Quickies Noodle Challenge Update : I am pleased to announce that we've now received  6  very interesting entries! Thank you very much and remember this is open to everyone, worldwide, so keep them coming! As this may be the last Quickies Challenge for a while,  we really hope there will be a fantastic turnout. Of course, if you really want more challenges, let us know and we'll do our best to oblige! Send in as many entries as you like, just remember to get them in by midnight of  December 14...

I'm thrilled to announce another joint Quickies : Morning, Noon and Night Cooking Challenge with Lazaro Cooks! Our first two challenges were so well received, we had repeated requests for another Quickie challenge. We aim to please, so here we are again!

The prize will be a copy of my cookbook Quickies : Morning, Noon and Night. This is my first cookbook and I've written it with the aim of providing inspiration to anyone who's ever felt too tired or too uninspired to cook, or who has the pi...

Prunes really get a bum rap.  Who doesn't associate them with dentition-challenged grandmas and grandpas who can't chew much except pudding and.... stewed prunes? They're also unfortunately stuck with the unglamarous but very true reputation of being an ace laxative. Sorry, needed saying. Last week, out of the blue, I was hit by an inexplicable craving for this dark, sticky, chewy treat. Yes, I said treat.

Forget everything you thought you knew about them and start thinking of them as dri...

Today, I'm going to show you my extensive pumpkin-themed collection, starting with this pumpkin and squash salt and pepper shaker set.....

KIDDING!!!! I get it - enough already with the pumpkin and the kitchen paraphernalia !! We're doing mushrooms today. My apologies for the pumpkin scare up there, but it feels good to have your blood actually reach your extemities, doesn't it? ;)

When it comes to things I really love eating,  like mushrooms, my patience goes out the window, along ...

Hubby's incessant calls from work, yes, on a Sunday, took all the pleasure out of a late lie-in, so I decided to get started on breakfast at eight-thirty; sacrilege on a weekend *grrr*  Out came the pumpkin I'd bought about two weeks ago, and had left by its lonesome under the ironing board. Oh, the joys of cramped apartment life; my tiny, three bedroomed kingdom for a proper pantry. The microplane grater fell off its hook and onto the pumpkin, as my baby walked in, all tousled hair and sleep...

I could quite happily live on nothing but bread, cheese, coffee and bacon. Hmm... "not even chocolate, or chilli?", you'd probably think. Well, not so much those, though I'd see your point, but maybe, I'd need a bowl of soup too, every now and then.

Too many seem to view the soup pot as an edible recycling bin and fair game for every imaginable scrap that issues from a kitchen. It is tempting to throw ingredients that have seen better days, or that you can't think up any better use for, int...

Hello my lovely readers and blogger buddies! I have been scarce the last week or so - it's exam season at our house and having two boys taking very important exams during the same week is nerve wrecking, to say the least. Sadly, posting and visiting all your gorgeous blogs, had to take a backseat.

But, (this is a good "but" trust me) I do have a treat for you today. My lovely friend Biren from Roti n Rice invited me to do a guest post on her blog, a little while back and of course I gladly ...

Quickies Cocktail Challenge Update : I am pleased to announce that we've now received  3  very interesting entries! Thank you very much and please, keep them coming. Send as many entries as you like, just remember to get them in by midnight of  September 27 2010 (ET)  - we're looking forward to shouting out the winner and showcasing a fantastic line up of entries on September 28 2010 (ET)  !! What's your motivation? A gorgeous cookbook! (take a detailed peek here) And now on to the day's post...

Becoming a food blogger and rubbing virtual elbows with so many like minded souls, has opened up my food universe and introduced me to things I might otherwise have never known, existed! Take instant pudding for example. This wonder of food science (some may  say culinary abomination, but, potayto potahto..... meat, poison) requires no cooking and sets instantly on contact with water! I might actually be spooked, if I were not so curious and amazed.

I'd read about it on Rick's blog, Bitter...

My son and hopefully, protege, Joseph, turned 12 two days ago and he requested his all time favourite dessert, Oreo cheesecake, like he's done every year, since he could speak.

I usually make a single large 23 cm (9 in) cheesecake. It's big, beautiful, and such a temptation, though I don't favour it above all other desserts, that I often will skip at least one  meal when I know cheesecake is coming to dinner ;) Then, I wantonly have three servings of it! For shame, for shame, except, I'm to...

QUICKIE CHALLENGE UPDATE :  I'm pleased to announce that we've now received  14  very interesting entries! Thank you very much. Keep them coming guys and remember to send them in by June 7 2010  - we're looking forward to shouting out the winner and showcasing a fantastic line up of entries on June 8 2010  !! What's your motivation? Not one, but TWO fabulous prizes - a gorgeous cookbook (take a detailed peek here) and a guest blogger spot on the fabulous blog Lazaro Cooks! And now on to the d...

I'm chuffed to announce the first and joint Quickies : Morning, Noon and Night Cooking Challenge with Lazaro Cooks! , inspired by the brilliant Natasha's 5 Star Foodie Makeover.

The prize will be a copy of my cookbook Quickies : Morning, Noon and Night. Minds out of gutters, please! It's not what you might think.

This is my very first cookbook and I'm really quite proud of it. I've written it to help anyone who's ever thought "Cripes, I'm too tired to cook", or uttered "I've no time to ...

After the satisfying stodginess of the pot pie, I wanted something fresh and light. I'd been following and enjoying the fish related posts of a foodie friend, Biren, who does amazing Asian food, and my thoughts were turning to all the briny delights of the sea.

Providence was smiling down on me when I saw these plump, daisy fresh razor clams on a morning jaunt to the market. They were larger than the ones I'd eaten before and looked too tempting to pass by.

My mother, who is not as much a s...

There are times I'll bet, when like me, you feel like the inside of a garbage bin. Days, maybe even weeks of eating anything that crosses your path, the first thing you see when you open the fridge door, or two-thirds of your pal's taco chips, if she still dares to open a bag when you're within sight. I usually feel this way post Christmas and New Year's, after all that wanton and mindless feasting and will almost always repent slowly and painfully for the first 2 months or so, of the new yea...

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,...