Summer has arrived, and with it, my best wishes for a very Happy New Year!

I hope everyone is enjoying the calm after the storm, so to speak, now that the busy-ness of Christmas has passed. I always find this time of year the most relaxing, the pressure is off and everyone is in holiday mode, regardless of whether actually on holidays or not, there’s a definite ease into things. That carefree attitude spills over into my style of cooking at this time of year too, and I find myself relying heavily on produce that needs very little done to it – salads of fresh vegetables and herbs with only the need for a slick of oil and Verjuice, anything that can be thrown onto the barbecue and cooked as part of a social gathering with drinks in hand, and piles of the darkest cherries and perfectly ripe stonefruit to fill the place of dessert. Can you tell ‘relax more’ was on my new year’s resolution list? With a glass of Sparkling Ruby in hand, I say cheers to that!

Cheers,