Between the arrival of our second child, and a serious health crisis for one of my immediate family members, it sure has been a full on first half of 2017. Being at home with a newborn and recovering from surgery, has meant I’ve been in the kitchen a little more than usual of late.
I find winter in the Southern Highlands is the perfect excuse for comfort food. And while I do love a good, slow cooked stew, I equally love a simple but rich pasta dish, like Gnocchi Gorgonzola, or Emiko Davies pasta al limone. It’s simple, quick, and yet totally delicious and indulgent.
Sometimes making the most basic of meals is all we can manage so I go for ones full of flavour and test. I also tried my hand at this delicious Ruby Grapefruit Sponge which I came up with after we had a surplus of delicious ruby red grapefruits. I had to take something to a girlfriends Christmas in July dinner and this was a big hit. You can find the recipe here.
Perfect with a nice glass of white wine on a Monday night when you don’t feel like cooking anything too complex or challenging. I used fettucine but I think it ideally works best with linguine or spaghetti.
Along with cooking and baking, I also love changing up the decor at home and making things warmer and cosier for the winter months. I raided my cushion collection and swapped out some of the blues cushion covers for warmer, burnt amber accents.
I’m going to paint our vintage wicker chairs black soon and also swap out the coffee table for a tan leather ottoman as we’re the kind of family that like to put our feet up and relax, plus I’m slowly re-baby proofing the house and attempting to reduce sharp edges so a tufted ottoman is ideal. I’ll keep you updated with those changes soon!
I noticed that I have the same cane settee as your chairs. I bought it about 35 years ago in Sydney Australia. I have contemplated painting it black or bottle green but have always chickened out! I’m really interested how your’s turn out. Will you be doing a gloss or matte?
I love your style.
Hi Frances! Thanks so much for the lovely compliment and sounds like you may have bought yours from the same place my mum did as she’s passed this setting on to me and I still can’t believe how well it has held up given it’s over 30 years old?! Such good quality. I’m still a bit undecided about spraying them black as it will depend on what coffee table I get (i’m currently hunting for a tan leather ottoman as our coffee table so that will be the deciding factor). I’ve already bought the paint and it’s a semi-gloss so just holding off until my mind is 100% – i’m currently at 92% 😉 If you want any inspiration have a look at Mark D Sikes work as I’ve seen some dark brown cane chairs in his interiors which has the same effect as black/charcoal. With light fabric cushions, I think they’d look terrific! Nicki x
Hi – I can’t seem to see the Grapefruit Sponge recipe?
Hi Greta,
Sorry, yes we haven’t posted it yet, but it should be up on the website next week. I will post on my Instastories when it’s up and provide a direct link 🙂