It has been another busy and unusual week as we adjust to this new world. I hope you are doing OK or better than that. This is an unusually long letter, so I hope you do read it to the end.  

On Friday, instead of going to the market and prepping, in my kitchen, for the weekend cooking classes, I spent a few hours driving to Traralgon to deliver hand and equipment steriliser, plus some face masks and gloves to my chiropractor daughter for her clinic.  Chiropractors are categorised as an essential service by the the Health Department.

It was a lovely opportunity for me to see my daughter, keeping our distance, of course.  I was also so lucky to be able to ‘attend’ a very inspiring 5 hour ‘webinar’ streamed live to my phone.  Presented by Dale Beaumont, of Business Blueprint, and called Conquer the Crisis .  The presenters are all leaders in their fields and donated a wealth of knowledge to us as small and medium business owners to help us to survive this difficult and stressful time.  It may still be available online, so take a look and follow the link above. Here are the presenters.

The 'seminar',  suggested many great ideas to help keep a focus that is positive and to think where we would like to be at the end of this unique and strange period.
Firstly, my focus is to keep well and then work out what and where my family and business would like to be at the end of this time. One of my hopes for you is that you will be a great cook!  And I want to be cooking, with you here, at Cooking on the Bay.

During the past week, I have been cooking, taking photos and adding recipes to the Cooking on the Bay Facebook page.  My idea is to give you some ideas about what you might like to cook at the end of each day.  They will get onto YouTube also!

Importantly, Just Cook Real Food
At this moment in our world, it is the best time to COOK and EAT Real Food, to give ourselves a good chance at staying well.

All the food I am cooking is from my Cook Real Food cooking class program.  It is all Low Carb Healthy Fat – it is a good way to stay and keep healthy and to maintain our good nutrition.  So do come along with me and we will enjoy our cooking and dinners together.

This is a great time to interest the children in cooking with you, it provides them with an activity, something much needed at the moment!

You need to plan the dinners for a week, collect the recipes you are to cook.  Select from my recipe collection or the Recipe Booklets for your cooking class here.

Write a shopping list of what is needed.

Either order the food online or venture out for a brief shopping trip.

Sort out the food and store it to keep it as fresh as possible for as long as possible.

And then there is the DOING - the cooking….

The cooking process does a few things for us, besides feeding us.  It gives us something constructive to think about; to do; the family comes together, in reality or virtually, to dine together and then there is the clearing away.  It could take some hours if you wanted it to.  How different it is now, when we are saving time travelling to and from work.
Cooking provides a focus and distraction for us at the end of the day. To spend some time cooking, possibly some quiet time, or time with the children helping also, to unwind after a day working and looking after little children.
Below are the dishes I cooked last week; you may like to start with these.  The recipes are, or will be asap,on the website and sometimes they will also included on the Facebook page. 
Here below is a shopping least for each dish.  The servings are for 4 - 6.  And remember substitution is the key at the moment.  If you cannot locate anything, be creative and use something else – the result will be great I am sure.

The first essential in the freezer is to have some Chicken stock – it is the most useful and versatile stock and it is very easy to make your own, especially if you are at home working.  Chicken stock is the best in all those soups and slow cooked dinners we will make from now on.  For the Chicken Stock you will need 5 – 10 chicken carcasses; 1 kg chicken necks; 2 onions’ 2 carrots; 2 sticks celery; 2 leeks, optional although I always include them; a few parsley stalks; a few sprigs of fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried; 4 bay leaves; 10 peppercorns.  Recipe is on the website here.

Chicken wings – one of our favourites for lunch.  For 2 people 1kg chicken wings, so you have some cold for tomorrow, olive oil, sea salt and pepper.  For a change add spices and marinate for 30 minutes, such as lemon pepper, cumin, dried oregano, parsley, basil, chilli flakes.

Stracciatella – the family will love this egg, cheese and chicken soup.  You will need 1 – 2 litre chicken stock, 3 eggs plus 2 egg whites, 290g Parmigiano Regianno, 1 cup parsley, knob butter, nutmeg, 500g chicken thigh mince, makes 24 quenelles, 4 tbsp chopped chives, 4 tbsp parmesan powder.  Recipe is on the website here.

Beef short ribs – 2 k beef short ribs, 2 onions, 2 carrot, 4 celery sticks, 3 cloves garlic, 2tbsp tomato paste, 3 sprigs thyme, 3 bay leaves, 250ml red wine, 250ml Pedro Ximemez sherry or substitute with extra chicken stock, 1 litre beef or chicken stock. Recipe is on the website here

Spaghetti squash - these are now in season and as they are bought whole, they keep well in the pantry and so, like a whole pumpkin.  This is a marvellous lunchtime dish or vegetable which can be prepared ahead of time. 1 x spaghetti squash, 80g whole almonds, 4 garlic cloves, 1 cup parsley, 4 spring onions, zest lemon, olive oil, butter, 100g feta and 20g grated parmigiano Regianno. Recipe on Cooking on the Bay Facebook page.

La Bourride – French fish stew – this is the most complicated dish of them all, in that you do need some fish and crab stock for the very best result.  However, given our current circumstances, substitution is the key! So use our chicken stock instead, and once the seafood and fish is added to it, the fish stock is there for you in the pot.

Veal, mushroom and thyme ragu – a marriage made in heaven – 500g veal, 2 small or one large onion, 3 garlic, 300g mushrooms, sprig or ½ tsp dried thyme, 300ml chicken stock, 200ml cream and 200 ml Marsala, optional you can substitute white wine or more stock or cream.

The ultimate optimist always! Just before the Cooking School went into recess, I ordered and received 5000 sheets of letterhead paper and so I am all ready to take off like a rocket when this crisis is under control.

Happy Cooking dear friends – keep well and stay safe

Fondly from Tonya

The ultimate optimist always! Just before the Cooking School went into recess, I ordered and received 5000 sheets of letterhead paper. I am  now all ready to take off like a rocket when this crisis is under control.