Making the most of Black Currant Mash

Over the past two days I have shared some black currant recipes that I had been playing with over the long weekend. The jelly and curd left me with cooked berries that were definitely still useful. This post is all about what other options are available for the left over mash. Black currants grow locally […]

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Plum & Avocado Salad

This is a fall favourite of mine and I rarely have the four main ingredients all together at the same time but last week it happened. The hazelnuts were ground because there are people in my home who wear dentures so if your preference is roasted chopped hazelnuts, feel free to change things up. With […]

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Beet Salad with Orange Vinaigrette

During the winter, salads are not always top of my list for lunch. However, it is orange season and what I did want to share was that the orange infused vinegar I posted towards the end of January, has uses other than just as a cleaning product. Beets are also “in season” and the two […]

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Simple Green Bean & Tomato Salad

A couple of weeks ago, right in the middle of tomato harvesting time, my stepmother was given fresh small tomatoes and beans from a friends garden. The beans were purple and green and the seeds had been smuggled from the Ukraine decades ago, when families were forced to flee war. They had been faithfully grown […]

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Tomato Pasta Salad

As summer comes to an end, I anticipate the arrival of large field grown tomatoes, ripe and juicy and full of flavour, warmed by long days under a heating sun, nourished by the earth rather than greenhouse hydroponics. There is just something different about the taste that makes me happy. Tomatoes, a fruit of the […]

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Fresh Pea Salad with Chives and Almonds

As I am writing this, in my mind’s eye, my grandfather is in his backyard, with a tobacco tin tied around his waist so that both hands are free for picking. He had rows of English peas and many a summer meal included freshly shelled sweet peas. Just the sound of the distinctive “pop” that […]

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Buckwheat Tabbouleh

Tabbouleh is extremely popular in several countries of the Middle East. It is also gaining popularity in the West as it is a healthy, vegetarian food that is low in fat and still offers fiber, minerals and complex carbohydrates. It is a salad made from a combination of finely chopped parsley, tomatoes, mint, onion, bulgur, […]

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Elevate Your Mayonnaise

Most of us grew up with a family brand of mayonnaise and nothing much tastes better than what we are used to. If Hellman’s, Miracle Whip or something similar are your automatic choices, opening the door to exploring can be a big adventure. One of the considerations is that fresh made mayonnaise is best kept […]

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Beets with the last of the garden herbs

Legend says that eating beets was the secret to Aphrodite’s beauty. Which makes me wonder if that is the reason beets are painted on the wall of the Wolf’s Lair, a brothel in Pompeii that was preserved when Vesuvius erupted in 79AD. Might beets be the original aphrodisiac, making Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, Pleasure & […]

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Corn & Blueberry Salad with Feta

I was invited to a South African Bring and Braai last week. To braai is to BBQ and this was a birthday party to boot! Along with the BBQ were a selection of salads and one stood out as a wonderful option for Lughnasadh. I have posted recently about the tradition of picking the first bilberries […]

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