Be it casual and relaxed, or stylish and elegant, Al Fresco eating certainly brings magic to the table. Eating in the open, under a tree, umbrella or covered patio, is one of the pleasures that our  lovely summers spoil us with. It is the ideal way to entertain and equally good for a romantic meal for two.

Al Fresco eating calls for all those favourite summer recipes, cold and cured meats, a braai on the side with all the wonderful salads and side dishes, summery deserts and good wine. There are few things as relaxing as a long afternoon lunch under a tree or dinner on a warm evening with a table set with candles and lanterns.

Setting the scene is almost just as important as the food - the right atmosphere brings all the magic to the table.
There are thousand's of ideas you can use to make the most of what you have. Just a few of the right items will go all the way. Be creative and see what you have, a simple clever combination is all you need.

The most important element is where you place the table. Find the best spot you have, consider how the sun and shade will effect it, as well as possible wind. Try to make the most of the view, be it a landscape or a wall covered in flowering bougainvillea. Courtyards can be softened with small trees and shrubs in containers, and colorful flowers or herbs in pots.
Decorate the tables with what you have or like - from fresh herbs, pot plants, flowers to fruit. Let your creativity take over and indulge your senses - it will certainly be enjoyed by all!
Use colour as a theme, bright or subdued, to suit your taste and to bring everything together. Apart from that all you have to do is plan your menu carefully, get all the preparation done in advance, and enjoy the whole experience with your friends.
Don't be afraid to mix everything you like. Salads can be crisp, set in moulds or served as mousses. Hot and cold vegetables or side dishes can be served alongside each other. Meat dishes can be cold, cured or hot. Load the table with breads, preserves and cheeses - make it a real feast. Having a fire on the side not only adds to the magic, but tasty skewers with vegetables, sosaties or grilling the main course will add a bit of drama and a whole lot of magic!

It is seldom that a single dish remains so vividly in my memory that after years I can still almost smell and taste it. Ria Burger's roasted lamb's neck is one of those dishes that I can only describe as a gastronomic moment!
The necks where served whole - half a neck per person - and slow-baked in the oven to absolute perfection. Nothing fancy, no weird herbs and spices - just honest good flavoursome cooking at it's absolute best.
The necks were soft and tender, super succulent and beautifully browned with a deep and rich sauce.
It is amazing how good food shared with friends can create memories that seem to last forever - there is just something magical about food and wine shared with friends.

Cooking together can sometimes be a bit of a disaster - we don't always agree on the best way to do the job at hand. Fortunately our neighbour Willemien has turned out to be an excellent kitchen partner - she has a love for hearty food and all things sweet.
So she arrived with two huge Kabeljou weighing about 10 kg's.
Pickled fish - that was the mission! We scoured recipes, deciding on which one would be best. Working together was great fun - fish scales flying all over, onions chopped till tears were flowing - and eventually the lovely aromas of the spices coming to life. It was like having the Bo-Kaap right in our kitchen. We all had to taste, adding a little of this and a little of that. Eventually the curry sauce had enough spice, not too sweet and not to sour with just the right depth of flavour - it was like an orchestra with all the instruments in perfect harmony and balance.
The memory of cooking together will last long after the last morsel of our delicious pickled fish has been eaten.
Cook together - with your spouse, your children and especially with your friends. Memories are really made of this!

Warmer days and longer evenings announce the Sunshine Season - time to pack away the warm winter woolies and all the comforting winter recipes.
Now is the time to start enjoying the outdoors, alfresco eating and entertaining family and friends.
This posting is an invitation to join me on a culinary journey this season - trying new recipes, enjoying old favorites and sharing them with family and friends.
If you have a very special recipe or two that you would like to share and have posted on this site, I would happily do so - be it something special for breakfast, lunch, dinner or just something in between.
Send your recipes, with photos if you have, to the site's e-mail address : [email protected]

Just as the South African Flag embraces and symbolizes our national diversity, so should we embrace and celebrate our diverse culinary culture. There is an explosion of culinary trends, fashions and tendencies, with a host of TV cooking shows promoting all of these gastronomic happenings. It is all very exiting and fascinating, and yet it is hardly the kind of food we cook and eat at home. This almost begs the question - what do we do with all these fabulous fads and foreign influences.

Molecular gastronomy is science on a plate - but what do we do with it. Sure it is fascinating, but not all that useful beyond it's novelty value. Transforming food from its natural state to something so far removed that you hardly recognize it just does  not make all that much sense. After all - a beetroot jelly cut into miniscule little cubes scattered artistically over an over-sized plate full of equally foreign morsels of something is an insult to the beautiful taste and texture that nature has given us in it's natural form.

I have this growing resistance in me against the fashionable trend of making jellies, cubes, foams, crisps and smears out of everything in the name of culinary creativity and excellence - it simply becomes too far removed from REAL FOOD FOR REAL PEOPLE.

For the homecook it is quite intimidating to see all the culinary wizardry on TV shows, almost proclaiming that this is the benchmark of a good cook. Take heart, it is absolute nonsense. I'm not saying that Heston and his admirers don't have a place in the culinary world, but it is certainly far removed from the reality of the homecook who has to produce excellent dishes on a daily basis to feed family and entertain friends. I really do believe that our South African homecooks are all mastercheffs in own right - albeit only in the domestic category.

Let's take National Heritage Day and cook up a storm, or braai one up, and let us celebrate all that food is to our wonderful and diverse culinary heritage - REAL FOOD FOR REAL PEOPLE!!!

 

Winter has come and winter has gone - well almost. It was a really harsh winter in the valley with heavy rains, wind, snow and even a hail storm. Everything just seemed to go into hibernation - even this BLOG came to a complete standstill. Let's hope spring brings new life to everything that has gone into go-slow mode.

The kitchen has been the only place where things did not come to a standstill. Winter has this effect of everyone being hungry all the time, cravings for freshly baked bread, sweet treats and hearty winter food. It was also the ideal time to prepare soups by the gallon and stock the freezer with everything that was in season.

I realize that we are privileged to live on a farm and enjoy a slower pace than city dwellers with a tight eight to five schedule, but even that should not deprive you of the joy of cooking.

Winter vegetables are more limited than the summer crops, but there are still wonderful produce to choose from. I came across the most fantastic broccoli at a really bargain price. Now this is not a vegetable I would normally buy by the kilo, but I could not resits to buy about five kilos. Recipes for broccoli usually include a few florets at the most, and it isn't even every ones' favourite vegetable. Freezing was about my only option and for this I used a really easy and delicious soup recipe.

Broccoli Soup - This recipe will even convert broccoli haters into broccoli lovers. It is super easy, really delicious and very satisfying. Soup is one of those dishes that you should make in large quantities, it saves a lot of time and effort, is economical and they generally freeze well.

Garnished well this makes a very elegant starter for any dinner party.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
2 large onions
5 - 10 ml medium curry powder (it gives lovely flavour without tasting of curry)
4 large potatoes
1 kg broccoli
5 cups of chicken stock (Chicken stock cubes do a good job in this recipe)
salt, pepper, a pinch of nutmeg and a teaspoon of lemon juice.
200ml room

Method:
Cut onions into pieces and sautee in butter until soft and translucent.
Peel potatoes and cut into thin slices. Add tot the broccoli and cover with just enough stock to boil. Boil until soft.
Wash broccoli and cut into pieces and add to the onions and potatoes. Add remaining stock and curry powder and cook until broccoli is really tender.
Put the soup through a blender until very smooth. Return soup to the pot, add cream and bring to the boil. Add seasoning and adjust to taste.
As a variation you could crumble blue cheese or cheddar for a stronger flavour, but it is hardly necessary.
If a soup is slightly to watery, flour (not maizena - it tends to be slightly 'slimy') dissolved as a paste into milk or cream makes a very good thickening agent - just be sure to boil it through thoroughly to cook out the raw flour.
Garnish with cream and croutons, or serve with garlic bruchetta for a starter, or serve fresh seedloaf bread and butter for a hearty meal.

Triple this recipe should yield about eight liters of soup and it freezes really well.

The year is on a roll and believe it or not we're approaching the half way mark far too quickly - time really flies! Maybe this is just the right moment to pause for a while and look outside - see what nature is doing. We are so wrapped up in our daytime jobs that we hardly get time to reflect on how we should live life. That's where nature comes in. Seasons are there for a very good reason, just like there is also day and night. Nature is desperately trying to force us to adapt to it's rhythm and slow down.

Taking time out seems like a total waste of good productive time - but believe me the rewards are better than you could possibly imagine. It doesn't mean doing absolutely nothing - it just requires a change of pace, a different activity, mindset and attitude to life and the people we share it with.

Now you may well ask what this has got to do with a food blog.   .......EVERYTHING!!!

Food is simply the magic ingredient to make life wonderful. Eating a delicious dish or well prepared meal, feeling the texture of kneaded dough under your hands, smelling the aromas of freshly picked herbs, it all adds a new dimension to life. And the best part is sharing a wonderful meal with really good friends and family - there is just no better way to spend time with the people that enrich our life!

With the cold of winter upon us it is also a good time to forget some of those overly healthy option meals - they simply just don't hit the right spot. Now is the time to get cooking those hearty meals, slow braised with rich sauces, and baking lovely breads and scones and rich puddings served  with custard, cream or ice-cream.

This afternoon is calling for the most indulgent buttery scones for tea time on the farm. The recipe is one that we got from a farm stall in the mountains near Grabouw. It is simply delicious - the best we have tasted in many years-  and it is dead easy and almost foolproof. Serve with strawberry or apricot jam and lost of sweet vanilla flavoured cream.

Scones: This recipe makes about eighteen scones. They can be pressed out with a cookie cutter, or you can bake them in a muffin tin. This is the one recipe where you should not substitute butter with baking margarine. It is not a so-called healthy option - it is delicious and buttery - the way a true scone should be!
Serve them before completely cooled with a jam of your choice and whipped cream.

Ingredients:
4 cups flour
1 tsp   sugar
30 ml   bakingpowder
5 ml     salt
250 g   butter
2         eggs
1 cup   milk
1 tsp    lemon juice

Method:
Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together.
Rub the butter into the flour until the breadcrumb stage. (A MAGIMIX does a wonderful job of this process)
Beat eggs, milk and lemon juice together and add to the flour mixture.
Cut the liquid into the flour to form a dough. A knife or large spoon works well. Do not overwork the mixture - it must just be evenly combined.
Turn dough out onto a well floured working surface. Roll out dough to ±3cm thickness.
Press scones with a cookie cutter of approximately 6 cm diameter.
Place scones on a lightly greased baking tray.
Brush with a little milk or beaten egg to give a nice golden colour.
Bake for approximately 12 minutes at 220°C until well risen and golden.
Leave to cool slightly and serve when still lukewarm.
They can be refreshed the following day by heating them for 5-10 seconds in the microwave oven.

Tomato Bredie: There are few things as homely as a real traditional bredie. With the cold spell this weekend and loads of tomato reduction in the freezer, this is the time to make this typical South African dish to warm everyone's senses this evening.
Light the fire, open a bottle of red wine and enjoy this hearty meal with your family or friends. It is a great dish for entertaining a few people without too much fuss and it is sure to please everyone. Simply serve with rice and a mixed salad, and maybe a freshly baked bread to mop up the last remains of the sauce.

Ingredients:
2 kg stewing lamb (shin cut into short lengths, ribs cut into pieces, necks chops and        belly pieces - don't remove the fat, it adds to the flavour and balances well             with the acid from the tomatoes)
2      large onions, roughly chopped
1      heaped teaspoon crushed garlic
salt and pepper to taste
cooking oil to brown the meat
6      medium potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
2      liters tomato reduction (if not using your own, substitute with 1kg fresh                     tomatoes and 50gr tomato paste and 500ml beef stock)
10-15 ml dried basil
1-2   tsp sugar

Method:
Season meat with salt and pepper to taste.
Brown meat in a heavy based ovenproof casserole. Add onions and fry till soft. Add garlic and fry.
Add 750ml stock, and bring to a slow boil.
When meat becomes tender (after 2-3 hours) add the tomato reduction, or fresh tomatoes and 50gr tomato paste, basil and let cook through. Start adjusting the seasoning.
Add potatoes (the acidity can cause them to take fairly long to go soft). Parboiling them is a good option.
When the bredie has simmered and the flavours start coming together the sauce might need thickening. The best way is to mix 60 ml flour with a little water to form a thick paste. Add some hot sauce to the paste and mix well. Add more sauce until thin and smooth. Pour this mixture back into the bredie and stirr well. Bring to the boil until it thickens, let it cook through for a few minutes.
Serve with rice, salad, fresh crusty bread or whatever takes your fancy - and don't forget the wine and good company - this pleasure is to be shared!

Now is the time to take full advantage of the abundant season - the veggies are getting better and better and cheaper and cheaper by the day. Not that they are all that cheap, but compared to the festive season prices now is the time to lay your hands on all the specials you come across. I know we are all looking forward to just settle into the new year and get some sort of manageable rhythm going, but for the serious cook this is not going to happen. With winter approaching faster than we think, it is really time to get all the recipes out and see how we can make the most of what is available.
Living in the countryside gives me an unfair advantage of getting the best produce from neighboring farmers at reasonable prices, but even if you have to go to the veggie store and shop smart you will be able to save a lot of money.
Veggies sold by the bag or carton often offer very good value for money - don't be deterred by the thought of what to do with so much - there are ways and means to prepare, preserve and freeze the bootload of fresh veggies that you have bought.

For the novice cook buying a large quantity of produce might be a daunting task - but don't despair - just start off on a smaller scale. Firstly, buy a vegetable by the pocket that you really like - be it butternut, potatoes, beetroot, green beans or whatever takes your fancy.
To get the most out of your veggies start off with your favourite recipes or methods of preparing them. Search through recipe books for new ideas and ways to preserve them. There is a whole world of information out there, make use of it. Search for new ways, ideas and techniques that you might enjoy making

Butternut: This weekend butternuts are on my to do list. Family favourites first - creamy butternut soup. Having only about twelve medium sized ones they will all be used for this. It is often easier to make one large batch of the same recipe if you are slightly pressed for time, rather than making small quantities of different recipes.

Tomatoes: Many farmers plant tomatoes as an interspersed cash crop. They are open field crops and usually beautifully sun ripened. Planted for commercial use - canning, tomato sauce and other methods of preservation - they might have some blemishes here and there, but their taste is far superior to the hot house table varieties. If you can lay your hands on these you can be assured of having the best tomato sauce and reductions for the rest of the year.
These tomatoes make the most amazing pasta sauce. Wash, cut into quarters, cook and reduce and you have the best tomato base thinkable. We freeze them in two liter ice-cream tubs and have a supply to last us the whole year or longer.

We have made it through Christmas, we made it through New Year's Eve and hopefully we are all ready to face 2013 with great expectation and excitement.
After all the festive cooking, planning and preparation it is hardly the time to start all over again - but truth is that now is the season for the serious cook to look forward to the abundance of the season!
Summer is hardly the time to mention soups, stews and good old bredies, but this is the time that the produce is available, becoming reasonably priced and as fresh as you can get.
This is the time to buy those veggies by the bag, take them home, prepare, preserve and freeze them for the winter to come.  Do a little homework on pricing and you will be amazed at how much you can save by buying the freshest produce when they are at the height of their season. Come winter and you want the odd butternut or green bean it will cost you much more, and chances are the quality will not be nearly as good as your home preserved veggies.
Certain fruits and vegetables for certain recipes are just not suited for the freezer, but with clever seasonal planning you can certainly stretch the culinary budget - and have great food all year round. With a little effort and good planning we can make use of the most wonderful ingredients that are available throughout the seasons - add a little imagination and gourmet magic and cooking will celebrate all that nature has to offer!

PICKLES & RELISHES
Gone are the days of the dill cucumber and pearl onions in brown vinegar - pickles and relishes have certainly come a long way to delight us with wonderful flavours and textures. The beauty of making your own is that you can adjust the recipes to suit your personal taste.

My wife likes almost anything sour, I can't stand anything acidic. Making our own pickles, relishes and chutneys gives us the opportunity to get them just right - and keep everyone happy.

Preserving whatever you have in this way can become quite addictive, so please don't go ahead and pickle everything you can lay hands on. Select ingredients that you actually like, then experiment with a basic recipe to suit your acid test -not too sweet, not to sour. Get it right and you will be amazed at how much you will enjoy preserving the bounty of the season.

To make the perfect pickle you need to follow a few basic but vital steps. The success of your pickle will depend on these basic requirements.
Ingredients: For the perfect pickle you must use absolutely fresh ingredients - soggy vegetables that has gone limp is enough to never eat a pickle again.
Pickling liquid: Here you will have to experiment with different ratios of vinegar and sugar. Vinegar must also be either grape or wine vinegar - spirit vinegar is just to rough around the edges. Whether white or red depends on your personal preference, the vegetables you are using and the look you want. A good basic ratio to start you first pickling project is one I used when confronted with a sudden supply of veggies from my veggie patch. The recipe I used turned out pretty good.

Ingredients:
6 kg of vegetables consisting of:   
1 kg green beans (cut to lengths you like)
1 kg baby marrows (mine were large outgrown marrows cut into                                             cubes)
1 kg small onions, quartered
1 kg carrots, cut into 2 cm batons
1 kg peppers, red green and parpika
1 kg aubergines, cubed 

Pickling Liquid:
4 cups white wine vinegar (or grape vinegar)
1 cup water
4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons of pickling spice
3 bay leaves
1 sprig of rosemary (15 cm)
2 sprigs of origanum (10 cm)
4 tsp salt

Sterilized Jars:
6 large jars suitable for preserving (I use large mayonnaise jars, or new jars)
Wash your jars well and make sure the lids are very clean. Place the jars in an oven at 150°C and leave for about ten minutes. The lids can be sterilized by pouring boiling water over them and kept at boiling point on the hob.

Method:
Combine all the pickling liquid ingredients and bring to the boil. Simmer for ten minutes to infuse all the flavour. Remove the bay leaves, rosemary an origanum.
Cut and cube the vegetables to your liking. Add the carrots first and cook for a few minutes (3-5) then add the beans and onions and cook for another 2-3 minutes, add the marrow, aubergine and peppers and cook till the marrows are just translucent.

Get your sterilized jars out of the oven and pack them tightly with the vegetables. Make sure to fill them to the top with the pickling liquid and that all the air bubbles have escaped. Place caps on lightly and leave for a few seconds before tightening the lids. Leave to cool at room temperature. Wash jars thoroughly and dry before labeling them. Store in a cool dry place or in the refrigerator if you have the space. Once opened they should be kept in the fridge and eaten within a week to ten days. Enjoy as a side dish to any braai, light lunch or use them as part of a mixed salad.

Green beans, onions and a sweet and sour curry sauce is one of the old time favourites that is still popular today. It is ever so easy and economical and if you like green beans you can stock up a year's supply in no time at all. This recipe has a good sweet sour balance and should please everyone.

Ingredients:
2 kg green beans, washed and cut into lengths of your choice
1 kg onions, cut into quarters
3 cups brown vinegar
3 cups sugar
10 ml salt
30 ml curry powder
7,5 ml mustard powder
1/2 tsp tumeric
45 ml maizena

Method:
Cook beans and onions in water until just done - not too soft, and drain.
MIix vinegar and sugar and bring to the boil.
Mix maizena, salt, curry powder, mustard and tumeric with a litlle water to a smooth paste. Add to the vinegar/sugar mixture.
Add the green beans and onions and bring to the boil. Cook through briefly and transfer to sterilized jars.

An affair to remember!
Christmas at my mother's table has always been an affair to remember. She always had the most overindulgent spread on Christmas Eve. Days of preparation in the kitchen built the excitement to an almost unbearable waiting for the dinner and the opening of all the presents under the decorated pine tree.
The menu was almost always the same. The roasted turkey, a huge smoked gammon with the most delicious liquor pineapple rings and cherries, roasted lamb with mint jelly and tongue with a mushroom sauce.
The desert was a buffet style extravaganza - almost a deconstructed trifle on a very large scale. Creme caramel, honeycomb sponge, meringue nests filled with custard and vanilla cream down to jelly and custard - they were all there.

Thankfully things have changed.

Christmas Eve is still a very important occasion for my family to celebrate. It is also a wonderful time to spend and share time with our family and friends.

On the culinary side things have changed quite a lot from my childhood memories. Overindulgent spreads have made way for simpler menus, with accent dishes that are easier, slightly more modern and not as overcooked as in the days gone by. Quality ingredients are now the stars of the festive table. Flavours and textures are now the all important elements of the Christmas Eve Dinner. The overcooked and dry Turkey has made way for Roasted Turkey en papillote, or even Duck al'orange or Chicken in anyway you like. The roasted Gammon has been replaced by simply cooking the finest one you can find in a wonderful stock, succulent and tasty bringing out the best in this magnificent dish. Served with liquor pineapple rings and cherries it becomes a visual and taste showstopper. 

Turkey: Turkey is not one of my personal favourites, but for the sake of tradition my wife and I have tried and tested a few not so successful recipes - until we found a recipe, or rather method, by the South African food guru Ina Paarman. For a decent roasted bird there is no better way than her roasted turkey in baking paper. It is golden brown, ever so juicy and truly delicious. The recipe is in 'The Femina Cookbook' with Ina Paarman. There is just no better way than this to dish up and present your magnificent bird.

Gammon: Baked Glazed Gammon can be a daunting and time consuming task. Sure, it looks beautiful if the glaze isn't slightly burnt, but it can very easily become quite dry. Cooking the gammon in a well flavoured stock makes it extemely simple, very juicy and utterly delicious. Served with caramelized liquor pineapple rings and cherries gives it more than enough visual appeal - and the taste is superior to most other methods of cooking this fine dish. Sliced thinly It is also wonderful as a cold ham the next day, served with a sweet mustard sauce.
Uncooked Boneless Smoked Gammon is widely available and comes in many shapes and sizes. The packaging and net sometimes makes it difficult to see the quality of the cut. Choose one that has a lovely brown colour, with the skin covering a large portion of the ham. It could also be better to buy two smaller evenly shaped hams than one large one. It carves easier and the slices are more manageable on the plate.
Here are two foolproof recipes to cook your ham to perfection:

Recipe 1:
The slight ginger taste is very subtle and works well - and it is ever so easy.
Soak the gammon in cold water for 4 hours before cooking.
1 uncooked boneless smoked gammon
2 lt ginger ale
boiling water to cover gammon after ginger ale has been added
1 onion, cut into pieces
4 bay leaves
Place soaked gammon in a large enough pot and add the ginger ale. Top up with boiling water and add onion and bay leaves.
Bring to the boil and cook gently for 30 minutes per 500gr.
If you really want the roasted effect the gammon can be scored and glazed and baked in a preheated oven at 200°C until deep brown and crisp..

Recipe 2:
This recipe has a deeper and more aromatic flavour - truly delicious
Place Gammon in cold water for 2 - 4 hours.
Drain water and replace with fresh water - cover gammon completely.
Add the following ingredients:
1    onion
4    cloves
2    sprigs of parsley
2    bay leaves
5ml    mustard powder
10ml    brown sugar
2    carrots, sliced
3    celery sticks, 10cm long, sliced
5    peppercorns
500ml    apple juice

Slowly bring to the boil and cook for ±20 minutes per 500gr.
Leave to cool in liquid.
Could be used to oven-roast the glaze, served cold or hot at this stage.

It's not about the slow food movement, it's not about 'you are what you eat', 'meat-free Mondays' or the organic status of every morsel of food on your plate.

After living the city-life for fifty odd years we moved to a farm in the beautiful Brandwacht Valley outside Worcester. Living on a farm is a enormous privilege.

I have a veggie patch about the size of two normal backyard gardens. Growing our own veggies and herbs has become a big part of our lives - one we enjoy tremendously.

Food has suddenly become much more than just 'what's for dinner'. It has become part of a new relationship with what nature has given us. Sun ripened tomatoes, crunchy green beans, baby marrows, sweet beetroots, chives and all the other aromatics has changed my whole perception about my relationship with food.

Gone are the days of taking veggies out of the plastic supermarket bag and straight into the fridge or freezer. They are now carefully picked, gently washed and handled with great care and respect.

Great consideration is now given to each and every ingredient and the best possible way to prepare or preserve it. Ingredients are not just added at random to any old dish. No, each one deserves a place of honor on the plate - being part of a complex dish, the main ingredient or merely an accompaniment, each and every vegetable, salad or herb deserves to be recognized and honored.

I appreciate that every city-dweller  may not be as fortunate as myself, but try to lay hands on the freshest produce you can find. The farmers' market, a friend with a plot of land, your neighbor or even from your own backyard.

The tiresome and tedious chore of preparing a fantastic meal will be transformed into one of the most therapeutic rewarding experiences of the day when you transform fabulous ingredients into simple, tasty and nutritious meals.

Come and join me on this food journey by commenting, adding suggestions and sending in recipes that celebrate the wonderful world of food.

Andre.