About
Kindred Tables
The story of Kindred Tables is: You are what you eat.
I like to think about how I am made up -literally- of all the food I’ve eaten.
I am composed of all the food I’ve ever eaten. At the cellular level, I am the story of all the recipes I’ve collected, the food that has been shared with me, the things I’ve tried, the time spent in the kitchen.
I have grown into the person that I am because of what I’ve eaten, and how it has nourished me.
I am my grandmother’s Pumpkin Scones, I am my friend Beth’s Incredible Broccoli Cheese Soup, and my sister-in-law’s Syrniki. I am my neighbor’s Irish Soda Bread. The story of who I am is woven together by the meals that have fed me over the years, and it felt useful to collect the recipes. Now it’s time to share.
I feel connected to the people in my life, through the shared remembrance of the food I make. I identify with a way of being in the world, because of the food I eat. I invite others into this place, because of the food I share. It’s a unifying, community-centered way of sharing the table.
This website is an experiment in sharing my curiosity, my hunger and my table. For community, connection, and delicious food that connects us all.
It’s for me, and it’s for us. It’s time to pull up a chair to shared table, let’s eat!
Legacy + LOVe
How this all started.
My grandmother, Lady Florence Bjelke-Petersen, was an amazing woman. Her lifetime grew a legacy of love in her family and service to her wider world. She served Australia as a senator for 12 years and she was a politically involved wife of Queensland’s longest-serving premier, my grandfather, Sir Joh.
Her recipe for pumpkin scones is iconic. She understood the value of hospitality- the way that an offering of food brings everyone to the table with goodwill. While pumpkin scones were certainly a recipe that existed before Lady Flo, it was her that made them famous, serving them to visiting royalty, and striking miners alike.
I grew up with that inherited understanding of shared food being the ground of good will. Granny was generous with her baking, her wisdom and her love. She capitalized on the common ground of enjoyment of simple food.
I’m her oldest grandchild and I grew up fed by love, and I’m grateful for it. Now it’s time to share good food like she did. We can all use a little more common ground in today’s divisive world, and I figure I might as well start by sharing some great food, it’s a legacy to live up to.
