Lunch Lady Magazine Issue 5

jacob faull nature baby Great Barrier Island—not to be confused with the Great Barrier Reef in Australia—is an island off to the north-east of New Zealand. Looking out across the Pacific Ocean, you know there’s nothing but sea until Chile, and there’s a feeling of life(style) abandonment replaced by white-sand surf beaches, hot pool rivers and wild mountains. On a good day it’s like California, and on a rough one it has the broodiness of an Irish moor. I love it because it’s nature in its most pure form, and a place where you can do everything and nothing. maureen vazquez pipsticks sticker club Since our youngest, Indiana, is a toddler (and pretty much a walking liability these days), we usually escape to the tent in our backyard for adventure. This way we…

Men might be cooking risotto, folding the towels and staying home to mind the kids nowadays, but we're still not talking about our feelings. Not really. A few might have started opening up to their partners, but the dude who's overly expressive to his mates, or pouring his heart out to his son, remains a rare beast. I think there's a whole generation of us who spent our twenties playing in rock bands and sleeping on people's floors, and then all of a sudden they found themselves with a mortgage, a wife and a kid, and they don't know what happened. And while there are new, softer role models around for young boys, including superheroes with imperfect personalities, it's safe to say the premiere of Emotionally Accessible Man (saving the day with…

SMOKY ZUCCHINI RICE SLICE For the base: • 2 cups brown rice, cooked• 1 egg• 1/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated• 1/2 tsp chilli flakes For the filling: • 8 eggs• 1 cup buttermilk• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated• 100g / 3.5oz smoky bacon, cut into thin strips• 3 zucchinis, cut into ribbons with a veggie peeler• 1 spring onion, thinly sliced• 100g / 3.5oz goat’s curd• 1 tsp sesame seeds 1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C / 350˚C / Gas Mark 4. 2. Grease and line a 24cm springform tin. 3. To make the base, combine rice, egg, cheese and chilli in a small mixing bowl. 4. Spread the rice mix over the base of the tin, using the back of a spoon to gently press the rice until it’s fairly even. Bake for 15 minutes. 5. While rice…

WATERMELON To grill a watermelon, cut it into triangles with the rind attached; if you remove the rind, the watermelon can fall apart when flipped. Flavour a bit of sugar with lime zest and sprinkle it over the watermelon before grilling. Grill for about 2–3 minutes, turn over and cook for another 2–3 minutes. Remove from grill. You can eat the watermelon by itself, with ice-cream or in a salad (see page 147). Grilled watermelon goes with: chilli, chocolate, cinnamon, coriander, cucumber, goat’s cheese, lime, mint, pork, rosemary, tomato APRICOTS Cut apricots along the seam, all the way around, and twist halves off the pit. Brush cut sides with vegetable oil and cook, cut side down, on a hot grill for 1–2 minutes. Brush tops with oil, turn over and cook for another 1–2…

NECTARINE + RASPBERRY For the nectarine bit: • 3 nectarines, pits removed• 3 tbsp yoghurt• 1 tsp honey, or to taste For the raspberry bit: • 1 cup raspberries• 3 tbsp yoghurt• 3 tsp honey, or to taste 1. Pop the nectarines, yoghurt and honey into the food processor, and whiz until smooth. Pour into a bowl and set aside. 2. Rinse the blender and add the raspberries, yoghurt and honey, and whiz until smooth. 3. Pour some of the nectarine mix into each icy-pole mould, so that it fills around 3/4 of the mould. 4. Using a spoon, carefully top up the rest of the moulds with the raspberry mix. If you want super clear-cut layers, freeze the nectarine part first. 5. Add a stick to each mould and pop them into the freezer. 6. Freeze for at least…

TOYS FROM TRASH Engineer, educator and philanthropist Arvind Gupta is a man on a mission. For thirty-five years he has travelled around India and the world preaching a movement he calls Toys From Trash. Motivated by both the poverty of much of his homeland and the deadening way science is so often taught to kids, Gupta has a vision to create a universally accessible way for all children—no matter their nationality, creed or class—to both create and learn by repurposing the things we usually throw away. “It’s about getting science into the children’s domain. All children want to do is mess around,” says Gupta. “They want to make things, and they want to break things.” In fact, Arvind’s motto is “the best thing a child can do with a toy is…