articles, recipes, ideas and tips for entertaining at home

Crème Brûlée originated in England and was known as “Burnt Cream” before it was given the more exotic-sounding French name most people know it by. For some reason, many people hold the belief that this is a really complicated dessert to prepare, but it is actually really simple.  [Read more →]

These moreish little biscuits are wonderful served as a welcome nibble with pre-dinner drinks. Be warned: you won’t be able to stop at one!

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Last weekend I attended the annual Noosa Food & Wine Festival, a first for me. This three day festival, which is in its seventh year, is considered Australia’s leading regional food and wine festival.  And as Noosa Heads is my new place of residence, I feel very fortunate that this amazing event takes place just around the corner from where I live. The beautiful Noosa River backdrop coupled with perfect weather brought the crowds, which came from all over Australia, out in full force. [Read more →]

Limes are not only currently in season but are in abundance where I live on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. As I’m a big fan of seasonal cooking, I couldn’t go past sharing my recipe for Key Lime Pie.  [Read more →]

This is a new monthly column to Entertaining Made Easy, which I decided to add after receiving numerous questions from my cooking class students and blog readers about how best to equip their kitchen, what kitchenware to buy, where is the best place to buy it, how much should you pay and which gadgets to avoid. 

Each month I will feature a kitchen tool that I consider is a useful addition to the kitchen. This month’s featured kitchen tool is the digital thermometer.

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Although Easter has just passed us by and we are all chocolated out, I reckon you can never have too much chocolate in your diet. This decadent dessert cake is flavoured with hazelnut meal and Frangelico, a hazelnut liqueur. It’s gluten-free, which is welcome news for coeliacs and those who avoid gluten in their diet. This is a great dessert when entertaining, as it can be made way in advance and only needs slicing at serving time.  Serve it with fresh strawberries and cream and a glass of liqueur muscat.
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Figs are believed to have originated in the Middle East and are now grown in many parts of the world including Australia. The season in Australia is a relatively short one – late summer to mid-Autumn – so enjoy them fresh while you can.

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This stylish yet simple dessert is made in less than 15 minutes in total and tastes as good as it looks. Cannoli are Sicilian pastry desserts, and ready-made cannoli shells are a terrific time-saver. The ricotta filling can be made ahead of time and stored covered in the refrigerator. The cannoli just need assembling at serving time, which takes less than 5 minutes. Your guests will love these!

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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 →]

I made this divine salad at our Easy Asian Dinner Party cooking class last week and it was a winner. My students wondered how such a quick and easy salad could taste so good? The answer is the combination of the classic Thai flavours of the dressing, sweet prawns and fresh Asian herbs. [Read more →]