Jam Thumbprint Cookies

I know we're well past Christmas, but I didn't get a chance before I went on holidays to share one of my family's biggest traditions. In an attempt to cut down on the rampant Christmas spending that haunted us every year, we switched to Kris Kringle a few years ago - meaning that the adults only got one gift each (the kids still get a pile taller than themselves). But there is still that niggle, that little thing in all of our minds (by which I mean the female side of the family) saying that you still need to give everyone something even if you aren't allowed to buy anything. So, what to do you do? Make jam!

Chicken and Peach Summer Salad

Summer is the time of stone fruit and delicious berries. Growing up, stone fruit was not only expensive, but invariably had been flown from the US or Australia unripe and ended up tasting like squidgy, floury mush by the time we bought it in Singapore. When I first moved back to Australia I was amazed at the range and flavour of all the different summer fruits; who knew that peaches could be white or yellow, or that plums came in at least 3 different colours ! Biting into a ripe peach, with juice running down your chin and over your hand has to be one of my favourite summer moments. So when scanning through my collection of magazines and cookbooks for inspiration for a refreshing summer salad, peach sounded like the perfect accompaniment.