GRAB THE RECIPE HERE!

It’s been a while since I shared a sweet treat recipe, so I thoughts I’d better remedy that! This slice is chock-a-block with seeds of every kind, mildly sweet and with just the right amount of chocolate on top. It’s also supper adaptable, to use up whatever combination of seeds (or nuts) you have on hand.

I’ve got a few special updates on some of the events coming up below, but if you’re in or around Hamilton (NZ) this Saturday there’s also another little event I’ll be speaking at if you’d like to come along…

Recipe Book Bites. Saturday 22nd August 2026, 2pm at Hamilton City Libraries (9 Garden Pl, Hamilton central). Brought to you by Waikato Foodies, this event is for anyone interested in hearing from three local authors about our different paths to getting a published cookbook. I’ll be talking alongside fellow authors Vicki Ravlich-Horan and Amber Bremner. This is a free event.

SEEDY CHOC TOP SLICE RECIPE HERE!

Here’s my updated Australia book tour + NZ events below (with a new NZ event added). I’m super excited to also share that I’ll be in conversation with four very special people at my Sydney, Tamborine Mt, Auckland and Raglan events (see below). Can’t wait!

AUSTRALIA

Syndey

Tuesday 29th September at Gertrude & Alice Cafe Bookstore 7-8.30pm. In conversation with the wonderful Erin Lovell-Verinder. Tickets here.

Melbourne

Wednesday 30th September at Books for Cooks 6.30-8pm. Tickets here.

Tamborine Mountain, QLD

Saturday 3rd October at Picnic Real Food Bar 3-5pm. In conversation with fellow chef and author and all-round lovely human Brenda Fawdon. Tickets here.

NEW ZEALAND

Auckland

Thursday 8th October at Mt Eden Village Centre, Mt Eden 6-8pm. Nibbles + drinks. Books available for purchase and signing. In conversation with the wonderful Amber Rose. A collaboration with Time Out Bookstore. Free event but must RSVP. Full details to come.

Raglan

Friday 9th October at The Space. 6-8pm. Nibbles + drinks. Books available for purchase and signing. In conversation with one of my oldest friends and fellow Raglan Local Kara Rickard. Free event.

Auckland

Saturday 17th October 9.30-4pm @ The NEFF Kitchen, 65 Parnell Rise, Parnell.

I’ll be speaking at the Culinary Writing Workshop, run by The New Zealand Food Communicators Scholarship. This one-day workshop is ideal for anyone dreaming of writing their own cookbook. Tutors Lucy Cory and Anna King Shahab will guide you through the art of recipe and headnote writing and storytelling. After lunch (provided), I’ll be in conversation alongside my editor from HarperCollins (who have published all 4 of my books), sharing my experience of writing cookbooks. Participants will also take home a signed copy of my new book Thyme to Cook.

For more information check out @food_communicators_scholarship on IG or email kathypaterson@xtra.co.nz.

Kia ora lovelies!

You have no idea how excited I am to announce my Australian book tour!!! This has been a long time coming. My first two books were written in Australia, when we lived in Perth. Back then our kids were little and money was tight, so I couldn’t get to the east coast to promote those books. When my last book, Every Day, came out in 2021 I had planned to get over to Australia but alas, the world had turned to shit and travel was no longer an option. Going into this book launch it was a top priority, to get over the Tasman to celebrate and launch it with so many of you who have been some of my biggest supporters over the years. This is my way of saying thank you.

Each venue has been chosen by me; my Sydney event is being held at a bookstore/cafe I’ve long admired from afar. I also used to live just a few streets away when I worked as a chef in my late teens/early twenties. In Melbourne my event is at a bookstore who has always been one of my biggest supporters. In Queensland my launch is at my friend Brenda’s cafe, with support from her lovely local independent bookstore, Under the Greenwood Tree. Brenda and I have known each other online for many years, since our first books came out if I remember rightly… so it will be such a treat to finally meet in person and celebrate my fourth book baby together! A little note to my Western Australia crew… I’m hoping to get over your way sometime next year, all things going to plan. So, we’ll have a late celebration, hey?

Tickets to all events are super limited so I suggest if you’d like to come that you book asap. Don’t sleep on it as I’d hate for you to miss out. As a subscriber to my newsletter, you’re getting these links first. I will be sharing to the wider community on socials at 8pm tonight (NZ time).

AUSTRALIA

Syndey

Tuesday 29th September at Gertrude & Alice Cafe Bookstore 7-8.30pm. In conversation with the wonderful Erin Lovell-Verinder. Tickets here.

Melbourne

Wednesday 30th September at Books for Cooks 6.30-8pm. Tickets here.

Tamborine Mountain, QLD

Saturday 3rd October at Picnic Real Food Bar 3-5pm. Tickets here.

A little closer to home… I have a couple of events lined up for here in NZ as well, with hopefully more to come. Things are still being finalised so take this as just a heads up for now, with more info to follow…

NEW ZEALAND

Auckland

Thursday 8th October at Mt Eden Village Centre, Mt Eden 6-8pm. Nibbles + drinks. Books available for purchase and signing. In conversation with the wonderful Amber Rose. A collaboration with Time Out Bookstore. Free event but must RSVP. Full details to come.

Raglan

Friday 9th October at The Space. 6-8pm. Nibbles + drinks. Books available for purchase and signing. In conversation with one of my oldest friends and fellow Raglan Local Kara Rickard. Free event.

Auckland

Saturday 17th October 9.30-4pm @ The NEFF Kitchen, 65 Parnell Rise, Parnell.

I’ll be speaking at the Culinary Writing Workshop, run by The New Zealand Food Communicators Scholarship. This one-day workshop is ideal for anyone dreaming of writing their own cookbook. Tutors Lucy Cory and Anna King Shahab will guide you through the art of recipe and headnote writing and storytelling. After lunch (provided), I’ll be in conversation alongside my editor from HarperCollins (who have published all 4 of my books), sharing my experience of writing cookbooks. Participants will also take home a signed copy of my new book Thyme to Cook.

For more information check out @food_communicators_scholarship on IG or email kathypaterson@xtra.co.nz.

I hope to see lots of you at these events; it will be really lovely to connect in real life.

Ngā mihi,

Emm X

Grab the recipe HERE!

We’re in the midst of soup season here in New Zealand and before the moment passes, I wanted to share this lovely little number I created for my most recent column in Nourish Magazine (NZ). It’s everything you want a bowl of soup to be; nourishing, comforting, tasty as can be and with a little brightness to have you coming back for more. Roasting the cauliflower first brings a deep and satisfying flavour, whilst the nutty walnut brown butter on top brings acidity and nuttiness. I like to reserve a few bits of roasted cauliflower for the topping as well, to not only pretty things up, but add great texture to an otherwise smooth soup.

ROASTED CAULIFLOWER SOUP W/ WALNUT BROWN BUTTER

In other news, I’m deep in book launch prep mode and I can’t wait to share all that we have organised to celebrate the launch of my 4th book baby! It’s such a long process this writing book business, it was 6 months ago that I finished working on it, but that’s only one part of the whole equation. Next came editing and design and now the final stage, gearing up to setting it free out into the world! Last Friday I spoke at a Book Sellers conference in Auckland, to introduce my new book to many of the faces who will be selling it around the country and it dawned on me, it’s not all that often that we as authors get to interact with the people who help to get our books into the hands of those it was written for. I’m so incredibly grateful to all the stores who sell my books! You all play such an important role in the whole process.

I was also surprised on the day with a glimpse of the actual finished book! I wasn’t aware the first copies had arrived in the country just yet. I usually like to savour the first moment, but as it was all a bit of a surprise, I was about to get on stage and speak… and the copy was about to be given away, I only had a quick flip through. But it looks awesome! I’m really looking forward to sitting down with my own copy when it arrives and will share a sneak peek very soon as well.

Last week I started a little series on my Instagram page about writing cookbooks, if you haven’t already seen it, you can check out Part 1 HERE. And if there was anything about the book writing process you’re really interested to hear more about, leave me a comment below.

Much love,
Emm X

MORE SOUP IDEAS FROM THE ARCHIVES

CREAMY KOHLRABI SOUP

CURRIED CARROT + RED LENTIL SOUP W/ MUNG BEANS + FETA

ROASTED PUMPKIN SOUP W/ CHICKPEA MIGAS

Grab the recipe HERE.

I’ve been meaning to share this recipe for well over a month, but the weeks seem to be slipping by at an alarming rate of late. In mid-April I started a new job, back working 5 days a week (for someone other than myself) for the first time since having my daughter, nearly 20 years ago. While I am absolutely loving the stability of having a regular paycheck, having so little ‘free’ time is taking a bit to get used to that’s for sure! Most days I’m just happy if I can get a quick walk in before dark, then it’s dinner and crash out for the day. Repeat x 5.

I’m also in the midst of planning my Australian book tour (end of September/start of October)!! Eeeeep. I’m so damn excited for this one. I can’t quite believe it’s taken 4 books for me to make this a priority. Dear Australian friends, you have always been some of my biggest supporters. At this stage I have events in the works for Sydney, Melbourne and Mt Tamborine, QLD. But you’ll be the first to know all the details once everything is finalised. I will be having a couple of events here in NZ too.

Our driveway is lined with climbing roses, a couple that were already there when we moved in, but many which my husband has carefully dug up from ones that have popped up around our property and transplanted. Each autumn once the flowers have died off, the rosehips form, begging me to do something with them. Last year I simply harvested and dried them in our dehydrator, adding them to herbal teas over the winter months. But this year, I wanted to make full use of their beauty and goodness, so I decided to turn them into a herbal syrup. High in Vitamin C, this ruby-red immune-supporting syrup also happens to be absolutely delicious. It can be taken as a herbal syrup, poured over pancakes in place of maple, or used as a drink base, topped up with sparkling water for a refreshing treat!

Grab the recipe HERE!

Pre-order my new book Thyme to Cook HERE. It’s out this September.

Australian friends, you can also pre-order HERE or HERE, for an Amazon alternative.

You know it’s been nearly 16 years since I started my blog My Darling Lemon Thyme? For much of that time I shared a new recipe once a week, sometimes more often. It was my creative outlet while my kids were little and I worked from home. I shared so much of our lives online, never photos of my family, but funny little things that happened during our day, as well as my thoughts and feelings. My blog became not only a place for me to share what I was cooking, but also a space where I could try and make sense of the world through my words. I found the writing side of things therapeutic and at times downright cathartic! For years it was totally normal for blog posts to start with lengthy -at times completely unrelated- stories about life, and it often felt more like a personal journal than food writing. I loved it and I miss that.

Somewhere along the way, life got busier, time scarcer. People joked online about bloggers oversharing and come on, just give us the damn recipe! Every time I saw one of those comments I wanted to scream. If you don’t want to read it and can’t scroll past to get to the FREE recipe, then you can buggar off. Instagram came along, took eyes and comments away from blogs. Many disappeared. People started to expect you to share your recipes on the platform instead of directing them back to your blog. Then things changed again, and all of a sudden, every ‘creator’ was now expected to be a professional videographer/editor, bonus if you’re also someone who can make people laugh. I’m not gonna lie, I’ve struggled to keep up, to still feel relevant at all at times. I just want to show people how to grow and cook their own food, not perform for the algorithm.

With my kids now grown, a few years ago I went back to ‘work’, after decades of working freelance, for myself. Time got even more scarce. I shared even less online. At times, life felt more like surviving, than thriving. And I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel a disconnect from this beautiful community we’ve created here, over all these years. I know I don’t owe anyone an apology, but I’m sorry I don’t have the capacity to share online like I used to. Maybe one day things will change, but it’s also been a great lesson in only being able to do what you can do, ya know? I’ve had to accept that we just can’t do everything! Even though I do still try sometimes, lol.

Now you might understand why I was equal parts excited and nervous to share the news of my 4th book coming out recently. I wasn’t sure how people would react, whether the support was still going to be there after I’ve been so quiet for the past few years (surviving, not thriving remember?). I also wasn’t sure if anyone would even see my posts on social media, as the algorithm doesn’t favour those who don’t post consistently or play the game. So, it was with great relief to hear from so many of you who are as excited as I am about this new book! Teaching and encouraging others to grow their own food has always been part of my ethos (some of you may remember when I first started my blog My Darling Lemon Thyme, the tagline was: Food, Life + a Little Garden!?). I really feel like this book incorporates everything you’ve all come to expect from me; approachable information and ideas, simplicity, accessibility, warmth and encouragement. Oh, and yum food! To think that this book has the potential to be the starting point for so many to start growing their own food, makes me so damn warm and fuzzy inside.

To everyone who has already pre-ordered, either signed copies direct from me, or via one of the many online bookstores offering pre-orders, thank you so much! You have no idea how much your love and support mean to me. Great news for those of you in Europe too, it’s coming out the UK at the end of February 2027! You can also pre-order HERE or HERE.

This deceptively simple salad packs a punch on the flavour front. Loosely based on the idea of Caesar Salad, I’ve used finely sliced broccoli in place of lettuce for a more substantial bite and put lemon front and centre, using both zest and juice. Click HERE for the Lemony Broccoli ‘Caesar’ Salad recipe.

PS. I’ve decided that moving forward, I’m going to keep my site for sharing recipes only and will be sharing more chatty old-school blog style writing here, in my newsletter/Substack. I feel like that will work nicely.

Pre-order your copy today!

I’m so excited to share that my new book Thyme to Cook is coming this October! This one’s a little different from my previous cookbooks — it’s not just about the recipes. It’s about the full journey of growing, harvesting, and cooking real food at home.

This book is for anyone who cares about what they eat, wants to feel more connected to their food, or is beginning to explore self-sufficiency. Inside, you’ll learn how to grow from seed, make simple and cost‑effective soil amendments, save seeds, and turn your kitchen and garden waste into nutrient-rich compost. The in‑depth growing guides cover more than 25 vegetables, giving you everything you need to get started. And of course, all that homegrown abundance leads to the kitchen — you’ll find over 70 nourishing, flavour-packed vegetarian and gluten‑free recipes to cook throughout the year.

In recent years there’s been a real resurgence of people wanting to reconnect with their food and become more self‑sufficient by growing their own. Over the past six years, most of the questions I’ve received on social media have been about gardening, which led me to create an online membership site called Tipu. There, I taught members how to grow their own food and shared simple, seasonal recipes to make with their harvests. After closing the site, I realised that I had the bones of a book I felt needed to be written. So, that body of work became the foundation for Thyme to Cook.

I’ve kept the information simple, concise, and practical so that new gardeners can build confidence quickly. And while it’s written with beginners in mind, there’s always more to learn in the garden, so I hope seasoned growers will discover a few fresh ideas too!

My hope is that Thyme to Cook becomes the seed that sprouts into your own homegrown life.

If you’d like to pre-order a signed copy direct from me, please do so HERE. Or click the bottom button below to pre-order elsewhere (includes Australian pre-order link). Pre-ordering is the best way to tell the bookstores that this a book worth buying, so they’ll hopefully order more. It really is super helpful to authors if you pre-order!

Pre-order a signed copy

Pre-order your copy today!

I’ll be sharing more info over the coming months, along with some behind-the-scenes shots of making the book! There will also be a bunch of different events planned to celebrate the launch in October, so keep an eye out for more info on those too. All things going to plan I will be making it over to Australia to celebrate as well!

Much love and thanks for all your support over the years, and especially now.

Emm x

Photo credits for the image of me holding the dahlias and the portrait shot, my lovely + talented friend Lottie Hedley.

SMOKEY PUMPKIN + BLACK BEAN RICE RECIPE

Kia ora,

Gosh I’ve got a lot to catch you up on since my last newsletter! Life seems to have zoomed by at an even faster than usual pace this year as I work on a big project. Working part time as a baker at a cafe, along with motherhood, gardens, freelance work etc, have left very little time to share recipes online. I did, however, manage to squeeze in a little trip over the ditch to Tasmania at the start of August, which totally filled my cup and belly. I thought I’d share a couple of highlights from my trip with links to places I loved.

If you’re here for my recipe for Smokey Pumpkin + Black Bean Rice, click HERE.

Much love,

Emm X

FAVOURITES FROM LUTRUWITA - TASMANIA

-Scholé, Hobart

-The Agrarian Kitchen, New Norfolk (we did the garden tour and ate at their kiosk)

-Mona, Hobart

-Baked Gluten Free, Hobart

-Bread & Butter, Launceston

-Sleepy Bay

-Blow hole, Bicheno

-Ranita Ramen, Hobart

-Bruny Island Baker, Bruny Island

I sometimes add nuts to a recipe for texture, other times it’s for flavour. Sometimes they’ll be the final flourish added for visual appeal, other times they form the bulk of the dish. Not only do they taste delicious, but these tiny morsels pack a punch in the nutrient department too, delivering good amounts of healthy fats, protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals. While not all nut trees thrive in NZ, walnuts and hazelnuts both grow well in our climate and if you’re lucky, autumn is the best time to come across locally grown ones!

MUSHROOM + WALNUT QUINOA BOWLS W/ BAJA SAUCE

Pottery handmade by me @ Tahu Ceramics

ZUCCHINI FRITTERS RECIPE

We’re in the thick of zucchini/courgette madness here in NZ, which means I, along with every other gardener I know, is madly scrambling to find uses for all their bounty. Many years ago we made the mistake of growing 4 plants and had so many zucchini we didn’t know what to do with them (they’re prolific little growers in case you didn’t know), but even with the 2 plants we have this year it only takes a few weeks of harvesting for zucchini fatigue to creep in… along with the zucchini pickles recipe I shared last month, this is another brilliant way to make a noticeable dent in your stockpile!

ZUCCHINI FRITTERS RECIPE

MORE ZUCCHINI RECIPES

• Zucchini, millet + mint salad with coriander (cilantro) dressing

• Zucchini, quinoa + rocket salad with lemon, mint + chilli

• Grilled zucchini + spinach salad with roasted capsicum (red pepper) dressing

• Gluten-free zucchini, mint + feta fritters

• Gluten-free zucchini, garlic + lemon spaghetti

• Grilled zucchini with parsley, olive + garlic crumbs

• Gluten-free chocolate zucchini cake

ZUCCHINI PICKLES RECIPE

Hi friends!

It’s been a real long time since I’ve shared new recipes on my blog. The past 15 months I’ve instead been focusing all my love and attention into my (now closed down) membership site Tipu. I’m really proud of the beautiful space that was created and all the recipes, garden guides and videos I poured my heart and soul into creating, but I’m also totally at peace with closing that chapter and moving onto other projects. This has also freed up a little time to be able to share recipes on my site on occasion once again, which I know many of you will be relieved to hear as I contemplated shutting the whole site down last year. It’s been a wild ride in recent years, I’m not gonna lie, and while I’ve gone backwards and forwards on some things and done a complete 180 turn on others, I’m allowing myself the grace and curiosity of exploration and knowing that it’s more than okay to change my mind at any given point if something isn’t working. All this to say, hi, I’m back. I hope your start to this new year has been a gentle one.

Much love,

Emm X

ZUCCHINI PICKLES RECIPE.

PS. you’ll see I’ve moved my email list over to Substack. For now I’m going to be just using it as a space to share blog updates, much like my old email subscription, but this may change and morph into something else at some point too as I explore all the options available within this space… I’m staying open to all the things. Thanks so much for being here.