A chopped onion browned sweetly sticky in a pan, then added to a bowl of ground lamb, plenty of chopped mint and parsley and ground pepper. I always add a grated apple to my burgers because i can't use breadcrumbs for bulk, and also because the fruit adds sweetness and moisture (and the pectin helps to keep their shape although i also added an egg today). I might have added pinenuts, too, if i had thought about it at the time.

I use my fingers to mix and squidge, and then little patties are dropped back into the shiny pan that the onions were softened in. Briefly browned, then the whole pan goes into a hot oven for 10 minutes to finish them off. Served with new potatoes and green beans.

When in doubt, bake a cake.

I wanted to do something that would keep my hands occupied, so i chose a recipe which needed old fashioned creaming; butter and sugar beaten to a gentle cream colour, then garlands of lemon rind, 3 eggs and a mix of flours added, slowly. Finally, vaguely following Nigella's suggestion, i added an extra lemon's worth of juice and some chopped dried bing cherries.




























A maderia cake; i cut it while still warm, feeding children after school, and the soft crumb fell into big chunks. It is the perfect texture; light but with enough moisture to keep the bite succulent in your mouth. Not too sweet, a good hit of lemon and those huge dark fruits buried like rubies in sand.

I would serve a slice with a glass of Tokay that i brought back from a Margaret River winery, if you were here.

A brief summary of Nigella Lawson's Buche de Noel:



Whisk 6 egg whites until they froth thickly, whisk again with 50g of caster sugar until glossy.

Whisk the egg yolks with 100g of caster sugar until thick and foamy, fold in 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and 50g sieved cocoa. Carefully amalgamate .. one large spoonful of the whipped whites into the custard froth to ease the mix, and gradually add the rest with a firm but slow hand.









Carefully pour mix into a lined swiss roll tin .. do not bang tin, or you might lose the air. Bake for 20 minutes at 180ºc. I immediately remove from the tin (turn upside down on to a clean tea towel, and peel off the greaseproof paper) and leave to cool a little. Slice off the sides and ends (good to nibble on), spread with a little warmed raspberry jam.

I use this, sliced thickly and soaked in liqueur, for the base of a trifle made with red berries and lashings of custard, but will also cover in buttercream (175g chocolate, 250g icing sugar, 225g butter, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract thoroughly beaten) for a heart-stopping extravaganza of sugar and fat.