Michael Soos | Soup Recipes, Good Books and Cafe Reviews

The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein

Michael Soos Book Review Articles 10 November 20182 April 2019Book Review, great book reviews

Summary: The true story of Sandra Pankhurst (born Peter). Peter was adopted, abused dreadfully as a child, married young, and fathered two children before transitioning to a female. She then became a sex worker, did drugs, was violently raped, moved from home to home, married, and currently runs a business cleaning homes where a violent crime has occurred, the tenant has died, or has hoarded to the extent they are unable to manage their own cleanliness.

Thoughts: Oh. My. Gosh. Could one person have gone through more in their life! If you think you’ve had a tough life, read this and your life is paradise by comparison. The book alternates between the past and present, detailing Peter’s and Sandra’s experiences. After all she went through, Sandra’s attitude is remarkable. She is insightful, generous, understanding, and inspirational, although very few would want to take on her way of life. Gritty and detailed, the story is not for the squeamish. Her gender transition is made all the more remarkable given it happened before changes to the law allowed gays to live openly, and before transgender surgery was a thing.

Romantically Challenged by Sami Lukis

Michael Soos Book Review Articles 3 November 20182 April 2019Book Review, great book reviews

Summary: An autobiography of Sami’s dating history. She is still single in her late 40’s, and if anyone wonders why, just read a few of her anecdotes from a long list of losers, tragics, weirdos and idiots.

Thoughts: An amusing, witty, depressing look at the dating world. If someone like Sami – famous, gorgeous, well-traveled, outgoing – has such appalling experiences, then what hope for the rest of us? Makes me glad I prefer to sit home with a good book.

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, Holly Ringland

Michael Soos Book Review Articles 30 October 20182 April 2019Book Review, great book reviews

Summary: Follows the story of a young girl, abused by her father, who is then taken in by her estranged grandmother when both parents die.

Thoughts: Whimsical is not the way to describe a story about domestic violence, but the book is written in such a way that Alice’s life, while affected and overshadowed by her early abuse, goes on unexpected paths which lead her to central Australia and see her working as a park ranger in a national park. It’s nicely written and interesting, but I failed to engage with Alice and her adventures. Something just didn’t gel, although the idea was great. Anyone who loves native flowers will appreciate the many references and meanings of flowers, and the illustrations are beautiful.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Michael Soos Book Review Articles 26 October 20182 April 2019Book Review, book reviews, great book reviews

Summary: On the surface, this is “just” a story about a boy named Santiago and his journey of self-discovery and the meaning of life from his homeland in Andalusia (Spain) to Egypt and the pyramids and back. Reading deeper, there are some significant life lessons we all could take from this book.

Thoughts: This book was recommended by a friend of mine. I had initially though it was just another story book about a character going through their (fictional or non-fictional) travels in life. Upon reading the book, it became very obvious that this book and Santiago’s story was brim full of very pertinent life metaphors. I became so engrossed in the story, I couldn’t put the book down. It’s wasn’t just the entertaining and compelling storytelling. I drew so much relatable content from this book and its metaphors that it got me to re-evaluate how I see the world (and myself). This book is strongly recommended. It is no wonder it became a world best seller when released in 1988.

Creamy Chicken and Brown Rice Soup

Michael Soos Soup Recipes & Articles 23 October 20182 April 2019soup recipe

This recipe has been on my radar for years. It keeps coming up on various blogs I follow, always referenced to the lovely Jo from Quirky Cooking. It’s also in her cookbook, and on the Thermomix Cookidoo and Recipe Community sites. And no wonder. It’s divine! Hearty, filling, easy, and considering how few ingredients there are, it’s a really simple but tasty addition to my winter soup favourites list. The Recipe Community website also has a grain-free version (originally suggested by Jo on her website) where you use cauliflower rather than rice. I’m going to try this next, but at the moment the original version is in the fridge ready to be used up over coming days. I used the Thermomix Veggie Stock Paste, and might try the chicken stock paste recipe one day. And I’m tempted to do my usual tweaking and throw in some peas or broccoli or zucchini or sweet potato (or all of them) and maybe leave out the chicken. I like the creamy thickness of using the ground up brown rice. I’m going to try it in some of my other soup recipes and see how it goes. Or not, given I try and follow a paleo diet and rice is not part of that, but every now and then can’t hurt me. Thank you Jo for this great addition to my soup recipe collection!

Click here to go to Quirky Cooking for the Creamy Chicken and Brown Rice Soup recipe.

Whistle in the Dark, Emma Healey

Michael Soos Book Review Articles 23 October 20182 April 2019Book Review, great book reviews

Summary: A teenage girl goes missing for four days while on holiday with her mother, and when she’s finally found, she has no apparent memory of where she was or what happened to her.

Thoughts: Although the mystery of the missing four days is eventually revealed, the interest of this book isn’t about what happened, it’s the relationship between the mother and daughter and their interactions and thoughts. The anxious mother wanting to know why her daughter is covered in scratches and bruises after her ordeal, and badgering her with questions. The withdrawn daughter who is annoyed at the constant interrogation, upset by the experience, and rebellious, as most teenagers are. The book goes back and forth between the events leading up to the disappearance, and present day. Communication between the mother and daughter is difficult, tense, irritating, and realistically handled in this story. A fitting stand-alone second novel by the author of the heartbreaking Elizabeth is Missing.

Then She Was Gone, Lisa Jewell

Michael Soos Book Review Articles 1 October 20182 April 2019Book Review, book reviews, great book reviews

Summary: A happy, well-loved teenager disappears one day, never to be found. Her devastated parents divorce, her sister withdraws. Ten years later, her mother starts a relationship with a lovely man, whose young daughter bears a striking resemblance to the missing teenager. Co-incidence, or something more sinister?

Thoughts: The author herself admitted the original manuscript was ‘bizarre’. I’d love to read the original, before it was edited into the happy-ever-after story it then became. Creepy and odd, yes, but in this day and age, unfortunately believable. Mostly. Don’t read the blurb or any reviews – go into it cold and you’ll find it much more enjoyable. A shame the ending was rather predictable.

Prospects, Federation Uni SMB Campus, Lydiard St South, Ballarat

Michael Soos Cafe Review Articles 27 September 20182 April 2019cafe reviews, cafe reviews Ballarat, local cafe review

Those who haven’t tried dining at a hospitality training restaurant are missing out. Not just for the opportunity to help the students practice their cooking, waiting and sommelier skills, but also to eat food which is gourmet standard, beautifully presented, and great value. Lunches, while casual, are generous – a three course lunch for $15 can’t be turned down, nor can a 3 course fine-dining dinner experience for $35. It’s not open regularly, as hours are dictated by student availability.

A work colleague and I tried the special diets menu last week (and we’re going back this week, and again next week). Starter was a ploughman’s platter to share – an unusual choice for special diets, given it contained cheese, crumbed arancini, and non-gluten free soda bread. When asked, no gluten free bread was available. But there were plenty of other things on the platter to eat, and knowing it was only the first course didn’t make the unavailability of bread a problem.

There was a choice of four options for main – I had the Vietnamese Beef Pho, which was delicious, and very filling. My colleague had the Soy Poached Chicken, served on brown rice and, while delicious, looked rather stodgy as there were no vegetables or salad. I’m going to try the Mexican Sweet Potato this week, and the Fish Tacos next week.

Dessert was a tasting platter with orange and rosemary polenta cake (divine), vegan chocolate tart (delicious, but very rich), and a raspberry ruffle bar (which looked like a chocolate and tasted oddly of something artificial).

While this particular lunch review is not overly positive, the overall dining experience was great, and the fact that we’re going back again shows we’re up for giving it another try and seeing if our feedback has made any difference to the menu.

Either way, the value, quality of food, and opportunity to help the students means I’ll keep going back whenever the limited opening hours allow.

Prospects – follow-up

I had the pleasure of a three-course dinner at Prospects this week. The menu offered a choice of three entrees, three mains, and two desserts. The only unfortunate thing was that my friend and I ordered the same things, limiting our tasting options. We started with grilled aubergine with bocconcini and basil pesto – delicious. Main course was scotch fillet with seared asparagus and béarnaise sauce – the fillet was perfectly cooked, the meal was simple, but each element was done perfectly. And we finished with a honeycomb semifreddo. I licked the plate. I highly recommend this dining experience as a chance to not only support the hospitality students, but to have a stupendous meal at a very reasonable cost.

Broccoli and Zucchini Soup

Michael Soos Soup Recipes & Articles 15 September 20182 April 2019soup recipe, Soups

My Version of Broccoli and Zucchini Soup

I remembered seeing a recipe somewhere for broccoli and zucchini soup, and felt inspired to make it, but when I was finally ready after a few days, I couldn’t find the recipe. Not surprising, given my collection of cookbooks, ripped out pages from magazines, typed out recipes from cookbooks and magazines I don’t own, and randomly reading through my favourite food blogs. So I decided to experiment (not always a success in my kitchen) and am thrilled that this one worked amazingly well, and provided a much needed warm up on a recently shivery 4⁰C Ballarat day.

Ingredients

1 head broccoli (including stalk), chopped
2 zucchini, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 stick celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
Grated peel from half a lemon
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
3 cups chicken stock

Method

Heat some oil, and gently fry onion, garlic, cumin seeds, celery and carrot until soft. Add remaining ingredients and cook for around 20 minutes, then puree until smooth. I added some fennel fronds just before I pureed to give a bit of extra flavour.

Oranges and Sunshine, Margaret Humphreys

Michael Soos Book Review Articles 30 August 20182 October 2018Book Review, book reviews, great book reviews

Summary: The true story of how an English social worker discovered how thousands of British children had been ‘exported’ to distant lands, often without the consent or knowledge of their parents, and the suffering those children endured for decades, being undocumented, feeling unwanted and often abused by those who were supposed to care for them.

Thoughts: Unbelievable! Not in the sense that the story isn’t true, but unbelievable that the British, Australian, Canadian and other seemingly ‘progressive’ governments and charities could arrogantly and uncaringly decide that stealing children and shipping them off to somewhere on the other side of the world was an acceptable way to populate these countries. The sheer egotism and disdain of the governments involved was hideous. Even when the stories were coming to light, with evidence, they all wiped their hands of the issue and decided it was nothing to do with them. Margaret’s perseverance and continued battle to bring justice to those affected makes her worthy of much more than the belated Order of Australia. The fact that the British and Australian governments finally apologised, formally, is such an anti-climax. What a horror story – made more so because it actually happened. Thank goodness for people like Margaret – otherwise these poor souls would never have discovered their identity, background, and in some heart-warming cases, living relatives.