: About Me

Julie Bell was born in Australia but grew up in New Zealand so has experienced life on both sides of the Tasman. She claims allegiance to whichever nation is winning the cricket. After completing her training as a Registered Comprehensive Nurse, she decided the best way to kill herself was to go on the Outward Bound outdoor adventure course. For 24 days she scaled cliffs, threw herself overboard into frothy seas and kayaked backwards down waterfalls in the wilds of the South Island (yes, where The Lord of the Rings was filmed). To the amazement of herself and particularly of her instructors, she survived and then proceeded to spend the next decade or so of her life in South East Asia as a volunteer humanitarian worker. She can mark her experiences in terms of the bizarre delicacies she has ingested along the way. Frogs, snakes, birds, bird's nests, sharks, shark fins, thousand year old eggs - some containing embryos - spiders, bats, dogs, cats . And every possible anatomical appendage or innard a beast can grow: pickled, fermented, broiled, dried, roasted, buried underground, raw, or smothered in chilli enough to sear every internal lining from lips to squat pot. She can also give the movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles' a run for its money. Julie's version would be, Jeeps, Junks, and Tuk Tuks'. Along the way she picked up a husband and had three daughters in quick succession, all born at home well, except for the one born in a shopping mall food court. A newspaper reporter was at the neighbouring table, the story made the front page and the family is still living it down. Julie now lives in Melbourne Australia from where she and her husband continue their sporadic missions to various parts of Asia, and from where Julie works as a part-time Doula (Professional Childbirth Attendant) and full-time Mum. She likes reading; writing; swimming as long as the water is very warm; arguing, especially on such topics as social justice, natural childbirth and the care of the environment; and music, in particular U2 (actually she has never met anyone who can honestly claim to dislike U2) and anything involving guitars or Celtic drums. She speaks Mandarin and a smattering of Maori. She does not speak French. She hates dogs and loves cats. She has one year to go before she hits 40 and plans to pack as much good living into this year as she has every other year, and is proud to have been reared in a country that produced the song: "Life Begins At 40, You Wonder Why You Feel So Naughty . You Might Be 40 But You Can't Stop Rockin' To The Beat'.

My passion is ...

people

I know too much about ...

birth

My parents always told me ...

you could talk under 10 feet of wet setting concrete

My childhood ambition ...

change the world

My favorite memory ...

crawling up a mountain on hands & knees sobbing while my father said, "Keep going". It was hell and the view was ultimately worth it.

Why I write ...

I'm opiniated and it's addictive. And I love words, and I love stories.

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

Australian Idol, Ina May Gaskin, The Shack

My first job ...

Picking Strawberries

My best moment ...

Giving birth to first baby by an open fire listening to the Irish spring rain on the roof

My inspiration ...

God's creation

Food & Drink > Sauce, Spread & Dips Recipes: Sauces, spreads and dips

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"Mmmmm, delicious dip! How did you make it?" "Well, I could reveal my secret recipe ... but then I'd have to kill you." So said my gracious hostess to her guest, while tipping me a stage wink. That perked my curiosity and I resolved to shake her down later in the kitchen. "C'mon, what's your secret? Did you slave for hours? Did you catch the salmon yourself?" "Well, not really. It's easy! All you need is a can of tuna or salmon, a tub of cream cheese and a dollop of sweet chilli sauce." "That's it?" "Yup. That's it. Add a fork and some elbow grease and there you are." I couldn't believe th...

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