Almost cold

In Canberra, they say you shouldn't turn your heater on until Anzac Day. That's when things are meant to get properly cold... and that's this coming week.

We've been getting ready for winter in lots of little ways. Insulated coffee cups have been ordered, and browsing the wool and heat tech sections of Uniqlo has begun (yesterday I found something called a coatigan!).

We also bought a slow cooker after mulling it over for ages, and borrowing one from my sister to try it out. This cookbook was the clincher, it's filled with meals I really want to eat, and the recipes are designed around an 8-hour work day. Before it, I could only think of meaty things to make like brisket (the best!) and osso bucco, and struggled to find good recipes online. I'm excited to try it out later this week.

We ended up getting this 3.5 litre Crockpot, mainly for its size (it's not crazy big) but also because it's the original slow cooker :) My sister-in-law also recommended one from Target, which is super affordable, and I previously borrowed my sister's Sunbeam.

P.S Here are a handful of recipes that look good - Deb's Korean braised short ribs and this nine-recipe round up.

It's porridge season

I almost bought a porridge cookbook the other day, inspired by this nutty bowl I had in Melbourne. It was sweet, crunchy and full of autumn fruit and I'm going to try and recreate it at home.

For the last few winters I've used this recipe, which I double to make enough for three (I stash one serving in the fridge for rushed weekday mornings). Lately I've been eating it with a big spoonful of yoghurt and jam, a combo I've pinched from this LA cafe.

If you're keen for something even richer, the cafe next to our old home in Sydney used to soak their oats in cream overnight! I've never been game to try it.

P.S Why you should add salt to your oats and invest in a spurtle.

Meals for cold nights

Did you cook anything new over the Easter break? While we were sweating our way through summer, I was scrolling through recipes for warming comfort food from a handful of American blogs. I've been saving them for these very months, which are my favourite for cooking... and eating. Here's what I'm planning to try:

Pasta
Gnocchi with preserved lemon alfredo sauce
Brussel sprout and speck mac and cheese
No boil pasta bake

Soups
Broccoli, cheese and potato soup
Spicy roasted vegetable ramen
Taiwanese spicy beef noodle soup

Hearty mains
Tomato-glazed meatloaves with mashed potatoes 
Beef goulash with soft egg noodles (I've never made goulash before!)
Savoury winter cobbler (which happens to be vegan too).

Desserts
Chocolate blackberry pudding
Pear, ginger and pistachio crumble
Rose apple tart

P.S - Here are my favourite weekday dinners from 2016. Nigella's quick chilli, apricot balsamic chicken with rocket and creamy tortellini with prosciutto and peas are three of the best.

The best choc chip cookie recipes

Last week I stumbled across this gem at a $10 book store and the introduction is so good. Christina Tosi is a bit of a hero of mine. She's the owner of Momofuku Milk Bar and a dessert chef who believes that cookies can help make the world a better place.

She writes, "I want to create a world where cookies let people know it's going to be okay and remind them to let their imaginations run free."

While I haven't had a chance to make any of the cookies from Milk Bar Life yet it did inspire me to share my favourite choc chip cookie recipes - I have five! Right now they include:

Ovenly's salted choc chip cookies - my staple recipe that I love to make for people in good times and bad.

Smitten Kitchen's version is packed with chocolate and the ultimate comfort cookie.

These coconut choc chip cookies have a lovely texture to them, and they're chewy too.

Joy the Baker's milk chocolate and cream cookies are worth the effort (they also have crushed Oreos in them!).

And as a kid, I was obsessed with Neiman Marcus cookies, mainly for the nuts and the insane urban legend that goes with the recipe.

P.S I'm also constantly refining my list, so if you've found a good one, I'd love to know about it. And if you're brave, I stumbled across a recipe for pumpkin and oatmeal choc chip cookies the other day.

Winter lunch prep

There have been a few tiny shifts at home now that winter has really set in. Our towels spend a lot of time in front of the heater, the alarm is set that little bit later and people keep giving us pumpkins - so many pumpkins.

The best bolognese

I made it to Sydney and have had my first full day looking after my two-year-old niece and helping my sister around the house. Tomorrow I plan to get cooking and while I thought I'd pack at least one cookbook, instead I'll be relying on tried and true recipes that can be found online.

I made this 'easy' spaghetti bolognese on Saturday night and it was delicious. It's from Ruth Reichl's book My Kitchen Year, a cookbook that I've been reading before bed. It follows former New York Times food critic Ruth Reichl in the year after she loses her job, when the iconic American food magazine Gourmet is shut down at short notice.

I made a mental note of this recipe early on and instead of having to look it up in the index when I wanted to make it, I remembered that she'd made it for friends who had come to help her pack up her office early on in the book.

I'd make this bolognese on a wintry Sunday night, if I was having friends round for dinner, or if I happened to get home early from work and wanted something a bit more special for dinner. It's slow cooked and buttery and has just the right amount of topping. Spaghetti bolognese is one of my favourite dishes and I also really love Donna Hay's summer bolognese (it's got a great chilli kick) and Rachel Khoo's version too, where it's all about the bacon.