Hi book fans,

If you're anything like me, in the last week I've been skipping over to the pantry far too often, while others have been posting fitness challenges I've been curled up with a cup of tea, a book and a bit of baking.

Most office staff at Mighty Ape HQ have been in working from home before the official lockdown began and since then I've used the time I would usually use to drive to work to come up with something delicious for the family. It's also my daughter's birthday coming up so I'm trying our recipes from cookbooks I have around the house to make her birthday extra special this year.

Here's a few recipes I've tried and loved over the last week:

Chelsea Winter's Lockdown Loaf has blown up my feeds with pictures of this delicious looking bread. It's the easiest recipe ever but does require beer, my husband had to sacrifice one of his, the result was so good he's given me his remaining two!

Recipe: Lockdown Loaf

After trying the loaf I got on to the next recipe she posted up, Crazy Italian Chocolate Cake. I don't know why I haven't tried more recipes from Chelsea before now. Testing a birthday cake ahead of time with an unsuspecting birthday girl giving me a hand was an easy task. Simple yet delicious, the cake hasn't lasted long with half of it gone in 2 days between the four of us. Hmm, might be time I investigated the fitness challenge.

Recipe: Crazy Italian Chocolate Cake

I wouldn't say that we were not prepared for lockdown as we've always had an emergency kit but it can be a bit tricky following recipes when you don't quite have all the right ingredients. Something really bothers me about not being able to make the recipe as was originally intended before adding my own spin on it. Anyway, last night I found a quick curry on Nadia Lim's website that looked too good to pass up, Kiwi Lamb Sausage Apple Curry Instead of using Kumara we only had potatoes, while I won't know for a few weeks what the Kumara version tastes like, potatoes did the trick. A great way to end the day, especially as it's getting cooler.

Recipe: Kiwi Lamb Sausage Apple Curry

We had some leftover carrots that were getting to the end of their life so I quickly made them into Chelsea's Carrot Whip. What I've enjoyed most about lockdown is getting to spend more time finding recipes that I wouldn't usually use and cleaning out the pantry. I've just found some old cookie cutters and food colouring that I can use to make soap with the kids.

I hope you all are finding a new passion for baking and cooking as I have.

From the Book Gorilla