Culinary delights

You'll have to excuse my time lag since the last post, dear readers. I know it's unusual for me to let much longer than a week go by between updates, but Australia is in the grip of a TV renaissance, and I have to confess, I am hooked!

Yes, this winter's craze on the box is the first ever series of... Masterchef Australia! And. It. Is. Awesome. TV.

And to top it all it's on every single night of the week. Can you believe it. It's getting more viewers than Michael Jackson's funeral, every single evening. Madness! I've witnessed people running home along Bondi Road, clutching their takeaway pizzas, shouting "Quick, quick, we have to get home in time for Masterchef!".

Julie always cries. Makes GREAT TV

Ingredients used in the recipes which have never even been heard of Down Under are now flying out of the stores. Campbell's Real Stock, which sponsors the show, is experiencing an unprecedented boost in sales.

Poh is an artist: her dishes always look pretty

It's also been a perfect antidote to the post-festival comedown, which I've experienced since the middle of June. I'm completely exhausted, have of course developed a cold now that my adrenaline reserves are depleted, and I'm tired like a nana and need to be in bed by 9.30pm!

I used to want Chris to win, but he's a smug bastard so now I'm not so sure

So while mum and Keith are living it up in Corfu, gallavanting off in their boats around the island, basking in the Mediterranean summer heat, I'm rugging up in Sydney's winter months, and becoming a TV addict. Hurrah.

cx