In today's Bite: Holidays and school days

If the weather is keeping you indoors this Auckland Anniversary Day holiday how about a few hours in the kitchen making brownies … but not as you know them … these decadent double chocolate brownies with caramel sauce have been given the Megan May once over and are raw, plant-based and gluten- and dairy-free. The fact that they aren't baked in the oven is appealing at this time of year too and it makes them fun for kids to make. Jan Bilton has three more no-bake treats the kids might like to make for their lunchboxes here.

For healthy lunchbox snacks our picks are seed crackers, fruit and vanilla snack balls, vege chips, and chewy carob bars. Maybe it's a scone you fancy today, well I certainly do now that we have Peter Gordon's recipe. I have been drooling over these for quite some time — Peter posts pictures of them, fresh from the oven at Providores, his London restaurant, on social media and it's rather special that Peter is sharing the recipe with us.

Geoff Scott is bringing land and sea together for lunches and dinners with his barbecue chorizo, haloumi and salmon, beef and prawn linguine salad and FAB sandwich. For everything in between, the answer lies in the fruit bowl. But first, a Mediterranean potato salad for tonight's barbecue.