a passion for food and cooking inspired by travel, family and friends
A bit of a break. Summer holidays are pretty much over but in Dubai, the fact that summer is in its last month or 2, is something to look forward to. We have had some wonderful holidays to Spain and Mallorca and also Malaysia and Borneo. And I’m sure a few pictures may feature along the rest of my alphabetical journey as I picked up ideas. As you will see from a couple of snaps, this was not a diet trip….
H is also for Holidays!!! We are a week into Summer break and feeling very ready for a break of our own. My mum has arrived and spoilt the kids thoroughly with amazing and exhausting outings to Kidzania and Ski Dubai to meet the Penguins while we are at work….
Everyone has a preference. Scrambled, Poached, Fried (sunny side up, over easy ), boiled. For some reason I always feel at ease with my kids if they have an egg, nothing else in their diet for that day matters, I know they have had a good dose of goodness. This is one versatile ingredient, putting aside soufflé, angel food cakes, pavlova and anything requiring an egg to make the recipe work. …
There are a lot of ingredients starting with B! However beetroot is a favourite of mine, yet like a lot of people, seems to get forgotten from time to time. I have actually posted the odd recipe over the years containing beetroot; its a fabulous colour, a taste like nothing else, adds sweetness to a savoury dish (will liven any salad), can be eaten raw or cooked, you can eat the root and the leaves, and it is delicious juiced. And its just not an Aussie burger unless it has beetroot on it (the canned variety of course)….
After 5 weeks of being back in the work force, my freezer of frozen meals is dwindling. As I am very fortunate to have Thursdays off work, I was able to get groceries and general household admin sorted. Because the traffic has increased tenfold (or so it feels) since summer holidays ended, I am reluctant to spend any more time than is necessary in the car.
So everyone had to stay at home for the afternoon. It was lovely pottering and for the first time since I can remember we were able to spend some quality time outside paying in the garden.
I had a bit of pressure building that a blog was well overdue and decided on these little fish cakes (I’m also blaming my broken lens – sorry for dodgy pics). Essentially they are a simple fish pie recipe just all mixed up into little patties, and fried. The recipe is embarrassingly simple (I surprised myself at the restraint in use of ingredients!)
but oh so tasty, especially sprinkled with a little crunchy sea salt….
School has been back for a week or so, nursery too. I have been back at work for a week and the familiarity of hectic mornings, being super organised are slowly creeping back (along with forgotten mobile phones, school books, thermos full of coffee etc…).
I am also remembering how to savour the down times, spend a little time with the 3 kids, and getting my subjective hat on to work out how to discuss complicated topics such as ‘do dinosaurs speak french?’ and ‘I can’t go to bed, I’m allergic to sleep’. Then realise I have to prepare dinner and plan the school lunches for the next day. I love cooking all the time, but when forced too I realise I am cooking ALL the time. I must admit I do like a freezer full of back ups and kids snacks and meals so a lot of it is my own doing….
