I was intent on getting some tender, sweet and dense Bosc pears for a dessert that had been running round and round inside my head and wouldn't leave me alone; a pear and candied ginger cheesecake. The family had been complaining about the dearth of desserts lately. Mutiny was in the air and I honestly had run out of ideas for tarting up vanilla ice cream.

After trawling three markets and two supermarkets and coming up empty, temptation presented itself in the form of canned pears. Ordinaril...

I hate talking about the weather -  the final destination for any conversation on its last legs, drawing it's last, choking, rasping... breath. I can hardly believe though, how crazed the weather here has been. In the last 3 weeks, I've felt like a jetsetter, going through 2 or even 3 countries in the space of a day. Scorching afternoons have given way to blustery evenings, followed by torrential 30-second downpours that have finally settled into muggy, sweat-soaked restless nights. Would y...

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,...

Scones are traditionally eaten at afternoon tea but I've always loved them even more, with coffee, in the morning. Last Saturday, I had these, in bed, way past lunch time, for breakfast, while twittering, with crumbs all over my keyboard, bed and a few unmentionable places.

My husband will soon be returning home for good, after almost 8 years working and living a 5 hour flight away from me. Once he's back, I won't be able to enjoy anything else in bed anymore, except wine and, well, my husb...

Looking at this, through glass, glinting in the sun, you may wonder if you’re about to eat a fruit salad or a heap of crimson and violet jewels. What a sight to wake up to! Wonderfully refreshing and cleansing especially on a weekend morning following a night of alcoholic and other excesses.  If you can’t get red dragon fruit, substitute with red plums, cherries or just double the amount of your favourite of the other fruit.  The smidgeon of alcohol this contains is my brand of “hair of...