I only discovered hot crossed buns about 10 years ago. They were not part of my childhood growing up in America so it wasn’t until I met Stuart that I learned about this traditional bun served at Easter. He loved them but they are a minefield for migraine sufferers. I had to completely re-dux every recipe that I found and it’s taken me a good five years to finally perfect it. I’m delighted to share it with you.
It’s that time of the month my friends for the Recipe Redux Challenge. Drum roll please….Bake Some Bread. Turn on your ovens! Be it tried and true traditional yeast bread, or one of the new trendy protein-added breads, show us what you’re baking.
Bwahahaha.
Seriously, it’s summer in Australia. It’s like 38 degrees (nearly 100 F) and my house does not have air conditioning. The last thing I’m going to do is turn on the oven. That’s one excuse. The other is that I happen to live less than 100 m from two of the best bakeries in Sydney. I am spoilt for choice with Maggio’s Italian Bakery and Victoire Boulangerie serving up my daily bread. I don’t have to bake bread. Other than cinnamon scrolls, you can’t get a decent cinnamon scroll in this country so I make my own but that’s a story for another time.
Just some of the delicacies at my local bakery. Lucky me I have two to choose from!
Ah, the humble lamington; stale sponge soaked in chocolate sauce then coated in coconut. Made by CWAs and Scouts for fundraisers across Australia and loved by all. This iconic treat is always served in this house on Australia Day. Since we’re a week out it’s time to make the sponge 😉
My mom, Pat, and I making Lamingtons. It isn’t often that I get to cook with her any more as this year marks 20 since I moved to Australia. I taught her how to make these so watch out Riverlanding.
The traditional food for me at Christmas is prawns. For Stuart it’s ham and I’ve written about finding a nitrate-free ham previously here. It’s a good Christmas story if you are looking for a light read. But back to me and my need for prawns on the table at Christmas.
All these prawns need is some crusty bread and a fork.
Growing up we had steamed prawns on Christmas Eve. Small batches were lovingly steamed over beer with healthy lashings of Old Bay Seasoning. They were served up hot with traditional cocktail sauce for dipping. Luckily when I moved to Australia I discovered that prawns are a Christmas tradition here as well. Australians consume a massive 45,000 tonnes of prawns over the festive season.
Shawarma. Yiro. Gyro. Kebab. One dish with a dozen names, and pronunciations. But no matter what you call it, there’s nothing like some well spiced kofta served up in a fresh flatbread and dressed just the way you like it to satisfy a late night hunger. It’s an end of night ritual across Australia to stagger towards the kebab truck and tuck straight into the luscious sweetness before getting a cab home. Keep on reading!
Headache Free Foodie 
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