Who remembers The Cook and the Chef? I used to love that show.
I started out a real Maggie Beer fan. I mean I really loved her. I have eight of her cookbooks which is not a bad effort. I even have autographed copies of her first two books, Maggie’s Orchard and Maggie’s Farm and, thanks to Maus, an autographed copy of Maggie’s Harvest. Continue reading
Today’s recipe is a homemade alternative to the fruit and seed crackers that are omnipresent in the supermarkets at the moment. I was very excited when I found it and even more so when it turned out to be a dead ringer of the commercial version.
You know the crackers I am talking about. They come in a variety of flavours. The ones I have had in the house in the last week are:
Hello, everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful day yesterday and today was lovely, quiet and involved no cooking. Yesterday, we went to a gathering at a friend’s house. As we left, we were handed a parcel of left-over turkey and ham… so guess what we had for dinner?
My contribution to the Christmas dinner was the pre-dinner platter. I am so proud of it. I love how it looked.
Those in the blogging world may recognise this recipe. It was first posted, a couple of years ago, by Nancy at PlusAteSix. After Nancy’s post, I made it a couple of times in quick succession and then I moved on. Yesterday, because we were having a few friends over for drinks, I decided to make it again. Continue reading
Ok … Summer is here and the festive season is upon us and that means outdoor activities. We will have gatherings to host and requests to ‘just bring a plate’. Finger food is the go.
Instead of making meat pies, sausage rolls and mini quiches, how about making some Sanbuseh? They are just as easy to make but taste and look just that little bit different. I have already served them twice this season and they have been a hit both times. Best of all, they are dead easy to make. They use commercial puff pastry and the filling ingredients are all in together. They can be served straight from the oven or at room temperature. How easy is that? Continue reading
When I was in Iran, I really wanted to buy a cookbook. I can think of no better souvenir from a country than a nice thick tome on their fare. But alas, the only English written cookbook I found was the Australian Women’s Weekly More Slow Cooking. I am afraid that wasn’t what I had in mind.
Aunty Margaret was always my favourite Aunty and I was lead to believe I was pretty special to her. When I was little, my mum told me the story (I don’t know whether it is true or not) that, when I was born, Aunty Margaret told her, “You have enough daughters, this one is for me.” Aunty Margaret always wanted a daughter but had two sons.
I named my first doll Margaret and, many years later named one of my darling Bichons, “Maggie”, both after this wonderful woman. Continue reading
Recently, I watched a great show on tele entitled Make Hummus Not War. It was about how Lebanon is suing Israel for claiming hummus is an Israeli national dish. Lebanon claims that right, as does Palestine and, I am guessing, every other country in the region. I knew about Lebanon’s obsession with hummus but not Israel’s Continue reading
I get so excited when I find recipes and I have grown all, or most, of the ingredients. Today’s recipe fits into that category. The only ingredient that didn’t come out of my garden was the anchovy fillets.
As my dear vegetarian friend, Colette, was coming to dinner that night, I divided the tapenade into two bowls and only put anchovies in one. I think the anchovies gave the tapenade more depth of flavour but, if you are vegetarian or object to anchovies, it still tastes lovely without them. If you are omitting the anchovies, taste the tapenade before serving as you may wish to add a little salt. Continue reading
Passion Fruit Garden 