When I got the message on 30 June that Barbara Harris, wife, mother, cook food blogger and human being extraordinaire had passed away the day before, I was struck with a pang of deep sorrow. Sorrow because death is so very, very final; because I would never get to meet her in person; and because there was so much more she wanted to achieve when her life was rudely interrupted. But how do you commemorate and pay tribute to somebody you have never met in the flesh? What better way than to do it online, the ethereal space where my friendship with Barbara grew and blossomed. As it was my turn to host Meeta’sMonthly Mingle event, we decided to adopt a theme of “A taste of Yellow“, the name of the cancer-awareness event that Barbara initiated and hosted on an annual basis.
For those of you who do not know Barbara, my first piece of advice would be to read her blog, Winos and Foodies, to give you a sense of her joie de vivre; her gentle humour, her love of her family, her love of food, and her grace and courage in the face of cancer. During the course of hosting this event, I have had the privilege of reading so many wonderful memories and trbutes that people have shared about Barbara, including this beautiful tribute by Cath of A Blithe Palate. You shared memories of Barbara and stories of loved ones you have lost to cancer; you talked repeatedly of what a generous presence Barbara was in the blogosphere, always encouraging new bloggers and taking the time to send personal notes and comments; and most of all you expressed deep regret at never having met her. I also received this comment from barbara’s husband Bryan:
As a family we have been truly amazed by the outpouring of support and praise of Barbara’s life and work, the blog being her favourite interest. We have all worn the yellow wrist bands from early in her fight, vowing to remove them only if she was to leave us. There is now only one remaining, it is hers, and on my wrist. Winos and Foodies will remain on line with one more post to come: we intend to put up the program from her funeral which includes a recipe, one of her favourites.
My family hugs you all.
Bryan
And a few people also suggested that although we have lost Barbara, we should all try and do something for those who are still living with and fighting this disease: be there for somebody going through a chronic illness or bad experience, offer to do some chores for them without being asked, or even just show up and sit and chat over a cup of coffee. even something that small can make a difference. And of course, we can all help the fight against cancer by donating to one of the many cancer charities available – here are a few to which you might want to make a donation in Barara’s memory:
- Livestrong Foundation
- The Austrailan Cancer Research Foundation
- The Cancer Council Australia
- The National Breast Cancer Foundation of Australia
- The MacGrath Foundation
- Cancer Research UK
- MacMillan Cancer Support
- The American Institute for Cancer Research
- The Cancer Association of South Africa
And now without further ado, let’s paint the food blogosphere yellow with your recipes!
DISH: Mango pomelo sago
NAME: KimKim
LOCATION: Jakarta
BLOG: KimKim Patisserie
DISH: Lemon Tapioca Pudding with Crush Raspberries and Lemon Shortbreads
NAME: Arfi Binstead
LOCATION: New Zealand
BLOG: Homemades
DISH: Lemon chicken with garlic creamed corn
NAME: Val Harrison
LOCATION: British Columbia, Canada
BLOG: More Than Burnt Toast
DISH: Irish potato pancakes with garlic cottage cheese
NAME: Krista Bjorn
LOCATION: Australia
BLOG: Rambling Tart
DISH: Lemon, pear and choc-chip muffins
NAME: Amanda McInerney
LOCATION: Australia
BLOG: Lambs’ Ears and Honey
DISH: Saffron pasta
NAME: Tandy Sinclair
LOCATION: Gordon’s Bay, South Africa
BLOG: Lavender & Lime
DISH: Indian-style pumpkin blossom fritters
NAME: Aparna
LOCATION: India
BLOG: My Diverse Kitchen
DISH: Apricot & mango jam
NAME: Simone
LOCATION: The Netherlands
BLOG: Junglefrog Cooking
DISH: Caramelised bananas with toffee sauce
NAME: Siri
LOCATION: India
BLOG: Cooking with Siri
DISH: Mango lemonade
NAME: Nashira Usef
LOCATION: Doha, Quatar
BLOG: Plateful
DISH: Lemonade with roasted fennel seeds, honey and mint leaves
NAME: Sandy Neumann
LOCATION: Jena, Germany
BLOG: Confiture de Vivre
DISH: Pickled golden beets
NAME: Robin Ove
LOCATION: California, USA
BLOG: What About the Food
DISH: Lauki Chana Dal – Soupy Lentils with Bottle Gourd
NAME: Soma Rathmore
LOCATION: Texas, USA
BLOG: eCurry
DISH: Tropical fruit crumble
NAME: Gillian
LOCATION: Auckland, New Zealand
BLOG: So So Simple Food
DISH: Mango cheesecake with mango gelee
NAME: Swathi
LOCATION: USA
BLOG: Zesty South Indian Kitchen
DISH: Raw king oyster mushroom “calamari”
NAME: Janet
LOCATION: Toronto, Canada
BLOG: The Taste Space
DISH: Cous cous with corn and scallions in brown butter
NAME: Sally Newton
LOCATION: Kansas, USA
BLOG: Bewitching Kitchen
DISH: Creamy squash, carrot and longanisa soup
NAME: Chichajo
LOCATION: Manila, Philippines
BLOG: 80 Breakfasts
DISH: Lemon marmalade-filled walnut scones
NAME: Lisa Johnson
LOCATION: Quincy, MA (USA)
BLOG: Anali’s First Amendment
DISH: Apple-cucumber pickles
NAME: Anna
LOCATION: Sydney, Australia
BLOG: Morsels & Musings
DISH: Cape gooseberry (physalis) pavlova
NAME: Kit Heathcock
LOCATION: Cape Town, South Africa
BLOG: Food and Family
DISH: Pumpkin pops
NAME: Colleen
LOCATION: Cape Town, South Africa
BLOG: Browniegirl Blog
DISH: Custard-filled madeleines
NAME: Jasmine Ann
LOCATION: Melbourne, Australia
BLOG: The Gluten-free Scallywag
DISH: Roasted sprouted chickpeas
NAME: Richa
LOCATION: Seattle, Washington (USA)
BLOG: Vegan Richa
DISH: Baby corn paneer jalfrezi
NAME: Anusha
LOCATION: Gujarat, India
BLOG: Tomato Blues
DISH: Milan-style asparagus with egg and Parmesan
NAME: Jamie
LOCATION: Nantes, France
BLOG: Life’s a Feast
DISH: Peach prosecco Bellini sorbet
NAME: Jamie
LOCATION: Nantes, France
BLOG: Life’s a Feast
DISH: Bulgur salad with pepper and courgette
NAME: Eva
LOCATION: Oldenburg, Germany
BLOG: Food Vegetarisch
DISH: Raw zucchini (courgette) salad
NAME: Rosa
LOCATION: Geneva, Switzerland
BLOG: Rosa’s Yummy Yums
DISH: Lemon squash
NAME: Jacqui
LOCATION: New Zealand
BLOG: No blog, so Gillian posted it on her behalf – thanks Gilli!
DISH: Yellow tomato bruschetta
NAME: Paz
LOCATION: New York City
BLOG: The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz
DISH: Puff pastry rings with mango curd
NAME: Hesti
LOCATION: Indonesia
BLOG: Hesti’s Kitchen
DISH: Mango chutney
NAME: Barbara
LOCATION: Basel, Switzerland
BLOG: Late Bloomers
DISH: Cake with caramelised peppermint apricots
NAME: Ivy
LOCATION: Athens, Greece
BLOG: Kopiaste to Greek Hospitality
DISH: Walnut, lemon & cardamom cake
NAME: Mairi
LOCATION: New Zealand
BLOG: Toast
DISH: Galaktoboureko
NAME: Peter G
LOCATION: Sydney, Australia
BLOG: Souvlaki for the Soul
DISH: Panna cotta two ways
NAME: Sally
LOCATION: Dubai
BLOG: My Custard Pie
DISH: Lemon sorbet
NAME: Jen
LOCATION: Colorado USA
BLOG: Use Real Butter
DISH: Peach & pistachio cake
NAME: Prerna
LOCATION: Mauritius
BLOG: Inspired to Bake
DISH: Fresh lemon cake
NAME: Sue
LOCATION: South Africa
BLOG: Sous Chef
DISH: Restaurant style dal tadka
NAME: Dassana
LOCATION: India
BLOG: Veg Recipes of India
DISH: Eton mess with Saffron, Raspberries and White Currants
NAME: Meeta Khurana-Wolff
LOCATION: Weimar, Germany
BLOG: What’s For Lunch, Honey?
DISH: Lemon and Limoncello granita
NAME: Jeanne Horak-Druiff
LOCATION: London, UK
BLOG: CookSister!
DISH: Mirabelle plum & Cognac clafoutis
NAME: Jeanne Horak-Druiff
LOCATION: London, UK
BLOG: CookSister!
And that, as they say, is that – over 40 golden entries (see the full visual effect here on the taste of yellow Pinterest board!). A huge THANK YOU to all who participated for your stories, your emotions and your recipes. Here’s to you Barbara; we will always remember you and your kind brave, generous nature – I hope you are smiling wherever you are now. Next month’s Mingle is hosted by Zizi’s Adventures and the theme is street food – see the post for more details.
Rosa says
A wonderful roundup! I miss Barbara…
Cheers,
Rosa
Kalyn says
Such a wonderful tribute to a wonderful person. I will never forget her.
Kristen says
The 1 year anniversary of my brothers death from cancer is coming up next week and I tried and tried to write something in memory of Barbara but just couldn’t get through it. I will… eventually, but it was way too raw right now. She will be so missed. What a lovely roundup of yellow in her honor. It makes me smile through the tears.
Meeta says
So glad we did this. It’s a place in the virtual world where everyone has left their love, thoughts, spirit for Barbara. I love it and will be coming here again and again to read through the posts. I absolutely love the Pinterest board too.
Kit says
So many shades of yellow for Barbara! Everything looks so beautiful – I’m off to drink it all in on your Pinterest board!
Ivy says
What a wonderful roundup for such a wonderful person! I think she would have liked what we did!
Swathi says
Wonderful round up for great person.
Sharyn Dimmick says
What a beautiful blog and a wonderful tribute to your friend and colleague. Thank you.
Soma says
A beautiful way to remember her. Thanks Jeanne and also Meeta for doing this for Barbara.
Krista says
So wonderful, Jeanne and Meeta! I can only imagine how much work went into organizing this and you’ve done a beautiful job for the memory of a beautiful woman. XO
Jas @ the gluten free scallywag says
A wonderful round up for Barbara. Thank you Jeanne for hosting such a wonderful event!
Judy says
A beautiful and fitting tribute for a much-loved and much-missed lady. Such a fabulous range of recipes and the photos … oh, my!
Lisa says
This is such a wonderful tribute and so nice to have words from her family.
Barbara says
A whirlwind of all shades of yellow – what a lovely tribute for Barbara. Thank you, Jeanne and Meeta!
Firefly says
Oh. My. Freekin. Word… My mouth is watering so much right now. I started making notes on which one is my favorite but the lower I got down the post the more there was on the list. Is it just me or is good old Butternut soup missing? Lol
Hotly Spiced says
That’s a lovely tribute to Barbara. Like you, I never had the opportunity to meet her but I loved her comments on my blog and it was always special reading her posts. I love the idea of cooking yellow dishes – who knew there were so many!
Jamie says
Wonderful! Only someone so full of love as Barbara can engender so much love in return. Barbara would be thrilled with this beautiful, fantastic array of food. I, too, am so sad I will never get to meet her face to face but I miss her so much!
Lata Raja says
Hi my entry Quinoa in peppers has not been featured in the round up. I wonder if it was not in order.
Nadia says
This is stunning and so inspiring! Given the fact that I have neglected my “liefdeskind” food blog over the past 2 months!
Simone says
Wow. What an amazing amount of gorgeous entries!
Johanna GGG says
lovely entries and a lovely tribute – I sent in an entry which I can’t find there – I will resend to you – perhaps I got the wrong email address
http://gggiraffe.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/microwave-butterscotch-pudding-with.html
Colleen says
Thank you so much for hosting and for the summary of fabulous entries. Such a beautiful tribute to a beautiful woman. I do miss Barbara and it was such a pleasure to be included in this event. Much love xxx