Recipes

Seasonal Fruit – Apple Recipes

By luisa / May 23, 2014

Autumns and winter aren’t exactly synonymous with luscious fruits. The cool temperatures aren’t the best of friends with warmth dependent fruits such as peaches, mangoes and berries. Their delicate skins can’t withstand chilly frost. Apples, pears and citrus though are winter’s best friend. Their tougher skins don’t mind a little chill so they happily ripen […]

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Buying a large vegetable – how to make the most of a whole cabbage

By luisa / May 20, 2014

Admit it. We have all done it. Impulsed shopped when we are hungry, rushed or just out of ideas. A mad scramble in the vegetable section and you have done your shopping only to come home, unpack the grocery bags and think, now what do I do with all this food? Routine, stress and busy […]

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When life gives you lemons you can make more than lemonade!!

By luisa / May 5, 2014

According to the old saying, lemonade is the prominent use of lemons when youre handed a glut of them. I personally dont mind freshly squeezed lemon juice but there are many and varied ways to utilise seasonal fruits and vegetables. I recently held a class showing attendees how to make their own tomato passata. Simple […]

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The proof is in the pudding

By luisa / April 15, 2014

What to have for dessert. Almost as much a quandary and what to have for dinner. I’ll admit I have bought and cooked my share of frozen desserts before. Why? Laziness to be honest. Sometimes I convince myself that is too hard to make a dessert from scratch so I buy an apple pie or […]

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Daily decadence doesn’t mean you’re a slave to the stove

By luisa / March 27, 2014

    Creating and preparing food is a part of my life. I’ll admit, some days when I get home from work buttered toast is about as bothered and I feel like being. It all comes down to one question though. What to have for dinner? Everyone has lamented this question at least once. More […]

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You don’t win friends with salad….but I still love them

By luisa / January 28, 2014

The title refers to one of my favourite episodes of the Simpsons wherein Lisa begs Homer to have a vegetarian BBQ and the family starts a song reminding her that ‘you don’t win friends with salad’ yet come summer and BBQ season, a good salad is always appreciated. So what makes a good salad? To […]

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Recipes for success – five easy ways to choose a great recipe

By luisa / January 23, 2014

As a lover of food, chef and blogger extraordinaire *tongue in cheek* I am always on the lookout for recipe inspiration. There are some go to favourites that allow you to know what’s in vogue/season/trending which is always interesting to read if not inspirational. Gourmet traveller and Vogue Food and Travel are great monthly mags […]

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One Fish, Two Fish, Whole Fish, Cooked Fish

By luisa / December 14, 2013

Here at Casa Toaldo we love fish and seafood. Nothing excites me more than a bowl of steaming mussels cooked with tomatoes and plenty of heat from chillies or squeezing lemon over freshly peeled prawns. It is also hard to go past a piece of well cooked fish. It is a source of pride for […]

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Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy

By luisa / December 6, 2013

Finding inspiration can be a little elusive sometimes but I have been lucky lately and had it handed to me each day. I have been participating in Stephanie Alexander’s A to Z food photo challenge – A letter a day relating to food. It has been lots of fun and today was the letter L. […]

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Dressing up is always more fun – 8 easy peasy salad dressings

By luisa / November 21, 2013

Dressings – salad dressing and sauces to be precise can create fun and interesting lift to the most basic of salads. I have to admit, I have my go to favourite of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. When balsamic was ‘discovered’ in the 90’s by Australia, it was everywhere and I mean everywhere. Suddenly the […]

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