Eggs in (Italian) tomatoes

I was waxing lyrical to a friend recently about the food in Italy and how fantastic it tasted. Everything. Even the tinned tomatoes. He suggested in his devil's advocate kind of a way that perhaps, given Italy's reputation, you couldn't help but think the food tasted good. No, I said, it really did.

A rainy Saturday and sweet pastry pies

Gosh I don't know what came over me. Well, OK, maybe I do. I've been eating extra carefully lately, and have started missing baking - the soothing activity of baking at least as much as the eating. So on a quiet and wet Saturday afternoon, when I couldn't not bake anymore, I decided to do something I haven't done for a while, and bake something I haven't baked before. If you follow me.

Potato fritters

I've been quite uninspired about dinner recently. Cooking for two children is never quite the same as cooking for two adults. And I'm a little out of routine, I'm not in my own kitchen, and Esther has been a bit funny about vegetables over the last few days. But the more picky the kids get, the more determined I am to make dinner work, and I nailed it the other night. Esther seems to have got back to her usual quite-well-eating self too.

Hummingbird Cake

We had a good day the other day. A good day! Reuben and Esther played together beautifully when he came home from kindy and that makes everything better. It was another hot day and I just felt like making a cake - and managed to do just that amid the peace and quiet. Actually, the quiet was interrupted just as I was about to put the cakes in the oven, by loud, crackling, heavy rain. It took me a moment to realise what the noise was, then I threw the cakes in to the oven and flew down the stairs to get the windows of the car up, the car in to the garage and the washing off the line - preferably simultaneously.

Heavenly Blackberry Pie

Blackberry Pie! Now there is something worth living for. Nana braved the heat and the thorns at a secret South Wairarapa location the other day, and brought home a container full of blackberry jewels. Oh the options! We started with homemade blackberry icecream, which was out of this world, and the next day moved on to blackberry pie. Gosh it's good. I'm suddenly ecstatic about the idea of free blackberries, and am feeling very motivated to hunt down some edible ones a little closer to home - right after I've finished eating the leftovers.

Glucose chocolate

I couldn't possibly tell you how I got there, but you know what it's like. A while ago I was reading something on the internet and then I clicked on a link and then I followed something else and somewhere along the way I ended up at Wild Patch Chocolates. And hoorah! What a great place to land. Wild Patch Chocolates was set up by chocolatier Linda Komesaroff who found herself on the possibly awkward journey of becoming sugar-free. But rather than having to find a new vocation, she started making glucose-sweetened chocolate. What a brilliant idea. And lucky for us!

Busy People's Bread

A few of you have recommended Annabel Langbein's "Busy People's Bread" and as it happens I have the right recipe book on my bookshelf, so I have made it a couple of times.

Buying chicken (and wrapping it)

A couple of times recently I've come across the idea that buying whole chickens is the most cost effective way of eating chicken. That sounded appealing to me, so I thought I would look in to it.

For me it wasn't quite as easy as just buying a whole chicken. The point is that I want to be able to eat my chicken in different ways, not just whole roasted. This means chopping it up in to pieces, which is a bit off-putting. I'm not really a wuss when it comes to raw meat, but I don't love handling raw chicken, and the truth is that slicing up a whole chook would require some serious knife work, a serious knife and a bit of time and energy.

Fed up with eating

I've been trying out this remarkable way of eating. Well, trying it as often as I can manage over the last couple of weeks. It's quite radical; you might call it a diet, if you must, but it doesn't really have a catchy name. Maybe somebody should come up with one. At the moment I call it "eating when you're hungry and stopping when you've had enough."

Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding in a mug

 

In July last year I wrote about chocolate pudding in a mug on The Cook's Sponge, and I have to say I still feel the way I did then:

Parmesan, oregano and chia crackers

I can't quite get over the fact that you can make crackers at home. I don't know why this is so surprising to me, but I lived for about 36 years not knowing it was possible. So it's taking me a while to catch up.

Healthy options?

In a world that bombards me with information on how to be healthier (much of it true, I might add), I am very happy with the decision I have made that drastically reducing fructose in my diet is the best place for me to start. It's an idea that's sort of new and radical, but it's gaining more and more momentum and credibility. And it's sort of not new and radical at all - our fructose intake has exploded over the last century or more, and maybe some of us are just trying to get back to "normal." There are many people, professionals and amateurs, who believe there is not enough evidence to suggest sugar is harming us, and there are many people, professionals and amateurs, who believe there is. Unusually for me, I'm happy to decide where I stand, for now, rather than be a fence-sitter, while the debate continues. Present me with some convincing evidence and I'll happily climb over to the other side of the fence. In fact, given that the norm in fructose intake, up until the late 19th century, was a few pieces of fruit and some occasional honey (approximately one kilo per year), I think I'd want someone to present me with evidence that increasing this amount by 22 times is safe.

Truth and cowboys. Finding your way through the information maze.

It's a very big world out there. The world wide web I mean. If I had a dollar (or perhaps the minimum wage ) for every hour I've sat here and read about sugar and other sweet things, I'd probably have enough money to buy a house with a double garage.

Olive and Parmesan pull-apart loaf

 

There was a phase in our lives when we used to visit Brumby's Bakery pretty often, usually on a post-church Sunday. It must have been when we were in our early 20s, as it reminds me of those days of picnics with friends when you pick up what you need from the supermarket; usually bread, brie, ham, lettuce and something sweet. However, Kent and I quickly developed a favourite at Brumby's, the olive and parmesan pull-apart loaf. And that didn't require any additions.

Rice Syrup and Chocolate Sauce

It's time I let you know the great news about rice syrup. You may remember my post Food play... what's coming up where I let you know that I had discovered rice syrup and was looking forward to, well, playing with it. And play indeed I have.

Sugar free chocolate

You've no idea how hard I've been working for you. Chocolate tasting is a job you wouldn't believe. Come and have a read of what I have been learning about sugar free chocolate...

The best thing (is) sliced bread

Kent and I were given a bread machine as a wedding present. I don't know if that gives away the era in which we were married. We were certainly very pleased to receive it, and used it off and on over the years. But high usage only really went in phases, and I must say it really does produce a certain kind of bread. I liked it, but couldn't eat it every day for breakfast and for lunch. I really like the idea of making homemade bread but am not up for making it regularly from scratch, so quite awhile ago decided to experiment a little more with the bread machine.

Cocoa nibs and an update on orange cocoa balls

I've just written a brief update on the Orange Cocoa Balls post, with a few different options for those of you who are interested, and I'll copy it in below to save you clicking through. And you may (or may not) be excited to hear about cocoa nibs.

The low down on glucose

 

You know that feeling when you're sure you've turned the last corner before the brow of the hill or the end of a long bush walk and you discover there's another (and another) still to go? That's what my sugar alternative journey has felt like, but I think this time I really am close to the summit.

Fun Chocolate Mousse

The thing about trying to eat a little healthier, sugar-wise, is that you discover a whole world of healthy eating that you never intended to delve into. I don't have any particular desire to be dairy free or gluten free or anything else free to be honest, but I am certainly reading a lot about it and know it works well for many people.