A Basket by the Door

A Basket by the Door is about fostering connection, community and good old-fashioned country hospitality as much as it is about recipes and the food that brings us together to eat. Cooking for someone is empathy made edible and is a double gift of time - your time to relieve some of their time - and time is one of the greatest gifts you can give. There are chapters with ideas on what to cook for friends or family who are mid-house move, busy with a newborn baby, celebrating a milestone or who just need a little love. Whether it's an aromatic chicken pie made from scratch, or trio of freshly made dips and homemade lavosh biscuits or a sturdy picnic cake, delivered in a basket, for afternoon tea on the riverbank, there are recipes and ideas here to cover every occasion. There is also a chapter dedicated to Christmas with suggestions of food gifts to make and give, as well as recipes for useful things to make and take to friends' houses when invited to dinner or for a weekend away. Every recipe includes information on how to wrap, transport, store (and for how long) and re-heat or serve. There are also variations for seasonal options with lots of ideas to tweak and adjust recipes according to what's available or plentiful.