WOW! Its February and Lunch Lady Lou is fast approaching a 1st birthday.To think that a year ago all these recipes and ideas were just floating around in my head is almost unbelievable. To celebrate Lunch Lady Lou’s almost 1 year birthday. I’ve put together 9 things that you may not know about me.

1. I’m a food loving, popcorn craving, crazy dress wearing home cook. For years all I could cook was a bacon and egg roll. Then mum started a weekly cooking roster and after many failed meals, I realised that this cooking thing was pretty darn fun.

2. I love antique shops, farmers markets, head scarves, bright flowy dresses and gardens both veggie and floral. I’m a reformed shop-a-holic and have a bursting wardrobe to prove it. Most of it aint’ the ordinary and has frequently been compared to a dress up box. I’m still working out how to take this.

3. I live in beautiful Bondi Beach, in a sun drenched apartment surrounded by plants with my Horiculturalist/Bush Ranger fiancee (yes he can design your dream veggie garden – check him out at Gardens By Day).

4. I don’t do so well in the cold and one (of many) of my ideas of freedom is not needing to wear or take a jacket out with me at night. These days I like to travel very light and took carry on luggage on a recent 3 week Euro trip. It’s empowering.

5. I love eating with chop sticks and travelled South East Asia for 3months, I embraced chop stick culture and found it very hard to assimilate back to cutlery culture on return.

6. I was diagnosed with Cancer when I was 21. My major facial nerve (left side) was damaged & I had no movement in the left side of my face for 3 months. That’s no blinking (I had to tape my eye shut every night so I didn’t lose my sight), no smile (my right side still worked) & I sneezed with my eye open – no my eyeball didn’t fall out. I have quite a few photos of my lop sided smile, I’ll post some one day.

7. I love the ocean and swim daily. But would love a property somewhere away from this city slicker life in the country. With a major focus on living off the land – a huge veggie garden, fruit trees and chickens. I’d sell food and jams at the markets and sew crazy aprons.

8. I love my bike that I flew back from London with me, but absolutely hate riding up hills. Yes, I’m a little bit lazy and much prefer yoga to running but appreciate the need for both in a balanced life. Luckily I have an amazing trainer at Vision Hunter Street, get in touch and I’ll hook you up.

9. I love all things drinks – mint tea with freshly cut mint leaves is wonderful. If I had it my way, I’d have 9 mint plants in pots around my garden. I have a love hate relationship with coffee and I’m a full blown coffee snob. No Nescafe here. To blow your mind, I haven’t had a drop of soft drink for 13 months. But I frequently drink Kombucha which I highly recommend, especially if you love the booze.