U.S.A. you know how to party! New Zealand…hmmmm…not sure. A few years ago I was in Hawaii and staying on Pearl Harbor for Independence day (love, love, love Hawaii by the way, but who doesn’t?). O.M.G. it really was quite spectacular! There was huge fair and concert then massive fireworks that went for around 20…
baking
Grown Up S’mores Dip with Homemade Graham Crackers
Apologies to all my North American friends, you may want to stop reading now. Today’s recipe is Grown Up S’mores Dip with Homemade Graham Crackers. I know, I know. Not really anything new and exciting for all of you. You no doubt have all grown up making this delicious dish or the campfire version and…
Plum and Pistachio Cake
My mother really does not like cake. I know, such a strange egg (wink wink, just joking Mum, but really it is a little strange). She also doesn’t like chocolate, lollies, ice cream and cookies. Okay yes, no more joking Mum, you are strange! In case you’re wondering I do like, scratch that, LOVE cake,…
Banana, Coconut and Date Bread
My husband is a harsh critic of cafes and restaurants. They are given just one chance to prove themselves before being cut off forever. One was cut off for refusing to serve him a coffee at 4pm after they had cleaned and turned off their espresso machine. One was discarded on their very first day…
Fig, Almond and Honey Tart
I came across this recipe quite by accident. The other night I had some ladies over to my house for drinks and nibbles as part of our current affairs club – kind of like a book club but so much better, no pressure to read a book each month (great for me who is the…
Friday Drinks: Black Pepper and Parmesan Sablés
You could call these crackers, or biscuits, or cookies or even cheesy shortbread, but I sometimes like to be fancy (oh la la!), especially when I’ve having canapés and I call them Black Pepper and Parmesan Sablés. I also call them pretty darn delicious! Technically are these sablés? I don’t know. The only recipes I’ve…
Cranberry and Almond ANZAC Biscuits
This weekend here in New Zealand and in Australia we will be celebrating ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corp) Day. Its our day of remembrance to honour those servicemen and woman who have served our countries. There has always been a sense of camaraderie between New Zealanders and Australians – we are both relatively…
Easy Bittersweet Chocolate Truffles
I was tasked with making the birthday cake for my three year old niece’s birthday last weekend. This is something I love. I love to create birthday cakes, especially kid’s ones because they can be so much fun! Also, although kids can be the harshest critics, they also don’t mind if the cake doesn’t look…
Five Minute Flatbread
Okay so I must confess that whilst I can get out one flatbread in under five minutes, if you had a stopwatch on me it would take a little longer than five to get the rest out. But hey, freshly baked bread from scratch in under five minutes…even just one flatbread is amazing and if…
Cheat’s Almond Croissants
Continuing on with the little French pastry theme I have going at the moment (not at all on purpose) I have some delicious Almond Croissants for you all today. What’s even better is they are my cheat’s version. No mucking around making croissants from scratch (who has time for that?) and no fussing over making…
8 Tips for Better Choux Pastry
Want to make eclairs (yum!), profiteroles (deeelicious!), gougeres (mmmmm!), or a croquembouche (are you crazy?!)? Well here’s some tips to help you along the way. Now, I don’t claim to be an expert in choux pastry, I don’t even claim to be good at it, to tell you the truth sometimes I have a mini…
Friday Drinks: Goat’s Cheese Profiteroles with Honey and Thyme
You can’t very well have drinks without nibbles now can you?! Of course not!! I totally agree! So as part of my Friday Drinks series I will also feature some oh so delectable scrum-didili-uptious nibbles, hors d’oeurves and canapes. Yum! What perfect timing with the silly season just around the corner. I couldn’t agree more!…