the hunt for the ultimate potato salad

December 19, 2011

This year my family are getting together on Christmas Eve. It’s going to be a team affair with my sister Sas providing the venue. My littlest sister, Nao looking after sweet treats. And me doing the savoury stuff. Over the years, I’ve developed a little Christmas Eve ham tradition. Not only because it’s absolutely delicious. [...]

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12 meals to ‘assemble’ when you can’t be bothered to cook

December 12, 2011

Let’s face it. Sometimes cooking just isn’t an appealing option. Whether it’s the middle of Summer and you’re sweltering through a week of 35+C (95+F) days. Or you’re under pressure at work and getting home late and starving night after night. Or maybe you’re on holidays and keen to take a break from the stove [...]

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lemon meringue pie in 15 minutes?

December 5, 2011

The other day I got an email from a Stonesoup reader reminding me that it’s been ages since I wrote about something sweet. Which got me thinking… A few months back, when I was preparing for the 15 Minute Meals class at the Stonesoup Virtual Cookery School, I was taking challenges to find ways to [...]

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7 fires: lessons from the argentine grill master

November 28, 2011

My Irishman first introduced me to Francis Mallman, the Argentine grill master, via YouTube. I think it was something about cooking the perfect steak. He talked a good talk, so we were both pretty keen to order a copy of his book, ‘Seven Fires – Grilling the Argentine Way’. Given the reputation of the Argentinian [...]

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how to master the art of gift giving

November 21, 2011

You know how there are some people who have a knack for always choosing the perfect gifts? The type of people who continually surprise you with their thoughtfulness? Well, I’m not one of those people. But over the years, I’ve developed a fairly fail-safe system for choosing gifts for my family & friends. It couldn’t [...]

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16 tips to for ‘no worries’ cooking this thanksgiving & christmas

November 15, 2011

I love this time of year. Here in Oz, the garden is growing like it’s on drugs. Green shoots (and broad beans) everywhere you look. Summer is just around the corner and the lure of long lazy days on the horizon. Yay for holidays. Even though we don’t officially celebrate Thanksgiving here in Australia, I [...]

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could you feed yourself for $5 a day?

November 7, 2011

Last year I managed to feed myself for a day spending just $2. The aim was to help with the ‘Live Below the Line’ campaign to raise awareness for global poverty. While I was able to eat without going hungry on $2, it wasn’t the most nutritionally balanced day of eating. So when I was [...]

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6 things Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall can teach you about having fun in the kitchen.

October 31, 2011

Lately there’s been a lot of River Cottage action in our house. Since my Irishman gave me a couple of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall books and DVDs for my birthday we’ve become hooked on this food-loving Englishman’s enthusiasm and ‘grow it yourself’ ethic. Watching and reading Hugh, it’s hard not to get infected with the desire to [...]

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5 simple steps to healthy eating, the stonesoup way

October 24, 2011

One of the things I love most about blogging is the comments. Although, when I’m spending too much time moderating spam comments, it can be tempting to think about shutting down the comments on Stonesoup. But then I go and write a post like last week, that didn’t exactly come out right. And I’m reminded [...]

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4 reasons I don’t eat grains

October 17, 2011

Robb Wolf, who wrote The Paleo Solution has an interesting story. After being a staunch vegan for many years and living on whole grains and legumes, Wolf was becoming more and more sick. His doctors didn’t know what was causing his problems. Then one day Robb decided to go gluten free and start eating meat [...]

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The Tired & Hungry Cooks Companion is now ready!

October 12, 2011

Initially, I was planning to offer early bird readers the new eCookbook for 25% off. But I’m so excited about the launch, I’ve decided to change my mind and give you an even BIGGER discount. So if you pick up a copy before 7pm Sunday (Oct 16th) EST you can save even more and have [...]

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why you should give peas [& ecookbooks] a chance

October 10, 2011

Last week, I wrote a little piece on frozen peas for The Stonesoup Diaries. Basically, I shared my relatively recent love of this humble frozen veg, a bit of pea promotion. So when I was planning which recipe to share from my new eCookbook, The Tired & Hungry Cooks Companion (which launches on Wednesday!), my [...]

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the perfect ‘marinade’ for tired & hungry cooks

October 3, 2011

Since we acquired a fancy new BBQ back in January, you could probably say that my Irishman and I have been more than a little obsessed with cooking outdoors this year. Even in the depths of Winter, here in the Snowy Mountains, we’ve been rugging up and firing up the barbie most weekends. There has, [...]

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18 things yotam ottolenghi can teach you about healthy cooking

September 26, 2011

The truth is, I hated the first Ottolenghi cookbook. Call me superficial, but i just couldn’t get past the food photography. Even though most of the recipes sounded really lovely, every time I went to open the book I’d see another horrid photo and close it again. So when I heard about Plenty, the latest [...]

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introducing… the stonesoup diaries

September 22, 2011

As regular Stonesoup readers will know, I’m a huge fan of Nigel Slater. If someone was mean enough to force me to pick my favourite food writer, St Nigel would win. Hands down. So I’ve been saving his book ‘The Kitchen Diaries’ for a while. I’ve been putting off even starting to read it because [...]

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the easiest way to poach an egg +
8 reasons to eat eggs for breakfast

September 20, 2011

This may sound silly, but I’ve always had a bit of a phobia around poaching eggs. Growing up, we were a boiled or fried egg type of house. I can’t ever remember my mum poaching an egg. So I guess that’s where it all started. Poached eggs were something you ate out. In fancy hotels [...]

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the quickest and best method for cooking vegetables

September 12, 2011

As much as I love Heston Blumenthal, he isn’t exactly a minimalist type of cook. I suspect old Hesto would rather quit cooking all together than try making good food with just 5 ingredients. So it may surprise you that today’s recipe was inspired by Heston. The original recipe is for broccoli, but as I’ve [...]

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birthday happy: cake deliciousness + a special birthday sale

September 8, 2011

Don’t you just love birthdays? I do. Especially since I decided a couple of years ago that you’re not old until you’re 80 (and I reserve the right to change my opinion on that when I become an octogenarian). So today is my birthday and do I have some treats for you. First we have [...]

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lasagne in 15 minutes?

September 6, 2011

Last week I was telling my Irishman about this great idea. For my 15 Minute Meals class I decided to base the recipes in the class on my student’s suggestions. Like a 15 Minute challenge. Anyway, he though it was a great idea and shared it with his colleagues. That afternoon I got an email [...]

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How to make a 1 hour 20 minute meal in only 15 minutes

August 31, 2011

I recently got this question about making good meals fast: “Jules, I’m always struggling with balancing work and family and getting dinner on the table night after night. I barely have enough time in the day as it is, but was wondering if you had any tips on how to avoid takeout or junk food [...]

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