Nom nom spinach tart

Day 10 a spinach, feta and filo tart accompanied by mushrooms, roasted peppers & asparagus with bacon.

Zucchini chocolate muffins for laters....

A little bit vege...

I try to cook vegetarian at least once a week. On day nine I made Annabele Langbien's zucchini, feta and mint fritters served with lemon couscous and a cucumber, tomato and feta salad (my go to salad in summer).

The best bit was the kids loved them!

The garden is full of zucchini and cucumbers so they're going to feature a bit this month I suspect...especially those fritters!

Absent meals. .

I realized I've missed four days worth of meals....

Day five the MOTH and I were celebrating 10 years of marriage in picturesque Greytown. Lovely dinner at the White Swan Hotel. The MOTH tucked into a superb steak, I opted for pork belly.

Day six lunch was a delicious meal at Aroma India -we were so full we didn't bother with an evening meal!

The past two days I prepared dinner a little on the late side...we were all so hungry that we'd finished eating before I got a snapshot of family-friendly antipasto and last night's vege nachos!

Better planning for tonight.... ;-)

Build your own burgers

Build your own burgers with homemade patties, fresh veges and delicious condiments is something our whole family loves.

Everyone stuffs their buns with their choice of fillings and love all are content!

Hello 2016

It's been nearly five years that this blog has sat idle and neglected. In the spirit of sharing a slice of life with a dear friend in Spain, and doing a month long (perhaps longer, depending on my sanity) challenge, Dinner at Miko's is being awakened to share the good, great and boring dinners of our household for a month.

Perhaps it shall bring inspiration or reassurance in the meal department. Simplicity will be a picture and a post...

Three days in and 2016 looks like this...
Jan 1 homegrown lettuce salad, salmon gratin and roasted potatoes

Jan 2 steak and chips

Jan 3 what happens when it's the Man of the House's (MOTH) turn to cook...fish and chips

Already mortified that we've had Spuds three days running!

Mississippi Mud Cake Wedding Cake

Wedding cake baked and iced by yours truly!

This is one of those cakes that is full of chocolate and butter and not particularly 'healthy'. But who cares? For a special occasion it is fabulous and very yummy!

I have to admit I was panicking about baking a two-tiered chocolate cake and icing it for my brother's wedding. Wee bit finicky are these cakes. The top cracked and they took forever to bake, but flipped upside down and iced, it didn't look too bad. I freaked out the bride-to-be with a series of worried texts about whether I could ice it or if I should just slop a ganache on it...

But hey presto, i did it! For the wedding I tripled to follow recipe and cooked it in  7inch and a 10 inch tins. For a general yummy treat, following the instructions below (courtesy of The Australian Women's Weekly July 2010) and dust with cocoa. Much easier and faster!


Mississippi Mud Cake
250g chopped butter
150g dark eating chocolate (Whitaker's is great)
2 cups (440g) white sugar
1 cup (250ml) hot water
1/3 cup (80ml) whisky
1 Tablespoon instant coffee granules
11/2 cups (225g) plain flour
1/4 cup (35g) self raising flour
1/4 cup (25 g)cocoa powder
2 eggs beaten lightly
cocoa powder or icing sugar for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 160 C (140C fan forced). Grease a 23cm square slab pan; line base and sides with baking paper (VERY IMPORTANT!)
2. Combine the butter, chocolate, sugar, water, whisky and coffee in a medium saucepan; stir over low heat until smooth. Cool (about 5 mins). Stir in sifted flours and cocoa. Then add eggs.
3.Pour into pan; bake for about 1 hour 15 mins. Stand for 10 mins, then turn onto wire rack to cool.
4. Serve dusted with Cocoa powder or icing sugar (if you can wait that long), with a dollop of natural yogurt and some berry sauce.

It will keep for about 4-5 days - it dries out a little - but it's not likely to last that long!.

Apologies, dinner is coming!

A big SORRY for not updating in the past few months. Miss K's eczema is now under control, but it's taken some time to a) find the solution and b) learn how to cook accordingly!

I've also added a fab new tool to my cooking repertoire (the Thermomix) and that too has taken some getting used to - so I will be posting recipes that are friendly to both thermo and non-thermo owners.

Bear with me... dinner will be served soon.