Hi, all,

Instead of an introduction:

As a foodie and an avid experimenter in the kitchen, I have cooked a fair number of dishes, from starters to desserts. My hallmark, unfortunately for those, who have tried my food and have asked me for the recipes, is that I totally improvise in terms of applying exact measurements or choosing the recommended ingredients.

My son’s favorite chocolate cake that I often make is simply never the same. (Apparently, every time I prepare it, it is just so much better than before. So he says.) Even when baking, I tend to forget about using measuring equipment, as advised here. For example, when I scan through my favorite food blogs, I get an idea to create something of my own. I usually forget to even look carefully at the detailed list of ingredients and somehow miss reading the instructions. I don’t write down my own recipes, nor have I ever taken a picture of any finished “masterpiece” of mine.

Cooking has been more of a passion to me, rather than a serious hobby-like pursuit. If for others, this means launching their own blog, where they actively share their meticulously recorded kitchen achievements, for me, it has been an unrecorded journey of sharing my cooking with my friends and family.

Well, some of them have pestered me about this for months. “Why don’t you get more serious about your talent in the kitchen and share your recipes with the world?”

And here I go, I have made the step to join this friendly community table…

I have picked two of my favorite recipes to share here, which I’m planning to prepare for Mother’s Day. It is in a couple of weeks or so in Australia, when a whole bunch of mums and kids will be joining a Mother’s Day party at a friend’s house in Randwick, Sydney. We have decided that everyone should contribute how they can. Entertainment has been organised for the children, our host is getting her house cleaned professionally for the event, I’m doing a major part of the cooking and another mum is going to ask a friend to play the guitar.

The recipes below could not be any simpler and are perfect for parties, because you can just increase very easily the quantity and number of the ingredients.

I hope you like them. I have visualized them with images that come closest to my original recipes.

For starters:

Sultana and Tuna Couscous Salad

Ingredients:

3 cups of Couscous

2 tins of tuna in brine

2 red peppers

3 spring onions

100 gr of sultanas

1 lemon

4 tablespoons of ground flaxseed

3 tablespoons of olive oil

1 small cube of fresh ginger

Ground white peeper and Himalayan salt

Add the couscous to a pan of boiling water (4:1) and simmer for 5-7 min. Rinse well with hot water. Cut finely the peppers and and the onions. Drain the fish and mix all the chopped ingredients with the sultanas, flaxseed and the couscous in a large bowl. Add the olive oil and the juice of the lemon. Grate the ginger and â…“ of the lemon zest and mix well with the rest. Season with a little Himalayan salt and ground white pepper.

As this dish is almost a meal on its own, I would recommend to be followed by a very light main dish, like Grilled Salmon Fillets in white wine and parsley sauce.

For dessert:

Tricolor Yoghurt

Ingredients:

1kg of thick and creamy Greek Style Yoghurt

4 tablespoons of honey

4 tablespoons of sugar

3 tablespoons of instant cocoa powder

100gr of chopped roasted nuts (walnuts or almonds)

Divide the yoghurt into three parts in separate bowls.

The first bowl - just whisk the plain yoghurt for 30 sec and leave it to sit.

The second bowl - stir the honey into the mixture for a minute.

The third bowl - add the instant cocoa and the sugar and stir well for a few minutes.

Prepare four to six clear glasses (200 to 300 ml) and distribute equally the prepared mixtures into the glasses, starting with the honey yoghurt, followed by the plain one and then, finish with the chocolaty bowl mixture. Each glass should be filled with even layers of each mixture. Sprinkle on top of each glass the roasted nuts and leave in the fridge to cool for several hours. If you wish, you can decorate the dessert by also sprinkling some grated dark chocolate on top.

You can prepare and enjoy this light meal with friends or family on any occasion!

Feel free to improvise and find substitutes for some of the ingredients in the above recipes.

I believe in the following correlation: Food is chemistry and Love is chemistry, hence Food is Love. You sprinkle love to your cooking as a key ingredient and your dish will be a success!

(Who knows… Maybe I would join the food blogging community some time soon…)

Image sources: Flickr and Pixabay