recipe

Lamb shanks with quinces and chickpeas

Lamb shanks with quince and chickpeas

I’m in Motherland 1 (NZ) at the moment for family stuff, with Bro and I flying into Auckland yesterday. The parents picked us up from the airport, and it wasn’t long before the fussing started.

“Did you bring a coat?

It’s really cold here.

Where’s your coat?

No, it’s really cold. Why didn’t you bring a coat?” (This last question to Bro – I did bring my coat, cutting out 200% of the fussing.)

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Pressure cooker beef ribs with a sticky sauce

Beef ribs

I’m really into beef and lamb ribs lately. Whenever I’ve seen them at restaurants, I’ve *had* to order them.

But since they’re not as popular as pork ribs, they’re not as readily available to buy raw. So when I saw beef ribs at the butcher last weekend, I snapped some up.

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Pork chops roasted with apples and beer

Pork with apples and beer

Uuuuugh autumn. Winter. Bleh.

Really, about the only good thing that comes with this time of year is apples. I really like apples, though I am quite particular about the types that I’ll eat (it’s a short list: Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Jazz).

But yup, apples are the only good thing. That’s about it. There’s nothing else.

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Sher Ping Pancakes

Sher Ping pancakes

After I got my hands on a copy of Jamie’s America (thanks to the buying efforts of April) I flipped through the book with a slight sinking feeling.

I like Jamie, and I like some of his books, but when I looked through this particular one, I thought, “I’m never going to cook anything out of this.” 🙁

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Lemon Curd Meringue Cake

Lemon curd meringue cake

It was Alastair’s birthday in late March, and as per tradition for the past seven years, there was birthday lasagne to celebrate.

A LOT of birthday lasagne. Like… four litres of bolognaise sauce a lot. (Go big, right?!)

Of course, it wasn’t just us eating birthday lasagne. I invited a few people over and naturally there had to be birthday cake. Not for Alastair, because he doesn’t like cake that much, but for everyone else since it’s “not a birthday without birthday cake”.

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No bake coconut and mango panna cotta pie

Panna cotta pie

It feels like it’s been hot forever. Autumn, what Autumn?

I know that some (most) people are over it, but I can’t tell you how happy I am with never-ending summer. The sunshine! The warmth! It’s like being wrapped up in a constant hug (or a thousand and two woollen jumpers). Happy happy happy!

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Alfajores

Alfajores

After making these alfajores on two different occasions, I declare them a winter baking project.

Both occasions were during extremely hot nights and it was an exercise in frustration. The dough for these biscuits is super soft, and there was heavy resistance to being rolled out or shaped because it wanted to be melty mcmelt all over the bench.

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Chinese Roast Pork Belly *

Pork Belly

Happy Roast Pork Belly Day!

Okay, so it’s actually Valentine’s Day, but c’moooooon. Roast Pork Belly Day is about as arbitrary, right?

Besides, Valentine’s Day is completely wasted on me. I’m not into getting flowers (they die… and I can buy my own), or chocolates (I only really like plain dark chocolate… and I can buy my own), or jewellery (I don’t like gold or diamonds… and I can buy my own).

You can deduce a couple of things from that.

1: I don’t like receiving gifts. (Though I appreciate the thought and all.)
2: I’m terribly unromantic.

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