The last week has been just a little bit more hectic than usual, with me wrapping up my very first month-long food challenge, which by all accounts was a resounding success (Yaaay!!! Thanks again all 26 of you and especially Lazaro for making it such a blast!) all my boys being home together, as school holidays are on, hubby working late most days and dragging his exhausted self home well after dinner, almost every night....on top of the usual demands and commitments...yada, yada, yada! Meals...

Whenever I'm at my cousin Maymay's, this will make an appearance on her table, and yesterday was no exception. But it was only yesterday, as I looked at a bowl of this, sandwiched between the plate of crisp, browned bacon and the glazed chocolate scones I'd taken along as my contribution to breakfast (which we characteristically had at high noon), that it occured to me how very simple, yet very versatile this actually is. As I plunged the tines of my fork into one and popped it in my mouth, I...

After weeks of being a shadowy presence, my kitchen "mojo" seems to be returning, judging by the number of times my eyes have strayed to my pantry cupboard door and the mounting desire to use my KitchenAid mixer. So, yesterday, I made the very easy peach and blueberry crumble you see up there. I saw some slightly bruised blueberries going cheap at my usual supermarket and vaguely recalled a clutch of rose-flushed, yellow peaches rolling around in my fruit drawer. True enough, when I got home,...

I've encountered this cocktail more than once, when island hopping around the Maldives. It's a zingy blend of citrus, ginger and mint that really makes the palate tingle while quieting the churning tummy discomfort that can arise from being tossed about the waves like a ragdoll in a toyboat, when the usually placid, and always beautiful, Indian Ocean is less agreable. After a bone rattling speedboat ride, under the relentlessly blistering Maldivian sun, on my last trip there late last year,...