Insomnia and ice cream

Doctors and what-have-you do tell us not to eat too much before bedtime, and experience has taught me to avoid coffee and (too much) chocolate at night, but now I'm adding something else to the list ... rum raisins & prunes over ice cream! I made and bottled this 2 or 3weeks ago, after seeing …

Famous fish pie

So, my cousin asked me for this, my mother's recipe. Funny how certain dishes become embedded in the family DNA. First up, you have to make a thick cheese sauce, and let it cool. Then, using a firm fleshed fish, layer fillets in the bottom of a baking dish. Cover the fish with sliced mushrooms, …

Onions for a wing-warming

Over many months the extension to the house has crept up the hill. It's on the other side of the valley, so we've been watching progress. And wondering what the neighbours, slowly encroached upon, have been thinking. Am not sure if any of the encroached-upon were there the other night, when she had her wing-warming. …

Pomegranate juice?? Help!

What on earth could you substitute for pomegranate juice? I have a duck recipe that calls for it. Orange, perhaps? Or is that too 1970s??

Baked custard

Packing up a holiday house after a few days’ stay, especially at this time of the year when you know no-one else is likely to be in residence for some time, there’s always the question of what to do with the left-over food. After all, no-one can plan so well that there are no leftovers. …

Tiramisu

Has been ages since we entertained, but now that I’m back in the country it’s time to be a bit more hospitable. So, friends for dinner on the weekend and as usual going for an Italian-themed meal. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about Italian food that I like. Actually, I do …

Blokes’ chicken

Not quite sure what to call this dish … I think I copied it into a notebook from a newspaper supplement that was talking about food that blokes could cook, or perhaps it was food that blokes would like to eat. Whatever. It meets all my prerequisites – simple to make, limited ingredients, and good …

Pork chops, Modena style

Waikanae was a surprise. I’d imagined Zimmer frames and mobility scooters, but nary a one in sight. The resident population’s more retirement village than rest home, it seems, and the place much more attractive than I’d imagined. Leafy, quiet, affluent streets. And, of course, if you drive to the coast there’s the black sand beach …

Citrus chicken

One of the good things about being home again is having some control over what I eat. I’m not in Kiribati … it doesn’t have to be fish & rice or fish & chips every night! And even though it’s been a busy time since returning, there’s always the chance to do something new with …

Pavlova, take 4

Possibly it was a touch of guilt at going away again so soon after the last trip, and knowing how much L likes pavlova, that made me try another recipe before I left. This time I resorted to the good old Edmonds’ Cookbook. They did talk about using an electric mixer, which I didn’t, ‘cos …