Friday Night Lights

At the end of last year, the first season of Friday Night Lights ended on free-to-air TV. We wanted to know what happened so we bought season two on DVD. Then we bought season 3. Seasons 4 and 5 aren't available on DVD in Australia but we sniffed them out and bought them digitally from iTunes.

So to say we've been having a little bit of a televisual marathon is somewhat of an understatement. But now that we're done, we're in mourning. Life after Coach Taylor is taking a little adjusting to. What would Tami Taylor do? (Coach's wife) seems a bizarrely appropriate question to ponder at our place at the moment when faced with a dilemma.

Watching a good series on DVD (or digitally) is incomparable to putting up with ads and timeframes dictated by the networks: the experience far more engrossing and satisfying.

I was dubious about watching a series about a high-school football coach based in Texas, to say the least. But then I heard an ABC radio broadcaster, who's known for having zero interest in any sport, let alone American sport, give it the thumbs up, I recorded the first episode and eventually became hooked.

Happily, the makers knew the show would end after the fifth series and so all the storylines wrapped up beautifully making the whole thing feel like a mega-movie.

I'm starting to think I may need a pair of cowboy boots in my wardrobe.

Bananas in the blood

While watching Gourmet Farmer last Thursday night I saw this new magazine advertised. "Have you seen that?" asked The Husband. "They've completely ripped off the Jamie magazine design." I tut-tutted at such naughtiness while really thinking I must buy it as I like Jamie magazine but never pick it up as the seasons are all out of kilter for Southern Hemisphere dwellers and the places and shops irrelevant. So I did.

Haven't enjoyed a magazine so much in ages. Feast is SBS's food magazine and has the tag line: Experiencing Life through Food, and that's exactly what it feels like.

Next time we're up north, we'll definitely make a stop for Woolgoolga, somewhere on the coast near Coffs Harbour I gather, as it sounds like one of those great old-style beachside towns.

According to the story, it's banana-growing territory, has a population of 5000, 25 per cent of which are Sikh Indian Australians. There's an anuual food festival called Curryfest and one of the people interviewed for the story has a catering business called Curried Away and tells how he makes his lentil dahl from a secret recipe passed down from his mum. "I take my turban off to her," he says.

He is John. All his siblings have Anglo names as he says his father wanted his children to be able to relate to the wider community. "...we might be bearded and turbaned," says John, "but we're as dinky-di Australian as they come." Another local says the Sikh faith is in his blood - along with bananas. There's also a restaurant called Bluebottles Brasserie.

What's not to love about a town like that?

Then there are just the clever ideas throughout the magazine, like the Dinners & a Movie feature, which lists the French films on SBS that month along with dishes from some of them. The plum cake from Amelie will have to wait for another day, but at least I've got the recipe when the time is right.

The visual recipe index is another small touch I really like. I can't always remember the name of a dish but I'll remember the image. So simple.

This is not an ad, I promise. More a case of being beyond bored with most mainstream media and then delighting in something new and unexpected.

I was reading this in bed early on Sunday morning, which inspired me to head straight to the growers' market and cook for the rest of the day, with doors and windows wide open in the glorious spring-like weather.

If only I'd thought to make a banana cake.

Gourmet Farmer

I'm pretty sure my attempt at a vegetable garden, basically a few seeds tossed underneath some grevillias and throwing the doves some bird food every morning, doesn't make me a gourmet farmer. So tonight at 7.30pm, I'll get couchside and watch the progress of someone more qualified when the new series of SBS's Gourmet Farmer begins tonight.

I only caught the last few episodes of the first series, but it was enough to make me want to see more. Didn't take me long to realise, though, that the concept is, um, inspired by the earlier episodes of the brilliant UK River Cottage series, which went a bit mega brand in the end for my liking. A bit River Cottage Australia, if you like.

At the very least, it's like experiencing living in the country without actually having to do it.

I know I like that.