Women's Nook
I met Belinda Jeffery when she opened The Good Health Cafe in Mosman Sydney during the 80’s. I can’t tell you how great the food was and the ambience was well … warm, buzzy and inviting.
If you read my first post on Belinda and her cook books, you’ll be aware of how disappointed everyone was when she and her husband Clive decided to move on. Don’t you hate it when you find something really good and then it all changes? I know life never stays the same but … luckily Belinda started giving cooking classes at Accoutrement and writing for various food magazines. She offers wonderful, enticing recipes that are full of fresh and interesting ingredients and they work every time.
Many of you will know of Belinda through her articles in magazines such as delicious and her wonderful cook books but I thought you might like to get to know her personally.
Her answers to my questions about herself, her life and her passions shows a woman very much connected with her family, friends, community and nature. (She moved from Sydney to the far north coast of NSW a few years ago.) You just don’t write the way she does without this real sense of belonging.
It should come as no surprise that Belinda’s answers are just like her recipes - generous and full of good things to enjoy and think about so I’ve broken her interview into a few posts because there’s so much to savour. I hope you enjoy this, the first part, where Belinda talks about herself and her country lifestyle.
Your first cook book is dedicated to your mother, Cooee, and she is obviously the source of many memories surrounding your childhood, food and cooking. What was your mother like and how did she come to have such a wonderful name?
My mum was a lovely woman – quiet, kind, with huge inner strength and reserves – she was much loved by all my friends as well as her own. She was a wonderful mum and loved us all dearly and made our lives as good as she could, under what at times were very difficult circumstances.
She was always called Cooee by her friends and family. Her real name was Dorothy Beatrice, however she didn’t like it and refused to respond to it when she was a little girl, so my grandmother would call out ‘Cooee! Cooee!’ when she wanted her to come, and the name was taken up by her sisters and friends and just stuck.
You have lived in the city and now the country - what differences have you noticed? What’s it like living on the northern coast of NSW?
The differences are marked. It’s hard to speak for everyone, but for myself life is still as busy in the country as we both work, however it’s a different sort of busy. There’s nearly always time to stop for a cup of tea and a chat with a friend or neighbour.
It’s much easier to get around living in a small country town … whereas in the city we might drive around the block for ages trying to park, here you basically pull up outside where you want to be -we whip in and out of town and do all our business in no time. We also know most of the people in the shops and businesses and I love that. If they or we go away everyone notices.
We are blessed to live in a hotspot as far as food goes. The far north coast of NSW is one of the largest organic farming areas and we are spoilt for choice with local produce and markets. So much grows here – coffee, pecans, macadamias, lychees, avocados, stone fruit, every sort of ‘green’ under the sun, bananas, strawberries, blueberries.
Our local farmers’ market not only has all this, but also organic meat, chickens and turkey’s, local cheeses, butter, yoghurt … we are really blessed … and it’s heaven for someone like me.
Being where we are, near to Byron Bay, there is also a good range of restaurants that are focusing more and more on local produce … everything from really casual places to quite upmarket.
How would you describe your lifestyle now?
Oh golly, now there’s a question. Our life is fairly simple. I work each day at my writing – I have two books in the pipeline, plus articles that I write for magazines. My office is at home, which is great as I’m often testing and trying out recipes.
Generally, things are more relaxed in the country. We dress more casually, entertain more simply (often we have get-togethers where everyone just brings a plate or course … it’s fun and so much easier for all involved.)
I walk into town most mornings to collect the newspapers. I love the early morning, so this is a real treat – I find that I daydream and often write things in my head … or just enjoy the dawn peace before the world wakes up.
I try not to finish too late in the day, but things don’t always work out that way! In summer, we get down to the beach for an evening swim, in winter I tend to write on a bit.
We try not to work on the weekends, although as we are both freelancers it doesn’t always happen that way. Weekends are for us, our friends and family … time to be in the garden, cook something I want to try, go to a film or listen to some music (we are blessed in this area with no end of terrific venues and festivals.) Sometimes we eat out … nowhere flash, just our favourite local haunts.
What is your personal style since your move to Mullumbimby? Do you have a favourite outfit that makes you feel good inside and out? Is there a local store where you can find clothes that suit your style?
I am smiling as I write this – for I guess my favourite outfit these days consists of my Blundstone boots, tee-shirt, faded and torn jeans and one of my husband’s old shirts … for if I am dressed like this it means I am about to spend a day in the garden!
Other than this, as the weather here is so warm I tend to favour loose cotton drawstring pants and simple tops … dressed up for night-time and down for day. I tend to go for neutrals and muted colours, they just seem right here. One of my favourite local shops is Wax Jambu in Bangalow … they often have something just a bit different.
When you have or need ‘time out’ what do you do? Do you have a nook?
I don’t know that you would call it a ‘nook’ as such, but my garden is my haven. I will go out and potter
about in it, even if only for ten minutes or so, and I can feel body and soul coming back together again. The other place I love to go is the beach … either to walk along it for miles and miles, or, in summer to be in the sea … I love it!
Can you describe some of the special things you like to have around you?
The special things I like to have around me are more often than not from nature … when I walk each day I tend to collect seeds, pods, pebbles, shells, you name it – my pockets are full by the time I come home -and they end up in bowls or piles all through the house.
What are you passionate about?
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