I remember going to the Dural butcher years ago when staying at Mum and Dad’s for the weekend. Determined to crumb some lamb cutlets for tea, I recall counting out in my head how many I’d need to feed everyone. “I’ll get 20 lamb cutlets thanks”, I said convincingly as I happily watched the beautiful […]
Category: christmas
watermelon christmas trees
We’re big in to Christmas trees in our house. Did you know that my Mum and Dad grow fresh pine trees, selling them at their ‘cut your own’ Christmas tree farm each year? For as long as I can remember we’ve always had a fresh tree, no fake plastic ones in sight. We’ve got many […]
gingerbread house
Hands up if you’ve ever made a gingerbread house before? I love making one at this time of year. There’s something really nice and carefree about setting time aside to do nothing other than faff in the kitchen, designing and constructing your own little gingerbread house. With life feeling increasingly busier and busier, somehow it […]
gingerbread cookies
November is the new December. Or so my good friend Anna tells me. It’s only the 13th of the month and judging by my insta feed, you’d think it was Christmas Eve already. I must admit it felt like Christmas here today. Along with the smell of gingerbread in the air, there were Santa lists […]
christmas tree cake
It was snowing in Boorowa today. Snowing icing sugar that is. The girls and I sifted icing sugar snow not only over our fresh rosemary Christmas trees, but over half the kitchen. Such a sweet little decorating idea that can be used to top any cake at this time of year. All you need is […]
homemade focaccia
Homemade focaccia. Sounds like an effort. Can I let you in on a secret, it’s actually not. This is simple and easy cooking, one for the novice cook. And after making it a couple of times you’ll be able to do it in your sleep. I know for the ‘focaccia first timers’ you might read […]
baked ricotta
I have the memory of an elephant. Oh hang on. No I don’t. Do they have good memories or bad? I forget. I have the memory of whatever animal is really bad at remembering things. Take this recipe for example. I have been racking my brain to try and remember which friend of mine introduced […]
aussie post sultana cake
How good is lockdown. Said no person ever. I have to admit, I’ve become such a lazy writer lately. Most of what I do write is done through texting; favouring the use of emojis to express my emotions, as opposed to actually using the English language. So if I was writing a message saying “How […]
easy + delicious caramel pudding | a tambea kitchen recipe
When I started the blog over a year ago, the ladies over at Tambea Kitchen in Wagga sent me this recipe for their great aunt Lorna’s caramel pudding. And boy oh boy is this my kind of cooking. Talk about easy! Its old school, home cooking at its best – just the way a family […]
seafood paella | as featured in the summer 2018 edition of graziher magazine
Lo Corcoran talks all things Christmas ham, New Year’s resolutions, seafood paella and the beloved game of cricket. How good is Christmas ham. Cork Daddy’s favourite food, I have to admit I’m a bit fussy when it comes to the carving. I love it really finely shaved – please no ham steaks for me! Frequenting many a […]
asparagus wrapped in prosciutto
Has anyone seen ‘The Naked Chef?’ It’s old school Jamie at his best. Married to Jools but pre his 5 kiddies, he looks so young and with more energy than ever – I love it! He serves up this asparagus dish for a lunchtime feast for his goddaughters’ christening, to go with roasted brill and […]
delicious cherry + walnut cake
Cork Daddy’s home town of Boorowa is located right near Young; the cherry capital of Australia. Pop keeps us all going in cherries throughout the summer months and they’re always a highlight come Chrissie time. The Hall Family Orchard cherries are the best! Of export quality, they’re absolutely out of this world! Plump, delicious and the […]
ajvar prawns with pineapple + mint
My brother Pete did some very experimental cooking on Christmas Day. Always one to enjoy the ‘theatre’ of cooking, he decided to try his hand at a hāngy. Now I’m sure most of us would at least cook something we were familiar with – if it were me, I’d go for a chook or some […]
the best glazed christmas ham
Whatever you do – don’t do what I did a couple of years ago on Christmas Eve. Staying in Hat Head for Chrissie with the whole family, I was helping unpack the car when I reached for the shopping bag that housed the ham. Now I should of known the bag would be heavy, having […]
summer pavlova
Both the Aussie’s and Kiwi’s claim to own the pavlova – a simple dessert consisting of a meringue base, topped off with whipped cream and fresh fruit. They’ve been fighting over this title ever since the dish was named after Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova, when she visited both countries back in the 1920’s. In my […]
dad’s famous fruit salad | a thomas family tradition
Christmas decorations are in the shops – already! They seem to be creeping in earlier and earlier each year. At the beach for the school holidays, Mum and I’ve been discussing how exciting it is to have Elles Belles and Jez home for Chrissie. Which got me thinking about our Thomas family Christmas. Mum’ll have presents […]
the ultimate roast dinner | mustard crusted roast beef with a horseradish sauce + yorkshire puddings
I’m such a dag. Do you want to know what I did last night after everyone left our place for Ali’s birthday dinner? I wrote Jamie Oliver a private message on Insta. It reminds me of the time years ago when I facebooked Leonardo DiCaprio after he missed out on getting an Oscar for his performance […]
prawns on the barbie | thai style
“I’ll slip another shrimp on the barbie for ya”, promises a young Paul Hogan in the 1984 Australian tourism ad designed to get American tourists to visit our remarkable ‘land down under’. Before this iconic campaign, Australia ranked number 78 on the most ‘desireable holiday hotspots’ in the States; which climbed to number 7 shortly after […]