Recipes & Resources
This morning was one of the coldest I’ve ever known here in Orange. A heavy frost reached almost to the back door and made our early start that much harder. Alice and I were off to pick up a poddy calf, an early 11th birthday present. But on the way we met up with Mum…
I’m going to generalise here and say that country people love entertaining outside and this is why (again generalising); because it’s a rare chance to down tools and actually enjoy the space and scenery we call home, because picnics are kid heaven and because surely we can all agree that fresh air is conducive to…
It was a cool April afternoon, I was a brand new country-dweller chatting about the change of season with a neighbour. All innocence, I told of my excitement about having a fire that night, the year’s first. She shook her head (and may even have tch tch’d – if memory serves). No she said, no…
Quince chutney;This column first appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald’s Domain magazine. A small country show is the best of country life packaged up into one weekend. From the working bees that ensure their show ground pavilions are always spick and span, to the army of dining hall cooks producing hundreds of hot meals with…
This column first appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald’s Domain magazine. Generosity and hospitality are common themes in country cooking. And maybe its because I didn’t grow up in this environment, but I’m always amazed by the speed with which food is produced as soon as someone looks hungry in a country kitchen. A sandwich,…
This column first appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald’s Domain magazine. Twelve years ago I made the tree change from Sydney’s inner city to Orange’s outer reaches. From apartment living – crowded trains, coffee on every corner and a drawer full of home delivery menus – I now found myself newly married, living on a…
The days between Christmas and New Years are always good ones. We fall into a funny kind of lazy limbo when you know the date but not the day of the week, you get to sleep in then stay in bed with tea and new Christmas books, a trip to the town pool is the…
It’s been a little quiet here lately – and I just wanted to jump in and explain why. Some of you may have heard that I’m writing a new cookbook (yay!). It will be published in 2019 by Murdoch Books and I’m in absolute heaven writing, recipe testing and shooting my socks off to meet…
Chocolate wheaty biscuits – you had me at hello. These are my perfect biscuits – perfect for dunking in tea, for taking on picnics, for packing in lunch boxes and nibbling at your desk. So I was pretty happy to come across an excellent recipe for making them at home. Happier still to be able…
I often think that if my favourite thing to do was go jogging, do cross-fit or similar – I’d be less fearful at the thought of buying a new pair of swimmers for our upcoming September break. But actually my favourite thing to do is make sweet yeasted buns, loaves and brioche. There’s something hugely…
Anneka Manning is one of the most professional bakers I’ve ever come across. She’s also one of the most generous and lovely people going. So yes – I was rather excited when she agreed to come to Orange to co-host the latest one-day My Open Kitchen workshop at the Old Convent. This one was all…
food writer and farmer (or at
least married to one). Read More…
