It was quite a rainy Saturday this today, so we decided to have lunch in. We normally frequent one of the local cafes opposite the beautiful Dee Why beach and generally split one of the amazing beef hamburgers. So it seemed appropriate for a hamburger to be on the menu.

Since it bucketing down with rain most of the morning, I baked the buns from scratch to put off heading out to the shops. I had to go eventually anyway to buy lean lamb mince, but that's besides the point...sometimes kitchen logic is more about a 'reason' for baking!

I had to pretty much make up the recipes for these burgers since most recipes are not for just two people. We actually only ended up serving half a burger each as I had made them so big. I normally like my burgers open topped (i.e. with only the bottom half of the bun,) as I find too much bread too filling. I also made a quick onion and tomato sauce, which is simply caramelised onions, cherry tomatoes, some parsley and a bit of honey. You could also use a tomato chutney.

I found this delicious Jamie Oliver recipe a few weeks ago on the internet and have been wanting to try it since then. I am so glad I did because this is one fantastic little noodle dish! I have no idea how close it is to traditional Dan Dan Noodles but I can't say I care because its delicious anyway. I had to substitute a few ingredients as I couldn't get hold of them or had just (typically) run out of them.

As I used a chili paste and wasn't sure how strong chili oil is, I erred on the side of caution and only added 3 tbsp. I think I could have handled 1 more but it was hot enough. Probably best to just stick with your own spice tolerance level!

In the western Sichuan province of China, they make this dish in huge buckets that they carry on poles over their shoulders. “Dan” means pole, so these are, quite literally, “pole pole” noodles. It’s a simple dish, full of soft, silky noodles, lovely veg, some great crispy meat and a wonderful hum from the raw garlic. So there is a load of punchy flavours here, and then, of course, you’ve got the Sichuan pepper and the wonderful chilli.

Mary (my mum) cooked a delicious rack of lamb dinner over Easter. It was so nice to be cooked for! I had to take some quick photos because it just looked so good tasted even better; there is nothing quite like your mum's cooking.