Dusting the cobwebs off my blog

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Goodness gracious, it has been almost a year since I wrote anything on my blog. Some of you must have thought that I have forgotten all about it. A few people, like Stax, went a step further and found ways to contact me which was really very sweet. Others, like my friend S in Miami and D in Dallas, got on the phone and hollered at me for just 

Burfi (Indian Milk Fudge)

Divali (Diwali) is one of the most eagerly anticipated holidays of my country. Yesterday my son came home from his Catholic School with his painted clay deya (a small, clay, lamp) eager to light it right away. Great was his disappointment when I explained that he needed to wait until the the next day.

Divali is a Hindu festival but in Trinidad and Tobago it is embraced and enjoyed by

Breadfruit Oil Down

Oil down (Oil dong) is a traditional Caribbean way of cooking starchy vegetables in a coconut milk reduction. Jamaicans call it run down. In Trinidad the most popular oil down ingredient is breadfruit which technically is a fruit but for cooking purposes it is treated like a vegetable. Because the breadfruit is sweet and buttery the accompanying meat tends to be a bit of something briny like

Ma'amoul - Date and Walnut Filled Cookies

Somewhere out there, someone's Tita (grandmother) is tut tutting and shaking their head in dismay at my sorry looking ma'amoul.

Traditionally these cookies are made with an intricate pattern that makes them look quite regal.

You'll be tempted to serve them on nothing but your best china I'm sure.

Clearly mine are barely tupperware worthy.

Fortunately, what they lack in looks, they make up

Chocolate Truffle Ice-Cream

I go weak in the knees for magazines with images of hot, sexy, totally delicious food. Forget the carefully crafted recipe lead-ins that proclaim the sweet, sour or even piquant flavours of a particular dish; it’s the food photographs which sell it to me every time.

A perfect example would be June’s issue of bon appétit which proclaims that this chocolate ice-cream is so rich, it doesn’t

Avocado Tostadas

It's been raining avocados.

Last week a man we barely know gifted us with a huge bag of these pears. Unfortunately he ran off before I could marry him.

Most unfortunate agreed my husband.

Almost everyday for the last month someone (bless 'em) has given us an avocado and I've been eating slices of buttery pears daily. A thick, crusty, hops bread with a smash of avocado in between is considered

Sweet and Sour Thai Shrimp

This is a quick stir-fry recipe which takes on the character of a stew with a satisfying broth at the end. As long as you chop all your vegetables the night before it only takes 10 minutes to cook the following day.

This is nothing like a Chinese sweet and sour recipe. The aromatic kaffir leaves and coconut milk  give this dish an authentic Thai flavour. That said, Kaffir leaves are a