Member of the Month: mickeydownunder

mickeydownunder

There are three important things you need to know about this month’s Member of the Month, mickeydownunder. One: She lives in Australia. Two: She is a huge fan of Mickey Mouse. And three: She is one of the (if not the most) positive people we’ve ever met!

A member since October 2002, Mickey is famous for her eternal optimism — just read any of her 679 recipe reviews where she always uses ALL CAPS to express her excitement and enthusiasm. Even a recipe that set off the smoke detector recently yields her signature phrase, “WHOO HOO!” (a nod to another of her loves, old steam trains).

Tell us about moving to Australia from New York – was it a tough adjustment? Moving to Adelaide, Australia from Long Island, New York in 1997 has been THE BEST decision of my life! Initially I had difficulty with the Australian Strine (slang and pronunciation), bold Aussie humor and I had to accept some of my favorite foods and ingredients were not available here. In time, I have mastered all that and most US foods and ingredients have become available now.

What’s the biggest difference between American and Southern Australian food? Off the top of my head, we have smaller food portions here, DEFINITELY! Due to our Mediterranean climate, we have year round fruits and vegetables. And Aussies love nothing more than to cook our meat (beef, lamb, chicken, pork) on the barbeque.

How cool that you went to a Beef Butchery class recently! Do you dream about becoming a butcher? Oh my goodness no! If the class taught me anything, it was to appreciate my local butcher more, but I did learn some good tips:

Tip #1: Always make sure your knife is sharp
Tip #2: Always REMEMBER your knife is sharp
Tip #3: Let your knife do the work when cutting and don’t apply too much pressure.
Tip #4: Cutting against the grain results “in the best cuts of meat.”

What’s your favorite Food.com recipe? I have found that participating in various contests and events in the community forums has allowed me to find undiscovered or overlooked recipes. Without playing favorites, here are some of my picks (not in any order):

• Moorish Saffron Meat Skewers by French Tart
• Beef Satay by JustJanS
• Kerala Scallop by me via BBC

Her Mum’s Special Spice Cake

Do you have any family or heirloom recipes that have been passed down to you?
Seeing that we are coming onto the Thanksgiving holiday, My Mum’s Special Spice Cake is a recipe that will ALWAYS be treasured by me. Mum used to bake many cakes between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The longer they stayed fully wrapped and in a cool place, the better they were. One year I found mum’s secret hiding place — her walk-in wardrobe. Mum would be smiling from the heavens above knowing I have shared this recipe that has been in the family for four generations!

What’s your most epic cooking flop? Did you cry? Save it? Or just get takeout? My most epic flop would have to be when I tried to make a lemon meringue pie when I had a concussion. The recipe called for “peeling the rind” which I had NO IDEA what that was so I YELLED out to my mum for the answer. She said, “Peel IT and put IT in!” So I peeled the lemon and put the fruit in and left the rind on the counter! When it came to the meringue, instead of adding an 1/8 of a teaspoon, I added 8 teaspoons of the cream of tartar! Oh, how my pie had the most WONDERFUL peaks that set like concrete on top! The end result was a very tart filling with a tough exoskeleton.

Know a good cook that should be our next Member of the Month? Or do you yourself want to be featured? Contact us!

Check out our past members of the month »

• Lazyme
• Pot Scrubber
• GiddyUpGo
• La Dilettante
• Zurie
• 2Bleu
• Andi of Longmeadow Farm