What do you get when you cross a passionate writer and long term term food and cooking enthusiast? Bizzy Lizzy’s Good Things – that’s what!

This beautiful blog, written by Canberran Liz Posmyk, is a simple collection of food, cooking and recipes for all seasons. I’d also like to add that it’s a little bit more than that, except I can’t quite describe what that ‘something’ is. All I can say is that it’s got heart, warmth and openness. It’s like that blissful feeling you get coming home from a cold, wet day and being enveloped by the soft, warm refuge of home. It’s like hugging my grandma. It makes me think of that blessed Sound of Music song, “These are a few of my favourite things…”

Just for the record, I’m also not the only one who thinks this blog is something special. This lovely local writer, in her mid 50s, has won the ‘Food Narrative’ category of the Best Australian Food Blog Writing Competition.

“I’m pretty chuffed,” said Liz, “I love writing and have been writing for a long time.”

When you read her winning post, it’s no surprise. On kakaos csiga and a moment shared is a beautiful post describing a moment with her partner over freshly baked kakaos csiga, a recipe that her mother used to cook when she was young. I can picture the whole scenario perfectly, like I was actually there tasting along with them and in fact, my stomach is currently grumbling as I write this post.

Don’t let the name get the better of you, because you’ll love the translation! Kakaos csiga (I have tried so hard to pronounce it following the instructions in the post, but I can’t!) is Hungarian for chocolate snail! In other words they are lovely doughy scrolls with a chocolate filling. Definitely a sometimes food (that’s the nutritionist talking)!

I don’t know about you, but I think that her winning post and Liz’s blog in general, epitomises one of the most beautiful aspects of food: the power that it has to bring us together and form lasting memories.

The power of food is so strong, in fact, that children form very strong associations with food, whether positive or negative, that last with them a lifetime. Hence the reason these chocolate snails are one of Liz’s favourite things. I had the pleasure of chatting to Liz this week and this is what I learnt about this lovely local foodie: 

In a nutshell, ‘Bizzy Lizzy’ lives up to her name…this woman is incredible and has done so many cool things!

Liz has worked in cooking schools and seen firsthand the likes of Maggie Beer and Rick Stein. In fact, Liz has been cooking since she was a teenager and along with her partner, enjoys making a wide range of different foods from a recipe collection of over 100 books. If one dish was to feature regularly on their weekly menu, it’s a big juicy steak! Impressive! My weekly meal repeater is scrambled eggs on toast… I’ve decided that it’s true, foodies do actually eat awesomely all of the time!

Liz started kids cooking classes at the Belconnen Fresh Food Markets and introduced market tours for schools to teach kids about fresh produce and it’s origins and diversity within our culture. She believes that cooking is a vital skill for children to learn and I couldn’t agree more. With families being so busy and often having both parents working, kids are spending less time in the kitchen being taught to cook with their parents.

Liz believes that time is a huge a barrier to healthy eating in our culture, and with fast food outlets offering a cheap, easy alternative, Australian families are cooking less and eating out more. Personally, I would love to see more families embrace time in the kitchen together, preparing, exploring and cooking food.

Also, along with the Belconnen Fresh Food Markets and the Heart Foundation, Liz helped establish a kids club with a quarterly newsletter that is still running today online. I love this. Liz had noticed that fast food outlets, like Hungry Jacks, had kids’ clubs and thought why not have a club that revolved around healthy fresh food and active living!

Liz’s passion for writing dates back almost as far as her love of food and cooking and she was part of the committee that started the ACT Writers Centre. She also wrote a foodie column in the Canberra Chronicle for 10 years as well as a four-year stint with ABC radio.

Three years ago she started her blog Bizzy Lizzy’s Good Things  – the ultimate culmination of her love of writing and her passion for food, cooking and sharing recipes. Do yourself a favour today and go visit her blog. It’ll give you the warm fuzzies and hopefully some inspiration to get into your kitchen and enjoy some good things.

I’m off now. There’s some chocolate snails that need baking and an amazing looking recipe for chocolate avocado banana mousse that definitely needs my attention!