For the salad
2 cups of fresh spinach
1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
8 walnut halves, rough chopped
30g crumbled feta cheese
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
Layer each ingredient on a large salad plate. Serve with the Raspberry Balsamic Dressing
For the Dressing
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon raspberry jam
1 teaspoon Wholegrain mustard or French or Dijon mustard
Combine ingredients in a jar or tightly sealed container. Shake vigorously until well combined.

Base
2/3 cup plain flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup coconut
42 grams butter
Melt butter and mix together. Line flan tin with mixture. Cook 180°C for 10 mins.
Caramel
1 can condensed milk
1 tablespoons butter
1 – 1 ¼ tablespoons golden syrup
Cook until golden and bubbles appear (as with all caramel sauces it burns easily so keep an eye on it)
Pour into flan.
Cool.
Top with sliced bananas (covered with a little lemon juice) & whipped cream (covering all the sliced banana)
Grate chocolate on top

Original recipe from Pipkins Café (now Oscars) in McLaren Vale in the 1980s.

Easy Berry Chia Seed Jam
500gms (around 5 cups) frozen mixed berries
¼ cup chia seeds
2 tablespoons orange juice
Up to 4 tablespoons maple syrup (optional), to taste
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the frozen berries, chia seeds and orange juice. Cover and let the mixture defrost for about three hours at room temperature, or overnight in the fridge.
Once the berries are defrosted and soft, use a potato masher to mash up the mixture to your desired consistency.
Taste, and if you’d like a sweeter jam, stir in some maple syrup.
Store jam in the refrigerator, covered, for about 1 week.

Old Fashioned Strawberry Jam
750gms strawberries
750gms sugar
¼ cup lemon juice
Place all ingredients in saucepan, stir over low heat until sugar dissolves.
Bring to boil, reduce heat, simmer until jam jells when tested on cold saucer, 35 to 40 minutes.
Store in steralized jars.

1 egg
2 teaspoons sugar
30g melted butter
¾ cup milk
2 cups SR flour
½ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to hot (230˚C)
Beat eggs and sugar together until thick.
Add melted butter to milk.
Sift together flour and salt into a bowl, make well in center.
Using a knife stir in egg mix, then milk mixture and stir to a soft dough.
Turn onto a floured surface, knead lightly. Pat to 1 cm (½ inch) thick.
Cut out with a floured 5cm (2 inch) cutter, plunging cutter straight down and back out - do not twist. Re-roll and continue to use all dough.
Place close together on a lightly greased baking tray.
Brush tops with a little milk.
Bake for about 10 - 12 mins until the top is golden and it sounds hollow when tapped.
Serve with jam and dollop of cream
Makes approx 12

400g dark chocolate, chopped
400g Roasted Almond milk chocolate, chopped
4 eggs
½ cup sugar
2 x 300ml cartons thickened cream
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier

Line base of 23cm springform pan with foil, place side around base, trim away excess foil.
Melt dark chocolate and milk chocolate in two separate bowls over hot water, cool. Do not allow to set.
Beat eggs and sugar in small bowl with electric mixer until thick and creamy.
Beat cream in large bowl until firm peaks form and fold in Grand Marnier.
Add the egg mixture in 2 batches.
Divide mixture evenly into 2 bowls and stir dark chocolate into 1 bowl of cream mixture and milk chocolate mixture into the other bowl.
Pour milk chocolate mixture into pan, cover with foil, freeze 1 hour or until set.
Top with dark chocolate mixture, cover with foil, freeze overnight.
Serve with fruit if desired
Will keep up to 1 week in freezer

Jess and I will be eating these down the beach Christmas morning
¼ cooked roast chicken
1 bacon rasher chopped
4 tablespoons slivered almonds
1 tablespoon chopped chives
½ cup sour cream
4 croissants
Toast the almonds in a moderate oven for 8 minutes.
Cook bacon in a pan until crisp, drain.
Remove the chicken meat from the bones. Chop chicken finely.
Combine the chicken, bacon, almonds, chives and sour cream.
Fill the croissants and heat in a moderate oven for 10 minutes or until crisp on the outside.

Because on Christmas Day I watched the delight of both adults and children ‘feasting’ on these old favourites – tomorrow’s memories
Honey Joys
90gms butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon honey
4 cups corn flakes
Heat butter, sugar and honey until mixture is frothy.
Add cornflakes and mix well.
Spoon into paper patty cases and bake in a slow oven for 10 minutes

Chocolate Crackles
4 cups Rice Bubbles
1½ cups sifter icing sugar
3 tablespoons Cocoa
1 cup coconut
250gms Copha.
Mix rice bubbles, icing sugar, cocoa and coconut together.
Slowly melt copha and allow to cool.
Mix with dry ingredients well and spoon into patty pans.
Refrigerate until firm

250 g Philadelphia cream cheese at room temperature
2 spring onions chopped, or red onion chopped finely
1 garlic clove crushed
1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons parsley chopped
finely chopped pistachios nuts to roll log in

In a bowl mix the cream cheese, spring onions, garlic, sweet chilli sauce, lemon juice and parsley until well combined.
Tip mixture out onto a sheet of cling wrap, shape the mixture into a log, then wrap and refrigerate for about an hour, until the mixture is firm.
Unwrap the cheese log and roll in chopped pistachios nuts.
Serve with crackers.