a few of our favourite things

Miriam: Whenever I go home to my parents place I have a wee chuckle as I see bottles of wine labeled with post-it-notes saying 'expensive'. This is Mum's strategy to ensure that family members with less refined tastes (i.e. Dad) select the appropriate bottle to match the occasion. For my birthday this year, my family gave me two knives, one a bread knife, and one the Scanpan knife picture above. Mum (rightly so) felt I wasn't very educated on knives, so informed me that the bread knife was in the 'expensive' category and the yellow one was not. Well, both knives have proved to be dreams to cut with. But I was astounded to hear that this yellow knife cost around $10. What a bargain! It's become my go-to all purpose knife. I wonder if the wines minus the post-it-notes are also as good?!

Becs: Now that the weather is warmer it has been goodbye to porridge and hello to more summery breakfasts. Here is todays - bircher muesli. I just soak rolled oats, linseed and chopped dates in milk overnight with a little honey and cinnamon. In the morning I add a grated apple, spoonful of yoghurt and any other toppings lurking around. Today it was accompanied with a dollop of lemon curd, some strawberries foraged from the garden pre-breakfast, and some toasted almonds and pumpkin seeds. It was so good I may just have more for lunch!