The thing I loved most about being in Barcelona is that as you walk around the corner or further down the lane you are suddenly confronted by incredible history and immense beauty.

My first attempt at Violet Crumble was a dismal failure as the honeycomb refused to set and harden despite following the recipe to the letter. I poked and prodded at the gooey mass for a good half an hour before calling Stephen in desperation for advice.

'How long do I need to wait until this "whooshing cloud of aerated pale gold" turns hard'? I asked

'Anywhere between 20-30 minutes' he replied

'Well it's been that long and then some' I added in frustration 'and it's nothing but a billowing mass of goo'!

'Did you follow the recipe' ? he asked.

'Yes' I replied glibly.

'Was it Grandma's recipe'? he inquired.

'No' I replied 'I used whats-her-names recipe, you know the one with the convincing smile and TV series to match'. 

'OK why don't you go ahead and make the ice cream and I'll make Grandma Jean's honeycomb tonight when I get home from work'?

'Ok' I muttered, my pride barely in tact.

'You make the honeycomb and I'll make the ice cream'.

We were only in Nice for a couple of nights, but we were immediately won over by her beauty and charm. I was instantly smitten by the Promenade des Anglais as I have never seen a more lovely stretch of water. The Côte d'Azur at sunset is completely beguiling.

I love the way these big, beautiful pasta shells hold pesto and all sorts of other flavours inside their cavity. Each mouthful is hidden with surprise, bursting with texture, taste and crunch.

Even my most pernickety child loved this dish, so much so that he put down his knife and fork mid-meal and began to use his hands, so that he could neatly stuff the creamy goats cheese and crunchy garlicky chilli crumbs into the enormous shells.

Upon Fussy's insistence I decided to follow his lead, and so I too downed my cutlery, rolled up my sleeves and began to stuff the conchiglioni with goats cheese and chilli breadcrumbs.

It's simple moments like this that fill my heart with such delight!


 

The other day I put forward the question over on my Facebook wall 'What to do with all those frozen berries that are safely ensconced in my freezer drawer'? To my utter delight you came back with a whole list of interesting and diverse suggestions including smoothies, berry granita, coulis, cobbler, jam, jelly, sorbet, muffins and pie.

Despite a very strong urge to transform those luscious berries into a mound of sorbet, I decided to make a mixed berry crostata instead.
 
Besides, despite using up nearly a kilo of berries for this particular tart, I still have an easy two kilos of raspberries and blueberries left in my freezer. So if you thought that my ice cream escapades were finally coming to an end, think again!

I'm the type of person who feels like a complete failure unless there is a good loaf of bread in the pantry for my family to go nibble on and enjoy. So I endeavor to ensure that there is always a good loaf of bread in the house at all times.

I think you have heard me lament from time to time about the magnificence of Maltese bread? As a direct consequence I have consciously chosen to raise my kids on 'real' bread that has a definite crust, aroma and texture to it and that is free from preservatives and lurking nasties. Hence, I personally have a real issue with the over processed white sliced stuff that you see stocked on supermarket shelves, as its texture is more akin to fairy floss than bread.

This is one of my favourite dips at the moment and it's also very popular at apéritif and cocktail hour around these parts. I love the smokiness of the roasted red bell peppers and the texture that the walnuts bring. The intensity of the pomegranate, garlic and chili flavours also make this an incredibly moreish dip.

There are endless variations of muhammara out there, as some people like to add tahini and others like to add yogurt to the mix. I have always found Greg Malouf's version to be perfect, and so it's the one that I make most often.

Yesterday was just like any other day. We slept in, had a late breakfast and then set about attending to a couple errands. One of the things on our 'to do' list was to get Hoover some school shoes. Not any old school shoes I might add, but her very first pair of school shoes!


How did this happen so soon?

Where did the time go?

Day's fly ...

I can remember her first pair of shoes, I still have them in fact. We often take them out of their box and marvel at how tiny they are.

 'Were they really my shoes mama'?

'Yes hanini girl they really were your shoes' I reply.

'Did I like wearing them mama'? she inquires

'You did enjoy wearing them sweetheart, but you much preferred to walk around barefoot'.

In fact she still does. My barefooted, free spirited, fairy girl could walk around ħafja for days on end.



I often wonder how she is going to manage wearing those black Mary Jane's all day long? I suspect she is going to take off like the wind, with grace and ease and a skip in her step.

One thing I have noticed of late is that Stephen and Fussy are both obsessed with certain flavours. They both love double salted Dutch licorice and sour snakes. They also love mint slice biscuits and blood orange sorbet.

Their greatest 'shared' indulgence to date would have to be Turkish Delight. Hence, since the arrival of my ice cream maker they have both been harassing me to make some Turkish delight ice cream.

The other day I finally conceded.

They now have two litres of the stuff sitting in the freezer and I suspect it will all but disappear by Saturday afternoon, at the latest.

When we went away over the Christmas break I couldn't care less if the house fell down or if my neighbours forgot to take my recycle bin out. What did give me major anxiety were my tomato plants, especially with the insane heat that was forecast for New Years Eve.

I promised Ava and Steve that if they watered my tomato plants everyday I would make them a huge batch of chocolate gelato upon my return. So I guess I better go drag my ice cream maker out of the cupboard!

During the summer months we tend to spend a lot more time outdoors, as the evenings are warmer and it's lighter for much longer. The children love to play in the back yard, jumping like crazy monkeys on the trampoline for hours on end while we sensibly sit on the porch sipping an apéritif or two.

On long, lazy summer days you tend to want something light to pick at prior to dinner. While we were down the coast we were consistently faithful with our apéritif and appetizer ritual and I think it's safe to say that the Cinzano Bianco Spritzer has made a definite comeback at our house.

One of my favourite Maltese appetizers is fażola bit-tewm, which is basically white butter beans with crushed garlic, fresh flat leaf parsley that is then lightly coated with good extra virgin olive oil. When we're in Malta I love to serve fażola with a bowl of fresh cherry tomatoes, some green Sicilian olives and peppered ġbejna. When we're in Melbourne, I just lament about the absence of ġbejna.

I've just had the most wonderful break, as we were able to steal away to the cozy coastal suburb of Jan Juc for a week. It's amazing how quickly you're able to relax and unwind when you deliberately leave your peripheral gadgets behind, so much so that I even managed to set fire to the panettone toast last Sunday.