Easter Preparations

This is probably the first Easter I've ever gotten excited about celebrating. Normally my family does not "celebrate" Easter - for whatever reason; I couldn't tell you why. My father has always spent Easter playing tennis interstate for the Filipino-Australian annual tennis tournament so it was just a long weekend we got to stay home from school.

Having my own home and kitchen now though, I have developed a passion for decorating and entertaining. I also recently discovered Pinterest! This has given me something else (counter-productive) to fill my time with - looking at pages and pages of beautiful, BEAUTIFUL home décor and table arrangements. It ignited a strong desire for me to spend money on Easter decorations!

I have conjured an image in my mind of a whimsical tea party - a pastel kaleidoscope of cucumber sandwiches, tea cozies, buntings and macarons. So to start off my preparations - I present to you, my macarons:

Freshly piped
I tried to achieve that really pretty,
vibrant mint-green hue. I think I got
pretty close!

Freshly baked

I made a coconut flavoured buttercream filling

This Weekend

Is it normal to have a bout of hayfever in Autumn? Because mine hasn't stopped all weekend! It may be due to unsettling a mixture of dust/fur/dander when I changed the sheets yesterday.

Poor Teddy cracked his right fore dewclaw last Monday :( We kept an eye on it and kept him indoors all week, but it was starting to look swollen. So we took him to the vet who grabbed the claw and snipped it. Teddy yelped so much :( He now has a bandaged foot and we've got him on antibiotics.

To make him feel better I shared my Sunday morning pancakes with him :)

Fresh & hot from the stove!

I had a sweet comfort food craving but had no cream or ice cream in my fridge! After deliberating over my pantry supply, I settled with creating some delicious, warm, gooey oatmeal cookies. That diet is now so far away I can hardly see it!

What Diet?

OK so you may remember my new year's resolution post about losing weight. Ha! I'm sure nobody will be surprised that I've gotten no where with that! I guess I am just a weak-willed creature of habit. Just as a leopard cannot change its spots - this girl cannot change her cellulite.

This weekend was a testament to my twisted relationship with food.... *sigh*

I know, I know... I disgust you. Believe me though, there's nothing like a dirty weekend of home-made pizzas (cooked on our Pete Evans Breville stone pizza oven!), especially when we try our version of Pizza Hut's hotdog stuffed crust!

When it comes to sinful, dirty fast food Paul is the master of the kitchen. However, I made the pizza dough in a flash thanks to my beloved Kitchenaid mixer and its dough hook attachment! Paul took over after that. He didn't even want me to roll out the dough!

The finished product

My contribution: another delectable sticky date pudding
with hot butterscotch sauce and vanilla ice cream

Our good friends Andrew & Judy were over for pizza night and contributed some pizza toppings. It made me feel warm and fuzzy inside when Judy said that my butterscotch sauce was probably the best she's ever tried!

Even Teddy had a nice night!

Hello Autumn

I know I tell everybody that I'm a Summer baby (born in January) and love Summer most (probably because of holidays from work, Christmas, New Year's and my birthday!) - but there's something so comforting about the coming of a new season.

Autumn brings with her fresh, delicate breezes and pillowy, overcast skies that remind me of sweet Chantilly cream. Unfortunately though, this year Autumn has brought a predicted 40 days of rain and yesterday - the beginnings of a cold :(

Yes, Autumn is the season for bringing everything close - pulling the blankets up to your chin on those cool mornings, shutting the windows, cuddling your loved ones (including puppy dogs) and pulling the lapels of your cardigan tight.

This is when I crave comfort food most. This weekend I made a cake for my ex-boss's wife who turned 60. I decided to drop into their dental practice and surprise her with a pastel arrangement of roses, chrysanthemums and carnations. I also baked a "healthy" cake (which is normally unlike me) for her because she is on lent prior to Easter. It contains no butter, no eggs, no dairy and no sugar! It's still deliciously sweet and moist (provided by oily tahini and sweet date syrup).

Pear & Almond Cake

Whenever I'm sick with a cold, I can eat like a Viking warrior. I crave strong flavours - spicy, sweet, salty. The healthy lent cake wasn't doing anything for me. So the remaining dates went to a higher and greater purpose:

Sticky Date Pudding with Warm
Butterscotch Sauce

So, pyjama-clad and reclined on the sofa, dog at my ankles, nasally congested and bloated with Earl Grey, I bid you all a happy Autumn 2013.

Breakfast with my Puppy

I know he's not a puppy any more - in fact he's 2 in April! But I think he'll always be my puppy no matter what :)

And yes, I do spoil him - he had croissants with me :)

This tea smells AMAZING

Breakfast is served :)

Sydney

I haven't been overseas in over a year. Since purchasing the business, finances are being extremely stretched at the moment. I'm actually living on my university diet again (mainly consisting of 2 minute noodles and toast). I am praying that things get better :\

Last week I took a day off work as Paul had a management training course in North Sydney to attend (if his boss is giving him a free hotel room, I ain't staying home alone!) I organised lunch with my mother and walked around Sydney CBD alone while I waited for her.

I haven't had a long, lonely stroll like that since my university days! I have to say it was quite pleasant. Made me realise that hey, I might not be able to go overseas now but my hometown Sydney is quite a fine city.

Hyde Park Ibis

St Mary's Cathedral

Sydney Tower
View from Hyde Park

A small treat I got for my mummy :)

QVB Clock

Happy Valentine's Day

So my husband doesn't believe in Valentine's Day. Never has and probably never will at this rate. I can see his point - why should we celebrate a holiday that is purely commercial and is only for generating useless gift sales? Shouldn't we be able to express our love on any day we want?

I will admit, he utterly spoils me for my birthday and Christmas... but it's not the gifts or the getaways, it's the sentiment that I cherish most! Before Paul came to Australia we used to hand write letters to each other. Even though we talked online (and on the phone!) pretty much every day. We'd send each other silly little things. He sent me 4 or 5 maple candies because he wanted me to try them. I sent him a lock of my hair and a small cushion I'd received as a gift and didn't want!

Since we've been together, Valentine's Day has never been observed. I decided this year however, that I would try to break (our) tradition and do something on Valentine's Day. Something small. But sentimental. Home-made.

I made a chocolate cake that in the past got me a simple, wordless kiss on the cheek after Paul tried one bite. That small gesture spoke volumes to me! Like the time he took a bite of a sugar pie I'd made and said he felt like he was back in his childhood Summer town, Tadoussac (where we got married in Quebec, Canada). I'd only worked with fondant once before so decided to attempt it again. Something simple. Something I could work on mid-week after work so that it could be ready for Valentine's Thursday.

It took me much shorter than I expected - one evening for baking, next morning for crumb coating then 25-ish minutes for fondant decorating! It went more smoothly than I had anticipated!

Paul's response was:
"But you made me a girly cake"

Roxanne "Nigella" Fry

...at least that's what a friend called me in a comment on one of my Facebook pictures!

My love of food - my real love, a love beyond a Big Mac and fries, truly began when I was a teenager. It all began when I discovered the beautiful Nigella Lawson. She simply embodied everything I wanted to be - intelligent, beautiful, a fantastic cook and, using the phrase that she herself coined - a domestic goddess. If you don't know what I mean, just watch one of her cooking shows and listen to how she describes her ingredients. One of my favourite quotes from her whilst incorporating chocolate into a dessert: "Sooner or later everything gives way to chocolate, which is after all the natural order of things."

So here are some pictures of my recent kitchen creations:

Brioche French Toast
(with maple syrup and powdered sugar)

Sablé Breton (Breton Biscuits)

Mini-meat Croissants
I cheated and used ready made puff pastry

For the mini-meat croissants, stir fry mince meat (I think I used veal mince I had in the freezer) with one chopped onion and a couple of cloves of garlic, any herbs of your choice (I used fresh parsley) and salt and pepper. Cut a puff pastry square into small triangles - if I remember correctly I cut the square into 16 first then halved each 1/16. Place a blob of meat in the centre of each triangle then roll into a croissant shape, tucking the "feet" around to form crescents. I simply used water to seal the edges. Bake at about 200C until golden brown (using a beaten egg wash before baking helps the browning)

Smashed Meringue for Making Eton Mess

Eton Mess with Meringue, Raspberry Jam,
Chantilly Cream and Home-made Custard

Cheap and simple food here! Salmon
with mi goreng instant noodles
and salad with a red wine vinaigrette

Always fry salmon or other fish skin-side down first to avoid curling of the skin.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Paul made some suggestions - I added rolled oats and
sesame seeds!