Rich chocolate slice

This is one of the simplest sweets I’ve ever made and would be great to try making with kids. I used whatever I had in the cupboard, which happened to be dates and shortbread, but you could easily make this with other biscuits, dried fruit and/or nuts. Imagine cherries, almonds and coconut; crystallised ginger and gingernuts; or figs, biscotti and pistachios. Lush!

Incredibly easy classic chocolate mousse

This dessert is a real treat for any poor sods who are lactose intolerant, as it’s naturally dairy free (as long as you use proper dairy free dark chocolate). It’s also so easy I’ve been making it since I was a kid, way back in the eighties. Retro!

Another visit to Hartsyard, Newtown

First of all, apologies. I’ve been a bad blogger. Life has been incredibly busy lately and I recently realised that I haven’t posted much at all in the last few months!

To make up for it, here are some exciting new dishes from Hartsyard. It’s no secret that Hartsyard is my favourite restaurant in Sydney, and I’ll use any excuse I can to go there for dinner. This particular trip was for my birthday in late October, and I’m going back next week for my hens’ night – the boys are jealous! 

Two Peas Café and Restaurant, Glebe

Two Peas is a delightful new eatery in Glebe/Forest Lodge, with food by chefs Nick Johnson and Tom Stoneham, and a lovely man named Pete at front of house. They are committed to the ethical, organic, local and seasonal is produce and in products, from biodegradable coffee cup lids to sustainable line-caught fish (hurrah!).

Baby strawberry, vanilla & maple syrup teacakes

I love reading all the amazing posts from the Sweet Adventures Blog Hop, but never planned to join in, being such a lame dessert maker. However my brother Marc gave me a massive tub of the most delicious, sweet little strawberries today, so I though I’d join in this month’s Berry Nice To Meet You blog hop.

Gujarati Shrikhand – spiced yoghurt dessert

As part of our recent Indian Christmas in July party, my beautiful and talented foodie friend Sal (of Sassy Bites catering) offered to bring a dessert. Expecting sticky sweet gulab jamun, or perhaps some kind of kulfi, I was surprised and intrigued when I spied these beautiful little ramekins of spiced yoghurt – aren’t they beautiful!

Booth St Bistro, Annandale

With so many great value weeknight restaurant specials around this winter, Thursday night dinners with my mum are getting more fancy by the week. Tonight we popped down to Booth St Bistro, just a few blocks from her place.

Hartsyard, Newtown – revisited

Since our first trip to Hartsyard on their opening night, we’ve been looking forward to going back and trying other dishes… and trying the duck again! This time we brought four others with us so that we could order just about everything on the menu.

Cornersmith, Marrickville

I recently said that Enmore is the new Newtown. It turns out, I was wrong… Marrickville is!

Relatively new to Marrickville is Cornersmith, which epitomises all the lovely aspects of the inner west cafe culture. They make their own sauces, cordial, jams, pickles, conserves, etc. using local produce sourced from friends and the general public. And honey from their own bees!

Hartsyard, Newtown

The space which was once The Gourmet Viking has been transformed into the most exciting restaurant Enmore Road has seen for a long time. Husband and wife team Gregory Llewellyn (chef) and Naomi Hart (front of house) have worked hard to create their ‘seed and feed’ style eatery, complete with greenhouse for herbs and flowers, benches made from rescued extinct Tasmanian timber, and carbonated water on tap.