Pineapple Punch

This recipe was picked up by my mother and her sisters in their university days, when they lived at Currie Hall, a student residence attached to the University of Western Australia. It's really simple, very refreshing and can be made alcoholic if you want it to be, although this version is non-alcoholic.

You can use any large serving (or even mixing!) bowl for this, but a proper punch bowl does add a nice touch.

Ingredients:

3 litres chilled pineapple juice
2 litres chilled lemonade (NOTE: this lemonade in the UK and Australian usage - the clear, fizzy, lemon-flavoured soda drink (for example, Sprite or 7Up) - not the drink made from lemons and sugar that is called lemonade in the US).
1 litre chilled non-alcoholic wine (I use a non-alcoholic white wine from the brand Maison; any will do, but obviously anything other than a white wine will change the colour of the punch from yellow to orange).
1 punnet strawberries

Method:

1. The night before you are having the punch, wash the strawberries, cut the ends off and place them in the freezer.

2. Pour the non-alcoholic wine, most of the lemonade and most of the pineapple juice into the punch bowl (I generally find that it can’t take all of these; your punch bowl may have the capacity to take all of the liquids. Go with your instinct, you really can’t go wrong lol).

3. Add the frozen strawberries to act as ice blocks.

4. Enjoy!

To make it alcoholic, you could use real wine instead of non-alcoholic wine, or you could use the original mixture and add vodka, white rum or another spirit to taste.

Christine's Potato Salad

This is a smooth, creamy, eggy potato salad, great for people who aren’t fond of the acidic taste of potato salads that use ordinary mayonnaise, mustard, dill or whatever. I invented it entirely out of my own head, to satisfy my need for a dairy-free potato salad. It’s always a hit at parties, and is perfect for Summer entertaining.

Whole-egg mayonnaise is a thick, creamy, smooth mayonnaise that is generally dairy-free and as the name suggests uses the whole egg rather than only part of it. It’s widely available here in Australia. Using whole-egg mayonnaise is essential in this recipe as it gives the salad its distinctive smooth taste.

Serves 8 people.

Ingredients:

8 small red potatoes (we usually use the ‘Desiree’ variety, but really any potato will do)
8 eggs
2 spring onions (aka scallions / green onions: these)
Whole egg mayonnaise (usually requires most of a 440g / 1 pound jar)
6 slices good quality sandwich ham (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Place eggs in a saucepan in cold water. Place them over high heat and leave for 15 minutes. This will hard-boil the eggs. Shell eggs as soon as they are done for easy shelling. Set aside to cool.

2. Chop potatoes into good-sized pieces (at least 3 or 4 cm / 1-1.5 inches along each dimension) and place in a saucepan in cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes or until just done. Drain and set aside to cool.

3. Chop the eggs into quarters, or use an egg-slicer.

4. Place the cooled potatoes and chopped eggs into a large mixing bowl. Add several large dollops of the mayonnaise to the bowl and use a plastic or wooden spoon to stir through to coat the potato and egg generously in mayonnaise (a metal spoon will cut the potatoes and eggs). Keep adding mayonnaise until the other ingredients are thoroughly covered.

5. Finely chop the spring onions and add to the mixing bowl (reserving a small amount to garnish). Stir through.

6. If you are using ham, dice the ham into 1cm / ½ inch pieces and add to the bowl. Stir through.

7. Season with salt and cracked pepper if desired, and stir through.

8. Spoon into a serving bowl and garnish with a little more spring onion. Refrigerate until serving.

This will keep very well for 3-4 days in the refrigerator if kept in a bowl with cling wrap / Glad wrap / cling film etc over the top. Although it sounds strange, it can also be fried up as leftovers. It makes a very good meal when fried up with left-over meat!