1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup water
1 Tbs fish sauce
1/4 cup lime juice
2 garlic cloves
8 candlenuts
3cm piece of galangal
6 birds-eye chillies

1 To make the chilli sauce; put the sugar, water and fish sauce into a saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes while stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar.

2 Add the rest of the ingredients, pour into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Pour into a jar and refrigerate. This chilli sauce can be refrigerated for up to three months.

It’s not a mega hot sauce

For the echinacea-infused rum:
15g fresh echinacea root (or 10g if using dried)
100ml white rum

For the hot toddy:
120ml fir needles
1 star anise
3 calamondin oranges or 1 lime, sliced
250ml boiling water
2 tbsp eucalyptus honey
Pinch of black pepper
1 shot (28ml) echinacea-infused rum (see ingredients above)
1 tsp unsalted butter

1. To make the echinacea-infused rum, combine the echinacea root and the rum and leave to steep in a cool, dark place for 2 weeks. Strain out the echinacea and bottle up. The mixture will keep in a cool, dark place for up to 1 year.

2. To make the hot toddy, strip the needles from the fir branches until you have 120ml.

3. Put the needles in a teapot or bowl with the star anise and sliced calamondin oranges or lime, honey and black pepper. Pour over the freshly boiled water. Cover and leave to steep for 15 minutes.

4. Strain into a pan, and reheat on the stove.

5. Once reheated, add the echinacea-infused rum and butter until melted. Stir, then serve in a large cup.

USE: For adults, drink 1 cup only in the evening or before bedtime.
CAUTION: Contains alcohol. Consideration should be made when driving.
STORAGE: Best made fresh for use at once.

1. Preheat the oven to 80°C (180°F), or its lowest setting.

2. Bash the rosehips in a mortar and pestle to break them up slightly. This will split the fruit – remove the seeds and discard.

3. Add the salt to the split hips and give them another quick bash with the pestle. The goal is just to break them up a little, not turn them into mush.

4. Scatter the rosehips on a baking tray and put in the oven at 80°C (180°F). Immediately turn off the heat and leave in the oven for half an hour or so until they are dried but not burnt.

5. Remove the dried hips from the oven and grind to a fine powder in a spice grinder. Mix with all other ingredients, then store in an airtight container.

USE: Add half of the sherbet to 1 litre of warm water. Stir and drink freely.
STORAGE: Provided it is completely dry, this will keep in an airtight container in a cool, dark place for up to 6 months.

1. Mix the chilli, vanilla pod, allspice and honey together in a pan, then add the yerba mate and boiling water. Simmer until the liquid reduces to approximately 150ml – this will take about 45 minutes. Strain and leave to cool to room temperature.

2. Put the chocolate in a glass heat-proof bowl, and melt over a pan of hot water.

3. Stir the cooled mate mixture into the melted chocolate, then refrigerate until it takes on a fudge-like consistency (about 30 minutes).

4. Mix the soft brown sugar and cocoa powder in a shallow bowl. Scoop a teaspoon of the truffle mixture and roll into a small ball, then roll in the sugar/cocoa powder to coat. Place each coated truffle in a small paper case. Repeat until all the mixture is used.

5. Once reheated, add the echinacea-infused rum and butter until melted. Stir, then serve in a large cup.

USE: This one is mainly for adults, because of the caffeine, but you can let older children have one or two! Don’t eat more than 6 a day.
CAUTION: Contains caffeine.
STORAGE: Keep in the refrigerator. Eat within 1 week.

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).

2. Distribute the cranberries and chopped apple between two roasting tins. Sprinkle over the mixed spice and fleck with the butter. Drizzle the maple syrup over. Roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the fruit is slightly shrunken with a golden tan.

3. Remove the roasted cranberries from the oven and place in a bowl. Mix in the sugar, rum or Cointreau and candied orange peel.

4. Sprinkle flour onto a work surface and roll out the pastry to a thickness of about 3mm. Using a 7cm cookie-cutter, cut out discs of pastry and place into a greased mince pie tin. Prick the base of each pie with a fork and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

5. Remove from the oven, and spoon the cranberry filling into each pastry cup. Return to the oven to cook for another 5 minutes.
6. Leave the pies to cool, then dredge with icing sugar.

USE: Eat 1 or 2 pies a day.
STORAGE: Store in an airtight container and eat within 1 week.

Grated fresh nutmeg, to serve

1. Pour the milk, bay leaves, saffron, orange rind, golden syrup and cream into a pan, and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Strain through a sieve.
2. Break the eggs into a glass heat-proof bowl, then slowly whisk in the hot milk mixture.
3. Place the bowl above a pan of boiling water and heat gently, stirring, until the mixture thickens to a custardy consistency. Then take it straight off the heat.
4. Whisk in the rum, then pour the mixture into a jug. Cool, then leave to stand in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours before serving.
5. Serve over ice with grated nutmeg.

USE: Drink no more than 1 wineglass a day.
CAUTION: Contains alcohol.
STORAGE: Keep in the refrigerator. Will last for 2 weeks.

Peel of 5 oranges or tangerines
4 tbsp cloves
400ml sunflower oil
1 tbsp myrrh resin

1. Put the orange peel, cloves and sunflower oil into a blender and whizz until smooth.
2. Pour the mixture into a glass heatproof bowl and place over a pan of boiling water. Add the myrrh, then cover and leave to simmer for 1 hour, making sure the pan does not boil dry.
3. Take off the heat and leave to cool. Strain the mixture and bottle up.

USE: Apply as needed to dry skin, or use for massage.

STORAGE: Will keep in a dark cool place for up to 3 months.

I’m more than nervous about returning to a place I called ‘ Home ‘.

The place I used to go to to get away , has now become a place that’s tainted due to a life instance.

I’ve never been this alone with my thoughts in my life , sometimes I think should I even consider going back at all because I know I’ll be ill for a while before heading out , I need to kill this feeling.

The way I view it now is , I did not deserve her , I deserved something far better .

Not one email of any explanation has ever been made to me.

I’m empty.

330g, whole or sliced
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1 tbsp peppercorns
2 bay leaves
3 cloves of garlic, lightly pounded
2 tbsp coarse sea salt
1 tbsp sugar

Pack the jalapeños in a glass jar.

In a saucepan, add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Pour the hot pickling liquid over the jalapeños and let it rest for a few hours.

Shake it up a little so that the peppercorns are evenly distributed.

For a crunchy bite, you can start nibbling on them within a few hours.

As for softer texture, let this sit for 4-5 days.

Keep refrigerated for upto two months or can it according to jar manufacturer’s instructions.

1kg courgettes, unpeeled if small, peeled if huge, cut into 1cm dice (or use pumpkin later in the season)

1kg red or green tomatoes, scalded, skinned and roughly chopped (or 1kg plums, stoned and chopped)

1kg cooking or eating apples, peeled and diced

500g onions, peeled and diced

500g sultanas or raisins

500g light brown sugar

750ml white-wine or cider vinegar, made up to 1 litre with water

1-3 tsp dried chilli flakes

1 tsp salt

For the spice bag

1 thumb-sized nugget of fresh or dried ginger, roughly chopped

12 cloves

12 black peppercorns

1 (generous) tsp coriander seeds

A few blades of mace

Put the vegetables and fruit in a large, heavy-based pan with the sultanas or raisins, sugar, vinegar and water, chilli flakes and salt.

Make up the spice bag by tying all the spices in a square of muslin or cotton. Add the spice bag to the pan, pushing it into the middle.

Heat the mixture gently, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar, and bring slowly to the boil. Simmer for 2-3 hours, uncovered, stirring regularly to ensure it does not burn on the bottom of the pan. The chutney is ready when it is rich, thick and reduced, and parts to reveal the base of the pan when a wooden spoon is dragged through it. If it starts to dry out before this stage is reached, add a little boiling water.

Pot up the chutney while still warm (but not boiling hot) in sterilised jars with plastic-coated screw-top lids (essential to stop the vinegar interacting with the metal). Leave to mature for at least two weeks – ideally two months – before serving. ·