Hungry?

Then get thee to a supermarket and buy a few (or more) of my favourite things:

1. King Island yoghurt with honey and cinnamon. So creamy it was what Prince was really singing about.

2. Connoisseur Cookies N Cream ice-cream. It's even better with chocolate topping, if you can believe that.

3. Toblerone. My Dad's favourite. He's a smart man, so pay attention.

4. Lowan apricot and almond muesli. It'll power you through the whole day, or at least till you have a mid-morning snack.

5. Yumi green olive dip. It hurts so good.

Tupper-where?

I thought it was something that disappeared after the 50s, but turns out it's still around - and recently infiltrated my office.

Two workmates did a grand job hosting a tupperware party - one played good cop and the other bad cop. The tupperware ''demonstrator'' didn't do much demonstrating - with not even an onion on hand to show off the tears-free happy chopper.

I came for the choc biscuits, but left the owner of a potato masher*.

*I didn't get it for free in exchange for advertising... but I was given a mini rubber scraper - does that count as a bribe?

Hand signals

WHEN i booked in to attend the sixth annual Yarraville Village Lunch on Sunday I was expecting it to be all about food. It wasn't, but that's no criticism.

While I turned up as Starvin Marvin, the day ended up being all about the experience. After all, it's not too often that you sit down to eat lunch in the middle of a street with 200-odd strangers. We were entertained with music, plied ourselves with tasty wine from Galli Estate and got plenty of laughs from the conversation coming from all sides.

Ok, so let's deal with the food. There were tasty olives from Mt Atkinson Olive Grove and bread from Bakers Delight upon arrival. The first course was three hors d'oeuvres from Yim Yam which I found oily or bland. Thumbs down.

The next was an onion tart from Hausfrau, which got my vote for best dish. It was deliciously eggy and oniony. The only criticisms I had was the presentation (it was unceremoniously covered in a pile of rocket) and the edge of the crust was a little hard.

The main course was by The Bank Gallery: five-spiced duck on a hokkein noodle pancake. The duck was lovely with a tasty crispy skin but the pancake was burnt on the outside and bland on the inside. So that left me confused.

Things ended on a high with a wonderfully creamy tiramasu concoction. I could have taken or leaven the petit fours from Alfa Bakehouse that were covered in garishly colored icing.

We made such good friends at the lunch that we ended up going to the Seddon house of fellow diners for more wine. I don't remember much after that but I do know I had a good time.

Dinah had a little lamb

Once upon a time there were two sisters who didn't look like big eaters but could really pack away the food. They often went to dinner at their favourite Greek restaurant Pireaus Blues and one night, decided to order a dessert (they always ate dessert) they had never tried: loukomades. The restaurant owner laughed at them when he brought over a plate piled with the doughnut balls covered in honey and nuts.

"You'll never finish that - share it around with your neighbours."

The gauntlet was thrown, and a shot of ouzo on the house was up of grabs. Betting became furious around the restaurant, among staff and diners, as the sisters grabbed their tiny forks, took a deep breath and ate the whole damn lot.

On Friday, those sisters visited to the guy's new restaurant Philhellene. We got a massive banquet (see pic for just a selection of the entrees) so we could try everything and the food got the thumbs up from everyone bar one tight arse at our round table. For me, it brought back memories of a recent visit to Greece where I discovered three of my favourite things: Retsina (a white wine flavoured with pine resin), kalitsounia (Cretan cheese pies) and lamb with artichoke.

Matt Preston said the last dish was one of the best he'd tasted. Listen to him, the man knows what's he is eating about. Other highlights were the spicy sausage and kofte. I can't wait to go back four out of five lambs.

Top secret sh*t

For those of you who have tasted mine (and anita's) toblerone cheesecake recipe - you'll know what i'm talking about.

For those who haven't - poor you.

ASIO has been after this for years. I'd successfully eluded them, until a triple agent (Hi Nura!) foiled me.

So now you have it. Assuming you can read my doctor's handwriting.

Répondez s'il vous plaît

I've made a booking (under protest) for the first meeting of Dinah's Club. A club for those who like to eat out in the many yummy haunts of Melbourne, and then crap on about it later.

Call me a commitment phobe, but I don't like to make bookings. My eating patterns should be determined by how loud my stomach is grumbling, not restaurant owners.

But if it comes down to being forced to guess what time I'm going to want to eat dinner a week before I'm going to eat it, or not getting to eat it.... it's no contest.

And last time we tried to ''wing it'' at Philhellene we were rejected. The spontaneity might be disappearing from the Melbourne food scene, but it sure still smells good. Stay tuned to find out how it tastes.