School Daze

I went to my primary school fete today. Actually it has always been known as a 'Bazaar' as it's Princes Hill you know and we like to be fancy and do things differently of course...

I was hung over from karaoke last night (how does the craziness of karaoke happen? I went in determined not to drink much or sing but suddenly it was 2am and I was devastated that my duet of 'Summer Nights' had been cut short by a malfunctioning machine or possibly a punter with bleeding ears and an itchy finger) and felt decidedly old and tired walking into the school ground where I'd spent seven of my formative years.

Thankfully, this being Princes Hill and all, Tony from Carlton Espresso was making caffe lattes, there were organic sausages in white bread, mustard and tomato sauce (perhaps not organic *gasp*) and a cracking book stall. My friend Regan (lifelong, also of the same primary school) picked up a copy of The Sopranos cookbook for $10 - gold! Our childhood rivalry reared its comfortingly familiar head as I tried to persuade her to give it to me and then simply tried to steal it from her.

We wasted a heap of money trying to win a hamper of gourmet goodies on the spinning wheel, ate an excellent souvlaki (organic lamb, salad, tzatziki, flat bread, all dolled out by lovely Mums and Dads doing their bit) and had a can of European beer. The school choir sang, some girls did a dance to an inappropriately sexualised song and Regan and I reminisced about choreographing and performing a similarly innocent dance to a similarly inappropriately grown up 'Baby I Don't Care' by Transvision Vamp for the Grade Six concert in 1989. Ahhh, the memories. Then four floppy-haired boys, who to their immense credit had named themselves Elastic Band, did an excellent rendition of 'All Along the Watchtower' imbuing it with a gravely rock and roll vibe well beyond their years. And the bass player was wearing a little Ramones T-shirt - awww.

Sadly, I'd left my run for the cake stall a bit late and there was no lemon butter or chocolate crackles left. It was comforting to see the stalwarts remain the same though - scones, cupcakes, toffees, someone's mother's very healthy muesli slice that hasn't sold so well. There was a fabulous elderly - no, I shouldn't mince words - there was an incredibly OLD woman selling hundreds of jars of her home made produce at a cracking pace. She was frail and bent over almost in half but was turning an amazingly profitable trade and sending a fine supply of relish and pickles and marmalade into every local home. Bless.

As I walked back up Princes Hill to home and left the sounds of children hyped up on fairy floss, snow cones and dizzying rides behind me, I felt relieved that my primary school days are long behind me but glad I can visit once a year. And even drink beer there. But I'll have to make my own chocolate crackles.

4 cups rice bubbles 1 1/2 cups icing sugar 1 cup desiccated coconut 250g copha, chopped 3 tbsp cocoa

In a large bowl, mix the rice bubbles, icing sugar, cocoa & coconut. Slowly melt the copha in a saucepan over a low heat. Allow to cool slightly. Add to rice bubbles mixture, stirring until well combined. Spoon mixture into paper patty cases and refrigerate until firm.