Tandy’s first memories of food involve her paternal grandmother who always had enough food at her table to feed a small army. She can remember stepping into her grandmother’s pantry and eating pickled onions right out of the jar. The pantry also always had a container of crunchies and one bite of this treat transports her right back to that place. Coming from a Jewish family, high holy days meant cooking with all the aunts and it is her Aunty Tilly’s ice cream that was the inspiration behind her first recipe book, Lavender & Lime. Tandy’s maternal grandfather was the first foodie she knew and he was a dab hand in the kitchen, making his own mayonnaise and Steak Tartar among other meals. They shared a mutual passion for mustard and Tandy always has at least four jars in her fridge at any one time.

This blog was created in 2009 and Tandy has the following to say:

“Thanks for stopping by to learn more about me. I love to read about food, cook food, and of course eat food. I try to shop for fresh, organic ingredients wherever possible.  I cook from the heart, to nourish the soul. The meals you see here are the ones I cook each night for supper and the photographs are taken in my kitchen under an ordinary halogen light. This blog is not about photographs but about the recipes. If an error creeps into a recipe, please let me know – perfection is something to strive for, not yet achieved. I don’t use much salt and pepper in my food and so you will rarely find it in my recipes. But, add your own to taste. I usually get fresh farm eggs which are HUGE. But, my recipes will work with large – jumbo eggs. My favorite saying is BE THE BEST YOU, YOU CAN BE.”

Tandy lives with her husband, 2 Jack Russels, a fish and tortoises in a cottage on a property on which they are building a house. In the meantime, all creations come out of her small kitchen. Tandy believes in spending money only once and so she saves up to get the kitchen tools she thinks are the best quality.

© Tandy's kitchen

Tandy has been interviewed by Jeanne Horak-Druiff of Cook Sister! (September 2010) and by Taste Magazine (November 2011). She was mentioned on the radio by Simon Gear (October 2010) in his green minute.

Tandy has taken part in numerous community challenges and competitions and made it to the top 400 out of 2000 bloggers in the 2010 Foodbuzz Project Foodblog. She participated in the 2010 Community Cookathon, a Yuppie Chef initiative. Tandy was a winner in the Middleton Tart Competition (May 2011) and her submission for Eat for the Earth 2010 was also a winning entry. Her lamb shanks for the Jamie Oliver Britain competition (October 2011) was a winning dish. Tandy took part in the Enkosi Cookathon (October 2011). She is also a regular participant of Presto Pasta Nights, Crazy Cooking Challenge, The Secret Recipe Club, Meeta’s Monthly Mingle and Fresh From The Oven.

Tandy’s recipes have been published on various platforms before she started blogging. Her recipe for duck egg ravioli was showcased in the Taste Magazine (November 2011) and she has written a series of recipes on vine ripened tomatoes and grapes for Woolworths.

© taste magazine

In April 2011 Tandy won the DSTV competition to cook with Jonathan Daddia at the Good Food and Wine Show. She has also cooked with Anthony Worrall-Thompson, Brian Turner, James Martin and Alvin Quah in hands on workshops.

© jonathan daddia

Tandy has been invited to attend wine tastings, book launches, to review restaurants and recipe books and has been involved in recipe development. She has reviewed both companies and products related to the food industry. After attending the inaugural Food Bloggers Conference (March 2010) Tandy initiated her blog on WordPress, alongside her blog on food24. She maintained her food24 blog for 2 years before moving to the Taste platform. Tandy assisted Colleen Grove with the registration at the 2011 Food Bloggers Indaba as well as sponsoring some prizes for the event.

In February 2011 Tandy was selected as a top 10 finalist in the Eat In Best Local Food Blog Awards.

When not in her kitchen Tandy is at work selling Natural and Organic products. You can send her an email: lavenderandlimeblog (AT) gmail (DOT) com – she would love to hear from you.