We sadly learnt today, October 4, that life-long family friend, kitchen whizz, Charlton stalwart and cuddler-in-chief, golf ‘widow’, and one of Mum and Dad’s dearest friends, Aunty Margaret, has passed away.
She is fondly remembered as an integral part of our lives from our youngest days when she and Uncle Ted welcomed us to their sheep and wheat property in Victoria’s rural north on our annual golf holidays every August.
We recall with delight all the yumminess she would rustle up in her cosy country kitchen. As our holidays coincided with the coldest time of the year, there was always porridge or bacon-and-eggs for breakfast, hot soups and warm puddings, and untold delights for morning, afternoon tea and supper in between. (At least six meals a day were de rigueur!) Extra helpings often came with a hug – and always with a smile. There were always plenty of beaters to lick clean and off-cuts of uncooked scone dough to nibble on.
Even the chills of Australia’s winter nights — when our little shoulders shivered in tandem with chattering teeth and we puffed breathy clouds into the darkness while racing each other in woolly slippers to our beds in the blue-and-white-striped Freeway caravan parked alongside the water tank — were no match for the warmth of her welcome, the snugness of her home, and the comfort of her laugh.
Aunty Margaret still reminds us of a time when our little hearts were glad for the familiarity of family and the camaraderie of friends but we didn’t yet know it. She and Uncle Ted were as much a part of our family as all our aunties and uncles, and over the years on everyone’s lists for Christmas cards, weddings, parties, celebrations… And she was inevitably among the first of the guests at the sink to help wash up afterwards. Remarkable!
As we lament her passing, we appreciate the gladness in our hearts and the smiles conjured up when remembering her; we acknowledge her well-lived life, and we toast her supreme culinary skills.
We send Gary and Helen and their families our deepest condolences and hope their own happy memories will sustain them.
And to honour one of Victoria’s great country cooks and gentle-women, we will reprint here one of Aunty Margaret’s recipes – Lemon Carrot Salad – as written out by her in about 2018 (as soon as we find it!).
Rest in Peace.