Jam Donuts.

I LOVE Jam Donuts. And I've let myself go during the non-smoking period. A Jam Donut a day keeps the doctor away. Isn't that the adage.

It was getting a little out of control though, when I remembered Nigella's recipe for the Jam Donut Muffin:

• 125ml milk


• 85ml corn or other vegetable oil


• 1 large egg


• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract


• 200g self-raising flour


• 100g caster sugar


• 12 tsp of berry jam (I used Bitton’s Strawberry & Vanilla Jam ~ it’s divine)

With a fork, beat together milk, oil, egg and vanilla extract. Stir this into the flour and caster sugar to combine, the lumps don't matter. Remember not to overbeat or else the muffins will be tough. Spoon the mixture into each mini muffin cups so that it's just under a third full. Add a tsp of jam, then top with more muffin mix so that the cases are just about full.

Bake for about 20 minutes in a preheated oven at 190 C.

While still hot roll in melted butter and sugar.

My word, they are SPLENDID!

It's Wrong, Wrong, Wrong...

But somehow trawling through the recipe books is even better with a cigarette and a glass of wine. Patch is off. There'll be a couple of ciggies tonight, but I'm not going to beat myself up about it. Because there's all those others I didn't smoke today.

Sydney is very, very slightly autumnal this evening. Still humid, but -- as they say -- the days are drawing in. I can't wait to get the lastest Amazon.com order. 'All About Braising' and 'On the Bone'. Both wintery meat books. They'll have to be pretty good to be better than Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstall's 'The Meat Book', our particular favourite.

Over in our local dog park, the talk turns to food. My English friend -- mother of Fred and Barney, the two West Highland Whites -- gives me her corned beef recipe again. Here tis:

If corned beef very salty, soak for a couple of hours.

Put corned beef into roasting pan with either apple juice or cider to about 1.5 inches up meat. Drizzle with honey and throw about 12 cloves into liquid.

Cook very, very slowly -- a couple of hours or more.

When you're about an hour out from serving throw in some peeled onions and baste. They will slurp up the juices.

It's gorgeous.

And I can highly recommend for Sydney residents that they visit Cornucopia meats at the local markets. His Biodynamic Corned Beef is a thing made in heaven. And not overly expensive.

However, that doesn't decide what we're having for His birthday.

A Happy New Year

This blog has coincided with another attempt to give away the fags. Within hours the palate is zinging away looking for another taste sensation to relieve its boredom. This morning, after whacking on the first nicotine patch, instead of imbibing three cigarettes, we ingested the following: A not bad slice of toasted sourdough with a four berry jam. Delicious. Have run out of the caffineated coffee and have had to resort to the decaf that we bought to use for the affogatos.

The affogatos have come into our lives because my friend Paris lent me his ice cream maker -- one of those fab ones with its own internal freezing unit. It's just too easy. Nothing nicer. Homemade ice cream with a shot of espresso. Trouble was, we couldn't stop at one, and then were still awake at 3 in the morning. Hence the decaf.

And the 'simple' ice cream recipe is just marvellous: 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 300 ml of the best cream you can get your hands on, vanilla extract. Whip it all together and churn.

However, back to today.

The toast and coffee kept me going until my return from Pilates. And fantastic, there's a bit of last night's Pumpkin & Smoked Chicken Risotto left. I had been thinking about rolling it into little balls stuffed with mozarella and then crumbed and fried, but I'm just going to reheat and scoff.

The risotto is a breeze to make too. None of that stirring for 40 minutes.

1 cup arborio rice
2.5 cups stock (chicken or veg)
60 g butter
350 g jap or butternut pumpkin diced,
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1 tbsp chopped italian parsley
1 smoked chicken breast

Preheat oven to 190 degrees.
Put rice, stock, butter and pumpkin into ovenproof dish and cover tightly with lid or foil.
Bake for 30 minutes or until rice is soft.
Stir through cheese, salt and pepper, and diced chicken.

Dinner tonight will be the Significant Other's (henceforeward S.O.) ricotta gnocchi with gorgonzola sauce. Rich but marvellous. He's got a very light hand, I'm sure if I tried to make it, it'd turn out like porridge.

Really must get out of chair and go and get some nice mixed leaves to have with it.

Tomorrow is the S.O.'s birthday. There's some duck in the fridge.