a to z of me:: c

c is for cooking

i love to cook. that about sums up this post. thanks for reading. nah, but really, it's a really good thing i enjoy cooking, because if you've read this post you will understand. if not, here's the gist: i have some pretty annoying food allergies. i say 'allergies' because the truth is far less socially acceptable to put on a blog. either way, it makes to hard to buy and eat processed and store bought foods and sauces - so i've had to learn how to make delicious food from scratch.

moroccan chicken salad

red thai laksa - recipe coming soon

bolognese with garlic bread and salad

nachos - recipe here

this has been the case since i moved out of home at 22. and when i moved out, i moved out good. i packed up and moved from small town australia, to small town new zealand - so it wasn't even like i could go home for a decent meal. and, growing up, we always ate well. no processed or junk for dinners - so i wasn't about to let mum's hard work slide by indulging in take away and microwave meals every night (every other night, maybe). i moved in with my cousin logan and his mate tim, who were both growing lads in desperate need of good, hearty food. i did them a deal the day i moved in: i'll keep you well fed and do all of the shopping, if i never have to clean a dish in this house. the deal was on.

initially i think i was making 'easy' dinners - meat and 3 veg, or salads in the summer, and then - thanks to my very first copy of 'food for flatters', a new zealand legacy, i started to increase my range. since then, and 3 copies of the book later (thanks mum), i have honed my favourite dishes, and can whip them out at a minute's notice. jamie helps out with his 15 minute meals, and occasionally i'll give a recipe a go if it sounds delicious and i can't stop thinking about it. if you've ever been for dinner at my house, chances you've had either a roast, a thai curry, or a cous-cous dish. i'll be honest and admit that boyfriend does all the roast cooking these days, which is not to say i can't or won't make one any more...  it's just, well, he does a damn better job than me.

i love cooking fresh, healthy and most importantly, tasty meals, and my true test is always boyfriend. he is a fussy man, and will only try something new once a month. this means that if i have force fed him a bit of feta or avocado that month, then i have to be pretty sneaky with the stuff i hide in his food. for about a month we were having aubergine in just about everything - he didn't know, or mind, and once he found out, he decided he liked it and so i was then allowed to use it regularly. same thing happened with fresh mint (thank god. i love that shit). watching him wolf down a dinner is the best compliment - especially if he cleans up mine as well. his favourite meal will always be spaghetti bolognese, and i have a super strong aversion to mince meat, so we have it rarely. he sees it as a treat, where i find it disgusting and hardly touch it (double lucky him).

over the coming weeks i'm going to share with you my favourite recipes, starting with my all time favourite, red thai laksa. keep your eye out for it, and enjoy!

*a-z of me is a weekly series created because i thought it might be a good way for you to get to know me a little bit better.. outside of the general nonsense and backwards mirror pictures anyway.. to follow the rest of the series, click here.