nic cooks

It’s that time of the month again. It’s time for the Sweet Adventures Blog Hop. Hosted by The Kitchen Crusader, the theme this month is “out of the frying pan” so it’s time to get frying.  Over the last few months I have managed to conjure up a few healthier desserts like the raw raspberry mousse or the  healthy cheesecake; I even managed to make a healthier chocolate cake.  So I figure I have earned some credits for this naughty but nice dessert of ricotta fritters.

The Sweet Adventures Blog Hop has been a great way for me to increase my baking skills but it has also broadened my tastes when it comes to eating dessert. I’ve never had much of a sweet tooth and will always choose entree over dessert but now I am starting to enjoy my creations and try new things. Read more »

My oven has died. It was a bitter-sweet day. Bitter, because it ruined a perfectly good roast beef dinner but sweet because that was the kick-start I needed for the kitchen renovation. Yes! A broken oven has resulted in a whole new kitchen. With d-day looming I was able to squeeze in one last supper before the kitchen was demolished removed by the lucky winner of our eBay auction. Yes, we really did sell our old kitchen on an internet auction site but that is a whole other story.

It was the thermostat that broke on the oven so for the last three months I haven’t been able to cook anything that requires an accurate or high temperature. That means I’ve been starved of my usual winter favourites of Yorkshire Puddings and roast pork with crispy crackling.  I have, however, been able to do slow cooking. Cooking that requires a low temperature and you aren’t in a hurry to eat. Read more »

Most people I know turn their noses up at offal but I am genuinely a huge fan.  I have no problem with what it is and I really do like the flavour.  My husband on the other hand is not such a fan so I have to try and sneak it into my cooking. A great way of doing that is in a pie. Especially a pie that also contains beef and Guinness.  Pies are the perfect comfort food for a grey winters day.  I love many flavours of pie but my all time favourite is steak and kidney.  The Aussies like to think they are champion pie makers, but the famous Aussie meat pie is missing one key ingredient: kidneys.

If you don’t want to go to the effort of making a pie, this recipe also works well as a stew.  I have also Read more »

The countdown is on for the kitchen renovation and I AM EXCITED! We have booked the cabinet makers; chosen the appliances; nearly finalised the plans; we even have a date. Now all I need to do is work out what we are going to do while the kitchen is out of service.  We have a camp stove we can cook on, so my plan is to make some tasty, winter comfort food that can be reheated for dinner. I’ll then freeze them in two person portions so when the time comes I can reheat quickly. The aim is to make dinners that take preferably one but no more than two pans to re-heat. So pasta sauce, stews and casseroles a plenty will be made.

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No, your eyes are not deceiving you, this is a post with a vegan recipe. Please keep reading, just occasionally it’s good to step outside of your comfort zone. Hosted by Nic from Dining with a Stud, this months Sweet Adventures Blog Hop has a theme to challenge even the best cooks. This month we have been asked to create a desert without heat i.e. make a dish suitable for a raw food diet.

If you follow a raw food diet you literally, only eat raw food. Anything that is heated above 40C is not considered raw. Obviously that means no cooking of food. Less obviously, it also means you cannot eat the majority of milk, cream, yoghurt and chocolate products, as these are all heated above 40C in the manufacturing process. Read more »