Palm Springs perfection

Palm Springs conjures up a cool almost intimidating vibe to people living outside of California, so when I visited the desert oasis the first couple of times, it didn't really live up to it's reputation. I found myself staying in sprawling Spanish-style resorts where the restaurants had closed due to lack of interest. Jaded parents watched kids dunking each other in the pool while guarding large swathes of reserved deck chairs. It just didn't do it for me. Last weekend…

hang out and chill out

Each time I go back to Australia and spend the holidays with my family, I find myself outside hanging washing on the line. They still do that there. It's not unpleasant. In fact, it's lovely. It's a quiet, almost meditative time spent doing a job you need to do. It's not really something you can rush so it brings a mindfulness with it. I need more of that. (more…)

steel cut oatmeal

You don't need me to tell you how to prepare steel cut oatmeal, the instructions are written right there on the packaging, but you might need my encouragement to put yourself through the 40 minute process of boiling water in a pan, cooking and continually stirring the oatmeal and then topping it with a delicious array of nuts, seeds and fruit. (more…)

honey joys

These sweet treats bring back great memories of happy children's birthday parties when I was growing up in Australia. They are as old fashioned as it gets but tasty enough to bring back as an easy picnic snack or a crunchy brunch addition! (more…)

flatbread artisan pizza

I love flatbread pizza and now that I've started making it myself using ready-made clay oven Lavash Bread, I've realized just how quick and easy it is! Keeping a packet of this yeast-free flatbread (which originated in the Middle East) in my pantry, gives me the means to create super thin gourmet pizzas in a couple of minutes using whatever I can find in my fridge. (more…)

quick coconut & chia seed pudding

I'm in love with this pudding! It's subtle but delicious, creamy and different to anything I've tried before. I've eyed it off at my local patisserie and then tried making a different version using yoghurt instead of coconut milk but it was so bland, I didn't add it to 'Trace' recipes. (more…)

Need to get organized? Do it like a chef!

Tracey & Alan, 1995 Who doesn't need to be better organized? When I first met my husband, he was a single dad raising two teenagers on his own. He was working long hours on a television series and he and the kids shared the cooking. He was a master at cleaning up as he went, and doing chores and running errands on the way to other things. At first this drove me nuts. I only had my twenty-something self to…

making space for creativity

As you can see, I've been late with my posts for a while now. I'm not too stressed about it because the screenplay I'm working on is almost finished and so often when I concentrate and push hard in one area of my work, the others fall behind a bit.  My husband made what I thought was a good suggestion, he said instead of pulling a series of all-nighters trying to catch up (resulting in exhaustion and an empty creative…

dress for success – even when you work from home

I've talked about working from home here before. I feel very lucky to be able to tailor my work: screenwriting, preparing posts for 'Trace', and managing my business interests from my office at home. It's certainly not for everyone and it wouldn't have been for me when I was starting my career. Getting dressed, and I don't mean yoga pants, a t-shirt and flip flops, before I step into my home office at the start of each day is important…

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