Recently I had the very good fortune of catching up with my good friend, Maureen, and her husband, John, while they were briefly in Sydney. Along with Tania, we decided to meet for dinner at Downstairs Restaurant in Darlinghurst. But situated directly above Downstairs is The Hazy Rose, an intimate and charming bar where we […]
In My Kitchen, March 2015
March 1, 2015 By 58 Comments
And just like that, summer was over. But not exactly. Because here in Sydney the first day of autumn was a scorcher with temperatures soaring to 36C (97F). With February being so short, when March arrives the seasons don’t cooperate. In my kitchen I have two passionfruit. Yes, just two but these are homegrown and […]
Easy Pickled Watermelon Rind
October 14, 2014 By 31 Comments
After visiting Maureen, Liz and Rebecca, we’ve had to leave the East Coast of Australia and head to the USA. We’ve landed but I just don’t know where. We’re visiting John from Kitchen Riffs and I know he used to work and live in Manhattan and I know he’s now semi-retired and has left New […]
Bundy and Coke Braised Beef Ribs
October 13, 2014 By 29 Comments
We’ve been in Queensland visiting Maureen on the Sunshine Coast and Liz on the Gold Coast but now we’re down in the Australian Capital Territory where we have our capital city, Canberra. For many reasons a lot of people in Sydney like to think Sydney is the capital, especially as some of our Prime Ministers […]
Montville, Queensland
June 10, 2014 By 24 Comments
When we were on our mini-break on the Sunshine Coast, the sun didn’t shine. Nevertheless we behaved like proper tourists and went sightseeing. Now Alfie doesn’t like sightseeing and he was in luck because Carl’s brother lives in Montville, a small town in the hinterland of the Sunshine Coast, with his wife and three children. […]
A Cake of Joy
May 6, 2014 By 36 Comments
Prior to sculpting the Titanic cake, I had no idea of exactly how much cake I would need to make. Just to be safe I made four very large cakes that were 30 x 40 cms (12 x 16 inches) and stored them in the freezer. Running out of cake turned out to be not […]
The 2013 Top Five
January 2, 2014 By 46 Comments
WordPress has very kindly sent me a kind of ‘Year in Review’. It’s a summary of how things went down over at Hotly Spiced Headquarters during 2013. It let me know my five most popular posts. I’ve seen these lists before and every year the list never fails to surprise. I thought I’d share these […]
Hotly Spiced in Free-Fall
June 23, 2013 By 56 Comments
On Friday night I posted Egg Baskets and…the Sleepover. Two of you managed to comment on that post before it disappeared. That post and all my posts written from February until June 21 disappeared. Poof, they were gone. Celia and Lorraine started sending me urgent texts. With minimal IT knowledge I didn’t know what to […]
Chargrilled Eye Fillet with Massaman Curry Sauce
January 9, 2013 By 42 Comments
In a previous post I mentioned to you that while we were on a family holiday in Noosa, Maureen and Claire, two amazing bloggers who have become my friends, came over to our apartment for dinner, (except that Claire could only stay for a drink as she was double-booked). You would think that seeing there […]
Picture Point Terraces
January 6, 2013 By 35 Comments
We’ve been on a long-overdue family holiday on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, staying in Noosa. When I say, ‘long-overdue’ that’s because it’s been almost three years since we went away, all five of us. I’m not sure how that happened as you wouldn’t think a week’s holiday would be that difficult to co-ordinate but somehow three […]
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