Hi, I’m Lani.

Lani or Leanne, I answer to both.

I live in London with my husband and three young daughters, and I love to cook. These recipes are my tried and true, my go-to’s, my forever, ever-growing shortlist of the things I most love to cook and eat.

I started this blog when I was 23, childless and married to someone else, living on the other side of the world. It began as a way for me to keep and organise my recipes for myself and faraway friends and family. It still serves that function, but it’s also a time capsule showing just how my life has changed in 10 years. A little diary, if you will.

Punctuated with pasta.

I grew up in the US but have spent almost all of my adult life abroad: four years in Canada, a few in Italy and Israel, five in Australia and now four in the UK. The recipes I love are influenced by all the places I’ve lived and an inherited love of butter and salt.

The Shortlists name comes from my dad, a really amazing cook who worked in the restaurant industry in Paris in his 20s. He makes little shortlists for himself when preparing for a big dinner party, full of little reminders, possibile ingredients and timing cues. (They’re adorable, trust me.) It also comes from the name of what was my favorite coffee shop, right across the street from me, when I started this blog in Sydney, Australia in 2009.

My life has changed in immeasurable ways since then but my appetite hasn’t.

Say hello!

This blog is nothing without you. I’d love to know what you think, answer your questions or just hear from you if you want to say hi.