A few nights ago I fed the family a roast dinner with a difference. I’ve never cooked with pork neck before but found a great Asian inspired Donna Hay recipe for the infrequently used cut. At $24 from my local butcher the two kilo pork neck was big enough for 7-8 portions; however in my household of big eaters it stretched to about five.

Since moving out of home 6 months ago I’ve quickly come to realise how expensive groceries can be. You can duck down to the local supermarket to pick up a few things for dinner and easily end up spending $50. A great tip that mum has taught me is to look in the quick sale meat section at the supermarket to see what’s on sale. Quite often you can grab something that’s hugely discounted just because it is nearing the use by date. Recently I bought a 600g beef tenderloin for just $6, which was marked down from $16! Here’s what I did with it.

Mr 10 celebrated a special birthday last weekend finally reaching double digits. To mark the occasion we invited several of his best mates out for a rip roaring Saturday afternoon of bowling and laser tag fun. The centrepiece of every birthday party is always the cake. By last Thursday I still didn’t have a cake planned for Mr 10’s bowling birthday. It became a bit of a challenge to create something with a bit of wow factor, when I didn’t have the time to bake.

I can't believe its almost Christmas again! I make this trifle every year because its my husband's favourite dessert. He looks forward to it so much he starts dropping hints from early November! It requires minimum effort but has maximum impact! This trifle always looks impressive layered up in a clear glass bowl. This recipe is a breeze using easy to grab ingredients from the supermarket. I don’t even bother making my own custard!

I am a huge fan of Amanda Voisey’s popular blog and social media pages, Cooking For Busy Mums. As a busy mum myself, I have Amanda’s blog bookmarked on my laptop for those times when I need ideas for fast family dinners and healthy lunch boxes. Amanda contacted us recently with the exciting news that she is now a published author! Her new cookbook, which is also called Cooking For Busy Mums, is available from today!

We rarely have a BBQ or summer salad at our place without nipping down to the local supermarket for a tub of Creamy Pasta Salad. My kids love the supermarket version so much that I have never bothered making it myself, until recently. What swayed me was the price, I have been paying $7.50 for a 800gm tub and sometimes I buy two!. Mr 11 can polish off half a tub just as a snack so I decided to start making it instead.

Our family loves curry! Its a great winter warmer. In this weather curry appears on our household menu a few times a week. I am always on the lookout for new curry recipes to try, the type that don’t come out of a jar. It was exciting to stumble across some blended spice mixes while shopping at Riverview produce in Richmond. They caught my eye because they were packed with love and care and not mass produced.  I picked up a packet of the curried sausage mix to try at home.

I have baked hundreds of cakes for Christmas and celebrations. This fruitcake always gets rave reviews so I have decided to share the recipe. There looks to be a long list of ingredients and some unique instructions, but this is an easy fruit cake. For best results start the cake three days in advance by soaking the mixed fruit in about half a cup of sweet or cream sherry. Use a plastic container with a tight sealing lid so you can flip it over each day to let the alcohol marinade through every piece of fruit. Don’t faint when you see the cooking time, fruitcakes need a long slow bake for best results.

Persimmons are those glossy vibrant orange fruits topped with a calyx you may have walked past at the market or fruit shop. I admit that I have walked past them too. Strangely I have always been a bit scared of them as I was never sure how to choose them at their best.  During the Easter weekend I saw a table of Fuyu Persimmons at Sydney markets and decided it was time to change my perception of this bright orange star topped fruit.

BBQ season has arrived so we were thrilled when McCormick Foods Australia invited us to an American Pitmaster BBQ Class and dinner at the Willoughby Hotel! The class was held to launch their new American BBQ Grill Mates range. We attended with 30 other Sydney foodies to get a sneak peek at how these can be used in an American style cookout! Our pitmaster for the class was Eric from the BBQ School. He is a meat-loving Canadian expat, who really knew his way around the grill!  

Every weekend during winter, a big pot of soup bubbles away on my stove. A good soup can be a one pot wonder. I always make sure there's enough in the pot for dinner, and a few workday lunches throughout the week.  The best soups are huge, hot and hearty. I like to make ours healthy with loads of fresh vegetables, a few herbs, plenty of garlic and some tummy filling protien. One of our favourites is a ham hock minestrone, this soup is so thick that even the men of the household are happy to eat it as a meal.

Here’s a quick and easy rumball recipe!   You can make them ahead of time for Christmas Day.  I first tasted these 30 years ago when I lived in the Central West town of Parkes. A friend’s mum made them every year at Christmas. I loved them so much I asked her for the recipe and have made them most years since. They are a guaranteed Christmas crowdpleaser. They freeze well too!

I saw these easy to make quiches on a Facebook page and thought they were genius. The recipe uses stand 'n' stuff tortilla shells instead of pastry for the base. They will save you a heap of time and are healthier too! When I compared the nutritional values of the tortilla shells to my frozen shortcrust pastry, I got a nice surprise. The tortillas had a lot less kilojoules, fat, carbs and sodium per serve. Quiche is now back on the menu at our house!

The Western Sydney Food Bloggers were pretty excited about a week ago. We were invited to a masterclass and lunch at Stockland Wetherill Park. Our teacher was celebrity chef, Miguel Maestre! It was a special occasion to kick start a new initiative by Stockland's called, The A to Z of Mmmm!

Last year I bought a cookbook that delivered what it promised. It revolutionised the way I made bread and pizzas. I was so impressed with the book I ended up purchasing all three in the series. The cookbooks I am referring to are the “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” series!  Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois co wrote and developed the hundreds of recipes they share through their “Artisan in Five “series of cookbooks. My favourite and most used book from the collection is “Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day”.  This book has shown me how to easily deliver homemade pizza, from my very own oven, fast and fresh!

Every year in June it has become a tradition that my lady friends and I meet up for a ladies Day at Rosehill races. This date coincides with our friend Julie’s birthday. This year with Julie turning a milestone 50 I decided to bring a picnic so we could all celebrate with her while enjoying a trackside high tea. Maybe we would also strike it lucky with a big win on the horses.

Late last year I started collecting vintage kitchen utensils. I have developed a fondness for Nally Ware canisters manufactured last centurary between the 1950’s and 1970’s. I also love vintage pyrex. These kitchen utensils are nostalgically decorative to display while still being quite functional to use.  My favourite piece of kitchen equipment was recently acquired from a generous friend. This 40+ year old bright orange Monier Crockpot still works like a dream. In fact, I will go as far as saying, it’s a better cook than its more modern, shinier counterpart.

This is one of the slices I remember from my childhood. Its easy to make as most of the ingredients are pantry staples. I made a double batch this weekend so I could stash some in the freezer. I plan to take a container full camping over the easter weekend. This is a great way to use up those Weet-Bix crumbs that accumulate at the bottom of the packet.

Rodriguez Bros of Yagoona is a well renown Spanish artisan butcher. Family run since it’s opening in 1973 it was the first butcher in Australia to produce authentic Spanish small goods. Today their business imports spanish groceries and supplies their artisan delicacies to restaurants and consumers right across the country.  We popped in last Saturday afternoon after deciding to pick up some ingredients for paella, at the time, I shamefully admit, I had no idea how to make this spanish rice dish.