Ashleigh Levin knows exactly how to appeal to a younger generation of would-be cooks, first timers venturing on their own in the kitchen, who want to impress their loved ones and friends with delicious meals that don’t require a formal culinary training to achieve. At the same time, competent cooks will find a wealth of ideas to inspire even the most jaded of palates. Ashleigh’s own love affair with food started in her grandmother’s kitchen when she was about the same height as the kitchen table. As she says of one occasion, ‘In that second of pancake-fuelled ecstasy, I saw for the very first time the utter perfection of food and its ability to bring people you love together…’ With her conversational writing style, in Home Cooked & Heart Warming Ashleigh will take you on a journey that’s filled with memories, delicious flavours, lots of butter and the freedom to try your own tweaks, to make sure the recipes work for you, and never forgetting a relaxing glass of wine to accompany it all. The titles of the recipes are evocative and tell you all you need to know or tease you to try out an intriguing idea, for instance Restorative butternut and ginger soup with chickpea sprinkles, Fall-apart lamb, My mother’s sticky chicken, Dirty ballerina Pavlova and Sunday funday martinis.