I love it here in Australia, I really really do. Ask my hubby, every time we go out I'm constantly commenting on how pretty it is here!!
But every now and then I find myself having a moment...a moment where I feel almost homesick. It's been 8 years since we left Virginia so I've easily dealt with missing my family and friends from there. However after leaving Virginia and moving around a bit as we have, we were still within the United States. A lot of the food was still the same at least as far as what I could buy at the store. Some veggies we like were much harder to find up north such as Ford hook Lima beans but we managed.
No my homesickness is deriving from a lack of familiarity. A lot of things here are very different, more then the obvious like dialect and driving on the "wrong" side of the road. But as some know from reading here, I'm a Foodie! I love to cook and bake and try new recipes and of course feed it to my love ones. My family really loves the fact that I'm a Foodie as they often get to enjoy the fruits of my labour.
Over the years I've spent in the kitchen I have fallen in love with certain ingredients such as Nielsen Massey Bourbon Vanilla and Spice Islands Saigon Cinnamon and let us forget Ghirardelli cocoa chips. None of which I have been able to find easily here. I often feel lost when I go to the super markets to shop. While we do enjoy the bountifulness of the freshest produce (something not often enjoyed in Alaska) I'm still "homesick" for some frequently used ingredients.
There is absolutely some fantastic foods food here in Australia, visit any corner bakery and you;ll experience it first hand. So obviously culinary cuisines can be easily created with the local ingredients available....but I guess this is one of those adjustments I must make, even though it feels more like a sacrifice, to be able to be here without my normal cooking goodies.
Hopefully over the coming years I'll be able to find many culinary delights for cooking and baking with. In the mean time...I'll simply reminisce.
