In My Kitchen - March

Welcome to the first Saturday of the month where I share everything I have made over the previous month. It has been a pretty quiet month in the kitchen in March. I went to India for work early in the month and then was sick for two weeks when I got home so there wasn't a lot of cooking going on! It will be another quiet month in April as we are away for Easter and then going on holidays for the last two weeks of the month! 

What I did make are two older recipes that I have made before.

Double Choc Zucchini Bread - I have been making this recipe occasionally for at least twelve years since I first saw it at BethFishReads but it has been a while. At Lamb's Ear Cook Book club the star ingredient for March was zucchini so it seemed like a good opportunity to make it again! We still have half the loaf in the freezer. Maybe we can take it away with us on the Easter weekend. I shared this recipe here.

Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt - This is another recipe that I have made several times over the last few years, but it has been a while. The reason I chose to make this .....it all comes down to how it looks in the mixer! It looks so good when you are mixing it up! Oh, and it tastes good as well. I shared the recipe for this cake here.

One of the favourite things that I ate while I was in India was a Bengali dessert called Mishti Doi. I am determined that I am going to try and make it so I went to my local Indian wholesale supermarket and bought the clay pot that it goes in. There are only three ingredients in it which are milk, yoghurt and jaggery. Of course, then I had to buy jaggery too! I am going to try and make it, although that might not be until I get back from holidays

New recipes

Chicken and Chorizo Orzo

Beef Bourguignon

Chicken and Orange Tray Bake

Weekend Cooking posts from the last month

In My Kitchen: February

Afternoon Tea Diaries: Victoria: The Place to Be at Oxi Tea Rooms

What I Ate in India

Cook the Books: The Language of Food by Annabel Abbs

Weekly Meals

Saturday - Beef Stroganoff and rice
Sunday - Beef Bourgignon (new)
Monday - Pork chop, mash, broccoli
Tuesday - Takeaway
Wednesday - Chicken and Orange Traybake (new)
Thursday - Eggs on toast
Friday - Red Curry Salmon (new)

I am sharing this post with In My Kitchen hosted at Sherry's Pickings.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Blog Tour: Hopes and Dreams at the Chocolate Pot Cafe by Jessica Redland

 

Tara and Jed are taking it slowly. Tara has emotional scars from her past that have forced her to keep her distance from everyone for years. Slowly, she has been letting down her barriers down to many people around her allowing her to form friendships, to rebuild her relationship with her foster parents and yes, to fall in love with Jed. But she is still keeping part of herself back from him. Fortunately, Jed understands. After all, he has a history of his own including his manipulative ex-wife who tore their family apart, and separated him from the boy he thought was his son, Aaron. 

The past has a tendency to come back to life. Jed returned from life in Australia with his two daughters and has established his own business across the road from Tara's Chocolate Pot Café. When Ingrid, his ex-wife shows up unannounced, drama is sure to follow. When Jed sees Aaron again, the boy is angry with him, believing that Jed had abandoned him and wanted nothing more to with him. 

For Tara, her painful past is represented by her step sister Leanne, who betrayed her in the most shocking way. When Leanne tries to get in contact with her parents, Tara knows that it won't be for altruistic reasons and she also knows that she has to protect herself even if it means losing her parents again.

When I started reading this book, it felt like I had walked in half way through, and that's because I had. Tara and Jed's story started in a book that was published years ago called Starry Skies Over the Chocolate Pot Cafe. Of course, it I had of seen the title it would have prompted me to wonder if they were connected but there was nothing to suggest that it was a continuation of a previous story on Goodreads or in the blurb. I have learned before that Jessica Redland likes to pepper her story with recurring characters and I expected it in this one. I just didn't expect that it would be a sequel. I guess I just have to hurry up and read all of the books set in Whitsborough Bay and then the recurring characters will be old friends!

Giving that this isn't the boy meets girl part of Tara and Jed's relationship, the story really comes from the Drama with a capital D that swirls around them, and there is a lot going on. Jed's daughters have a really fractured relationship with their mother, which is perfectly understandable given the history, so when Ingrid drops in unannounced he has to navigate carefully. Similarly, Tara has enough drama in her own world, but she still manages to see opportunity to help other people, including Zoe, a young girl who lives in a shelter.

I could relate to having a relationship that is in the middle of other people's lives. My husband and I have been known to have conversations about the fact that we are really good within the two of us, but it is outside dramas that can some times cause emotional impacts on one or both of us. The main difference is that we are not now navigating a new relationship as Tara and Jed were. 

Despite the fact that I did feel like I had missed the first half of the story, I did really enjoy this book and I would love to read more of Jessica Redland's books. The question is when will I find the time and space to do so!

I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews and British Isles Friday hosted at Joy's Book Blog. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the review copy and Rachel's Random Resources for the opportunity to take part in this blog tour! Check out the other stops on the blog tour as well!

Rating 4/5

About the book

Hopes and Dreams at the Chocolate Pot Café

Sometimes all your hopes and dreams really do come true… ✨🌈

Life at the Chocolate Pot Café has never been sweeter for Tara Porter. Nestled on Castle Street in Whitsborough Bay, her café is thriving, her friendships are close, her foster parents are back where they belong—and she’s finally let herself fall in love with artist Jed Ferguson.

For Jed, returning from Australia feels like coming home in every sense. His teenage daughters have settled, his gallery opening is a success, and with Tara by his side, the future looks full of promise.

But the past can’t stay at bay forever.

When Tara’s estranged foster sister reappears, old wounds resurface. And when Jed is reunited with twelve year old Aaron - a boy he once believed was his son - secrets unravel and loyalties are tested.

Now Tara and Jed must decide whether facing the past will shatter everything they’ve built—or hope it gives them the strength and courage to dream again.

Warm, heartfelt and hopeful, Hopes and Dreams at the Chocolate Pot Café is a story of love, forgiveness and second chances.

Purchase Link - https://mybook.to/HopesDreamsatChocolate

About the Author 

Jessica Redland is the million-copy bestselling author of novels, including the Hedgehog Hollow and Escape to the Lakes series. Inspired by her hometown of Scarborough and the Lake District, she writes uplifting women’s fiction of love, friendship and community.

Social Media Links –

Facebook: @jessicaredlandauthor

Twitter: @JessicaRedland

Instagram: @jessicaredlandauthor

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/JessicaRedlandNews

Bookbub profile: @jessicaredlandwriter

Blog Tour: Love Blooms at the Cornish Cottage by Kim Nash

Michelle finally has the life that she wants. A couple of years earlier she had moved to Cornwall to a place that she loved, she had made some really good friends, her business is going well and she has fallen in love with a gorgeous Greek doctor named Demetri who she could see being part of her life ....well....forever! It's a long way from the life she was living before moving to Sandpiper Shore.

When Demetri announces that he needs to return to Greece to care for his sick mother, Michelle is torn. Can she start again...again? When she decides that this is something that she cannot do, Michelle and Demetri agree that the best way forward is no contact after he leaves. It would hurt too much to still be talking to each other.

Michelle is heartbroken but she is beginning to pick herself up again with the help of her friends, Jo and Emma who we met in the previous books in the series. One day she is shocked to find a man on her door step. At first, she thinks it is Demetri but it turns out it is Makkis, his brother. When Michelle explains that Demetri has gone home Makkis is surprised as he says that their mother is fine and suggests that there are other reasons for him to return home. Did Michelle really even know Demetri at all, or has she been played.

Makkis stays with Michelle and soon he is offering to help out with her business dealings and more. Can she trust Makkis more than she could ever trust Demetri?

A good guide to how invested you are in the characters in a story is how you react to some of the things that they do. As Michelle made several of her decisions I was yelling noooo in my head! I did, however, love the storyline with her brother. That part of the story made me feel quite emotional!

In all three books in this series, building community is a really important part of the story. In the first book, the friends were instrumental in building a Lonely Hearts club for the town. In the second it was a Christmas pantomime and in this one it was a barn dance (in an actual barn). When I was very young my family was involved in square dancing so we used to go to a lot of barn dances!

Once again, Kim Nash has delivered a really lovely story of friendship and love, healing and growth all set in a nice community near the beach in Cornwall! I am already hoping for the next book!

I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews and British Isles Friday hosted at Joy's Book Blog. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the review copy and Rachel's Random Resources for the opportunity to take part in this blog tour! Check out the other stops on the blog tour as well!

Rating 4.5/5

About the Book

Love Blooms at the Cornish Cottage

💔 How do you mend a broken heart? 💔

Michelle finally thought she’d found love with her hot Greek doctor. But when Demetri reveals he’s returning home to care for his sick mother, Michelle’s dream future crumbles. Choosing not to follow him feels like losing more than just love - it feels like losing who she’d started to become.

Determined not to fall apart, Michelle decides to throw herself into rebuilding her life in Sandpiper Shore, but then unexpectedly, Demetri’s brother, Makkis, arrives on her doorstep. Offering him a room seems like the kind thing to do… but the constant reminder of her lost love is difficult for her heartbroken soul.

And the more time she spends with Makkis, the clearer it becomes: there are parts of Demetri she never knew… Just as Michelle starts to heal with a little help from her friends, she’s faced with a decision: fight for the love she knows she deserves, or finally learn how to let go…

Purchase Link - https://mybook.to/SandpiperShores3

About the Author 

Kim Nash is an author of uplifting, romantic, feel-good fiction, having wanted to write books since she was a little girl. She works as both Digital Publicity Director for publisher Bookouture. She lives in Staffordshire with her son Ollie and English Setter rescue dog Roni. When she's not working or writing, Kim can be found walking her dog and reading, as well as running a book club in Staffordshire and organising local and national reader/author events.



Social Media Links –

Facebook: @KimNashAuthor

Twitter: @KimTheBookworm

Instagram: @KimNashAuthor

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/KimNashNews

Bookbub profile: @KimNash18

Historical fiction reading challenge - April links

 

Thank you to everyone who contributed a review in March for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. It's been a good start to the 2026 challenge. Currently there are more than 40 links for March! I will be back in the next week or so with all the statistics for the month. 

I am looking forward to reading your reviews throughout the rest of the year! I am sure there is going to be a lot of great historical fiction discovered and shared with fellow HF lovers over the course of this year!

If you haven't already signed up, it's not too late! The sign up post is here.

Just to recap what participants need to know. At the beginning of each month I will put up a post which will have a Mr Linky embedded into it for you to add your link.

Please remember...

• add the link(s) of your review(s) including your name and book title to the Mister Linky we’ll be adding to our monthly post (please, do not add your blog link, but the correct address that will guide us directly to your review). 
• it doesn't matter where you review - Bookstagram, Goodreads etc as long as you share a direct link to your review.
• any kind of historical fiction is accepted (fantasy, young adult, graphic novels...)
• if you have time, have a look some of the other links that are present. You never know when you will discover new blogs or books!

You can also join the challenge group on Facebook which you can find here and don't forget to use the #histficreadingchallenge hashtag on the socials.

Let the reading begin!!

Top Ten Tuesday: Buzz-words!

 Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Buzzwords or Phrases That Make Me Want to Read (or Avoid) a Book (These words or phrases can be in the title, synopsis, marketing materials, reviews, author blurbs, etc. and immediately pique your interest or immediately make you say “NOPE”. Examples include: fae, forbidden romance, morally grey characters, unreliable narrator, found family, magical worlds, love triangle, marriage of convenience, dark academia, stranded, dragons, dual points of view, starting over, etc.)

I am focussing on just one word out of that theme - Buzz!

Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd - I was very late to the party having only read this book around 18 months ago. (my review)

Go Tell the Bees I am Gone by Diana Gabaldon - I still haven't read this book which is the latest in the Outlander series. Maybe I will one day.

The Enlightenment of Bees by Rachel Linden - I have had this book out from the library a couple of times now. Next time I borrow it I really need to make sure that I actually read it!

All the Bees in the Hollow by Lauren Keegan - I have this second book here to read soon, and then I will go back to this one.

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray - I heard Paul Murray speak about this book at Melbourne Writers Festival a couple of years ago.

The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia - I did have this on my shelves for a while. I can't remember if I kept it the last time I did a book purge.

Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang  - Where there's bees there is often honey! I didn't love this book when I read it at the beginning of last year. (my review)

Lion's Honey by David Grosman - I read this a very long time ago now (my review)

Honey: Recipes From a Beekeeper's Kitchen by Amy Newsome - This was a Jamie Oliver Cook Book Club selection a whie ago

The Girl Who Kicked a Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsen - A reminder that no everything that buzzes is a bee!

This week

I'm reading

Last week I started reading The Rebel Romanov by Helen Rappaport as my selection for Her Story category on the Goodreads Challenge. I was a bit worried that I wasn't going to be able to finishe it before the end of the month as it felt like I was getting through it very slowly! However, it turns out the last 35% of the book were all the footnotes, photos and references so all of a sudden at 65% I was done!   

I also finished reading Past the Shallows by Favel Parrett for my book club selection. The theme this month is books you have borrowed from someone. I borrowed this from Bree at All the Books I Can Read more than 10 years ago so it is probably time I finally read it! Now that I have read it I am wondering what I was waiting for as it was a really good read! You can see the pile of other books above. Our next theme is Mothers and Daughters. I have no idea what I am going to read!

Now I need to get on with my review books for April, so I have read Love Blooms at the Cornish Cafe by Kim Nash. I have a couple of reviews due this week and a couple more next week so hopefully I can get through them

I did also read The Correspondent by Virginia Evans which was a lot of fun. It was due back at the library a couple of days ago so I need to go and return that one and pick up at least one other book that is currently on hold!

I'm watching

We have watched all three previous seasons of the show where Amanda Holden and Alan Carr buy a dilapidated house in Europe and then do it up. The first two seasons were in Italy and the third season was in Spain. This season they are on the Greek island of Corfu. It's a lot of fun


Life


We had a very busy weekend this weekend. I baked, we had brunch with friends at a new cafe on Sunday morning and I had book club on Saturday morning. 

On Friday night we went to see the first of three shows we are seeing at the Melboourne International Comedy Festival. We went and saw Australian comedian Emma Holland in her show, The Dog Dies at the Beginning. It was an interesting show, talking about her reaction to losing her dog. 

On Saturday night we went to see (and hear) the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra do their show Art of the Score, which is when they focus on the music of a particular composer's movie scores. This time it was James Horner so featured music from Avatar, Titanic, Field of Dreams and so much more!

The big news is that we have made a call on our upcoming trip. We had been looking at the state of the world and wondering if we should go or not. We knew we would have to find new flights that didn't go through Dubai. We have decided we are going so booked our new flights over the weekend

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my Autumn 2026 To-Read List
Weekend Cooking/Cook the Books: The Language of Food by Annabel Abbs
Mini Reviews: Three Aussie Books






I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date, Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz and the Good Book and a Cup of Tea link up hosted at Boondock Ramblings

Mini reviews: Three Aussie books

 

The Heir Apparent by Rebecca Armitage

When Lexi Villiers' father and brother are killed while skiing, she suddenly finds herself whisked off to London to take up her place in the succession to the the throne. Princess Alexandrina had walked away from the royal family years before and was living in Tasmania and studying to be a doctor. Now she needs to decide does she want everything that being royal means (both the good and the bad) or does she want to live a normal life.

This is the royal family but not as we know it. The starting point is that Charles II makes his mistress Barbara Villiers his queen and the crown passes down through the Villiers family. It is a really interesting premise to base a story on! Even though it is a fictionalised royal family, you can definitely see where it has been inspired by the real royal family. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this story, although it was probably too long. 

Rating 4/5

Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret by Benjamin Stevenson

This is the third book in the Ernest Cunningham series and as you might surmise from the title this time the story is set at Christmas time. Ernest gets a phone call from his ex-wife whose new partner has just been found dead and she is the prime suspect. Soon Ernest is trying to solve a murder where there everyone has a secret, where sleight of hand and magic are the everyday business of some of the suspect and where nothing is quite as it seems. 

This was shorter than a normal book but longer than a novella and at times it felt a bit rushed, but it also has a fun advent calendar style format! Already looking forward to the next book! And I have just found out that Benjamin Stevenson is coming to my local library in May so I have booked tickets for that!

Rating 4/5

Lessons in Love at the Seaside Salon by Sophie Green

I have been meaning to read Sophie Green's books for several years now but I just hadn't been able to fit one in! This book tells the story of four women who are all at different stages of their lives who all come together in a hairdressing salon in a small town on the Central Coast of NSW. What they all have in common in addition to the salon is that they are all trying to find themselves.

Trudy is a widow who is the owner of the salon. Since her husband died she has sort of been going through the motions. She doesn't really connect well with her only son, but the people in her salon are almost like family to her. 

Single mum Evie has never really had much luck with relationships. She is trying to balance work with raising her son but really her secret desire is to fall in love. Could the new male hairdresser Sam finally bring love into her live.

Anna is feeling neglected in her marriage and so she separates from her husband Gary. She brings her mother into the salon regularly but could changing her life start with changing her hair.

Finally, there is Josie who joins the salon as an apprentice. She has been bought up in a very strict household and so when she meets a young man, she needs to keep everything a secret!

I had so much fun with this one. It is set in the mid 1980s and there were so many nods to music, pop culture, world events and of course hairstyles!

This one counts for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge which I host

Rating 4/5