies and employs 300 people and Vili’s all-hours café in Marleston clocks over 26,000 customers on average over those 24 hours.

What’s that saying about “Behind every successful man……?

 

Gracious hosts, glorious food & Grange:

Surprises are such fun and doubly so when an outstanding event
is planned and orchestrated by your children to show their love and to say
“thankyou’’ for being good parents.

Such was our joy when we dined on a superb five-course
dinner with our children in their home and drank together the best Australian
wine – a Penfolds Grange Bin 95 1990.

Our extra-ordinary evening was shrouded in mystery when in  June the children asked us to book
Saturday, August 13 at 4.30pm for a “special event’’.   A formal invitation followed and we reckoned such a fuss was surely to announce their first pregnancy.

But when son Tyson stood at the door and welcomed us to l‘hotel de Williams dressed in a suit and tie wearing a small black brimmed hat, we thought it would be a murder mystery party. And this thought festered when he ushered us blindfolded through the open plan dining area (draped in black curtains) to get changed in a bedroom.  Then blindfolded,  like children playing pin-the-donkey, we were led  into the games room to greet Vanessa’s parents John and Sandra Herbig.

Our suspense was short-lived when the children stood in the arched  doorway and told us we were about to celebrate John and Sandra’s retirement and the completion our new retirement home.

“But we also want to celebrate how lucky we are to have you as our parents and to thank you for all that you have done for us both,’’ said Tyson. (Olivier is Tyson’s much-loved step-father.)

And with those heartfelt words we were shown to our seats. Before us  was a stunning l’art de la table – a beautifully dressed table, reflecting the fact that Vanessa was dux of the Cordon Bleu Hotel and Resort Management Bachelor degree course.

An extraordinary five-course published menu lay on our placements listing an amazing accompanying wine list.  Two decanters were behind us on the sideboard alongside an impressive array of wine bottles and glasses.

This was to be quite a night because there were three Penfolds wines on the menu and with no time to ponder on the magnitude of this, Tyson was pouring us a Belle Epoque Perrier Jouet 2002.

A generous antipasto platter was followed by a French culinary masterpiece – Veloute de Volaille or Velvety Cream of Chicken Soup. It delivered handsomely on smooth texture and taste and we savoured each creamy mouthful with the wine Tyson had poured – the first Penfolds – a Reserve Bin 05A Chardonnay 2005.

Basil and Lime Sorbet arrived in spectacular style. Vanessa had made bowls of ice blocks in which she placed three scoops of cool ice – after which we were invited to rest in the living area. This was time for Tyson to cook the main course of Pistachio Crusted Rack of Lamb while Vanessa handled the accompanying potato and horseradish cake and garlic beans.

Meanwhile, we “oldies’’ dozed off in sublime contentment before the smell of the cooked lamb aroused us .

“Ha, ha, it’s only 7.30pm,’’ laughed Vanessa. “Who can’t hold their Penfolds? The evening is just beginning!’’

Now was the moment.    With our plates before us filled with crusty lamb with a sauce spooned over the pink cutlets– Tyson brought over the piece de resistance – a carafe of the precious Penfolds Grange Bin 95 1990 which had been airing since 10am.  He told us how  he had bought it on-line at a wine auction specialy for tonight’s celebration.

It was an absolutely gorgeous wine and I salivate simply writing about it now.

“We really wanted to open a bottle of Penfolds Grange with our parents; It’s something my parents would never do and we knew Olivier, being French, would love it,’’  said  Vanessa as we all posed for photographs of ourselves with Australia’s premium wine variety.

“His work colleagues gave him a 1980 Grange for his 30^th birthday and we decided we would buy another to share  with you and Olivier when the new house was built and when our parents retired.’’

This was a supreme wine and we chinked our glasses, swirling the rich red wine around the glass and smelling the aroma.

Quirky husband took his white napkin placed it over his head and around the wine glass to roars of laughter. “May this moment never end,’’ he murmured of its fulsome nose. Then, I took that first never-to-be-forgotten taste. No more than a sip to begin with, before a wonderful mouthful.

Against such a sublime moment, I created  a stir when I announced the lamb was too raw and placed my three chops back in the oven. Roars of disapproval could be heard from Tyson and husband Olivier. “It is perfect,’’ they retorted in  unison.
But I am not yet French, so my meat needs to be medium!

A decanter filled with one last Penfolds, a superb St Henri Shiraz 1998 awaited us with salad and French cheese – a special selection the children bought at  Smelly Cheese at the Adelaide Central Market.  Fromage de Meaux – Brie de la Brei (Ile de France);  Delice du Poitou Bleu de Basque and an English cloth bound 18 month old hard cheese from Devon were served with crackers and a crusty baguette.

“I think what makes me happiest is that we were able to share with our parents some fantastic wine and food and to experience  one on one with  them our close family bonds,’’ said Vanessa. “It was a wonderful evening together,’’ said Vanessa, whose day job is boardroom and catering manager for PWC Accountancy firm.

“I am lucky with my work that I am not in a restaurant all the time, but I still work with food and function planning, and I haven’t lost my passion to use my tools of trade at home; Of course Tyson loves doing the mystery stuff.’’

Sheer joy and camaraderie filled the space. We could only surmise how many weeks of planning this wonderful act of love had required to prepare and present such a fabulous feast.

“The planning was fantastic fun,’’ she said. “We sat around for hours looking at recipes.’’

“The best moment, of course, was when Tyson opened the top Penfolds Grange the crème de la crème of Australian wine and one of the best years as well and poured a glass for each of us.’’

However, there was one last moment of sweetness – a delicious, simple dessert centred around the Black Noble by De Bortoli and to finish our supreme evening, we devoured Black Forest Affogato.

Christmas lunch at our new house when they all return to chez nous will be quite a challenge.

PS: For Penfolds wine lovers, the tasting notes inThe Rewards of Patience by Andrew Caillard, Master of Wine notes: Penfolds Grange 1990 is “deep crimson. Powerful, ethereal, beautifully balanced wine with blackberry/plum/chocolate/sous bois/spicy aromas. A rich, ripe, immensely concentrated wine with generous sweet blackberry/plum/dark cherry fruit, mocha oak, some earthyflavours and velvety smooth tannins. Finishes long and chocolaty.  A superb Grange with tremendous energy, finesse and volume. 95 per cent shiraz, 5 per cent cabernet sauvignon.

 

Family bearing food creates fun times

Food, glorious food is fundamental  to the French people’s expression of family life and never was this expressed more warmly than when husband Olivier’s adult children and their partners visited bearing gifts of food.

French-born Patricia brought her own home-made Les Recettes beef soup as well as a renowned French dessert – Clafouti, a baked egg dish from her French grandmother’scookbook .

“My grandmother is still alive and living near Paris, but she gave me her cookbook  saying “You will have more use out of it than
I will’’,’’ says Patricia. “It contains everyday recipes for the French family.’’

She flicks the well-thumbed pages of her precious hand-me-down French cookbook. Les Recettes Faciles by Francoise Bernard is the old-fashioned kind of cookbook, published in 1967. In the style of the era with simple printed recipes and instructions only without any of the glossy photographs of the nouveau genre,  personality cookbooks which jam today’s bookshop shelves.  Despite being almost 50 years old, it is Patricia’s favourite reference point when preparing a recipe. She says its  recipes are as enduring as
French cuisine.

French people do have a love of cooking; that whole experience of being in the kitchen preparing food,’’ says Patricia, who was born near Paris and raised in Brittany.

“But preparing a particular dish is also a way to share, of showing your  love for the family, which was what  I  wanted to do with my soup. “Soup is such a comforting food, so warm and filling.’’

Patricia says she remembers her great-grandmother who only died 10 years ago and how her grandmother and own mother, Elizabeth, were all exceptional cooks.

“I have great childhood memories of mum cooking for long Sunday lunch which gave us lovely tradition of that  whole fact of how food lovingly prepared connects people and how everyone gathers around the table and sharing a dish, tasting it, talking about it,’’ she recalls.
“I went through a stage in my 20s of rejecting how the
females in my family cooked in the traditional way with all crème fresh, the butter and very very
rich foods.’’

However, the traditional  Clafouti has remained  a family favourite, she says.

“I wanted to cook something with fruit and I had some really nice cherries on hand. It’s a very simple dish and tasty.’’

She says her grandmother was christened Marie Louise but  because she was born on May 1, France’s Remembrance Day when Lily of the Valley floral sprigs are sold on each street corner throughout France, she was called Muguette.

“So there are lovely memories surrounding each recipe I use from my cookbook.’’

 

Here Patricia shares her Recette pour le Clafouti, from Les Recettes Faciles de Francoise Bernard, 1967.

Preparation and cooking time: 1 hour

Very easy and not expensive

Ingredients

500g of tasty cherries; 60g flour; 125g caster sugar; 3 eggs; 2 glasses of milk (equivalent of 2 cups); A pinch of butter;  pinch of salt.

The clafouti is a traditional French dish from the Limousin region and is like a thick flan-like batter.  I recommend doubling all quantities above (except for the cherries) to get a decent sized dish, like the one baked for Nadine and Olivier at Hindmarsh Island.

The cherries can be replaced by apples, prunes, or plums.

Method:

1. Warm  up your over to about 180 degrees (fan forced)
2. Wash  and remove the cherry stems, dry with a tea towel, for extra flavour: do not remove the stone
3. In a  mixing bowl, mix flour, sugar, salt.   Then gradually add the eggs and the cold milk, stir.
4. Butter  a deep baking dish, lay the cherries at the bottom.  Pour the cake mix on top.
5. Bake  for about 45 minutes or until the blade of a knife thrust into the cake  comes out clean.

(35 minutes into the cooking time, I scattered some extra
sugar on top to make the cherries look nice and the clafouti golden)
Can be served warm or cold, vanilla ice-cream or cream complement it nicely!

 

 

 

 

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Suzanne shines at her first art show

Much-travelled emerging artist, Suzanne Tilley selected a fitting venue  for her first solo Art Exhibition within the SALA festival, which opened Friday, August 19.

Suzy has travelled far and wide with her husband John over past years through Hoffmanns  Travel, so naturally the Glenelg agency was happy to allow her exhibition space at their offices.

In fact, her exhibition was spawned aboard a cruise they booked through Hoffmanns, where she painted prolifically.

Hey presto, she had produced more than 20 superb paintings capturing the favourite places she has “Visited and Loved” around the globe.

 

Now the Glenelg agency is decorated with her works until August 26 and part proceeds of all sales will benefit her favourite charity
“Tutti Arts” where young disabled people have the opportunity to expand their talents through, art, music and live performances.   Two of the Tutti special artists performed on the Opening Night.

 

Philipa’s Dream Wedding in Tonga

Philipa Charlesworth had been married too many times beforehand to ever be a Bridezilla when she married her fifth husband Bruce Pattullo on an idyllic beach in Tonga.

“Because I have had many weddings I had an enlightening moment on the day of my wedding when I thought “This is wonderful…I have never married when I haven’t been running around like a blue-arsed fly, but here I am sipping wine at lunchtime and I am getting married at four o’clock,’’ she recalls with a chuckle.

However, Philipa spent 12 months planning every detail of her romantic Polynesian wedding from her riverside home at Goolwa, South  Australia where she has lived with Bruce since she left her old life in New Zealand 18 months ago. (See my previous writings on Philipa in Women’s Lives).

She had visited the Fafa Island Resort on the small island of Nukualofa, Tonga a few times before and had taken Bruce there 12 months ago – and he had proposed to her  there.

“We hired a wedding package which included Willy, a gay Fijian, who was in charge of the wedding and he did all the flowers – leis for all the men and we women had floral hair pieces,’’ recalls Philipa.

In a way she  had carried the dream of this day in her mind since they promised to marry each other  45 years ago when they were both teenagers in New Zealand.  But Bruce broke up the romance and they each married other  people.

The couple arrived two days before the wedding with four couples from South Australia, but within hours Philipa’s
matron-of-honor, a best friend from New Zealand, cancelled her flight because another earthquake in Christchurch had badly damaged their funeral home business.

“My dearest friends for so long,  the only New Zealanders, who knew the person
I was and the evolution of my middle age, weren’t  going to be with me,’’ she says.

“But Suzanne telephoned my son Dan and proposed that he go in their stead. So, Don and my grandson, Archie arrived completely by surprise.’’

On her wedding day, a native Tongan girl did Philipa’s  makeup and adorned her hair with a garland of frangipani.  It was  June 15, her 63^rd birthday.  She slipped on her beautiful two-piece wedding dress made in an Hawaiian fabric which she bought on-line and had made to her own design by a local dressmaker in Goolwa. Then, she left her little grass hut and walked alone to meet her groom.

“We had planned to meet at the bar and as I walked in in my pink wedding dress, the look on Bruce’s said it all; his eyes opened so wide and  his smile showed how happy he was and so proud and I thought “Yes, this is our lovely wedding day,’’ she recalls.

“He took my hand and we walked out from the bar to the beach through the three archways formed by palms and dotted with flowers.

“At the end of the archways the Catholic priest, in his Tongan skirt and his  crisp white shirt,  stood at the little table waiting for us.’’

On the beach, their guests were joined by the 14 other guests of the resort, who were invited to join the wedding ceremony where they all enjoyed canapés and Moet champagne.

The island boys  sat around their Kava bowl and sang local Tongan music for the Christian marriage as Philipa and Bruce made their vows.

“We had canapés for a while with the other island guests and when it grew dark, the island staff escorted us and our bridal party through a pathway lit by flares to our wedding table.’’

They honeymooned sailing for three days around the islands with their Australian friends.

However, the one hovering question now that life has returned to normal in Goolwa is “Will this marriage last?’’

“Oh yes, this marriage will last because I have so many comparisons to make.  Bruce has made me the happiest in my life. I
am so full of love and lust and friendship for him – and thankful for all that he brings to me and my life.’’

 

 

Julie’s cancer Journey

By Julie House        July 2011

When I was diagnosed with bowel cancer in January this year, I was 53 years old and terrified.  Insulted too. I had been practising yoga for years and considered myself fit and healthy.  Why did I have cancer?  My diet hadn’t always been optimal, stress levels had been difficult for a few periods, and I had over-indulged in food and alcohol fairly often.  But I was still slim, energetic and agile. My friends and acquaintances were shocked, too.

We all live with the threat of cancer because the cell mutations occur within us all the time and I believe cancer strikes in a random manner, or as the oncologist said “Sh*t happens to nice people’’..  My “quality control” – my immune system – failed to detect a mutated cell division and it fired off.

A few bouts of irritable bowel symptoms might have been a warning, but I changed my diet to exclude gluten and it helped.  I lost a few kilos and had more energy.  Then I noticed some blood spots the resultant colonoscopy found cancer.  I never felt unwell with the cancer.  That’s why we need to talk about this insidious disease.
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