Occasional stories, food and travel inspiration
A little secret about dinner parties: while the food and wine you offer your guests is important, they're not nearly as important as the mood you set. As a dinner party veteran I've hosted plent
When I was younger I thought of life mostly in terms of goals. Everything was about achievements and new experiences. "Live overseas." Tick. "Get a great job." Tick. "Be a published
As the Australian Summer continues so does our love affair with fruit: we're spoilt for choice at this time of the year so my fruit bowls are overflowing. The other day I had a glut of peaches in
I recently met up with friends for our regular Cookbook Club lunch where we share dishes we've cooked from a selected cookbook. If you're anything like most people, you'll have a number of cookb
I'm a Summer gal so I love this time of year - the baking heat, the endless blue skies and the regular swims automatically put me in a good mood. But even I can get testy after a run of 40+ Ce
I'm a little obsessed with Summer fruit at the moment but can you blame me? This time of year is when my kitchen is overflowing with beautiful berries, stone fruit, cherries, grapes, mangos, kiwi fru
We're a mere seven days into 2016 and I'm wondering how many of us are actually sticking to our New Year's Resolutions? And how many of us are already mentally consigning them to the trash? Well,
Sex and the City was addictive, must-watch TV back in the late 90s and early 2000s: millions tuned in every week to find out what Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha and Miranda were wearing and who they we
This recipe came about when I offered to make a dish for a weekend brunch at my BFF's a couple of months ago. With four kids in the house that morning -- my young niece and nephew had slept over t
I lied to my son the other day. I don't usually advocate lying to small and innocent children but in this case I felt it was justified. You be the judge. My son is four and a half. I've blog
I have mixed feelings about Autumn. I don't like the colder weather, the rain or the wind. On the other hand, plums are still in season at the moment and they're magnificent. I love plums for t
Freshly picked, beautifully ripe, crimson-hued figs. Is there anything better? Picking Figs Regular readers may remember that I went fig picking at Kate's house last year. Kate is a fellow foo
It's still crazy hot in Adelaide so I've been experimenting with home-made ice blocks and sorbets. I can't stop eating the beetroot, carrot and berry flavoured ice blocks I made recently but my kids w
The other day I was at the beautician for a once-in-a-blue-moon appointment. A blonde lady in her 40s was examining my skin when she said, "of course people from your country always have an issue wit
Don't you love that scene in The Incredibles where Mr Incredible is eating shrimp on the plane and the autopilot says, "would you care for more mimosa?" It kills me every time. After the succes
Last week I was lucky to spend three days on Hamilton Island for the start of Audi Hamilton Island Race Week, Australia's largest offshore yachting regatta. It was ultra glam and très chic and I di
J is my three year old son. He makes my heart fill to overflowing with his sunny nature, cheeky grin, outrageous demands and obsession with cars and helicopters. So you can imagine how concerned I wa
I like desserts that double up as snacks and meals. This means I can eat them anytime of the day or night without someone raising their eyebrows and saying, "you're eating THAT for breakfast?" Begone
When it comes to alcohol I'm a cheap date. As is the case for many Asians, alcohol is not my friend; consumed in anything other than small quantities alcohol makes me itchy, red and ill. Back in my
I've been a bookworm as long as I could read. When I was a young girl we would visit the library every Saturday and I would borrow another bag of books to read over the next week. Amongst all the b
Is it still hot here or is it just me? Nope, it is still hot in sunny Australia. Yesterday we took full advantage of this warm weather by spending the late afternoon down at the beach. The kids pla
The weather has been crazy hot in Adelaide for three days now. Now I love hot weather but when it's hot I want to be eating hawker noodles in Asia, swimming at the beach or lazing by a hotel pool,
Summer = ice cream in my house. We're eating it pretty much non-stop at the moment, stopping only for meals, which is when my kids say that they're not hungry and push away their plates. I can see
Can you believe it's only one week until Christmas? Nope, I can't believe it, either. This year has flo-o-o-wn by. I love this time of year. It's a time to remember what's important and to spen
Bakers are made, not born. Don't believe me? A few years ago, my cakes (and my photography) looked like this: Notice how this cake is leaning precariously to one side and the very runny i
I'm having a passionate affair with citrus at the moment. My fruit bowls are filled with gorgeous tangelos, yellow grapefruit, pink grapefruit, oranges, mandarins and blood oranges. I love the
My daughter just turned six (six!) so we threw a little shindig for six of her school friends + family. Here's what was on the menu: Mini Vietnamese Pork Buns; Ham & Pineapple Pizzas (pit
I've made honey ice cream before but frankly, it didn't rock my world. It was OK but there were no goosebumps, no sighs of utter bliss. So I was keen to to try it again, especially after meeting a nic
Although I've flirted with coffee over the years I am, at heart, a tea drinker. I like English Breakfast or Japanese green tea in the morning, Earl Grey or Lady Grey in the afternoon and Rooiboos (
Too busy to cook? Or simply feeling lazy? At the risk of sounding like a telemarketer, have I got the pudding for you! This mini berry pudding only has five ingredients and takes less than 10 mi
