Saturday, February 20, 2010

YamDaisy and Celebrations!

Chinese New Year Celebrations in Melbourne last week were captured in a wonderful set of photoes by Pol at White Forge Photoes. She has kindly let me use one of hers here! But do go and check the lovely gallery of them!

I want to write about celebrations because there were SO MANY of them last week! I read blog posts about a whole range of Carnivale celebrations (with the greatest concentration on Pancake Tuesday!!!). Valentines Day filled the food blogs ~ and The Chinese New Year was closest to my heart!

This set my mind to thinking the role of the YamDaisy Cafe in the years celebrations. Australia, my home, has such a diverse population that there are not that many celebrations that are universally celebrated, and those are generally over commercialised and can leave a lot of people lonely on the edges.

What we do have is an extraordinary number of celebrations observed by families and communities, and a lot of ignorance about their significance, their richness and their FOOD!

The YamDaisy Cafe (click on it to read more) will be a community cafe focussing on local clients, especially those with illness, disability and trying circumstances and without the family support for food provision and therefore, most likely, for celebrations.

Each individual cafe will differ according to decisions of the chef, and the needs and wishes of the clients. But I think the cafes have a great opportunity  to nurture community cohesion and delight in the history and understanding of food, by celebrating those dates that are important within the community.

Imagine what fun could be had with Pancake Tuesday each year, with an Asian Focus for Chinese (or Vietnamese, or Korean etc) New Year, and maybe a 'YamDaisy loves you' treat for those people without partners who otherwise suffer through Valentines Day alone.

The aim would be to celebrate and appreciate the different beliefs that make up the community.
And who knows, if the YamDaisy Cafes are vibrant focal places in the community, there is no doubt that over the years they will build up some celebrations of their own.

PS. Despite bad health and not getting out I managed red bean ice cream to celebrate the Year of the Golden Tiger, a raspberry and white chocolate cupcake (thanks to my daughter Rose) for Valentines Day and a magnificent breakfast of pancakes with lemon and sugar to celebrate Mardi Gras! Cheers!

24 comments:

  1. Awesome shot..thanks for sharing and visit my blog..have a good day.

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  2. That's a great picture!
    Red bean ice cream sounds perfect to celebrate the two holiday!
    I hope you had some fun and good time despite of not feeling well during the holidays.

    Angie

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  3. So sorry to hear about your poor health. Celebrating with different menus sounds great! Variety is always a good thing!

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  4. Happy new year. May it bring you with better health and hope.

    I stumbled on your blog and also the idea of Yam Daisy. Truly i am touched. All the best for you!

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  5. Wow ! I loved the link about the photoes :)

    I also love the way you talk about the "YamDaisy Cafe". The 'YamDaisy loves you' treat is an excellent idea !

    I'm glad to know that you're learning a foreign language and, by the way, I have a bloggy friend who is a Polish married to an Italian and they live in Milan ! Here is her link :
    http://lovelivesinthekitchen.blogspot.com/
    She always posts into 3 languages : English, Italian and Polish ! I hope you enjoy :) She's a lovely person and there are a lot of yummy recipes on her blog!

    Get well, dear friend :)
    xoxoxoxoxoxo

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  6. red bean ice cream and raspberry and white chocolate pancakes? yum!

    rest and get well soon. :)

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  7. Looks like it was a lovely, colourful celebration, looks exciting. The ice cream sounds interesting, Yummy !!!
    Hope you become well again soon.
    Lucy xx

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  8. Hi Joy, beautiful photos, thanks for sharing! Keep well. Happy blogging! xxx

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  9. All the best for your awesome enterprise!
    So much needs to be done and people like you make a difference!

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  10. Got lots to celebrate! :) That is so cool that you got to watch Chinese new year celebration. Looks like fun!

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  11. Chuc Mung Nam Moi!!! Greetings from Vietnam. Happy Lunar New Year!!! Thanks for always visiting my blog :)

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  12. Thanks for visiting my blog and for your lovely comment.
    I liked your blog very much. I appreciate for your wonderful post with lovely description. It seems that it was a very colourful celebration with lots of fun. Beautiful picture.

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  13. Hi Joy! Thank you for following my blog. I have to say yours is truly unique and inspiring and I look forward to your future posts.
    Have a nice week :)

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  14. Hi, Joy,
    Happy new year. May you have a prosperous new year filled with love, good health and wealth! -Tien :)

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  15. Long live Yam Daisy! Joy, wishing you good health in the Year of the Tiger. :)

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  16. That is a fantastic picture! Wow! And your red bean ice cream sounds intriguing...

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  17. What a wonderful photo. It perfectly catches the spirit of the New Year celebration. Have a lovely day.

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  18. Wonderful vibrant photo... sorry to hear you're health is not too good, you're very inspiring. Lucie xx

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  19. What a beautiful picture! I hope you feel better soon :)

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  20. Fantastic post. I love your site - you're always so cheerful and upbeat!

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  21. hi! your blog and your recipes are great! i'm happy to follow you and will come back soon :)
    have a sweet day!
    justyna

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  22. Miss 3 loves the photo of the chinese dragon. So colourful!

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  23. Thankyou for all the wonderful comments. Welcome to the new people here, it is so nice to see you here. I am so glad Pol's picture was enjoyed so much!

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