Chocolate brownie is popular with adults and kids alike. But it is usually packed full of fat, sugar and calories. Here is a quick, healthier version adapted from the Healthy Food Guide chocolate brownie. This version uses wholemeal flour which gives an extra nutty flavour and texture that goes well with the walnuts. It has no butter which slashes the saturated fat to almost zero while the walnuts provide a few healthy omega 3 fats. Both the walnuts and wholemeal flour add fibre which hopefully prevents a complete pig-out of this yummy treat! The best thing about this recipe is how quick and easy it is to whip up. Give it a go…

On the third day of Christmas… Going to a pre-Christmas lunch or BBQ? Take a goodie basket.

Boy it’s great being a food writer – especially when you belong to the NZ Guild of Food Writers. We get to go to all these neat foodie places and eat lots of delicious food. Last night I was at the newly opened Nosh food store in Mt Eden for our Christmas party. No chips and dips here!

On the second day of Christmas… make biscotti as gifts.

Today I made biscotti, or to be precise, the Provencal version called croquettes. When I hear the word ‘croquettes’ my mind conjures visions of some oblong, crumbed, deep fried nibble so I prefer to call them biscotti. They make a healthy alternative to most cakes and biscuits because the only fat comes from the almonds (and a tiny bit from the egg yolk) – and it’s ‘good’ fat. This recipe, adapted from ‘Patricia Wells At Home in Provence’ uses honey instead of sugar. I added dried cranberries for a more festive look. It makes about 50-55 biscotti.

I’m on my way to the opening cocktail evening for the Food Writers Conference in Napier. The hotel lift opens at my floor and I stop, speechless, as Richie McCaw [current All Black captain] and a couple of his Canterbury Crusaders teammates smile nonchalantly out. No room for me – these boys are big! What am I doing wobbling off to eat and drink tonight? I should be in the gym chiselling my body like these amazing specimens. The momentary motivation passes as we enter the whitewashed historic Hawkes Bay Club, just a stone’s throw from our hotel.

“I’ve just walked into Brad Thorn’s stomach!” my friend Jenny from Beef and Lamb New Zealand says as we munch on large green Orcona jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese and sprinkled with smoked paprika. “Those boys are big!”