Well who can believe it, 2016 is over.  It feels like I’ve said it so often this year, but seriously where has the last twelve months gone.  Tempus fugit, as my husband is fond of quoting.

So, what is this blog about.  It is quite simply my way of paying homage, to a person for whom I have never met, but, who has, through two of the best shows on television, “Man v Food” and “Man v Food Nation” inspired me, in part, during 2016 to:

1. Start my own blog;
2. Create my own chilli sauce, and;
3. Try smoking, of the food variety.

At least I achieved one out of three, not great but better than none at all.  Hopefully by this time next year, I will have made a start on accomplishing the other two.  Initial progress has been made, I at least know where to buy the smoker equipment.

What have these shows taught me? Well a couple of things really.

The first being that much of the joy of food is derived from the creation and preparation and then sharing with others the fruits of your labours.   This, for me is what cooking and creating is all about.

Secondly, you don’t have to be a professionally trained chef, to make wonderful food.  Many of the places featured, have been in the same family for years and are based on recipes passed, down through the years, from one family member to another.  I love that some of my favourite recipes have come from both my mum and my mother-in-law, which they in turn learned from family members.

We recently discovered another Adam Richman show on SBS, “Secret Eats with Adam Richman”.  The second episode, set in Hi Chi Minh City, provided inspiration for one aspect of our New Year’s Eve dinner, “pork wrapped in lemongrass”.  I was so pleased with my (first) attempt, both in carving the lemongrass stalks and the flavour imparted into the pork.

The other dinner option, was home-made “lamb with spinach”.  This choice harked back to the days of old (sans children) where I always used to make Indian meals from scratch on the weekend.  I have been saying to the guys at work that I need to get back into this habit and what better time to recommence than when seeing in a new year.  Start as you mean to continue!

I love my kids to bits, but they do make me laugh.  What was their take on this dish?  “It’s ok, Mum, but not the best thing you’ve ever made”.  They did like the pork though.  Win some, you lose some, I guess!

On par with the food, was the aroma throughout the house – a combination of fresh garlic, ginger, coriander and lime.  

If only I could have bottled it!

What a perfect way to see out one year and herald in the new one!

Then came New Year’s Day, with a combination of school book covering, painting, walking Brooklyn and a marathon of “Man v Food” and “Man v Food Nation”.  Not sure the day could have got any better!

I watch those shows with both a sense of awe and bewilderment, at not only the size of the portions, but also the flavour combinations and the fact that almost everything is either smoked and barbecued or deep fried.

Given that I am hoping to lose some weight this year, I am going to ignore the deep frying and focus my efforts on learning and developing smoking techniques.

So thank you Adam Richman, for ensuring that I saw the old year out and the new year in with inspiration and an ongoing fervour for cooking and creating and to then share this love with others.

Happy New Year!!

 

I was taking Brooklyn , quite simply the most gorgeous dog you’ll ever meet, for a walk down the park tonight and suddenly it came to me “if orange is the new black, then leftovers are the new cool“.

What does that mean? To be perfectly honest I haven’t a clue, because I have never seen the television show and I have no interest in seeing it, however I am fascinated by the way the show seems to have challenged society and it’s ideals.

Strangely left-over food seems to do the same to people every day!  For the “time-challenged”or the “inspirationally challenged”, left-overs are your best friend.  The flavour is already there, you don’t need to think what about what needs to be added!

There are many people who “pooh-pooh” the use of left-overs, but why would you do this? Quite frankly, everything tastes better the next day.

Lunch today was exceptionally late, because another “left-over” from the holiday season had to be completed, that being the the construction of a new trampoline.

So what did we do for lunch, cold meat and salad (think a traditional Ploughman’s lunch), toasted sandwiches and wraps. The Christmas ham is your saviour!  Yaz and I can’t wait for Pea and Ham Soup, using the ham bone, of course.

It often seems that people are afraid of left-overs but they can be your “best friend” and simplify your life. I was going to make fried rice for tea tonight, had even prepared the rice, however my family seem to have decided that potato chips and ice-cream make for a far better dinner! Clearly it’s the holidays! Part of me has to agree with them, however we will be having the fried rice tomorrow night.

Well, this is it, Christmas has come around again.  How is it that another year has come and gone?

The reality is, as I sit here writing this and reflecting on a wonderful day, Christmas is just about over again for another year.

I truly love this time of year, the tree and the decorations, the carols, special time with family and friends and all the glorious food and drink.

For me much of the joy is in preparing for the day, whether it’s decorating the tree, deciding what food to have or the preparation of food.

Sitting around a food-laden table in the beautiful Australian sunshine, brought back memories of Christmas last year.  What a complete contrast,
there we were in a bungalow in the middle of an English forest, during a cold English winter, celebrating with my husband’s parents.

It was just like the Christmas cards; log fire, fir trees, and squirrels!  The men even got the requisite English Christmas jumpers! Did it seem more traditionally Christmas, yes in some ways, but today just confirmed for me, that I really do love a good Australian Christmas, with blue skies, sunshine and the requisite flies!!

It was great that we actually managed to throw in a couple of surprises, particularly for the kids.  Everyone loves a surprise however it was tempered by the dreaded experience of one of the presents not working when it was meant to.  Now a visit to the shops on Boxing Day is unavoidable. Uhhhhhhh!

It’s so funny, I was telling the guys in the office only last week, that I always end up with gifts that are food oriented.   Surprise, surprise it’s happened again!  Saying that though there is no sense of disappointment, except maybe for the kids, who will now get to try zucchini spaghetti.  Might give the pasta and noodle maker a run for its money.  Thinking the gifts will help make some great salads over summer.  Watch this space!

I actually managed to not over indulge, however that did not preclude the need for my requisite “nanna nap” this afternoon after everyone had left.  Bit like the road safety campaigns advocating people have a powernap when feeling tired, I am a huge believer in the power of a good nap!

The food was amazing and we did not over cater toooo much!  Still managed to have too much food, but that just seems to go with the territory.  Left overs are great though and will make for quick easy meals for the next few days.

Having a wonderful day in the sunshine, with great company, food
and drink, yes, this really is the season to be jolly and yes, I am jolly and filled with all the joys of the Season and very thankful for the life I have XX

I can’t believe it, I’ve been talking about doing this blog for over a month now and finally I’m here!!  Do I know what I want to achieve, not really, but I love creating and sharing that with others.

Why is “every day a culinary adventure”?  I wish I knew, but if you asked anyone who knows me, I will at some point, on any given day, always ask someone “what are you doing for dinner?”.

Last night was a perfect case in point.  Arriving home from work I had no idea what do to for dinner, and God bless their little cotton socks and I love them to bits, but my family were, once again not that useful in deciding what to have!  Their standard response “I don’t know”!

So what else is there to do, but have a bit of a rummage through the freezer and/or the pantry.  I was reminded of the nursery rhyme, from a time when I was very much younger than I am now, “Old Mother Hubbard went to cupboard and the cupboard was bare”, except I found some leftover home-made pork mince from my last sausage making adventure and a packet of puff pastry.

I have, over the last two years  had the pleasure of working with this amazing and inspiring lady, who everyday, talks about the necessity to have “Ah hah” moments in life.  For me, dinner tonight was one of them!

Puff pastry plus pork sausage mince = sausage rolls 

Ahhhhh, I went and the result, even if I say so myself, was well worth it!

I love puff pastry, but I never seem to finish the packet and always end up wasting the last couple of sheets.  If I was an inventor, I would create the perfect pastry storage container for those left-over sheets.  Plastic bags or cling film just don’t do the trick and I end up throwing out the left-overs because of “freezer burn”.

Following the principles of “waste not want not”, I felt the need to use up the  remaining pastry sheets.  Hence some really quick pinwheels with puff pastry and jam.

Is “everyday a culinary adventure“, absolutely!  But the reality is life is a series of adventures and challenges.  Will I always get it right? Not a snowball’s chance in hell!  All I can hope is that I learn and challenge myself at every opportunity!

Here’s to the joys of life, love, family and champagne!