Welcome to my e-book of Christmas food inspiration created purposely for the people of Perth.

As a food stylist and recipe developer I wanted to offer a collection of festive food ideas designed for home cooks - not master chefs - created with our local seasonal produce and with the warm weather in mind. Let’s face it, snowy winter dining scenes are not for us Aussie’s.

My hope is for you to take pleasure in the ritual of making these recipes as an enjoyable part of the whole festive season, either by yourself or make it an event and cook with family and friends.

I wanted to take away the agony of having to think about what to cook and just enjoy the process...and maybe grab a cheeky compliment or two for your fancy fare.

It was also really important to create recipes that could double as gifts. Winner, winner. There is no more pure gift than something created for you with time, effort and love. You just can’t beat it.

Even after all the years of working as a cook and stylist, Christmas for me is still for celebrating not slaving! If you love to cook but don’t love being stuck in the kitchen while everyone else is having fun, read on, as most of it is about preparing recipes in advance. Christmas FOMO is the worst!

And as much as I love cooking I am also all about food hacks to save yourself time, which I have dotted throughout. My recipes are not about a 10 minute turnaround, but they are simple, approachable and fun! It’s all about making elements in advance so they are on hand to impress drop-in guests. And they are especially about making the food look fabulous! I have used my background as a food stylist, having worked at The West Australian and for WA businesses through my Kate Flower Food company, to weave little magic ways to present your home prepared delights just like in the pages of a magazine.

I have also included my personal guide to some of Perth’s best local ingredients for your festive table.

A Local Table

Enjoy! Kate