Pasta is always a great comfort food.  Just don’t use chicken! The world is experiencing a very difficult time right now.  I hope you are all safe, well, and staying out of public areas.  In the meantime, it seems that a lot of us are cooking up a storm.  Everyone is on the prowl for new recipes as we are having to cook far more than we did before when we were footloose and fancy-free.  This eggplant, speck, and fresh tomato sauce is very comforting to eat, and also very easy to make.  It is also very adaptable.  If you don’t have fresh tomatoes, used canned, or pureed tomatoes.  If you do ..read more

    A Savoury pie for Pi Day Pi Day is coming up in on March 14th (Get it?  3/14 for those of you who live in countries where they put the month before the date).  A physicist called Larry Shaw came up with this idea in the late 80’s as a kind of geeky way to celebrate this mathematical constant. Coincidentally, this date was apparently Albert Einstein’s birthday as well.  This is a festivity I can get completely behind: it reminds us of an important math concept, and we can make and eat lots of pie. What’s there not to like? Last year for the super DIY site Instructables   I came up with thi ..read more

    This is a revamp of a post I wrote a few years ago.  My boys are teenagers now and way taller than me.  Don’t let that put you off!  It’s still valid!  I think they would still like doing quite of few of the things to do in Amsterdam listed below. 1. Take A Boat Go on a canal tour.  There are a range of companies, all fairly similar, so there is no need to shop around (and drag your kids around after you!). The 1 hour tour gives you a good view of the city and is short enough that the kids don’t get bored. Be warned: there were no toilets on the boat we went on!     2. Park yourself in T ..read more

    How to learn to like blue cheese This recipe comes from the mother of a good friend of ours who originates from Florence in Tuscany.  When we all lived in California, Simone used to make us Pasta with zucchini and Gorgonzola cheese whenever we went to dinner at his place, which I was always very happy about!  I am a big fan of Gorgonzola.  Well, it wasn’t always this way.  Once, way back in the mists of time, when I had just left the familiarity of the country I grew up in, and when the only cheese I really knew about was mild Cheddar, I tasted Gorgonzola and thought it was horrible.   Ov ..read more

      I wasn’t sure if I wanted to really write this post or not, as the information in it how how to visit Mont Saint Michel in Normandy, France without crowds is a big secret.  In the end, I figure that there are not too many of you reading this blog (after all I’m not an influencer, except when I’m getting my kids to do their chores and homework), so I’m happy if you’ve stumbled across this bit I’ve written and can use it to have an incredible experience in this special place.  Over 20 years ago, I tried to visit Mont St Michel while I was touring around Europe.  We happened to hit the Nor ..read more

    Just a few short hours before, I was calmly seated on a long-haul flight from the other side of the globe.  Now, I am holding on for dear life to the back of my Dad’s quad while he careens up and down hills, swerving between trees and splashing through boggy creeks while chasing a herd of bulls. I’m sharing the wooden platform tacked over the back wheels with one of the sheepdogs.  As I turn my head to search for the escaping bulls, the dog catches me full in the face with the broad side of her very long tongue. I’m definitely home on the farm in New Zealand.     The dogs adore taunting ..read more

    It’s not a party if there’s no honeycrunch! When I was growing up in the seventies in New Zealand, Rice Krispies seemed to be one foodstuff that every family had in their kitchen.  Whenever a kid had a birthday party, along with little red “cheerio” sausages on sticks and Bluebird chips, there would always be a Rice Krispie offering on the table in the form of honeycrunch bars or chocolate crackles . They fulfilled every desire of the parent and children at that time.  For the parents, they were cheap, quick to make, and could easily be whipped up in large quantities. For the kids, they w ..read more

The recipe that was used around the worldThis cookie recipe was given to me years ago by a well-traveled friend of mine who, at some time in the past, had met a woman called Pam when she was visiting Borneo. Pam gave her this cookie recipe. My friend carried on with her travels and lost touch with Pam.  Eventually, after a few years of wandering the globe, she ended up living in France for a while, which is where I met her. At that point, she passed Pam’s cookie recipe on to me.  I never got to meet Pam, or find out anything about her, but I often make her cookies and think about who she might ..read more

The joy of kites at the Rimini Kite FestivalIn April we drove over to Rimini on the East coast of Italy to visit some friends.  We were incredibly lucky to hit town on the weekend that the once a year kite festival was on; and not only that, there was a perfect strong and steady wind blowing off the sea that lifted all the enormous kites high into the sky. Rain showers keep passing over, and the sun umbrellas and lounge chairs were still locked away so we walkers, and many very excited dogs, could enjoy the entire beach.How do they make their kites fly so well?Most of the kites were not the tr ..read more

Chocolate Crackles: essential New Zealand party foodWhen I was growing up in New Zealand in the Seventies, every single birthday party I went to would have a plate of chocolate crackles sitting proudly on the party food table, just waiting to be gobbled by sugar-frenzied, over-excited herds of children. The Seventies seem to be coming back into fashion (to the fashion powers that be, please don’t bring back lamé jumpsuits…..), so I decided to resurrect this old childhood favourite.And why is the coconut there?Chocolate Crackles are incredibly easy to make and do not need any cooking, except fo ..read more