HOT: Telegramstop

Today I've been channelling my inner Swedish housewife by baking some cinnamon buns and walnut and sultana bread. As I haven't managed to leave the house yet (it's so warm and smells so good!), I thought I'd write an overdue HOT about Telegramstop.

Everyone's communicating via the electronic world these days. I confess that I write emails to my friends more often than I call them, RM often likes to send me hyperlinks to articles and my mum forwards me Youtube clips. So when RM and I wanted to send our guests a 'Save the Date' notice for our wedding, we didn't just want to just ping a mass email or post a cream-embossed card with calligraphy and pink hearts on it.

Enter Telegramstop. I don't normally review online businesses as generally there's nothing specifically Melburnian about them. However, in this case I know that Telegramstop are based in Melbourne and I think they deserve a lot of love. Basically, the easy-to-use website allows you to write a personalised message (with STOPs!), which is printed on authentically vintage paper and date-stamped in a wonky post-office-worker kind of way. The telegram is then popped into a bright yellow envelope and can be posted to anyone in the world for US$4.70.

I was one of the first bulk orders they received and the service I was received was thoughtful and patient. Most importantly, all of our guests located all around the world loved receiving their telegrams!

HOT: Degraves Espresso Bar, 23 Degraves St, Melbourne

Blind dates are always a risky endeavour. But I've always had good luck forming close friendships when my friends set me up with their friends, and even once managed to sustain a two year relationship as a result of a blind friend date. So when Matchmaker Huy suggested that Jenny and I meet Andrea (' I think you all will really get along, mainly because you're all Asian chicks with white boyfriends'), I thought 'of course!'.

Degraves Espresso Bar is the worst-kept secret of the best of Melbourne's secretive laneway cafes. Cosy and convivial, it was one of the first places which gave Melbourne its European-living reputation and those cinema seats and school desks are still rocking it. However, the louche atmosphere and quirky decor are basically propping up the so-so food. My spaghetti with mussels and chorizo ($17.90) was fragrant and hearty, but the pasta was overcooked way past al dente - in my book an unforgiveable error for a professional kitchen. Despite that hiccup, the date went well - Andrea really is very similar to Jenny and I, except with long hair!

HOT: Alice in Wonderland featuring Little Creatures, Cafe Vue, Little Collins St, Melbourne

As I mentioned before, my birthday treat from my parents was dinner and drinks at Cafe Vue.

It wasn't as busy on Friday night as I was expecting, so we had our pick of the outdoor tables (with overhead heaters). For the next three hours, we tripped through Alice in Wonderland with drinks in hand, alcoholic for RM, non-alcoholic for moi.

First up was triangles of gruyere and mushroom croque monsieur topped with intensely fragrant truffles. A taste sensation of wintery earthiness matched with The Mad-Hatter's Tea (Pipsqueak apple cider with lime) and a blood orange juice and ginger beer concoction.

Then my favourite dish, steamed Angasi oysters with Chinese wine and brown bread. The juicy and creamy oysters apparently came from the best oyster man in Australia and each rested in an edible 'shell' - brown bread baked into the shape of an oyster shell. Served with a pint of White Rabbit ale and pineapple juice, chinotto and honey syrup mix which tasted surprisingly like the ale, without the beery bitterness.

'Cabbages and King...Fish' consisted of a topsy-turvy plate of chips that looked like fish and fish that looked like chips! The dish was served with a pint of Little Creatures Pilsner and a mocktail of mango puree, limonata, orange blossom water and soda water.

A bizarre March Hare's carrot and goat's cheese gnocchi with beetroot dressing. The 'gnocchi' was actually cheese that had undergone some chemical process so they were presented as little tubular marshmallows. The carrot had been cooked over many hours so it had infused the flavours of stock. A bit of magic went into the Pale in Thyme cocktail, which consisted of a pale ale with the initial bitterness removed by the flavours of thyme, leaving only the lemon myrtle flavour at the back of the palate. My drink consisted thyme syrup, passionfruit puree, lemon syrup and sugar syrup.

Finally, breakfast-as-dessert reminiscent of The Fat Duck. We each received an egg carton labelled Pullet Eggs (poulet, haha) where the eggs had been replaced with madeleines filled with lemon curd or topped egg shells filled with a layer of vanilla custard and tea jelly. Hmmmm.....

All in all, a very enjoyable night of creative and delicious food, lots of drinks and the great service typified by all my Vue de Monde experiences. You'll have until the end of July if you want to follow me down the rabbit hole.

HOT: Stephanie Alexander, Art Chat, NGV Australia, Federation Square

I come from a family where food is what binds us together. We reminisce about food we've eaten, anticipate the food we're going to eat, compare cooking methods, discuss Masterchef and take family outings to farmers markets. I think I'm very fortunate that my upbringing has taught me how food gets to my table, the value of eating well and the important role food plays as part of family, society, culture and history.

However, not all children have been brought up like me. Not all kids eat well, many are overweight and many do not seem to understand where their food comes from. In today's busy world, families no longer seem to have time to prepare proper meals and to sit down at a table regularly to share food, thoughts and experiences.

Stephanie Alexander, a respected chef and restauranter, realised that something should be done about this, so in 2004 she established the Kitchen Garden Foundation. Like me, Stephanie feels strongly that sharing food is about comfort, intimacy, discovery and an opportunity to listen and to be heard. As part of NGV Australia's Art Chat program, she spoke eloquently about her goal to provide pleasurable food education for children. Her core belief is that you can positively influence food choices from an early age, and the best way to inspire kids is through a school curriculum incorporating a hands-on kitchen and garden.

The point of the program is not about finger-wagging at kids to preach what is healthy and not healthy. Nor is about teaching kids middle-class food wankery. Instead, helping kids to maintain a kitchen garden and to cook their own-grown produce is an enjoyable and enriching way to teach them about the value of eating a balanced, healthy diet. The gardening and cooking tasks are also linked to the needs to the general curriculum. Measuring out a garden, designing an irrigation system, estimating water supply, learning about the properties of heat, steam, yeast and eggs, multiplying recipes and seeing the interaction of plants and seasons are all practical applications of numeracy and literacy skills. In addition, the kids have to learn how to problem-solve, how to work together and bear shared responsibility, and thus the program can enhance their social skills, patience and self-confidence.

Thanks to Federal Government funding (after Minister Nicola Roxon had lunch harvested, cooked and served by the kids at Westgarth Primary School), the scheme will now been rolled out to 190 primary schools throughout Australia. I am so inspired by the passion of Stephanie Alexander and the work of the Kitchen Garden Foundation that I'm going to investigate volunteering opportunities at the pioneering school, Collingwood College.