Real Time Recipes

Live Love and Grow in confidence in the kitchen with Real Time Recipes.
We're all about cookery for the tentative and those in search of inspiration.

Ginnie and Mel are sisters who were raised by different mothers across four continents, but eventually found their way to the UK.

Overwhelmed by curiosity, they tracked each other down as adults and found that they got on like a house on fire.

Mel’s mother had a flair for cookery and a gifted housekeeper named Beulah, both of whom imparted their passion for food to her.

Ginnie’s mother cooked grudgingly due to time constraints and the shock of it all, for she’d never had the time to learn as a youngster due to study and work commitments, and had staff to run her households until she settled to the UK in her thirties with a young family.


GINNIE

“I love food, but am a bit of a tentative cook due to squeamishness and misfortune.

Exploding eggs, burnt pots, smoke alarm traumas, a litany of embarrassing injuries, misread recipes, accidentally large gloops of pepper sauce or anything throwable that have horrified well meaning guests, are, I fear, a large part the story that is my time in the kitchen.

I hope Mel will be able to help me turn things around, as it would be lovely to eat a decent meal I had a hand in producing. No idea if it makes any difference, but I’ve decided not to ignore my vegetarian leanings any longer. Meat and seafood have their place, of course, but more often than not I can’t stand to be around them until it’s time to eat… Unless we’re talking about a fresh duck egg omelette. I’ve been taught to make one. I’m fine as long as I don’t try to flip it. Too theatrical for a beginner, quite frankly. ”

MEL

“I love to experiment with herbs, spices and ingredients from around the world. I’ve lived, loved, grown and worked in The Americas, Africa and Europe thus far and looking forward to the next chapter in my life! I cook for therapy and the joy of eating a good meal. It’s a real buzz to cook for an appreciative diner and to bring what I’ve learnt over the years to a wider audience.

Curry (chicken, mutton or goat) is an integral part of any Caribbean family function. As the resident roti maker, I got a little tired of cooking up batches of hundreds for parties, weddings, Easter, Christmas, or whatever family function needed to be catered for. Small willing hands were drafted in, taught to make roti and thank me for passing on the skills and knowledge to this day. I’m happy to eat their roti and rest my hands! Ask a Trini then demand a Guyanese roti if you want the best.

My son learned how to season meat properly by the age of ten and was able to make me a gorgeous Mother’s day meal of spicy barbecue ribs and salad. My teenage daughter could make a mean lasagne and is currently learning about Scandinavian cuisine. ”