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Program: Blueprint For Living

Source:ABC Radio National

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Your weekly expedition to the heart of modern life through buildings, design, gardens and food.

Renowned chef and writer Stephanie Alexander shares insights from her career, including secrets from "The Cook’s Companion," and her joy in her 80s. Join the live recording at the ABC Melbourne on Tuesday, May 28 at 7pm. Register now.

Airs Saturday 1pm Repeated: Sunday 4am, Tuesday at midnight and 11pm and Friday at 10am.

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Charcuterie, a mid-century modernist icon, and permaculture as a beacon of hope

Annie Smithers cooks Elizabeth David - Charcuterie What’s your relationship like with your local sausage maker? Learn about French techniques and recipes that bring to life the art of charcuterie, celebrating its rich flavours and cultural…

Published: SatSat 11 May 2024 at 3:00amwith Jonathan Green

Charcuterie

Duration: 54 minutes 2 seconds

segment 1 of 4

Annie Smithers cooks Elizabeth David - Charcuterie

What’s your relationship like with your local sausage maker? Embark on this joyful exploration of charcuterie through Elizabeth David's seminal work French Provincial Cooking.

Published: SatSat 11 May 2024 at 3:00am

Charcuterie

Duration: 16 minutes 29 seconds

segment 2 of 4

What is the future for WA’s forests?

She spent an enchanted childhood exploring her great-grandfather’s land around Whistlepipe Gully, in southern Western Australia.

Published: SatSat 11 May 2024 at 3:00am

Whistlepipe Gully

Duration: 11 minutes 1 second

segment 3 of 4

Milkwood: Permaculture as a beacon of hope

We’ve heard of permaculture, but what is it exactly? The author of The Milkwood Permaculture Handbook, Kirsten Bradley, offers an inspiring discourse on how practical permaculture principles may be a lifeline not just for our environment, but for…

Published: SatSat 11 May 2024 at 3:00am

Milkwood

Duration: 12 minutes 2 seconds

segment 4 of 4

Clement Meadmore’s iconic mid-century furniture

Dive into the world of Clement Meadmore, a visionary in modernist design, through the collection of artists Peter Atkins and Dana Harris.

Published: SatSat 11 May 2024 at 3:00am

Clement Meadmore's furniture

Duration: 12 minutes 50 seconds

More from Blueprint For Living

Viking cinnamon buns, Bruce Pascoe's object of desire, and can churches solve the housing crisis?

Breaking news: Vikings enjoyed cinnamon buns Why is vanilla a byword for boring? How did peppercorns end up next to salt on every western table? Did you know the Vikings were rather partial to cinnamon buns? Food writer Eleanor Ford explores the…

Nightingale Marrickville

Duration: 54 minutes 4 seconds

Published: 4 May 2024Sat 4 May 2024 at 3:00amwith Jonathan Green

Breaking news: Vikings enjoyed cinnamon buns

Why is vanilla a byword for boring? How did peppercorns end up next to salt on every western table? Did you know the Vikings were rather partial to cinnamon buns? Food writer Eleanor Ford explores the rich history of spices.

Spices

Duration: 18 minutes 40 seconds

Published: 4 May 2024Sat 4 May 2024 at 3:00am

Can churches solve the housing crisis?

The Australian housing crisis rolls on with profound effect. From low-income families, to the elderly, to renters facing rent increase after rent increase.

Nightingale Marrickville

Duration: 14 minutes 27 seconds

Published: 4 May 2024Sat 4 May 2024 at 3:00am

Bruce Pascoe’s object of desire - Nadgee IV

Writer Bruce Pascoe shares the many stories that bind him closely to his boat and the river.

Bruce Pascoe at the helm of a small boat on the Wallagaraugh River

Duration: 4 minutes 30 seconds

Published: 4 May 2024Sat 4 May 2024 at 3:00am

Events

Stephanie Alexander live event at ABC for RN’s Big Weekend of Books

Renowned chef and writer Stephanie Alexander shares insights from her career, including secrets from "The Cook’s Companion," and her joy in her 80s. Join the live recording at the ABC Melbourne on Tuesday, May 28 at 7pm. Register now.

Published: 8 May 2024Wed 8 May 2024 at 11:32pm

Features

What is solarpunk? And why is it giving hope to people worried about climate change?

It started out as a sci-fi genre, but some believe solarpunk holds the key to solving some of humanity's most pressing problems.

A photo of two high-rise apartment buildings covered in vertical gardens against a bright blue sky

Published: 5 Apr 2024Fri 5 Apr 2024 at 3:54amby Nicola Heath

No more glass walls and polished concrete: Kevin McCloud on the future of architecture

The popular British television host and architecture expert shares his thoughts on the current obsession with minimalism and his golden rules of good design.

Grand Designs host Kevin McCloud on the beach.

Published: 8 Mar 2024Fri 8 Mar 2024 at 5:36amby Nicola Heath

More Australians are living alone — so why are recipes always 'serves four'?

Cooking might seem like a chore — but some argue creating space to make a time-intensive meal from scratch is an act of self-care and can even help you heal through hard times.

A middle-aged white woman with long curly red hair and wearing a denim jacket

Published: 15 Feb 2024Thu 15 Feb 2024 at 9:58pmby Nicola Heath

Why restaurant critic Jill Dupleix views burrata 'with suspicion' when she sees it on the menu

A top food critic says menus are failing to challenge diners. What's driving this creativity crisis — COVID, cost of living or something more worrying?

A chef's hands holding a pair of tweezers above a plate of food in a fine-dining restaurant

Published: 20 Dec 2023Wed 20 Dec 2023 at 4:45amby Nicola Heath

Last Supper

Last Supper: Hetty Lui McKinnon

What would food writer Hetty Lui McKinnon eat if it was her last day on Earth? Join Hetty as she explores her memories of her mother's simple yet profound ginger fried rice.

Hetty Lui McKinnon

Duration: 18 minutes 31 seconds

Published: 24 Apr 2024Wed 24 Apr 2024 at 4:03am

Last Supper: Jo Barrett's Grilled haloumi with pickled lemon and broad beans (on their death bed)

At her Lorne restaurant, Little Picket, award-winning chef, Jo Barrett shows Jonathan Green the dish she would cook if it was her last meal on earth.

Chef, Jo Barrett

Duration: 22 minutes 56 seconds

Published: 21 Mar 2024Thu 21 Mar 2024 at 10:16pmwith Jonathan Green

Last Supper: Guy Grossi's Fettuccine with Calamari Ragu

Legend of Australian gastronomy, Florentino’s Guy Grossi makes a simple braised calamari pasta and reflects on the legacy of his parents, the weight of expectation and the importance of tradition.

Guy Grossi

Duration: 14 minutes 48 seconds

Published: 22 Feb 2024Thu 22 Feb 2024 at 11:57pmwith Jonathan Green

Last Supper: Dan Hunter’s roast chicken sandwich (with an embarrassment of truffle)

Legendary Australian chef and owner of Brae, Dan hunter, whose stock in culinary trade revolves around produce and blindingly inspired innovation, reveals what he would make for final meal on earth.

Dan Hunter, chef and owner of Brae

Duration: 17 minutes

Published: 6 Feb 2024Tue 6 Feb 2024 at 2:17amwith Jonathan Green

Paul Bangay’s Garden Rudimental

Paul Bangay's Garden Rudimental — In search of a cold Christmas

Despite his penchant for a white Christmas, Paul Bangay reflects on the consolations of Christmas in the Australian garden, reinforced by an insistent marsupial. Find more of Paul's Garden Rudimentals on the ABC RN website.

Snow at Stonefields

Duration: 13 minutes 58 seconds

Published: 15 Dec 2023Fri 15 Dec 2023 at 2:02amwith Jonathan Green

Paul Bangay's Garden Rudimental — A life in garden design

Paul Bangay, garden designer, author of a new memoir, Paul Bangay – A Life In Garden Design, has almost four decades of experience and is renowned for his mastery of scale, balance, form and colour.

A drone shot of a formal garden belonging to a vineyard in the Barossa Valley reveals organic curves and fluid lines.

Duration: 10 minutes 11 seconds

Published: 23 Nov 2023Thu 23 Nov 2023 at 11:36pmwith Jonathan Green

Paul Bangay's Garden Rudimental — The garden in spring

Paul Bangay takes us on a tour of the garden in spring, featuring tulips, crab apples, apple blossoms, bay and the perennially neglected wallflowers. Find more of Paul's Garden Rudimentals on the ABC RN website.

Close up of pink magnolia flowers on tree

Duration: 13 minutes 18 seconds

Published: 27 Oct 2023Fri 27 Oct 2023 at 12:09amwith Jonathan Green

Paul Bangay's Garden Rudimental: A Buxus party

It's springtime at award-winning landscape designer Paul Bangay’s house… and that can only mean one thing — it’s a Buxus pruning party! Jonathan visits Paul just in time to nip, tuck, and trim the tens of thousands of box hedges dotted across his…

A formal, multi-tiered garden is shown against a pink and purple sky at sunset.

Duration: 13 minutes 43 seconds

Published: 17 Oct 2023Tue 17 Oct 2023 at 4:14amwith Jonathan Green

Annie Smithers’ Kitchen Rudimental

Annie Smithers Kitchen Rudimental — cooks Elizabeth David – Gratin Dauphinois

This week, Elizabeth David directs her invective against soup, Annie Smithers mounts a soup-positive defence, and we settle for Gratin Dauphinois, because cream smothered potatoes is something everyone can get behind.

Two bowls contain serves of a creamy potato gratin, next to the oven dish they have been scooped out of.

Duration: 12 minutes 31 seconds

Published: 9 Apr 2024Tue 9 Apr 2024 at 3:02amwith Jonathan Green

Annie Smithers' Kitchen Rudimental — Annie Smithers cooks Elizabeth David

In this series, Annie cooks her way through David’s seminal volume, French Provincial Cooking, starting with a simple mayonnaise. Find more of Annie's past Kitchen Rudimentals here.

Cook, Elizabeth David

Duration: 12 minutes 26 seconds

Published: 9 Feb 2024Fri 9 Feb 2024 at 12:55amwith Jonathan Green

Annie Smithers' Kitchen Rudimental — knives

Blueprint's resident chef Annie Smithers returns with another edition of Kitchen Rudimental, this time revealing her obsession with knives All that time spent cooking has meant that Annie is well attuned to the melodies of the kitchen, including…

In a darkly-lit scene, you view a woman finely slicing a broccoli on a wooden board with a sharp knife.

Duration: 12 minutes 13 seconds

Published: 20 Oct 2023Fri 20 Oct 2023 at 12:59amwith Jonathan Green

Annie Smithers' Kitchen Rudimental — strawberry sorbet

Feast on a strawberry sorbet you can pair with a raspberry beret.

A pile of strawberies is seen brightly-lit in a close-up crop.

Duration: 14 minutes 14 seconds

Published: 19 Oct 2023Thu 19 Oct 2023 at 7:11amwith Jonathan Green

Living With Country

Living With Country: urban planning with Timmah Ball

Living With Country brings together a range of Indigenous Australians to reflect on land management and our built environment.

Duration: 20 minutes 56 seconds

Published: 12 Oct 2022Wed 12 Oct 2022 at 6:29amwith Jonathan Green

Living with Country — fire with Den Barber

Den Barber, a Wiradjuri man, ex-fire-fighter and park ranger, says it's time we reframed our fears about fire.

A wildfire burns near Warburton, WA.

Duration: 18 minutes 42 seconds

Published: 13 Oct 2022Thu 13 Oct 2022 at 12:23amwith Jonathan Green

Living with Country – archaeology with Maddison Miller

The notion of 'heritage' in Australia is most often associated with buildings erected in the years following colonisation. But how should we think about heritage when it comes to Country, and sites whose histories go back thousands of years?

Burnt bushland with a tall slender white plant in the foreground.

Duration: 14 minutes 24 seconds

Published: 13 Oct 2022Thu 13 Oct 2022 at 12:25amwith Jonathan Green

Living with Country — placenames with Rachael McPhail

During one night online shopping in the thick of the pandemic, Rachael McPhail had a spur of the moment idea to write in the name of her Country in the address field — and it stuck.

An example of an Australia Post letter address with the traditional place name on the second line.

Duration: 14 minutes 9 seconds

Published: 21 Oct 2022Fri 21 Oct 2022 at 1:29amwith Jonathan Green

Colin Bisset's Iconic Designs

Colin Bisset’s Iconic Designs — Architectural megalomania

Architects have a grand history of designing excessive and ostentatious structures, often as a display of power, wealth or technical prowess.

Isaac Newton's cenotaph

Duration: 15 minutes 20 seconds

Published: 12 Apr 2024Fri 12 Apr 2024 at 12:27am

Colin Bisset's Iconic Designs — A design history of the bicycle

From the velocipede in the early 1800s to its more modern incarnation, featuring tubular metal frames, wire-spoked wheels, pneumatic tyres, and gears, design writer and critic, Colin Bisset gives us a potted history of the development of the bicycle.

Bike

Duration: 15 minutes 27 seconds

Published: 15 Mar 2024Fri 15 Mar 2024 at 2:28amwith Colin Bisset

Colin Bisset's Iconic Designs — the history of the comfortable chair

Design critic and writer, Colin Bisset tells the story of civilisational decline through the design history of the comfy chair.

A "Barcelona" armchair (Ludwig Mies van der Rohe)

Duration: 13 minutes 42 seconds

Published: 2 Feb 2024Fri 2 Feb 2024 at 3:35amwith Colin Bisset

Colin Bisset's Iconic Designs: Corduroy

With its ridges of soft, tufted cotton woven onto a cheaper base cloth, it combined softness and warmth with strength, making it comfortable to wear and popular with farmers and factory workers alike.

Duration: 4 minutes 26 seconds

Published: 20 Oct 2023Fri 20 Oct 2023 at 12:59amwith Colin Bisset

Sense Of Place

Sense of Place: Nam Le, Iowa City and Provincetown

Nam Le, award winning author of The Boat, takes us to the two places that shaped him as a writer: under the vast sky and amidst the dramatic weather of Iowa City and a barn in Provincetown, against the howling wind of the North Atlantic, where he…

Provincetown, Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Duration: 19 minutes 35 seconds

Published: 7 Mar 2024Thu 7 Mar 2024 at 5:04amwith Jonathan Green

Sense of Place: Nathan Thrall, Jerusalem

Journalist and author Nathan Thrall takes us to the city he calls the most divided in the world – his home city of Jerusalem; a place of segregated neighbourhoods, 26-foot tall concrete walls, of borders and checkpoints.

Jerusalem

Duration: 22 minutes 45 seconds

Published: 22 Feb 2024Thu 22 Feb 2024 at 11:58pmwith Jonathan Green

Sense of Place: Yanis Varoufakis, a borderless earth

Former finance minister of Greece and bestselling author Yanis Varoufakis reflects on growing up in the shadow of the Parthenon, on his idyllic childhood and its contrast to the brutal political reality against which it was set, and the paradoxes of…

Parthenon, Acropolis of Athens, Greece at summer sunrise

Duration: 20 minutes 3 seconds

Published: 9 Feb 2024Fri 9 Feb 2024 at 12:54amwith Jonathan Green

Sense of Place: Lucy Treloar, Terowie, South Australia

Author Lucy Treloar is a master of writing place.

Terowie, SA

Duration: 16 minutes 30 seconds

Published: 25 Jan 2024Thu 25 Jan 2024 at 6:45amwith Jonathan Green

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