A warming sight on a rainy winter's morning. Why? Because I was recently asked if I could develop a recipe for a shelf-stable chilli paste. I don't know really, but I'll give it a red hot go (pardon the pun). Step 1 = remove seeds and dehydrate the chillies' flesh. Note to self - next … Continue reading Chilli Time on a Chilly Morning

I love it when vegan-minded people come to visit, as was the case today. It gives me a reason to experiment, adapt, convert and expand some of my recipes and even more enjoyable, invent new ones. This morning - sticky multi-fruity, glistening vegan muffins containing apple (pureed as a substitute for the egg), banana, blueberries … Continue reading A Little Vegan Baking

Sometimes you can just get stuck in a groove - for me this week it's been along the theme of apricots.   Maybe it's the reminiscence about simpler times last summer - picking apricots in gardens of the Derwent Valley, then bringing them home and preserving them by the boxful (always Moor Park variety of … Continue reading The Taste of Summer Apricots in Winter

A long-overdue visit  this morning to Banjo's New Norfolk Market, here in the Derwent Valley. It was great to meet and re-connect with a friend we'd not seen for ages. Amazing food on offer - husband Robert was very impressed with his filled bagel from Black Mountain Gourmet. (It didn't last long enough to take … Continue reading A Market of the Derwent Valley

Cilla the pig - each day she likes to snuggle up in her bed of hay for a snooze in the winter sunshine. She makes this bed herself. She doesn't need to actually eat the hay (she's so well fed and fat) but likes to be given a little when the sheep are fed. She … Continue reading A day in the life of Cilla the Pet Pig

Marble cake for the morning tea platter for friends.   I love marble cake - as it's cut each slice is a revelation with its individual patterning.   Extra flavour was added with a little jam in the pink, lemon rind in the white and of course extra chocolate in the remaining batter.   Obsessed … Continue reading Morning tea cake for friends

Move forward an hour or so from my last blog - might as well make two soups as one. After all, I had on hand a beautiful Derwent Valley pumpkin from the men's shed just outside Lawitta.   Here's the result - creamy parsnip and leek paired in the bowl with slightly spiced pumpkin with … Continue reading Two soups

There's not much growing in the garden at present, the frosts have been quite severe.   Leeks are the exception - they are absolutely thriving. Matched to delicious local parsnips, there's bound to be a soup in that somewhere.....

I've had many people ask me recently where they can purchase copies of my slow cooker books, namely "Slow Cooker" and "Slow Cooker 2". They are in short supply around Hobart apparently.   Here in lovely New Norfolk there are three places that stock them.   Glen Derwent Tea Rooms has many copies - they … Continue reading Sally Wise Books’ availability

I really love making old fashioned style biscuits. One that has regularly been baked for the family biscuit barrel for decades is jam drops. I like them but don't love them, the reason being that there always seems to be not enough jam to the quantity of the shortbread biscuit.   After all, if you … Continue reading Upgraded Jam Drop Biscuits