Lemon Curd

Well it's been a while between drinks, and I must say I thought this blog had died. But I've been off work a few days now, I've had some quiet time, and bugger me if I haven't had a couple of opportunities to get back into the kitchen. Not dead yet! And I needed somewhere to store this recipe.

Lemons have been falling off my tree, and unfortunately a lot of them have just ended up in the bin, but tonight I made some lemon curd as I'm on the hunt for the perfect lemon curd recipe. I posted one to this site back in July this year when I made some lemon cupcakes, but I think the method was a bit strange - you had to add the egg after the mixture had already been on the heat which I didn't like.

The following recipe is based on the recipe from the television show MasterChef. I had tried it once before and thought it was pretty good, but tonight I adapted it further myself. I think it's better now!

You will need:

3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
3/4s cup caster sugar
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 3 lemons (or 4 if they're small)
125gm butter, chopped

Mix the egg and sugar together until dissolved (I used the stand mixer). Add the zest, mix further. Add the juice and mix again.

Transfer mixture to a saucepan and add the butter. Stir over medium/low heat until the mixture starts to bubble and thicken.

Triple 6

Today is the 6th October. Nothing unusual about that. Except, for my family, this is a very unusual date. I have four brothers and no sisters. Three out of my four brothers have partners. The phenomena of this day is that all of my sisters-in-law share their birthday on this day. Yep, every single one of them was born on the 6th October.

Apparently the odds of that are something like 1 in 48 million....



(Jenna wasn't born on the 6th October - she just has to blow out the candles.)

Ten little fingers, ten little toes

There is a new addition to the family. Marisa, my brand new niece arrived 10.40 last night. Mum and baby doing well, and she is just gorgeous. Auntie Nina very excited.



I love you already Marisa!

Out with the old

My blog posts are definitely getting few and far between these days. Work is all consuming and just too demanding at the moment. Tomorrow morning I am off to Melbourne for a week after just having got back from Sydney, and Melbourne the week before that. Hopefully it will all be over soon and I can get back to doing stuff I really want to do, like baking. However, if this blog is still alive by the end of the year I will be very surprised. Let's wait and see...

Tomorrow also sees the beginning of my bathroom renovations, so this post is to show you the 'before' shots of my bathroom before it gets demolished tomorrow. I arranged for the work to start when I won't be home so that a) I don't have to worry about where to have a shower, and b) so I don't have to come home from work and see the mess created.

I am very excited about what the bathroom will look like when completed, but I am afraid that it will not be finished for weeks. I don't even want to think about it. Anyway, for now I will focus on the fact that I don't have to look at the ugliest green tiles I think I have ever seen, ever again. See for yourself.

Ramona was a waitress

I never used to be a fan of the Ausie band "Something for Kate" but now, years later, I can't seem to get enough of the lead singer Paul Dempsey's voice. He has gone out on his own and released a solo album. Here's one of the songs from the album:

Out of the mouths of babes

Nonno: What are you doing here Jenna?

(5 yo) Jenna: Mum kicked me out of the house!

Aunty Nina: NO SHE DIDN'T !

Lemon cupcakes with lemon curd

I made some lemon cupcakes last night. Somehow I forgot to put the milk in, so today they are a bit dry, but boy are they tasty! Lemon is such a great flavour.

I got the recipe from an old Donna Hay magazine whilst searching for a Chocolate Cheesecake recipe (which I still haven't found...). You will need:

125gm butter, softened
2/3 cup caster sugar
2 tspns finely grated lemon rind
3 eggs
1 and 1/2 cups plain flour
1 and 1/2 tspns baking powder
1/4 cup of milk

For the lemon curd you will need:
45gm butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 egg

Now the recipe is actually for "lemon meringue cupcakes", so if you want to do that step you will also need:
2 egg whites
1/3 cup caster sugar


Preheat the oven to 180c.

I made the lemon curd first because it needs to cool. Melt the butter over low heat. Add the sugar, lemon juice, and egg, and stir until smooth. Continue cooking over low heat, stirring constantly for about 5-7 mins or until thickened. Refrigerate.

Beat the butter, sugar, lemon rind, eggs, flour, baking powder and milk with an electric mixer until smooth.

Spoon into muffin pan lined with patty cases, and bake for 20 mins (test with a skewer). Cool.

To make the meringe, beat the egg whites until frothy. Gradually add the sugar and continue beating until the meringue is thick and glossy.

Cut 2cm diameter holes in the centre of the cooled cakes and fill with the lemon curd.

Pipe a swirl of meringue over the lemon curd and place the cakes under a preheated hot grill for 1 minute or until golden. Makes 12.


I actually topped the cupcakes with a lemon cream cheese topping. I just mixed some cream cheese, icing sugar and 2 tspns lemon juice together til smooth.



Enjoy!

Chocolate, Icecream and Espresso

My new laundry would have to be the tastiest sounding laundry around. The floor tiles are Chocolate, the wall tiles are Icecream and the bench top is Espresso. Yum!

Yes the laundry is almost finished, just a couple more small things to go. Here are the photos. I love it!

Hottest 100 of all time

Triple J are running a poll for the hottest 100 songs of all time. I would really like to vote, if only for the chance to be in the winning for tickets to the Reading Festival in the UK. But I'm afraid I take these music polls way too seriously...

You can only vote for 10 songs. How is that possible? It would take me days to come up with all my favourite of favourites, let alone whittle it down to ten! But the other day I thought "just vote for any", I mean, what does it really matter. So I started a list of songs I would possibly vote for. I didn't get very far before I gave up completely.

So, here is a completely dodgy list that I may or may not use to vote for songs before the poll ends this weekend. I should note, that the list doesn't contain anything too recent, but it should, because songs like "Empire of the Sun's - Walking on a Dream" or "Little Birdie's - Brother", I think will definitely be on my list in years to come.

The Shins - New Slang or Gone for good
Prince - When doves cry or 7
INXS - Never Tear us apart
Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing
Sinead O'connor - The Emporer's new clothes
Tori Amos - Cornflake girl
Peter Gabriel - Solsbury hill
Elliot smith - Waltz #2
ABBA - Super Trouper
David Bowie/Queen - Under pressure (and cover two artists with one song)
Bob Dylan - Lay lady lay
Radiohead - High and dry or Fake plastic trees
The Verve - Bittersweet symphony
U2 - I still haven't found what I'm looking for
Sufjan Stevens - Chicago
Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Scar Tissue
Joni Mitchell - Both sides now
Ben Harper - Burn one down (or pick any random song from the Ben Harper collection)
Kate Bush - Running up that hill
Blondie - Atomic
Crowded House - Don't dream its over (or anything at all by Crowded House...)
Madonna - Like a prayer
Hoodoo Gurus - My girl
Hunters and Collectors - Throw your arms around me
Johnny Nash - I can see clearly now
Midnight Oil - Blue sky mine
Neil Diamond - Beautiful noise
Paul Kelly - To her door
Bee Gees - Spicks and specks
REM - What's the frequency, Kenneth? (or pick any random song from their collection)
Silverchair - Anthem for the year 2000
Violent Femmes - Blister in the sun
The Church - Under the milk way
The Waifs - London Still
The Beach Boys - God only knows
Kylie Minogue - Can't get you out of my head or Did it again
Wendy Matthews - Day you went away
George Michael - Freedom 90
Blur - Boys and girls
Chirs Isaak - Wicked game
Nirvana - Come as you are
Gnarls Barkley - Crazy
The Cranberries - Zombie
Fastball - The Way
Hole - Celebrity Skin
Alex Lloyd - Amazing
The Bangles - Walk like an Egyptian
Damien Rice - Blower's daughter
Eskimo Joe - From the sea
Fleetwood Mac - Tusk
The Pogues - Dirty old town
Gotye - Heart's a mess
Four Seasons - Oh what a night
Jebediah - Leaving Home
Bon Iver - Skinny Love
Jack Johnson - Flake

Yeah, I won't be going to the Reading Festival.

Rocky Road

The only Rocky Road worth eating is the one you make yourself. That way you can put the best quality ingredients into it. Authentic Turkish Delight, your favourite nuts (macadamia for me), and the best marshmallows.

I'm going to Belinda's house tonight for a BBQ and she asked that I bring along my Rocky Road. So I made a batch last night. You don't really need a recipe... I just chop up the ingredients, melt the chocolate, (I also added some rice bubbles to this lot) mix it up and pour into a slice tray that has been lined with glad wrap. Refrigerate.



Enjoy!

Old Laundry

Some ridiculous hours are required at work at the moment, so this blog is definitely being neglected. However, the laundry renovations have started at my place, and so the upside to the hours I have been putting in at work means I don't have to look at the state my house is in for the duration.

Here are shots of the old laundry which has been completely demolished:

Retaining wall

The work on my retaining wall is almost complete. And what a pleasure it is to look outside my kitchen window to see a decent brick wall, instead of one that is falling apart.







Next.. the laundry!

Moonta & Wallaroo

On the weekend me my friend M and her daughter, went away to the Eyre Peninsula. We rented a cabin at the caravan park at Wallaroo. I had never been to the Copper Coast despite having lived only an hour and half away (from Port Augusta or Adelaide). And, I can't believe how much I enjoyed it. I came away from the weekend feeling extremely ignorant in my knowledge of the region's history. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, it was a booming region where people were given free passage from the Cornwall area in the UK to work in the copper mines. There was an incredible museum at Moonta that use to be a school. I can't believe how many relics of times gone by remain. Worth a visit for sure. Here are some of my photos from the weekend.


Marina at Wallaroo








Note the 'mounds' on the ground behind the plaque...so tragic. The plaque says "To the memory of the children who fell victims of epidemics due to insanitary conditions in the early mining days. 1969."

Home Renovations part 1

I've been thinking lately of finishing with my blog...my posts aren't regular, and I'm certainly not the most witty or accomplished writer. Neither am I a brilliant photographer or fantastic cook. I know that no-one cares for my opinion of music (except maybe Steve), and any interesting youtube video I post can be found, well, on youtube! But, at the back of my mind I keep thinking that I don't do this for the (three or four loyal) readers I have, but because in a few years time, or many many years down the track, I might just love looking back at this site.

So, I might be around for a little while longer... but what to post about when I haven't been cooking (or when I do, the result isn't great, or the photo is crap)? Well, my latest home renovations might be an idea. I know I will love seeing the progress and looking back on the 'before' shots.

One of my family members found a 'handy-man' after we first moved to Adelaide, and he has been doing work for a few of us over the years, ever since. He is un-licenced but he really can do anything you want to throw at him. His work is nothing short of amazing. Good quality and at a decent price. The draw back is that he is slow, but I can live with that.

I've been waiting for him to get round to my place after doing some work at my brother's house, and I think he will be here for a good six months all up (the list of things to do got longer as I waited). He has just finished fixing and painting my (wooden) windows, as well as doing some work on my deck. He has now just started on my retaining wall.







As you can see from these photos, I already have a retaining wall, but it is butt ugly. At this stage the plan is to leave the wall there (well most of it, because I'm moving a side bit back), and then lay the new bricks in front of the existing. The new bricks will lie flat against the old without creating a water retention problem.

In a week or two (depending on how much rain we get - we are expecting some), I will post some photos of the new wall. I can't wait.

Hot Cross Buns

Happy Easter everyone.

I am a fan of Hot Cross Buns so thought I would try making my own. I have a bread machine so I used a recipe that came with that, of course with a few minor adjustments. You will need:

340ml water
2 tblspn oil
2 tspns salt
3 tblspn brown sugar
4 cups bread flour
3 tblspn milk powder
1 tblspn ground mixed spice
1 tblspn ground cinnamon
2 1/4 tspns dried yeast
1 1/4 cups sultanas
1/4 cup mixed peel

Batter for crosses:
2 tblspn water
1/4 cup plain flour

I made two batches, the first only had sultanas and I didn't add the mixed spice. The second batch I added half a tblspn of mixed spice, and some chocolate chips!

Now, because I cheated and used the bread machine to make the dough, these were really simple, because you just throw everything in (and add the fruit at the beep), and out comes the dough. Then:

Divide the dough into 18 pieces (I only got 15) and shape into rounds. Place close together on a lightly greased baking tray.



Cover loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap and leave to stand in a warm area for 20 mins.

Blend 'cross' batter until smooth. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a small piping nozzle. Remove wrap and pipe a cross onto each bun. (I actually rolled the batter by hand.)

Bake in preheated oven at 190 c for 15 to 20 mins.

Enjoy!

Grated Chocolate Roll

I have been making this cake for nearly 20 years, and it is still a hit. The first time I made it was for an amateur cake cooking competition. I won! The recipe is from the Women's Weekly "Cakes and Slices" cookbook. You will need:

4 eggs separated
1/2 cup castor sugar
2 tbspns hot water
60 gm dark chocolate, grated
1/2 cup self raising flour
extra castor sugar

Filling:
thick cream
icing sugar
vanilla essence

Grease a Swiss roll pan, line and grease paper well.

Beat egg yolks and sugar in a medium bowl until thick and creamy. Fold in hot water and chocolate, then fold in sifted flour.

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form, fold into mixture. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake in moderate oven for 12 mins.

Turn immediately on to paper which has been sprinkled with extra sugar. Trim crisp edges from sides of cake. Roll up in paper to form the 'rolled' shape and stand for 2 mins, unroll and cool.

Beat the cream, icing sugar and essence. Spread onto the cake and roll up. Serve topped with extra whipped cream and chocolate curls as you like.



Enjoy!

Coffee Panna Cotta

I am hosting a dinner party tonight to celebrate Paolo's 30th Birthday, and afterwards we're going to some late night comedy as his gift. For dessert I decided to try and make panna cotta. It is such a luscious and light dessert. I hope he likes it. I made it last night, and it was really simple, and very quick to make. I used Lucullian's recipe at http://lucullian.blogspot.com/, with some very minor adjustments.

500ml cup fresh cream, I used thick cream (which probably accounts for needing more gelatin)
100ml milk
100ml very strong coffee
75ml cup caster sugar
10-12g gelatin leaves, I used the lesser amount but I think it probably needed the extra
Dark chocolate for decoration

Put the gelatin leaves to soak in cold water.

Mix cream, milk and coffee in a small pan, add sugar and bring to boil.

Squeeze the water out of the gelatin leaves and melt them in the hot coffee cream, stir really well and leave it to cool down a bit.

Pass through some muslin before pouring the cream into cocktail glasses. Refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours.

Decorate as you wish.



Enjoy!

Gotye

This is the latest offering from Gotye, in the band 'The Basics' (Gotye is a pseudonym for Wally De Backer). Can't stop playing it. And can't wait for the album. (I feel like I've used these words before on this blog.)

The Pyrophone Juggernaut

P came to visit and given it is the MAD MONTH OF MARCH in Adelaide, it was only appropriate that I organise a few Fringe shows to head out to.

Saturday night we went to see House of the Holy Afro. A show best described as "Afro Celt Sound System" meets "Ministry of Sound". Or if you don't know who they are, African music on acid will draw a pretty clear picture. http://www.houseoftheholyafro.com.au/

Sunday we spent a lazy day at a BBQ at mum's house before heading out to some comedy - Best of the Edinburgh Festival.

Monday (thank God for Public Holidays), we went to Grange Kiosk for coffee, Glenelg for some lunch and then we headed out to Semaphore Beach for some fish and chips and to see a free fringe event - The Pyrophone Juggernaut. More on that shortly.

Tuesday night we topped it all off by going to see Arj Barker. Professional comedians have real talent. They get on stage and drivel crap for an hour, and yet manage to keep the audience entertained the whole time.

Back to the Pyrophone Juggernaut... a "tightly choreographed percussive symphony spectacle". It was weird, but oddly entertaining. It looked a bit like a pirate ship from the future, and when the sun went down the show started. The musical instruments were metal and plastic pipes of different lengths placed to look like a massive organ; and wheel rims and other manner of metal objects. Blow torches were used to fire up through the pipes generating different sounds, among other effects.

At this point I think it best that the photos do the talking:















I love the Fringe, but soon, the Fringe will be over, Womadelaide truly done with for another year and the Clipsal madness forgotten, and Adelaide can wake up in 11 months time to start the March madness all over again.

Pasta Sauce

Well I've finally made another batch of pasta sauce, and have taken the time to take a couple of shots to blog it. This is how I make it, which is very similar to how my mum makes it. Of course we use mum's home made tomato sauce where we (or she, depending on who can help), takes a day or two out in January to make anywhere from 100 - 150 bottles of the stuff.



You can buy 'pasata' in most shops to make a reasonable sauce yourself (although I do find it slightly runnier, so needs more simmering time). This recipe uses 2 bottles, but that's because I make a large batch and then freeze it in smaller batches for when I need something fast.

You need:

2 bottles of sauce
garlic
onion
chuck steak (or something similar)
chilli
basil
olive oil

Generously coat the bottom of a large saucepan with olive oil and add the chopped onion. Soften the onion then add your meat.





Seal the meat before adding the tomato sauce. Add basil, garlic (whole), chilli and of course salt to flavour.



Cook at med/high heat until it comes to the boil, but keep it boiling for a good 10 or 15 mins before reducing the heat to simmer it. Stop cooking when you feel you have a good consistency and flavour (could be up to 2 hours). You want the meat to be falling off the bone by the end of it.



Add to your pasta and serve (with parmesan cheese of course).

Enjoy!

Garden pickings

I got all of these lovely items out of my garden today.



I couldn't be more proud of these few measly items. I just wish the rest of my garden wasn't dead, and that I had more time and nous to grow more things.

It's all in the genes

The more I read about human behaviours and traits, the more I believe that it's all in the genes...

Recently I posted a music video by Luke Steele who had teamed up with Nick Littlemore from PNAU to form Empire of the Sun, and I raved about how much I loved the song. I first heard about Luke from his band the Sleepy Jacksons whose albums I have and love. Luke has a sister, Katy Steele, who is in another great Ausie band, "Little Birdy", whose albums I also own and love. Little Birdy has just realeased a new song (and will release a new album soon I presume) called 'Brother'. I can't tell you how much I adore this song, and it features the one and only Paul Kelly too.



This video was filmed on a DIY video camera one day in Katy's bedroom.

So much talent in one family - it's all in the genes I tell you!

New York Brownie Cheesecake

I have never made a cheesecake before yesterday, but I was in the mood for trying something new, so cheesecake it was! I found this recipe in Janelle Bloom's "fast fresh & fabulous". I don't know how fast it was, and given I made a batch of biscuits in between layers, it took a fair while. But it is pretty fabulous.

You will need:

100gm dark chocolate, chopped
100gm butter, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup of plain flour
2 tablespoons SR flour

Filling:
750gm cream cheese, at room temp, chopped
1 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs, at room temp
2 tablespoons plain flour
300gm sour cream

To serve:
300 ml double cream
2 tablespoons limoncello liqueur
cocoa powder

Preheat over to 180c no fan. Grease and line 23cm springform pan.

Combine chocolate and butter - now Janelle says to microwave on high for 2 mins, then stir til smooth. But I think I prefer to do this the old-fashioned way in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. Whisk in cocoa powder until smooth. Stir in sugar, egg and flours. Spread mixture over base of prepared pan. Bake brownie base 15 mins. Set aside and reduce over to 160c no fan.

For the filling, use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until just combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the flour and sour cream until just combined. Pour over warm base and place on a baking tray.

Bake cheesecake for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean (the centre should still wobble slightly). Turn oven off, leave the door ajar, and allow to cool completely in the oven. Refrigerate until chilled.

Place the cream and limoncello in a bowl, whisk gently until combined. Cut the cheesecake into wedges with a warm knife, dust with cocoa powder and serve with the cream.



Enjoy!

The King of Fruit

The king of fruit for me, would have to be the fig. There is nothing more luscious. And today I picked the last of the peaches on my peach tree and picked the first half dozen figs from my fig tree. How divine. And I don't want to share them with anyone.

20 things about me

20 things you probably never knew about me (and probably don't need to know):

1. I didn't speak a word of English until I went to school. Now I am disappointed in how little Italian I know.
2. Bad grammar and spelling really ticks me off. And yes, if I have it wrong I do want to know about it - correct me!
3. I dry reach at the smell of sambucca, because once in my younger day I drank way too much of the stuff.
4. I have this fear that my long term memory is permanently damaged because I started drinking at an age well below the legal age.
5. I have a chipped front tooth.
6. I am long-sighted in the left eye and short-sighted in the right. They balance each other out so I don't need glasses. I suspect this is my own fault because I used to read with one eye closed under the bed covers as a teenager.
7. I once dreamt that I married Bob Hawke and recently dreamt that I went out to dinner with Kevin Rudd. I've had dreams about wars like Iraq air bombing Australia. And dreams that I was a man driving down a road in Antigua. My weird dreams are really really weird.
8. I have a fear that I will never have children, but I don't even know (at my age) if I even want them. Maybe the fear is that I will never have the choice.
9. I have three sisters-in-law. They all share the same birthday. Do you know what the odds of that are?
10. The house I live in is house number 3 that settled on the 30th November on my 30th Birthday. There are also three 3s in my home phone number.
11. I once had a collie dog named Lester. Neil Finn wrote a song about his dog called Lester.
12. I hate the movie Forest Gump.
13. I've met Ben Harper. I never felt so privileged.
14. I really wish I could play guitar.
15. I don't like scary movies, I don't like disney movies and I don't like sci-fi or fantasy movies. I am over action movies for the sake of action movies. At the end of the day, I just like a good drama.
16. I don't read sci-fiction books or romance books.
17. Besides learning how to read and write, I now think that one of the best skills I learnt at school was typing.
18. I don't like dish washers and I don't want one in my house.
19. I really hate it when people assume that because I'm single and have no children that I have plenty of time on my hands and that I lead a quiet life. Yes I have the privilege of not needing to compromise, I can do what I want, when I want and how I want. Doesn't mean I'm not busy and struggle to fit everything that I want to do in a day, week or month just like anyone else. Actually, if I achieve a lot, it's just because I'm pretty good at getting shit done. And if I had kids, I would still be good at getting shit done, because that's what I do.
20. And finally a work foible... if you want me to do something, I need to understand why, because if it doesn't make sense to me then you are obviously wasting my time. So I will incessantly ask you 'why' until I get an acceptable answer (even if the answer is "it will just be easier if you do it"). I know I am annoying when I do this.

Pesto Sauce

My kitchen hasn't seen a lot of cooking going on in recent times, hence the lack of posts of late. And I might have mentioned before, but work really cripples the way I ultimately want to live my life. I don't feel I have time for anything between work, gym, household chores and the odd social occasion (ok lots of social events recently, but that is not the norm).

Anyway I do feel I have neglected the blog and today I actually had some time, so despite the heat I hit the kitchen. I made some chocolate mini muffins which were lovely, but it was a debacle getting them out of the tray and they look a mess so I might try them again some other time. I also have basil in my little herb garden so I thought I would make some pesto.

Pesto is not traditionally a sauce that mum ever made. In fact she made it herself for the first time only a week ago. I've always used a Jamie Oliver recipe and when mum told me how she made hers last week (relayed to her by a friend of hers), I think it is exactly the same. I do like Jamie because I think he has a good appreciation and understanding for the way Italians like to cook. Now Jamie's recipe talks about doing certain things in steps, but I have to admit I just chuck everything into the food processor and just add oil at the end until I have the right consistency. You need:

1/4 clove of garlic (I actually use a whole clove)
3 good handfuls of fresh basil
1 handful of lightly roasted pine nuts
1 good handful of grated Parmesan cheese
olive oil
salt and pepper
small squeeze of lemon juice (optional)

Like I said, chuck it all into the food processor and just drizzle extra olive oil into the mixture until you have a semi-wet but firm consistency.

I also have a confession to make, I forgot to take a photo before I ate my pasta with pesto sauce...oops...I even walked straight past the camera and tripod to sit down and eat it. (I blame the heat - I'm sure you've heard about it.)

Enjoy!

Guitar Boat Hero

I have been too busy to post lately, and whilst I wanted to bake and post this long weekend, I needed to get some overdue spring cleaning done (really wished I had baked).

Today after doing the last of it (cleaning the bird shit off my deck) I settled in to listen to Triple J's hottest 100 songs of last year. I was so exhausted that I mostly did nothing and actually heard every single song (except I did make a trip to Bunnings but walked around with the iPod on).

Josh Pyke, one of Australia's best singer/song writers ended up with a couple of tunes in the top 50 I think, and he was also interviewed. He was talking about his song "Guitar Boat Hero" and he said that the guitar boat used in the video clip was specially made, so I thought I would check it out. It is a great little video clip and very apt to be posting on Australia Day. Cheers!

An elephant's best friend

I was just visiting 'Dooce' and she had posted this video. I had to do the same, it is just beautiful:

2008 Best Photos

I had been contemplating my next post for a few days when Dave sent me the following link:

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/12/the_year_2008_in_photographs_p.html

Be sure to view all three pages (click next at the bottom).

These are some of the most amazing photos I have ever seen, some merely because of the powerful and shocking subject matter. Some photos have warnings, believe me these are not for the faint-hearted.

Other photos are amazing because the photographer was in the perfect place at the right time.

Oh how I dream of taking photos like these.

Happy New Year!

Hello and Happy New Year to you all.


Sorry I haven’t posted in a while – the first week of my holidays was fairly uneventful and I was away in Melbourne for the second week. So of course, this post is about my Melbourne trip.

I flew in on the 29th and was planning on staying with my friend Lina for a couple of days before moving into an apartment with my friends from Canberra. Lina lives in South Melbourne and so Monday afternoon we walked to the Eureka building to observe the Melbourne skyline from the tallest building. The lift up was moving at a fast 9 meters per second. The height was frightening.





That night we had a lovely meal at a Vietnamese restaurant, the chilli quail entrée being the highlight of the meal.

Tuesday we went for a drive to Geelong. I had never been to Geelong before and was pleasantly surprised by what I saw.





Wednesday afternoon I checked into the apartment and had a nap whilst waiting for my friends to arrive. That night we headed to Prahran for a Thai meal and then over to Lisa’s Aunty’s place for New Year's Eve celebrations.

New Year's day we had breakfast in St Kilda and I also purchased another pair of havaianas (I need another pair of havaianas like I need a hole in the head). Then we all headed to Albert Park to spend the day at Lina’s mum’s place as she had extended a New Year Day’s lunch to my friends as well as me. It felt like we had just finished off cake and coffee before we were being told to stay for dinner, which we did! The food was great and plentiful.

Friday’s only objective was to get to "Books for Cooks" book store on Gertrude St, Fitzroy. The ad said "Browse the day away in Australia's only specialist cookery book store with over 25,000 new, out-of-print and antiquarian books in stock". I couldn't imagine anything better. We got there only to find it closed until the 6th January. This was probably a blessing in disguise because I also need another cookbook like I need a second hole in the head! We ended up just wandering around the streets of Fitzroy. We stopped for a coffee and Lisa and I thought we might have a small snack so I ordered a slice of apple struedel. I’m not sure if the staff thought I needed fattening up, but I ended up with the entire slab of struedel instead what I thought would be a quarter of what was on display.



For dinner we decided on a Spanish restaurant, but I've lost the business card so can't give you the details. The dessert was amazing! Churros with chocolate dipping sauce, yum! And I should point out that this wasn't the first churros with chocolate that we had eaten over the few days in Melbourne.



Saturday was simply fantastic. First we went to a café in Prahan (Amici’s) where I was served the best coffee of the trip, and Frank reckons his scrambled eggs with mushrooms were potentially the best he had ever eaten. A good start to the day. Lisa and I then headed off to see Billy Elliot whilst Frank attended a wedding ceremony. The musical was amazing and after the show I met two of the stars. Meeting ‘Billy’ himself nearly had me in tears (I’m sure I’ve mentioned on this site before that I am pathetic!). After all the excitement and not having had lunch, we all munched on “Lord of the Fries”, an infamous kiosk in Melbourne where you get great hot chips and you can choose from a variety of different sauces/toppings.




For dinner Saturday night I had booked us in to eat at “The Press Club”. You might have heard of the owner/chef ‘George Calombaris’ who sometimes appears on Ready Steady Cook.

http://www.thepressclub.com.au/main.html

We decided on Kerasma ‘C’ – a six course tasting menu as selected by the chefs on the night.

The meal was exotic to the eye and amazing to taste. The most 'interesting' course to taste was the cracked wheat soup (soup of trahana and mastic), but the highlights (for me) were things like the cumin roasted beetroot and the coffee ‘kafe’ pannacotta.

Once again I was quite pathetic when George actually walked into the restaurant to check on proceedings. I stopped short of introducing myself, but I really wanted to.

Sunday entailed making our way into the city to undertake a spot of retail therapy, saying goodbye and flying back home. But as you can see from this post the focus of the Melbourne trip was definitely on food. We all agreed however, that it had been one of our most successful trips yet. Love you guys! Thanks for an awesome time.



NB. All shots taken on either my point-and-shoot or Lisa's!