Lizard asked me ages ago to write about the perfect cheese board which got me thinking. What does make a good cheese board? I’m not talking about a board that consists only of cheese that one enjoys at the end of a meal in a flash restaurant. I’m talking about what we call the “cheese […]
Cork Daddy and I used to go to Bar Italia in Leichhardt every Friday night during rugby season. Back in the day when we were footloose and fancy free. When our only worry in the world was being invited to two 21st’s on the same Saturday night. Being creatures of habit, without fail we’d order […]
My birthday’s two days before Cork Daddy’s. Born in the same year, it makes me the older woman, even if it is only by a couple of days. It’s become a bit of a tradition that he buys me a new cookbook as a birthday present (one can never have too many cookbooks in my […]
My friend Jules sent a text last week. She wanted to let me know that her husband George was off to Albury for a couple of days on a work trip. “Do you know what that means?” she types. Um? Is this a trick question? In my head I’m thinking ??? lucky Jules gets to […]
Mince. Every home cooks best friend. Easy, affordable, oh so versatile and talk about tasty. A flavour carrier that is perfect for making quick and easy midweek meals, it’s always a staple in my trolley. Beef, pork, chicken or sausage mince. There’s a recipe below for every occasion and to suit everyones taste buds and […]
Does anyone else have a thing for rearranging furniture? I’ve been known to rearrange the entire contents of our living room from time to time, a task that involves dragging round the couches (oh the mess I find underneath) which generally results in a stubbed toe courtesy of our coffee table – ouch! The real […]
This recipe for San choy bow marks the 14th mince recipe on the blog. And I have to admit, I think this is the pick of them. The ultimate midweek meal, this is one that the whole family will enjoy. It’s so quick and easy to whip up, it’s packed with hidden vege and you can […]
I love it when you’re on a plane and the hostie hands you one of those little packets of Jatz and cheese. Score! It’s so important to get the snack food right. It not only passes the time but is the key to an enjoyable flight. Same goes with a road trip. You simply can’t […]
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 […]
I was 10 when the ‘twinnie bubbies’ were born. I can still remember seeing Dad walk through the school playground at little lunch searching for Pete, Elles and I to take us to meet our new little sisters in hospital. We drove the whole way to the ‘San’ with the windows down, honking the horn […]
The River and Wren markets were on in Wagga over the weekend. Cork Daddy and I took the girls for something to do and were really impressed. So many stalls selling local, homemade goodies; there was something for everyone. From sweet treats and health foods to wall hangings, baby clothes and jewellery, the show ground […]
Whether you’re in to AFL, NRL, union or soccer, you need to know how to make this beef goulash. It’s the ultimate one bowl dish to eat off your lap on one of those nights when friends are over to watch the footy. Tonight was one of those nights. A good friend of ours turned […]
It was going to be apricot chicken for dinner tonight. Until I remembered that my good friend Lizard has a weird thing about fruit being cooked with meat. Another friend Jules also confessed yesterday that she doesn’t like apricot chicken. “You what? How can anyone not like apricot chicken!?” was my reply. We grew up […]
Cork Daddy’s Pa would no sooner eat a lamb shank than fly to the moon. The ‘shank’ was always thrown to the dogs, and as a sheep farmer lamb was on the dinner table more often than not. So it’s ironic that I spent $12.50 on a bag of dog bones at Knights today for […]
“Bula!” – that friendly greeting and the copious amounts of fresh fish are what I remember most about our honeymoon to Fiji. Oh that and beating Cork Daddy at tennis (he might tell you a different story). Everywhere we went I ordered fresh local fish which was always served with some sort of fresh salsa using […]
It’s our darling Annabubby’s 3rd birthday today and what better way to spend it than a day at the zoo. The girls have been talking about the giant daddy gorilla ever since and Ame and my backs are still sore after lugging the kids around up all of those hills. The absence of Pete and […]
Are you good at keeping a secret? It turns out the members of the Thomas family aren’t. Dad bought a pizza oven for Burralong, (I think we have Elles Belles to thank for planting the seed) which was a ‘surprise’. “Don’t tell anyone” he says. Sworn to secrecy. Let me just say the news spread like […]
As Soph pointed out, I’m on a bit of a Vietnamese roll at the moment. I have a thing for fresh bread rolls, especially the baguettes you find in Vietnamese bakeries – light as air on the inside and crispy on the outside. Vietnamese cuisine is heavily influenced by the French (from years of colonial […]
Pronounced “ferr” not “fo”, I think you can tell a lot about a person by the way they order a bowl of this delicious Vietnamese beef noodle soup. In Sydney for work a couple of years ago I was busting to get to Miss Chu’s – the ‘Queen of rice paper rolls’ for a bowl of […]
Meat pies, fish pies, apple pies and cherry pies. Chicken pies, mince pies, Gosh! there are even party pies. Pies with peas or pies with mash, pies with mushy peas and chips. There are pies with sauce, and pies without, pies that are big and pies that are small. Some have pecans, others have pork […]
