food.shoes.travel.thoughts.

Back to school

2012-01-29T19:30:00.000+10:30

Today is the last day of the summer holidays. I've spent the last two weeks preparing my new classroom, in my new school for my brand new receptions. Like most school teachers I'm not feeling much joy today. By noon today I'd scrubbed my house, made our lunches, laid out my new school clothes and was placing my school books in my bag, read to be placed on my new desk tomorrow morning.

Stirling

The Stirling Hotel, one of my favourite Adelaide hill's pubs.

To help ease my severe case of School Teacher Sunday Blues Mr PE and I decided to head to the Adelaide hills for a bakery fix. There is nothing that savory pastry and sugar can't fix. Or so I thought.

We ate our lunch opposite the library
but sat on the grass.
A good compromise between a PE teacher and a Junior Primary teacher.

In line with a normal teacher's workday, the most carefully thought out plans can easily go pear-shaped. There is no way of guaranteeing you'll know what the day will hold for you. Both towns in our Adelaide hills adventure close their bakeries on a Sunday. Aldgate's Bakery was closed as was our next stop back down the hill, Stirling. I won't begrudge any retail worker a day off. Especially if it brings me closer to my all time favourite "junk food": a hotdog. My eventual lunch may not have been what I'd set out to initially eat but I think it was a valuable lesson for me at the start of the 2012 school year. No matter
what those 20 little people bring to my classroom tomorrow morning we'll somehow muddle through it. 48 days until the Easter school holidays!

Thank heck it was open 7 seven days...

Bite me Broome

2011-11-19T23:24:00.002+10:30

2011 is proving to be a bit of a travel year.

Which is nice.

I miss airports. I miss packing.

I digress.

A visit to Broome, Western Australia
with very dear friends
from my former London Life

provided me with ample opportunities

to photograph all the delicious food I encountered
while my friends cowered
in great embarrassment.

Pound Cake

2010-07-30T18:25:00.000+09:30

I've always wanted to make a pound cake.

I expected pound cakes to be sturdy, solid cakes.

The kind that require a strong cup of black tea with lashings of sugar.

I was wrong.

Pound cakes are soft, moist and so delicious that they don't need a hot drink to aid their consumption.

Where's that cup of tea?

Do you use your oven timer?

2010-07-28T17:25:00.000+09:30

My mother has never used an oven timer.

A lot of what I know about baking comes from my mother.

Which means that I have never used an oven timer.

Until now.

A friend was over and we were talking in my kitchen.

She asked me how I liked my oven timer.

I told her that I didn't know how to use them so I never bothered.

She laughed at me, turned the dial and my oven timer was ticking away to it's goal time.

How easy!

The following banana bread is made using honey and buttermilk.

It is super delicious and soft.

The recipe also includes a saucey glaze which I sadly didn't have time to make.

Recipe from here

Ingredients (serves 8)
Melted butter, for greasing
125g butter, cubed, at room temperature
185mls (3/4 cup) honey
2 eggs, lightly whisked
3 medium ripe bananas, mashed
60mls (1/4 cup) buttermilk
300g (2 cups) plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Thick cream, to serve

honey almond syrup
160mls (2/3 cup) honey
80mls (1/3 cup) fresh lemon juice
80g (1/2 cup) almond kernels, coarsely chopped

Method
1. Preheat oven to 170°C. Brush a medium (8.5 x 19cm, base measurement) loaf pan with the melted butter to lightly grease.
2. Use electric beaters to beat the butter and honey in a large mixing bowl until creamy and evenly combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each addition until well combined. Add the bananas and buttermilk and beat until just combined.
3. Sift the plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and ground cinnamon. Fold the flour mixture into the honey mixture with a large metal spoon until just combined. Spoon mixture into the greased loaf pan and bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Cover with foil and bake for a further 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the bread comes out clean. Stand bread in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a cutting board.
4. Meanwhile, to make the honey almond syrup, combine honey, lemon juice and almonds in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
5. Slice the hot bread, place onto plates and drizzle with the honey almond syrup. Serve immediately with thick cream.

MIA

2010-07-26T16:41:00.009+09:30

I was a little shocked to realise that I have not blogged since February.

FEBRUARY!

I have certainly baked and cooked during the last few months but a few things have eaten away at my time and prevented me from blogging.

Things such as:

getting married

Turning this

into this

(obviously still a work in progress!)

and returning to school to once again be a teacher

Our house renovations are almost complete, the wedding is a happy memory and my return to the classroom is slowly starting to feel routine.

So the next few months should mean lots of blog posts as I put my new kitchen to work.

I was a teenage mother....godmother that is!

2010-02-27T19:25:00.006+10:30

I was 12 when my youngest cousin, FireBug was born.

I was shocked (but thrilled) to be asked to be his godmother.

To say that FireBug is a character is a bit of an understatement.

He has been entertaining our family with his antics for the last 17 years.

Imagine a 5 year old who is home sick from school, asks his grandmother (who is babysitting him) if he can phone his friends but instead calls the police for a chat and you have my godson.

Today is Firebug's birthday.

He's never been a big one for sweet food but has always loved plain shop brought biscuits covered in icing and splattered with sprinkles.

So I've put on my godmother hat and made him some of his favourite treats.

It's over....

2010-02-10T14:34:00.014+10:30

...my career as a uni student that is.
After two of the hardest years of my life, a research project that gave me insomnia, limited spare time and being stuck in front of a computer for 2/3 of the day I am finally free.

My final research report is ready to be bound and presented to my supervisor.
I'm returning to teaching while I look for a job and I could not be happier with all the free time that awaits me this year. Well, once we finish renovating our house and get married in April that is.222My reward for finally writing that 12000 word report?

A chance to bake a cake using real Cacao.
Yep, I've never used real Cacao before. After this I don't think I'll use anything but Dutch-processed Cacao from now on.
Opening the box of Droste Cacao was like breathing into a chocolate cloud.

Some internet research opened my eyes to the fact that not every recipe calling for cacao allows you to substitute Dutch-processed instead of the natural form. Apparently only recipes that list baking powder instead of soda can contain the Dutch-processed. Whoops! My bad.

Recipe for Chocolate Layer Cake
150g chopped butter
1 cup castor sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup plain flour
1/3 cup cocoa (I used Dutch-Processed but you already knew that)
1/2 bicarb soda
1/2 milk (I made mine buttermilk by adding vinegar)

Grease a deep 20cm round cake pan.
Combine all ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Beat on low speed with either a handheld or electric miser until ingredients are combined.
Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth and has changed colour.
Spoon and spread mixture into prepared pan.
Bake in a moderate over for roughly 70 minutes. (I actually texted mine at 60 minutes and it was already perfect)

Cover cake with the icing of your choice.
I used lemon buttercream as I'm slightly obsessed with buttercreams at present.

Australia Day

2010-01-26T15:22:00.009+10:30

Australia Day BBQ's mean many things to many people:
Friends
Family
Alcohol (possibly too much of it)

Pavlova
Sunburn
Triple J Hottest 100 Countdown

Lamingtons
Flies
Back to School

Cupcakes don't immediately spring to mind.

It was my plan to change all that when I was invited to a friend's Australia Day BBQ.

This friend will be marrying a butcher (my butcher in fact) shortly so there was no need to offer to bring our own meat along.

I, of course opted to take care of sweets deciding on chocolate cupcakes.

Being pressed for time I cheated slightly and used a White Wings packet mix adding in extra vanilla of course.

When it came time to decorate them there was no cheating.

Of course green buttercream was the way to go.

To add the Australian yellow/gold element into the mix I went with Allen's Banana Lollies.

You can't get much more Australian than a Banana Lolly.

Some of my fondest childhood memories involve leaving a friend's

birthday party clutching my lolly bag

that always contained a few of the little gems.

So here they are,

Chocolate (Packet Cake!) Cupcakes with

buttercream icing and banana lollies.

I've been asked to make them for next year's BBQ so they must have been good!

Eating in Robe and Kingston

2009-10-14T14:01:00.014+10:30

Carrot cake slice (Robe Bakery)

I took a short little break to visit a few lovely beach towns off the south eastern coast of my state. While both Robe and Kingston may be known for their gorgeous sandy beaches and increasingly magnificent holiday homes I think their marketing people have got it wrong. Robe and Kingston should be known for their amazing bakeries.

Donut (Robe Bakery)

Vanilla slice (Robe Bakery)

Mr High Heels did not grow up touring from one South Australian bakery to another under the guise of a 'family holiday' so he still doesn't understand why we can't just drive past a bakery. Or why we have to buy several cakes, both a pie and a pasty and numerous loaves of bread. What he really struggles with is comprehending my obsession with the vanilla slice (which I inherited from my father).

Fresh finger bun with currents, vanilla icing and spread with butter (Kingston Bakery)

Two thirds of my all-time favourite junk food meal, hotdog and orange soft drink.

Lobster for tea, I now love seafood.

Plain meat pie (Kingston Bakery)

Vanilla slice (Kingston Bakery)

Cheese cake slice (Robe Bakery)

Caramela's Caramel Slice

2009-09-17T02:12:00.000+09:30

Today is my mother's birthday.

She is a bit of a caramel queen.

Two of her many signature dishes are

creme caramel and

caramel slice.

I did not bake the caramel slice featured above and below this text.It is mum's recipe and there is no way I'd attempt it myself. It just wouldn't taste right made my anyone other than mum.

It's an easy recipe but I don't want to make my mum's signature dish.

I don't want to mess with my favourite slice of all time. As a child my heart would leap with joy upon seeing Mum pull this slice from the fridge.

She can't remember where she got the recipe from, most likely the back of a packet.

Or perhaps it was on a tin of condensed milk.

Base:

1 cup self raising flour

1 cup coconut

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 ozs of melted butter

Mix together and press into a greased flat tin approx 9 by 6 inches. Bake in a moderate over for 15 minutes.

Topping:

1 tin condensed milk

2 tablespoons golden syrup

1 oz butter

Mix together in a saucepan on low heat until blended.

Remove cooked biscuit from oven and put topping on (while both still hot) and put back into the over for a further 15 minutes.

Once completely cooled ice thinly with either melted chocolate or your favourite chocolate icing.

What do you mean it's not Christmas yet?

2009-09-16T18:12:00.011+09:30

I love Christmas.

I love cookies.

I love planning my Christmas Cookie Exchange party.

This year will be the second time I have hosted one. I can't wait.

I've got a few cookie recipes to try out.

The first one is a cranberry and white chocolate biscuit recipe involving one of my all time favourite ingredients, condensed milk.

This recipe yields a lot of biscuits. It would work very well if you needed to bake for a school fete. They are really yummy with a semi-crisp shell but a soft and crumbly centre which is owed mostly to the condensed milk.

The cranberries and white chocolate work well together and give the biscuit a very festive look. If I go with this recipe I will drizzle each biscuit with melted milk chocolate, maybe with sugar sprinkles too.

I think a decoration trial will be in order soon too.

Multi-tasking into Spring

2009-09-14T07:57:00.001+09:30

I am now 14 days into Spring 2009 but have just baked a classic winter warmer, apple and berry crumble. The last few days of sunny, warming weather have quickly moved on to make way for a colder temperature with even a spot of rain on the weekend. While I frantically went around the house looking for warmer clothes tonight I realised that I had no choice but to bake this crumble recipe from taste.com my favourite go-to online recipe bank.

This recipe is one of my favourite kinds to work with. I like to refer to them as 'multi-tasking recipes'. You sort out one part of the recipe and get it going (in this case cooking the apples) while you prepare the final touches (in this case the crumble topping). I always feel super efficient after following recipes like this crumble one, such a good confidence booster!

I only had mixed berries on hand but they seemed to work well with the apple and cinnamon flavours and there were certainly no complaints from the eaters. I will admit that I was a tad naughty with this recipe and actually doubled the topping. Double the amount of corn flakes and oats surely balances out double the amount of brown sugar and butter, doesn't it?

That extra topping is so worth it!

The addition of the mixed berries give the apples an extra tangy kick.

Gourmet Obsessions

2009-09-07T22:22:00.000+09:30

Since reading about bloggers raving about Gourmet magazine a few weeks back I decided to trawl it's website. I have fortunately managed to locate a newsagent that stocks Gourmet magazine and have in my posession two copies, one being the latest A-Z issue.

Both copies have numerous pages that have gone onto my baking 'to do' list. The website has provided me not just with hours of fun but also this refreshing biscuit recipe for buttermilk cookies with a tangy hint of lemon.

Any recipe that lists buttermilk as an ingredient will always get my attention.

French Toast for Australian Father's Day

2009-09-06T10:03:00.006+09:30

It's Father's Day here in Australia. So I thought I'd give French Toast a go. As usual I used a recipe from taste.com.au my mecca for online recipes. I left out the bacon and tomatoes. I also found that the egg/milk mixture yielded more than enough for 8 slices of thick bread. If I hadn't gotten slightly lazy I could have made 10 slices but hey, it's Sunday morning!

My father hits 65 soon and a friend remarked that perhaps he should be eating something healthier for breakfast on Father's Day. No way! I get my super sweet tooth from this man, he'll be eating voraciously for a very long time. His usual breakfast consists of a cereal of some sort, toast with his home-made plum jam, two cups of tea and a slice of whatever home-made cake my mother has in the pantry slathered with his home-made apricot jam and cream. For what it's worth dad is extremely active. You know it's either bitterly cold outside or outrageously hot if you find my father sitting down inside.

Can't stop craving coffee

2009-09-05T09:23:00.000+09:30

The whole point of this earlier post was to cure my coffee cravings my making a coffee cake. It worked reasonably well.

Inspite of some strong cravings and the fact that on any given work day I walk past at least six establishments where I could purchase a cup, I have been off the liquid bliss for quite a while.

As a result my sinus headaches all but disappeared.

I got over-confident last Sunday morning when I found myself at a friend's house for brunch. A friend who has a fantastic coffee machine. It would have been rude to refuse a cup.

That latte was out of this world.

Did I ever pay for it though.

A few short hours later and I started to lose my sense of smell and I knew I'd pushed it too far. Just proof that coffee really isn't for me.

So I'm back on the coffee cake wagon.

Today's coffee cake version is care of Delia Smith, the merticulousy magnificant English cook.

While my list of 'favourite' chefs/cooks/food writers

is long and varied Delia will always be number 1.

I promise you, that no harm can come to your baking

or cooking when a Delia recipe is being followed.

Here is the recipe for Delia Smith's Austrian Coffee and Walnut Cake with Coffee Cream.

The only variation I made to the recipe

was to use only mascapone in the coffee cream,

I simply doubled the amount required.

Confessions of a Cheesecake

2009-09-03T21:56:00.008+09:30

Dear Cheesecake Gods,

The taste and texture of a baked cheesecake far outweighs that of non-baked cheesecake which is why I need your help. I have made this great recipe from my favourite recipe site three times now. Each time I have the same problems: a sunken middle section combined with a big nasty crack. The taste of the cheesecake is heavenly, refreshing and very addictive.

I have tried to use decorations to distract the eye away from my baking downfalls but there must be a way to ensure I perfect this recipe. There is only so much that melted chocolate and frozen, out of season berries can do!

Is my oven temperature too night? Not high enough? Is my baking time a little off? The only substition I have made is swapping the plain biscuits for plain chocolate biscuits so that it becomes a lemon-filled chocolate-based cheesecake. Any advice you can give me will be much appreciated.

Warmest regards,

Miss High Heels

I see red, I see red, I see red

2009-08-30T20:51:00.000+09:30

My initial interest and now obsession with red velvet cake started with this London bakery which I have the upmost respect for. On my very first visit I remember being dizzy with excitement by the neverending choices of cake on offer.

The red velvet cupcakes grabbed my attention as I vaguely recalled there being some sort of red velvet cake mentioned in the movie 'Steel Magnolias'.

Red is one of my favourite colours.

I love velvet.

Cream cheese icing has long been a favourite of mine so it was only natural that I should gravitate towards buying a red velvet cupcake.

That first bite in 2005 has led to four years of being enamoured with the look and taste of red velvet cake.

It wasn't until late 2007 that I attempted to bake my own red velvet cake. I have used several different recipes and have to say I love them all.

I can't imagine ever getting tired of baking or eating red velvet cake.

I've baked a few for different friends, cupcakes for my sister's birthday a few years ago and cupcakes for my cousin's engagement party dessert.

Red velvet cake is still such a novelty here in Australia that people get very excited when they catch their first glimpse of red.

This cake introduced my good friend Speechie to the wonder that is red velvet cake.

She was hooked on first bite!

I also got to try out my new cake decorating triangle.

Recipes Without Recipes

2009-08-28T21:39:00.015+09:30

My tea tonight consisted of roasted vegetables, cous cous and hommus. A good friend first cooked this for me and it quickly became a favourite. It's the sort of the recipe or cooking style that my mother would refer to as 'Alleluia'. Which could be taken to mean, 'throw it all together and pray that it works out ok'. Mum's interpretation is somewhat deeper. Her 'Alleluia' cooking method is more about an intuitive understanding of food and which combinations work best.

Take any of your favourite vegetables, peel and chop them. Toss through some olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Add herbs and spices of your liking. I added dried chilli seeds, basil, thyme and rosemary. Cook on a moderate temperature for around 1 hour. Serve with plain cous cous and hommus to taste. Best consumed with a nice glass of red wine.

I like getting new cousins

2009-08-28T01:27:00.000+09:30

The majority of my first cousins are either older than me or around my age.

So that meant that there weren't too many baby cousins born after about my third birthday.

Luckily my mother has a brother who is younger than her by nine years.

This uncle and his wife waited to have a family and had their three sons when I was six, ten and twelve.

I remember being more excited about each of 'The Boys' being born than I was about Christmas.

Apart from the birth of my two third cousins when I was nineteen and twenty-four, there have been no new cousins in the family for quite some time.

Thank goodness for weddings!

Over the last 18 months my first cousins have begun to marry their partners and I have so far inherited two new cousins.

Two more will join them before the year is out.

One of my new cousins celebrated his birthday a few weeks ago.

I decided to welcome him into the family by baking him this cake:

Buttercake with chocolate cream cheese icing, raspberry jam filling and licorice allsort decorations.

Vanilla Slice

2009-08-26T15:16:00.001+09:30

Who influences your baking?

My biggest baking influences would have to be my Mother and my Nonna with one of my Aunts also providing me with lots of baking advice.

None of these ladies has ever made Vanilla Slice which is why I've always stayed away from baking them myself.

I'd always just assumed that they would be too hard, too tricky, too messy or too fidly to bake. Wrong. Wrong and Wrong!

No wonder they say never to assume things.

Since discovering the best Vanilla Slice in Australia it's fair to say I've been obsessed with learning how to bake my own.

I used a recipe from the Australian Women's Weekly Cooking Class Cookbook.

The whole process was a lot simpler than I'd imagined.

So simple that I will definitely be making these again soon.

Preparing the store brought puff pasty.

Have your tin, foil and bottom layer of pastry ready to go before you make the custard filling.

The surprisingly quick to make custard filling. As soon as it thickens get it off the stove and into the pan as it sets quickly.

After a little over 24 hours in the fridge the vanilla slice had set beautifully.

I went with super pink icing. Next time I'll use crushed berries or strawberries and make a real flavoured icing.

Two of my baking influences mentioned that they would now attempt a Vanilla Slice. I'm taking that as a compliment!

The price of hunger

2009-08-22T21:08:00.005+09:30

What's the most expensive meal you've ever eaten and what's the best meal you've ever had?

This is the question posted this week for the blog tour group which I belong to.

At first I tried to think of what expensive restaurants I had visited but decided to look at the first part of the question differently. If I think in terms of value for money one of the most expensesive meals I've eaten would have to have been at an airport. I am always fascinated by the crazy prices which airports charge for their food. A sandwich for $12? Sure! A bottle of water for $6? Why not. What fascinates me more is the fact that I will always buy this over-priced food. The fact that the food is expensive seems to make it irrestiable to my purse strings. It goes against my normal shopping behaviour (I am by nature a bargain junkie and live for hunting down great bargains) but when it comes to food I will never, ever go without or take a cheaper option. I just can't do it.

I'm stumped on the second part of the question. Best. Meal. Ever? For someone who loves food and will eat quite a wide variety of it, I consider pretty much every meal to be my best meal ever. Seriously. A bad meal or food envy literally ruins my day. My sandwich at work on Thursday? Grilled ham, cheese, avacado and sun-dried tomatoes on wholemeal and pumkin bread. Delicious! I looked forward to it all morning and it made my afternoon trapped in front of the computer a tad nicer than usual. Breakfast this morning? Berry and banana smoothie with wholemeal toast and hard boiled eggs. I'm still smiling about it now.

Cure a Craving with Cake

2009-08-19T14:33:00.010+09:30

I love coffee.

Whether it be made at home or a barrista is fine by me.

So long as it's not instant I'll drink it in a heart beat.

Sadly I've had to cut coffee from my life as it's been

adding to my sinus headache problems of late.

Being half Italian has made this a very difficult task indeed.

The results are worth it as my head feels better

but I'm still craving coffee on a daily basis.

I'm hoping that the coffee cake below will help me somewhat.

Melt 'N' Mix Coffee Cake

(Recipe from The Australian Women's Weekly Quick Mix Cakes)

125g butter, chopped

2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/3 cup castor sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 teaspoons instant coffee powder (I used ground coffee beans)

2 eggs

1 + 1/2 cups self-raising flour

Grease a 14cm by 21cm loaf pan

Combine butter, sugars, milk and coffee in medium sauce pan. Stir over low heat without boiling until butter in melted. Stand 10 minutes. Stir in eggs and flour. Pour into prepared pan. Bake in moderate over about 40 minutes. Turn onto wire rack to cool. Ice if desired.

Scandinavia to Horsham

2009-08-10T20:49:00.015+09:30

The northern summer of 2005 I spent travelling in Scandinavia and Russia. I choose a tour that took up most of my six weeks of school holidays. I didn't know a single soul on the tour. I need not have worried so much about being a 'billy no mates' as I quickly made friends with six other hilariously funny and similarly minded girls. I was single at the time and a few of my friends back in London would text or email me asking if I'd found the love of my life on tour. I didn't. Instead I found six friends for life. We nicknamed our selves The Erectors which is a story in itself.

Four years on and five of the seven Erectors travelled to Horsham in country Victoria for our second reunion weekend. Here is the food that I sampled over the weekend:

First stop was Coonalpyn Bakery in country South Australia for a fruity Danish. Which was quite appropriate as The Erectors first met in Copenhagen, Denmark. I didn't get round to eating it in the car and it somehow disappeared from our apartment.

Next up was this super sweet mini lemon meringue pie from a tiny town called Kaniva.

It was so sweet that it actually took me two tries to eat it all. Which is pretty rare for me.

Tea on Friday night was some good Aussie nachos from Moe's. Who would have thought there'd be a Mexican restaurant in country Victoria?

I have saved the best for last. My dad is a huge country bakery fan and lives for vanilla slices. My dad and I share both a last name and a massive sweet tooth for baked goods. One of the bakeries in Horsham boasted 'Australia's Best Vanilla Slice'. I was sceptical. I am South Australian and always take the Victorians with a grain of salt. I was sceptical for no reason. These vanilla slices are the best I've ever eaten. I'm not going to gush as there are no words that will do justice to the magnificence of these vanilla slices.

Hands down the Victorians have beaten the South Australians in the vanilla slice stakes. The pasty, custard and icing were all superb.

Thank you girls for a great weekend. We missed you RR and JB!

As Aussie as Pavlova

2009-08-06T20:17:00.001+09:30

I love pavlova.

It can't be the soft, mushy, marshmallow type.

Or the cheats type that comes from the

abnormally large plastic egg in Coles supermarket.

It has to come from a simple recipe from

The Australian Women's Weekly Cooking Class cookbook.

It requires egg whites from free range hens.

It delivers a crispy, crunchy pavlova with just the tiniest hint of mushiness.

The pavlova below was made for a very good friend

who was visiting from London, Netball Queen.

Netball Queen has spent the last 6 years in London

but maintains one of the best Australian accents I've ever heard.

She'll never lose it.

A strong, Australian accent that can survive 6 years

under the influence of the English deserves a medal, a green and gold medal that is.

Waffles are just as good as Cupcakes

2009-08-02T21:53:00.009+09:30

The last year has seen a cupcake explosion of sorts in my little part of Australia. It seems that more and more cupcake shops are opening every week. Since late January I have been visiting different cupcake shops to do a series of posts. Today I was meant to visit the last shop on my review list. Guess who needs to check opening times a little more carefully in future? Luckily a few doors down from the cupcake place is this dessert establishment. So my outing with my sister and my 'adopted sister' wasn't wasted.

They are well known for their chocolate based desserts and drinks but have recently branched out to include light meals. My sensible sisters both ordered rolls seeing as it was lunch time.

Salmon salad roll. It was apparently quite tasty.

Turkey roll which my sources also tell me was kind to the tastebuds.

Signature hot chocolate.

I of course ordered dessert for lunch: soft yet crispy waffles with melted chocolate, strawberries and vanilla ice-cream.

With a green tea to balance it all out.

The Anti-Snob

2009-07-29T23:25:00.001+09:30

I am not afraid to admit to liking and using store brought cake mixes. The convenience of them can't be argued. I also like them for the fact that they are great confidence boosters for beginning bakers as they are virtually fool proof.

Along with the required fat, liquid and eggs I always add a few other goodies to packet mix cakes. A very liberal dash of vanilla, buttermilk instead of milk, grated chocolate or chocolate bits.

A friend swears by adding raspberry lollies to store brought white cake mix.

Store brought cake mixes are terrific time savers too. Last weekend was hectic what with catching up with work friends, wedding dress shopping, a cousin's 30th and 'helping' the fiance write job applications. Sunday evening rolled around and I still needed to bake a cake for a colleague's birthday.

Thank goodness for packet cake mixes and store brought icing.

I love vanilla essence. Of course a second drop was added just before I poured the cake batter into the baking pan.

When a pasta lover meats their match

2009-07-25T16:36:00.000+09:30

I could eat pasta for breakfast, lunch and tea. Every single day of the day. No joke. The fiance lives for meat. He devours steak. He craves beef. A BBQ sans the salad is his idea of a good eat. I think I've finally found a compromise. Spaghetti Bolognaise.

Recipe from the Australian Women's Weekly Italian Cooking Class Cookbook.

725grams of mince beef (as lean as you can get)

1 large onion

2 tablespoons of olive oil

400grams of peeled canned tomatoes

4 tablespoons of tomato paste

2 chicken stock cubes

basil, thyme, salt, pepper

4 cups of water (I only added about 2 cups)

pinch of white sugar (A trick that both my Nonna and mother use when making their traditional pasta sauce)

red wine

Peel and chop onion finely. Cook in heated oil until onion is golden.

Add the mince, cook well. Pour off any excess fat.

Add canned tomotoes with their liquid. I add the water element via the empty cans to ensure I get all the tomato juice out. Add in the pinch of white sugar. Add tomato paste, chicken stock cubes, herbs, salt, pepper and red wine to taste.

When sauce comes to the boil, reduce heat and cook very gently for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, uncovered or until nearly all the liquid has evaporated.

Spoon sauce over hot pasta. Top (or drench) with parmesan cheese.

Back to Basics - Butter Cake

2009-07-22T18:02:00.000+09:30

For Bastille Day last week I wanted to bake a French version of the rainbow cake using red and blue food colouring. I started pouring over my cookbooks but couldn't seem to find a simple butter cake to use as the base. As conincidence would have it one of my favourite blogs Smitten Kitchen, had just posted a yellow cake recipe. Perfect!

My baking in honour of Bastille Day got a little lost in translation though. My fancy rainbow cake full of French meaning somehow morphed into a traditional butter cake smothered in my new favourite chocolate icing and topped with pink marshmallows.

Recipe from here.

I really like this recipe. It calls for both cake flour and buttermilk, always a good sign in my experience.

Butter and sugar compliment each other so nicely.

Adding the eggs. One at at time of course!

The cake waiting to be dressed.

The dressed cake

The eaten cake.

Embarrassing Travels on a Tuesday

2009-07-21T20:31:00.006+09:30

Image found here

I’m a little late with last week’s blog tour post.

‘Tell a funny story about yourself’ is the post topic. The funniest story about myself involves both travelling and food (two of the five loves of my life) with a mortifyingly embarrassing end.

I love donuts and had wanted to try Dunkin Donuts from the minute I first caught a glimpse of one of their shops in Berlin while travelling there in June 2004. Sadly I was travelling with a super-budget-conscious boyfriend and a super-diet-conscious sister. I had to endure five days of passing numerous Dunkin Donuts’ outlets around Berlin until I threw caution to the wind and purchased two from Zoo station on our way to Weimer. Yes I ate both donuts and no, that is not the funny part of the story.

We arrive in Weimer, head to our hostel and find our three beds in a dormitory filled with German high school drama students. The rest of the day was a normal day in the life of a traveller, exploring Weimer while trying to spend as little money as possible.

Eventually we head back to the hostel to call it a night. I had the top bunk, my sister the bottom bunk and the boyfriend had a bunk on the other side of our dorm room. I go to hop up on my bunk bed and instead of settling into my sleeping bag I fall straight through the bed. The slats of my top bunk had become dislodged from their railing and I landed on my sister’s bunk below. I found myself entangled in slats and my sleeping bag with the mattress jamming me against the wall.

The hysterically high pitched laughter from my sister and boyfriend gained the attention of the German high school students who joined in with finger pointing, exclamations in German and yet more laughter. I too admit that I was also laughing at myself while being extremely embarrassed. The worst part was that I couldn’t pull myself out of the broken bed without someone’s help. I was stuck. My Australian and German rescue squads were too busy dying of laughter to assist me.

As my sister eventually helped me out of what remained of my bunk bed, she very seriously said to me, “I guess you won’t be eating Dunkin Donuts again.”

Fresh biscuits...straight from the fridge

2009-07-18T13:04:00.000+09:30

This recipe was one of the very first 'blog' recipes that I tried to bake back in early 2008. I found it from this blog and I was fascinated by the concept of setting a biscuit mix in the fridge before proceeding to the baking stage.

These biscuits are rich in chocolate goodness but not too sickly sweet. Which means you can stuff as many of them into your stomach as will fit. A very dangerous situation for a biscuit obssessive like myself.

Next time I make them I'm going to roll the uncooked biscuit mixture in silver balls.

Rain means mud pies

2009-07-15T01:27:00.000+09:30

In my childhood it certainly did. My sister and I enjoyed nothing more than heading outside with our two cousins to make mud pies after a good downpour.

I remember how we would carefully line up the 'pies' along the edge of our sandpit. We'd sprinkle golden sand onto the 'drying pies' as a decoration. Sometimes we'd get extra creative and put leaves or twigs on top of the mud pies.

It has been raining here.

A lot.

Which is fantastic because we need the rain desperately in this desert state of Australia.

It has left me wondering. Now that I'm an adult, why should I miss out on the rain bringing me some mud pies?

So I decided to bake a Mississippi Mud Pie. The recipe is from here.

I wanted to make my own pastry so I went with the first recipe. The recipe was great except for the fact that in the filling it did not list butter as an ingredient but made mention of melting butter when giving the directions for preparing the filling. That will teach me for not reading through a recipe properly before I commence my baking! So I decided to just add in 100 grams of butter and hope for the best. It worked a treat.

This pie is a slice of heaven.

I compared it to eating the sauce from a chocolate pudding that has gone cold and set.

Super chocolatey and super sugary.

The hint of extra sweetness that comes from the golden syrup (which I substituted for the corn syrup) gives it that extra little kick. Mmmm. The pastry is pretty tough to cut through though. Perhaps I need better knives.

A tart with heart

2009-07-14T15:11:00.007+09:30

My first trip outside of England in 2004 was to Paris.

For Valentine's Day.

Anyone who knows the future Mr High Heeled-Backpack would laugh at the idea of him and such a romantic gesture.

To be honest, neither of us are at all soppy romantics.

The timing of the trip owes more to the English school year.

Valentine's Day in the UK tends to coincide with the first half term break of the year.

So we took the opportunity to head to Paris.

I'm so glad we did or else I may never have had the chance to eat strawberry tart featured below:

How fabulous is this little box? It makes my heart melt with happiness.

I love that the tart is so stuffed with strawberries and glaze that it is almost too big for the box. You can see where the top of the box is meeting the strawberries.

Look at that gorgeous pastry and shiny glaze. How could you not give your heart to this tart on Valentine's Day?

Why wasn’t 25 March 2008 eventful?

2009-07-13T00:31:00.000+09:30

Before finding my 2008 diary
Without digging through my belongings to find my 2008 diary I have no way of knowing what joys, stresses or thoughts were my life on the 25 March 2008. I can make a few random guesses though:
I was unhappy with my job
I was studying
I was looking for a new job
I was stressed about studying
I was stressed about looking for a new job

I am a big stress-head. I also have the tendency to over think things. My DNA is comprised of worry genes, panic merchant genes and ‘but what if this happens’ genes. I am 100% sure that there would have been many things that I was worried about on 25 March 2008. The simple fact that twelve months later I can’t clearly remember the specifics of any of these worries is proof that I need to work on de-stressing myself and managing what life throws at me without a drama.

After finding and reading my 2008 diary
The entry for 25 March 2008 shows that my first uni assignment was due that day.

My first uni assignment for 2008 caused me great stress at the time. Interesting how over twelve months later I have no recollection (without prompt) of the stress I would have put myself under that week. This realisation demonstrates that the daily issues that cause me great stress, that make me snap at my nearest and dearest, that aggravate me, that inflame my insomnia, that form knots in my stomach need not be so debilitating.

The mysteries of unwinding on a Sunday evening

2009-07-12T19:39:00.017+09:30

Nothing beats Chocolate pudding on a wintry Sunday night.

I can't seem to enjoy my Sunday night wind-down routine without a British murder mystery on the ABC. Four weeks ago I was in bliss as the ABC started screening a new run of Agatha Christie series. I love Agatha Christie, especially during the winter time.

Sadly tonight's episode will be the last of the current screening of Agatha Christie mysteries. In honour of farewelling my beloved Sunday night television show I thought it fitting to bake a self-saucing chocolate pudding from The Australian Women's Weekly cookbook circa 1970.

Pudding
2 tablespoons of butter
1/2 cup milk
1 teapsoon vanilla (I always put in much, much more than this meagre amount)
1 cup self-raising flour
3/4 cup castor sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa
2 cups hot water

Topping
3/4 brown sugar
1 Tablespoon cocoa

Heat butter and milk in a saucepan, stir unti butter melts and remove from heat, add vanilla. Sift dry ingredients into basin, add butter mixture to well in centre, stir until smooth, pour into deep, greased 2 pint ovenproof dish. Sprinkle with topping, carefully pour over hot water. Bake in a moderate oven 40-45 minutes.

Serves 4 or 1 greedy person who is mourning the disruption to their Sunday night routine.

Pictures begin with the end result and work their way back to the mixing bowl. Just for something different.

Pick Me Up

2009-07-10T09:32:00.000+09:30

I have a fantastic tiramisu recipe.

Unfortunately I couldn't find it in time for a dinner party I needed to make it for last week.

So this is my "I give up looking so this will just have to do" tiramisu recipe. I didn't like it. It wasn't creamy enough for my tastebuds.

Fortunately I happened to find my fantastic tiramisu recipe today while I was looking through my bank statements. Maybe it is a sign that my bank account needs a 'pick me up'.

Christmas in July

2009-07-08T09:00:00.000+09:30

I've been experimenting with White Christmas recipes for Robin from Cookie-Exchange. She has a book deal and would like to include some Australian Christmas treats.

I immediately thought of White Christmas, of which any Australian Christmas table is naked without.

One small problem though. You can't buy Copha in North America. It seems to only be available in Australia.

So I made two version of White Christmas, one using Copha and another using a Copha substitute consisting of Crisco and coconut cream.

I must admit that I loved the non-Copha version. Copha wasn't the only thing I substituted. I left out the coconut (of which I'm not a huge fan) and added in marshmallows, extra rice bubbles and dried cranberries.

As much as I love my traditional White Christmas it is nice to have another version up my sleeve.

Eating for One

2009-07-06T19:39:00.004+09:30

picture from here

This week's blog roll tour asks us to think about what we eat when we're alone. Is it different to when we have friends over? Or when our significant other (or children) is around?

For someone who loves being around people 24/7 its surprising how much I enjoy eating alone. That is not to say that I don't enjoy catching up with friends over a meal, or having people over for dinner or going out to tea with That Southern Boy. Because I love doing all those things.

What I really enjoy doing is grazing. Taking a few bites of some left over pasta. Munching on a few roast veggies. Eating a leftover schnitzel. Getting stuck into some yummy dips and crackers. Eating hunks of Swiss cheese with handfulls of stuffed green olives and fresh Virginian ham. Not really the most appetising spread for guests though.

The ultimate eat alone experience for me? Eating on a plane when flying alone. One of my all-time favourite ways to eat.

Fourth of July Australian Style Part 2

2009-07-04T22:06:00.000+09:30

I love hotdogs. They are one of my all time favourite meals. I decided that one of my Fourth of July tributes would have to involve hotdogs for tea. With sides of potato salad and coleslaw of course.

Fourth of July Australian Style Pt 1

2009-07-04T21:06:00.000+09:30

I'm celebrating the Fourth of July for the following reasons:

1) I studied Australian History as one of my Year 12 subjects. The title was bland but the course certainly wasn't. It molded me into a very strong republican. The course also left me with a huge amount of gratitude for the USA and the role they played in pulling Australia out of a sinking ship during the later years of the second world war.

2) Both my Bisnonnos (great-grandfather's) immigrated to North America from Italy, spending over ten years working there only to both turn around and head to Australia. Nobody in my family knows why both men changed their minds as their families were all in New York and Italy. Neither Bisnonno knew a living soul in Australia. I like to think that I came pretty close to being American.

3) The United States of America is one of my top 5 travel destinations. Yes I know that I've fallen prey to most countries and cities that I've been lucky enough to travel to. There is just something about the USA that I can't quite pinpoint. LA felt like home: the big blue skies, the coastline, the wide roads and the palm trees. I swear black and blue that I lived in Seattle in a past life. Red Velvet cake is an obssession of mine that keeps on growing and I live for hotdogs. I've been lucky to visit the USA twice and can't wait to go back.

I started my Fourth of July off with a nice buttermilk pancake stack, smothered in maple syrup and topped with strawberries.

How far would you go for food?

2009-07-02T22:15:00.005+09:30

I could say that the farthest I travelled for food was when I returned to Australia in late 2005. As much as it tore me up inside to leave London, my school, my students, my English friends and my housemates I was in desperate need of:

Jatz biscuits
A Balfours meat pie
Mum's brodo (chicken brooth with egg noodles)
Nonna's spaghetti
a Chicken Schnitzel Parmigiana
Vietnamese cold rolls

On the other hand I could also say that the farthest I travelled for food was when I returned to London in early 2007. Who would have thought that after only two years of living in the UK I would be obsessed with eating:

Quavers (the very best crisps around)
red capsium hummus from Sainsburys
a Satay burger and fries from the Gourmet Burger Kitchen in Fulham
a chicken, bacon and lettuce sandwich from Greggs
Go Ahead yogurt snack bars that I used to eat during every single morning playtime

In both instances the food I consumed was well worth the 27 hours stuck in the air.

The more I think about these foods that I miss/missed the more I realise that it's not so much the food itself but what they represent. The spaghetti and brodo is obvious, I missed my mum and my nonna. Jatz biscuits are very comforting, whenever I was sick as a child it was the first thing mum would make me eat. Any sort of meat pie makes me think of childhood holidays with my dad stopping at every country bakery in South Australia to clean them out of their pastries. The UK foods remind me of eating lunch with some of my most loved work friends Miss L and Miss A. I never ate hummus until two good friends Netball Queen (from this post) and Belissa introduced me to it while we were travelling in Norway. Many a good night was started over a meal at Gourmet Burger Chicken. And who could resist a packet of Quavers at only 100 calories a packet?

These foods are more than mere fuel, they are the link to memories of my childhood, my travels, my family and my friends.

Food markets are better than the stock market

2009-07-02T09:18:00.000+09:30

While living in London in 2005 I kept hearing other teachers at school talk about Borough Market. For some reason I never found the time to visit this market in London's south. Thankfully I was able to rectiffy this lapse of judgement when I returned to live in London again in 2007.

Apart from my mother, my nonna, one of my aunties and my future nanna-in-law, there are not many people I consider to be naturally fabulous at cooking both sweet and savoury food. I have one stand out friend though who I consider to be not only a fabulous cook but a food role model too: the lovely Netball Queen, who is one of my Erector Sisters. So it was appropriate that she was there on my first (but not last!) tour of Borough Market.

I'm not commenting on the photos as I think they speak for themselves......

Sadly I only managed to eat half this slice of cake. How I'd love to finish off that slice now though.

Tuesday Travels - From Russia with Food

2009-06-30T20:13:00.000+09:30

Russia has always fascinated me.

I can't pinpoint exactly why either.

Is it to do with the sheer oppulance of the aristocracy pre-1917 or the advent of communism?

Or a result of watching too many consipracy theory shows centered on 'What really happend to the Romanovs?'

Or maybe it derives from my strong affection for vodka?

Reading George Orwell's Animal Farm as a fifteen year old and realising it was an analogy of the of the Russian Revolution just added to my Russian obssession. 9 years later I decided it was time to visit this great land. And sample the food on offer of course.

My first few food forays into Russia were interesting. The meals were mostly meat and 3 vegetables. I started to feel confused. Was I trapped back in 1950's Australia? I soon realised that being on the tourist circuit sadly brings with it 'tourist friendly' food. This was, afterall my first organised travel tour after 18 months of backpacking. It took me a while to get used to eating in resturants. And with cutlery.

Thankfully it got better. Russia gave me some of the best breakfasts ever. EVER. Thank you Russia for introducing me to the breakfast buffet of all time. Russia also re-introduced me to omelettes, which I am now obsessed with eating.

Meal 1 - Light salad for starter.

Meal 1 - Baked potato, snitzel and boiled veggies aka 1950's Australiana.

Meal 1 - Softserve ice-cream with strawberry sauce.

Meal 2 - Fish with vegetables. I dislike fish but I ate it because it was Russian fish.

Meal 2 - Sweet rolls filled with jam for dessert. Any culture that puts dessert out with their mains is my type of culture.

Meal 3 - Borshch. This is what I'd been waiting for. I love beetroots and after 18 months living in the UK I was craving beetroot anything like mad.

Snack 1 - A sweet tart/cake with icing and a jam filling. Super sugary and super edible.

Caviar. Not much to say other than I loved it. I preferred the black to the orange though.

Breakfast Buffet of All Time - I'm still kicking myself that I didn't photograph the savoury breakfast foods on offer. I was just so smitten by the fact that I could get dessert with breakfast. Not to mention the jumbo cup of coffee accompanied by a biscuit.

The other breakfast goods on offer ranged from an egg bar where they would fry, scramble, poach or make omelettes in front of you, to savoury meals such as pasta, stroganoff, roast meats with sauces (I am serious) and borshch. You could select bacon, pancakes, a variety of cereals, fruit salads galore and juices. It was just pure bliss for me. I could honestly think of no better way to start my day.

Meal 4 - Tea and sweet cake dusted with icing sugar. Not sure why I neglected to photograph the mail meal.....

The best thing about Russia? Finding Taralli biscuits on sale.

Add fruit, it eliminates the calories.

2009-06-29T22:16:00.007+09:30

Melting Moments would have to be my favourite biscuits of all time. They aren't sickly sweet but have just enough sugar in the filling to appease the dessert gods. While I'm fond of the vanilla version which is what you find in most cafes and bakeries I live for Chocolate Melting Moments.

The recipe is from taste.com of course. I changed the filling to passionfruit icing (frozen from my Dad's home-grown passionfruit). I beat 3 tablespoons of butter with 3 cups of icing sugar and kept adding passionfruit pulp until I had the right consistency to join the melting moments. The chocolate and passionfruit combination seems to work well as a bit into these biscuits is like a hint of sunshine on a wintry, rainy day.

Sundays are for Roasting

2009-06-28T11:53:00.000+09:30

Four years ago I was living in London. Most Sundays were spent eating roasts at various pubs in whichever area of London I happened to find myself wandering around in. This was my very last Sunday Roast eaten at a pub in Hammersmith near where I lived in Acton Town.

Yes the roast was served inside a giant Yorkshire Pudding. Yes there it came with both roast and mashed potatoes. Talk about bliss!

One of my tasks while on 'holidays' from uni is to bake my own Yorkshire puddings. Watch this space.

I'm un-Australian

2009-06-26T23:24:00.006+09:30

Why?

Because I really don't like Vegemite.

I never have.

I just can't stand the strong taste.

It looks like car grease.

Plus the texture is too slimey.

But I love peanut butter.

Peanut butter on toasted anything.

Peanut butter on celery.

Especially peanut butter in biscuits.

There is nothing better than baking biscuits with peanut butter.

Creaming the butter and the sugar, adding the eggs, sugar and vanilla (I'm pretty heavy handed when it comes to vanilla). Then comes the best part.....the add ins. This recipes has half a cup of peanut butter added in with the chocolate chips. Sometimes I also add half a cup of oats for some extra chewey-ness.

The Holidays are Here

2009-06-25T22:18:00.013+09:30

Well sort of.

A few hours ago I handed up my last assignment for Semester 1.

I knew that going back to study at night and working near on full-time would be stressful.

The last 18 months have certainly been just that.

Especially because I spent the first 7 months working full-time and trying to study.

Sheer Lunacy!

I didn't realise just how hard life would be.

That I would have no time to bake.

That I'd have little or no free time.

That I would have no time to bake.

That I'd stop reading novels.

That I would have no time to bake.

That I'd go cold turkey on the tv addiction.

That I would have no time to bake.

That I wouldn't have time to call my interstate and overseas friends.

That I'd have no time to bake.

I also didn't realise how much I'd learn from this experience, so much more than what I read in my text books or journals.

I've learnt how to handle stress better.

I've learnt to prioritise.

I've learnt how to not worry about the little things that don't need to get done.

I've learnt how to walk away from a bad job.

And I've learnt to appreciate not having a single thing to do!

When I have nothing to do I bake.

This is actually my first ever vanilla sponge cake using the Australian Women's Weekly recipe.
If anyone knows my mother they know that this is her specialty.

I'm hoping that there's something in the genes.
Vanilla sponge cake, filled with cream and raspberries, iced with raspberry icing and decorated with sugar flowers.

P.S. Sadly it's only a holiday from uni...I still have to work and the next 2 and half weeks are going to be crazy busy.

Rockin in the Free World

2009-06-15T19:53:00.009+09:30

There is nothing as satisfying as some no-bake baking. Rocky Road was never my favourite as a child but as an adult I've developed quite an affection for it. I love Rocklea Road Easter Eggs. I love Cadbury Rocky Road Chocolate and have been known to eat half a block without even realising it.

Nothing beats home-made Rocky Road though. I initially made it with a recipe that used Copha. But the texture is too sloopy for my liking.

Now I make it using 350 grams of either dark or milk chocolate, some raspberry lollies, unsalted peanuts and white marshmellows that have been cut into quarters. Once I've melted the chocolate I usually add in a cup of each of the add-ins. I like my Rocky Road to be extra chocolatey but you can tweak the measurements to suit your taste buds. This will make about 20 normal sized patty pan cups.

What goes around comes around

2009-06-14T15:19:00.010+09:30

Yes I should be studying and not cruising tastespotting for new recipes to try out during my 'study breaks'.

As I sat at my laptop to commence my 'studies' yesterday morning, tastespotting offered a glimpse of Chocolate Peanut Butter Crispy Bars which came from Carrie's Kitchen Creations who recommended that the recipe from Smitten Kitchen be used to make the bars.

Smitten Kitchen was one of the first cooking blogs I stumbled across in late 2007. For some reason it escaped me for 2008 which may have had more to do with my two job changes, starting my post-grad degree, house-hunting and having to push my baking to the backburner as opposed to me not liking the blog. Everything happens for a reason and I now have not only rediscovered Smitten Kitchen but also Carrie's Kitchen Creations. Something tells me my four week semester break is going to be filled with baking rather than wedding planning.

Luckily yesterday I was in need of a good recipe for a sweet treat to nibble on as my lovely cousin was having us over for drinks. As my phobia of visiting friends without food in hand increasingly worsens I had the perfect opportunity on my hands to make these beauties:

I used Smitten Kitchen's recipe but used Golden Syrup instead of corn syrup. I was so lazy/pressed for time that I didn't check to see if this is a true substitution. The end result has a wonderful flavour that works well with the peanut butter filling so I think I got it right. I also cooked the first stage without a candy thermometer and it all worked out well.

While my 'studies' have been somewhat lacking this weekend I am thrilled to have found two new food blogs to gleam ideas from and a decadent new sweets recipes that will be put on high rotation. Good times!

Jelly Belly Birthday Cake

2009-06-13T22:02:00.007+09:30

Happy to take any opportunity to bake, I offered to make a birthday cake for my future brother-in-law's girlfriend.

Chocolate mud cake with chocolate ganache icing and Jelly Belly Jelly Beans galore.

I had a slight drama in that I stupidly underbaked the cake.

As appalled as I was at my lack of judgement, the mini crater in the middle of the cake worked out well. I simply poured the ganache icing into the mini crater to give the cake an extra chocolatey surprise with each slice.

The birthday girl loved it!

When Friends Drop By

2009-06-10T17:29:00.000+09:30

The past weekend was a long one here.

It was raining and cold on Monday.

One of my loveliest friends called round for a cup of tea in the afternoon.

Cups of tea get lonely on their own.

Cream cheese and chocolate brownies are the perfect match for a cup of tea on a winter's afternoon.

A Ring Deserves a Great Cake

2009-06-08T14:15:00.000+09:30

It was The Fiance's birthday last week.

He loves chocolate orange mud cakes.

Loves a slice of chocolate orange mud cake to bits.

I'm pretty sure he loves that flavour of cake more than he does me.

I like home-made birthday cakes.

I know it's not to everyone's liking (or baking skills) but that was how I was raised.

So I went here and found a great recipe.

Please excuse the lack of appropriate cake stand as I decorated the cake at the Out-Laws and forgot to bring one of mine with me.

The recipe incorporates the orange flavour through boiling and pulping two whole oranges.

While the process may be a little time consuming it gives a better 'orange' flavour than a dash or orange essence.

I was a little stressed over how to decorate the cake.

Do I try a butter cream?

Is the cake rich enough to be left un-iced?

In the end I went with a chocolate ganache which was my first attempt and one I will repeat time and time again.

From such a simple process and using only two ingredients you get an amazing result.

As a finishing touch I dipped some mandarin segments into melted chocolate and placed them upon the ganache'd cake.

The Out-Laws were impressed and there was a hint at making the cake again for The Sister Out-Laws upcoming 21st birthday.

Again please excuse the air bubbles, I'll get there on perfecting my ganache!

The Inspiration Behind My Baking Is.....

2009-06-07T15:29:00.007+09:30

My mother.

She bakes a great cake.

The example below was made by Mum for my auntie's recent birthday

Vanilla sponge cake filled with cream and home-made plum jam. Decorated with whipped cream, almond slivers, grated chocolate and chocolate dipped strawberries

As children my sister and I were spoilt when it came to cakes made by mum.

She made both our communion cakes and our birthday cakes were always chosen from the Australian Women's Weekly Birthday Cake Book and made beautifully by Mum.

We quite often got to have two birthday cakes. One for our family party and one for our friends/school party.

Of course my sister and I now have an addiction to eating the leftover cake batter.

I can't take the credit....but I can try.

2009-06-07T14:19:00.000+09:30

It's cold in my part of the world at the moment.

For our Southern Hemisphere country and my desert state it is freezing. It has also been raining.

I know we need the rain. For our farmers, for our River Murray and for our rain-water tanks. But it is still cold.

At least all this 'coldness' is a great excuse to bring out the comfort food. I'd love to take credit for the meal and dessert below but they were both created by my father.

It is a firm belief of my father's that every meal should be followed by dessert.

My Italian mother has never adopted this custom on a regular enough basis for my dad's liking.

To resolve this injustice my dad will on occasion take over in the kitchen to create a warming winter dessert.

Sausage and mashed potato with a side of boiled carrots and peas

Boiled vanilla and plum jam pudding

Pudding covered with home made vanilla custard. A seasonal dad specialty for winter.

Yes I get my love of sweet baked goods from my father.

Got to love those Irish genes!

How to make an Italian Baked Chessecake - Abruzzo Style

2009-06-05T12:42:00.000+09:30

My Nonna is an allehuia cook.

All her recipes are in her head.

She does however have a tiny notebook where in her lovely Italian script she writes down all the ingrediants needed to make her dishes but doesn't include any instructions.

My cousins, The Boys had the great idea to record Nonna on video talking us through some of our favourite recipes.

Below is the photo version that I took of Nonna and The Boys baking her fabulous Chocolate Ricotta Cake.

An old fashioned hand beater for the eggs to make the pastry

Gradually (and carefully) stirring the flour into the eggs and milk

Nonna doesn't 'trust' paper or plastic milk cartons. All her milk is transferred to glass jars as soon as it comes home from the corner shop.

Nonna kneading the pastry

The grated chocolate, orange rind and ricotta filling that was made the day before

The greased dishes ready to be lined with pastry and filled with chocolate

The finished product...with a slice missing of course

What's your favourite pastry?

2009-05-31T20:02:00.011+09:30

Hands down my favourite, most loved and always craved pastry

would have to be a chocolate eclair.

I've tasted some pretty average store brought ones over the years

but am fortunate enough that my Year 10 Home Economics

curriculum included them as part of our education.

Someone up there must like me.

The perfect cream pastry for an afternoon tea spread.

Fancy Food for a Family Wedding

2009-05-14T15:24:00.014+09:30

My dear cousin planned and got her dream wedding. Her reception was held here and catered by this award winning Australian company. To say that I had high expectations for the food is an understatement.

Pre-dinner drinks were accompanied with minature salmon bites, beetroot tarts and gourmet sausage rolls. Being the greedy person that I am I did not manage to get a shot of them as I was super hungry and could not wait a second to taste them.

Entree was a baked Heidi gruyere and braised leek tart with Joseph cold pressed olive oil, pear and walnut salad:

Main was a choice between a salmon dish and this:
Roasted Lilydale free range chicken filled with Barossa Valley pancetta, onions and rosemary on soft polenta with roasting jucies

Dessert was not one but two slices of cake:
Triple layer chocolate wedding cake, and white fudge with raspberries wedding cake

Either the wait staff were a little too quick or I spent too much of the evening on the dance floor but I didn't get to finish my chocolate slice or even start my white fudge slice. Do I ever feel like finishing off that cake now!

Engagement Party Cupcakes go Public

2009-05-13T11:46:00.006+09:30

I was pretty happy with baking skills and very basic cake decorating skills. The colour combination of light pink icing topped with hot pink sugar flowers fand inished with a deep green cupcake case was easy on the eye. A big thank you to one of the most helpful cake decorating shops around for the colour combination suggestion. My lovely Mum helped me ice them all which barely took an hour. I can't wait to have some free time on my hands to do a cake decorating course......

Engagement Party Cupcakes - The Making Of

2009-05-12T22:45:00.009+09:30

To save money and as an excuse to do some serious baking I decided to make my own cake for our engagement party. I know cupcakes are literally everywhere at present but I decided they'd be the best option. One of my bridesmaids gave me a cook book from the Crabapple Bakery which had the most superb chocolate mud cake recipe. My other bridesmaid helped me bake all 140 cupcakes on Saturday afternoon. My maid of honour (my sister) tried to talk us out of eating all the leftover cupcakes. Delicious!

Melting butter and chocolate has to be one of my very favourite cooking processes. The smell is pure heaven.

You can just smell how fabulous all the gooey chocolate is.

The completely melted chocolate and butter base.

I got so busy adding all the dry ingrediants to the chocolate and butter base that I forgot to photograph those steps.

Here are the cupcakes awaiting the oven. I love that I made them using my late Nanna's baking trays.

Watch out for the finished product!

Whattaya Mean the Wedding Cake is Big?

2009-05-11T19:43:00.006+09:30

There aren't many Saturday mornings where I wake up bursting with excitment and dying to get the day started. Last Saturday was one such day as it was my dearly loved cousin's much anticipated wedding day.

The reason for all this excitement and anticipation? This wedding cake:

My cousin had given me a heads up a few months ago so I was anticipating a magnificent cake but I was still pleasantly surprised.

My cousin's new husband has some serious baking connections. His cousin, who was also his best man, owns this cake shop . His gift to the happy couple was this cake, reported to cost around the $5000 mark.

All the guests received two pieces of cakes. That's what I call a good wedding!

A few more photos to enjoy:

A Farewell to my Birthday Month

2009-03-31T22:51:00.010+10:30

Seeing as today is the last day of my birthday month it seems appropriate to send it off with a look at the treats my wonderful Auntie made for me.

My Auntie grew up in country Victoria on a cattle farm and knows a thing or two about good baking. In my little world my mother is the best baker but my Aunty is an extremely close second.

These are the delightful madeleines that my Auntie baked for me the morning of my birthday. They had a slight hint of alcohol and were sprinkled with the sweetest icing sugar. Perfect with a cup of birthday tea.

It wouldn’t be my birthday without a plate of my Auntie’s hedgehog. I've never been able to make a batch that tastes as good as hers, not even by copying her recipe. Nor have I purchased a piece of hedgehog that even begins to taste as yummy as hers.

11 months til I get to do it all again!

Scones for the Sick

2009-03-29T12:25:00.019+10:30

Last Monday I came home from work early with what turned out to be a nasty gastro virus. So nasty was this virus that I ended up in hospital. I've felt so ill that I haven't even been able to drool over food porn, watch my much-loved cooking shows or eat anything other than jelly, boiled rice and potatoes.

Almost a week later I am just starting to get my apetite back. My mother decided to celebrate this achievement by making me some scones. It's her good friend's recipe using cream and lemonade. These scones are easy to make and even easier to eat.

Great new TV

2009-03-26T20:40:00.004+10:30

My faith in innovative television has been restored. So too has my love for the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).

I owe this renewal of faith and love to this tv show that aired for the first time last night. Lawrence Leung is my new favourite comedian

Wedding Food

2009-03-26T19:28:00.015+10:30

My sister was in her good friend's wedding last week.

It was a big, crazy Italian do.

Lots of people, tons of sparkle and families crying over 'losing' their adult children.
The bridesmaids wore fabulous pink, satin bowed shoes.

And of course there was food.

Oh, was there food!

Of course antipasto started the meal off. The meats and cheeses were fresh, tasty and all too easy to devour. The salami was just salty enough, the provolone cheese perfectly mild and the bocconcini cheese just the right shade of milky. Both the ham and proscuito were so fresh that I'm sured they'd been cured that day. The olives were fleshy and the tomatoes juicy. My only gripe was 'where was my slice of rockmelon wrapped in proscuito?' These second gen Italians are obviously too cool for school.

The bride's family are from a coastal region of Italy who literally eat, sleep and breathe seafood. So there was lots of seafood at the wedding. Prawns, calamari and oysters kilpatrick. I cast my seafood phobia aside and sambled each dish. Absolutely delicious! I can sense the beginning of a new food obsession.

The next course was pasta, a home made fussili accompanied with a mouth watering cooked tomato sauce. I'm such a pasta whore that I ate the entire bowl before I realised that I'd forgotten to take a photo of it. Such a shame.

The main was a choice between chicken which sounded bland (creamy sauce, vegetables etc) and the stock standard Italian wedding meal of scotch fillet wrapped bacon. I like that the Italian wedding factory is trying to appear contemporary by offering meal choices but when in Rome do as the Romans. So I opted for the scotch fillet. It was blissful! Soft, juicy and cooked to just the right point. The scotch fillet eclipsed the bacon so much that I can't even recall injesting the bacon. The mash was fine and tastey while the jus was watery enough without being too runny.

For me the highlight of attendng a wedding is the cake. Seriously, why else do people get married? This is the once in a lifetime occasion. To spend hundreds (sometimes thousands) of dollars on a massive, extravagant, fancy, sugar and cream filled cake. The cake looked....like a wedding cake. No complaints there.

The cake slice was presented in the usual manner of a swirl of raspberry coulis. This wedding cake went cutting edge and added a scope of vanilla bean ice-cream. They shouldn't have bothered as there was nothing that was going to help this slice of cake out of the bottom of the barrel. To say I was disappointed was an understandment. I'm still struggling to come to terms with how tasteless, dry and boring this cake was. Don't even get me started on the coulis or ice-cream.

My dearly loved cousin is getting married in a few months. The cake is expected to be a work of art and an event in it's own right. Here's hoping that my faith in the wedding cake will be restored.

Lights off....

2009-03-26T19:09:00.002+10:30

...this Saturday as it is Earth Hour. No matter where you are around the world, at 8.30pm local time on Saturday 28th March turn out your lights for 60 minutes. The earth will thank you!

Wordless Wednesdays - Why I don't like the Clipsal V8 Race

2009-03-18T18:51:00.005+10:30

The traffic in the city is just shocking this week!

Clare Valley Trip by Food

2009-03-11T19:42:00.027+10:30

That Southern Boy's family organised a family trip to see Jimmy Barnes at A Day on the Green in the Clare Valley a month ago. The photos below are the food version of the little getaway...always the most important part of any holiday!

The Saving Game Continues - Coffee

2009-03-06T11:51:00.000+10:30

I love coffee. I could drink it with breakfast and still crave a cup as I wonder from my bus top to my office. I love the taste of a sweet cup of coffee and I love the smell of freshly grounds beans. Pre-ground coffee is convenient but you'll never experience coffee in it's true form without ever grinding your own beans.

In in effort to be money-wise for the last few months I've only allowed myself to purchase a coffee once a week, generally on a Friday morning. Rather than stick to my much-loved coffee bars I'm going to devote 2009 to the year of sampling as many of Adelaide's coffee bars.

For control purposes I will only be purchasing a small, skim latte. It's the appropriate coffee for a morning and it just seems fairer to each establishment that way.

Last Friday I kicked off with a coffee from the Museum coffee shop. My colleague had assured me that any coffee purchased from this shop would be of a very high quality and very pricey. Well it was neither. My latte came to $3 and was bitterly disappointint. Literally. I had to put two extra sugars on top of the two that the would-be barrista placed in my cup. In terms of the service the staff were lovely and couldn't be faulted. Needless to say I won't be going back there. And a word of warning to any current and future colleagues of mine, don't ever give a half-Italian who has been raised on coffee, false hope in terms of coffee brilliance. She'll never trust you again.

Today, I'm happy to report that I've struck gold. Or is it beige? I purchased my Friday Morning $3 coffee from here Crate and Barrel's cafe. Talk about heaven in a cup. My skim latte was just the way I like it. Milky but still with enough of a coffee kick to keep me happy. There was no bitterness whatsoever to the blend and it only needed one sugar. I rarely ever have only one sugar in my lattes. The staff were relaxed and smiley. It's going to be so hard not to go back there next Friday.

What makes a person old?

2009-03-04T15:35:00.010+10:30

Back in class last night and my lecturer was asking how many of us had experienced eating dinner with our families at least 6 out of 7 nights a week. The majority of the class put their hands up (ages range from 24 to late 30's) and the lecturer was shocked that so many of us had grown up eating one meal a day with our families sans the television. He really couldn't disguise his surprise as his comment to our raised hands was:

"That many of you? Really? Well I guess you're older."

Older than what?! I sat there thinking, "but I'm only in my late twenty's!". I'm a spring chicken. I still believe that I'm only aged 19. I guess I've started to slide into the 'older person' category.

Bridesmaid dresses don't have to be bad....

2009-03-02T22:00:00.005+10:30

...so long as you let your bridesmaids wear these bridesmaid dresses which were profiled on the inspiring Wedding Style Guide blog last week. They look very stylish with a cut that seems as though it would flatter a multitude of body types. The material isn't nasty looking either. The solid colours are classic but with a modern twist. C, if you're reading this go look at the website!

Under the High Chair: Ten Things I've Learned About Food Bloggers

2009-03-02T19:41:00.002+10:30

The food blog below is one of my favourites. Gorgeous photos, lovely food and witty writing:
Under the High Chair: Ten Things I've Learned About Food Bloggers
Finally, someone who speaks my language! I feel normal after reading those posts....especially as That Southern Boy nearly walked out of the restaurant on Friday night as I was snapping away at my delicious dinner. Wait til I make him read this post.

Will you be my friend?

2009-03-02T19:25:00.005+10:30

Week 1 of Semester 1 of the 2009 academic year has begun. And don’t I have a pile of reading to prove it? I spent the better part of Sunday afternoon wading through my organisational communication texts (yes, I have three of them!) attempting to start the semester on a good note. Surprisingly the chapters were pretty interesting.

There were a few interesting pages on interpersonal workplace communication, highlighting the progression of relationships from those of mere co-workers to best friends forever and beyond. It was fascinating reading the ‘technical’ side of something we’ve all experienced and will continue to experience.

Reading those chapters gave the allusion that forming genuine workplace friendships is easy or even guaranteed. From my experience over the last ten years.

From my experience I think the development of work place friendships is quite dependent on the circumstances of your employment. Aspects such as your profession, workplace environment and your co-worker age groups can either foster or hinder workplace friendships.

My first foray into the working world was as a retail assistant where I spent four happy years standing on my feet all day, operating a till, answering the phone and assisting customers. During those four years I worked hard but it never felt taxing. Why? Because I was blessed with lovely co-workers who I could chat with, build up a rapport with, share in-jokes and socialise outside of work with. In simple terms I was able to become friends with these people.

Teaching, with it's isolating classrooms, lunch-time duties and inability to pop out with your colleague for a bit of lunch-time retail therapy, is not a profession that I found friends in easily. The suburban settings of the majority of schools doesn't lend itself easily to after work drinks at the local pub.

When I was teaching, both as a relief teacher and then as a contract teacher, I found it extremely hard to make friends at work. In fact, I have no lasting friendships from my time teaching here. Through the Blair government's push for teaching assistants, I have several dearly loved friends from my happy time teaching at my school in London. But I have no teacher friends from that time. I've always felt that when I taught I never really had a chance to work side by side with my fellow teachers, due to the nature of the way schools are organised and run.

When it comes to co-worker friendships, office based work is entirely different to teaching. The current trend for open plan offices and shared workspaces lends itself beautifully to fostering strong workplace friendships. The formation of work groups or 'teams' also encourages workplace friendships.

Today, some of the people I consider close friends, are people I have met through my time working in an office. These friendships that I value greatly were formed through the sharing of whispered office gossip, by admiring the attractive mailman, by cramming a days worth of retail therapy into a frenzied lunchtime shopping expedition and over endless coffee runs.

As much as I sometimes miss relief teaching, the lure of working in an office, surrounded by co-worker friends is just too great to walk away from at this point in time. Call me selfish, call me fickle but I love getting to go to work with my friends everyday.

Who would have thought that my boring readings would inspire such thoughts.

A Cup of Tea and a Biscuit

2009-03-01T21:41:00.013+10:30

My love of hot drinks, be it a tea, coffee or hot chocolate almost always includes a nice biscuit to keep the steaming mug company. In late 2007 I found this website. It seemed to have been created entirely for me and my love of hot drinks and delicious biscuits.

As I've given up chocolate for lent biscuits have also been eliminated from my daily diet. To help me cope with this sudden loss I've been drooling over some photos of biscuits I've previously made (and eaten).

Chocolate Melting Moments with Passionfruit Centres

Easter Sugar Biscuits

Peanut Butter Biscuits with Chocolate Filling

Shopping

2009-02-27T15:52:00.005+10:30

I am really trying hard to cut down on my spending and shopping. Consumerism is so addictive. Today I returned a lovely red and white shirt dress to Myer and a gorgeous winter skirt to Target. They were both on sale but it's true when they say that just because it's on sale doesn't mean it will really save you money. Especially if it's not a necessity.

I've been email chatting to a good friend over in WA who happened to mention this store. I'm smitten! There are three stores in my state. This could prove to be a very bad thing. I just love lovely storage stores. Especially ones that offer online shopping.

Lent

2009-02-26T11:24:00.004+10:30

I'm determined to stay focussed this Lent. Last night I went to an evening Ash Wednesday Mass with my family, an aunt, one of my cousins and a good family friend. The service was very quick (over in 30 minutes!).

This Lent I'm giving up:

swearing

chocolate

thinking negatively about myself or others

I loved Lent during high school as each home group class would organise a fund-raising event for an overseas charity. There would be sausage sizzles, pancake days, cake stalls and such. A forum that I'm a member of had a thread on Lent, with one member posting that they will be giving something back this Lent. As well as my personal fundraising box that I took from church last night, I want to think of something that I can do for others during Lent.

Wordless Wednesday - This is why I miss London

2009-02-25T21:30:00.005+10:30

Red Shoes, Warm Heart

2009-02-23T21:05:00.010+10:30

I always find good buys when I’m not looking. I stumbled upon these shoes yesterday in Scooter.

I love them….I think.

They are comfy…...after a few minutes of wear.

Nor sure if they are WOW enough for my wedding shoes though.

I’ll make up my mind after some serious wearing-in time.

Imelda was misunderstood

2009-02-23T19:30:00.003+10:30

I think 2009 is going to be the year of internet shopping for me. I've stumbled upon this great Australian online store with unique clothing, bags and shoes. The prices aren't too bad either.

I'm in love with these shoes. To buy or not to buy?

Aren’t weekends meant to be relaxing?

2009-02-23T19:18:00.002+10:30

So much for having a quiet weekend to relax, exercise and look over the wedding plans. This is what a quiet weekend consists of:

Friday afternoon/night
Found and purchases a possible bridesmaid dress while waiting passing time waiting to meet a friend.
Birthday drinks for my lovely friend Mrs Teacher’s Wife.
Quick slice of quiche for tea (which was delicious) at home.
Let The Sister try on the possible bridesmaid dress. She loved it.
Drove to That Southern Boy’s house in just under 30 minutes.

Saturday
Opted for a sleep in over Spin class which I’m still feeling guilty about.
Rang up and put 4 more possible bridesmaid dresses on hold.
Afternoon drinks with That Southern Boy’s high school friends at Glenelg.
Called into my relatives to pick up an engagement present they wanted to give us. I now own a set of saucepans that weren’t inherited with a house-share or brought for 2 pounds!
Took my cousins to this hotel to watch Adelaide United win.
Started assembling our engagement invites at 10pm. Not the smartest idea.

Sunday
Woke up early after a poor night’s sleep and lots of scary wedding dreams.
Straight into the city to collect the bridesmaid dresses, more engagement invite supplies, some bits and pieces to make a headband to wear at my cousin’s wedding in May and stumbled upon these shoes which may just turn out to be my wedding shoes.
Spent the entire afternoon at home finishing the engagement invites and save the dates.

It’s now nearly Monday lunch time and I’m only just waking up. Thank goodness I’ve swapped my day off so I really only have the next 4 hours to get through until my mini weekend tomorrow.

What's missing from my life?

2009-02-21T13:44:00.006+10:30

London. That's what.

After all the complaints about how hot it's been here lately yesterday we were graced with a cool, overcast day. There was a lovely breeze about the place and I was taken back to when I lived in London and saw mainly grey skies each day. And for the first time in months and months I realised that I still missed London.

I'm not sure why.

Most of my non-English friends have returned home with my last close friend arriving this coming Thursday. I've rebuilt a happy life here now. I have good friends, my family are thankfully healthy, I have an income (at least for the next year), I'm about to finish my PR degree, That Southern Boy and I are to be married, I have special events to look forward to here...but at the end of the day I still miss my London life.

I miss living in a big, bustling city.

I miss living in a city that allows me to travel regularly.

I want to go somewhere on the train or the tube.

I want to go to art galleries such as the Tate Britain in Millbank after work.

I need a decent curry .

I feel like spending a lazy Sunday at these markets.

I want to catch a glimpse of Banksy through a bus window.

At the end of the day though I'm still glad I decided to return to Australia in 2007. Family will always come first. I'm so happy that I have a healthy one.

Wedding Shoes

2009-02-18T10:56:00.006+10:30

I've had a quick browse online this morning for my wedding shoes.

I quite like the ones below from here. My sister is a maid of honour in her best friend's wedding and their shoes are Midas shoes. Very comfy. But maybe this style is a little too casual?

The shoes below are from Tony Bianco. I wish they had their own store here. I'll have to hunt them down as they are just what I had in mind.

These shoes below I just love. Why can't they come in red too! They are from Mollini, one of my all time favourite Australia shoe brands.

Wordless Wednesday - Doing the tomatoes

2009-02-18T10:24:00.002+10:30

My family still carries out the tradition of 'doing the tomatoes' for our pasta sauce. Up by 6am you can have a couple hundred bottles boiling away in the copper by 2pm. Provided you have hard working helpers. My lovely parents decided that New Years Eve 2008 would be the perfect day to do our 2009 tomatoes. At least the weather was cool.

It's getting hot in here....again!

2009-02-17T16:18:00.009+10:30

After our spate of 40 C plus days (wasn't it a week?) we had some cool respite for a while. Just after lunch today we got back up to 34 C and we're now hovering around the 32 degree mark.

35 degrees C has been predicted for tomorrow, so there goes my enjoyable day off running errands! Thank goodness for air conditioning in cars.

How ever did I used to cope in my little of Holden Gemini?

Speaking of coping with the heat, how adorable are these koalas?

I think even our native animals were fed up with the crazy heatwave.

Tuesday Travels - Russia

2009-02-17T15:23:00.012+10:30

I had always wanted to visit Russia. I don't know where the fascination with this country started but it had lots to do with the story of the last Tzar's family and their demise. Their tragic end fascinated me as a child. By the time I'd reached high school I had moved on to a deeper interest in the the plight of the Russian people and what transpired into the Russian Revolution and then Communism.

In 2005 I was single, teaching in London and trying to figure out how to spend my six week long summer holiday. I'm not brave enough to truly backpack on my own and had hear other friends mention a great organised tour that explored both Scandinavia and Russia.

I was sold.
I booked the tour. And my flights. And arranged the crazy visa you need to enter Russia.
I saved like mad.
I packed.
Then I panicked about joining a tour for 32 days on my own, not knowing a single other person.
I made it through Scandinavia (more about that amazing place another time) and arrived in....

St Petersberg

It is honestly one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited. Forget Paris, St Petersberg is the home of romance, style and beauty.

I have a very deep love of art galleries. I'm in another place when I visit one. I'm very lucky to have visited so many coveted galleries in my so far short life. One I'd been desperate to visit from a young age was.......

The Hermitage

This is one of the side roads leading up to the Hermitage. The other roads are quite spectular, coming off the water and maid thoroughfares. But I love this picture as it's so understated. It only gives you a glimpse of the greatness that you're about to walk into.

On my first visit we exited through this little courtyard. I love that the tree is trying to compete for attention with such a grand building by casting it's shadow. It looks as though it's trying to squeeze it's way into the photo.

On my tour's last day in St Petersberg a few of us revisited The Hermitage. I could have spent days there! Hopefully I'll get back there again.

How could you travel to Russia without visiting Moscow or Red Square?

St Basil's

GUM department store where I paid good money to use a squat toilet on the ground floor, completely unaware there were free western style toilets on the first floor.

The Kremlin and Lenin's tomb

It was so eerie filing past his tomb, everyone silent and peering through the dark to catch a glimpse of his wax-like corpse.

I still want to take the Trans-Siberian from Russia to China. It's on the travel list and I can't wait to cross it off!

Thank Goodness for Lunch Breaks

2009-02-16T16:13:00.000+10:30

After a very hectic weekend I was a resident of StruggleTown this morning. The only thing motivating me to get to work was the fact I was having a delicious lunch here with two work friends. Thai food, the best cure for Monday Morning Blues!

Friendly Fridays

2009-02-13T12:45:00.000+10:30

"You can choose your friends but not your family"

When complaining about relatives as a child my mother would always repeat the above saying. The significance of this saying is brought home when friends pass away. While it is unbelievably sad to lose a much loved relative it can be just as devastating to lose a dearly loved friend. For a friend is someone you've chosen to develop and maintain a bond with. A friend can be someone you met while travelling far from home. A friend can be someone you've survived an awful workplace with. A friend can be the person who sat next to you in your very first lecture. A friendship can grew from similarities, differences or even a combination of the two.

I've been blessed with friends from all walks of life, from my home country and many other countries and at the end of the day I love them all dearly. Last Sunday when I heard of the extent of the Victorian bushfires I immediately thought of one of my fellow Erection Team members who lives in country Victoria. There were a few anxious minutes while waiting for her to reply to my text message but thankfully she did. And she was ok. Her town was fortunate to escape the wrath of the fires but the town closest to her wasn't so lucky.

Tragically a girl in my office lost dearly loved friends in the Victorian bushfires. She is naturally devastated and has been keeping a pretty low profile this week. My heart is with anyone who's lost a loved one to this terrible natural disaster.

My heart is breaking...

2009-02-13T12:32:00.000+10:30

....... sadly it has nothing to do with Valentines day or anything else as frivolous as that.

My heart is breaking because of this:

............... and this:

.... and this too:

A week ago there were homes, schools, shops and police stations here but now this is all that's left for too many Victorians:

How Much Space do we Really Need?

2009-02-13T12:14:00.000+10:30

Amongst a few ofther discourses The Sister dabbled in an architecture degree a few years back. As a result we were both introduced to the wonderful concept of living in comfortably sized spaces described in this amazing book.

Although I struggled big time living in a tiny basement studio I think I could live in a beautiful, roomy closet with all of my belongings. Especially if it looked like one of these four:

One of my favourite design sites ran survey on which celebrity closet you were. I think I'm a mix of all four. Plas a dash of Carrie Bradshaw's apartment closet.

A Step Forward Into the Past

2009-02-11T14:22:00.000+10:30

Leaving a job can only ever be one of two things:
a sad experience
or a joyous occasion.

In my so far short life I've had and left quite a few jobs with a mixture of the above experiences.Three years on from my last day at the school where I worked in London I can still feel the anxiety and immense sadness that caused me to break down in front of the whole school. I loved those children, loved the staff I was fortunate enough to work with and loved the families that I'd gotten to know well over my eighteen months working there. I even loved the crazy three-storey Victorian monstrosity and the cramped school yard with no grass!

Words will never encompass the sense of joy I felt when I left the wretched HR administration role I worked for a few months in 2007. Nor could pictures ever capture my miles of smiles as I walked out of that ghastly south London school after my brief stint teaching there in 2007. I have never slept as soundly as after my last day working in snake pit that was the HR Branch I'd had the misfortune of stumbling into.

The last job I left was a mixture of the both. On one hand I was sad to be walking away from such a great supervisor and heartbroken to be removing myself from one of the friendliest, most welcoming teams I'd experienced so far. But at the end of that final day my sense of relief to be leaving was overwhelming stronger than my sadness. I was relieved to be finally working part-time, to be leaving behind all the workload of three people, to be walking away from the reception desk, to be leaving a work environment that frowned upon fair conditions and hours, to be walking away from crazy work expectations and constant demands. And mostly to be leaving rude, arrogant ESL teachers who thought they were God's gift to Adelaide! While I cited the need to devote more time to my studies, which in essence was the truth of the matter, the above list shows all the other valid reasons I had for wanting to leave.

So four months after leaving that last, crazy, stressful, hectic job I somehow found my way back there, to help them out for three days during one of the official busy periods. Never underestimate the lure of a brilliant supervisor when surrounded by so much dead wood at my organisation.The three day visit allowed me to meet my replacement (who is just lovely!) and also to witness the changes that have occurred as a result of my resignation. My lovely replacement only had a few shifts helping out over the official busy period. When this time occurred during my tenure I had been required to work the majority of the shifts. My lovely replacement no longer sits at reception one day a week. The most surprisingly aspect of all was the fact that a casual had been recruited to help my work team cope with the demands placed upon them. Very, very interesting!

Oh how I love taking a step forward into the past!

Wordless Wednesdays

2009-02-04T14:53:00.000+10:30

Weekend Round Up

2009-02-01T20:44:00.000+10:30

This weekend was a bit of a non-event due to the continuing heatwave (still hitting 40C here!) and the Big Day Out on Friday. It was a great day, albeit hot (43C and no cloud cover). I'll post more about it later though.

So this weekend consisted of waking up hot at my house on Saturday. Heading to Marion on Saturday afternoon where I scored an undercover park and got to shop for some cool summer work tops. The day ended at That Southern Boy's house where he cooked me a lovely bbq tea and we chilled out watching a few great movies. My Sunday has consisted of coming home and sorting out my summer work clothes to see what will work in this heatwave, running through arrangements with The Sister for her friend's kitchen tea that we're hosting in two weeks, started my second mosaic project, caught up on some long overdue emails and made a Cut Copy playlist on my Creative. My lentils are cooking on the stove, my carrot sticks are cut and I'm nearly ready to hit the sack and watch some SATC until I fall asleep.

Shoes for the soul

2009-02-01T19:58:00.000+10:30

Seeing as one third of this blog is meant to be devoted to shoes I think it's about time that I gave my fondness for shoes some airtime.

Like many people I love shoes. However I'm not going to gush about them and my proclaimed love. I'm not going to rave about a devotion to a particular label or style. That's been done exceedingly well by many before me so I'm going to keep it simple.

I just love shoes.

As much as I love shoes I'm no shoe snob. By that I mean that I am happy to buy my shoes from anywhere. And I do mean anywhere. Bargain shoe shops, retail giants, sales racks. You name it and I'll have purchased shoes from there for sure. I have actually never purchased a pair of designer label shoes. I hope to keep it that way. I have nothing against them, in fact I would love a pair of these. It has more to do with the fact that I just wouldn't be able to afford a pair and I refuse to get myself into personal debt just for the sake of some fabulous shoes!

Over the last eight months or so my shoe purchases have dwindled due to the contraints of saving for a house deposit. I've managed to break the drought twice.

The first time was while shopping here with That Southern Boy where I brought these:

Two weeks ago I once again broke the drought and brought these which were on sale:

Both pairs are still at that slightly pinching stage where the uppers need to be worn in and my feet need to get used to new contraints.

I can't wait for Autumn and all the winter boots to come out!

Mosaics

2009-02-01T19:33:00.000+10:30

Speechie and I had talked for ages about doing a mosaics course. We finally bit the bullet and started one in January this year. Initially my excitement over the course was huge but The Engagement has sort of eclipsed all that. Coupled with our crazy heatwave I decided to skip our third class last week. So my guilt over my lack of interest and my missed class motivated me to start my second project this afternoon.

This is how is looks so far:

I know that technically what I've created is not a true mosaic pattern. But I loved the colours and look of those tiles so couldn't resist a simple style.

Below is my first project, the diastrous washed out pale and pasty garden pot:

I have one last class this Wednesday night and I'll be working on a mirror with a 1930's green and black pattern. Pictures to come!

Twas the night before........

2009-02-01T19:11:00.000+10:30

...........my return to work.

Sadly my blissful days of holidays are coming to an end. I will be starting work again tomorrow morning. I shouldn't complain as I know that most office workers have been back since January the 5th and school teacher's went back last Tuesday.

The time has just flown since I finished work at 1pm on Christmas Eve. What happened to my January of lazy around, exercising, reading, baking and organising my room/travel photos and creating travel scrapbooks? Absolutely nothing, that's what! Why? Because I got engaged to That Southern Boy back in early January and it's been wedding planning central for me.

I'm happy to say that we've booked:
church
reception venue
photographer
ceremony musician
reception band
cake

All this is just three weeks. I'm quite impressed with our progress.

25 and Counting

2009-01-29T20:23:00.000+10:30

Tomorrow is The Sister's birthday.

I've brought her this card

.....and giving her this dvd

.....and this make up brush which will hopefully be perfect for eyeshadow eyeliner applications

Here is a sneak peek at her birthday cake from this scrumptious bakery in Stepney

Will Sugar Help Beat the Heat?

2009-01-28T20:06:00.000+10:30

Seeing as the heat is not going to let up for at least another week I'm looking anywhere for a little relief. Or something to take my mind off the fact that it's so darn hot out there!

After visiting a florist to discuss wedding flowers The Sister and I decided to stop off here to drool over some delicious cupcakes. Bobbie raves about them so I thought it was high time that I sampled some.

We can home with these:

Malteser, Oreo, Raspberry and White Chocolate and Passionfruit. Delicious!

Baby It's Hot Outside

2009-01-28T13:56:00.000+10:30

South Australia is currently in the middle of a heatwave. It is currently 44 degrees celcius. It was 43 yesterday and the forecast predicts 44 again for tomorrow.

Friday is going to be slightly cooler at 41 degrees but I'll be outside all day at this music festival. How on earth will I stay cool?

I have been hibernating the past few days. Unfortunately yesterday I had to venture out to pay the deposit for the church where we'll hold our wedding ceremony. And this afternoon I have to head out to meet with a potential florist. The air con in the car is going to get a workout!

Wordless Wednesdays

2009-01-28T13:55:00.001+10:30

Tuesday Travels - Seattle

2009-01-27T20:59:00.000+10:30

I love this city. For so many reasons that range from it being the birthday of Starbucks (where I discovered the joy of hot chocolate with whipped cream), the setting for one of my favourite shows Frasier, the home of the awesome Space Needle and surrounded by water.

Yes I live in a coastal city but remember, my visit to Seattle was after two years living in land logged England!

Seattle also lays claim to Grunge, the soundtrack to my teenage years.

I spent four fantastic days in Seattle and can't wait to go back there one day.

Wedding Shoes

2009-01-19T19:33:00.000+10:30

Ok.

The hunt is on for some red wedding shoes.

I'm heading into the city tomorrow morning to begin my search. I can't wait!

Weekend Round Up

2009-01-19T19:21:00.000+10:30

I'm starting my weekend from Friday afternoon seeing as I'm on a slight permanent holiday for the immediate future.

Speechie came to visit with one of her lovely older sister's and her sweet little girl. Sweet little girl just charmed my family with her ability to eat half a bag of chocolate freckles and numerous pieces of mum's delicious chocolate cake. Such a little gem! Friday night was quiet, just chilled out watching tv with the sister and looking through wedding magazines. Saturday I finally had a lazy morning which quickly turned into an afternoon of wedding planning. We went to look at a few reception venues which I loved! Still need to make a decision on that one. Saturday night was spent at a family friend's engagement party. Sunday I had a coffee catch up with a dear friend and then called round to Speechie's stunning new unit. I was so impressed with her hard work and gorgeous colour scheme. Sunday evening I had tea with That Southern Boy and his parents. Lots of wedding talk but I'm enjoying it all! Shame I didn't manage to get in any exercise.