Category — Articles

Christmas is a wonderful time of the year for many reasons – parties, summer, gorgeous food, holidays and a great excuse to catch up with friends. If you’re playing host and want to avoid unnecessary stress that is often associated with entertaining, a little forward planning and organisation will leave you free and relaxed to enjoy the fun of the festive season. 

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My food blog, which has just celebrated its second birthday, was created to inspire its readers to entertain at home, so they can experience the joy associated with having guests. In the past 2 years, entertaining made easy has provided its readers with a myriad of recipes, tips and hints, ideas and articles – all designed to take the stress and guesswork out of entertaining. Reflecting on the past 24 months, I felt it was time to take a step back and talk about the basic elements of entertaining - the keys to making your occasion as enjoyable for you as it is for your guests.

Friends enjoying themselves at a Fondue Party

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Pasta comes in a huge variety of shapes and sizes, ranging from tagliatelle and tortellini to penne and pappardelle. Matching pasta with a compatible sauce is instinctive for someone that has grown up eating pasta as a staple, but for the rest of us some guidelines are necessary to attain the best complement of flavour and texture.

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Queensland’s Sunshine Coast is a food lover’s haven – the region is blessed with top quality produce and gourmet products grown and made with love by dedicated local farmers and artisans. The fine climate and fertile soil provides ideal growing conditions for a wide variety of produce and foods.      

The rolling hills of Maleny

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Until last weekend I had zero experience in making a child’s themed birthday cake (probably because I don’t have children). I hear from my friends that do have kids just how highly competitive childrens’ birthday parties can be. It seems that all the parents are trying to out-do the other parents, particularly when it comes to the cake. 

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Today is officially the last day of summer, but in Australia our climate allows us to enjoy barbequing most of the year round. Everyone loves a good barbeque: less fuss, more fun and flavour, and great for entertaining. Barbequing has come a long way since the days of overcooked steaks and charred sausages. But surprisingly, even in our barbeque-obsessed country, many people are still intimidated by outdoor cooking. Here are a few tips that will have you the master of the grill in no time: [Read more →]

The way a meal looks is almost as important as how it tastes. Food that is pleasing to the eye always tastes better: imagine being served a plate in a restaurant that looked like a dog’s breakfast – your taste would likely be negatively influenced.

Approach the presentation of your meal like an artist would a blank canvas – strive for a pleasing arrangement and be mindful of composition, colour, lines and textures.

As a home entertainer no one expects you to go to the lengths that Michelin Star chef’s go to for their food presentation, but following these basic guidelines will transform your tasty meal into a memorable one: [Read more →]

More and more people are avoiding gluten in their diets. Whether they have been diagnosed with Coeliac disease or have non-coeliac gluten-intolerance, chances are you know someone who falls into this category. But what do you serve your gluten-free guests when they come over for a meal? [Read more →]

It seems most people are watching their pennies these days, and dining-in has become the option of choice to get together with friends and family. However, having guests can be a costly exercise if you don’t plan your menu wisely. Is it possible to serve an impressive meal whilst still keeping a check on your budget? Yes it is! The following winter entertaining ideas should provide you with some inspiration: [Read more →]

For a nation of food-lovers, we also like to waste it: last year over $5 billion worth of food was thrown out in Australia. That amounted to 3 million tonnes, about 145 kilograms per person. Put another way, it is estimated that the average Australian throws away 20% of the food they buy.

Apart from the obvious financial consequences, such waste has a huge environmental impact. We can all take steps to reduce waste: follow these tips and you’ll not only be helping the environment, but looking after your own wallet. [Read more →]