I started this blog as a way of sharing my recipes with my family and friends who live in different cities and never, ever imagined that it would grow to what it is at the moment.
After winning both the Best Food blog and Best New blog awards at the SA Blog awards in 2010, a new world opened for me. One I was very keen to be part of. But let’s start at the very beginning…a very good place to start.
My relationship with food started when I was very young, maybe 5/6, when I used to beg my Gran to bake cookies with me. We would mix the dough, roll it out, cut the shapes and have the first batch in the oven. I would sit in front of the oven waiting all too patiently for that wonderful smell to fill the kitchen and when the timer went off I would quickly call Gran to come take them out. I would wait for them to cool just enough for me to handle them without burning myself. I would go and eat the first batch, all by myself, on the couch and leave my gran to continue baking the rest of the 9 batches I insisted we mix. My Gran was so incredibly patient with me (like only a Granny can be) and even though I’m sure she got a little irritated with my antics from time to time, she always said that the kitchen was a magical place where a lot can be forgiven. My gran had the same passion for food as I have. Her whole life was spent either owning a hotel and running the kitchen or running a catering business. Sunday lunches at her house were filled with tables groaning under the immense amount of food piled on top of it and people bustling to get to it. Two or three types of roast meat, gravy, rice, roast potatoes, sweet pumpkin/sweet potato, steamed carrots, green beans mashed with onions and two or three salads were finished off with Malva pudding, pineapple mousse pudding and custard. Memories that I will always treasure. My Gran passed away last year (2011) and even though the loss is over-whelming, I can’t help but remember her with a smile. She was the best Gran any girl could ask for.
My mom, on the other hand, wasn’t so keen on cooking (I think she liked the idea of cooking but not so much the practicality of it). She was the ultimate “express cook” and rarely spent more than 30 minutes in the kitchen, unless she made her amazing Chicken Fried Steak. Nevertheless, she always insisted I try new things, ate all the flops with a smile on her face (and drank litres of TAB to get the taste out of her mouth) and when I did succeed she was all too proud. She was the only fan I ever needed. She passed away after a yearlong battle with breast cancer in December 2005 and I miss her every day. Everything I do is in honour of her and I strive every day, to be half the woman and mother she was.
Growing up in a very loving and food-adoring family gave me the opportunity to play and experiment a lot and through an awful lot of trial & error, I became a really good cook. Something my husband, Chris and (5 year old) twins Abigail & Aidan are very happy about as they get to be the guinea pigs for my creations. I have always felt an intense satisfaction from feeding people but nothing is as satisfying as your child taking a bite of food, closing their eyes and saying “mmm delicious”. Yes, they are most definitely my children. For this very reason, I decided to call my blog Simply Delicious because the food I cook is simple but I never compromise on flavour, texture or quality and so, Simply Delicious was born.
And now, two years after starting this blog I am doing things I could only have dreamed of a few years ago. I’ve written two books (Simple & Delicious: Recipes from the heart, published in September 2012 and Cook from the heart: Food for every mood to be released in October 2013) and doing freelance food styling, food photography and recipe development (a dream come true). After shooting and styling my own book, I realised this is something I absolutely love doing and would love to do more of but for now I am happy to go with-the-flow and what an exciting journey it’s bound to be.
Thank you for reading my blog and for your feedback. Please don’t stop doing either. I love hearing from you! Happy cooking!
(Photos by Albie Bredenhann)
Hi Alida,
Thank you for sending me such lovely recipes, I’ve been watching your videos, you make me want to cook right now! I enjoy cooking and I’m sure you have a load to teach me. I’m in London UK.
Well done!
How many muffins does the banana nut oat muffins recipe make? You show 12 muffins, but list 18 servings.
It makes 18, I only photographed 12 of them.
I love the recipes, not complicated and easy to follow.
Thank you !!
I’m loving your latest garlic sauce recipe, it’s going to be a hit in my kitchen
Thanks again
Hi. Thanks for the wonderful recipe. It looks delicious!! It is my sister’s birthday this Friday and I want to make this cake for her. I just want to know: the espresso for the icing: is it powder espresso or liquid? Thanks so much!!
I used liquid.
Thanks so much Alida. I appreciate the reply. I am going to make the cake tomorrow. I am sure she will love it!
Hi. Is your cup measure metric or imperial?
Metric: 250ml
I can’t find the amout of flour needed in your oatmeal cookies? Please let me know,
SO sorry about that, not sure how my entire recipe card got so jumbled but I have fixed it. 🙂
Hi Ally,
I’m not very good at cooking and like your mom, I rarely cook. But today I tried your easy lemon sour cream cake. Not perfect for the first time but surely I’ll make it again.
Thank you for sharing your beautiful story and receipts.
Best regards,
Hi Alida, just subscribed to your blog it’s fantastic. Quick question do ever use and instant pot or pressure cooker. If you do would love to read your recipes. Is your mum’s chicken steak recipe on the blog.
Look forward to sorting out my pantry and reading more recipe’s from you
I do Jane, you can view them by searching “Instant Pot” using the search bar.
Is there any other kind of bread instead of cinnamon bread with the same way like whole wheat or white bread
Find my white bread recipe here: https://simply-delicious-food.com/easy-white-bread/
Thank you for sharing your beautiful story and wonderful recipes. I too am an express cook mom but ready to get to the kitchen reading your recipes!
Loved reading this. My grandma and mum were similar to yours in that nanna loved to cook for hours and mum more of express cook in a way although she still made nanna’s periogi and cabbage rolls. Lost my nan long ago and can’t see my now due to Covid 🙁 I made one of your recipes so I’ll go post about it 🙂 It was the chicken marinated in BBQ sauce with charred corn and salad. Yum!
I wish I found your site years ago. Thank you for the wonderful recipes. I will be making both the harissa and periperi sauce tonight since we are having the peri peri chicken livers tomorrow!
Ditto!
Hi Alida,
Thank you so much for your banana cake recipe. I have baked 6 loaves over the past few days but I was not happy with the results. I tried your recipe today and my loaf came out perfect! It was the result I was hoping for. My family loved it so much, it was done within minutes.
Hello??! Just wanted to say that I made your recipe and it came out amazing! I like to come on Pinterest and find recipes but I always change things up and can never stay true to the recipe until I found yours. It taste perfect and doesn’t need to have anything changed to it. Well that being said I was going to use it to make chicken but now we will be using it as the sauce for our pizza and chicken?. I’ll be sharing your recipe for sure!
Hi Ally I’ve been using your recipes for some time now. The family always enjoy the meals I make. You have best recipes tested and they never flop. Bigs up for you!
That’s so lovely to hear. Thanks Thandi!
Just made these pancakes. I love them! Thanks for the receipt. I was only able to get 5 cakes (forget the baking soda but it was just fine). it’s my first time making this on a hungry stomach and I did not measure well. I had 2 cakes and left the other 3 for my son. This is the perfect breakfast for me on work days, simply, easy and flavorful.
Alida
Tried and true Tuscan Roast Chicken
absolutely “Devine” have always loved
and enjoyed the smell and taste of a savory roast chicken but this receipe
(Yours) is amazing…Garlicy flavor is everything !!
I have copied a number of your recipes and will try the Banana Oat Pancakes next. Cooking is from the heart having been raised by a wonderful Grandmother and that’s where my cooking experience started.
Best in all your endeavors and keep us salivating 🙂
Loletta Peron
Hi Ally,
just finished a malva pudding recipe I got from my sister who lives in Noordhoek, CT. I live in Germany, but born in SA and lived there till I was 27. The pudding turned out sort of great, but swimming in a sea of sauce, and I think too sweet. That’s why I lwanted to check up on the recipe in the internet and landed on your site….really nice. Look foward to exploring all the recipes and thanks for a great site!
Marc
I was so excited when I pinned your lasagna cups. When I got to your website I noticed it was .co.za! I got really excited because I am from South Africa and now living in the USA. I showed my fiance…. “see that yummy recipe, it’s from SA!” I was so proud. I hope you are having a wonderful day!
Just came across your lovely blog. Beautiful content and photos. I will be coming back.
Thank you Edwina! I really appreciate that!
I found your website at Cook Sister’s blog. I’m fascinated and interested in the different styles of cooking Cook Sister and foodies like in other countries. I learn a lot of new ideas.
The ribs and BBQ (I know you have another name for it) made me drool – especially lamb.
Lamb, without a doubt, is my favorite meal, altho not too popular in rural Georgia.
It is a pleasure to meet you. I’ve added your site to my favorites.
Warm wishes from Georgia, USA
Vicki: Wow so nice to hear from one of my International readers. I know I have a few but they seldom comment. Thanx so much for the lovely comments!
Well, greetings from Switzerland and amazing job on the recipes!
Hi, Thank you so much for this blog, you have changed the way I cook at home, I am a mom with triplets & not a very good cook, my children will be forever grateful to you that they finally have some decent meals to eat 🙂 Your meals are easy to make & the easy to find ingredients makes it even more so wonderful… Keep up the great work….
Oh my GOSH Linda! You are even braver and crazier than me. I thought having twins was hard! You are for sure a SUPERMOM!! 🙂 And thank you so much for the lovely comments! I am so happy that I can inspire another busy mom to attempt my recipes and the fact that you find them easy and accessible just makes my day!
Congratulations on your award Ally, well deserved. Great blog, easy to read, excellent content and best of all very focussed.
Peter : Thank you SO much! I really appreciate that! 🙂
Congratulations on your award (s) Nicely done xxx
Thanx! 🙂 You too! 🙂
On a Rainy-Pancake -Sunday, a quick note to tell you how lovely your blog is and how well-deserved your awards are.
Oh Wow Sam! I am such a HUGE fan of yours. Just knowing you read my blog is an honor! 🙂 Thank you so much for the lovely compliment!
Wow, congrats on such a great site Ally! I also started blogging only a few months ago and am SO glad you made it to the finalists of SA blog awards! I hope you win, you deserve it! Perhaps some competition next year then 😉
After reading your about me page, it seems we have a lot in common too! Foodies FTW
Good luck for the Blog awards, not that you need it! 🙂
hehehehe thanx Jackie! Foodies FTW indeed! 🙂
And thank you so much for the encouragement for the blog awards. I do need the luck, I’m up against the winner of the last 3 years! 🙂 hehehe
Ally your website really is awesome and your recipes are so great! Thank you for all the wonderful recipes.
Thought I would share this website with your (if you havent already heard about it) as it is really nice…
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/
Thank you so much Kiki. That website is fab! 🙂
Hi Ally
Wow, what an amazing thing to do – to share all you recipes freely with all of us. I’m not a big cook myself, but must say that I’ve already printed a few of your recipes. They look delicious and so fast to do.
I’m on Weight Watchers at the moment, but will dig into your food as soon as I reach my target weight.
Thank you so much.
PS: how about a photo of you and the children.
Mariet, thanx so much for the nice words. If you are keen on doing any of the recipes now, just let me know and I’ll see what substitutes you could use to make it healthier. I am doing Herbalife right now so a lot of the time I just eat much smaller portions and bulk up with salad and veg. 🙂
I’ll post a pic of us soon! 🙂
Hello
I’m Jeanne from the blog CookSister. I came across your great blog today and have taken the liberty of listing it on the South African Food and Wine Blog Directory (http://cooksister.typepad.com/sa_food_and_wine) which I administer. The directory is simply a (fairly!) comprehensive list of the food and wine blogs that I can find written in South Africa, or by South Africans abroad. All I ask in return for the listing is that you display the Directory logo in your sidebar or in your links page – here is the html code for the logo (let me know if you have problems with it and I’ll see if I can help):
I try to do a regular posting on the directory site featuring a particular blogger (if you see the site you’ll see what I mean). If you would like to be featured in such a post, please can you complete the following short questionnaire and return it to me. I will let you know when your spotlight feature goes live, probably in a few weeks.
1. Where are you – in South Africa or out in the wide world?
2. How long have you been blogging?
3. What do you enjoy the most about food or wine blogging?
4. Any downsides or frustrations?
5. What or who are your inspirations to cook, drink and write?
6. Where and when do you like to blog?
7. What’s your signature dish or favourite wine?
8. What other food or wine blogs do you read?
9. Favourite restaurant?
10. For my last meal on this planet I would order…
Many thanks and kind regards,
Jeanne