It’s the last day of my holiday today and I wanted to make something especially nice for my breakfast. Summer’s bounty has been particularly rich and beautiful this year. Stunning mangoes, peaches, nectarines, apricots, cherries and blueberries are available in abundance and typify the flavours of summer in my part of the world. This recipe is…
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I’ve seen some astonishingly pretty smoothie bowls online in the last few months, intricately and beautifully decorated with nuts, seeds, fruit and flowers. The smoothie takes but a moment to make, but I can’t imagine how long it must take to carefully and artfully place these toppings, to achieve the effect of an edible artwork.…
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Now in my part of the world it is hot, hot, hot, and very steamy. It is not the weather for roast dinners, and snuggling beside a fireplace, or eating soup and thick crusty bread. But as I am a fanatical lover of pumpkin, this season is where salads with warm roasted pumpkin come into…
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We spend January 1st walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives…not looking for flaws, but for potential. Ellen Goodman As usual we spent our New…
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It’s so hot here – unreasonably hot for November, and as my thoughts turn towards upcoming end-of-year and Christmas celebrations, I’ve gathered a collection of my salad recipes for inspiration and to help me to keep cool in the kitchen. There’s something here for all tastes, and each one has a little twist to lift it above the…
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I’ve been having an enforced rest following some surgery, but today felt like some creative cooking – reading the recipe books and magazines given to me by my very thoughtful colleagues the inspiration. Our oldest is back at home with us for a time and as he is a coeliac, gluten free cooking is required…
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When my sister-in-law died just over three years ago we inherited a blueberry bush, which, in my part of Australia, is not a common thing. It has the most beautiful blossoms and the fruit changes from a pale watery green with a pinkish blush to deep blue when the fruit is ripe. Each year there…
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I’m spending a few days in Ballandean, near Stanthorpe, at my friends’ vineyard. They have gone to Italy for a joint 50th birthday celebration, and I’m teen-sitting. It’s a pretty easy gig, so I have had lots of time to explore, cook, read, reflect, listen to music and drink some beautiful wine. There are numerous…
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“The air was fragrant with a thousand trodden aromatic herbs, with fields of lavender, and with the brightest roses blushing in tufts all over the meadows. . . .” William Cullen Bryant I gathered a bunch of lavender late one afternoon a couple of weeks ago for my friend Claire. This spring our lavender plants…
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There is something deeply satisfying in this super simple dish which enriches the anise flavoured fennel with butter and earthy thyme. It takes a surprisingly long time to cook, but the wait is worth it as the fennel melts in the mouth and the natural sugars caramelise beautifully in the butter, adding gentle charred notes. It…
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Simple food 