French by birth, British by education, Australian by choice, Babette Hayes was uniquely placed to bring that fusion of French tradition and informal style that characterises her cuisine and interior design. In Food for Friends she traces her journey from the war-torn Middle East, to the strangeness of life in an English boarding school, to glittering mornings on Sydney's Mosman Bay.

These recipes and the stories that accompany them, recall dear friends and family members who have inspired Babette's approach to the joy of living and sharing food. With the inclusion of family photographs, Food for Friends offers the insights and experiences of one who has sought to make an embracing experience of cooking and being together as.

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'an ordinary part of everyday life. ' 'Plenitude: fullness or adequacy in quantity, measure, or degree; abundance.

It's the word I think of first when I recall those magnificent Sunday lunches at Babette Hayes' beautiful house in Hunter's Hill. Of course there was an abundance of wonderful food, but an equal abundance of generosity, goodwill, laughter, great company.

There were splendid dinners too, candlelit affairs that extended past midnight, their begetter a consummate hostess dedicated to providing her guests with persistent and ineradicable memories. ' - Leo Schofield 'I remember my first visit to your home and sitting on the verandah eating one of your lunches.

It is unforgettable. You changed our way of looking at food and entertaining Babette.

' - Margaret Fulton. .