Christmas Wifesaver

Without fail, my family prepares our Christmas morning breakfast before snuggling into our beds on Christmas Eve. It's one of the few traditions I've been able to continue while living in Australia. It's delicious, and because all you have left to do is melt butter and crush up some cornflakes, it makes for a less stressful Christmas morning. It's a wifesaver, ha ha ha.

Christmas Wifesaver

16 slices white bread with crusts removed

5 Eggs

½ tsp Salt

½ tsp Pepper

11/2 tsp dry mustard (e.g. Keens)

¼ cup minced onion

¼ cup green peppers, finely chopped

½ tsp Worcestershire sauce

3 cups whole milk

¼ lb butter

1-2 cups Corn Flakes or Special K cereal

2-3 cups grated cheese (Cheddar or Marble)

200 grams shaved Black forest ham

1. In a 9x13 buttered baking dish, put the 8 pieces of bread. Add pieces to cover dish entirely. Cover bread with ham. Sprinkle cheese on top.
2. In a bowl, beat eggs, salt, and pepper. To the egg mixture add dry mustard, green pepper, Worcestershire sauce and milk.
3. Pour over the bread, ham and cheese, then cover with cling film and let stand overnight in fridge.
4. In the morning melt ¼ lb butter, pour over top. Cover with crushed cereal.
5. Bake uncovered @ 180*C for about one hour. Serve with fruit.

I make a smaller version when it's just me and Jody because our Pyrex dish is smaller than 9x13 and fits 6 slices of bread. (Don't be tempted to replace the white bread with healthy bread.) It's just out of the oven now. Yum!

Brownies with PB icing

Today, @klfair came over for an afternoon of blogging and brownies. One of our mutual Twitter acquaintances tweeted a photo of a peanut butter Twix bar yesterday, and I haven't been able to get that  devastating combination off my mind: peanut butter and chocolate.

My usual brownie pick is Alice Medrich's Cocoa Brownies, but they are too rich and sinful to add anything else, and always come out thin and fudgy. What you really need is a cake-y brownie to stand up to the peanut butter icing. Boxed brownies work well for this, but I'd purchased cocoa powder and eggs earlier this week, so I searched for a recipe.

Alton Brown's Cocoa Brownies looked like a winner... until we weighed the butter. The recipe called for 8 ounces. That's nearly an entire 250g stick! We backed off.

Everyday Brownies by Nigella Lawson was our next find. Comparing the amount of butter here to the Alice Medrich recipe, it seemed more...reasonable? Each calls for about 140g, or 5 ounces. Also in its favour, Nigella's brownies use 4 eggs, and I had already beaten four in preparation for the discarded Alton Brown recipe.

We mixed everything together and debated over the tinfoil in the brownie tin. In the end, we sprayed the foil with canola before putting the batter in, and that seemed to work. Make sure you overlap the sides of the tray so you can lift out the brownies when they're done.

I chopped six squares of Plaistowe premium dark chocolate, very small - it sort of made shavings on its own - and that was the last ingredient to go into the saucepan. I've never made brownie batter in a saucepan before. Into the oven they went... Once the brownies have cooled, you can mix up the peanut butter icing. I've been doing this for years with my mom and sister in Canada, but it seems Australia is not as "into" the peanut butter and chocolate combo. For shame!

There is a recipe here for PB icing (butter optional, in my opinion). I used smooth but ran out, and added about two tablespoons of crunchy, which accounts for the bumps you see in the photo. (Do not use natural peanut butter.)
If you want to be extra decadent, melt some chocolate and fling it across the frosted brownies.

So! Now that @klfair and I have done the hard work of choosing recipes for you - go forth and bake!

Fussy Coffee Cake

Occasionally, the only cure for what ails me is to spend time in the kitchen. I desperately wanted coffee cake, but I didn't want the temptation of an entire cake in the house either... so Tuesday morning, when I didn't work until ten, I made The Joy of Baking's coffee cake and brought it into work. On the bus, I might add, still in its springform pan, in a cloth bag.

Be forewarned, this is a bit of a fussy cake to prepare on a workday morning. I used three bowls and just over half an hour to mix everything together. Whether that's because I was sleepy, or it was a new-to-me recipe, or I had a husband running around me making coffee, I don't know.

In any case, it's best suited to brunch or a weekend afternoon tea. My mom makes a fabulous one but I wasn't sure I could wait to get the recipe from her. I've never made one with chocolate chips in it before - usually just nuts and brown sugar, or alternatively, blueberries - but it was nice for a change. I had to sub in a few teaspoons of cornflour to make up for the lack of cake flour in Australia, but it worked. I had a rather fluffy cake with a beautiful streusel.

Here is a snapshot of the reactions:

"It's still warm!"

"It looks so professional."

"Could I have the recipe? This is the best cake I've had in years!"

"What is it? Is there coffee in it?"

"Are those chocolate chips?"

And finally: [Groan] [Nom nom] [more happy groaning]

From the Oven

Using a slightly-tweaked recipe I found here (more puree, less sugar, added ground cloves), I made pumpkin pies for Christmas, and another two today:

Last night I baked a longtime favourite (previously blogged here) and was rather pleased with how it turned out. I added a few walnuts on top before baking, which made this banana bread look even tastier.

My little camera is missing so unfortunately the above are just phone pics.

Also from my kitchen this week:

An easy simmer sauce curry with beef, bell peppers, carrots & onion with couscous as an accompaniment to Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Banana, mango & orange smoothies

M&M cookies

Meat loaf

BBQ'd Chicken Kebabs with bell peppers & mushrooms, marinated in teriyaki, lime, and ginger

A reprise of fish tacos will be tonight's dinner. Friday night we ordered my favourite pizza from Pizza Capers, New Orleans - cajun-spiced chicken with mushrooms and thin slices of potato, drizzled with sweet chili sauce and sour cream. Yummm. A girl can't cook all the time! :)

What have you been cooking lately? Is there anything you're dying to make? On my list are:

John Willoughby's Tagine-Style Lamb Stew
Lentil Soup with Caraway and Minted Yogurt
Honey Thyme Pork Roast
White Chocolate & Passionfruit Layer Cake

Recipes of Roommates Past

Roommates come and go, but sometimes you crave the food they used to make.

Brandy's Chicken in Really Good Sauce

1/4 C butter
1 pkg dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
1/2 C white wine
1 can Campbells Golden Mushroom Soup
4 oz cream cheese
2-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Spaghetti

1. Melt butter on stovetop in a saucepan. Stir in dressing mix. Blend wine, then soup, then cream cheese into butter & dressing mix. Heat throughout but do not boil, stirring until smooth.

2. Arrange chicken breasts in ovenproof dish. Pour sauce over chicken. Cook uncovered at 325 degrees F for 25 minutes if fresh, 60 minutes if frozen.

3. Cook spaghetti or other pasta according to package directions. Plate, then top with chicken and sauce.

This particular roommate combo was short-lived, but it gave me this recipe, which is darn tasty. If you're serving more people than you have chicken breasts, just cut it up before cooking. Unfortunately I can't make the chicken here in Australia, because there is no golden mushroom soup, and Campbells cream soups in general just don't taste the same. Come to think of it, I haven't found dry italian dressing mix either. Sigh.


Chris' Rice n Beans

White rice
1 can of black or kidney beans, rinsed
Black sesame oil
Good quality chili powder
Salt to taste
Light flavoured olive oil
Garnish: cilantro, lime and grated cheese

I can't vouch for amounts but here's the basic method:
1. Cook rice according to package directions. Set aside.
2. Heat black sesame oil in large pan or deep electric griddle
3. Transfer rice to pan once hot, then add beans and mix.
4. Shake chili powder and salt onto beans & rice, to taste
5. Add lots of olive oil - chef says "enough light flavoured olive oil to make it kind of oily." Stir, stir stir, because the pan should be hot and the rice n beans sizzling. When it's shiny and a bit crispy, you're done!
6. Top with fresh cilantro (Aussies: coriander), a squeeze of lime, and grated cheese.

The best part of the rice n beans is definitely watching Chris make it, because he's so very happy in the kitchen. He's usually wielding some utensil or another as though it were an extension of his arm. Chris is also the roomie with whom I argued over "small mashy." I did promise to tell this story sometime...

Jody and I started our married life as the roommates of Chris and his talented fiancee Angie. Between us we had far too many utensils. As a newlywed AND a student, wine was scarce - and I had been given a glass. Chris and I were going through the kitchen stuff and deciding what to put in storage. He had the standard wavy potato masher, while I had my round one with holes, and I was trying to argue why mine should stay in rotation. Tipsy from the wine, I was unable to conclude with anything other than,
"Because it makes smaller mashy!"


Danielle's Strawberry Muffins

My roommate Danielle once stayed up until midnight to bake strawberry muffins and take a 20-minute drive to sneak them into her boyfriend's truck. (They got married not long afterward!) Michelle and I got to eat the extras. I don't have her recipe, but this is my fave strawberry muffin recipe, from Eggs on Sunday.

Please consume responsibly, and enjoy!

A Busy Kitchen

I decided to play in the kitchen tonight and make dinner AND dessert, certain I could manage because dinner required marinating for 1/2 an hour and would be made on the stovetop, while dessert would use the oven. Oh-ho-ho, how optimistic I was!

Since finishing work two weeks ago I've been a busy girl - trying to decide what path to take next, planning vacations, writing, reading, budgeting and sending handmade cards to my friends who are getting married and having babies. Things are in flux at the moment and I wanted to spend time in the kitchen, as it always seems to give me a sense of accomplishment and the feeling that some things will turn out, no matter how crazy the rest of my life is.

Several months ago I made Chicken Thighs in Riesling, and tonight it was just as delicious as I remembered, served with a side salad. While it marinated away in the fridge I got to work on a cake I've had my eye on for ages : the Smitten Kitchen Gingerbread Apple Upside Down Cake, henceforth known as Skapple cake (the SK for Smitten Kitchen, although as I look at the original post again it seems she's adapted it from someone called Karen Bates at the Philo Apple farm, and the New York Times). So! Skapple Cake.

It's not a difficult cake, exactly - but there are several steps, which felt a bit beyond me tonight. Do not attempt this cake unless you have several bowls. And enough counter space. And perhaps a helpful roommate. And at least two hours, because it bakes for nearly an hour and takes time to put together unless you're really with it. I most definitely was not tonight. I managed with my loose-bottomed cake tin/cheesecake tin, but a cake tin with a sealed bottom is better. Fortunately I'd anticipated the problem of heated topping dripping from the tin, and had put an old cookie sheet underneath the pan.

On the plus side! The cake was moist and spongey, the house smelled fantastic while it baked, and although it looked very "homemade" it was also pretty impressive. I used Braeburn apples, which kept their shape but still softened. If you feel like something warming that will keep you happily in the kitchen for a while, this is a good cake to try. It turned out beautifully, so at least my hard work was worth it. Smitten Kitchen suggests cider or dark ale to accompany it, and a bit of softly whipped cream.

No Burnt Pizza Here

There are good weeks and bad weeks in my kitchen. The bad weeks are when I manage to burn frozen pizza or add bad milk to my eggs, and then I throw up my hands and declare it take-out night.

But this has been a good week in the kitchen. Sunday I baked cookies AND brownies, and although I burnt my finger it is healing well (darn those metal bowls sitting too close to the gas element). Earlier this week we had stir fry & cous cous. Last night was the simple but tasty salad, bakery rolls and barbecued sausage. Lunch was mock greek salad. And tonight? Oh yes. Tonight was the fabulously rustic and soon-to-be-repeated Chicken Thighs in Riesling.

One of my new favourite food blogs is Everybody Likes Sandwiches, which has recently migrated from a blog site to its own domain (the Vancouver-based foodie is also a graphic designer). There's much more to love there than sandwiches, and while poking around the site's newly created category search, I discovered what seemed to be the perfect culinary end to my week. So last night I scurried to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients, none of which are obscure - you might even have them in your fridge or cupboard right now.

Chicken Thighs in Riesling
Adapted from Gourmet
and Everybody Likes Sandwiches

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
2 tsp garlic paste or 2 cloves, chopped
1 t oregano
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 t ground cumin
4-6 skinless chicken thighs
(even easier if they're boneless)
salt & pepper
1 T olive oil

1 T butter
4 large shallots, roughly chopped
4 medium carrots, cut into 1 inch long rounds
1/2 – 3/4 c riesling
4 potatoes, cut into large chunks
1/4 - 1/3 c heavy cream
juice of 1/2 a lemon

1. Rinse and pat dry chicken thighs, using paper towel. Prepare a dish with the garlic, bell pepper, oregano, cumin and lemon juice. The lemon is key for moisture and zing! Stir to coat and allow 30 minutes to marinade.

2. Heat olive oil over med-high heat in a wide saucepan or pot, then add chicken and marinade. Brown chicken on all sides. Remove from pan and set aside.

3. Heat butter and saute shallots and carrots for about 10 minutes, then add the chicken. Pour riesling overtop and cover. Cook over med-low heat until chicken is cooked through and carrots are tender, about 30 minutes. Get the potatoes ready while you're waiting.

4. In a separate pot, cook potatoes in boiling water until just tender. Drain and add to the main dish once chicken is cooked. Add heavy cream and squeeze in lemon juice, then stir gently to combine.

If you have boneless skinless thighs this recipe is even easier, and I got six fresh ones from my deli for just over $5. No photos this time because chicken, potatoes & carrots are not particularly photogenic. This meal doesn't look like much, but it is delicious.


After dinner, Jody complimented me on a successful meal, and then commented on the lighting. "You're funny, turning out the lights because the halogens are too bright."

"I didn't do it to be funny, I did it to be romantical!"

"Oh, that's right - you have nice candles on the table."

That's a good week right there, folks. Enjoy your weekend.

The Short of the Long Weekend

I need bigger muscles, or a stricter grocery-buying impulse.

I could barely carry my three cloth bags for the ten minutes it took to get home. 2 litres of juice, 2 litres of milk, sweet potatoes & beets, broccoli & bell peppers aka capsicum, flour & sugar, cheese, crackers & chips. Lemons & an avocado, shrimp, bread, salad, pasta, tea, and chocolate - both the baking kind and the snacking kind. And a new cookie pan, and a small stainless bowl.

I have plans, you see. Cookie plans, and dinner plans -
a) my aunt's cocoa and white chocolate drops
b) Melissa Clarke's roasted broccoli & shrimp

It is just about half past six, and I feel ahead of myself because I'm usually just leaving for the grocery store on a weeknight at this time. But it's a long weekend, and thank goodness one of the grocers near us was open, because we needed food. So I am going to spend some quality time in the kitchen, and while the broccoli toasts and softens itself and the shrimp gets all plump and flavourful, I am going to read some more Austen.

I read a bit of Northanger Abbey this morning, and was beyond happy to talk to my grandmother and my best friend on the phone. Last night I Skyped with my parents, and early this afternoon, chatted with my sis. It's been a really lovely day, despite the rain.
More later...

Dinner with cous cous!

The Making of Glass Noodles with Crab

Spurred on yet again by the fabulous Luisa of Wednesday Chef, I made a special trip to the grocery store to collect ingredients for Charles Phan's Glass Noodles with Crab. I needed something different. Something easy. Something good. This hit all three points, and it was quick to boot. In thirty minutes, including a little kitchen cleanup, I had dinner on the table.

Glass Noodles with Crab
Serves 2 very hungry people or 3 to 4 regular eaters

2 packages (100 grams each) thin glass (mung bean thread) noodles
2 tablespoons neutral oil, like corn or canola
1 tablespoon minced garlic (I used paste!)
1/4 cup trimmed and minced scallions
1 cup crab meat, free of shell (or 2 tins)
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Fresh cilantro for garnish

1. Cover noodles in room temperature water for about 15 minutes. Drain.

2. Put oil in a wok or large skillet, and turn heat to high. A minute later, add garlic and half the scallions and, almost immediately, the noodles and crab. Toss, and stir to mix the ingredients.

3. Add the sauces, taste, and adjust seasoning as necessary. Toss with sesame oil and remaining scallions. Garnish, and serve.

Here's how it went:
Once my ingredients were assembled, I unwrapped and de-stringed the glass noodles. The two bundles fit in my square Pyrex, so I covered them with room temperature water and let them sit for 15 minutes. There has been some discussion of how to soak the glass noodles (otherwise known as Vermicelli rice noodles or mung bean thread noodles). Cold water has been suggested for up to one hour, and warm water has been nixed as it makes the noodles too mushy. Fifteen minutes at room temp worked for me - the noodles became transparent and chewy when I tried one. My package also suggested I tear the noodles into a more convenient length, which I could do easily with my hands by this point.

While the noodles were soaking I chopped up the scallions (you can see them perched on the tinned crab in the photo). It only took two medium-sized ones to make up a quarter cup. I drained the crab meat and was surprised to find it was shredded, rather than in chunks. At $4 per tin, though, it was the priciest part of my meal - and overall it was still very inexpensive. (Two packets of noodles at 67 cents each and less than a dollar's worth of scallions. The sesame oil, fish sauce and oyster sauce were each just under $3. I had dark soy sauce already, which is partly why my finished dish looks different from Luisa's.)

With vegetable oil heated, I dumped in the drained noodles. Don't do it in a big clump like I did - you'll end up with a web of noodles all stuck together at the bottom of the pan. Trying to compensate, I tossed the noodles, garlic and scallions quickly to try and coat everything with oil. The crab was next, followed by the sauces. I admit I didn't measure per se, but this dish is quite forgiving. I eyeballed as I poured and stuck as close to a tablespoon of each as I could while trying not to let it overcook. Needless to say I made quite a mess.

Rather than top with cilantro, I simply split the noodles into two bowls and added pretty chopsticks. Jody and I dug in. I don't know how this would serve more than two adults unless it was as a side dish. It was so tasty, and not too fishy - I have never bought fish or oyster sauce before, but the ratio here was a good one, despite my haphazard splashes into the pan. I think next time I might add some capsicum/bell peppers, but this was so simple and good - and I will definitely make it again.


I took more photos, but these are it for now. Turns out my iPhoto has somehow been corrupted; it isn't due to the Snow Leopard upgrade.

My Saturday of Loveliness

Ah, bliss. I got to sleep in. There were snuggles. I fell back to sleep to the sound of funny Australian birds. When I woke up the second time at close to noon, there was cereal and Earl Grey tea waiting. I read some Psalms over 'breakfast.' One that M suggested sparked a few ideas for a song, so I will have to come back to that another time.

It was a beautiful day, so I showered and put on my new Esprit dress, which is both comfortable and adorable - it's sort of boho; three different-patterned swatches stitched together and twist-dried so it's crinkly, with a square neckline and puffy elbow-length sleeves. It has a drawstring empire waist with copper beads and butterfly charms on the end of the string. I tried to find a photo of it but no luck, and our camera is missing its battery charger.

There was a message from my best friend that she'd received my package, and on a day when she really needed a pick-me-up, too. I read a couple chapters of Red String, and stumbled on a hilarious creation known as Cubeecraft - free printouts of cube-cutified* characters such as Alice in Wonderland, Princess Bride, and Sister Claire. Just print them in colour on cardstock, cut and fold, and you've got yourself cubee (kyoo-bee) playthings, or decorations for your desk or windowsill. The internet is awash with strange cuteness.

After a load of laundry and a grilled cheese sandwich, I convinced Jody we should venture outside with our books. There's a recently developed green space near us that overlooks the water, so we put on light jackets and shoes and headed out. We settled on one of the stone benches for awhile, winter sunlight on our faces and wind licking at the pages of our books.

I am still working my way through W.M. Thackeray's Vanity Fair, but I've got less than 200 pages to go now. I am enjoying it, and there is so much more to it than the Reese Witherspoon film, but I find it takes me awhile to get into it - so if I'm sleepy or have less than a half-hour to read, I pick up something less dense. (This past week or so I've read Mary Balogh's Slightly Scandalous and Tongue in Chic by Christina Dodd. They are far from dense but very entertaining!)

After our lazy, cuddly outdoor reading session we remembered we were in need of groceries. Lots of groceries. I won't bore you with a list, but we did get a roast chicken, pesto and a pizza base, which went together beautifully with some fresh pineapple, red pepper and cheese for our dinner. We had some white wine and watched a little TV. I've been fairly balanced food-wise this week, but not today! In the mood to be completely indulgent, I frosted and sprinkled two chocolate cupcakes I'd had in the freezer, for dessert. I read a bit more of my book and we contemplated watching the Serenity movie on TV, but that would just lead to us wishing we'd brought the Firefly series with us from Canada to watch first.

Jody is now playing a game on his iPhone as I type and we listen to some Ella Fitzgerald. I originally brought out my Mac to mess around with Scrivener and perhaps write a little, but I haven't posted anything here in a week, so instead I wrote this and added links to webcomics I've been following. Now I will go have a look and see if I can add anything to my poor neglected story.

It's been such a lovely Saturday.

* I made it up. I've got an English B.A. - I figure I am entitled to a few made-up words.

Mini-Burgers

If I seem a bit food-centric lately, I apologize. It's winter over here, and I've been staying in and making lots of soups and warm things. But I've been craving the mini-burgers sold at our nearby gourmet burger joint, Bite Me! and this post has some tasty photos to dress it up.

Last night Jody & I dropped off his laptop at our place and headed directly for burgers. The last time I wanted to go, you see, it was only 8pm and they were already closed... so I was a sad panda.

Rather than make difficult choices, we opted to split the platter of six mini-burgers, and also a big basket of onion rings. We got two of the "Lambtastic," a "Bloody Mary" which had a spicy sauce, two "Jack Daniels" with JD BBQ sauce & bacon, and my favourite - "Pluck Me," a chicken burger with seeded honey mustard & brie.

These photos are from our last outing - complete with the tomato-shaped ketchup bottle, and Jody's regular-sized burger. Yum! As a bonus... you can draw on the placemats with crayons.

Chef-Inspired

I was on my own for dinner last week, as Jody had embarked on a "code sprint" with a worldwide network of volunteer techies. As I meandered through my cupboards, with no idea of what to make, MasterChef was on... I must admit that I've been following it. Not every single episode, but enough that I was very interested to know who'd make it through.

This particular episode featured a two-hour challenge in which the amateur chefs had to create a savoury and a sweet pie. I had high hopes for Julie Goodwin, the home cook, and unfortunately her nerves got the better of her and one of her pies was instead a puddle of ingredients on a plate. Poh Ling Yeow, on the other hand, came out of the gate with an original dessert (rhubarb with hazelnut-chocolate crust) that didn't even look like a pie, and a tiny blue-cheese-and-veg pie -- and she won! Chris made a fish pie that sounded tasty, and Tahitian lime pie with meringue. Mmmmm.....

All these pies reminded me that I had two new medium-sized Corningwares in the cupboard, and puff pastry sheets in the freezer. So I whipped up my oft-used curry paste & coconut milk in a saucepan, added some steamed asparagus and a spring onion, and browned some chicken. I put the lot into the pastry-filled Corningware and folded the pastry edges in. To add a little gloss, I brushed a beaten egg over the pastry.

While this was cooking I chopped two apples and finished off a bag of frozen mixed berries. I sauteed the fruit in butter, brown sugar & cinnamon, and poured it into the second dish. Again I folded the pastry around the filling, and brushed it with egg before popping it in the oven.
It might not have been MasterChef worthy, but it was very tasty!

Speaking of great chefs, I can't wait for this film with Amy Adams and Meryl Streep!

I apologize if the photos aren't great - I used the camera on my phone.

Chocolate Pit Stop

Last Saturday found Jody & I wandering downtown to do errands. Between dropping off kitchen knives for sharpening and my Mac for servicing (loose mic connection), we found a little place that is a chocoholic's haven: Max Brenner's, Chocolate by the Bald Man. I kid you not. There is a real Max Brenner, and in fact he was interviewed in a food mag I picked up at the grocery store this week. He really is bald, and the magazine hailed him as a modern day Willy Wonka.

Mmmmmmmm, the smell of chocolate. Two enormous steel vats greet you in the entry: one white, one dark. You can see the chocolate being stirred through the clear lid. There was also melted milk chocolate in a smaller vat on the counter, which was being constantly streamed onto plates of treats as we stood in line. I lost count of the number of Belgian waffles drizzled in gooey sweetness, artfully arranged on pure white plates. When our turn came, we decided to split a hot chocolate (milk; I think next time I'll go for dark with orange) but splurge on two treats: a brownie and a cupcake.

The shop is decorated in mochas and hazelnuts, with pop art on the walls and little wooden letters that spell out CHOCOLATE IS GOOD FOR YOU. The square wooden stools are worn from happy consumers, the little tables a good size for two treats and drinks.

I had seen the descriptor, "Hug Mug" in connection with our hot chocolate, on the menu board. It appears that a Hug Mug is almost teardrop-shaped, with no handle. This way you can cup it in your hands and tip the warm, made-from-melted-chocolate beverage into your mouth. It cools fast, but really - how long do you expect it to last?

I wouldn't say the brownie was the best I'd ever had, though it was certainly among the richest - and it being warmed and doused with a trail of chocolate didn't hurt. Jody's cupcake was tasty enough, though not as fluffy as homemade. Still, as a decadent afternoon pit stop, it was appreciated far more than a coffee shop with mass-produced muffins, which tend to plague Sydney. You can get decent (or at least halfway decent) coffee pretty much anywhere, but pastries are another matter.
I think the next time I have a chocolate craving, I will opt for something more tantalising than milk ho-cho... and next time, I'm not sharing.

The Wednesday Chef - Ginger Mo' Cake

Mmmmm. I'm pretty sure the mo' is for more, not molasses.
Luisa, aka Wednesday Chef, plucks recipes from the depths of a cookbook or the back page of a newspaper and brings them to life with photos, prose, and the voice of good taste.

If you like to be in the kitchen, and you haven't checked out Luisa's blog, get on over there. Not only must she be a phenomenal baker and cook, she is a gifted blogger, one who celebrates the quiet joys of the kitchen with her words and pictures. This lady can make you crave things... beautiful, bountiful cakes, spicy winter soups, simply made dinners with sumptuous ingredients.

The Dark Molasses Ginger Cake is my third Wednesday Chef-chosen recipe. Previously, I've tried Melissa Clark's Roasted Broccoli & Shrimp and - twice - the rich, homestyle Yogurt-Rubbed Chicken with Roasted Red Peppers, courtesy Liz Pearson.

Luisa always notes where the recipes come from, and often includes some family or friend anecdote. In the case of today's gingerbread cake, it's a recipe from Edna Lewis, renowned for keeping old-fashioned Southern cooking alive.

Now, I didn't have a cake pan (still getting set up!) so I used an 8X8 glass Pyrex - and I'm about to test the results. Here's a photo :




I've made a pot of tea and squirted out some whip-in-a-can (since we don't have an electric mixer yet, no chance of freshly whipped cream). I'll ask Jody for the verdict: "Yummy!"

Random Memes - thanks Courtney!

I’m supposed to take the fourth picture from the fourth album in my pictures folder and post it - random, just the way I like it!

Ooooh, it's a good one, too. I don't have four albums up on Flickr yet (just got it recently) so I went to Facebook.


Mmmm cake! This photo was taken by my husband of only a few hours. We were waiting in the airport for our flight to San Francisco to begin our honeymoon! I barely got to eat at our reception so I had the catering staff pack me a little box of sandwiches and a little box of cake. And I was still wearing the dress I'd changed into mid-reception, with my tiara but no veil, which caused people to ask what I was all dressed up for. Ohhh my goodness, the cake was tasty. A friend made it for us; raspberry with vanilla cake was the layer you can see, and chocolate with hazelnut was the other. It was gorgeous, too.

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Then, according to Courtney and Toni, I should grab the book nearest to me (which unfortunately I haven't started yet; I grabbed it from the lending library) and go to page 56. Then type the fifth line and the next two to five lines that follow.

OK, so this one is called A Perfect Match by Patricia Veryan - it's a Regency romance - because I need something light to take to the beach. Yes, beach. I know it's February  but I'm in Australia. Hmm. Well, this could present a problem. This particular copy seems to have its pages out of order. So I will choose a page at random, since I can't find 56 in its rightful place. Here we go, page 46.
"She kept her eyes downcast, her heart thumping so violently it was all she could do not to betray herself. How smug he sounded, doubtless gloating over how he had, as Lady Branden said, 'gulled' his trusting nephew!"

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And in case you haven't seen it yet, here is a reposting of the 25 Random Things meme that's been flooding Facebook. Just to keep things interesting, I'll change a couple things...

1. I make really awesome banana walnut chocolate chip loaf.
2. Our grandparents let Pam and I drink coffee when we were young. I still don't know if it was decaf or not.
3. I am a game snob - but really good games like LocoRoco, Ico, and LittleBigPlanet have managed to hold my attention.
4. I always wanted to be a figure skater, so I started ballroom dance in university and hoped I would love it - I do, but I need more time and money to practice.
5. I've never tried Red Bull or any other energy drink.
6. I kept rose petals from my first boyfriend until I got married.
7. It's been my dream to be a writer since I was very small, but I'm not sure I have the drive to do it right now.
8. I was accused of plaigirism at age 10.
9. I have seven email accounts.
10. Except for one haircolour-in-a-box no one noticed, I didn't dye my hair until I was 26.
11. I read The Hobbit for the first time in grade 7 - it was supposed to be something I read aloud with my dad, but he couldn't keep up with the weird names and all the characters, so I finished it on my own.
12. My Gramma used to knit sweaters when I was small, often matching ones for me & Pam - my favourite was either a turquoise one with a fuzzy angora panda, or one with a dinosaur that had stegosaurus spikes that stuck out.
13. Sometimes I get the urge to straighten racks or t-shirt piles in a store - and I haven't worked in clothing retail since 2003.
14. I always thought I'd be better at being on time when I was older. Sigh...I've improved (!) but I'm forever keeping people waiting.
15. I used to hoard my Halloween candy for months.
16. My favourite thing to eat is breakfast, particularly Eggs Benedict - but I rarely get up early enough to eat breakfast, so I am constantly at odds with my favourite meal of the day.
17. You can barely tell I've read a new book because I don't crack the binding or fold the pages or leave it open upside-down.
18. Laughing at peoples' mullets is one of the great, small joys of my life.
19. The Crazy Kitchen at the museum in Ottawa is stuck in my childhood memories as one of the best things ever.
20. I've traveled by plane on three holidays in my life: New Years Eve, Canada Day, and Christmas Eve.
21. I love my MacBook, possibly even more now that it's been through a tea-spillage disaster and survived - I've had its thermal paste replaced so the fan would run properly.
22. I couldn't begin to guess how many times I've seen The Princess Bride.
23. I was on the JV soccer team for one year in high school.
24. It scares me a little that I usually know what Jody means, even when he says something that doesn't come out right.
25. Three months is the longest I've ever been apart from my sister, until now.

A mountain of ricy goodness

Jody and I went out for dinner last night with Mark, before heading to our place to hang out and watch some TV shows.

We went to the oft-mentioned but never photographed (by us) Wok Station, now pictured here:


The food is fantastic, and the menu is even better. In Jody's words, "They've run the menu through Google Translate." It takes twice as long to decide as it usually would, because you're too busy laughing at the menu. The wait staff seem to be able to speak perfectly good English, but the menu is decidedly Engrish.


Observe:












Jody got a chicken curry with a side of rice, similar to the one I ordered the first time we went to the Wok Station. (Mine was full of pumpkin - but the menu didn't tell me whether the dish was made with yellow, red or green curry. When I asked if it was a yellow curry (my fav), the waiter looked puzzled and said, "Yes. It's pumpkin." As though to put pumpkin with any other curry was unthinkable.)



Mark requested something without gluten (he's allergic, which knocks out soy sauce and oyster sauce), so the chef made him a simple stir fry that looked fresh and crisp. The restaurant has a fun way of chopping their carrots, and they look like crispy cut fries.

If you look closely at the menu photo, you'll see #33, Labor Fine Rice or Fine Noodle - and this is what I ordered, because, let's face it... How can you resist something with chili jam, that's good when you're hungry?

Oh. my. goodness.


This mountain of rice (which apparently, I could have ordered as a noodle dish) was superb. And it was only $12.90 AUD, which is $10.75 CDN. I ate all of it, and I was very full. I took the photo after I'd eaten somewhere between 1/4 and a third because I almost forgot. It was flavourful but not too spicy with the chili jam, and I looooooooove kaffir lime leaves and basil, and the beef was thinly sliced and tender.

If there weren't so many other interesting sounding dishes on the menu to try, I'd have that one again in a heartbeat. More next time we visit!