My mum’s 85th birthday tea party. If there was sound to this photo you would hear in the background the Collingwood Footy song which my family are all avid supporters of. This is because my grandfather worked at the Victoria market & everyone there barracked for the Magpies.

I was once asked to fill in for a ladies’ tennis competition because one of the team members was sick. After the match was over, the opposition who was the home team provided the lunch. While the main course was unmemorable, the cake was absolutely delicious. It was a chestnut cake, moist, nutty and cooked to perfection. I’m always on the lookout for good recipes so I complimented the lady who baked it and asked her if she wouldn’t mind sharing it with me.

‘No,’ she said, angrily, as if I had asked her to give me her right arm. ‘I learnt this recipe at a cooking class and the teacher does NOT want us to give it away.’

I was speechless. I might have understood if they had lost that day, but her team won, and won well.

My whole family are really great cooks in both Western and Chinese cooking and it would be unheard of not to share this pleasure with others.

So I am going to share my favourite recipes with you. They are all really quick and easy because I don’t have the patience to spend hours in the kitchen away from my writing.

And thank you to Simmone Howell for suggesting me start a recipe blog.