baking

A month or so ago, we visited the area of coastal Queensland known as Wide Bay-Burnett. The area contributes a vast amount of fruit and vegetables to our tables including the humble sweet potato. Driving back and forth from Bundaberg to the coastal town of Bargara, we passed a huge sweet potato farm selling large bags of… Read more

The original recipe that this Caramel Fig & Pear Loaf is based on had been bookmarked for years but I never seemed to have the time, ingredients or inclination to get it made. It’s physically bookmarked with a little tab of paper that pre-dates virtual bookmarking. My ‘to review’ board on Pinterest tells a similar story, as… Read more

Yes, I know it’s fete season because hot on the heels of publishing a recipe for Old Fashioned Rock Cakes, I got an email from a friend asking for suggestions about what to make for a cake stall. Whilst Rock Cakes are an option, I have another old favourite up my sleeve for those who may… Read more

Regular readers will know that the TIFFIN kitchen and surrounds are in renovation mode. After waiting a long time for building to commence, we were unexpectedly catapulted ahead of schedule. Every day for the past few weeks our builder, Robert and his trusty assistant Mario, have been visiting the house on a daily basis preparing… Read more

It’s all wet and blustery in Brisbane today. A couple of tropical cyclones have brought plenty of rain and some very gusty winds to this normally sunny city. In the past there would have been a  worrying (exciting if you were a kid) cyclone warning on the TV, telling you that danger was imminent. If there was… Read more

You may recall that I was given a huge box of very large onions some weeks ago. I was umming and ahhing what to do with them all. Many readers made suggestions, the most popular being caramelised onions and French onion soup. I had already planned to make a caramelised onion relish (16 onions = 5… Read more

Well here it is. The last IMK for 2014. A few weeks ago Celia from Fig Jam & Lime Cordial asked me ‘I just did the roundup of the November IMKs and missed you. When are you back?  I took a couple of months off from TIFFIN to travel in the USA so of course… Read more

The months fly by and here we are in the dead of Winter. Not really that dead and not really that cold in Brisbane but cold enough for us!  Joining in Celia’s In My Kitchen event hosted by Fig Jam and Lime Cordial reminds me what a big world we live in. There’s always some… Read more

It was one of those weekends where I really didn’t want to leave the house. We’d been out and about on Saturday morning and I was ready for a weekend of writing, reading and cooking. As I started to make a split pea and ham soup I realised that we didn’t have any decent bread… Read more

In my June kitchen there’s a bit of a baking theme going on. In my kitchen… …was my first attempt at a blockbuster celebration cake. All eaten now. I offered to make a cake for my niece’s birthday and decided to surprise her with an Ombre Cake. It’s not something I had made before but… Read more

I was getting a little worried about this month’s Sweet Adventures Blog Hop. I’ve got a lot on my plate for the rest of the month but still wanted to join in. Luckily, the public holiday fairy was watching over me, providing a little more breathing space by throwing in an Ekka holiday mid-week. The… Read more

I’ve always been curious about Gem Scones. Ever since I saw a recipe for Gem Scones dipped in jelly and rolled in coconut in one of my Mum’s old cook books, I wanted to know more.  How does the cast iron pan known as a ‘Gem Iron’, work? Do the scones come out of the… Read more

After a leisurely weekend of camping at Wivenhoe Dam, I came home with far too much food that should have been consumed over the weekend but wasn’t – due to Bronlynn’s and my reputation for never knowingly under catering. I had more than a few items that had been exposed to minimal refrigeration and were… Read more