scorched banana, coconut & honeycomb splits...

Some days you just wake up and know that the day is going to be a good day. You've avoided the chocolate bar that lives permanently on your beside table. You've completed a pilates meets ballet class. You've eaten porridge for breakfast and skipped your usual 6 tablespoons of brown sugar. It's the small victories and things are looking good.

rhubarb & custard cake...

Things I have learnt this week. I can't even go a single day without a piece of chocolate. I can't spell piece without saying 'i before e, except after c' just to remember which way round the i and the e go. Barack Obama was born in Hawaii. Eating homemade baked beans and spinach is a viable breakfast, lunch and dinner choice (even if it all happens in the same day.) Skipping out on those pilates classes because you were too tired will mean the first one back is absolute torture, and subsequently you won't be able to sit down tomorrow without assistance. 

I also learnt that it is impossible for me to bake a cake without eating about half the raw cake batter, and feeling ridiculously ill afterwards. That it doesn't get any easier waking up to a 4.30am alarm when you have to start your new job at 5am. And finally that rhubarb and custard can, and most definitely should, be baked into a cake.

sprouts, speck & chestnuts...

It isn't easy being green, especially when you're a brussels sprout. I can't imagine what it would be like - a life time of being pushed to the edge of the plate, mocked and spat out. It's a pretty rough life. BUT that is the life of a boiled brussels sprout. 

beef, celeriac & kale salsa verde salad...

They say opposites attract, which is a great life motto, but sometimes not so much when it comes to cooking. Lamb and chocolate. Anchovy and custard. Chicken and honeycomb. YUCK. Ok well maybe Heston thinks they're good food marriages. I did see him make a chicken curry ice cream once. Enough said. But in my kitchen I just stick to traditional food matchings. I know probably totally boring.

Having said that castelfranco and celeriac might be the two most mismatched vegetables out there. On a shallow, based only on appearances level celeriac is probably one of the ugliest vegetables out there. It's the monkfish of the root vegetable world. Sorry celeriac, it's true. With its gnarly hairy bottom it doesn't have much going for it. But it's what's on the inside that counts. So thank goodness it tastes delicious.

french onion & gruyere soup...

A funny thing happens when the seasons change. Last week it was looking like Autumn was definitely settling in. Cooler temps, tick. Wind strong enough to blow up your skirt Marilyn style, tick. Torrential downpours, double tick. And then the clouds disappeared and pretended like none of that had ever happened. This my dear friends, is Sydney. Crowded House were right on the money with 'four seasons in one day.'

quince, bay & anzac crumble...

I'm very much a traditionalist when it comes to some things. I don't mind a twist on your classic margarita or dark chocolate in a hot cross bun. But when it comes to Anzac biscuits, I'm deep rooted in tradition. No cranberries, no white chocolate, no fancy business. Just your humble Anzac biscuit. Golden syrup, oats and coconut goodness.

Don't get me wrong I'm not totally against change. Just change in traditions I love. You can ask my mum about the time she tried to move the Christmas tree from the lounge room to the living room at the other end of the house. I can tell you there was an uproar amongst my sisters and I. Change is not always good.

gnocchi, sage & burnt butter...

There are some days where the weather is just telling you to stay indoors. To watch movies under your doona and drink tea and red wine in bed. To not get out of your pajamas all day and under no circumstances is the weather permitting you to leave the house. Today is just one of those days. Wet, miserable and cold. Ok so it's not really that cold it's a perfectly doable 19ºC outside, but the rain and grey clouds are making it seem otherwise.

coconut & fig granola...

I must admit I am not reaaaally a morning person. I can be physically awake if needs be pre 7 am, but it's not exactly a pretty sight. My brain has a very long start up process, which can be speed up slightly with a caffeine hit. Which is all very unfortunate when you're helping out a few friends at their cafe, which requires a 6 am start. 6 AM. holy moley. 

malt, sour cream & choc ice cream sandwiches...

There are some mistakes in life that are not happy mistakes. Buying smooth peanut butter instead of crunchy. Arriving at the theatre only to realise the tickets were for last week (oopsies mum!)Thinking you were parked in a 1 hour parking zone but get slapped with a fine because you can't read the sign. Thinking you know better than the recipe, and discovering that you actually can't in fact substitute everything else in the recipe for something new. Leaving beer in the freezer.

And then there is the mistake of opening a huge tin of malt when you're alone. Possibly the greatest mistake of all time. And most definitely the reason why everything in my kitchen is covered in sticky malt extract. Toast, kettle plug, floor, cupboard doors, hair, fingers. Really things could be worse. If anyone were to walk in on me right now they'd be convinced I was trying to re-enact some scene out of Winnie the Pooh. With me being Pooh, and my finger being permanently stuck in the honey malt pot. And I'm cool with that.

lamb burgers & sweet potato chilli fries...

There are some things in life that you just can't have without the other. Peanut butter and honey. Mornings and coffee. Salt and pepper. Thelma and Louise. Burgers and fries. Well technically you can have either on their own but what kind of world would it be if you didn't dig into a burger with a side of fries as a chaser, or Thelma drove of that cliff by herself. A terrible, terrible world.

So burgers and fries it is. But it's not all bad news because the fries are roasted and the burger is fresh. None of this processed bread and fake cheese deep fried in oil. Just simple and fresh and delicious. And covered in aioli if you're so inclined. I definitely was that way inclined, and I would definitely recommend it.