Poor Poppy puppy had to have an operation on her leg and spent the night at the vet surgery under observation and pain relief. It's a tight little family of animals here and Rosie, the abominable tabby, fretted for Poppy terribly. Usually they sit on Robert's lap together for hours each evening. Rose refused to … Continue reading Poppy’s operation

Wednesday morning tea today. I decided to bake the Date and Orange Ring from my book "Sweet!" I do wish sometimes I'd just stick to the recipe as I'd first invented it. But no. With a glut of dates in the pantry, and limes, lemons and tangelos aplenty I couldn't resist making about a quadruple … Continue reading Date and Orange Ring – Yeasted Cake

By special request, all dressed up (well, kind of) and ready to go to the party last Saturday, family favourite - lemon mousse cake topped with mini meringues.

Travelled early this morning up the east coast to Triabunna. Spent a very enjoyable morning cooking with this lovely band of gentlemen. During the class I was introduced to a wonderful, flavoursome, pure salt of the region, even received a gift of a packet. It had to be done, might be a while before I … Continue reading Cooking at Triabunna – idyllic Tasmanian seaside town

Here at sunny Molesworth the wattles are blooming, such a beautiful sight. Every which way you look, up the road and down and everywhere all around, there's a blaze of bright yellow flowers, simply stunning.    

Here are the two recipes requested from tis morning's Jams and Preserves talkback:  Spiced Pumpkin Soup and from listener Suzanne, Pickled Jerusalem Artichokes. Spiced Pumpkin Soup with coconut cream (Recipe from "A Kitchen in the Valley".) Serves 6 2 teaspoons coconut oil or olive oil 1 large onion, diced 900g pumpkin flesh, cut into 2cm … Continue reading Recipes from today’s ABC talkback

What do you do when you are trying to write an article and the words just won't come together? Bake, experiment with food - hopefully this will kick my brain into gear. Brinjal (eggplant) recipe first and a plan for some over-salted salami, both of these experimental. Only time will tell how they will turn … Continue reading Cooking to Cure Writer’s Block??

Going bananas here. Found a bagful of over-ripe specimens on a specials table at a fruit market. First - a banana cake for the Wednesday morning tea platter. Cream cheese icing of course, but a bit rich for some maybe? Therefore drizzled it with some preserved passionfruit pulp to counteract that factor. As for the … Continue reading Bananas!

The inaugural Literary High Tea was held yesterday afternoon in New Norfolk at Glen Derwent colonial property. Much respected Meg Keneally was the guest author. During her excellent presentation, she related true stories of a number of convict characters, with a special focus on Mary Bryant. She also spoke about (my personal favourite convict) William … Continue reading Inaugural Literary High Tea at Glen Derwent

Very pretty here this morning at Molesworth in the sunny spells between showers. Love the way the raindrops cling to the tree outside the kitchen window. Dear old Tom makes the most of the warmth in the armchair on the verandah. Not that he looks particularly pleased - he's perpetually cross these days. (I've had … Continue reading Molesworth morning