We’ve been home for a week now and the jet lag has been brutal. It’s not helped by the vaguely discontented feeling of homesickness that always settles around me on return to NZ (or indeed by the kids all waking at different points during the night). Frankly the two combined have put me in a bit of a grump. I’ve tried the two food cure-alls of chicken soup and chocolate cake (not together obviously) and they haven’t really helped that much. I’ve also tried coffee, mint tea and even red wine and whilst all provided temporary relief it was just fleeting respite. I therefore conclude that it is not possible to eat or drink your way out of jet-laggy, post-holiday malaise.

The chocolate cake was good though. Something of a recipe breakthrough actually (baking soda and orange juice = airy fluffiness) which got me thinking about this blog and how sometimes in the midst of all my harping on about the colour of the sky and the song on the radio, that the actual recipes can get a little lost. Well, actually sometimes the recipes aren’t even real recipes, just random collections of ingredients that I may or may not remember to note down in the right order, whilst pondering something completely unrelated. But the chocolate cake got me thinking. I’ve probably made 20 chocolate cakes in the last 6 months. I’m not going to scroll through the archives and check – it might be embarrassing to see the actual number (and besides, there have been many more that haven’t made this particular diary). Who makes that many chocolate cakes (aside from people who work as bakers)? It’s kind of bordering on obsessive isn’t it? If I keep up with the blog then what will it look like in a few years – will there be thousands of chocolate cake entries, or will someone have carted me off to Cadburys World as an exhibit by then?

So I’ve started a new ‘best of’ collection of pure recipes over at Welly Kitchen. (Now I feel like an aging pop star). Welly Kitchen is  going to be in proper recipe format with all the important details like measurements and timings and temperatures. It’s also going to be a place to outline how I adapt the meals for the small folk.

This blog will remain my test kitchen and my diary. The place to experiment, freestyle, and ponder the mood of the day. Facebook / twitter accounts are the same for both so if you’re a follower you’ll get updates from both. If you’d like an email when a recipe goes up on Welly Kitchen then you can subscribe on the home page just as you can here to On the monkey trail.

Thanks for reading. Here’s a leaning tower of chocolate cupcakes in a misguided attempt to ‘style’ the food whilst feeling a bit lack-lusture about being awake. For the recipe pop over here