WCB 8

Cat food bloggers unite every weekend and share photos of your gorgeous kitties with us!

If you would like to be included, just leave me a comment with your permalink! and add a "weekend cat blogging" tag to your post!

There are no ordinary cats :Colette a french writer a quote from The Literary Cat

In my world Kiri is no ordinary cat, he is people(He sleeps with his head on a pillow and body under the blankets!). He is a friend, a companion, a child, fellow traveler, kayaker, acrobat and playmate all in one. He comforts me when I am sad, plays with me when I am bored, greets me when I come home and gives hugs just because he feels like it. This is why he is so special to me.

Check out Keiki's naughty not ordinary cat at Nordjus
Check out Boo's neighbours Kittens at Masak-Masak
Check out Jasmines beautiful cat at Min Tea Say so
Check out Mrs D's and choppers puddy cat Audrey at Belly Timber
Check out J2 playing peekaboo at Farm grl fare
Check out all the sleeping kitties at tigers and strawberries
Check out Ywette and Glinda being too cute at Anne's food
Check out Tiger sleeping in her blue bean bag at the daily vegetable

Is My Blog Burning? 17

Taste Tea

Gee the last month has flown by, and it is time for that food blogging marvel IMBB which was created by the lovely Alberto of Il Forno. This month's food extravaganza is being hosted by Clement of A La Cuisine! He has chosen tea, and has asked us to write about our daily tea rituals and make something with it, which I will get to in a little bit .

Well, I think that my tea ritual started as a child, my parents would not let me drink coffee (it was only instant then anyway :P ) but I was allowed to have tea. I started off with milk and 2 sugars, which I think means that tea was really only a thinly veiled vehicle for sugar. I am very happy to say that my tea taste buds have matured and it is now drunk sans milk or sugar.

I love making my tea with the best quality tea leaves, pouring the filtered water into the kettle, warming the pot and the cups, measuring the tea, pouring the water and then watching and waiting for the tea to reach the right colour... Then the best bit of course, drinking it! There are many foods which are better with tea: Vegemite toast, cucumber sandwiches, tea cake, Chinese food, Indonesian food, Japanese food..... and I love them all.

So what is the best way to eat tea? In my opinion there is only one best way.... as powdered Japanese green tea, Matcha. Oh you already knew I was going to use that didn't you??? HA!


Well here it is, dark, luscious, creamy Matcha truffles. OMG they are so easy and so good! A this crisp veil of dark chocolate sprinkled with powdered sencha hides a meltingly creamy matcha scented dark chocolate ganache *drool* . I think that this has to show tea off to it's best and to show how much we revere it!

To make the truffles I used (and altered) Robert Linxes (founder of La Maison du Chocolat) truffle recipe.

Ingredients

6 ounces Valrhona chocolate (56% cacao)
1/3 cup heavy cream (make sure there is no gelatin in the cream!)
3 TBSP of Matcha (Powdered Japanese Green Tea)
Sencha which has been placed in a blender til powdered then sifted as you only want the powder

Finely chop 4 ounces of the chocolate and put in a bowl.

Bring heavy cream to a boil in a small heavy saucepan. Make sure your pan is small, so you'll lose the least amount of cream to evaporation, and heavy, which will keep the cream from scorching. Add the Matcha and stir til dissovled, the cream will be green.

Pour the cream over the chocolate, mashing any big pieces with a wooden spoon.

Then stir with a whisk in concentric circles (don't beat or you'll incorporate air), starting in the center and working your way to the edge, until the ganache is smooth.

Let stand at room temperature until thick enough to hold a shape(If it is hot this wont work, wither place the bowl in the fridge to set or turn the AC WAY UP or just wait til the weather cools!), Shape balls of ganache with 2 tsps and place onto a parchment lined tray. Put tray into the freezer for 15 minutes until they set hard.

Meanwhile, melt 2 more ounces of the same Valrhona and smear some on a gloved hand. Gently rub each chilled truffle to coat lightly with chocolate. The secret to a delicate coating of chocolate is to roll each truffle in a smear of melted chocolate in your hand.

Sprinkle truffles with the powdered Sencha. Then just try and resist eating them!

Makes about 15 truffles

Oven of infinite sadness *UPDATE*

The oven repair guy came out today and he said that the oven temperature probe is missing. That means it has been completely snapped off! He also does not beleive that it is worth repairing the oven and will recommend that we get a brand new one! Yipee!!!!!

So hopefully I will be able to bake again in the near future! *grin*

I love Spinach Pie

I love Spinach Pie. My mother has made it ever since I was a child and it was definitely one of our favourites! Well I suppose it is really silverbeet pie, as that is what my mum always grows in her garden. I found beautiful bunches of silverbeet for only 99c, so I had to make a pie. I am abit annoyed though, I ALWAYS make my own pastry, but this time I didn't. Mum always used a wholemeal shortcrust pastry on her pie and the nuttiness of the pastry pairs perfectly in my book. Well I was tired so I bought some shortcrust. YUCK, I was not happy at all. If you go to the effort to make this PLEASE PLEASE make your own pastry, preferably wholemeal. It doesn't take very long and the results are so much better!!!

For the creamy lettuce salad, I was looking at Zarah's blog and I saw her recipe for Mormor salat and I was drawn to it straight away. I used beautiful tender baby cos from my mum's garden, and fresh in season navel oranges which were juicy and sweet. I used sour cream , orange juice and a little honey in my dressing, but go to food and thoughts for the real recipe. This simple salad was fabulous and I really recommend you make it, but only with the best ingredients.

Spinach pie
2 bunches of silverbeet, leaves and stems seperated, well washed and sliced.
1 egg
1 packet of cottage cheese
parmesan and cheddar cheese
salt and pepper
1 onion and 3 cloves of garlic, diced and softened.
nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste.
Stem stems of silver beet in a pan til tender then put into a colander to drain. Steam Silverbeet leaves til tender and put into the colander to drain. Make sure that the silverbeet is as dry as possible, you will need to squeeze as much water from the leaves and stems as you can, or the pie will be too wet. (keep the juice and use in a soup ;) )

Mix cottage cheese, eggs, freshly gated nutmeg, and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add onion and garlic. Add silverbeet mix and use as a filling in your favourite pie. Put the cheddar and parmesan on top of the filling in the in the pie.

I hope you make this family favourite!

Indo at home :Spicy Prawn Sambal

After the last weeks seafood shopping mishap we were on the hunt for good cheap prawns again. Baby they were there they were cheap and great! (If you live in Sydney $7.40 kg!!!)
I am still upset about the Thai prawn salad, so I just couldn't go there again. I had a feeling about what I would like to make but.... I wasn't quite sure.

I came home and I saw the little Indonesian homestyle cookbook that Casey's sister had brought back from Indonesia for me, I flicked through a few pages and I saw this! Yep that is what I am a makin'! It also earns bonus points because Jo and Miligwimper will be able to use up there large collection of 'Bomb's in a jar' sauces they are about to be overloaded with ;) LOL!

So is this to hot? Is this to spicy? No and No! There is a little heat but life would be boring with out that, and if you like a nice Thai curry then you will love this.

I recommend serving this with plain rice and some raw vegetables, tomato and cucumber. If there is a few people to serve then a gado gado or pecel salad would be perfect. The best drink to compliment this has to be a nice crisp beer. Don't be scared just try it!

ingredients
450g prawns *
3 TBSP oil
1 stem lemongrass, thickend only, bruised
2 cm galangal, bruised
3 bay leaves (optional)
1/4 tsp of freshly ground pepper
200mls thick coconut milk
salt to taste

Spice Paste
4 chilies ( use the size and heat you are comfortable)
4 shallots
4 cloves of garlic
10 candlenuts or macadamias
1 tsp belacan/terasi (malay/indonesian dried shrimp paste) toasted #
3 TBSP shopped palm sugar or dark brown sugar
80 mls water

If you are using prawns in the shell cut off prawn legs and rinse.
To make the spice paste, coarsely chop the chilies, shallots, garlic and candlenuts place in a blender or food processor with the shrimp paste, palm sugar and water. Blend to a smooth paste.
Heat oil in a wok or a saucepan. Fry til the Spice paste is fragrant and the oil separates. Add the prawns^, lemongrass, galangal, bay leaves, ground black pepper, coconut milk and salt to taste.
Stir fry over medium heat until the prawns are cooked through and the sauce is thick, aprox 15 minutes.

* you can use pre cooked prawns
# this paste does smell, Wrap a hunk in foil and toast under the grill or in a gas burner for a few minutes to toast
^ If you add precooked prawns don't add them at the beginning, add them towards the end for about 2 minutes, just long enough to warm them up.

Blogging By Mail: Parcel number 2!

Bang, Bang, Bang, is what I woke up to this morning. I peeked through the curtains and saw a strange guy standing at the door? Huh? OH BLOGGING BY MAIL PARCEL!!!!! Hello! Hello I am coming I yell. I open the door and I am handed a box! A Box, the first thing I notice is the pretty writing and the name. OH MY! No? Really????? Surely I didn't get a parcel from my friend?
I walk into the living room and open the box, I pull out an envelope. OMG! I was right, I got a package from farmgrl! I pull out 2 large packages if cookies and 2 packages of crackers and a little present and some stickers. The present has a book of literary cat quotes! Well I know what I am going to include a different one on each WCB from NOW!!!!

I don't know if you can tell from here, but that is ALOT of cookies and crackers, but I am afraid there definitely wont be enough!

So, I send farmgrl an email, because I am still in shock. I decide that the only way to try these is to do it properly. I make a cup of tea (Puttabong estate SFTGFOP-1 second flush, to be exact). Whilst the tea brews I take some photos (trying to ensure there is no foliage Reid ;) ) . I sit down have a sip of tea to steady my self and crunch, my mouth is over taken by the flavour of the cookies, Farmgrl said they are J's favourite, well I know why. I have never had a biscuit so flavourful or as good before. They taste like lemon butter! YUM!, YUM!, YUM!. So I have a sip of tea and bite into one of the Parmesan and pecorino(baa!) crackers , Susan declared these as her favourite. Well I have never had homemade crackers before, and I can tell you that is changing from this minute, no more will I allow those things FKAC into my house again. I think we will be feasting on crackers, cheese and champange for dinner tonight, Jealous??? *grin*

Thankyou so much farmgrl, you were so generous and thanks Nic for having my friend send me a parcel!

Davidsons Plums

Since everyone liked the Mangosteens so much I thought I would highlight an even more obscure fruit, The Davidsons Plum. What on earth is a Davidsons Plum( Davidsonia pruiens)? I can already hear the questions *grin*. Well it is that purple round thing in the top of the picture . They are a rainforest tree that produces these round fruits dark purple fruits with a reddish interior. They will be hard to comeby but if you live in Wollongong and up, try growing your own!. Whilst they are so acidic your mouth will pucker, they do have a nice flavour, they make excellent jam which is abit like rasberry but better! So what does this have to do with steak? Well my mum gave me 2 fruits (as she is making the rest into jam!!!! so I didnt want to steal too many). So I thought that they would help to make an excellent sauce for steak! and you know what? I was right! (The recipe will be located at the bottom of the post). They added a really nice flavour to the sauce!

To serve with the steak, I had a head of my mums organic broccoli. If there was ever a reason for home grown vegetables it is broccoli (tomato is a fruit ;). The broccoli is more flavourful, and much more tender when it grows in her garden. I could just have a bowl dressed with alittle butter, some parsley and salt and pepper for dinner. I know have to survive on the few heads that I am very happily given!

I also made a fennel and orange salad. The navel oranges which are avaliable in Australia are fantasticly sweet and cheap so if you live here go buy some!


Steak
A nice tender steak per person (we had sirloin) (so tender you could cut them with a butter knife!) each side with a nice coat of pepper and salt just before going into the pan
1/2 onion sliced
1 davidsons plum (perhaps a substitute would be redcurrant jam/jelly?) or fresh redcurrants! (or mushrooms to be traditional ;) )
2 tbsp of sour cream
salt and pepper
a good glug of red wine (Aussie shiraz of course!)
A nice knob of butter and/or olive oil

In a nice hot pan (preferably not non stick) add butter(or oil), when it foams add the steak and let it seal and cook on one side. When this side is crusty, flip the steak and seal on the other side, when this has browned and onions and davidsons plum, when onion is cooked add the wine, stir to degalze pan. When it has deglazed add the sourcream and turn the heat down (steak should be just about cooked. Stir the sour cream through. Remove steak, and allow it to rest on the plate. Adjust seasoning in the sauce and pour on top of the steak.

Fennel and orange salad
1/2 fennel finely sliced
1/2 red onion
2 oranges, segmented

Squeeze extra juice from oranges into a jar, add olive oil and salt and pepper to taste shake.
Put fennel, onion and orange into a bowl, pour on dressing serve. (is that easy or what!)

Posted inbSteak, Recipe, Food and Drink, eatstuff

Weekend Cat Blogging 7

Cat food bloggers unite every weekend and share photos of your gorgeous kitties with us!
If you would like to be included, just leave me a comment with your permalink! and add a "weekend cat blogging" tag to your post!



Today, I was standing in the laundry when, BOOF! Kiri Jumped on my shoulder from a meter away! Yikes. He sat on my shoulder and my head shook with the purrs that were rumbling out of his chest. He gave me a huge smooch. Oh, he is so sweet. I pulled him off my shoulder, and looked at him. I rolled him on to his stomach and measured him against my arm. When we first got him he fit into the palm of my hand, now half of his body hangs off. Where did my little kitten go? He is still such a sweet boy, he waits for us and demands a "smooch session" when we come home. He jumps up on my lap when I am on the computer for "hugs". For "hugs" he puts his paws on my chest and rubs his face angainst mine numerous times, purring the whole time, then puts both paws on my right shoulder and rubs his head against my neck. It sure make you feel special!

I decided to show you some pictures where he is much smaller..... and probably tomorrow I will post some pictures with him now. I hope you enjoy seeing just how little he used to be!

Check out Alley cat and her toys at Masak-Masak
Check out the cats in residence at tigers and strawberries
Check out the dignified Gretel catching some rays at FarmgirlFare
Check out Tanuki having a rest at A Cat in the Kitchen (NEW!!!)
Check out the Angry Kitty with luxurious whiskers at Belly Timber (NEW!!!!)

Posted in Weekend Cat Blogging, Blogging, Kiri, Burmese, cat,eatstuff

Marsala potatoes

When I was filling in my most recent MEME which was courtesy of Amy, I realised how much I was missing the Indian feasts that my sister and I would make together. During that time, I learnt so much about spicing and tempering dishes, my chopping skills improved immensely and my ability to "time" a meal became innate. This was of course not the only reason I miss it, I also miss cooking with my little sister, discussing what we would make, how would do much and the equal shared pride in the end product.

As I mentioned, I don't have the original book which still jars me, but looking through my immense cookbook collection I found my little purple cooking notebook where I had scribbled a few recipes whilst on the phone to my father. They were my favourite Lamb and Eggplant curry and this Marsala Potatoes. Luckily I managed to have all the ingredients required to throw this together (except I had to substitute a few spices, although I am going on a major spice hunt on the weekend!)

This potato dish is great as a meal on its own, with a curry or with a piece of fish, chicken, tofu or steak. I really hope that you try it! Don't be scared off at the number of spices, or the number of chilies! Although adjust the chilly level to your own tastes.

I served this as a dish in it's self to remind me of little sis with just 2 very simple raitas. I hope you enjoy this! We certainly did :) (Casey gave it a 5 star next day lunch rating too!)

I do recommend using a nice heavy saucepan to make this though, my le creuset oven was perfect ;)

Marsala Potatoes

225g Potatoes, 1 inch dice
225g rice
2 tbsp oil
25g Onion, diced
2-3 cloves
1/2 inch cinnamon ( I didnt have any so I used some cinnamon powder, but a stick is better and don't break it up!)
2 cardamom, cracked to release the flavour
2-3 Bay leaves
1/2 tsp of cumin seeds (powder will work though)
1 tsp of ginger and garlic paste (grate ginger and garlic then pound a little in a mortar in pestle, if you don't own a M&P just grate)
1/4 tsp of tumeric powder
1/2 tsp of chilli powder
3/4 tsp of salt
1 TBSP of low fat natural yoghurt
1 green chilli ( or a long red chilli, if this is the only dish you might like to increase this)
425 mls of water

Heat oil in a heavy saucepan, add onion, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and cumin, fry till it smells nice. Add ginger and garlic paste , tumeric, chilli and salt. Stir and cook for a few minutes till onion is soft.
Add yoghurt and water. Bring to the boil. Add rice green chilli and potatoes. Cover and simmer on lowest heat for 25 minutes. Stand 3 - 4 minutes before serving.

Tomato Raita
Dice tomato, red onion, garlic, chilli, add coriander, lime juice, salt and pepper. Leave to marinate.

Yoghurt Raita
Toast cumin seeds in a saucepan with no oil til they start to pop. Add to yoghurt with garlic, salt lemon juice and mint. (cucumber is really good too)

With the raitas adjust amounts to the number of people you are feeding.

I hope you enjoy this :)
Posted in Indian, Recipe, Food and Drink, eatstuff

Study of 2 Mangosteenes

How pretty are these fruit? I think they are stunning, deep rich purple outside and the white flesh. But, this does not compare to the taste which is sweet and exotic, like a taste of paradise. *sigh* When I was at paddy's markets I spied these for only $8 a kilo! So I thought a little photo essay to show of their beauty might be in order. Enjoy!

P.S. I love the flower on the bottom of the fruit and the picture in the lower left hand side, as the fruit looks like it is about to be pounced on. Ahhh!

Posted in Mangosteene, eatstuff

The Best Fish Pie

Why have I put pictures of this big gloopy stuff on your screen? Well, it's not gloopy is was crispy and yummy. It was so good that Casey declared it one of the best dishes I have ever made. What, where did that come from?

When we bought the red fish I had intended on making fish soup.. But without my Prawn stock (I know get over it already!)I was at a loss... What to make? Well I have always wanted to make a fish pie so.... I thought here it goes. Casey, he didn't agree... Fish pie "I don't know" he said. Well :P to you I said and made it anyway. LOL! He definitely ate his words when he ate it I tell you!

This was incredibly easy to make, healthy, yummy and you could easily make a HUGE one for a big family or a party!

The Best Fish Pie Recipe

ingredients
5 large potatoes, made into mashed potatoes (seasoned and with butter and milk)
3 hard boiled eggs, quartered
1 bunch of Chinese broccoli, sliced and just steamed (or spinach steamed)
500gms of Firm white fish (I used red fish, or you could used smoked fish) sliced into strips. Make sure the fish is either boneless or you pin bone it.
1 large onion diced
5 cloves of garlic, diced
Some veggies diced( your choice of celery, carrot, fennel) ( would be a good way to hide veggies from your kids)
1 big tbsp of butter
2 dsp of flour
1 big bunch of herbs diced, I used dill and parsley.
1 and 1/2 cups of milk (aprox) ( I used skim milk but water milk you like)
2 big handfuls of cheddar cheese (not orange stuff!!!!) + a little extra
juice of 1/2 a lemon or lime
Salt and pepper

Saute onion, garlic, and diced veggies in butter, when soft add flour and cook for a few minutes. Slowly add milk stirring constantly (the amount you need will depend on the size of your dish. When you have added all the milk and the mixture is thick, cook for 2 minutes, then remove from heat add cheese, lemon juice herbs and season to taste.

Place steamed Chinese broccoli in the bottom of your lasagna dish, top with quartered eggs and fish pieces. Pour sauce on top, evenly. Cover the top in Mashed Potato and place in a preheated oven to180C for aprox 30 minutes, till the sauce is bubbling around the sides.

Optional Grate a little extra cheese over the top and bake till the cheese bubbles and is golden.
Serve with some salad maybe some crispy bread. We enjoyed a James Boag Premium with this VERY much!

You could make this the day before and store in the fridge and bake then. Casey said his leftovers for lunch were better than the night before.
Posted in
Fish, Pie, Recipe, eatstuff, Blogging

New Comment System

Hi Guys as you can see I have changed my commenting system. Hopefully it will be easier and more enjoyable for everyone concerened. If you have any problems (love/hate it)please let me know, either here or by email: eatstuff (at) gmail dot com

Thanks so much for your patience!

Posted in Blogger, hacks, eatstuff

The wrong ingrediants, and a Shopping Moral for everyone!

The wrong ingrediants? I am sure you all think I have lost my mind, well if you hadn't already come to that opinion :P So what's behind all of this then? Well, it is a little bit of a sad story actually and I am still annoyed about it!

In Sydney near Central Station at Haymarket on Thursdays to Sundays Paddy's Markets is run. Most of the market consists of the usual market gear, clothes, bags, shoes, etc. The other portion has fresh fruit, veggies and fish. The produce in the food section of the markets is generally cheaper and fresher than anywhere else in Sydney.
It can get very packed and noisy, especially since the men sing out "chepa, Cheapa" (Now some of my friends are polish and they can't help laughing eveytime they here this, LOL!) .

The only reason we hadn't been veggie shopping here more often lately is because it isn't the easiest place to park for, although we have a secret location ;) but it can still be quite a walk with a load of veggies!

So we did our veggie shoppping and decided to get some fish for us and Kiri. We walk around and spy some really nice fresh prawns for a whol $8 a kilo. Wow that is CHEAP! So we decide to make a Prawn salad, get some boneless fish fillet for Kiri and 1/2 a kilo of red fish so we could make a Fish soup with the prawn stock. Well, I don't know about you but I was excited.

Anyway to make an already long story alittle shorter: Cut to much later that night I start to make dinner, Chopping fresh garlic, chilli galangal etc for the Thai Prawn Salad I was salivating for. Casey offers to peel the prawns for me, he opens the bag, red fish and baby octopus! WTF??? Where are MY PRAWNS I cry. We realised that the slightly flustered fish boy had been completely confused and given us the WRONG ORDER! ........ Well I promise I wont get abusive... so I quickly came up with a new plan that just involved swapping the prawns for some octopus.

Well it looks good right? But it wasn't the prawn salad I had been salivating over all day. Oh well you cant have it all the time right? So what's the moral? CHECK YOUR ORDER BEFORE YOU LEAVE! Geeze I am not going to let them get away with that next time. Grrr

But just wait for tomorrow when I post the Fish Pie we made with the red fish *drool*

Posted in Paddy's Markets, Shopping, Morals, eatstuff

Nic Rocks! And a recipe contest!

Well I don't know about you, but I think that the above photo shows why Nic Rocks. So why was I so incredibly lucky? Well I am still not sure :) . But everyone who is participating in Nic's blogging by mail event is getting a similar package. But mine is even more special, I had seen what Mcauliflower and AG had received, but when I opened my packet there was a huge bag of Butterscotch Morsels! As soon as I saw them I said WOW she remembered! Well, Nic had made some awesome looking Butterscotch and chocolate chunk blondies! and I had lamented that Butterscotch chips are not avalible in Australia (why Nestle why???). Nic described this in her lovely letter so I know I am not making this up. Well I not only received a package of butterscotch but also the Blondies! Am I a lucky girl or what?. In the photo can you see the empty space? That is because I HAD to try one before I even thought of taking a photo ;).

I also received a packet of JB's which are like what smarties should be! You know who everyone thinks that the different colours taste different? Well these guys really do! and there are 20 flavours and I received 40 JB's in my box. I only missed out on 3 flavours, the cappucino, strawberry cheesecake and the orange. I think my favourite was a tie between the rasberry and the honey graham craker. What's your favourite???

Well Since I only have 1 packet of Butterscotch Morsels I want to make sure I put them to the best use possible. I have tried Nics yummy blondies, so I want to know what is your favourite way to use them?

Please send me an email (eatstuff at gmail dot com) or leave a comment with your favourite recipe and I will make and blog about my pick (maybe a poll???) who knows you might get a prize if I get around to it.

Anyway, I wanted to say THANKS SO MUCH! NIC YOU ROCK!

Blogging by Mail,
Butterscotch morsels, recipe contest, eatstuff

Childhood Memories MEME

Well I definately have to start his post with a big, I AM SO SORRY AMY. But see here is my post like a good girl, alittle late but still here.

Since Amy is such a lovely person with great food morals and has sent me a prize! For winning her fun seafood poetry contest, how could I not do this??? Anyway this is why I feel so bad....

So what is the deal? Well you have to write about your 5 Childhood foods that you miss, well this is hard! Why only 5 Amy? Why?

First things first you need to do the Meme paperwork

Remove the blog at #1 from the following list and bump every one up one place; add your blog’s name in the #5 spot; link to each of the other blogs for the desired cross-pollination effect.

1. Blerg
2. Secrets & Lies
3. Do or Do Not
4. BeautyJoyFood
5. Eatstuff

Childhood Memories
1.Choc Mint Minties


Oh Wow! I almost forgot about these, we used to get them from N.Z. (yes that is an awesome lolly that we couldnt get!) My Mum used to bring us back a bag each as kids. Why did you never release these here Allens ?you bastards!

In case you dont have these in America here is a picture of the original version that is still easily avaliable


2. 'Hamburger with the lot'

We used to get a hamburger with the lot from the local take-away. The problem is the shop has since closed so we can partake in thier version of Aussie Hamburger perfection no longer.
This is a sample shot so you can see kind of what I mean, but these ones were better!

FYI the old standard Aussie hamburger with the lot: Beef patty, cheese, bacon, egg, beetroot, grilled pineapple, tomato, lettuce, fried onions, sesame seed bun and TOMATO sauce. Available everywhere in Aus, before some crap US chain came.

3. Making Indian with my little Sister

When I still lived at home, my mum brought home an Indian cookbook. This book inspired my sister ans I so much. We would get home from High School and spend the next few hours preparing and Indian feast for my parents. An Entree (appetiser to you crazy Americans who dont know french!) A couple of currys, a few raitas and some flavoured rice. It was great! The recipes where full of spices, chilli and ginger and garlic. We had so much FUN!. I really miss doing this with you little sister. The best part was that mum would get home from work and be so happy :) hmm I have to make some of those recipes, there are discussions about who actually should be in possesion of the book going on for the last few years.

4. Oma's Apful rice and custard! or Milk Rice and Custard and apful mousse

My sister and I loved having dinner at Oma and Opa's and having this for dessert! hmm I think I need to pay Oma a visit (and bribe her to make this for me ;)

5. Oma's Butter Cream Cake for birthday's
When we were kids, Oma would make a butter cream cake. It was sooooooo goood! I think I have written about this before... 3 layers butter cream, cherries or pineapple. Yum! and she never makes it anymore... But I hardly ever got it for my birthday as it is in december and it would be too hot. I was always so jealous.

A new question courtesy of Me!

What is one food that you never ever wish to have again from your childhood?
When I was in 5th grade we went on school camp (this is for you farmgrl!) and we went with another primary school that was considered disadvantaged. Because they were disadvantaged the goverenment gave them lots of camping equipment and this is why we went with them as we had none!
When it came to dinner we were dished up a spoonful of instant mashed potates, a spoon full of dehydrated peas and 3 chicken nuggets. The first day I thought "yay mashed potatoes!" Then I had a mouthful, blurgh what is this crap? I have never liked it since then, I guess that's what happens when you grow up on the real stuff. To make matters worse we all got, I mean about 60 kids got food poisioning and there were only pit toilets!. It was horrible. I remember getting off the bus and my mum being shocked at how much weight I lost.
Ok now I get to tag 3 people!

Reid cause I know it will involve spam :P
Michele cause you must pay to be my friend LOL!
Lyn cause I want to here some more about the beautiful place where you grew up!
Stephanie cause your wish is my desire :)

Posted in Childhood Memories MEME, MEME, Blogging, eatstuff

Phobia of Sultanas

LOL!
Someone just found my blog because they searched for 'phobia of sultanas', and I was 3rd in google... ha ha ha Well I guess this will increase my ranking for 'phobia of sultanas' too.

Posted in Phobia ofSultana's, eatstuff

Weekend Cat blogging 6

Cat food bloggers unite every weekend and share photos of your gorgeous kitties with us!
If you would like to be included, just leave me a comment with your permalink!

I know that we are back from holidays and are in Sydney, but poor Kiri has been complaing so much about missing Taffy, I dont know if that honour has been reciprocated at the other end but Kiri can only hope! So I thought, just to make him feel better, I would show alittle of the lighter side of their relationship cause Kiri was alittle worried that you might think he ONLY picked on Taffy. Which is kind of like what he did for 90% of the time LOL! If only Kiri realised that they would get long much better if he didnt try so hard.

Theses pictures also let you see how much smaller Kiri is than Taffy too.

Check out the cute Minnaloushe at Tigers and Strawberries
Check out the shy Boo who is joining us for the first time this weekend from Masak Masak
Check out the farm boss Patch from Farmgrl fare
Check out Momma's little boy Fitzy at Lex Culinaria

Staytuned becaueI will have a Thai Prawn Salad actually make that a thai Octopus salad... and my long awaited (I am sorry Amy) Childhood Memories Meme post too!

Posted in Weekend Cat Blogging, Blogging, Kiri, Burmese, cat,eatstuff

SHF 10 Oh Honey!

Well I have to say thanks so much to all of you, my lovely reader for the comments on my new template! And since you were all so very kind, I will give you my SHF post as promised ... so back to your regularily scheduled post!

The lovely Nic has chosen a very sweet topic for this months SHF, Honey! Well, I agree whole heartedly with the idea of honey, I love bees and as a child I REALLY wanted a hive. But I have never really liked the taste, everyone else in family adores it, especially honey on bananna sandwhiches . But not me! Although if the honey is cooked or in beer then I generally dont mind the flavour, I know, I know but I have tried. Luckily Casey is a honey fiend, so I knew that I would have a willing imbideder (is that even a word :P ) if I wasnt up to the flavour.

So I thought and considered for soo long what sweet I would make for SHF, I considered candy...but then I would eat to much of it ans that's no good, I wanted to make a honey and pine nut tart..but no pinenuts! Then I thought about the land of milk and honey! So a bread with milk and honey and butter in a scroll with more butter and honey and a little cinnamon, I thought heck I think even I will like that! You know what? It is actually really good! Even I think so. The bread had a lovely texture and would make a fantastic sandwhich loaf or yummy bread rolls too. Sorry that alittle of the roll is too dark but I was bitten by the oven of infinite sadness again.

Honey Butter Scroll
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 package or one tablespoon active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
3 cups sifted unbleached white flour (approximately)
3 cups sifted stoneground wholemeal flour (approximately) (lowan brand in Australia)

Place butter, salt and honey in mixer bowl. Scald milk, add to bowl; allow to cool. Soften yeast in warm water. When milk mixture has cooled to lukewarm, add yeast mixture. Add about two cups of flour, beat well, then gradually add remaining flour to make a light, sticky dough. Turn dough into greased bowl, cover and chill thoroughly, then form into your favorite roll shape. Allow to rise in a warm place until dough is doubled in bulk.

Bake at 400 degrees F until golden brown. Remove from oven, allow to cool for a couple of minutes, then turn rolls over to finish cooling upside down.

For shaped rolls: Try making small dough balls for plain rolls. Make large balls for sandwiches. Top sandwich rolls with poppy or sesame seeds, if desired.

For spiral rolls: Roll out dough to about 1/4 inch thick, spread with butter, butter, honey and cinnamon , then roll up into a log and slice.

If you are a honey lover drizzle the top of the bun with lots of honey before eating.

I found that the buns where really nice, not too sweet slight cinnamon, they would be perfect for brunch.

Thanks for such a nice quick round up nic! I hope you do make the buns for breakfast :)

Posted in Honey, Recipe, SHF, blogging, eastuff

New Stylin

Well, I have finally (with lots of help from Case, xxxx sweetie) broken out from the standard blogger header and colour scheme... so ta dah!

I am pretty happy with it, but maybe it needs a bit of tweaking? The LCD monitor on my laptop is good but I am not sure how the colour scheme is represented on other monitors. Maybe I should cut to it... I am really anxious to know what YOU think, please be honest... The good, the bad, the ugly.. Like it, loathe it love it etc.... I promise I wont get mad or offended. So please leave a comment or email me (eatstuff (at) gmail dot com) and let me know..

If you do, I promise (cross my heart) to return to regularly scheduled blogging and give you my SHF entry.. ok? Well we have a deal then...

The last of the holiday snaps

The Final Tathra roundup is here!

Marg and I managed to squeeze in another cooking fun extravaganza, we made Pizza! Now I know this does not sound like a big thing, but we sure had fun. There was abit of history too, M&D have a gorgeous huge Smeg Oven *drool* and the thermostat works *oh my!*. I have been wanting to get Marg a Pizza stone for ages as she had been lamenting her inability to get a nice crispy bottom on her Pizza. So whilst we were in town(Bega) I made Dave drop in at the local tile supply store. I had already decided that I would be shooed unmercifully out of the store for asking for tiles that could be used as Pizza stones. Boy was I wrong, the guy was a darl, he searched out the back and came out with 2 huge tiles which he declared were free, and he hoped they would work! Wow can you believe it? This is the country attitude at work. So I walk out to the car and I am still stunned... But I ponder what just happened here. I think I figured it out whilst talking to Marg. He is the only tile supplier in Bega so he depends on his good name, it doesnt take much for people to march with there feet and for him to have no customers left! So, instead of being grumpy or unreasonable, he is friendly, helpful and even comes up with the goods, what does this get him? I blab to all the locals I know about how nice he was and even write about it here... So all you city shops take note this is how you get customers!!!!

Well anyway the pizza... you dont need to know what was on it... (chicken, avocado, mushroom ..etc ) but you do need to know this, in 12 minutes we had 2 awesome pizzas with a crispy bottom that put most woodfired pizzas to shame! So go to your local tile shop you might just be surprised..

Oh and Sam I think these would have been great for your utensibility me me to to :)

But Wait I am not finished yet!

We had a day trip up to Tilba Tilba, Central Tilba and Narooma whilst we were down the coast. I had heard all about the yummy Devonshire teas at Tilba Tilba mmmm, so off we set, we arrive order, the food comes, looks great, take one photo, and that's it no batteries .OMG what will I do! Luckily the one photo was of the Devonshire tea that I shared with Casey, the scones were light and melted in you mouth mmm, but the cream was fresh but they had used a soda bulb to froth it. Come on whisk people it isnt hard! The tea was nice, with leaves (no bags I hate that!!!) and was perfect for 2 big cups of tea from nice tea cups.

We moved on to central tilba, were we walked around. It was nice but alittle to touristy. This is also where they make tilba cheese. The cheese was ok, and if you like it, it was good value for $6.50 for a large wax covered block. The best store there was the jewelry store, where Marg and I cooed and ahhed for a very long time *hint hint* Casey ;)

In Narooma we bought some batteries so that we could take photos of the scenery... Remember that it is actually a black swan in the photo, and the Island is Montague Island which has great diving and a seal colony.

On our last night we went to the Merimbula Noodle House and I made an Orange cake with lemon and orange curd filling, dark chocolate ganache top with candied orange rind. AND BOTH SETS OF PHOTOS DIDNT WORK , The camera was on manual light settings and I didnt realise so the photos look like nothing... I mean completely black :( I will do another review of the Merimbula noodle house when we go back at a later date...

I know this must look like a measly amount of snow to all your Northern Hemisphere people but it was pretty exciting to us! There was a HUGE storm which delayed us by a day, what a pity. This meant that at the top of Brown Mountain there was a large snowfall!! That stretched for about 10 kms... it was so pretty. When I heard about it all I could think about was taking a photo of Kiri in the snow! Aren't I mean? It is all your fault Michele LOL you got me started he he he
He didnt mind that much actually.. and I warmed him up straight away.

Well that's all folks, we are back in Sydney. I hope you enjoyed your small glimpse of the Aussie country and bush.... I am sure there will be many more posts on it to come yet!

Posted in Tathra, Narooma, Merimbula, holiday, eatstuff

I WON! I WON!

Can you believe it? Me? Ha! Especially after all the complaining I, and I am sure you my poor readers have done, about my writing.. LOL

But it is really true! I won the Seafood Poetry Contest at Amy's Blog, Amy has even very graciously offered to send me the prize. I dont know if I deserve it though... Be sure to keep an eye out on Amys cute daughter Kyra who is already making her presence on the net felt!

The best thing about blogging has not been talking about myself and my love of food, what I eat, make, think and feel about, because this could be only self gratifying and lonely. But when you make a connections with like minded people across the world and they slowly become friends... This is why I do continue to do this. So thanks to all my new blogging friends. XX

DMBLGIT Judge!

Yes! That's right you heard it here first.. or second maybe :) I am a judge for the very prestigious Does My Blog Look Good In This Food Photography contest that is being held for this month at Lex Culinaria by the very sweet Canadian Lyn. The other judges are

Lyn of Lex Culinaria

Anthony of Spiceblog

Clare of Eat Stuff

Melissa of The Traveller's Lunchbox

Clement of A La Cuisine

So I expect an entry from all of you. Ok! Go on Hop to it. This is where the rules are and where you post your entry.

Remember to vote at Beauty Joy of Food in Amy's Seafood Poetry Contest

I will post the rest of my Tathra tales tomorrow.. as we are very sadly back in Sydney... at least Taffy might get a rest now LOL.

WCB 5

Cat food bloggers unite every weekend and share photos of your gorgeous kitties with us!
If you would like to be included, just leave me a comment with your permalink!


I told you last weekend that the poor sleeping 17 year old Taffy would not get much of a rest!
Poor Kiri is absolutely in awe of Taffy and just wants to play, but playing to him means trying to jump on taffy and roll around and run after him grabbing him on the tail. Taffy responds by grumbling and growling like the the old man he is. Well I know who wont be sad to see us go. But I think he really will miss Kiri, how couldnt you? Most of the family have come to realise that Kiri is our little baby... and he will be the only one for awhile yet! But Casey's grandmother said " he is very nice dear, but a real great grandson would be much better" What can you say to that?

Can you believe this is the fifth weekend of Kitty pictures? (longer if you are Indira of course!) I can't that's for sure. I am so glad I am doing this though as I am going to have the best memories and photographs of my baby growing up, even if he is being naughty.

Check out Kittaya, and his pals Lucky and Ace at Mahanandi
Check out 4-1/2 pound Molly Doodlebug at Farmgirl Fare
Check out Springheel Jack and Gummitch at Tigers and Strawberries


Posted in Weekend Cat Blogging, Blogging, Kiri, Burmese, eatstuff

Clare and Margs Salmon Ravioli

I promised Amy that I would write a poem for her poetry contest. Well, I thought that I would not pain you with one of my poems but would get casey to write one for me. Well... I dont know whether you would win or lose yet. ha!

If you love or hate my poem please go and vote, voting lasts for the next 5 days!

Salmon Ravioli
There is nothing more tasty
Than fresh made pasta pastry
And there is nothing more yummy
Than seafood in my tummy
So Put Ricotta, herbs and Salmon
In your pasta, and start boilin'
To your delight you will find
That nothing rhymes with ravioli

One of the best things about staying in Tathra is that I get to cook with Marg. It doesnt happen that often but when it does it works out very well. I think I might drive her alittle crazy though because she is a precise cook whereas I am very imprecise LOL. Oh Well, especially when brillance like this happens. I make the filling and the sauce, and help roll the pasta sheets, whilst marg wraps the ravioli and cooks it. Perfect!

This ravioli is easy to make although a little time consuming. But it is definately worth it!

Make some fresh pasta sheets and roll them out in your pasta machine.

For the Filling
Mix 200gms of diced smoked salmon, 300gms of fresh ricotta, half a bunch of finely chopped dill and parsley, 3 cloves of finely chopped garlic, 1 finely choped chilli, pepper, 1 tbsp of finely choppedcapers, 4 finely chopped anchovies and a couple strips of finely chopped lemon peel. Mix together and let it masercate for 1/2 and hour whilst the pasta is made.

Fill the pasta (How ever you want)
Cook in lots of boiling salted water. Serve with this sauce

4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 big spoon of capers
1 big slice of lemon rind, thinly julienned
3 anchovies
1 lemon, Juiced
1/2 bunch of dill
Extra Virgin Olive oil
Freshly Cracked Pepper
Grated Italian hard Cheese (I used parmesan)



Put a big pot of salted water to boil. When Boiling add pasta and cook til al dente.

In a small nonstick fry pan put a generous 1 cm of olive oil, turn on the heat to low. Add the garlic and let the oil infuse with the garlic. After a few minutes add the lemon rind, capers and anchovies and dill, let this infuse as the oil starts to increase in heat.Add the lemon juice (be careful it might splatter) and pepper. Drain the cooked pasta, put back into the pot, add the sauce and some grated italian hard chesse. Toss well and plate up.

Kayak Kiri Kayak

I finally have an email address for eatstuff!

Feel free to email me and say Hi! eatstuff@gmail.com

Here are some more country Pics
Wallagoot Lake
Jelly Fish
My Huge Flathead Ha! Flathead are a good eating Australian fish.... they need to be 33 cm to keep them, this monster, oh about 5 cm... but he was cute
The lovely Michele of Oswego tea inspired me to take Kiri out for a Kayak. Did he freak? No, of course not. He loved it.

Kiri walked around the kayak (the cat who knocks everything over) and was dripped on with cold water, he HATES water.... and he didnt care. I am still in shock.

Stay tuned for a post on the most *sigh* worthy Smoked Salmon Ravioli in the morning.

WBW #11 Get OFF! Dry

TC's Wine Merchants
15 Bega st Tathra 2550
Ph 02 6494 1646
I am abit scared... I hope I didn't just make a huge flaw and choose a wine that doesn't get off! Dry? This Months WBW is being run by basic juice and the topic is alittle elusive... to me anyway. So I am really sorry if I got it wrong!

Since we are on holidays, I figured that a holiday wine post should also be in order, especially if it involves the fabulous local liquor shop. TC's is the Tathra bottle shop, the owners have decided to "label" their own wine. They are essentialy relabeling clean skins and they have a very large selection of white and red. The advantage of this is that you know the wines are good as the come with their seal of approval. The only flaw is they sell out really quickly! But they do continue to get the same wines repeatedly.

The Outlaws were purchasing some shiraz and the owner asked us if we would like to taste some of their other wines, another Shiraz and 2 Pinot Noirs. The Mornington Peninsula was fantastic and very good value for $12 especially with the 10% discount for purchasing a doz (can be mixed).

The Pinot Noir had a definate scent of strawberries and alittle sweetness and alittle acidity (off dry???). We drank the wine with some fantasticly fresh prawns and I have to say this was a match made in heaven. The sweet, salty prawns somehow accentuated the strawberries in the wine and made it taste almost creamy and smooth? Oh I don't know.... but I do know this it was good.

So if you happen to be down here on holidays I definately recommend stocking up on a case of the house clean skins... the prices range from $5 to $15 a bottle.

p.s. can you see the suprise in the photo?

Railway Junction Hotel, Wolumla

Railway Junction Hotel
Proprietors: Paddy & Debbie
Phone: (02) 6494 9213
FAMILY BISTRO RESTAURANT - PUB TAB - POOL - COLD BEER
Scott Street Wolumla just off the Highway, half way between Bega and Merimbula
Sapphire Coast
South Coast
New South Wales NSW

Well the outlaws decided to take us to one of their favoured dinner locations, the Railway Junction Hotel in Wolumla. Wolumla is a sleepy but very cute town about 20 kms from Bega. Case and I had been there once before and had enjoyed a beer, we were both wondering what the food was like. M rang up and made a booking (she made sure to tell me to tell you to make a booking if you go) and yes we had a booking for 6:30 pm. You have to remember this is the country and they eat much earlier out here. We made the very pleasant drive out to the hotel, and walked in. I was wondering where is the railway? Isn't this the Railway hotel? Well it seems that Prime Minister Parkes (along time ago) had promised the town a railway stop after visiting the cute little town, but had never come good on the promise.

We had a look at the menu, Ooh steak and Kidney Pie! M& D cry (I secretly shudder), But I spy Chicken Wolumla and Case the Fillet Steak. We notice that there are only 2 people in the kitchen, but that the meals every one are receiving look good. We decide that a bottle of wine would be rather nice and choose a good red shiraz (old vintage and cheap but I can't remeber which one). We sit and chat and drink, we get hungrier and hungrier and realise that our bottle of red is gone, oops. We decide that a sparkling shiraz would be nice with the meal, it is again nicely priced. Then out comes the Steak and Kidney Pie, Wow. It looks really good, especially for the reasonable price of $14. This is where I make the embarrasing omission that I have never ever, ever had a S&K pie before. M shrieks... you just have to try this. So with tepadation I take a mouthful, slowly put it into my mouth and bite down. Then I start to chew and taste it, I think I may have cooed. Wow, it is good! Yum! Then out comes Case's Fillet steak with Prawns($20) which he ordered Medium Rare. It came out cooked to order and very tender, but he would hjave like the prawns hot to go with the meal. I was feeling left out at this time even though only a minute had passed as all the meals looked so good. Then the room became quiet, there may have an "ahhh" in the background and I was served my chiocken Wolumla($16). Gee! it is big and smells so good. I taste the veggies, fresh broccoli, potato gratin, mashed pumpkin and corn... all fresh and good. I cut into the chicken, there is grilled chicken, prawns, brie, avacado and hollandaise sauce on rice. It is GREAT! The room became quiet as we ate and drank, gee life is good! Well I didn't finish the meal but I felt great. The "Men" played pool and were happy.

There is a great variety in pub meals, from really cheap and crap with frozen veggies to over priced wanky yuppie crap. The meal we had at the Railway Junction Hotel was right were a pub meal should be, good food, fresh and of a high quality. If you are in the area you should definately make the trip out to Wolumla, you wont be dissapointed. But remeber to let them know you are coming, as it can be packed on the weekends.

Picnic Point Picnic

As I have said numerous times already, we are on holidays! Wohoo...
Lyn and I have been talking about how nice it can be to get back to the bush. So think of this post as a little taste of Australia.

After our trip to the markets we decided to head out to a favoured picnicing spot, Picnic Point. It is in the Mimosa Rocks NP and is gorgeous. We started off on a walk on the beach and over the rocky point. We came around to little beach and there were no footprints *sigh*. We came back to put the fire on for the snags and enjoy a glass of red whilst we waited for the fire to mellow.

We stuck the bratwurst snags from the local butcher on the fire and enjoyed my fennel salad whilst they cooked. This fennel salad is fantastic, it is juicy sweet and crunchy. It is perfect for a picnic, bbq especially if you serve it with fish.

We put some fresh Banksia flowers into a mug and poured some hot water from our billy on to them, we let it steep for a minute. This gave us a slightly sweet and very yellow brew to ingest.

As the sun started to go down we set off back home, happy and content after our repast in the bush.

Fennel Salad
1 Fennel, thinely sliced
1 apple, thinely sliced
a few stalks of celery diced
1 red onion or a few spri g onions, sliced
lemon juice, olive oil salt and pepper

Mix together and enjoy!
I said it was good, not hard ;)

Candelo Markets

Well we are on holidays which is very exciting, one of the main reasons that we chose this week was so that we could go to Candelo Markets! YAY They are very cool (???) very country and fun, most importantly they have not yet been completely spoilt by Yuppies (who me???). This isalso the market where we got the Cows Nest Blackberry Jam from, YUM!

The markets run from early morning til midday and can be quite busy. Some of the highlights were the really big line up of homemade counrty style cakes and the Lemon Butter lady, what a title to live upt to! There was also some nice plants, worm farms, and antiques. Especially a really nice bowl... which I didnt get :(

There was one very scary thing that I dont quite understand though, there were at least 3 people specialising in Spring Rolls WTF????? I dont quite understand but, hey what ever keeps them happy.

If you ever find yourself in Candelo (near Bega) on the first Sunday of the month I definately recommend giving them a visit for some good old country market action!

WCB 4

Cat food bloggers unite every weekend and share photos of your gorgeous kitties with us!
If you would like to be included, just leave me a comment with your permalink!

Well isnt this a suprise? No Kiri (althought there will be cute grey kitty pictures soon, maybe even in a canoe sans life vest Michele :) ) This is Taffy he is a Red Burmese that Casey has had for a very long time and he lives with my outlaws. He is 17 years old and is having to put up with the litte grey kitty for what might be a very long week. So I thought I should put a picture of him having a rest... cause he isn't going to sleep this well in quite awhile :) .

You should check out the studious thinking Kittaya at Mahanandi
The New Orange Fluff ball on the Farm at farmgirl fare
The Haughty and so pretty Frenchie at Brownie Points
Posted in Weekend Cat Blogging, Blogging, Kiri, Burmese, eatstuff

Utensibility

It is here! Utensiblity WeekThe gorgeous Sam from Becks n Posh has decided that the collective food bloggers could come up with a really important resouce, the best the Utensibility Utensil list. I think that this is really important, there is nothing worse than spending your hard earned dosh on a useless utensil. There are lots of great utensils out there, many of you probably don't realise this but my naughty but very cute kitty Kiri inspired this blog by breaking my beautiful le creuset griddle pan. Which I have still not been able to afford to replace, anyone feeling really generous? I thought not *sigh*

My 2 most useful utensils are my Le creuset 24 cm Oven and my Furi East West Knife. I dont think I could live without either of them. But probably if I had to choose only one it would be my Furi E/W knife as it is MUCH more portable (lol) and I use it EVERYTIME I cook. It is light but not too light, so sharp and thin so that I can make the finest dice. The only thing better would be the whole set!

Sam also asked us to think of a bargain basement item. What is the kitchen utensil that when it is good you hardly notice but when it sucks can be very painful and cost you heaps in preperation time? The good old Vegtable Peeler! I love my Y Vegtable Peeler which not only peels vegtables so easily, but also chocolate. It also lets me make nice carrot peelings for salads and sandwhichs. This is not quite the right one... but it is close, I think I only paid $3 for mine and I wouldnt swap it for the world.. maybe but only if I could buy another one too :)

I hope you find my Utensible Utensils useful. I cant wait to see the roundup at becksnposh.

Tim Tam Ice cream

Well why would I put photos of Tim Tam Ice Cream up on my blog? Well, I don't think you should be suprised by the answer. To make you all jealous. Simple huh. You want to know what the best bit is? You cant even get it posted to you cause it would melt and be really gross:)

So instead you will all have to live vicariously through me for once, boy does that make me happy! Hmm I must be in a really evil mood today, lol. Well I am so sure that you want to know what it tastes like. Do you have the same blue ribbon ice cream where you are? It is made with buttermilk and is pretty good and creamy. The flavour is chocolate and vanilla malt with crispy thin chocolate stirred though and nuggets of chocolate coated biscuit. Not bad huh? Not the best ice cream ever, sadly, but not too bad. It is a bit of a ripoff since the container is only 1.25 liters instead of the usual 2lt .... cheap bastards *I am shaking my fist at you* but it is definately good enough to merit making you really really jealous :) (except for you other Aussies who can go purchase it at their local supermarket!)

EOMEOTE #8 short dramatic works YIKES!

I am with lyn, where are all the EOMEOTE entries, I couldnt let her entry suffer alone? So here is my slightly different interpretation....


The story of how egg saved the day.

It had been a long week, and an even longer night. They should have known better than to play the Iron Chef drinking game. Even though they had only had shots of port, it had still gotten really really messy.

The only reason that this was being contemplated is because of a little grey cat. The little grey cat had become so frustrated at the two sleeping dreggy people that he decided the only way he was going to get his breakfast was by playing his favourite game "bounce on their heads". Run run run Jump boing boing. Run run run Jump boing boing. "Ahh WTF???" said the very sorry for herself girl. Run run run Jump boing boing. All right, allright I get the picture... so she stumbled out of bed and realised that the only way to cure the pounding in her head was with a big greasy fry up.

But dear reader she had forgotten that they needed to go shopping, so there was no bread, non bacon, no orange juice, no milk and only 1 egg.

OH NO! she cried! how can I make a nice greasy breakfast to soothe our aching heads and stomachs and our serious desire for some eggs and bread with only 1 egg. Some time passed and after a few glasses of water her head started to clear. Yes, Yes thats it I've got it! Buttermilk Pancakes! There is an egg there is some flour so it is like eggy bread! That will do it. 1 egg, 1 cup of buttermilk 1 cup of flour 1/2 tsp of salt, baking powder and bi carb soda. Beat it all together. Fry. Maple Syrup. *sigh* Done. The lone egg could still save the day.

So she took the buttermilk pancakes to the boy and he began to eat and all started to became good in the world. Except for the little grey kitty who felt even hungrier than before as he had been completly forgotten about. Run run run Jump boing boing. Right into the plate of Buttermilk pancakes.

*No grey kitties or plates of delicious buttermilk pancakes were harmed in the making of this terrible short dramatic work*