There's eating a perfectly cooked steak & then there's perfectly cooked steak with jammy onions, garlic butter mushrooms & bubbling melted Swiss cheese & mustard all atop crunchy artisan bread. A Steak, Mushroom & Swiss Open Sandwich served with a simple spinach salad & washed down with a cold beer...now we're talking.
Grilled steak & onions - a perfect pairing if ever there was one. This is for those nights when you want something comforting, hardy &
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Steak, Mushroom & Swiss Open Sandwich
Fast & Fresh
Quick & Easy Butter Chicken & Cauliflower Rice
Mildly spiced, creamy & comforting, butter chicken recipes might be a dime a dozen but this one is so simple to make you could (almost) make it blindfolded. Quick & easy butter chicken & cauliflower rice is perfect for these chilly evenings & as a make-ahead & freeze meal.
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Smoky Black Bean Hummus
Smoky Black Bean Hummus takes only a few minutes to whip-up & makes the perfect vehicle for dipping vegetables. Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce & cumin impart a smokiness & the black beans, along with tahini give the dip its smooth & creamy texture.
Let's face it, most
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Sesame Ginger Noodle Salad with Cashews
A cold noodle salad packed with flavor, crisp veggies, nuts & seeds, all drizzled in a sesame, soy, lime & ginger dressing - Sesame Ginger Noodle Salad with Cashews is the real deal if you're looking for delicious & incredibly easy. Did I mention it's also make ahead?
This
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Lower Carb
There are few countries whose cuisine can boast of the exotic allure of Thailand. Fragrant Thai basil, gingery, camphorous galangal & pungent fish sauce provide the aromatics for this quick Thai basil mussel & shrimp stir-fry.
Hands up who is sick of Thanksgiving
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Simple & rustic with a handful of ingredients & a cinch to make, Oxtail in Red Wine slowly cooks in the oven, filling the house with beautiful aromas as the meat becomes fall-off-the-bone tender, carrots sweeten & the sauce thickens.
There's something so profoundly cozy
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Not only is this a brilliant low carb meal but the kids will love it too. Chicken, Squash & Cauliflower Bake is comfort food with the added goodness of lots of veg, bacon, garlic & leek. Serve it with a baby spinach salad & you've got an easy meal that can be made ahead & popped in
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How to Kitchen Basics
Easy Homemade 3 Ingredient Flatbread
Many of us love flatbread: whether it be garlic naan, a wrap or pita bread filled with veggies & meat, but have you ever stopped to read the label on the bread you're buying? It's mind-boggling how many ingredients are listed on the package of something as simple as bread? An average list can
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How to blanch vegetables
You've probably seen the term "blanched" or "parboiled" written next to a vegetable in the ingredient list of a recipe. Often there's no instructions for how to blanch vegetables. Any hard, green vegetable - asparagus, snow peas, sugar snap peas, broad beans, broccoli, shelled peas & such can be
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how to make THE best roast chicken
There's something both comforting & celebratory about a roast chicken dinner. You can bung the chicken in the oven any old how & it'll still smell & taste good but butterfly (spatchcock) the chicken first, spread herb & garlic butter under its skin & then roast it & you'll be
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Our Old Home
DIY Fireplace Mantelpiece
My hubby is the Chip to my Joanna. After living in houses with log burning fireplaces (even in Florida), I was disappointed the old house we bought did in 2017 didn't have a fireplace. So I sketched a drawing for my hubby of something that could be a substitute & voila - he made it - just like
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Nightstand before & after
We have a very big bed - both tall & wide. So tall in fact I need a step to get into it so I don't throw a hip out for the mount & dismount. When it came to finding a nightstand/bedside table for my side of the bed I couldn't find anything tall enough (looking back now I have no idea why I
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Bathroom reno before & after
We bought an old house - 117 years worth of old. Thankfully the big things like the roof, windows, plumbing & electrical are okay. Every room in this house was a different color. The bathroom, which is tiny, was a dark sage green with dark cupboards & a tiny dark sink. All of it made the
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Autumn & Winter
Roasted squash, cannellini & chipotle chili
Ladle this thick, smoky Roasted Squash, Cannellini & Chipotle Chili into warmed bowls & top with slices of avocado, fresh jalapeno slices, lime wedges & croutons for crunch. The perfect wintery, meatless meal that's both comforting & wholesome.
In my quest to eat better
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Baby Lettuce, Roasted Pear & Candied Walnut Salad
Enjoy Baby Lettuce, Roasted Pear & Candied Walnut Salad as a somewhat elegant starter, a light lunch or as a side with roast chicken, pheasant or pork. Pears are inexpensive & in season during the cooler months. Whether added to a piece of roasting pork to bathe in the pork's glorious
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creamy mushroom & sherry soup
Creamy mushroom & sherry soup is both rustic & decadent. Any recipe is elevated with the addition of cream making it something a little special...even the humblest of mushroom soups.
If you can locate any more exotic mushrooms than the Swiss brown mushrooms I used - go right
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Spring & Summer
wasabi ginger steak salad
The inspiration for this salad comes from Korea, Japan and Vietnam. The ginger, wasabi, sesame and soy dressing for this pretty salad does double duty as a marinade. Then once the steak has been perfectly cooked on the grill, it's tossed with lots of crunchy, fresh veggies and
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Mango, Grapefruit & Toasted Coconut Salad
Without a doubt one of the best salads I've eaten, this savory Thai salad combines all the elements of sweet, savory & sour we've come to know & love of Thai cuisine. This bold, flavorful Mango, Grapefruit & Toasted Coconut Salad epitomizes everything I love about vibrant Thai food. It
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leek & parmesan quiche
Leek & Parmesan Quiche is perfect for a lunch with your girlfriends or as a light dinner served with a crisp green salad, some crusty bread & of course, wine.
Don't panic, but I made my own pastry for this recipe. I used a hot water pastry recipe I make for savory pies &
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