Lorelle in Australia

about me

I was born in country Victoria (Australia) and grew up in Ballarat. I have lived the rest of my life in capital cities - Melbourne, Belfast (Northern Ireland), Sydney, Canberra, before deciding to do the 'tree change' thing, and move to country Victoria. I now live in the country town of Beaufort, which has a population of about 1200 people (half out on farms) which is within commuting distance to the provincial city of Ballarat.

At the age of 20 I attended William Angliss College and studied Catering and Hotel Management, which enhanced my passion for good food. Since then I've taken many a wayward turn, and have ended up here with my many animals (sheep, goats, chooks, ducks, cats, dogs & goldfish) and am loving the life that I live. My professional training was in classical french cookery, but how could anyone ignore the many ethnic influences on our food here in Australia?? I love Asian, Indian, Medditeranean, Middle Eastern foods, and must confess after a couple of years in Northern Ireland - I'm so glad they are now taking refugees! Their food will improve enormously!!

Favorite Foods:

I love all sorts of food - as long as it doesn't contain meat. I made a stand for vegetarian foods when I was a 13 year old, and found it very difficult not being in control of the shopping, and there not being too many easy/nutritional/tasty vegetarian cook books about for the non earning teen (this was back in 1973). Since going bush, and having my own sheep/chooks/goats, I could no sooner eat one of them than become an olympic athlete (if you saw me you'd understand...)
I love my animals preciously, and the idea of people putting them through the terror that they experience at the abbottairs as they struggle desperately just to live and survive - to no good end - is just more than I can bear. Its exactly what people must experience when they are murdered. Sheer terror. I don't ever want to have any creature terrorised, suffering or murdered just because I might like a piece of their body to cut out and cook up for a snack. Whilst I do still occassionally eat fish, I am aware that this is a temporary thing, I am not likely to be able to consider eating fish for long now having seen the Japanese and Greenlanders in their most brutal slaughtering modes, terrifying and murdering our most beautific and intelligent ocean creatures.
I love my vegetarian foods, and I find that I'm even more innovative in my cooking than I was previously in making delicious meals, and ensuring I have good nutrition.
Try it - you'll love it!

http://www.howarddenham.com