I’ve mentioned a few times that making slices is just not my thing. Scones, pastry, sponge, all the things that other people consider hard, are no problem at all, but my slices just don’t work. Ditto on florentines – really, the method is only a two spooner (given you need to melt chocolate) but somehow…
Honey, honey
Years ago, one Christmas I realised that I had never made a pie from scratch so for our New Year celebration I made a whole raft of them – pecan, pumpkin, an impossible (no pastry) pie, you name it! Since then I have often made pies at New Year, just because we can, but also…
Shortcuts to magic
Part of surviving the southern hemisphere combo special – summer heating up just as we are on final approach to the seasonal holiday frenzy – is, as they say in the classics, knowing when to fold ’em. You just have to work out and accept that there are limits, whether the last straw will be:…
No, really – ’tis the season …
In the thick of making Christmas treats to taste for the family and the neighbours. This gorgeous specimen of an old style fruitcake is destined for my mother-in-law – 92, and still enjoying all the mixed peel goodness! Sadly, the mixture is too big for my current favourite cake tin, so I have to hive…
‘Tis the season …
For years we did the combat shopping thing to get all the foraging done while working full time and wrangling a couple of school age boys. Now I have the luxury of shopping in small bursts whenever I feel like it, and taking a leisurely walk to get it done rather than battling the traffic…
Just coffee in my coffee
I know, I know – I’m old fashioned because I don’t particularly like the frou-frou coffees like “pumpkin spice latte” or (horrors) the latest broccoli latte! My deeply held belief is that the best thing in coffee is more coffee, but I do have a soft spot for pumpkin spice when it comes to the…
“Most liked” …. Joe Froggers!
A nameless social media platform* is telling me that my “most liked” post from 2012 was about Joe Froggers biscuits – watch me fainting with not surprise, because these are hot favourites any time I make them! This recipe comes out every Christmas, weather permitting: they are a form of gingerbread and breathtakingly sticky in…
Rosemary is for remembrance
It’s been a while, which was bad news as far as I just ran out of time for the things that are my recreations.* But there was also good news, in that I did manage to finish my PhD along the way – so I have been Dr Mumchefoz since March this year – and…
Crank out the pasta
Whenever you need some cooking therapy to break the work monotony, settle nerves jangled by irritating neighbours, or sooth away the rigours of, say, dealing with mindless bureaucracy, my strong recommendation would be to crank the handle on a pasta machine. Embrace your inner Italian soul to make as complex or as simple a sauce as…
(No) rush
On the way to Easter (in both traditions), we’ve had the fun of working our way through various breakfast possibilities in no rush at all, so I thought I’d keep going in that vein by posting the ‘how to guide’ for a few favourites. First up – slow cooked baked beans and rice. The recipe is simple…
Sunday: Cuando una puerta se cierra, ciento se abren.
Spanish: When one door closes, a hundred open. To wind up my look at how we revive each day, so we might try again with the being a good person and making a happy life, I thought I’d share my three part take on slow cooking. There is something for all moods, whether it’s to…
Saturday: Dywedwch wrthyf unwaith eto y chwedl …
Welsh: Tell me again the tale of … What is it about Saturday that seems to make us morph into hobbits – you know, needing first breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner, supper … ? Well it probably starts with my family’s habit of getting together over a meal – our mum’s side…
Smile (even if just to make others wonder why)
Several years ago I succeeded in making this wedding cake that was a) gluten free because it was made with almond meal and b) able to hold traditional white royal icing and so look like a regular wedding cake. It absolutely made my day to see the happy couple smile at something all could share when…
Friday: C’est un scandale! Ils ont dit quoi?
French: It is an outrage! They said what? Seriously, when I worked in the big end of town at a nameless international airline, Friday was not the day to chase productivity goals – it just about took surgery to remove people from the water cooler precinct and the coffee shop. Heading to the weekend, gossip…
Thursday: Kore rawa e rawaka te reo kotahi.
Maori: One language is never enough. (traditional saying) The end of the week is looming; the pressure is on to close the deal, get commitments on paper, make reports, organise things for the following week and generally get working life into neat and eye-pleasing order. It’s often all about speaking the other person’s language, and…
Mumchefoz 
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