Neil Perry's steamed snapper with ginger and spring onions

I've been eyeing this recipe off the past few days. I'm craving clean, fresh flavours and am in dire need of some brain food. The last two weeks of red meat madness was pleasurable at the time, but I'm ready for a break. A short break, but a break all the same. You can take the girl out of the butcher... Wait. This isn't going to end well.

Bocce Town

Bocce rocks. When Matty and I visited his uncle Pebe in the north of Italy, every night we would watch him play at the local club. People compare it to lawn bowls, but I think that's a long bow to draw. As far as I'm concerned, lawn bowls can go take a long jump. Bocce's where it's at. Have you ever heard someone so defensive about a mature adult's ballgame?

Every blog needs a macaron recipe, right?

Matt isn't the teasing kind - he's a gentleman who refuses to stoop to my level. There is one issue he does choose to rattle my cage on: leftovers. I made a lemon meringue pie recently and at the end of the recipe, I had a load of italian meringue left in the bowl. Matty joked there was no point getting out the tupperware because he'd just have rescue it from the pack of the fridge and throw it out in a week. I racked my brains for a recipe to use it all up, but nothing really tickled my fancy. Nothing, that is, until I found the old faithful, macaron.

Ombra and the world's best gelati

There's not much better in this world that an afternoon spent flitting between bars and restaurants. Fortunately, Melbourne has dozens of options in the CBD alone. On any given block, there's got to be at least three great places I'd happily grab a drink and a quick snack. Spoilt for choice, some might say.

The thinking man's Iced Vovo

I went to a small primary school in a tiny farming community in country Victoria. Before the bell would ring after recess and lunch, top 40 music would blare out over the school yard. You knew it was time to pack up your lunch box and head back to class. Nine times out of ten, I was still finishing off my Iced Vovos.

Butterflied lamb shoulder, potatoes pan haggerty and grilled broccolini

Have you noticed how baking is so much easier when there's two of you? I have my sous chef, Nadia, back in Melbourne. Granted, she mostly took photos today but it's the company that counts, right? So basically everything is alright in this neck of the woods. Fun times, loads of baking and rapping til my heart's content. I just need to kick this lurgy to get my vocal chords back in peak rhyming condition and all will be right in the world.

My lady's in town!

I'm so excited - my Nadia is in town! I'm trying my hardest to kick a funky virus at the moment and definitely not succeeding. Do you sometimes get the feeling your body is working against you? I think my throat held off all illness until the exact point I became busy and then pressed the UNLEASH button. I plan on pretending like the virus doesn't exist so I can enjoy the time I have with the little lady.