Christmas in summer poses a challenge and an awkward one at that. Despite the weather, we’re almost attuned to think of and crave Christmas and holiday desserts that are rich, warm, comforting. For this holiday dessert, I used stone fruit, poached in Pimms (usually enjoyed cold in tall glasses with cucumber) and aniseed and some still fresh, layered with aniseed infused fresh cream and a few broken amaretti biscuits.You could call this a deconstructed summer Christmas pudding.

On a recent visit to my folks in Kwa-Zulu Natal, I came upon these alien looking nubbly, wrinkled vegetables (they are actually fruit). I tweeted a photo of them and almost instantly received the reply that they were karela, or bitter gourds. They are tropical or sub-tropical vines, and the fruit vary in bitterness. Popular in South East Asian and Chinese cooking, bitter gourds are valued for their medicinal properties. It’s best to use the young gourds and to follow a strict method of soaking in a saline solution to remove the bitterness. I took a small selection home to Cape Town, much to the amusement of my mother.

The trick, I think is to cook the okra for far less time than the aunties will tell you to. It can stand to hold just a little crunch. A little vinegar added will help combat the mushiness. Amchur (dried mango powder) adds a lovely tangy element, balanced with green chilli and warming cumin and coriander. It’s a dry braised “curry” of sorts.

The potatoes in this dish, are steamed (or boiled) and dressed in a coriander and pistachio pesto that will blow many a standard tater salad dressing out the water and far away. The dressing is enhanced with the bite of spring onions and the freshness of lemon – both juice and zest. Feel free to use almond or walnuts for the pesto if you don’t have pistachios. Pickled quail eggs make a humble potato salad something you want to serve guests at lunch or at a weekend brunch.

Originating in East Asia and Northern Europe, delicate shimeji mushrooms on long stalks are excellent in a quick stir fry. And back in 2000 I was the stir fry queen. I even bought my vegetables in bulk and prepared them in 2 meal bags and froze them in readiness for the weeks ahead. On a bed of glass noodles, dressed in Asian flavours with spring onions, garlic sauteed shimeji mushrooms make a very quick and easy vegetarian meal.

What do you wish for? Life takes turns you can’t prepare for, try though you might. A deluxe cottage pie with spicy mince layer, grilled aubergines and a skordalia style mashed potato topping- for my father.

I really do travel to eat and sample the delicious. I unearthed these pictures last night, of myself in 2009 in London (two or so days after long and complicated root canal surgery). And what was I doing? Standing in a 25 minute queue, in the on-off rain, in Portobello road, Nottinghill (their first ever store) waiting for my turn at the counter of the Hummingbird Bakery. Have I mentioned that I seriously dislike waiting? For anything. But for this, I was determined. I even allowed my swollen post-surgery cheeks a smile.

It appears, summer has decided to bare some skin and peek over the mountain in Cape Town – after an infuriating game of now you see me, now you don’t. What better way to celebrate summer (and the upcoming weekend- rumoured to be smokin’ hot) than with ice cold in-season watermelon and chilled vodka cocktail – a watermelon vodkatini. Add a handful of raspberries and you’re rosy. There’s no sieving, shaking, and barely any stirring here, unless you insist.

Cooking stews in a three-legged cast iron pot or potjie (very much like the witches’ cauldrons in Macbeth) over coals or open flame is a South African tradition, as local as eating naartjies (mandarins) at a rugby game or giving biltong (dried, salted meat) to ex-pat South Africans as gifts. I purchased our very first potjie pot earlier this year, and for all the pride and delight I felt, you would have thought I was in the le Creuset store and not the local Builder’s Warehouse. It was large, and large was what I was looking for to feed 16- 20 guests for our house’s first National Braai day (Heritage day) celebrations.

Diwalis remembered and another away from my family. I replaced the ache with the quickest sweet I could make. White chocolate rose truffles with salted macadamia centres, dusted with cocoa and this Dark Chocolate & Almond Bark with Sea Salt. It’s a grown up combination of flavours, the roasted almonds and beautiful salt off set the semi-sweet chocolate. Really easy to make too.