Banana Pancakes (SF)

I planned to post a different recipe today but this week life has been sweet. Very sweet. I went to Flora’s three times at least partly to celebrate my birthday with my two of my dearest friends. It was so much fun. They are great company and two marvellous ladies. So this year I didn’t bake a cake – I mean, with so many indulgent cupcake and pancake trips there really wasn’t. Even I have to admit that! And frankly I just didn’t feel like spending a whole day in the kitchen like I did last year.  I cooked for days, to celebrate three family birthdays on three consecutive days. This time round I knew I deserved and wanted a break.

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Blueberry Pancakes

I cannot believe we’re already in the second week of February. Where time is going I really don’t know. It must be a good thing though – it must mean I have plenty of things to do. This month started with a birthday get-together for one of my dearest friends, and I know that more good things will follow. There’s nothing better than to feel positive. It’s hard sometimes because life is not only about smelling the roses but it’s the little things that make a difference. Like pancakes, just to mention one example!

Sweetcorn Pudding

Let’s cut to the chase. Just because I can’t contain my excitement! Today sees the launch of one the most anticipated cookbooks of the year – Simply Nigella. I’m still waiting for my copy so this is not a review, unfortunately (I would have loved to have one right here for you). So until that day comes, in celebration of the book, I am revisiting a recipe which has been an old favourite of mine for ages. It was one of the first things I learnt to make while I was still teaching myself the kitchen basics. I didn’t have any of Nigella’s books at the time, and fifteen years ago the internet was not as it is today. So I watched all her shows on the Food Network. Now there’s YouTube which make things a lot easier!

Avocado Wrap with Crispy Egg and Chorizo

Some people ask me what are my go-to things I make when I’m hangry. This is not a typo, it’s a word apparently, though my search for it in the dictionary was unsuccessful. It’s a mesh of two words: hungry and angry. It wasn’t on Merriam-Webster, but boy have I experienced this before. And I’m guessing that you have too. It happens when I want to eat but I’m pressed for time or when I really want to munch on something but I just don’t want to be bothered.

The following recipe is what I go for when I want the kind of lunch that doesn’t necessarily make me crave anything else as a snack. I do make this very often, that is, whenever I have an avocado or two in the house. I seem to buy my local greengrocer’s weekly summer haul of avocados. I must ask for a discount next week. I also need to remember to make a bowl of guacamole. Tomatoes and chili peppers are now at the top of my shopping list.

Frittata

I wish I was a morning person. (Is anyone out there a morning person? Any good tips of how to be one?) Being an insomniac doesn’t help so as much as I love it when the sun shines on spring and summer mornings, and as much as I love a good sunrise when I manage it, mornings suck the life out of me. There are two main things that make my mornings great though: food and holidays. And somehow these two things always seem to go well together. One of my Italian holiday resolutions is to never miss my cappuccino and cornetto. The guy behind the counter recognised us as the slightly timid ‘stranieri’ later a.k.a ‘Maltesi’ who looked as if they never tasted good coffee in all their lives. Which, by the way, was partly true. The Italians know their coffee, true. And almost everything on holiday tastes great. I did say almost.