FRIENDS WHO COOK

I'm so lucky. I enjoy cooking myself, but I also have friends who cook. Have you ever eaten a cookie called a yoyo? Made with custard powder and sandwiched together with white icing, any New Zealander or Australian  would recognize them immediately. My Kiwi friend in Japan makes divine yoyos. And her lasange is to die for.

One of my Japanese friends often makes delicious cheesecakes. Along with an Asian desert made of steamed rice cake topped with red beans, they are her specialties. Once she made a sweet potato pie with puff pastry which was really good.

Another cooking friend of mine worked in sushi shops in Toronto and California, and knows how to make some unusual and delicious variations on the usual sushi types. (Unfortunately he is used to larger, more easily cleaned kitchens so my tiny cluttered kitchen smelt horribly fishy when he was finished.)

A while ago the same friend cooked me this delightful meal. Eggplant, red peppers, beansprouts, chicken and Mexican seasoning mix. It tasted as good as it looks.