Being the only girl of four children, and working in an office where we are sorely outnumbered almost 10 to 1 by male colleagues; I think I am qualified to make some sweeping generalisations about what men like to eat: bold, robust flavours, protein-rich, nourishing, hearty fare. Best eaten in front of a large flat [...]

What better way to welcome your guests than with carefully assembled, delicate (and delicious) canapés. For our dinner party this month we served up three bite-sized treats to start the evening in the manner in which we intended to carry on.

I don’t like the cold, but I am becoming a big fan of winter. I’m not one for snowboarding, skiing, cold ears or toes (or generally being outdoors at this time of year to be perfectly honest!), but I am a big fan of roaring fires, long knitted scarves, curling up on the couch with [...]

Chicken soup is just plain good for the soul. I make the effort to use free range chicken where possible – I think the flavour is much deeper, and it shines through in this warming soup. I love clear soups; a nourishing broth to cure what ails you. This one is particularly tasty

This post has been a long time coming. A year in fact. This time last year I had not long returned from a couple of weeks of design, food and culture in Northen Italy. I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to travel over for Eurocucina, a huge kitchen design tradeshow held just [...]

So this month we have been busy creating recipes based on whole grains and super foods, and I like to think that for most of my day, I am quite virtuous in my food choices.  There are of course two exceptions.  One, I love to bake; and two, I love to snack!  Baking is something [...]

I think that Oscar may have a more sophisticated palette at 6 than I had at 26. For his last birthday he requested sushi, he is partial to a little escargot, and he really does much prefer dark Swiss chocolate to any overly sweet Kiwi-made stuff. Oscar’s mum is an engineer here at work. She [...]

It would seem I’m a bit of a stone fruit fiend. Last week I was at the veggie shop and I couldn’t resist buying bags of apricots – I bought two kilos and there isn’t one left in our fruit bowl! I guess I figure that while the going is good I had better dive right on in and make the most of these seasonal sweet treats.

This is an adaptation of an Annabelle White recipe that I have been making for years.  In the winter I fry it in a skillet, and in the summer it is great on the barbeque.  The dough is simple to mix by hand and only requires proving once.  I have also used it to make [...]

So a couple of months back I got an email from my bestie, the subject line read “I just made the most mackin’ cake…”  Needless to say, my interest was piqued.  When I read on to discover that said cake was made with ground pistachios and rosewater and topped with rosewater cream, I was sold. [...]

For Christmas my partner and I bought ourselves a charcoal barbeque.  After spending a (delightful) afternoon assembling the kitset creation and trying to follow the less-than-helpful instructions, we had worked up quite an appetite. Before the dreaded hungry-anger (hanger) could take hold we got cooking, creating a smokey feast perfect for a kiwi summer!

Happy New Year everyone! Those of us in the Southern Hemisphere are now firmly in summer holiday mode, looking forward to a few precious weeks of holidays while the weather is good and the days long and lazy, before heading back to work and the excitement and promise a new year inevitably brings.