Very simple but effective recipes - raspberry or blackcurrant juice jelly

I find that Cascade cordial syrups for use in this recipe are easiest to find at Coles and Woolies supermarkets, and Bickfords are widely available but often sold out.

Raspberry jelly can be used as an element of a raspberry trifle, with raspberry jam on the sponge and fresh or frozen berries to top the trifle.

Ingredients

1 packet Aeroplane Create-a-jelly (black packet)

raspberry juice cordial syrup or blackcurrant juice cordial syrup (Cascade and Bickfords are good brands)

boiling water

cold water

Method

Follow the instructions on the jelly packet, using the cordial at around half dilution, or to taste.

Very simple but effective recipes - French onion dip

If you are shopping at Woolies at the moment and you hope to buy a packet of French onion soup to make the classic home-made party dip, you may find you are out of luck. Wollies and Coles are huge corporations which aim to sell groceries that they want the public to buy, but not necessarily stuff that the public wants to buy, so items such as French onion soup and plain tinned baked beans which tend to sell well at Christmas time, (the beans for breakfast gatherings presumably), are often out of stock at outlets of Australia's supermarket duopoly. Woolies do have your foul-tasting vegetable needs in mind with prominent displays of parsnips and Brussel sprouts (pleh, blargh), but if you wish to try some more edible foods in the festive season, your suburban corner store supermarket might be a better bet.

Ingredients

1 standard-sized packet of cream cheese (Philly is the best-known brand)

1 standard-sized packet of French onion soup (dehydrated powder)

as much milk as required

Method

Mix it all up with a potato masher in a bowl, adding milk gradually till you have a soft consistency suitable for a dip. With a scraper transfer the dip into a suitable container for serving.

It was inevitable really ....

For a Christmas gift this year I was given some perfume that smells like industrial solvent, so I consoled myself by taking a detour to my nearest David Jones store (which isn't anywhere near my home) during the post-Christmas shopping period. Why David Jones? I had seen gift sets of Idylle fragrance by Guerlain there in the run-up to Christmas, which I thought had been quite good value. I had also enjoyed sniffing some other classy scents while I was there. Balenciaga Paris was prominently displayed at DJ's, in it's plain looking bottle. I have wanted to have a fragrance with violet notes for a long time, and this is a scent that seems to be coming back into fashion. There is nothing in this world like the smell of a real violet that is really scented. It is a pity they are such tiny flowers. With violets, I've found that colour doesn't matter - I've smelt a white violet that was even more divine than any mauve one that I've sniffed. Balenciaga Paris has a strong element of violet, and it is a classy scent, but it still doesn't beat any of my favourite Guerlain fragrances. So my focus on that Idylle gift set persisted. During my January visit I found one lonely set remaining on display. It had been reduced by fifty bucks. It was mine! Happy New Year! I now look like an old hag, but I smell like a million dollars, and so does daughter.