I love Hot Cross Buns.

Their arrival in the house signalled the end of the Lenten sacrifice and the imminent arrival of Easter Sunday.

Like most kids who grew up in a Catholic household, Easter and Lent were measured in three ways:

How long it had been since you'd been allowed any chocolate.

How many extra hours you had to spend going to church.

And how many Easter eggs would be waiting on your bed on Easter Sunday morning.

But the buns we ate on Good Friday were always my favourite:

Hot from the oven,

Toasted and buttered,

Even the cold leftovers...

I guess I just love good buns!

Hot Cross Buns were the only thing that we were allowed to eat on Good Friday. My mother would not buy them any earlier or later and we were fed them on the most solemn day of the Catholic calender.

A feast on a day of fast.

A spicy indulgence on a sorrowful occasion.

Naughty / Nice written all over them!

It doesn't take Freud to work out why I love these buns so much!

I'll also admit that my home-made efforts have, at best, been the foundations of a rather fragrant rock garden.

Until now! My friend, Audrey, gave me some insightful tips on the art of handling yeast and I've incorporated them into this recipe.

These are my best tips if you are going to fool around with buns this Easter:

1. Prove your yeast first. Mix it with some sugar or honey and warm water and let it sit. Don't trust any recipes that skip this bit.

2. Add plenty of spice! Mixed Spice or Pumpkin Pie Spice, plenty of extra cinnamon and a touch of cardamom will have you house smelling heavenly...which is rather appropriate, given the occasion!

3. Add plenty of fruit. Even if, like me, you have a big sister who moans about anything containing mixed peel, chop it very fine, or use fresh zest, or do what I do: use slices of glazed orange instead of peel; that way you get plump, sweet flesh as well as the hard bitter peel.

4. Salt. I think all bread needs a little salt, so I knead a little salt into it (unintentional bad pun, I promise!). Salt can curb the enthusiasm of your yeast, so I add it as I knead the dough, not before. This helps give maximum rise!

5. Get hot and steamy! I rarely cook with yeast because I am too impatient to sit around waiting for it. I crank up the heat, turn on the oven, close all the windows; anything I can to get the dough risen faster. Consequence? I'm usually stripped down to my underpants before my dough has doubled in size!

With that gruesome image in mind, I invite you to click on the link below to see my buns recipe!

This will knock people's socks off. It is great for a party (you can scale it down to canape size portions), it has come in handy on many occasions as a hangover brunch, and it is the perfect lunchtime excuse to polish off a bottle of something light and crisp.

My history with smoked fish is not great.

I blame my mother for this.

She would strong-arm us into fasting on Good Friday by cooking the most unpalatable meal imaginable; boiled smoked cod.

Orange and livid, the stench would have all of us kids steering clear of the kitchen, the dining room and the house in general.

We would cower in the back yard, nibbling on stale, leftover hot cross buns from breakfast.

20 years later, it was the rather obvious charms of my flat mate, Brooke, who plied me with cocktails and cheeky morsels of smoked trout. I was hooked!

This was followed by an epiphany at the fish counter in Whole Foods where I discovered smoked scallops and 'Indian Candy' (chunks of salmon which have been brined with molasses, then smoked).

After years of making this salad with just smoked trout and crispy potatoes, I started adding in other smoked seafood.

Then I realised that if I could slip in other seafood I could most certainly accommodate other starches as well!

Polenta croutons are diabolical!

So, although it is rather against the spirit of the day (as indeed is entertaining on Good Friday...it feels rather like hosting a Catholic Speakeasy!), this salad is what I will be feeding my guests.

click on the link below for the recipe.

It might be pointing out the obvious, but there is nothing like a lamb to signify Easter.

Mum used to roast pork for Easter. It was deemed a treat as my father didn't care for it.

(Which meant that we never got to eat it much, not that she was being spiteful to him).

But the real treat for me, now that I am living abroad, is to roast up some nice Aussie lamb for the Easter meal.

The beauty of a small, boneless roast lamb is that you can fit the spuds in the same dish as the roast and the meal becomes a one-pan wonder!

Some buttery peas.

And the cauliflower recipe below...

Delicious!

It's not often that I'll go to the trouble of roasting up a leg of lamb and have a roomful of folks look at it, say 'mmm' and then, when I put down the side dish, the whole table goes into a frenzy; 'Wow!' 'Pass that over here!', 'God that looks good!'

This started out as one of those terribly good ideas that occurs to me during some extreme hunger pangs. I love Welsh Rarebit; a tasty combination of cheddar cheese, mustard and beer which is usually served over toast. I also love cauliflower. The idea of combining them both and baking them in pastry just sounded too good to be true!

I made this to go along with my garlic and herb crusted roast lamb and, indeed, they baked alongside each other.

If you deign to do likewise, try following this timeline:

Make the pastry crust (5 mins in food procesor) and put it in the fridge to rest.

Make the garlic herb crust for the roast. (5 minutes).

Get the oven hot and start the roast lamb cooking.

Sautee the leeks. Steam the cauliflower for 10 minutes, then plunge it in an ice bath.

Roll out your pastry and line the pie dish.

Baste the lamb and veggies.

Assemble the cauliflower, brush the pastry and pop it in the oven .

Remove the lamb and cauliflower, finish off the potatoes and gravy .

Eat!

This simple, lovely and easy dessert has always been a favourite in our home. My mum used to make her 'lemon delicious pudding' whilst the Sunday roast was cooking. She'd slip it into the oven when she took the meat out and, by the time that we were done with dinner, it was filling the house and our hearts with its sweet, citrusy aroma.

The magic trick that it performed in the oven was that the top would rise and bake as light as a sponge cake, whilst in the bottom of the dish lurked a lush and velvety lemon custard.

I still haven't worked out how that happens, but it hasn't stopped me from baking this dessert over and over!

This is the perfect foil to a day full of feasting; one last sweet for the day, but one that's a little tart!

As part of the Easter experience, give yourself a little rebirth!

Thewhole9.com is a creative on-line community which I have been a part of since its infancy.

It is a corner of cyberspace where you can post your own portfolio and announce your creative urges, achievements and aspirations.

Even if, like me, you define that as taking snaps of food and posting them!

It started here in Los Angeles last year and has already boasts quite a cache of American artists.

Now it is time for the rest of the world to hop on board!

Lisa Schultz, the founder of this enterprise, has asked me to invite all of you to come and treat yourself to a whole9 experience!

Take a tour, post a profile or a portfolio. It's free and it is a great way to put yourself out into the global community!

Likewise, if you know of someone who makes a living out of some creative endeavour; painting, acting, photography, styling, design and so forth, then give them a nudge: this is a free way to have their work put on a global table which will be seen by prospective clients, employers and consumers. It's a great, growing network to be a part of.

I guarantee, if you start with some spicy buns, everything else will fall into place.

And remember, as with all family feasts; people rarely miss what's not on the table, so if you forget something then the meal just got shorter and you'll have your house to yourself that much sooner!

Never let the pressure to entertain overtake the enjoyment of nourishing friendly souls.

Have a wonderful Easter...or whatever you're doing this weekend.

And share the Love...

cheers, Mannix

mannix@thelovebite.com