Given the predominance of cake on this site, you would be forgiven for thinking we think we live on the stuff. Truth is, I get more excited about sweet than savoury, but we do eat healthy meals. The reason they often don’t make it to the blog is because by the time I’m making dinner it’s too late and too…
Aren’t holidays grand? A little something extraordinary in the ordinary-ness that we call life. We had only been away for one night since March last year, but after celebrating a year of parenthood, we decided to take up the offer of some good friends and visit them in the tropics for a week before they…
Oh, the memories! Of summer days spent at our grandparents’ house in the country. Sunset joy rides on the ferry, walks with the dog, a cockatiel that whistled ‘Pop goes the weasel’, a clock ticking in the hall. Biggles books in the lounge room, pigface growing in a disused tractor tyre, metal seats on the lawn.…
I was young, I was inexperienced, and needed a job. They were young, they were inexperienced, and the job was cash in hand. The restaurant had only just opened down the road, and they needed a kitchenhand right away. So, on Friday and Saturday afternoons, I would cycle down there and assist the chef with prepping…
Sometimes photos make the memories. And many of my “memories” from early childhood are held in faded instamatic photographs from a bygone era. In those days when I was very young, in those years that I would never be able to remember now, my parents were snapping our lives together and these snaps became treasured…
The first time I tasted this dish, it was my first weekend in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. We’d been to church, and afterwards friends took me for dinner to a food court near the famous night market and recommended I begin my Thai food adventure with Kao Pad Kai, or Chicken Fried Rice. I ordered,…
Who likes baked beans? Not I! I remember being offered baked beans on a camping trip (I couldn’t have been more than 5 years old) and rejecting them outright. My position hasn’t changed. Give me tinned spaghetti any day, but never baked beans! But this! This is what baked beans were meant to be… After…
There’s something very comforting about chicken and bacon together. The flavours are well-known to complement each other, and so they do here. A classic pairing, only made better with the tang of some slow-roasted tomatoes, the bite of fresh rocket, and a subtle mustard dressing. Originally a non-pasta dish, I added some in to bulk…
Risotto cakes with mushroom ragu Serves 4 ½ quantity Lemon risotto, cooled Olive oil cooking spray 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 small brown onion, finely chopped 2 garlic cloves, crushed 2 teaspoons smoked paprika 500g mixed mushrooms, roughly chopped ¼ cup dry white wine ½ cup vegetable stock 2/3 cup sour cream (or natural…
