Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

I like making meringues more than I like eating them. I mean, they are nice and all, but I am not crazy about them. Or at least, I wasn't until the other day, when I had 3 egg whites in the fridge that needed to be used and I decided to make meringues with them. I used caster sugar, and didn't measure (I tend to go by ear, it mostly works...) and decided to try to add a passion fruit too, pulp and seeds. I whisked everything with the kitchen aid, and adjusted with more sugar to compensate for the extra moisture that went into the mixture. Well, I have to say that I was impressed: the best tasting meringues ever for me, I don't know if I can ever have normal meringues again now, these were just so 'tropical' and fragrant! I am entering this recipe in  Sweet New Zealand , the monthly blogging event for Kiwi bloggers. Our August 2013 host is  Marnelli from Sweets and Brains , click  here  to enter. Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini   ...

I had half a pumpkin to use, but just a little bit of Thai herbs mix (ginger, lemon grass, chili, garlic and coriander), certainly not enough to give my pumpkin a spicy flavor! Still, I felt like coconut, so I cut the pumpkin and two celery stalks with leaves and put them in my pot, then I added one can of coconut cream plus one can of water (to rinse the cream out), the remaining Thai herbs mix (about half tsp) and one organic veggie stock cube. I cook the lot until the pumpkin was soft, then I adjusted it for salt and added plenty of fresh basil leaves. I wanted to add some of my Vietnamese mint but it has all dried up (no rain in Auckland either) but the basil was strong flavored and I was surprised how nice this tasted in the end! I though of using this as a side dish (like in the photo) but I run out of time to make the main and since this dish had so much sauce I just added some cubed firm tofu to it when I warmed it up for dinner. I served with Thai rice. Very nice way of e...

This is for the boy, as he prefers to "drink" his cereals in the morning (takes less time!) Ingredients: Half glass pouring yogurt (I use  boys'nberry  -  yes, a different spelling from boysenberry, good for boys!) Half glass milk 1  Weet Bix 1 banana (I use  All Good Bananas ) 1 tbsp blueberries Instructions: Blend and drink. It makes one glass and half of thick and filling smoothie! Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©