Well, did I have fun with the Salad Days classes in November! Travelling to the Flinders Ranges desert in October inspired me with colours, textures and excitement at the thought of freshness in the middle of nowhere! The contrast of a prickly pear set against the red soil and the stunning outback sunset as a backdrop to kilometres of rocky outcrops. Upon the return to my kitchen, I created recipes for colourful salads to be used throughout the summer months, using peas, lettuces, radishes, baby cucumbers, fennel, watermelon and tomatoes. These salad vegetables were contrasted with waves of rainbow using feta, chive oil, avocado, herbs, the deep pink flesh of lightly seared salmon and the delicate pale flesh of lightly poached banana prawns. All of these items are still in season now.

To add to that!......we have a symphony of summer fruits. We can now dribble sweet peach juice down our chin - and smilingly embrace a juicy ripe white nectarine.... and look forward to the height of cherry season coming soon. Decorate your Christmas table with a large stemmed glass filled with cherries ensuring a 'spilleth over' effect. Using a foam cone, cover with foil and attach strawberries and Ferrero Rocher chocolates with toothpicks to create a tower of colour and after dinner treats. Berries are fab at the moment - set them in jelly and serve in martini glasses topped with spiced mascarpone. Make cordial from fruit puree (passionfruit, mango or rockmelon) mixed with sugar syrup and citrus juice - this becomes a handy base for cocktails, frozen daquiris or a jug of punch. Don't you just LOVE summer?!