Merry holiday!

I hope you are all rested comfortably, with several food babies after the Christmas/holiday festivities. I know I am! 

Hosting a faboosh Christmas dinner with a few of my closest girl friends was definitely one of the best days I had in 2011. We cooked a mean turkey with a pancetta, sage and onion stuffing (recipe here), gorged ourselves with smoked salmon and avocado, had a delicious mango cheesecake for dessert, and kept thirstiness at bay with fruit punch. 

I hope you all had a great day and got spoilt!

Handmade bows!

(from L-R): Miss N, Miss S, yours truly, Miss A.

Images courtesy of Food is our Religion

Weekend Feasting.

This is going to be a short post (words-wise) because I am still technically in a food coma. I am not exaggerating. After the amount of deliciousness I shoved into my body this weekend, I am surprised that my clothes still fit me. 

Was it all worth it? I will let the pictures do the talking.

The Rice Den

(L-R) Deep Fried Salt & Pepper Squid ($9)

Chilli Basil Crocodile ($17)

Night Noodle Markets

Fluffy Bun with Ferrero Rocher Ice-Cream from the Papparoti stand ($7.50)

La Mint stand

Nem Sticks (2 for $5)

Caramelised Pork with Rice ($12)

Beef Bourguignon with Rice ($12)

Cocktails + Sugar Hit @ Ash St Cellar

Sidecar ($19)

Old-Fashioned ($19)

Vanilla Pannacotta, Short Bread & Date Puree

Blood Oranges, Blood Orange Jelly, Mascarpone & Bitter Chocolate

(Both $20, comes with a glass of Brown's Brother dessert wine)

Home-made 'Breakfast Pizza' (inspiration taken from here and here)

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (a.k.a. Heaven on Earth)

Back on the treadmill I go!

Lust-Haves: Chocolate Cure.

I have been tortured by my OCD-ness for my failure to write up this week's Lust-Haves on time. But in my defense, I have been extremely busy and exhausted with our house renovations - construction noises are a really effective, albeit ungodly early, alarm clock. Plus, I have lost count of how many times I have traipse up and down our new stairs to move the contents of my closet alone. This exhaustion, coupled with the fact that I am on a weight-loss shake program (aim: lose around 5kg - hello bikini bod!), has me hankering for a much needed sugar fix. 

So for those of you who were expecting some sartorial inspiration, I am really sorry, my friends. Here are some photos of my favourite chocolate fixes instead. 

Photos courtesy of Google Image

Lust. Nom.

Not My Daughter, You Bitch!

For the past few Harry Potter movie releases, a few of my friends and I have set a whole day aside for a day of leisure. The tradition goes like this: go to a yummy brunch in the morning, then to the supermarket to grab ingredients and snacks, and then back to one of our houses to hang out and make a mouth-watering Jamie Oliver chicken caesar salad and an equally tasty dessert. To top off the day, we would catch a night session of Harry Potter (to avoid those pesky kids and loud teenagers), sneaking in our desserts, popcorn, and 7-11 slurpees. We are truly thrifty people at heart - why pay 3x more at Hoyts for the same thing you can get much cheaper somewhere else?

This past weekend was our last Harry Potter day, and a bittersweet emotion that ran through me all day. The films will never match the books, but they have gotten much better with each film and the actors grew into their characters' skins. This last film was very well-done in my opinion, and I admit I was close to shedding a tear at the end. That is, until I realised they decided to include the ridiculous "19 Years Later" epilogue.

I'm sure you are all more interested in the food we ate/cooked this year, so onto the pictures!

First it was brunch at Chaos Cafe in Neutral Bay:

Mango, Mint and Apple Frappe

Scrambled Special - with Feta, Sundried Tomatoes and Spinach with Sourdough Toast

Omelette with Spinach, Onion and Bacon

Do the Dip.

I'm sure many of you have the same dream that I have: to go to New York, baby. Number one on my NYC bucket list is to eat a chili dog, but getting to New York is a bit of a pipe dream right now. Luckily, the good people at Good God have come up with a brilliant concept called The Dip, which gives Sydney-siders a taste of the Americana "canteen and tasty eats" culture.

The menu offers delights such as the Kosher Chili Hot Dog, Steak Fries, Salsa Fries, and Kangaroo Burger. Yummy cocktails are also served up by the jug, with ingenious names such as the Chevy Chase. The only qualm I had about the place was that it was too dark - I could barely see my food or my friends' faces.

 

 

My friend has an actual review of our experience, click here to read it!

Can I eat now?

Thanks to Masterchef, us Aussies are becoming food connoisseurs. A pasta dish is no longer just "good" or "not so good". We're getting more and more refined with our taste buds: how are the textures interacting with each other, is there a balance of flavours, how is the dish plated, can I sound any more like Matt Preston? And before we can tuck into any dish, we must photo-document it (as a food blogger friend of mine says, "We have to say grace first").

While I am a lover of good food, it's getting a bit over the top. However, if there is one good thing that's come out of this food explosion, it's the growing popularity of desserts, bakeries and high teas. As a dessert-freak, the array of tarts, macarons, cakes, cupcakes, slices, crepes and breads available today makes me a very happy Sydney-sider.

In this city, there are two standout bakeries that I'm sure are in all the new travel guides, and always have ridiculously long lines. I am, of course, referring to Adriano Zumbo and Bourke Street Bakery. Famous for his innovative (read: pretty much impossible to achieve at home) desserts and to-die-for macarons, Adriano Zumbo has sure capitalised on his Masterchef fame, coming out with his own TV show, cooking labs and (soon to be released) book. And what can I say about Bourke Street Bakery except for YUM. The store space is modest (like really modest) but the menu offers gems such as ginger tarts, flourless chocolate cakes, lamb rolls, and quince tarts. I'm just going to let the pictures do the talking.

From left to right: Lemon meringue tarts, Ginger tart, Rhubarb tart, Chocolate tart from Bourke Street Bakery

Macarons: Strawberries & Cream, Kaffir Lime & Ginger, Chestnut & Mint, Chocolate