seasons...

Mum and I went to a bookstore today and found Donna Hay's Seasons discounted by almost 50%. She got it for me - thanks, Mum :)

It's been a while between cookbooks - hard copy is so much nicer than the online recipe sites with their adds and pop-up windows. This one is a delicious, weighty brick of a thing. As the name suggests, this one has a 'four seasons' structure with each one offering some 80 pages of sweet and savoury food. Goes without saying that the photography is beautiful (Donna is a food stylist as much as she is a chef) and the images alone make you want to head into the kitchen.

Cooking on a budget sans dishwasher can be uninspiring sometimes. You lapse into necessity cooking and forget that it's still possible to make cheap, simple, tasty meals that don't use every pot, pan and utensil in the house.  Donna's recipes for pumpkin and feta loaf, flat roasted chicken with almond and mint, lemony peach cake and crushed raspberry tart remind you that everyone can afford to cook yummy food.

Now, if I could just fit Mum's wicker chair in the boot...


Who inspires you to get cooking, or is it something you've always loved to do?