the end was just the beginning
When I'm entertaining, I like to theme things. Last weekend it was a Spanish BBQ. Chorizo, olives, bread and Manchego cheese to start. Marinated steaks, cous cous salad and aioli potatoes for main. Flourless mandarin cake for dessert (for recipe click here). I rubbed my hands together in glee, imagining the awesome food blog I would write.... Continue Reading →
I've been a print journalist since I was 17. It's all I know, it's everything I love. But I'm a realist. I know newspapers and magazines are on borrowed time in their current format. Ten years, 15 at most. The thing that bothers me about print media's transition to the digital age - aside from all the journalists... Continue Reading →
I discovered the secret to great guacamole while dining at a Mexican restaurant called Dos Caminos. The restaurant's snazzy trick was having the waiter made the guacamole at your table. He mashed all the ingredients together with a big mortar and pestle. And I noticed he used lots of salt and lemon juice, or was it lime... Continue Reading →
Husband and I have been arguing about our next overseas holiday destination. God knows why because the only places we can afford to visit are spare bedrooms within a driving radius of Sydney. Husband is mad-keen to take the Sprogs to Siem Reap. As in Cambodia. He's been there. Says it's absolutely amazing. So do lots of other people. That's lovely, but I don't want... Continue Reading →
Play hide-the-veggies with your kids using this sweet recipe. The muffins are especially good served warm from the oven. Sprog 2 helped me make a batch on the weekend, but refused to try them because she knew the secret ingredient. Sprog 1, on the other hand, has been hoovering them up. For more muffin recipes, check out my latest blog at Village Voices. It's called "3 fast and fruity muffins" and you can... Continue Reading →
I've led a charmed life. Despite being born the year Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon, my sex has never been an impediment. I grew up believing I was man's equal. My dad's attitude to foreigners sometimes gives me pause, but he's certainly not sexist. He was delighted to have two daughters and no sons. At school, my left-handedness caused far more consternation than my gender. I spent 20 years working at an organisation primarily staffed... Continue Reading →
Remember the roast duck I cooked last week? (See https://housegoeshome.com/2012/05/30/recipe-roast-duck-with-warm-red-cabbage-salad/ ) I used the neck and wing tips to make duck stock and turned that into the base for risotto a few nights later. Risotto is sublime. Some people reckon it's hard to make, but I've never - knock on wood - screwed it up. As long as you add... Continue Reading →
Stuff that stupid expression: "Those that can, do. Those who can't, teach." What a load of bull! Teaching is bloody hard. I couldn't do it, supervising the Sprogs' homework is difficult enough. Mind you, I've made it tougher by giving up alcohol (well, early in the week) (well, except for tokay, but that's not grog, it's dessert). It means... Continue Reading →
Drum roll ... It's a right royal week, if you're into that sort of thing. If you're not, the pickings are slim. But I still found a scandal that tickled my hip-pocket fancy ... Unfortunately my computer clagged this morning and the iPad has developed an annoying new quirk where it won't let me activate... Continue Reading →
The lovely Angela Mollard wrote a column in The Sunday Telegraph magazine yesterday about a game called "Shoot, shag or marry" that she played on a mountain in Nepal. Everyone had to "nominate a celebrity we'd, you know, do it with if we were single or handed a day pass". She chose Clive Owen. I thought "oooooh,... Continue Reading →
