Special post for the smell of love! I am chuffed tonight not only because I had a buffet dinner but also because I found out that there is now a +1 amongst us!

To show some support, I’m sharing my ‘most romantic meals’ that I can remember having (in no particular order).

• First date: KFC. With. Vouchers. Perhaps not the most romantic by the average persons standards but to me, popcorn chicken tastes pretty much like love.
• Lunch at De Bortoli. Great views, food and wine. Finish off at the cheese shop next store!  http://debortoliyarra.com.au/
• Carbonara pasta cooked in the park using a portable stove and BYO ingredients. Definitely a change from the park bbq or bringing pre-cooked/packaged food. The extra effort required is a nice touch.
• McDonalds breakfast in the car on the way to work. How can you be grumpy in the morning if you’re greeted with the smell of hash browns?

So that’s me! Would love to hear more!

I thought I was so original and clever with my  ’one pot meal’ idea until I Googled it and realised that cook books about it already exist.

Google always makes me humble. Even my toilet bowl made from teflon idea is out there. Sigh.

Anyway, the one pot idea is pretty much what the name entails – cooking (and in my case – eating too) all in one pot. I’m a big fan because it makes cooking easy and there’s less washing at the end.

Here’s my latest example:

Nabe hot pot (for around 4 people)

Ingredients (stock):

• 2L Dashi stock
• 1 Dried Date
• 1 Chopped carrot
• Handful of dried scallops
• Handful of wakame
• 3 Tbsp sake rice wine
• 3 Tbsp mirin
• Pork belly

Ingredients (for the pot – add what you like & as much as you like):

• Tofu
• Shitake mushrooms
• Enoki Mushrooms
• Bok Choy
• Winter melon

Method:

Cook all the ingredients for the stock in a slow cooker for at least 5 hours. Best to leave it overnight and try and get the wakame to completely dissolve. About 1 hour before eating, add in all the ingredients into the hot pot.

Finally, eat out of the pot.

Pretty easy huh? Would love to hear more one pot meal ideas if you have them!