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Archive for the ‘Food & Friends’ Category

Snippets

Posted in Food & Friends, Recipes on December 10, 2014| 56 Comments »

A few snippets from the last couple of weeks – it’s been a busy time!

When Pete’s family were down for our early Christmas get-together, Penny, Ray and I popped into the Sydney Fish Market to buy supplies for lunch. The salmon were so fresh they looked like they were still swimming…

We bought scallops, Coffin Bay oysters, calamari, ocean trout and a kilo and a half of these magnificent tiger prawns…

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We’ve stopped planting squash because a couple seem to come up by themselves every year. And when they grow to this size, a couple is more than anyone needs! For some reason, each year the tromboncino crosses look a bit more risque (sigh)…

Our neighbour Mark’s passionfruit vine is promising a bumper crop this season – there are already half a dozen fruit maturing on our side of the fence…

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Last week, Pete and I lunched with the divine Deb Kolkka at the White Rabbit Gallery. I took a few photos of the current exhibition…

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Small Man is our resident Christmas elf.

Every year he tidies up the living room, moves the furniture, drags the tree out of the cellar, then spends hours meticulously setting it up and arranging the lights. Only then does he call the rest of the family in to hang up decorations!

Half the decorations on the tree are homemade and I have trouble culling any, so the tree just gets fuller each year…

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I was excited to find 5 Stagioni Semola Rimacinata on sale at a local deli when I popped in to pick up a fresh bag of chestnut flour. Bread and chestnut flour brownies are on the list for Christmas…

I tested out the new semolina flour in a batch of overnight sourdough rolls and it was very good. It seems to absorb more water than the other brands, which means I’ll be able to make higher hydration doughs with it…

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Christmas chocolate making this year will involve gorgeous candied orange segments that I found at Johnny’s cheese shop…

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My old friend Wendy stopped by yesterday and gave me all her surplus sample bags. It was like receiving a box of treasure! That sorts out Christmas wrapping for me…

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And as for Christmas gift tags – here’s a link to some we made five years ago. I turned them into pdfs in case you’d like to print them out onto card and use them for your kitchen treats…

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Christmas gift tag – with greeting

Christmas gift tag – blank

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What’s been happening at your place this December?

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Miscellany

Posted in Food & Friends, Frugal Living, Recipes on November 23, 2014| 72 Comments »

A random assortment of bits and pieces from the past few weeks…

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Making “Persian” Fetta for Christmas

I’ve found a great brand of Bulgarian sheep’s milk cheese. It makes deliciously creamy marinated fetta, and it’s available at Costco and Harkola for $10 per 900g…

Each box has enough cheese to fill three gift jars. I’ve added garden rosemary, halved pequin dried chillies, black peppercorns and new season garlic (which I fry very gently before popping it in the jar). It’s an easy and economical Christmas gift, providing you don’t eat it all first. Our original recipe can be found here.

I gave a jar each to Tania and Charlie when we had our girls’ lunch, accompanied by loaves of my nutty sourdough…

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Things I’ve Learnt about Dishwashers

1. Dishwashers use less energy and less water than handwashing. Sorry Maus! Here’s the study by the University of Bonn and the follow-up analysis by the folks over at Treehugger.

2. Don’t use dishwasher pellets – I’ve now had two Miele techs tell me that they cause problems in the machine. They’ve both advised sticking to powder and rinse aid.

3. Don’t use green cleaning products – Andy the dishwasher guy suspects that they shorten the life of the machine. Sadly, the environmental impact of having to buy a new machine years earlier than necessary far outweighs that of the detergent.

4. If your machine isn’t draining properly, check the non-return valve. In the Mieles, that’s the part with a rubber ball that stops the water flowing back into the machine – it needs regular cleaning and can be replaced easily (check Google) if necessary. Lovely Mo gave me this tip, and it saved us a $160 call out fee.

5. Our Miele wouldn’t stop draining after the water was cut-off (and turned back on again) mid-cycle. We fixed it by unplugging the machine and then carefully tipping it to one side slightly and letting the excess water drain out. I’m not sure whether that’s a recommended practice, so attempt it at your own discretion. (All care, but no responsibility taken on that one!)

6. Keep cockroaches out of your machine at all costs. They’ll eat the electronics and cost you a fortune in repair costs.

7. White vinegar is a much cheaper alternative to rinse aid and works just as well.

 8. If you’re in Sydney and you need your Miele fixed, call Andy at A.D. Power Repairs. Apart from being a really nice guy, he’ll be absolutely honest with you – his focus is on fixing the appliance rather than selling you a new one!

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Easy Nibblies

Inspired by Man Finds Food (Adam Richman’s latest tv series), I dug out a box of frozen shredded pulled pork (it freezes and defrosts brilliantly) and paired it with a packet of wonton wrappers…

Each wrapper was filled with a spoonful of pork and folded into a tiny spring roll. A little cornflour in water helped to stick the edges down…

They only took minutes to deep fry and even less time for the boys to demolish them…

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Filled Focaccias

I’ve written about these so often that it seems redundant to post another recipe, but they do change every time, depending on what fillings I have to throw in. Last week my friend Johnny gave me a small pack of Jamón ibérico offcuts (regarded by many as the finest ham in the world). There was just enough to fill two slabs of focaccia, one for John and one for us…

Here’s our basic filled focaccia recipe – it’s a very easy way to whip up something quick for holiday entertaining!

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It’s only the end of November, but it’s already beginning to feel very festive! How are things going in your part of the world?

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Cat Toys

Posted in Food & Friends on November 14, 2014| 47 Comments »

As I’ve mentioned before, I adore trivia.

To that effect, I have a large collection of the Uncle John Bathroom Readers, supplying me with well-written, well-researched snippets that often turn into dinner table conversations…

I know it’s a little risque, but this one made me laugh out loud, so I thought I’d share…

You know the expression, “get the monkey off your back?”

In our house, that’s now been replaced with, “shake the cat off your scrote” (Big Boy’s suggestion, credit where it’s due).

Happy Friday, folks! :)

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Happenings

Posted in Food & Friends on November 4, 2014| 80 Comments »

In keeping with my decision to slow down a few months ago, I’m not spending nearly as much time on the internet these days as I used to. That doesn’t mean I’ve really slowed down much, but it has freed up a lot of hours for other things. I thought I’d share some happy moments from the past few weeks with you.

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Our lovely neighbours Liz and Brett treated us to lunch at Spice Temple.

I’d never been before – the food was wonderful but the cocktails were an absolute standout! Each one is named after the Chinese horoscope – naturally I had to try a Snake (cumquat marmalade, vermouth and sake, photo below), while Liz had the Pig. The cocktail list is a fun read and can be found here…

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If you’re in Sydney and you’re not following Lorraine’s blog, then you’re missing out. After reading a recent post of hers, we found ourselves at the Knafeh pop-up store in Strathfield a couple of weeks ago. Our old friends Kevin and Carol went with us, and we were all excited to be driving down a dark street looking for secret food. Pete commented that we always know where the interesting places are thanks to Lorraine!

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The fish tank renovation has been completed, and we now have seventeen male African cichlids and a large, grumpy catfish. They’ve all been named and we stand at the tank practicing to make sure we remember who’s who – Bruce, Shirley, Bulldog, Rainbow Fish, Sushi, Tuna, Marlin, Columbus, Escher, Moby, Barry, Mad Fish, Stewie, Toby, Mack, Hal, Bluebell. And Elvis the catfish, of course.

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Again, thanks to darling Lorraine, we discovered the Strawberry Fields Patisserie in Dulwich Hill, where we enjoyed a delicious pot of rosebud tea and discussed the Alcatraz escape with Simon, the chef and owner (he has the Anglin and Morris wanted posters on his cafe door!)…

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Last weekend we drove to Newcastle (about two and a half hours drive from Sydney) and visited our friend Craig and the lovely Alice at the Baked Uprising cafe (Francesca, Craig said to say hi!)…

I think it’s a wonderful testament to Alice’s creative eye that the decor included a table built from a book press and rescued branches hung from the ceiling…

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We were actually in Newcastle for a combined 40th/50th birthday party, which turned into a surprise wedding! It was an opportunity to catch up with old uni friends – we’ve all known each other since we were 18 years old. We decided an Ellen style selfie was in order…

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While we were away, Big Boy and Small Man were left to fend for themselves. Big Boy sent me a photo of the pasta dish he’d created for dinner – clearly they can manage without me in the kitchen!

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What’s been happening in your world?

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Bold Statements

Posted in Food & Friends on October 19, 2014| 77 Comments »

Rino Saffioti makes the best chocolate sorbet in Sydney.

Cow and the Moon were recently named the world’s best gelato makers, but nothing beats Rino’s chocolate sorbet. And because I’m a demanding pain-in-the-butt, they very kindly top it with homemade chocolate shavings and caramelised Piedmont hazelnuts for me…

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Baby M is the cutest little girl in the world.

She sat on our driveway and tried to make bubbles last week, by blowing through her nose…

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Baked goods improve exam performance. Chocolate helps too.

I’ve been baking and tempering for our young friends Rory and Alex as they study for their end of school exams. They assure me that it’s helping…

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Luca is going to be a famous fashion designer one day.

I gave him some Sheridan sheeting scraps I’d found at Reverse Garbage years ago, and he turned them into this shirt…

Note the perfectly straight stripes!

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There IS such a thing as a free lobster.

Two, in fact. My neighbour Liz ran out of freezer space and gave me her Costco lobsters. We made speedy mayo and Cuban bread today and enjoyed them for lunch…

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Life is always brighter with a new enthusiasm.

This month I’ve been learning to pipe buttercream flowers. This is my second attempt at hydrangeas following Rosie Cake-Diva’s YouTube tutorial…

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Practice makes better.

Not perfect, but better. I’m still working on my roses…

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 Rocky Road should be made with dark chocolate.

This batch also had roasted hazelnuts, cranberries, glace ginger and marshmallows…

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What bold statements are you making today?

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