Ideally you shouldn’t be reading this post for yet another month. You see… my excessively organised mind had quite liked the idea of my 100th Post (yes, that’s THIS one! 🙂 ) being posted on Gather and Graze’s 2nd Blogiversary (the 12th April). But here we are… well ahead of schedule… so I guess we’ll just have to celebrate twice! Continue reading
‘Tis a fortunate thing to have friends with fruit trees… even more so when they quite generously wish to share them with you. Following on from my earlier post on Pear and Almond Upside-Down Cake, John has continued to bring along bags of pears each and every week for all who have met up for coffee on Wednesdays. They are sadly reaching the end of their season now, so this may well be the last of the home-grown pears… until next year. Continue reading
It is doubtful that you’ll come across another cake that is quite so easy to make, yet rewards with such beautiful taste and moist crumb. Honey is the obvious star, bringing a touch of sunshine and happiness… subtle and well-balanced… demanding only a cup of tea as the perfect partner. Continue reading
Many moons ago, I think I mentioned that most Wednesdays I meet up for a coffee with a number of other parents from my children’s school. Yesterday was no different (though it was the first of the new school year)… hot coffees and teas sipped and relished, conversations criss-crossing the table, laughter permeating the air. Then, a wonderful surprise when John (one of the Dads) pulled from his bag a number of packages holding beautiful little pears, plucked from his tree at home to share with us all. The gift of produce or food is always something that excites me and that I’m truly grateful for. A couple of these sweet, ripe pears were munched as nature intended, but the rest were set aside in anticipation of making something extra delicious this morning. Continue reading
The stone fruit has been spectacular this summer… the nectarines, the peaches, the plums! Mostly purchased from the farmer’s market, but even our new little peach tree managed to produce a small crop, to give us a taste of what’s to come – such a sweet little tree that he is! Somehow though the apricots never managed to make it into my basket. Something just wasn’t quite right with them… they never looked like they held any flavour. So as you’d expect I passed them by… that is, until today. When I saw these little blushed beauties, I knew exactly what I wanted to make – jam! Continue reading
Being aware of how many Ottolenghi fans are out there, I’ll be surprised if there aren’t at least a few of you who have tried this dish already! It’s a delicious, saucy dish that feels suited to any and all of the seasons, packed full of seafood… and flavour!
In a comforting kind of way, it reminds me very much of a Greek dish that my Mum often makes, called ‘Gharithes Me Feta’ (translates to ‘Prawns with Feta’). She’s been cooking it for years… I think perhaps it was a recipe passed on to her from our Greek neighbours who were (and still are…) fishmongers in Adelaide. Continue reading
So it’s Australia Day tomorrow… and Australia Day simply wouldn’t be Australia Day without a pavlova making it’s way onto the table at some point during the day! A couple of weeks ago… in fact it was on New Years Eve, I decided to make a trial pavlova. It was my first ever layered pavlova and what could be better than chocolate meringue to give a lovely contrast in colours with the whipped cream and red berries! I’ll be making a similar version of this tomorrow to have after our dinner… barbeque’d something it will certainly be… though I’m not too sure what. Come to think of it, prawns might be nice! Continue reading
A quick little post to share a delicious, yet fast and easy chicken dish that we enjoyed a couple of nights ago. So much to love about sticky, finger-licking chicken thigh fillets that take only a few moments to prep and about half an hour to cook! These will be fabulous when the kids go back to school in a couple of week’s time and I’m looking for those fast mid-week meals once again! Continue reading
I’ve been craving buttery French biscuits over the past few days.
While perusing the shelves of our local library, I came across a wonderful book of artisanal recipes from the Parisian Chocolatier ‘A La Mere de Famille’. It’s filled with the most mouth-watering treats, ranging from cakes and biscuits to chocolates and confectionary and then continuing on to jams and ice cream. The original shop, situated on the Rue du Faubourg-Montmartre in the 9th Arrondissement was first opened in 1761 and looks like a truly magical place to visit… especially for one with such a sweet tooth. Continue reading
It’s not even my type of music, yet I find the soundtrack to the Broadway Musical ‘Jersey Boys’ strangely infectious. It’s one of 3 musicals that I’ve seen ‘live’ in New York and I have incredibly fond memories of it, mostly due to the fact that I saw it on a fabulous girl’s weekend with a dear friend from Australia who was also living in the USA at the time. Continue reading
This week we had some dearly loved friends come to stay with us. For three days, there were 5 beautiful boys (two of them my own…) racing around the backyard. Days filled with chatter, food, laughter, hugs and a great thankfulness for these special times we get to spend together.
With their impending arrival earlier this week, I thought that a grand idea might be to make some home-made ice cream to serve up in cones for our first dessert together. The recipe to follow is what I made… Continue reading
Yesterday afternoon I spent a very pleasant hour or so sorting (and at long last, filing!) an ever-growing pile of recipes that have been ripped out of cooking magazines over the years. Often there are only a few recipes inside that truly appeal, so with each move we’ve made around the country or world, I’ve found it difficult to justify the continual packing and unpacking of so many magazines… plus I’m loathe to stack them onto our bookshelves, which quite honestly deserve a finer quality of literature. For the most part though they are all recipes that I would still like to try out at some stage in the future and finally having them in some sort of order will make this much more achievable. Continue reading
Wishing you all a very Happy New Year with this rather belated (or perhaps extremely early?) Gingerbread House. My wishes are that 2015 be filled with great health, happiness and the love of those you hold dear. I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for the wonderful support and kindness shown over the past year for myself and Gather and Graze – it’s been a fabulous year of blogging and I truly appreciate all the friendships that have been formed and those that have been strengthened over the past twelve months. Continue reading
It gets a little crazy around here at Christmas time… our school year in Australia finishes up in the middle of December, so with Christmas following about a week later and all that that entails… along with plans and thoughts given to the long school break, one would hopefully be forgiven for being slightly absent from the blogosphere over the past couple of weeks. Continue reading
I’m sure that most of the punnets of raspberries in the shops end up turning mouldy and being tossed out. They usually have such ridiculous price tags attached to them, that I can’t imagine who would be silly enough to buy them, particularly when they’re out of season and look like they’re on their last legs! Quite a tragedy in my opinion… as unfortunately for me they just happen to be my absolute favourite fruit. The perfect balance between sweet and tart… luscious and fragrant… little bites of pure deliciousness. Continue reading
The feeling of failure in the kitchen has never been quite so great as when you go to the effort of making fresh pasta dough… kneading it… resting it… rolling it… cutting it… cooking it… and then realising that it’s quite possibly the most awful pasta you’ve ever tasted in your life. You’ve tragically also gone and put this on a plate for your family, who funnily enough are dodging eye contact with you for fear of having to speak and admit that what you’ve dished up is pretty much inedible. Aaaargh, all that hard work for nothing!
So, having attempted fresh pasta with my pasta machine a handful of times before, with little success, this was my first attempt using a recipe (along with a number of invaluable tips for technique and procedure) from John at ‘From the Bartolini Kitchens’. Continue reading
Late spring and early summer have been so very hot here in Canberra, that it bears not thinking about what crazy weather we’ll have to endure through the months of January and February when temperatures usually reach their peak… One great benefit of this warmer weather though is that cherries, peaches and nectarines are now to be found in abundance at our local Saturday morning markets. The 2 kilos of gorgeously plump cherries that we bought have miraculously disappeared already and we’re now making short work of the nectarines which needed a day or two extra to fully ripen. An overflowing fruit bowl is something I love most about this time of year… Continue reading
Some dishes remain etched in our minds… often linked to fond memories of the people who we ate them with or the places where we sat to savour and indulge in them. We may not cook them all the time… in fact years may trickle by before we find them on the table once again. In some ways comparable to beautiful, strong friendships that are created over the years. The ones that not only survive, despite the distance and life keeping us busy, but grow stronger… with no need of daily text messages or phone calls every week. The absolute joy of seeing these friends, after months or even years is like waking up on Christmas morning!
Seafood Filo Bonbons were something my mother used to make on occasions for grown-up Dinner Parties with their friends. They were usually served as an entrée/starter before the main meal came out. In the days where the table was beautifully laden with tablecloths, fine china and crystal glasses. Continue reading
There are some dishes that I hesitate in posting, as I feel that they’re probably not exciting enough for my fellow bloggers and readers who I know cook to such a high level and have their own tried and tested recipes. However, part of the reason for creating this blog is to provide a go-to guide and resource for my two young boys, so that eventually when they leave the nest 😢 (or even before then perhaps… when they feel inspired to cook up something for dinner for their parents! Yes, I did stress that word ‘perhaps’!)… some of their favourites will be there to find easily.
This is a dish that I cook reasonably regularly and it’s most definitely one that puts a smile on everyone’s faces! Continue reading
While jotting down some tips recently, for friends heading over to New Zealand in the summer time, I found myself reminiscing about all the wonderful places we visited when we lived there. Wellington of course, is where my memories are the happiest and the strongest. Our little family perched itself on the hillside there for two glorious years, only feeling grumpy through the winter when the sun’s rays didn’t touch the house or deck. Note to self… buy a North-facing property should we ever move back! Wellington (and New Zealand) is a magical place that I’d urge you all to experience at least once in your lifetime. Continue reading
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