I love these shoes!

I don’t eat a lot of fast food. I enjoy the occasional sneaky McDonald’s fries, and my family will sometimes have fish and chips for dinner. Tonight, I had Crust pizza. if you are after a pizza that stands out from the usual greasy meat laden, cheese dripping slices, Crust is the place to go. They have a choice of gourmet, traditional, heart tick and vegetarian options. Tonight I had a meatball pizza, with fresh basil, mozzarella, and capsicum. I enjoyed it with one of my favourite drinks at the moment; Rekorderlig apple cider. It was a once off treat, but one that still tastes like a fresh home made meal.

I love Christmas! Every part of it! From trimming the tree, baking, eating, gift giving and spending time with my family. I hope you had a very Merry Christmas!

For Bev’s (Mike’s mum) birthday, I went with his family to Studley Park Boathouse in Kew. We chose from a set menu (as it was so close to Christmas). I had a veal carpaccio, followed by a crispy skinned salmon, and a trio of Christmas desserts.

It was a lovely day out, the food was stunning and tasted superb! I would go back there every weekend if I could. It reminded me of my Nan and Pop’s old house, with the beautiful paintings and high ceilings. A great day out!

For the first year ever, I made some homemade fruit mince pies for Christmas! And they went down a treat!

The recipe came from Donna Hay’s Christmas book, in her Simple Essentials Range. I made my own pastry, and soaked my fruit overnight (and it smelled divine, with the sweet sherry!).

I highly recommend Christmas baking. For me, its so much fun, relaxing and satisfying!

For Christmas, I made Pug’s (Mike’s Dad) ginger cookies. They’re chewy and delicious!

Ingredients:
125g butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup self raising flour
1 egg
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp golden syrup
1 tsp crushed fresh ginger
1 pinch salt

Method:
Preheat the oven to 160ºC fan forced. Melt the butter and golden syrup in the microwave. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Allow the mixture to cool until thickened. Roll into teaspoon sized balls, place on a lined baking tray and press gently. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

If your mixture is too moist, add some extra flour to thicken it up before rolling into balls.

These didn’t go down well with my brother and sister (they can’t stand the taste of ginger), so my parents, Mike and I, ate the lot! Delicious!

I made my own interpretation of a Donna Hay recipe a few weeks ago. In Fast, Fesh, Simple there is a recipe for Pumpkin Ricotta Ravioli using wonton wrappers rather than fresh pastry. Instead of putting the filling, I used puff pastry and baked it in the oven. The recipe includes ricotta, roasted pumpkin, oregano, parsley and parmesan. This was mixed with salt and pepper, folded in pastry and baked until golden, and served with a side of greens.

My inspiration came from a dinner at a friend’s house, where she served chicken pastry triangles, with capsicum and a gorgeous sauce.

The hardest part of the recipe was roasting the pumpkin (which was very easy)! I recommend this for an easy, light dinner.

I enjoy cooking for my partner Mike every chance I get. He’s a vegetarian (at least he won’t eat large chunks of read meat, sometimes he’ll eat chicken, fish or mince meat if its in a sauce), and I’m not, so when I cook for the 2 of us, I like to cook meat free meals.

A few weeks ago, I cooked carrot fritters with haloumi and sweet lemon dressing. It comes from Alice Hart’s Vegetarian. Its not only a beautiful book, but has some fantastic recipes.

I served my fritters with a side of asparagus (one of Mike’s favourite greens), and the haloumi in between the fritters was a perfect salty burst. The original recipe includes fresh coriander, but I’m allergic to it, so I substituted it with fresh flat leaf parsley instead.

If your after a great book to give as a gift to a vegetarian, or just want to eat less meat, Alice Hart’s book is a winner.

For my 22nd birthday, my partner took me to Sette Bello. An Italian restaurant in Glen Waverley. The service was fantastic, sparkling silverware and fresh white tablecloths. Mike had a risotto, and I had one of the specials, a rabbit gnocchi. We found out about it from the 2011 Good Food guide.

I would highly recommend Sette Bello for a meal anytime, and I can’t wait to go back there again.

For my parent’s 25th wedding anniversary, my family, Mum and Dad’s families, and their best friends had lunch and a wine tasting at Gisborne Peak Winery. We tasted 4 different wines, had dips, olives and breads, and followed with a lunch of wood fired pizzas.

We learnt how to properly taste wine (theres a lot of sniffing and swishing and swirling involved). My favourite of their wines was a riesling (which isn’t normally my first choice), and it was such a fresh and crisp wine.

Happy 25th anniversary Mum and Dad!