Happy New Year!

Hello 2013 and hello to the readers of my very neglected blog.

I feel very blessed this festive season, we have been able to spent time with so many of our loved ones from far and near. There has been some cooking, but mainly a lot of eating.

This year, in the kitchen, I am going back to basics. 

Hopefully I won't bore you by posting recipes for old favourites like lasagne, apple pie or the perfect roast beef. I will be continuing on with my goal for last year, of 'cooking from scratch'. I cooked quiet a lot more than I blogged about last year, so as the seasons progress, I can post some of my new favourite recipes. I'll be starting as soon as I get a day at home: old fashioned tomato ketchup, plum jam, mango chutney and french apricot jam.

If your not interested in old fashioned favourites, then you'll be happy to hear that I will be recipe testing new recipes for a friend: Middle Eastern, Moroccan, Caribbean, Indian, Greek and more. She is hoping to open a new restaurant by mid-year, so that should be fun.

And in the wake of my Christmas eating marathon, I will need to throw in a few healthy eating recipes now and then. I turn forty this year and I really need to starting looking after myself a little better. After all, you are what you eat.

But forget I said that... because the recipe I am going to share today is pure, homely, comfort food. I had Gravox in the cupboard from when I made my Nana's roast chicken, so I thought I would attempt to make my Aunts famous 'the day after' sausage stew.

In August, there is usually a shared birthday party in our family and often the party is at my Aunts house. A barbecue. There are always leftovers. The next day the barbecued sausages and barbecued onions are turned into a yummy stew for breakfast. Served with baked beans, grilled bacon, fried eggs and piles of toast, we all return to share breakfast, a highlight, being the stew.

This sometimes happens over Christmas as well, but as my Aunt is getting older, these parties aren't happening anymore and neither are the breakfast get-togethers, which were just as fun as the parties themselves. Missing this, I made it instead. We had sausages leftover over from New Years Eve and ate ours for dinner with mashed potato and steamed green beans. It's not the original, but it was close. I'm sure you could make it with fresh sausages or other meat.

'The Day After' Sausage Stew 

serves 4-6

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 onions (diced)
• 125 grams bacon (diced)
• 1 x 400 gram tinned diced tomatoes

• 2 cups chicken stock
• 500 grams cold barbecued sausages
• 1 tablespoon Gravox
• salt and pepper to taste (add the salt sparingly. I found the Gravox very salty) 

Heat the oil in a large heavy based casserole pot and gently saute the onions and bacon until the onion is soft. Add the tomatoes and 1 1/2 cups of stock to the pot. Add the sausages and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to simmer and cover. Cook for 15 minutes. In a small bowl, mix the Gravox with the remaining 1/2 cup of stock. Add the Gravox mixture to the pt and stir to thicken.

Do you eat anything at this time of year, for nostalgia reasons only?

I'm not sure where is image came from (deep in the archives of my bookmarks) If you know where it is from, I'd love know.