Chick Pea

2009-10-09T00:02:00.000+11:00

Still around, but it's time for a chance of scenery.

Come join me here!

Noice, Kimmay?

2009-05-29T09:52:00.004+10:00

I watched 4 Ingredients on TV the other day.

I don't know what to say.

They're like a cooking version of Kath and Kim, and almost as bad as Semi-Home Made with Sandra Lee.

4 ingredients only, most of which is made with processed gunk.

Blah!

Yum

2009-05-11T22:00:00.002+10:00

Well we've been on solids for just over a month now, and Junior is taking it well. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

We've tried veges, fruit and some yoghurt and cheese the other day. This week its going to be fish, and next week - meat. Once you start on meat there's no going back. I guess I should wave bye-bye to the breastfed poos of the past.

I'm sure there are some of you out there who know what I'm talking about.

I do have to say though that I'm struggling with ideas on what to feed him. Sure I have the frozen cubes of pureed fruit and veg carefully stashed away in the freezer to mix and match as I wish.

But to be honest, I feel like I'm not doing enough, or varying his diet enough. I call it food bias. There are some foods I just can't stand, like pumpkin, of all things. But yep, I just don't like it. I did give in and made some mashed pumpkin the other day, so I suppose I shouldn't feel too guilty. But still.

Deprived

2009-04-16T06:08:00.003+10:00

Junior needed a feed at 1.30am, ok no problem.

Husband's alarm going off at 5am, 5.15am. Him rolling over and finally deciding to get up, go down the stairs, turn on the light, turn on the tele, make a coffee, get and eat his cereal by clanging his spoon against the bowl constantly. Problem.

Junior stirring a bit during all of this and settling back to sleep himself. Good boy.

I hate football season.

Its going to be a long day.

Hectic

2009-04-10T10:06:00.002+10:00

Little Junior has reached the magical 6 month mark - we started on mushy rice cereal last week with some success. He pulled a face when he first tried some. I don't blame him, I had a little taste and it was kind of like cardboard which had been soaking in water for a couple of hours. Bleugh.

So this week I'm going to try some pureed carrot, hopefully it'll go down well and he won't be wearing too much of it!

In other news, my mother in law is in town for a month - 3 weeks down and 1 to go. It's been pretty good actually, not as horrendous as some people might think. Still, it will be nice to get back into a bit more of a routine, especially when you're trying to introduce solids.

The wonderful nights of "sleeping through" that Junior has been doing so well since his birth are well and truly over. He woke twice last night, bawling his little heart out. It's hard to tell if he's hungry, or bored or what. Then again, it might be the solids, if you count one teaspoon of the stuff as enough to keep him awake. I'm not sure what to do about it, so I've just been feeding him back to sleep, which apparently is a big no-no if you listen to all the "expert" advice. Ah well.

Finally we've booked our flights for our trip to Ireland in July. Time to start planning that one now. Good Lord.

Tired

2009-03-06T22:25:00.003+11:00

I've been pretty lucky with the little one so far. He started sleeping through the night at around 2 months, so it was a bit of a shock to the system when decided he was hungry at 2 this morning.

After a feed and a nappy change, I put him back to bed with the expectation (!?) that he would go straight back to sleep as he had in the past.

Nope, not this time sister. Oh Lordy no.

He cried on and off for 30 minutes before he decided he was sleepy after all, and off to sleep he went.

Fingers crossed it was just a once off.

Baby paraphernalia

2009-03-05T11:48:00.002+11:00

Well where do I start?

Having a baby means you start accumulating baby stuff. Mounds and mounds of it. Whether it be basinettes, clothes, toys, bibs, blankets, bottles, breast pumps, bouncers, prams, slings, baby carriers, nappies, more toys, more clothes, more...of everything. The list is almost endless!

We have been very lucky as we have received generous gifts from friends and family, plus some lovely hand-me-downs from cousins whose babies have outgrown their clothes.

Still, that doesn't mean you don't need to go out and buy more stuff yourself - comparing brands, comparing prices of different stores. It's tiring even just thinking about it!

The little guy is now 5 months old, 1 away from starting on solids. I am nervous and excited at the same time. It has been relatively easy feeding him now, whenever he's hungry, just whip out a boobie. But with 1 month left before he starts on mush, I've been looking at all the different types of spoons, bowls, sippy cups and bibs out there.

What started out as what I thought would be an easy exercise has pretty much turned into endless hours trolling through the internet for reviews on brands of rice cereals, sippy cups and so on.

I mean, at the end of the day, all he really needs is a spoon, a cup, a bib and a couple of cloth squares to wipe up any mess. But being a first time mummy makes you do silly things, and being fastidious about brands' pros and cons is unfortunately one of them.

Ah well.

One pot wonders

2009-02-18T11:28:00.008+11:00

Tasty leftovers

After ten or so consecutive days of rain and below average temperatures, I decided it was time to take action.

Having a little one to look after means cooking nowadays has to be super-efficient. So what better way than to do this than to throw everything into a pot and let it do its thing for a couple of hours.

I tried this recipe last night and it turned out a treat. I'm ashamed to say this was the first time I've actually made anything in just one pot. It was so easy it certainly won't be my last. I've always associated one pot meals with winter for some reason, so next time I might try to cook something a little more summery, if there is such a dish!

When I do make this dish again I may decrease the amount of stock as it was slightly soupy at first, but deliciously thick the next night as leftovers.

Red Wine Beef Stew with Potatoes and Green Beans
Recipe adapted from Food Network website

Ingredients

* 1kg beef chuck for stew, cut into 1-inch cubes
* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 3 tablespoons butter
* 4 medium carrots, peeled, halved and cut into 1-inch chunks
* 3 small onions, diced
* 3 cloves garlic, crushed
* 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1 litre reduced-sodium beef or chicken broth (will change to 750ml next time)
* 2 cups dry red wine
* 1 can crushed tomatoes
* 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
* 2 medium russet or Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
* Handful of button mushrooms, thick sliced
* 2 handfuls green beans, ends trimmed

Method

* Season the beef cubes lightly with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy pot over medium heat. As soon as the butter starts to turn brown, add half the beef and raise the heat to high.

* Cook, turning the beef cubes on all sides until the pieces are as evenly browned as possible, about 5 or 6 minutes after the water has boiled off. Scoop the beef into a bowl and brown the rest of the beef the same way using the remaining butter.

* Scoop out the second batch of beef, then add the carrots, onions and garlic and raise the heat to medium-high. Cook until the onion starts to turn translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour until it has been worked into the veggies and you can’t see it any more.

* Pour in the chicken broth, wine, and crushed tomatoes, and toss in the rosemary. Slide the beef back into the pot and bring the liquid to a boil.

* Turn down the heat so the liquid is just breaking a gentle simmer. Partially cover the pot and cook 50 minutes. Stir the stew several times while simmering so it cooks evenly and nothing sticks to the bottom.

* Stir the potatoes and mushrooms into the stew, cover the pot completely, and cook until the potatoes and beef are tender, stirring occasionally, about another 45 minutes. Add the beans and cook for another 5 minutes until the green beans turn bright green and are cooked through but still have a nice snap to them.

Hello stranger

2009-02-13T10:56:00.002+11:00

Yes, I'm back after a rather long hiatus. But after reading a lovely comment left by a stranger, I feel inspired to update my blog again.

It has been a rather frantic few months caring for my little man. I'll spare you the gory details of the birth, but let's just say it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Rather quick too, which was a relief (all over in 5 hours!).

We've settled into a bit of a routine and he sleeps well at night, so I'm a happy camper about that. The only downside to all of this is that cooking and general housework have fallen by the wayside. I do cook the occasional meal, but it has been the usual stuff, mostly the recipes I have on this blog.

But the little guy is 4 months old, and slowly creeping towards the 6 month mark - when solids, or rather, mushy things, will be introduced.

So rather than gourmet 3 course meals, it will be healthy and nutritional stuff going forward. Well that's the plan anyway.

It's good to be back.

2008-05-11T13:11:00.007+10:00

Good God, it's been almost 4 months.

My priorities had a bit of a reshuffling during this time, which explains the lack of posts. But yes, I'm back, albeit fleetingly until the next month or so. But then I'll be back on track. On track for what, you may ask? That I'm not sure as yet. I do miss blogging, but I think the direction of this blog might change a little. Just a little, of course.

I still love to cook and eat. However lately I have had little energy to cook, and what I can eat has been somewhat restricted for a few months.

Yes, I'm up the duff as they call it. A strange term which I'd never heard of until recently, but up the duff I am.

Goodbye pâté, brie and oysters. Hello cooked vegetables, fish and the odd chocolate bar, or three.

Now the big question is, would you consider prosciutto a goodbye or hello? I'm hoping, desperately, that it is hello. Though who am I fooling, call it women's intuition, but I think I know the answer already. Unless someone out there would like to correct my obvious, hormone-induced, moment of....somethingorather.

2008-01-10T12:05:00.000+11:00

Still alive. Can't believe it's been over a month since my last post.

Move went well, Christmas and New Years was great.

We've bought a BBQ which J has been diligently using. (What's the thing with guys and BBQs anyway?).

Just had our one year wedding anniversary, all I can say is, time really is flying.

Hope you all had a great holiday season. Here's to a happy and stress-free new year.

More soon.

Mental Mex

2007-11-22T11:49:00.000+11:00

Mexican food in Sydney is generally hit and miss. More along the lines of those nasty (but tasty) Old El Paso cook-at-home meal kits you can get at the supermarket, the newly opened Mad Mex in Darlinghurst looked promising.

After being spoilt for choice when it comes to Mexican food in New York - Mexicana Mama in Greenwich Village brings back happy memories; I was looking forward to having good Mexican again.

The store fitout looked the part - empty bottles of Corona creatively suspended from the ceiling as a sort of light fixture, bottles of hot sauce on tables, a selection of Mexican beers and magaritas (yesss!), and a big open kitchen with the fresh ingredients you can see. It has a similar setup to Burritoville, where staff are lined up along the counter, ready to prepare your burrito, or taco if you so fancy, to order.

After consuming one beer too many last evening, I stopped by and ordered some takeout. I have to admit I don't recall how it tasted, since I inhaled it in record time once I got home. What I do recall though, is that it was on the pricey side. About $23 for a burrito and taco. $2 extra for the guacamole you see. Very sneaky.

Must do another taste test soon for a proper verdict.

Sydney Morning Herald review of Mexican restaurants in Sydney.

Sold!

2007-11-11T17:20:00.000+11:00

Yep, we've finally taken the plunge.

Settlement is before Christmas.

Woohoo!

Sleep

2007-10-08T07:11:00.000+10:00

Mykonos - Greek Islands

Flew back into Sydney yesterday after a fantastic three week break. Woke up at 5am this morning and already on my second coffee, not my last for the day no doubt.

Highlights: Spending the days lounging by the pool and the beach doing zilch
Lowlights: Enduring a three hour ferry ride from Santorini to Mykonos in choppy seas, not for the faint hearted

Due back at work in less than 2 hours and counting, ugh.

Having trouble stringing sentences at the moment, it's going to be a looong day.

A New England Summer

2007-09-08T09:27:00.000+10:00

Pearl Oyster Bar lobster roll c.2005
Yes, I've resorted to recycling old photos in the interim, until I manage to get a new camera

I was craving the delicious Pearl Oyster Bar fried oysters and lobster rolls on a random evening a while back. After numerous pleas to the good folk on Chowhound, I'd forgotten I had been directed to, and bookmarked a site that contained the recipes from the restaurant's owner, Rebecca Charles.

When it comes to cooking, there are a few things that scare me off enough to not want to try. The problem is of course, that the recipes below list two of these things - cooking lobster and frying anything (for fear of being splattered to death in a wall of hot oil). The other is baking bread, but that's for another post.

Anyway, I've worked out that instead of lobster, I can use prawns (as noted at the end of the recipe, which I didn't notice, duh). As for frying oysters, well, I mean, they're oysters - little baby morsels. It can't be that bad right?

We're off to Europe for a short break (read: delayed honeymoon). So once we come back, I'm going to give them a try. Anyone interested in testing out these recipes for me in the meantime? :)

From Rebecca Charles' cookbook - Lobster Rolls and Blueberry Pie

Pearl Oyster Bar Lobster Roll
(Serves two)
Ingredients:
2 pounds cooked lobster meat, chopped roughly into 1/2 and 3/4-inch pieces
1/2 celery rib, finely chopped
1/4 cup Hellman's mayonnaise
Squeeze of lemon
Pinch of kosher salt and freshy ground black pepper
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
2 Pepperidge Farm top-loading hot dog buns
Chopped chives for garnish

Directions:
To make the lobster salad, in a large bowl, combine the lobster meat, celery, mayonaiise, lemon and salt and pepper and mix thoroughly. Cover the mixture and store it in the refrigerator until ready to serve. It will last for up to two days.

To prepare the bun, in a small saut� pan over low to medium heat, melt the butter. Place the hot dog buns on their sides in the butter. Flip the buns a couple of times so that both sides soak up an equal amount of butter and brown evenly. Remove the buns from the pan and place them on a large plate.

Fill the toasted buns with lobster salad. Sprinkle with chives and serve with a salad, slaw or shoestring fries.

(Variation: For a shrimp roll, substitute 2 pounds of shrimp, cooked, peeled and sliced in half lengthwise.)

Fried Oysters
(Serves two)
Ingredients:
6 to 8 medium oysters
Vegetable, peanut or canola oil
1/2 cup cracker meal (or Japanese breadcrumbs)
1 1/2 cups flour
Kosher salt
Pearl Oyster Bar Tartar Sauce (recipe follows)
Greens and chives for garnish

Directions:
Shuck the oysters and clean and save the shells. Place the oysters in a bowl in their liquor and refrigerate them until ready to fry. In a deep saucepan or pot, heat the oil to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix the cracker meal and flour in a large pie plate to make the dredge. Drain the oysters in a strainer and drop them into the dredge one by one, keeping them separated. Coat each oyster well, then shake off the excess dredge. Drop each oyster gently into the hot oil and fry until they are golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. It's important not to overfry them. Drain them on paper towels and sprinkle with kosher salt.

To serve, arrange the shells in a circle with the narrow ends of the shells in the center. Put a spoonful of tartar sauce in the center of each shell. Top it with a fried oyster. Garnish the plate with a bouquet of greens in the middle. (Charles likes to use a mixture of baby lettuces). Sprinkle it all with chives.

Pearl Oyster Bar Tartar(e) Sauce
Ingredients:
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup roughly chopped capers
1/4 cup chopped cornichons, plus 2 tablespoons of the juice (pickled gherkin/cucumber)
3 cups Hellmann's mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
In a large bowl, mix the ingredients thoroughly. Refrigerate.

2007-09-02T10:10:00.000+10:00

Jamon - heaven on a plate

Life is bubbling along as most would say. Married life is also bubbling along, although a tad bumpier than usual. Let's just say flowers (tulips of course) have been purchased, nice dinners have been eaten (twice, but I think I need a few more nights out like that thank you very much), and conversations have been had.

I guess the best way to describe this is that the path to marital bliss is an "interesting" journey, one you would rarely hear or read about unless it's on an anonymous blog. Let's just leave it at that, shall we?

On another note, as you can see from the crappy photo above, my camera has died, again. I purchased it just over two years ago. I swear these things must have timers on them so once they hit a certain time, "poof!" they retire themselves at the most inopportune times. That's camera number two in less than five years. Ah well. Anyway, the pic above was taken with my camera phone, a brick of a phone, but at least it still works.

Yes, I'm feeling a little melancholic right now. The delicious jamon purchased from the newly opened Hudson Meats in Surry Hills did lift the spirits for a bit. Yum. Must go and purchase some more soon. At $55 a kilogram, its not the cheapest of meats, but it did a fantastic job of soothing the emotions, and that, I have to say, is priceless.

Sunday afternoon - blogging & cooking

2007-08-05T12:20:00.000+10:00

Another glorious sunny day, another attempt at my bacon & leek quiche.

The filling itself is fairly easy to make, but by God the pastry (store bought no doubt), is a pain to handle. I'm trying to make all the cut up pastry pieces fit together into the quiche dish without pressing too hard, even though its extremely tempting.

I've bought 2 bags of lima beans (broadbeans I couldn't find) for the blind baking, so fingers crossed they don't burn!!

Righto, back to it.

Shepherd's Pie

2007-07-23T19:38:00.000+10:00

Crunchy goodness

I have to say my attempt at shepherd's pie last night turned out surprisingly well. I did get a little panicky at one stage when the instant gravy I added to the beef mixture did not make a difference to the taste at all. Yes, I used instant gravy. The shame! I should have known better! Never again I assure you.

In the end, I put in about two tablespoons of tomato paste and some Worcestershire sauce and it did the trick.

Meaty goodness. (Not the sexiest of shots, but hey).

Chick Pea's Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients:
---------------
* 1 large onion, diced
* 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
* 2 medium carrots, diced
* handful mushrooms, sliced
* 1 tsp olive oil
* 1/2kg beef mince
* 2 Tbsp tomato paste
* 4-5 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
* 1 cup frozen peas
* 5 medium potatoes, cubed for mashing
* 1/2 cup whole milk
* Handful of grated cheddar cheese
* 1 Tbsp butter, plus a few pats for baking
* Salt & pepper

Method:
----------
For the mash:
* Bring water to a rolling boil
* Add potatoes & boil until soft

For the filling:
* While potatoes are boiling, heat oil over medium heat and sauté garlic & onions until soft
* Add carrots & toss for a few minutes until heated through
* Add mushrooms & toss until mushrooms are tender, allow some of the liquid to boil off
* Remove mixture into a bowl and add beef mince frypan
* Cook mince until cooked through (no pink bits!)
* Stir in tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce and mix thoroughly
* Return cooked vegetables to pan and toss
* Add salt & pepper to taste
* Remove from heat and mix frozen peas

* Preheat oven to 180C

* Drain potatoes and return to saucepan
* Add pepper, butter & milk and mash thoroughly
* Add more milk and/or butter until the mash has a somewhat thick, sticky consistency
* Stir in 2/3 of the grated cheese

* Place beef mixture in baking dish and cover with mash
* You can decorate the mash by scoring with the tines of a fork (I didn't bother as I was a little too tipsy by then)
* Add a few pats of butter over the mash (to allow to brown in the oven), and sprinkle lightly the remaining cheese

* Bake in oven for about 30 minutes until golden brown

Update

2007-07-22T15:48:00.000+10:00

Blue Mountains

I hadn't realised it has been over a month since I last posted. The last four weeks have whizzed by so quickly, I honestly don't know where the time is going.

We are still looking (in vain?) for an apartment/house/anything to purchase. I thought I'd found our dream house, but the auction was yesterday and it went for well over what we were told by the agent and anticipated.

Let's just say that it was a smidge under a million.

A million.

Yikes.

Add to that the value of the Aussie dollar isn't doing us any favours and you get the gist of how frustrating this whole process is becoming.

On a lighter note, we headed out to Blackheath in the Blue Mountains last week for a bit of R&R. We caught the train out on the Friday afternoon and in two hours we were there. The walk from the train station to the house we were renting was a good 15 minute brisk walk, which was certainly the pace we kept given it was absolutely freezing.

That evening we had dinner at the lovely Ashcrofts in town - J had lamb brains to start and I the pate (I love, love love pate, in all it's artery-clogging glory!). J said the lamb brains were delicious, and I took his word for it - I just couldn't stomach the thought of tasting it, let alone feeling the texture of it rolling around in my mouth...ugh.

For the mains I had lamb chops with a herb crust, and J pork with colcannon. J said his dish reminded him of Irish boiled ham with potatoes and cabbage - which is essentially what colcannon is, I believe; and was just what he needed on that cold winter's evening. My chops weren't very lamby in flavour, if you know what I mean, but by golly it was the most tender lamb I'd eaten in my life. I reckon I won with my choice, but J thought it was a tie.

We spent the next day bushwalking at nearby Govetts Leap, before heading to the local pub for a few beers in front of the cozy fire. My brother arrived that evening and we had juicy local steaks with baked spuds in the house.

My brother had gotten all his friends to chip in to purchase a telescope for his birthday earlier this month, which he excitedly brought with him to test out on the clear night sky. J and I only lasted about 20 minutes in the cold, but my brother very happily stayed out until the lens started freezing over. Ah you gotta love it!

Grand Canyon walk - Blackheath, Blue Mountains

We did a brilliant hike the following day with the Grand Canyon "walk". The tourist centre suggested it would be a three hour (which is was), medium (which it wasn't), hike. It certainly got our hearts pumping and knees groaning with all the climbing we had to do, and there were times we thought the trail would never end. But feeling all that fresh air in the lungs was incredible, and it was exhilarating when we finally finished. Something to be done again.

I guess we must have brought the cold back to Sydney with us as it has been very chilly this week. So tonight I'm going to attempt shepherd's pie again. I haven't made it in years, and I lost the recipe I had when my Hotmail account got disabled, so tonight, I'm going to do it purely by guesswork. Wish me luck!

My current obsession

2007-06-16T10:34:00.000+10:00

GPO lucky door prize - cheese making DVD!

No, my current obsession isn't cheese making.

I just wanted to show off the lucky door prize I won at the GPO wine & cheese tasting event I went to the other week. I've never won anything before, so it was kind of cool. The wine & cheese tasting was part of the Sydney Italian Festival, a month-long event which ran over May/June this year.

It was fun - great northern Italian wine & cheeses to be had and all, but I want to go straight onto my current obsession:

Coffee.

Well, not coffee per se, but pouring a proper latte, froth and all.

Ever since my brother gave us a coffee machine as a wedding gift (too cool), I've been trying to pour the elusive perfect cup. The machine is pretty much a fully automated one, so it shouldn't be that hard right? But it's the milk frothing/steaming combo that gets me. The machine has a steam valve thingy which you stick into a jar of cold milk, and that is where my problem lies.

My goal is for the milk to have a lovely smooth, velvety texture. A random search on the internet reveals that I am not alone in this quest. I've been diligently watching a whole slew of "how-to" videos on You Tube, and jealously checking out some cool latte art at Rate My Rosetta

However the results I get vary from having the milk at the bottom and lots of bubbles on top, so when you pour you get runny milk and then a big blob of milk foam; or just a big blob of milk foam which, for some bizarre reason pours as a clump into the awaiting espresso. Actually, in hindsight that may be because I overdid the frothing, I think.

So now, every time I order a coffee when I'm out, I watch how the barista does it. I can only think of two things that may affect the outcome - the steam pressure and type of milk. The steam pressure on those professional coffee machines looks kick ass compared to our humble little home one, and whenever I buy a coffee it's usually with whole milk, whereas we only have low fat milk at home.

I cannot vary the steam pressure at home, but I can certainly try it with whole milk and see how it goes.

Of course the other alternative is to actually go to one of the many barista classes held around the city to find out. But that seems like a pricey way to learn. I think I'll keep to ogling professional baristas from a distance and practicing at home, for now.

Oh Boy

2007-06-03T16:38:00.000+10:00

Rule number one when you're having guests over for weekend brunch? Never go out boozing the night before.

Rule number two?

Never attempt to try anything involving pastry, or any recipe for that matter, if you've never done it before.

We stumbled home last night after one glass of wine, one beer, and one vodka too many. So when I woke up this morning I felt absolutely fabulous darling.

To add to my throbbing headache was the fact that I decided to use a variation of not one, not two, but three different recipes. With no notes on how I was going to combine them. Just three separate recipes.

Brilliant.

My hungovered husband decided to make himself some bacon and eggs (perfect), thus using up valuable bench space whilst I was trying to find some method to my madness to start prepping the ingredients.

My cousins arrived a little earlier than expected (great), and sat around watching their usually composed cousin come extremely close to meltdown.

Ahh...you gotta love it hey?

I'd never cooked with pastry before, so the blind baking bit was an experience. Basically you put the pastry in the dish, cover with foil, add rice or pasta as weight to stop the pastry from puffing up and bake in the oven.

Well that was the plan. I guess I didn't use enough rice, it seemed like such a waste since you have to throw it out after, I think, not sure. So when I took it out of the oven it was all puffy and weird looking. Then when I tried to take the foil and rice off, the rice went everywhere. All over the table, on the floor, on the pastry itself. Oh my God.

Surprisingly everything worked out in the end. Nothing got burnt, it tasted ok, and they even asked for seconds. Now before I forget what I actually did, here is my recipe.

Bacon and leek quiche, mimosas

Chick Pea's Bacon & Leek Quiche

Ingredients
2 sheets short crust pastry, thawed
4 - 5 rashers of bacon, diced
2 leeks, cleaned and cut into medium slices
5 large eggs (though I may try 6 eggs next time)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 1/2 tablespoons roughly chopped thyme
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 cup cream (or use more milk)
Ground pepper

Method
* Preheat oven to 180C and blind bake pastry in dish for 10 minutes.
* Cook bacon over high heat until crispy, remove and drain on paper towels. Reserve some of the bacon fat and cook leeks until softened. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
* Combine eggs, thyme, pepper, milk and cream and beat until well combined.
* Add cheese, bacon and leeks to mixture and mix well.
* Pour the mixture into the dish. Be sure not to fill it all the way to the top, as the mixture will rise while baking.
* Bake at 180C for about 30 minutes, or until the eggs have set.

To make mimosas, fill 1/3 to 1/2 a glass with Champagne or sparkling wine, and the remainder with orange juice. I might try bellinis next time, yum.

Tired

2007-06-02T15:53:00.000+10:00

Saturday brekkie, Chick Pea style

I've had a shocker at work this week, and I imagine it will only get worse with the lead up to the end of the financial year. Hurrah for the weekend!

I haven't really been up to much (I think, all the days seem to blur into one lately). The weather is finally starting to get a little chilly, though there is talk that it's been the mildest May yet. The upside is that means I can start pulling out all my fancy winter clothes purchased in New York; the downside is I've packed on a fair few kilos over the last year. So everything is a little on the snug side. Oh joy.

We woke up early today to check out a few properties for sale. We saw a nice one bedroom in Surry Hills with a fantastic view. Not Sydney Harbour view, but a view nonetheless. It's on a fairly quiet street, and close enough to the shops and cafes along Crown Street. The only downside to it is that there's a gym, sauna and a 25 metre pool, so the strata fees are pretty scary. We'll ask for the contract on Monday and see how we go anyway, you never know.

I made a yummy fry-up before we headed out. J went out early to get the ingredients, and he actually purchased the bacon from a butcher, and boy, what a difference it is to the standard supermarket vacuum-packed variety. The butcher only opened recently, and no doubt we will be going there again.

Tomorrow my cousins are coming over for lunch. R had purchased a 6-pack of chick-flick DVDs on sale, so there'll be mimosas, quiche & salad, and hopefully more mimosas to be had before we start the DVD marathon. J has wisely said he will be vacating the premises early before the onslaught.

It'll be my first attempt at making quiche, and I'm going to cheat a little and use store bought pastry. I've decided on bacon and leek. Fingers crossed it'll turn out! Off to the supermarket now to get the ingredients.

Timing

2007-05-12T11:58:00.000+10:00

We celebrated J's birthday again last night, although the actual date is March 25th, and we'd already celebrated back then with a few pints and had a lovely meal. It was his birthday present from his mum - a nice dinner somewhere to be organised by me. We hadn't gotten around to doing this until last night.

I booked dinner at Pello in Darlinghurst last week. Considering it had two chefs hats courtesy of the Sydney Morning Herald's "Good Food Guide" (Sydney's equivalent to Zagat), I figured we could do no wrong. I had read somewhere that their degustation, or tasting menu, was one of the best and most reasonably priced in the city.

Coincidently, Melbourne's The Age newspaper had done a piece earlier in the week about the rising popularity of degustation or tasting menus in Melbourne restaurants. I, being the superstitious type, thought it had to be a good sign. The reservation wasn't until 8pm, so we headed to the East Village bar for a pre-dinner, celebratory drink.

Pello degustation menu

Now I don't really consider myself to be much of a fusspot, but I have to admit I was a little disappointed. Mind you, the food itself was very good. It's just the service I found a bit lacking. Six courses over two and half hours seems like ample time to enjoy each course, only that it seemed to drag on for longer than that since there were moments where we were waiting for service.

The problem I felt was that they didn't have enough staff for the evening. There was a private function in the other dining room, which I guess tied up most of the staff and the kitchen. Considering this restaurant had been rated two hats, I would have expected a bit more.

The timing of the whole evening was off - we had to ask for our water to be refilled twice and the bread basket twice. The food came before the wine, which we had to ask and wait for twice, then the wine came before the food. We had four different waiters bringing our food, hardly a way to build rapport with your customer. Explanations of each dish and accompanying wine were therefore brief and hurried.

Almond crusted snapper

Service aside, the food was pretty good. The portions were quite substantial, so I was fairly full by the end of the evening. J opted for the lamb and I the venison, which I rarely have because, in my mind, it's like eating Rudolph! It was very tasty and my favourite dish of the evening.

As you can see from the photos, I constantly have this flash-or-no-flash battle in my head when I take photos in dimly lit restaurants. But by the time dessert arrived, I was suitably pickled enough from all the wines to not worry as much.

Banana parfait

J enjoyed the food, but would have preferred one less dish, which I disagree. Overall I'd give Pello a 6.5 out of 10 (less 1.5 for the disappointing service).

Still it was a fun evening, so thank you Irene, for the lovely present which we both got to share!

Damn

2007-04-15T17:46:00.000+10:00

Twelve Apostles - Great Ocean Road, Victoria

We had a great Easter break. Flew down to Melbourne with C & J, and met up with H & D. Our plan was to stay the night at D's place in Ballarat, before heading south to do the Great Ocean Road drive to Apollo Bay where we were staying.

It was a wonderful holiday - days were spent enjoying the surprisingly warm weather on the beach, seeing the Twelve Apostles and taking in the picturesque scenery. Evenings were spent in front of a fire, enjoying hilarious conversation and delicious home-cooked meals courtesy of H & D over a few bottles of wine.

On a side note, J & I bid at an auction yesterday, our first attempt. It was a beautiful one bedroom apartment in a gorgeous art deco building in Darlinghurst. With high ceilings, a separate sunroom and original features, it reminded us so much of New York. It was down to the wire between us and another buyer, who had the annoying habit of increasing his bid in first $1,000, then $500 increments.

Eventually we hit our limit, and even (gasp) went over it by $4,000 (which is a big no-no when it comes to bidding apparently, so yes that was my fault). The apartment sold for just under $500K, which in retrospect is crazy money. Now I know what they mean about getting caught in the moment.

Still, it was a great experience, and I think J & I did pretty well. Some people who attended the auction actually stopped by and told us we did a great job with our bidding and poker face. Funny thing was J was sweating like a mad man, and I thought I was going to have a heart attack.

It's a bit of a bummer, but I'm a firm believer in fate, so we'll just keep looking.

Memories

2007-03-31T11:55:00.000+10:00

Jervis Bay, NSW

It's been a while since I last posted. I've been fairly busy lately, doing what I have no idea. The days seem to roll by so quickly - day after day, week after week.

Because I have the world's worst memory, I like to write what I do, however mundane, in a diary I normally carry around with me. It's funny looking back on where you had dinner, who you had drinks with, what the weather was like on a particular day, or what you saw on TV. I've been keeping tabs on what I've been doing with my life since 2000 (and this blog since 2005) which, I suppose, doesn't seem like that long ago. Still, I like to pull out my old diaries I keep in a shoe box to reminisce every now and then.

I haven't had a chance to buy a new diary for this year yet since my last one, my beautiful red Coach agenda, was stolen. I've been meaning to buy a standard 2007 pocket diary you can get at any newsagent, but I suppose I've been stalling. I've been religiously checking the Coach website waiting for the red diary to become available again. Fingers crossed it will be soon.

So here in no particular order, is what I've been up to these last few weeks:

* My sweet little brother brought over his wedding present for us. A coffee machine!! Goodbye instant coffee, hello espresso! Only thing I have to work out is how to use the milk frothing steamer thingy. Luckily, J has the same machine at work, so he's been the home barista. Nothing beats a fresh cup of coffee in the morning, although the noises the grinder makes is taking some getting used to. Beats an alarm clock I guess!

* I went to a few rugby matches with J at Aussie Stadium. I still know little about the sport but oh my, some of the players were pretty fine specimens.

* I went to the gym for the first time in over a year. I love taking the classes - yes I'm a closet step aerobics fan. But the problem with the gyms in Sydney is they try to cram as many people as possible into the room. Oh how I miss NYSC, a bit like Starbucks with one on almost every street corner in New York. So I was stuck using the treadmill and bikes, which I find extremely boring. You're better off running outdoors if you ask me.

* It was J's 36th (!!) birthday last weekend, so we decided to head out of Sydney for a few days. Jervis Bay is about a three hour drive south of Sydney. We rented a house and spent the weekend hiking and soaking up the sun on secluded beaches. A great getaway which we'll be doing again soon.

* I've decided to quit smoking. I've been smoking since I was sixteen, and a friend had casually mentioned that it meant that I have been smoking for over half of the time I have been alive. That freaked me out a little, because I never thought of it that way, and to be honest, I'm not getting any younger. Even scarier is that I have never tried to quit smoking in my life. So this will be an interesting experience. I've cut down a fair bit, and my plan is to quit after Easter.

* We're off to Victoria over Easter next weekend with some friends. Sad as it may sound, but I have never done the Great Ocean Road drive, so I'm looking forward to the trip. As two of our friends who are going are also smokers, an attempt to quit smoking now will probably take more willpower than I have, which is basically zero.

We'll see.

Happy Mardi Gras peoples!!

2007-03-03T11:41:00.000+11:00

10am - Oxford Street, with a rather tired looking Centrepoint Tower in the background

Preparations are well underway for tonight's Mardi Gras parade which kicks off at 7.45pm. It looks like the weather will be perfect for it too. Barely a cloud in the sky and it was already 26C around 11am.

J and I will be giving this year's parade a skip. Living one street away from the main parade route of Oxford Street, we've decided to avoid the crowds and head over to Newtown for dinner and a movie. Well, that's what we think we might be doing. We'll see.

I do get a little nostalgic this time of year. My parents owned a Chinese restaurant from the late 1960's to the early 90's where Burger King/Hungry Jacks currently resides - on the corner of Oxford and Pelican Streets. So from a very young age, I saw the parade. I remember the crowds, the thumping music, the colourful costumes, and the people who tried to climb onto our awning for a better view.

What was even funnier (well for me anyway), was working as a check-out chick/cashier in my teens at the supermarket at the start of Oxford Street near Hyde Park. I had the morning shift the day after the parade, and I'd never seen so many people come in to buy chewing gum, water and orange juice in their sunglasses and club wear. Now I know why. It makes me chuckle every time I think about that.

On a side note, New York's Gay Pride parade happens around June every year. The great thing about that was it went along 8th Street where we lived, so I had the best view from our kitchen window. Here are some photos from 2003, old photos but still colourful nonetheless.

Happy Mardi Gras!

Gay Pride Parade along 8th Street, New York 2003

8th Street, New York 2003

8th Street, New York 2003

This week - random photos

2007-02-17T20:17:00.000+11:00

Valentine's day main course - scallops in apple brandy cream sauce. Last year's attempt was marginally better. But hey it was fun. :)

Sydney 14/2/07 - from our balcony.

Saturday brunch after house hunting - Pumpkin & feta fritatta at Forbes & Burton, Darlinghurst.

Poached eggs with chicken & tomato sausages - Forbes & Burton, Darlinghurst.

Stumped...again

2007-02-14T17:19:00.000+11:00

Yes, again. I have no idea what to cook on the the day that makes half the male population queue up for chocolate in desperation (which is what I saw at a chocolate store at lunch time today).

I've been feeling extremely lazy of late, add to that J is hell busy at work again, and you can see why the motivation is at an all time low.

Scallops with apple brandy cream sauce 14/2/2006

5.17pm here and just about to leave work to do some grocery shopping, fast running out of ideas. Might make the trusty favourite from last year. Delicious and a cinch to make, or might just stick to the safe (and even easier to make) steak and 2 veg.

Decisions, decisions.

Edit: Just got back from David Jones Food Hall and it was mayhem - I've never seen so many men lining up at the cheese and seafood counters! So what's on the menu tonight? A seafood bonanza. Got some lovely plump scallops, so I'm kind of excited about making the dish again. After all, it's been a year since I last tried!!

Settling in

2007-02-03T14:00:00.000+11:00

Things are slowly starting to settle back to normal. Going back to work was a bit of a struggle, but I think we've gotten over that hurdle. The clutter of wedding paraphernalia has finally been packed away, so our apartment now consists of lots and lots of boxes.

Does married life feel different? Yes, in a way I think it does. When you've been with someone for almost seven years, you think it might not. So it was a bit of a surprise for the both of us.

So here I am, slowly getting back into the swing of things. I have to admit though that my cooking obsession has waned somewhat due to the wedding. I must also confess that since moving back to Sydney, the whole eating out thing has also died a little. I guess you could say I'm still missing New York terribly, but that is something that will just take time. I hope.

We got our professional photos back as you can see above. All 1,029 of them. How we're meant to choose 100 for our wedding album is anyone's guess. I also need to print some out for the thank you cards and our parents' album, so I've been trolling the web for a reasonably priced Australian online photo printing site. Big Photo seems to be the best one I've found so far, but if anyone has any suggestions or recommendations, I'd love to hear from you.

...and we're back!

2007-01-20T13:38:00.000+11:00

Pre-wedding lunch at Bondi Icebergs, Sydney

Well where do I start? The last month has been a hectic, full on experience. We had guests to meet, greet and entertain, Christmas and NYE to celebrate, plus a wedding to organise and finalise.

Things are slowly returning back to normal. The last of our overseas guests have just left, so now J and I can finally have some time to ourselves to soak in everything that happened. It was fun while it lasted, and it is something I will never forget, nor experience again. But 4 solid weeks of entertaining have left us a little exhausted.

The pre-wedding celebrations were a hoot, with dinners, lunches, BBQs galore.
The wedding day itself went well, with the odd glitch which was to be expected.
The post-wedding lunch was relaxing for all (including the at times stressed-out bride).
The short honeymoon to Byron Bay for 3 days was rejuvenating (we'll take a proper one later in the year).

Best of all we have a lot of wine left over, which we will duly polish off over the next few months.

Sweet.

The countdown begins

2006-12-05T19:08:00.000+11:00

Just a little over a month to go before we finally, after 7 years, seal the deal.

So things have been a tad hectic in my neck of the woods - selecting the flowers, the colour ribbon for the church booklets, the accessories, the music, the dance lessons, the cake, the hair and makeup, the ties for the groom and groomsmen, trying to delegate tasks to my bridesmaids (and failing miserably), the cars........sigh.............it's been an endless, stressful, crazy time.

If I have to do it all again, I'd definitely hire a planner....I'm indecisive at the best of times and I have to admit, all of this has brought out the worst in me (and, it seems, the worst in people around you too).

But still, I'm looking forward to the day...where there will be good times, good food, and of course seeing J at the standing at the end of the aisle (that is the bit I'm looking forward to the most!).

Oh yeah, and as for blogging..umm...soon...real soon. Cooking at home is on the back burner for the time being. J's mum arrives next week!!

An Update

2006-11-18T13:02:00.000+11:00

Yes I'm still alive, but I've been very busy, and a little lazy to post in a while. So here's an update, in bullet points, because I'm still feeling a little lazy on this sunny Saturday :)

1. Wedding preparations are coming along, though I admit they've stalled somewhat. See point 4.
2. Work is keeping me busy busy busy. I'm not really sure if it's the job for me to be honest, though I've only been there 3 months, so we'll see.
3. J has become obsessed with buying a place, so we've been running around looking at properties, speaking to a lawyer, the mortgage broker etc. etc. Probably not the best thing since I'm trying to do wedding stuff. I'm still in a bit of a headspin.
4. We were burgled last Friday, with me inside the apartment! Went out with some work friends for the traditional after work drink, and I stumbled home after a Jäger bomb too many (mental note: NEVER touch that stuff again). It was quite warm that evening so I left the balcony door half open, and I promptly fell asleep on the couch with the lights and TV on. They came in, must have seen me, and just grabbed what they could. The stuff in my handbag - my wallet, diary, makeup bag. And they took my laptop.

The laptop. With the wedding budget, guest list, invites, not to mention 5 years' worth of photos. All gone.

My diary, with my to do list, the things I've done so far this year (I have a terrible memory, so I like to write down everything I do). All gone.

So this last week, on top of a busy week at work, going to the bank to sort out our deposit for a potential place we're interested in, has also included going to the police to report the burglary, calling the insurance agency to sort out our claim, waiting for the insurance assessor to come to the apartment, going to be bank to sort out a new credit card, going to the motor registry to get a new drivers licence, and badgering my poor brother to part with his iBook for a few days.

So here I am, at home, trying to update an old backed up version of our guest list, and taking it easy after a very hectic week.

Oi vey as they say.

Alphabet City

2006-10-17T17:12:00.000+10:00

I've found my new favourite brunch place near home. Book Kitchen in Surry Hills has a mean brunch menu (the WA sardine caesar salad was heavenly), and they have cookbooks galore - for purchase and browsing. I could have spent the entire Sunday afternoon there. What more could a girl ask for?

Anyway, they had a few copies of the 2007 Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide. We ended up buying a copy after thumbing through it for a good 45 minutes while we were eating. It's in the same vein as the Zagat Guide, but without the pretty mauve cover.

And that's when I came up with a brilliant idea. Well I think it's brilliant. J looked a little bewildered when I said it to him. But I think it'll be fun - not for the hips or the wallet, but hey if you can't enjoy yourself some of the time, you might as well hide under a rock.

ALPHABET CITY
(my homage to the NY neighbourhood of the same name)
Aim: To try one restaurant for each letter of the alphabet once a week, for 26 weeks.
Rules: None really. It can be lunch or dinner, it can be a romantic meal for 2, or an all-you-can-eat gorge fest with a gang of 20. No limits. Only rule we've come with so far is we each take turns picking a place and surprising the other. J's got A.

We start this week. Can't wait!

Edit: Once a week might be overkill. At least once every 2 weeks is probably more realistic. We'll see...

Summer lovin'

2006-10-14T08:36:00.000+10:00

Chick Pea's seafood platter - a little wobbly with the camera's night setting

Friday night. After a ridiculously hot 35C/87F day, the evening breeze cooled the city somewhat. J went for a swim at the local pool, and I was just glad the work week was over.

As it was too hot to cook, lame excuse but true, I decided an evening on the balcony with some fresh seafood was in order. So I stopped by the David Jones Food Hall to pick up some goodies and headed home.

We had cooked tiger prawns, Sydney rock oysters, Pacific oysters and smoked salmon. The pièce de résistance had to be the blue eyed cod. I seasoned and dusted a light coating of flour before searing with butter and a touch of olive oil over high heat.

It was a little difficult to take a clear photo of our soon-to-be-devoured dinner. Night settings on cameras are a great invention, but it's damn near impossible to take a pic with a steady hand, especially after a drink or two (or four as was my case before we started eating).

Spoilt from our decadent dinner, we splayed out on the couch, tossing up whether to go for a walk. We're one block away from Oxford St, the nightlife hub of Sydney, so there's always things to see, no matter what time.

In the end we just listened to some "phat" tunes (as J used to say), chilled out on the couch and finished off the wine before heading off to bed by 10.30pm. On a Friday night. Again. So much for clubbing and the 10am benders of a few years ago, who would've thought?!?

A day at the races

2006-10-09T06:58:00.000+10:00

It was a glorious spring day. Champagne, men in their best suits, women in big fancy hats, a flutter or two, and more champagne.

Perfect.

Why I should keep my day job

2006-10-05T16:41:00.000+10:00

Last night's dinner, Donna Hay food stylist I ain't!

I'm sure just about everyone has heard of Donna Hay, whose food photography is imitated the world over. So asethetically pleasing are her photos it's guaranteed to whet your appetite every time.

She has a regular column in the Sunday paper in Sydney (and probably Melbourne too), and I came across this chilli caramelised pork on cucumber salad recipe last weekend. It looked so light and tasty I just had to try it last night. As you can see from the photo above, my attempt at food styling falls far short of the pretty picture in the magazine I tried to imitate.

But hell, who cares when it was delicious anyway!

I tried to find the recipe online, but no joy. If anyone is interested, I'll be happy to post it here

What I'm reading now...

2006-09-25T13:55:00.000+10:00

A fascinating book on my two favourite topics - New York & oysters. Mark Kurlansky's The Big Oyster.

Anything to distract myself from wedding preparations and house hunting :)

Lazy Sunday

2006-09-17T11:35:00.000+10:00

Smoked salmon scrambled eggs - the lazy way

It was such a glorious day yesterday we decided to have a BBQ on the roof of our building. I made some potato salad and a cold bean and red pepper salad. I then marinated a tonne of chicken drumsticks in soy sauce to be coated with a honey glaze once cooked (my family's secret recipe, used at every Easter and Christmas BBQ for as long as I can remember).

My brother and his friend called around and we had a lovely evening outside. After they left, we were so exhausted we went to bed...at 10pm...on a Saturday night. I guess we must be getting old!

So when we woke up this morning to another glorious day, we decided to have brunch on the balcony. J headed out to get some coffess and the Sunday paper and I prepped for our brunch. A super quick and easy scambled eggs with smoked salmon, grape tomatoes and a slice of toast.

Ahhh...you've gotta love the weekends.

Sunday Night - blogging and cooking

2006-09-03T19:48:00.000+10:00

Just about to start my second attempt at pork chops with mustard sauce, with green beans, glazed carrots and baked potatoes.

I have the ingredients prepped, I have a glass of wine in hand. Ready, steady.....GO!!!

VERDICT: J gave it 7/10 - he found the sauce a little too sweet. I give it 7.5 (only because I slaved over the stove...ha!). It turned out a lot better than my first attempt, and hopefully it'll be better the next time I try. I used single (light) cream rather than what the recipe called for, and it thickened up fine.

A little sleepy now from such a big meal. Just going to finish up that bottle of wine before heading off to bed. I can't believe the weekend is over already!

Sunday night dinner - excuse the dodgy looking baked potato!

Random thoughts

2006-08-26T08:35:00.000+10:00

I've been cooking a fair amount at home, though it's nothing but the standard stuff I've been cooking over the last year. I guess the stress of a new job and planning a wedding is taking precedence over everything else

The first batch invitations we're printing ourselves are finally done. We had to do them a little earlier to accommodate our overseas guests. They look pretty good I have to say, and I have to thank my brother for lending us his printer. Who knew embossed paper doesn't agree with laser printers? I almost had a heart attack when I saw the streaks of black ink on the first test print - I doubt the paper store would have taken back the 180 custom cut sheets of paper we'd purchased!

Made chicken soup recently. I'm lazy so I use packaged chicken stock, which can be good if you find a decent brand. Sadly, the ones I've tried have been gross so I haven't found a suitable brand yet. Oh how I'm missing Swanson's Chicken Broth. Best stuff on the planet.

I've paid a deposit on a dress. The problem for me was trying on a gorgeous US$6,000 dress in Saks when I first started looking - everything else I've tried on since doesn't come close. Anyway, I've found a suitable dress which I like, I love the fabric and the way it looks, but 6 months of eating and not going to the gym have rendered me a little wobbly in certain areas, so it is a little difficult to say I love it just yet. So yes, I'm on a diet now. Well, maybe not a diet, but I need to start going to the gym again. I doubt I can ever go on a full diet, I love my food too much!!

Irene's lasagna

2006-08-20T10:15:00.000+10:00

J's mum made the most incredible lasagna for us when we returned from our trip to Italy. The fact that we had had pasta for almost 2 weeks non-stop didn't dampen the fact that it was the most delicious lasagna I'd ever tasted.

She was kind enough to give me the recipe a few weeks ago and I've made it twice with terrific results. I usually make it on a Sunday night with a serving of salad, and we have the leftovers midweek, when you're feeling too lazy to cook!

(The metric conversions took some getting used to again!!)

Irene's Lasagna
-------------------
Serves 4 - 6

Ingredients:
1 lb (1/2kg) mince beef
2 onions, diced
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tin tomato puree
2 tins chopped tomatoes
1 tsp dried herbs (like oregano or basil)
1 oz (2 Tbsp) butter
1 oz (2 Tbsp) flour
1/2 pint (1 cup) room temperature milk
Handful grated cheddar or Gruyere cheese
Ready cooked lasagna
1 -2 handfuls grated Parmesan cheese

You'll need a 2 pots, a saucepan and a baking dish.

Meat sauce:
* Heat some olive oil in a pot and saute half of the garlic and half of the onions
* Add mince and cook until brown. Add puree, cover and cook very gently for 10-15 minutes

Tomato sauce:
* Heat some olive oil in a pot and saute the remaining garlic and onions until fragrant
* Add the chopped tomatoes, sugar and dried herbs and cook, uncovered for 20 minutes

White sauce:
* Melt butter over medium heat in a saucepan, add flour and whisk 1 minute
* Add milk (I usually just add it all in one go), and whisk vigourously until thick (about 5 minutes)
* Remove from heat and add grated cheddar/Gruyere. You can add more milk if the sauce is too thick

Preheat oven to 170/180C (350F). Put a layer of lasagna sheets in the baking dish. Add some meat sauce and a layer of tomato sauce. Add another layer of lasagna sheets, the meat sauce (if any left), the tomato sauce and finally the cheese sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan and bake for 30 - 40 minutes until brown and bubbly on top. I usually cover the dish with some foil while baking and remove it about 15 minutes before it's done.

Sanity check

2006-08-13T20:36:00.000+10:00

A little busy with work at the moment. The thing that irks me the most about a new job is trying to remember everyone's names, I'm hopeless!!

I've finally managed to sift through the 700+ photos taken from our recent trip to Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Here's a small selection I hope you enjoy.

Gouganne Barra, County Cork

Fishy Fish Cafe seafood platter

Lunch at Ballymaloe House, Shannagarry County Cork

Car number plate in Rome (excuse my toes!)

There were so many lovely sights to shoot in Italy, no matter where you looked!

Sienna

Zucchini flowers in Tuscan market

Parmesan heaven

Beautiful Tuscan countryside

Vespas

Stay tuned for more pics

So freaky...

2006-07-31T20:53:00.000+10:00

Ok, I was craving buffalo wings like a mad woman last week as mentioned in my previous post.

You know buffalo wings - the crispy fried chicken wings coated in gooey sticky spicy sauce, paired with a cooling blue cheese sauce and accompanied with carrot and celery sticks. Yummm. It got to the point where I was this close to begging J to pop down to Sydney's Hard Rock Cafe, which happens to be down the road, to get me some. Yes, I was desperate.

You see, hot sauce for some reason seems to be very difficult to find in Sydney (not that I'd been looking that hard, the craving is only a week old!). I scoured the local supermarket but to no avail, so I figured I'd do my hips a favour and grit my teeth and hope the craving would pass. Tabasco sauce we have, but it's not the same as hot sauce.

So imagine my surprise when I checked out Sunday's New York Times. Not one but two articles on the best bar finger food ever. What is even better is that they have some tasty alternatives to the traditional buffalo wing.

Now all I have to do is find out where I can buy hot sauce in Sydney.

Anyone?

Weddings and cravings

2006-07-27T11:03:00.000+10:00

Wedding prepartions are coming along, albeit slowly. Church and reception venue have been booked. Invitations are halfway there - I say halfway as we've finally decided on numbers (and what a drama that was), and we've picked out the paper and design.

We're printing them out ourselves to save on costs, so now all we have to do is figure out what you're meant to write on them...in English and Chinese. This will be interesting since a) we need to install Chinese Word on our laptop (I think, or do you need a Chinese keyboard as well? Argh!!), and b) I can't read let alone write Chinese to save my life.

Some newly married girlfriends have been thoughtful enough to give me all their bridal magazines, and I have to say that flicking through them only adds to the stress and anxiety I'm beginning to feel - should I give wedding favours? Should I start my beauty regime now? Should I wax or shave? So many things I hadn't even thought of, all splashed out on pretty, glossy pages.

So to distract myself from all this wedding hooplah, I've been daydreaming. Ahhh...it's summer in New York now. The queues outside Shake Shack in Madison Square Park, lobster rolls at Pearl Oyster Bar, buffalo wings (I love the stuff, but can't seem to find them in Sydney), brunch and bellinis at Schiller's, a cocktail or two under the stars at Luna Park...

Ahhh...that's better. Meditation if I do say so myself!

Back

2006-07-04T12:26:00.000+10:00

Isle of Skye, Scotland

In the process of recovering from excessive food and alcohol consumption.

More soon.

On the road again

2006-06-01T07:48:00.000+10:00

Arrived in Cork almost a week ago. A few days getting over the jetlag, and then it was off to Rome. Terrific sites, and some fantastic pictures which I have yet to upload. 2 more weeks in Tuscany and then off to Scotland for C & J's wedding...can't wait.

Still alive, though barely. A bottle of wine too many and perhaps one grappa too many too. But having a blast nonetheless. Excuse the grammatical errors as I'm a little tipsy, but I am diligently taking photos of everything I see.

Had a lovely dinner tonight - lots of fresh seafood and pasta, heaven if I do say so myself.

They have cooking courses here in Tuscany somewhere. I just have to find it!

More soon....

Hot hot hot pot

2006-05-04T12:21:00.000+10:00

My parents were free earlier this week, and my mother called to say she wanted to do some shoe shopping. Now I'm not much of a shopper, but since my mum had called saying she hadn't been to the David Jones (think Saks) store in years, I couldn't refuse.

So we met in Chinatown for some yum cha, since it's been years since I'd had some decent siw mai - I have to say the dim sum in New York's Chinatown were a bit of a disappointment, but that's for another post - and joined the throng of people queuing up for a table. Clanging plates, screaming babies, and the general murmur of people tucking into their dumplings was a hoot to boot.

Stuffed from dumplings, egg custard tarts and the like, we headed uptown to downtown Sydney. Dad opted out of our shopping expedition and headed to his qi gong doctor for a well earned back massage.

My mother has always taught me of the importance of good foot wear, but the idea of spending over $200 for a pair of shoes is a ridiculous concept to me. But she wanted to buy some new shoes, and new shoes she shall buy.

Or so we thought.

Her favourite brand of shoes has had a bit of a price hike since her last purchase. $200 shoes now cost almost $500 (?!), and I saw a pair of very sexy (read: too-high-to-walk-in-let-alone-stand-in) Manolo Blahniks for $1,000. Crazy. Shocked but not defeated, we headed to another section where she purchased a lovely pair of gold ballet flats for a respectable $120.

A few more hours of window shopping and it was dinner time. My aunt had called to say there was a great hot pot restaurant in Chinatown we had to check out. So we headed back to there and met up with my dad, aunt, and some of my many, many cousins.

Red Chilli is located on Little Hay Street in Chinatown. We climbed the three flights of stairs to the main dining area and were immediately hit by the aroma of spice and chillies, the kind that makes your eyes water as you breathe in. Northern Chinese cuisine is renowned for their spicy dishes, and this place was no exception.

Spicy and not so

We chose the half plain and half spicy broth, as some of us couldn't eat spicy food. My aunt, who can probably eat a red chilli whole and not break into a sweat, ordered the mildest spicy broth they had. I asked her if mild would be hot enough for her, and she merely winked and gave me a "you'll see" smile.

The waiter wheeled over a trolley laden with raw meats and vegetables and we patiently waited for the broth to come to a boil. Growing impatient, I dipped my chopstick into the spicy broth for a taste test.

At first I couldn't taste much, but slowly the heat from the chillies, peppercorns and various herbs in the broth caused my tongue to first tingle and then burn. Beads of sweat formed on my upper lip, as my whole mouth and throat felt the full effects of the "mild" broth. My mouth was on FIRE.

Time to dig in

As the broth came to a simmer, we started putting in the various ingredients to cook. After tasting the spicy broth, the plain broth tasted rather bland. So I stuck to my guns and ordered more iced water.

Most of the ingredients looked familiar, thin slices of beef and lamb, fish balls, some green vegetables and bean sprouts, and my favourite vegetable of the month, enoki mushrooms.

My mother handed me a plate of pig's bloody jelly, and I politely refused. I am adventurous in what I eat, but anything containing the words "blood" and "jelly" is a bit too much to digest.

Pig's blood jelly - not for the faint hearted

All up it was a delicious experience, and I will definitely go again. Probably when it gets a little colder, and yes, I think I'll stick to the mild spicy broth.

Cheese and crackers

2006-04-29T19:56:00.000+10:00

First off, apologies in advance for any grammatical errors in this post. The lonely bottle of cab sav that's been sitting on my kitchen bench has been calling me all day, beckoning me to be consumed...how could I possibly refuse?

So now I'm a little tipsy. Hungry and little tipsy.

Up until now I have been adamant that I will not go on a diet for the Big Day. I never understood why women to torment themselves, starve themselves in the months leading up to their wedding day, just so they would look good in their photos. I mean I can understand why, but wouldn't it be better to remember yourself for the way you normally are, rather than pretending to be some svelte, wispy thing when you normally aren't? (Am I making sense??)

But reality has set it. Weeks of eating nothing but instant noodles, Domino's pizza (?!!!), potato chips, Burger King, Oporto and the like, have taken their toll. My face has turned into a lump fest of oozing, mountainous proportions.

It's time for detox - salads, fresh fruit, organic produce to rid my system of all those nasties. (Though Oporto will be tough to give up).

So today I had a slice of toast, a small salad.....a bottle of red and some lovely blue brie and crackers. Argh! I couldn't help myself!! I need soakage for the wine, can't you see??

Ok, this is getting a little crazy. I've always believed in moderation. No matter what you have, as long as you have it in moderation, you're fine. Starving myself today was a bad idea.

Or rather, maybe it was the whole bottle of wine I just finished that's the problem.

God I'm starving!!!

Dinner and a movie

2006-04-23T10:57:00.000+10:00

The Kath & Kim DVD I purchased on ebay arrived in the mail on Friday. As my brother and an old uni friend were both free last night, I invited them around for some beers, a curry and a movie.

I was a little excited about the evening as it would be the first time I would be entertaining in my apartment. The apartment at this stage is a little sparse - 4 plates, 3 pots, some mugs, a dining table with chairs and a sofa is all I've accumulated so far, but I figured they wouldn't mind.

I have to admit I was tempted to duck out to the local Indian restaurant to get take out, but I hadn't cooked in so long and I was determined to christen the $20-for-3 pots purchased from Ikea. I wasn't cooking per se, as I think anything coming out of a jar is cheating. But still, I'd never cooked Indian before so what the hell.

It was only when I started to prep the ingredients that I realized I didn't have a cutting knife. My beautiful Wusthof knives are in a shipping container slowly making their way to Sydney. So I just had to make do with the crappy "utility" knife in the cutlery drawer.

Some music in the background, a glass of wine and chopping up veges, ahhh...therapy if I do say so myself. Only that dicing an onion with a steak knife is damn near impossible. After wrestling with it from flying across the kitchen for a few minutes, they were done. A large dice no less but hey, it'll cook down anyway, right?

Some steamed rice, cubed chicken breast, chopped tomatoes, half a jar of tikka masala paste, a dash of yoghurt and some fresh cilantro/coriander later, and dinner was ready.

We positioned ourselves on the couch - cold beer in hand and warm plates on laps - and turned on the tele.

Noice

Oh the pain

2006-04-05T00:33:00.000+10:00

Noooo!!!!!!!!

Here I was trying to be organized - rather than store the zillions of recipes I've collected over the last few days on scraps of paper, I thought I would be organized and store them in a Hotmail account explicitly for recipes only.

Only that in the craziness of the last few weeks, I have not had the chance to sign in to check. So I just signed in 5 minutes ago to find that.........they deactivated my account. So all the recipes are gone. All 5 years of collecting, gone.

Gone. Deleted. Removed. Lost in cyberspace.

Needless to say I won't be using Hotmail again. Ever.

Oh the pain!! :(

(If anyone out there has a recipe they'd like to share, please share it here...I'm signing up with gmail, right NOW!)

Settling in...

2006-04-01T14:11:00.000+11:00

Slowly but surely...

An Update

2006-03-26T23:25:00.000+11:00

First off I have to say things have been hectic hectic hectic. A lot of personal stuff has been happening these last few weeks, more than I anticipated since flying into Sydney from New York over three weeks ago.

So here I am, back in Sydney on a semi-permanent basis for the time being. J and I have set a date for our wedding here (finally!), we've booked the church and even the reception venue too. I've found a lovely little (well big by New York standards..heh) apartment in Surry Hills, and moved in over the weekend. Like I said, very hectic.

So now comes the decision on what to do with this little site. I started this blog over a year ago to chronicle my life (and eating habits), while living in New York. Now that I'm back in Sydney, I will probably change the focus of it just a tad....

We'll see.

Here a meme, there a meme, everywhere a meme

2006-03-03T01:51:00.000+11:00

What's a meme? I have no idea!! But I've received some tags from fellow bloggers which is kind of exciting. People read my blog...yippee!!! Yes I'm procrastinating a little with wedding preparations (can you tell?) which I keep mentioning. The frequency of which will probably increase in the coming months, so you have been warned!

Anyway, since I can't upload any photos for the time being, I figured this would be a great time to post a little about myself. Many thanks to Francesca of Spoon and Stem for the tag.

Four Jobs I've Had in My Life:
1. Supermarket checkout chick
2. Waitress in a Chinese restaurant
3. Accountant
4. Operations manager for an I.T company

Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over:
1. The Big Blue
2. Fifth Element
3. Thomas Crown Affair
4. Big

Four Places I've Lived:
1. At home with my parents, Sydney
2. A funky share house with two other like minded girls, Sydney (had a blast!)
3. A dodgy share house with a psycho woman and her psycho shih tzu, Sydney
4. West Village, New York

Four TV Shows I Watch:
1. Everyday Italian
2. 24
3. Kath & Kim
4. I Love the 80's on VH1 whenever it's on

Four Places I Have Been on Vacation:
1. Ocho Rios, Jamaica
2. Cork, Ireland
3. Barcelona, Spain
4. Sydney, Australia (heh)

Four Websites I Visit Daily:
1. Hello Magazine
2. Socialite Life
3. CNN
4. Sydney Morning Herald

Four of My Favourite Foods:
1. Oysters
2. Any type of cheese
3. Sashimi (eel & mackerel)
4. Satay chicken (my dad's version)

Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now:
1. On a beach, any beach (but in the shade since I'm still peeling)
2. At the food market in Barcelona eating a big plate of grilled sardines
3. Eating seafood with J on the beach in Nha Trang
4. In bed

Four Tags to Continue This Meme:
1. Grab Your Fork
2. Aussie In the City
3. Ruth
4. Sweet Napa

Home sweet home

2006-02-26T20:39:00.000+11:00

Slight change of plan, so back in Sydney earlier than expected. Jamaica was great - a lot of food and drink, and unfortunately, a bit too much sun, so peeling like a banana now.

After being away for over 3 years, it was a little strange flying back into Sydney. Everything looks the same, apart from the odd building here and there that have sprouted up in my absence. It was great catching up with family, and hanging around doing zilch (I seem to be doing that a lot lately..heh). Still it's good to be back.

I met my brother today for a lovely brunch at the Rocks, we sat outside and enjoyed the glorious summer weather. We had a great view of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge while we scoffed a dozen Sydney rock oysters. Heaven.

The main reason for coming back to Sydney was to start on the wedding preparations, which I have no motivation to do right now. I'm blaming it on jet lag :)

First course

2006-02-15T13:23:00.000+11:00

Ok, we're in the middle of dinner right now, but I underestimated how filling scallops are, so we're taking a little break between courses. (Well, there's only 2 courses, since we couldn't resist the chocolate cake last night...heh).

Scallops with apple brandy cream sauce

Verdict? 10/10!!! So delicious but VERY filling. You can find the recipe here. I used Cognac as that was all I had in our liquor "cabinet" (cabinet = the Cognac, and a bottle of whiskey that's been sitting around for waaay too long).

I found out that Cognac is basically brandy from the Cognac region of France and is made from grapes. Calvados, which is what the recipe calls for, is brandy made from apples. So I'm assuming that it would have made the sauce slightly sweeter, which would have been too much I think.

Anyway, enough babble. Happy Valentines Day! :)

Freaking out

2006-02-14T07:10:00.000+11:00

Well, not exactly. But I'm in the process of planning a menu for Valentine's Day, and I'm stumped. Absolutely no idea what to cook, hence the freaking out business. Maybe I'm overreactting, maybe not. But I think the wedding dress shopping and general wedding preparations, which mind you, I haven't really started on yet, have turned me into a blubbering stressed out freakoid.

We had a heavenly meal last Friday at Blue Hill near Washington Square Park. It was a lovely surprise from J, and it made sense to go out for dinner then, rather than on Valentine's Day itself.

So here I am trying to figure out what to cook tomorrow night. I found a yummy scallops recipe, so that will be the starter. I have Cognac at home, but no brandy. Maybe I can use it as a substitute? Fingers crossed.

Main course? No idea! I was tossing up between lamb chops with rosemary, or salmon with a mustard glaze. We both haven't had salmon in a while, and it might be just the right amount after the heavy, cream based scallops. But side dishes? No idea!

Ok, deep breaths....

A Distraction

2006-02-11T07:58:00.000+11:00

I have to admit shopping is not my cup of tea. Since I’m usually indecisive at the best of times, going into a department or clothing store gets me into a head spin, there are just too many choices!!

My very good friend P and I are heading off to Jamaica next week for a long weekend. Sun, sand and pina coladas beckon, so of course we have to have the proper attire for the trip. Which is why we’ve started shopping (or in my case, window shopping) for beachy, summery outfits.

I came across these lovely earrings while shopping the other day, the only thing I’ve purchased so far for the trip. They’re not what I would usually wear, which is normally just a watch and my engagement ring, so these earrings will take some getting used to. But they look nice and summery, and will look great with the tan I hope to get while there ;)

We are staying in an all-inclusive (?!!?!) resort, about an hour’s drive from Montego Bay, so all we really need to bring is a hat, some sunscreen and some trashy magazines. Oh and my earrings of course.

Can’t wait!

Leftovers for lunch

2006-02-08T03:16:00.000+11:00

This has to be one of my all-time favourite meals in winter. Nothing beats a warm bowl of mushroom risotto with peas and a sprinkling of Parmesan. I've made this dish many times over, and I have to say last night's attempt has been the best so far.

I got this recipe from my favourite Food Network show, Everyday Italian.

The original recipe calls for 8 cups of chicken stock, but I've found that 5 cups is more than enough. The trick with making risotto is you have to keep stirring it, but not to the point where you have to stand in front of the stove for half an hour - just give it a good stir every 5 minutes or so, so the rice can absorb the stock.

This recipe serves about 4, so I normally put the leftovers in single serve containers to bring into work for lunch over the course of the week.

Just add a dash of water, put the lid back on loosely (it helps create some steam), and pop in the microwave for 2 minutes, give it a quick stir and another minute in the microwave and voila, the perfect work lunch.

Mushroom Risotto with Peas

5 cups low-salt chicken broth
1/2-ounce dried porcini mushrooms
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups finely chopped onions
10 ounces white mushrooms, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice or short-grain white rice
2/3 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
2/3 cup grated Parmesan
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, optional

Bring the broth to a simmer in a heavy medium saucepan. Add the porcini mushrooms. Set aside until the mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes. Keep the broth warm over very low heat.

Melt the butter in a heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add olive oil. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the white mushrooms and garlic. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the porcini mushrooms to a cutting board. Finely chop the mushrooms and add to the saucepan.

Saute until the mushrooms are tender and the juices evaporate, about 5 minutes. Stir in the rice and let it toast for a few minutes. Add the wine; cook until the liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of hot broth; simmer over medium-low heat until the liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 3 minutes.

Continue to cook until the rice is just tender and the mixture is creamy, adding more broth by cupfuls and stirring often, about 28 minutes (the rice will absorb about 5 cups of broth). Stir in the peas. Mix in the Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Update: Lunch for one

2006-02-03T07:54:00.000+11:00

My solo lunch yesterday at davidburke & Donatella went well. As I had a great corner seat at the bar, I could see the hustle & bustle in the dining area as it quickly filled up with the hungry lunch time crowd. I missed out on some great photo ops, but I don’t think I could have handled eating alone and taking photos of my lunch in one sitting. Besides, it’s a great excuse to go again, right?

I started with a smoked salmon salad, followed by a scrumptious mushroom cavatelli dripping with truffle oil. Yum yum yum, I loooove truffle oil. This was all washed down with two glasses of pinot noir. They had my favourite dessert, crème brulee on the menu, but in the interest of research I opted for the butterscotch panna cotta instead which was a good choice I must say!

Benefits of dining alone:
* You can eat at your own pace and not feel under pressure to finish - yes I’m a slow eater, I like to taste my food rather than wolf it down.
* You get to hear some fascinating conversations going on around you – the poor lady next to me, who bore an uncanny resemblance to Annette Bening, was allergic to gluten. As a result she couldn’t eat the bread, had to have her salad dressing on the side (??), and had to ask the bartender numerous times if he was absolutely sure there was no gluten or any other nasties in her food because she was allergic, yes, to gluten, yes. (Sheesh)
* You score free drinks – I don’t know if the bartender felt sorry for me but hey, who cares when you get a free drink…..even if it is dessert wine.

Cons:
* You’re limited to what you order - so if you want to sample other items on the menu, tough titties.
* There’s only so many times you can admire the floral arrangement against the wall near the loo. Having no reading material or other paraphernalia to keep myself occupied was a bit of a challenge, but I’m glad I tried.

All in all I must say eating by myself wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, I actually enjoyed it. I suppose I did cheat a little by eating at the bar. I think eating at a table alone would be more difficult. Perhaps next time.

So after 3 glasses of wine and an espresso I stumbled back to work. Needless to say I had a very productive afternoon :)

Dinner Lunch for one

2006-02-01T14:20:00.000+11:00

Winter Restaurant Week started last week. Held twice a year for two weeks in the summer and winter, it is a fabulous way to check out the various restaurants around the city - three course prix fixe lunches for $24.07 (as in 24 hours a day, 7 days a week), and dinners for $35.

As J and I have done Restaurant Week on numerous occasions, some of the restaurants were getting a little, well, bleugh - it's usually the same restaurants every time. One restaurant we always go to for lunch though, since we can't afford it otherwise, is the always fabulous Cafe Boulud.

Cafe Boulud's version of roast chicken

We try to do at least one new restaurant every time, and this time, we picked a restaurant with a tongue-twister of a name, davidburke & Donatella for lunch this week.

Unfortunately though, J is extremely busy with work and has to cancel on me. Phone calls to friends have been unsuccessful, and since I still really, really, really want to go, I'm going to do it alone.

Wish me luck!

Food glorious food

2006-01-24T07:07:00.000+11:00

I’ve noticed my last few entries haven't really been about food, which is the main point of this blog. That, and sharing with friends and family my schizophrenic life in New York.

I have been cooking at home a lot lately, so in the true spirit of keeping a diary of my life, I am going to start listing all the stuff I cook and eat. Photos may be a little difficult, as the lighting in our kitchen is dismal, plus I don’t have the creative capabilities of other bloggers out there in blogland. But I will try, yes, yes I will try.

So what did I cook last week? A fair bit:

Monday: Italian wedding soup – a trusty favourite
Tuesday: Oyster sauce chicken with rice – I got this super quick and tasty recipe from Ruth, who has some fantastic recipes I plan to try in the future.
Wednesday: Bizarre beef stroganoff – I’m calling it bizarre as I was lazy and used a pre-packaged sauce, and that’s exactly what it tasted like. Never again!
Sunday: Pork chops with mustard sauce and roasted potatoes & asparagus – everything turned out well, but I used a tad too much mustard. Still, will try recipe again soon

And on tonight’s menu: Bangers and garlic mash with sautéed onions and gravy – can’t wait!

On a side note, I went and tried on some wedding dresses with my good friend P on Saturday. Thoughts? Three words: Oh my GOD!!

New Year, New You?

2006-01-15T11:23:00.000+11:00

You'll have to forgive me for this little rant, as I'm on the verge of recovering from the flu.

Towards the end of every year, I mentally put together a little list of things I would like to do or change about myself in the new year. Yes the typical eat better, be a better person in general etc etc. It's pretty much the same thing I go through every year, with me giving up before February is even over. This year was meant to be different though (though I say that every year as well), as I've personally gone through some rough patches, and I've tried to stay optimistic about what the new year will bring.

I guess you can say old habits die hard, as I seem to be struggling with the whole "new me" concept, and January isn't even yet over. So this post is more about me being frustrated with myself, and what I can do to kick my butt into gear.

Hmmm, maybe I should cut back on that cold & flu medication...

Hot soup, tea and sleep

2006-01-03T02:27:00.000+11:00

It started with a headache yesterday, and waking up today with a sore throat and feeling congested and tired. Wouldn't you know it, after almost 3 weeks off work I've come down with the flu. A day before I'm due back at work. Great.

It could have been worse I suppose. Imagine feeling under the weather during Christmas and not having an appetite? Scary thought. Hopefully people won't notice me hiding in my cubicle for the rest of this week ;)

New year's eve celebrations this time were a quiet affair, just a few drinks at our local pub to count down into the new year. J and I are still pretty tired from our trip to Ireland & Spain, so a noisy, boisterous night out was the last thing on our minds. Either that or we're just getting old!

We flew into Ireland 3 weeks ago today and spent some time in Limerick, staying with J's aunt before flying to Spain. J's brother was kind enough to take us sightseeing around County Clare.

The Irish coastline is spectacular, more so with the fog and mist, which somehow adds to the mystique. I am always amazed at how green Ireland is (yes very cliche). I find the many shades of green to be calming in a way. I have to also add that moss grows everywhere in Ireland - even in the cracks of car windows which I find hilarious.

The Cliffs of Moher

We were relieved to come in from the cold, misty weather after a day of sightseeing. J's aunt had prepared a delicious homecooked meal by the time we got back - roast pork with carrots and creamy baked potatoes. Followed by one of my favourite desserts, pavlova. It was so good I had thirds. With extra cream. Well it was the holiday season after all. That's what I kept telling myself anyway.

We got up early the following morning to drive from Limerick to Cork for our flight to Barcelona. While small, single lane country roads may be quaint for sightseeing and experiencing Ireland, they're certainly no fun when you're in a hurry to catch a flight.

After a quick 2 hour flight we landed in Barcelona's international airport. J's sister, who lived in Spain for a year, had written out a list of useful words and phrases that would prove invaluable for our trip. Phrases like, "Two red wines please, "Two draft beers please" and so on.

Barcelona is a relatively compact, densely packed city. There are many narrow streets to explore and many, many little bars, some offering tapas. Perfect if you're feeling peckish. I was in heaven.

Gorgeous old buildings in Barcelona

We stayed in a lovely little hotel in the old city, and spent most of our time wandering the narrow streets. As we were a little pressed for time, we only had time for a small side trip to see the famous temple designed by Gaudi, the Sagrada Familia.

Sagrada Familia

The temple has a pretty interesting history, and as you can see the temple is still under construction (which began in 1882), NOT renovation. You can read more about the history of the temple here.

Day two involved more wandering around and a visit to the massive covered market, the Mercat de la Boqueria. This was what I looking forward to seeing the most on our trip. Fresh fruits & vegetables, fish, the odd duck still with its feathers attached, and the piece de resistance - Spain's famous cured hams, or jamon. Yeah baby!!

Colourful fruit stand inside the market

Cured hams or jamon for sale

Seeing so many delectable treats made us hungry. So we headed to one of the few food stalls within the market. A glass of vino blanco, a hearty bowl of fish sopa and we were ready for plate of grilled sardines. My GOD they were good, I was tempted to order another plate.

Heaven on a plate

After two great days in Barcelona, it was time to head back to Cork to spend Christmas with J's family. We stopped by the beautiful church near our hotel the night before we left. I think this is my favourite shot of the trip.

Santa Maria del Mar near our hotel

On Christmas day J's mum and aunt cooked up a storm - turkey, baked ham with a delicious mustard pineapple crust and trifle! My GOD I love trifle! It's been sooo long since I had trifle! Layers of sponge cake, decadent cream, cherries and port! Yes! Yes! Yes!

Anyway, I digress. After some champagne and sliced jamon hors d'oeuvres (all the way from Barcelona!), we sat down for Christmas dinner. We started off with an appetizer of prawns with sweet chilli sauce, before moving onto the turkey and other goodies.

Christmas dinner

Boxing Day (or St Stephens Day) was spent plonked on the couch in front of the telly recovering from the previous day's food fest. I don't think I've ever seen so many re-runs of Eastenders or Coronation Street in my life!

After almost 2 weeks away it was time to go home. We said our goodbyes and made our way to the airport for the six hour flight across the Atlantic and back to reality...

Belated Christmas Wishes

2005-12-27T03:05:00.000+11:00

In Ireland at the moment spending Christmas with J's family and enjoying the sunny weather.

Spent a long weekend in Barcelona and it definitely wasn't long enough. We spent the days wandering the narrow streets, stopping off for tapas and €2 glasses of vino tinto. We went to the massive covered market and saw racks and racks of delicious jamon. We had yummy cava - sparkling wine for just €3 a bottle, yes bottle. Plus smoking is allowed just about everywhere (including the Metro??), what's there not to like!?

Anyway, just a quick entry to wish you all a belated happy Christmas and a fun and safe new year! :)

Time to start on those new year's resolutions...

The End of Year "Limbo"

2005-12-12T05:40:00.000+11:00

Alas, they say time flies when you're having fun. The year is almost over and it's time to reflect, regroup and all that jazz.

Bugger.

Yes it is time to reflect, well for me anyway. A lot has happened this year, and a lot more since I first moved to New York over three years ago. I have a tendency to get moody this time of year - have I done anything worthwhile this year? Have I achieved anything? What plans do I have for next year?

More often than not those questions go unanswered and they end up being lumped with my new years resolutions. I'll get to them...eventually.

Yes, planning is not my forte.

But there is planning that needs to be done, next year especially so. I'm scared, apprehensive and freaked out by the amount of planning I need to do.

We've talked for a while about moving back to Sydney, but now J and I are unsure. We both initially (naively?) assumed that things will be the same when we go back, but circumstances change, people change, and we've changed.

So now we're in limbo. What to do next? Where to go next? Throw in a wedding that we've tentatively set for December in Sydney, which we've yet to even begin organising, and you catch my drift.

Bugger.

Experimental Dining

2005-12-10T09:45:00.000+11:00

Postcard courtesy wd-50

An interesting dining experience at wd-50 in the Lower East Side earlier this week. Check out some of the gorgeous photos here, guaranteed to whet your appetite. Talk about food porn!

A Breather...

2005-11-26T04:57:00.000+11:00

Times Square - New York

After a hectic one and a half weeks of sightseeing, eating and drinking, my cousin finally flew out of New York last night bound for London. I was a little teary eyed when I saw her off at the airport, but at the same time I was glad she finally saw New York, and how I've been living my life here.

We spent a few days wandering around and taking in the sights and smells. There was the obligatory hot dog from a street vendor, the $20 manicure & pedicure, having our make up done at the make up counters in Macy's, the Staten Island ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, and of course a stroll around Times Square.

Naked Cowboy in Times Square - he must have been freezing!

We headed off to Vegas after a few days to unwind and try our luck at the casinos. As for how much we won on the slots and blackjack tables, errr...let's just say we had fun but I'm glad we're back in NY ;)

So now I'm sitting here on the couch, a day after Thanksgiving, sipping a cup of tea and writing this entry. J's sister is in town for a few days, so there will be more photos opps, but for the time being here are some taken during my cousin's visit. Enjoy.

Slot machines...at the airport!!

Paris Hotel, Las Vegas

New York Hotel, Las Vegas. Not quite as good as the real thing

Bellagio Hotel by night, Las Vegas

Quickie wedding anyone?

Aladdin Hotel - no trip to Vegas is complete without at least ONE buffet meal

I had about 4 of these cheesecake thingies at the buffet, delicious!!

The Strip by night

Birthday dinner at Delmonico in the Venetian Hotel. Truffled wild mushroom mousse on crostini

Bird's eye view of the Grand Canyon on our flight home

Day 2 Dinner

2005-11-19T01:32:00.000+11:00

The seriously addictive lobster rolls at Pearl Oyster Bar

After a day of sightseeing, nothing beats a seat at the counter at Pearl Oyster Bar for their delicious lobster rolls and an order of fried oysters with homemade tartare sauce.

A Visitor

2005-11-13T02:34:00.000+11:00

My dearest cousin is coming for a visit, and she arrives tomorrow.

I'm excited to boot that I'm finally having a visitor. I have been trying for the three years that I've been here to get family and friends from Australia to come for a visit. All met with the same excuses; "It's too far", "I can't take that much time off work, are you crazy!?", "It's too expensive", "It's too far". Blah blah blah, all lame excuses.

For the record, it's not that far - 14 hours from Sydney to San Francisco or L.A, plus a mad dash to the domestic terminal to catch the 6 hour connecting flight to New York. Add check-in times, security checks - 24 hours in total, tops. Jet lag is an incidental. See, not far at all.

Anyway back to my bestest, closest, most favourite of all my cousins.

We've been chatting on the phone a lot recently. Her birthday is coming up and she was feeling a little down. I said, "Why don't you take some time off and come for a visit? A holiday is exactly what you need". "Nah, it's too far, plus I'm broke" was her response.

Sigh.

Now, I admit I was a little sneaky. Sensing her mood, I decided the best plan of attack was to bombard her with phone calls. So I called, almost every day, gently cooing to her that what she needed was a holiday. You know, get away from it all for a while, see the world, treat yourself to a great birthday present.

What I didn't anticipate was the reaction I would get from her. From complaining that New York was too far - "What am I going to do on the plane for 14 hours?", having no money, not being able to take the time off work, to...a one month juggernaut of airline travel. Around the world airline travel in fact: Sydney - New York - London - Hong Kong - Sydney.

A woman's brain works in mysterious ways, don't you think?

So yes, she arrives tomorrow and I'm excited as can be. We'll be doing the touristy stuff while she's here, many of which I haven't done yet. Plus there will be a side trip to Las Vegas too.

All I have to do is clean the apartment and make it look presentable. Can't wait!

Australia Day

2005-11-07T11:06:00.000+11:00

Well, not exactly Australia Day, more like Chick Pea day.

J had a very hectic weekend of sports (as in watching it perched on a stool in a pub, not playing of course), so I decided Sunday was going to be Chick Pea Pamper Day. Some pimples had decided to throw a huge gathering on my face; I thought I left all that behind when I hit 30, or 18 for that matter, so I made an appointment for a facial at my favourite spa.

The appointment wasn't until 3.30 pm, and I was feeling a little hungry.

Tuck Shop in the East Village is a place I have been wanting to check out for a while, and today was the day to indulge my tastebuds. The good 'ol Aussie meat pie is something I haven't had in over three years.

I synced my iPod with some Powderfinger and headed for the subway to get to Second Avenue.

The shop had the usual Aussie paraphernalia - a HUGE koala painted on the wall outside near the entrance, a surfboard, Peter Jackson and Winfield Blue beer mats hanging on the walls and so on. It was a little grottier than I expected, but hell, I wasn't there for the decor, bring on the pies!!

Brings a tear to the eye, this thing of beauty

When I was a kid I used to love to pierce the top of the pie crust with the ketchup bottle, squirt a massive amount of sauce inside and then gorge. When you bit into it, you would get a lovely mixture of beef mince, gravy and ketchup. In retrospect that was kind of gross, so I just dolloped a respectable amount on my warm, crusty pie.

Behold the masterpiece:

The expression on my face just before I dug in. Corny? Yes!

Verdict: While it was a satisfying, I found the pie had a tad too much pepper which overpowered the taste. The flies that were buzzing around the shop gave it an authentic, Aussie feel, though I'm not sure if this was intentional. Still, I had my pie fix so I was a happy camper. Hopefully I won't wait another three years for another pie!

Oodles of Noodles

2005-11-04T04:49:00.000+11:00

I'm going through a bit of a noodle thing at the moment. We checked out Momofuku Noodle Bar in the East Village two weeks ago and it was so delicious we had to go there again last night.

The menu is an eclectic mix of Japanese, Korean and Chinese. While such a mix might make you wary of the quality of the food as I initially felt, the yummy Momofuku ramen quickly changed my mind.

A long narrow bar facing the kitchen is the only seating available, which is the perfect way to catch all the action in the kitchen.

Eerrr...maybe I should ask before I blind them with my flash

Taking photos inside the restaurant wasn't as easy as I thought. After being spoilt by the wonderful photos taken by AG, I thought I would be merrily snapping away. I didn't want to piss anyone off so I shyly asked the rather spunky chef if I could take a few snaps.

Noice

We started off with the delicious steamed buns with Berkshire pork. Warm soft buns smeared with plum sauce and topped with cucumber, scallions and pork.

One is not enough

I followed that with the Momofuku ramen, while J decided to try an interesting grits dish which I have forgotten the name of.

Momofuku ramen

I won hands down.

Grits with poached egg, bacon and shrimp

I had never heard of grits until I came to America. It has a porridge-like consistency and has the same texture as congee. I think it is made in the same manner as congee - slowly cooking rice until it breaks down to form a thick soup, though corn is used instead of rice.

Stuffed from our hearty meal, we stumbled home and went straight to bed. Does life get any better than that?

Central Park

2005-10-17T07:05:00.000+10:00

Tribute to John Lennon - Strawberry Fields, Central Park

Suburbia

2005-10-04T03:08:00.000+10:00

Spent a weekend in the 'burbs with A & J, who live about an hour north of Chicago. It was a true taste of suburban life with the large house, the big SUV and their two lovely daughters aged 6 and 7.

We landed on Thursday evening where A, one of John's best friends, picked us up from O'Hare. We then joined the throng of vehicles fighting their way through rush hour for the commute home.

What got me the most on our first night there was how quiet it was – no horns blaring, no sirens screeching, no garbage trucks rumbling through the streets at 4 in the morning. John and I hadn’t had such a great night’s sleep in a while, so we felt refreshed when we finally crawled out of bed Friday morning.

A had a few errands to do, so after a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs, we tagged along and went with A to their local Sam’s Club, a mega-mart where you can buy anything your little heart desires in bulk, and I mean bulk.

I was in awe.

The massive carpark and unassuming (read: ugly) building didn’t prepare me for what was in store - aisles and aisle of food, household items, even jewellery were for sale – all in jumbo, gargantuan size (well except the jewellery…heh).

Holy crap there's a lot of food here

There were free samples of food, which I thought was a great idea. So I helped myself to some funky tasting shrimp scampi and strolled down the aisles to take some photos.

Even John was in awe, so I had him "model" some of the items we found...

I Can't Believe It's That Big!!

Sugary goodness indeed

A lot of the items we saw were labeled “Restaurant Quality”, which I assume meant that the majority of the shoppers there were buying for their businesses, but I saw a lot of families filling their oversized shopping carts with oversized boxes. I think you pay an annual fee to become a member of the club, and you can shop until you drop.

If only that were Praise mayonnaise, I'd die a happy woman

I was tempted to buy this, paired with a 6-pack of beer...yum!

I suppose it does make sense to buy things in bulk, you save money and endless trips to the supermarket. Still, it was a bit of an eye opener that's for sure!

Looks like a happy customer

We made our way back to Chicago on Saturday for a night out on the town with A & J, who found a baby sitter to stay overnight. They were so excited at being back in Chicago without the kids. It was funny watching them enjoy each other's company.

Ahh...suburbia...John and I can't wait to join it...maybe!

Shot from Millenium Park

Fall

2005-09-23T02:48:00.000+10:00

It's been a hectic two weeks for me, which is highly unusual given I normally spend my time bumming around thinking about food - what to eat, where to eat and how to eat it.

You could say I'm trying to cram as much in before the weather starts to get too chilly here. The humid, icky weather has finally given way to more bearable conditions. The afternoons are getting dark earlier now, I guess autumn is finally here.

I had the pleasure of meeting K last Sunday, a fellow Aussie and amatuer foodie who stumbled upon my blog some time ago. We've been emailing each other back and forth for some time, and we finally decided it was time to meet. I had told my friends about this meeting, a complete stranger (well not exactly a stranger but you know what I mean), and there had been varied reactions to this.

"She could turn out to be some creepy guy with a penchant for lace thongs!"

"It's definitely some perve, you shouldn't meet!"

"What's the worst that could happen? She could turn out to be some old guy who preys on innocent young females, but hey at least you met!"

And so forth.

Thankfully none of the above was not the case. We had planned a late Sunday brunch at the Sunburnt Cow, an Aussie pub in the East Village that had the very tempting idea of all-you-can-drink mimosas.

I turned up at her apartment building at the appointed time and was relieved to see was a perfectly normal, happy human being :) She had a bottle of bubbly in the fridge which we of course had to have to toast our meeting. She made the most amazing champagne cocktail I've ever had - a sugar cube, a dash of bitters, a small amount of Grand Marnier and topped with yummy bubbly.

We proceeded to her backyard (she has a backyard, in New York...I was in awe!), where we chatted about our lives in New York, friends and family back home, and the problems we have with our "r's" in America - Aussies pronounce beer "bee-aa", whereas we've learned to roll our r's so it's beer-rrr in America.

We both agreed it was a perfect lazy afternoon - a pretty garden, an overflowing ashtray, and several glasses of champagne. Before we knew it, it was 5pm and too late for brunch. Oh well, bring on the chardy!

I told her about my initial reservations about meeting and what my friends had said, she laughed and said her friends said the same thing. If the champagne didn't break the ice, that certainly did!

So all in all, a good week. Here's to a new found friendship, cheers!!

Photos from a-ha concert

2005-09-14T23:01:00.000+10:00

The concert was...as the Americans would say, AWESOME! It was soo packed, the queue to get in went down the block and around the corner to the end of the other block! Doors opened at 8 and we stayed at the pub until about 7.45 so by the time we got to the venue it was like...shit!

We were a little sneaky and went on the VIP queue which only had about 20 people, though I think most of them were just plebs like us holding regular tickets. We managed to get in anyway and had a great spot upstairs near the stage

Pal (my fave) looks a little older now. Morten turns 45 in 2 days (?!!!!!) and looked gorgeous as ever. Mags was........hot!! I couldn't stop drooling....J was very impressed...hahaha.

I thought there would be more girls than guys, but there were a lot of guys there wearing a-ha t-shirts from the 80's too...so funny to see! They sang a good mix I think, some old and some new. Of course they had to sing Take on Me and Hunting High & Low (they must be sick of singing that by now...hehehe), still it was great.

I'm glad I went, and the 4 beers beforehand certainly did help. I was thinking dirty thoughts about Mags in between songs.....naughty!! ;)

Mags is moity foine!

My !#%$ camera is still out of commission, so a very big THANK YOU to Alex who was kind enough to email me the photos she took. She even scored a backstage pass and met the guys backstage the lucky thing!

Take on Meeee

2005-09-13T06:38:00.000+10:00

a-ha are playing their first US concert in 20 years tonight!!!

I found out about this 2 months too late, tickets were sold out in the first hour they went on sale back in July. Thank God for ebay. My first time using it and it was a relatively painless process, though I can see how you can become addicted to buying junk on the site.

Anyway, meeting J at the pub at 6pm to get sloshed beforehand. I reckon 4 beers should loosen me enough to fling my underwear at Morten Harket. :)

I was 14 the first time I saw them in concert in Sydney. I had to be chaperoned by my two older cousins who to this day remind of me the fact that I cried when I saw them on stage.

Yeah I'm an 80's chick through and through. I own every single one of their albums (man that sounds so ancient).

A chance to relive my youth baby.....yeehaa!!

I think I'm in love...

2005-09-08T13:34:00.000+10:00

I have finally succumbed. It's time for an iPod nano.

So sexy.

Update: Went to the Apple store in Soho on Sunday and it was packed . I think cute would be a better way to describe it, its tiny!

An observation...

2005-09-07T02:59:00.000+10:00

This was something I noticed quite some time ago. I bring it up every now and again, much to the annoyance of J, but it really does annoy the hell out of me. It may be a trivial, silly thing, but it honestly drives me nuts. I saw it happen in a diner yesterday while I was ordering take-out. I just had to tell J who was waiting outside, and he rolled his eyes with an "Oh no, not this again" sigh.

We were on our way to catch a train to the US Open. It was a glorious fall...ahem, I mean autumn...day. The sun was shining and we had tickets to the day session at Flushing Meadows where the tennis was being held. We stopped by a diner to pick up some coffee and brekkie to munch on the train ride there, and that's when I saw it.

A guy sitting at the counter enjoying his breakfast of French toast.

And cutting it with his fork.

I noticed this phenomenon - people eating their salads, pastas, fish and even steak with a fork and nothing else - when I first came to America. Its like their left hand is taking a short holiday during the meal.

Eeek! I cannot tell you how much I hate seeing that. My table manners may not be the best in the world, but one of the first things my parents drilled into me when I was a child was that you should never eat with one hand.

You hold a knife and fork in each hand, cut off what you need, pop it in your mouth and chew. Basically you should have both hands on the table (elbows were a no no back then for me too, but nowadays I don't think anyone cares about that). If you want, you can rest the knife and fork on the plate while you're still eating. When finished, place the knife and fork side-by-side on the plate so the waitstaff know you've finished eating.

Simple.

That was what I was taught in Australia. Maybe its different in America, because the eating with one hand thing is everywhere. Even when people have finished eating, I've noticed they just "chuck" their cutlery on their plates - splayed all over the place.

I've seen it in diners, cafes and even fancy restaurants - people cutting up roasted vegetables, filets of fish, a chicken breast - with their fork while their knife sits idly on the table.

Why??

Ok I exaggerate, but only slightly. I have seen people use their knives to cut steak. They use a knife and fork to cut the steak, they put the knife down and move the fork back to their right hand to eat. The left hand goes back on the lap for another break.

J and I will be out having a nice dinner, and I will spend half the evening watching how other people eat with their cutlery. Actually I find it both annoying and amusing, because it is such a strange thing to watch.

I'm probably being anal about this and I admit I may be generalising here, as I have seen the occasional American eat with both knife and fork.

Still, its just an observation.

Dinner for one

2005-08-19T07:57:00.000+10:00

I love company. I love going out and being in the company of friends. Whether it be dinner, a drink, or even a walk, I enjoy the companionship of others. Mind you, I'm not the most talkative of people, or even the funniest, but I rarely venture out alone.

One of the things that struck me the most about living here is that many New Yorkers do things on their own - people sitting in a coffee shop by themselves reading a book or tapping away merrily on their laptops; having a solitary drink at the bar; or even going to the cinema alone. I'm sure its like that in any large city, but I guess I've never noticed it until I came here.

As lame as it may sound I have to admit I've never really done anything substantial by myself. Sure I've gone shopping and run errands by myself, but actually sitting in one spot, with no one but myself scares the shit out of me.

Given the choice I would rather bum out at home than go out and do something by myself. The thought of it throws my brain into a state of panic. What will people think of me? Do I look like a loser sitting here by myself? They must think I have no friends. etc etc.

Yes it's childish and silly to think like that, especially at my age, so I've decided it's time for me to conquer this fear once and for all. In baby steps of course :)

1. The coffee shop - OK I've done this one already. Having a book and a watch handy helps, since it looks like you're waiting for someone who's running late. :P

2. Having a drink at a bar - I've done this too. Again had my trusty book handy. Plus it wasn't that bad as I was waiting for the laundry.

3. Watching a movie - this can't be that bad. I mean its dark and all so no one can see who you're with anyway.

And my greatest fear of all...

4. Having dinner alone.

Now I've had lunch many times by myself, but I think dinner would be much harder. Why? I have no idea. Maybe it's psychological. To me, dinner out is a social occassion, a time to have in the company of others. So if I can manage to pull this one off, I think I'll be cured...heh.

I'm giving myself two rules:

No books or any other paraphernalia to feign preoccupation (I can fidget all I want, but that's it); and
I'm going to enjoy myself

First off, the cinema.

Stay tuned.

Date Night

2005-08-14T12:33:00.000+10:00

Friday night. We had talked earlier in the week about going out for a nice meal - dressing up, having a few drinks, a good meal and maybe even some music and dancing. Basically a night out as we hadn't gone out on a "date" in a while. I embraced this with gusto - I dolled myself up Sex and the City style (it's been a while...heh), found a great restaurant and was looking forward to a nice evening.

We went to Casa Mono, a lively Spanish tapas bar on Irving Place run partly by Mario Batali. It was packed, so we put our names down for a spot at the counter (my favourite spot in any restaurant) so we could watch all the action in the kitchen. We headed to a nearby pub (my flashy outfit blended in beautifully with the decor thank you very much), and had a few drinks while we waited for the phone call.

10p.m and the restaurant called to say they were ready to seat us. We downed our beers (no cocktails in the pub, honey), and raced back with anticipation. "Your table's ready for you now". Huh? No, we put our names down for a spot at the counter. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you would prefer a table so you wouldn't have to wait any longer". Okaay then. We were really hungry by then so a table it is.

The food was amazing. We shared small plates of sardines, octopus, melt-in-the-mouth skirt steak and mussels with chorizo, all washed down with a delicious Spanish wine. The servings were a decent size, not small as I thought it would be with tapas, so we were stuffed by the time we were finished.

Overall a great meal, though next time I will definitely try to get a spot at the counter. The tables, while having a cute little "drawer" underneath to store unused glasses and cutlery, was a little too small for more than three small plates at a time. We finished up with an espresso and headed out into the hot and sticky night.

Update: I made some minor changes to the original post as I'm no longer fuming ;)

Lazy Bones

2005-08-04T02:36:00.000+10:00

Ok, I've been lazy, I can admit that. Being in hot, humid weather does that to me sometimes, though that's a pretty lame excuse I know.

J got back from NZ a few weeks ago now, and the most exciting thing we've done since is head down the New Jersey shore for some surf and sand over the weekend. The weather really has been quite nice, not as humid as last year I guess. I'm peeling like a banana now, that's what you get for not using sunscreen (eek!).

We had brunch at Ruby's in the Lower East Side on Sunday. J had the Bronte (beef burger) and I had the Bondi (chicken burger). I think I liked the Bronte more - the mayo and sweet chilli sauce combo is delicious. Can't wait to go again!

My brand new (purchased in April) camera is broken!! I don't believe it! So no photos for a while as I've sent it in for repairs. I have a feeling someone may have dropped it a few times while holidaying in NZ...hmmmmm???

The Original

2005-06-26T03:26:00.000+10:00

Finally made it to 'ino in the West Village for brunch the other week. My first time there and it is tiny. About six tables and a few stools at the counter. We started off with a delicious sweet onion and cacio bruschetta, and I just had to have their truffled egg toast which I've had before at 'inotecca a few months back.

'ino's truffled egg toast & a side order of sweet onion & cacio bruschetta

The truffled egg toast is so yummy I had to make a version of it at home after I had it back in February. I added proscuitto to my version just to make it more interesting, and the aroma from a few splashes of truffle oil make it sooo tempting, it might be worthwhile to make extras.

Not a bad interpretation if I do say so myself!!

Huh? Flat White?

2005-06-16T04:04:00.000+10:00

Interesting article in the Sydney Morning Herald last week about finding a decent cup of coffee in New York City.

The article does have a point, the number of Starbucks in the city is scary, there's one on every corner! Ok I exaggerate, but there are a lot of them around. Personally, I reckon Dunkin Donuts has the worst coffee of all - brown, murky liquid in styrofoam cups adorned with their gaudy orange & pink logo. Too early in the morning to be looking at colours that bright me thinks!

The author recommends several places, a few of which I haven't heard of, though I agree Joe is a great spot. They also have the most delicious lemon poppy muffins there...yum! I walked past Ruby's on the weekend to have a look at the menu, and it looks great. I was expecting it to have a counter where you can order your coffee, but its more of a sit down and eat kind of place. Still, the Bondi burger will definitely have to be tried - a chicken burger with mayo and sweet chilli sauce. I can't mention enough how much I LOVE sweet chilli sauce (its up there with Praise mayonnaise!!).

The article goes on to describe the difference between a flat white and a cafe latte, and also mentions that the cafe lattes in the US are different to the lattes in Australia. I always thought the difference between the two was that flat whites use cold milk, and lattes use hot steamed milk. So now I'm even more confused!

Still, as long as the coffee's good and strong, who cares?

Wi-fi (Or Rather, No wi-fi) – The Bane of My Existence

2005-06-14T05:52:00.000+10:00

Ok, two weeks with no internet access at home is starting to have an effect on me. It's gotten to the point where I am now looking online at work for free wi-fi spots near my apartment. I’m somewhat shocked that there aren’t any - I had assumed that wireless access would be free at least in Starbucks, but silly me, even that was wishful thinking.

So now I’m stuck in limbo land, no wireless access at home and contemplating whether I should sign up for cable, buy a router etc etc. I know I'll have to eventually, but being the technophobe that I am it might take a while. Looking online now at what you need and how to sign up etc and I am so confused!!

All I have right now is a wireless card, we don't have a phone line at home so I have no idea how you're meant to connect, something to do with cable??

Yes I'm having a big blonde moment right now..hehehe

Cheap beer...woohoo!!

2005-05-16T12:07:00.000+10:00

$2 for a pint of Duff? And I thought they only had it in the Simpsons, woohoo!!

The Gowanus Yacht Club, Brooklyn

More Random Photos

2005-05-16T05:42:00.000+10:00

Off next week to California next week for some R&R, can't wait.

In the meantime, some shots around Brooklyn & Manhattan...

Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

Cherry Blossom Festival at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

Wedding party taking photos in the Garden

I'm a sucker for tulips and there were hundreds of them!

Japanese Maple

Brooklyn Museum

On the subway back into Manhattan

Famous deli on Houston Street in the Lower East Side

Orchard Street near Chinatown

The always busy Canal Street in Chinatown

Yesss!

2005-05-06T01:54:00.000+10:00

My order from Simply Oz finally arrived today! It felt like Christmas as I was opening the well sealed brown box, each item carefully bundled in its own bubble wrap. It was like a slow tease pulling each item out one by one, wondering what surprise would be next! Yes, I know I’m probably exaggerating, but after craving these foods for so long, holding them in my hands was like hugging a long lost cousin. Well, not exactly but you know what I mean :)

After I took everything out of the box I just had to take a picture of course. John merely rolled his eyes as I carefully arranged the goodies for the photo. After taking ten different shots in different lighting and angles, I gave up and just stuck with using the flash on the camera. I was going to wait until day time to take a photo in natural light, but I can happily say that my taste buds couldn’t wait until morning to sample the delights.

Mint Slice - mmmm its been too long, Cheezels - oh my GOD! I have seriously died and gone to heaven. The pièce de résistance obviously has to be the Praise mayonnaise, since I’ve been harping on about it for so long. I can eat buckets of this stuff, seriously.

I bought Copha (solidified coconut oil) as its been so long since I made chocolate crackles. I was craving them a while ago and was _this close_ to using vegetable shortening instead since they don’t sell Copha in the US. Thankfully there are people out there as desperate as I am that have tried making them using shortening, and have posted their warnings about not using the stuff. Savoury chocolate crackles? No thanks!

Righto, time for some licorice bullets....

Chicken or Beef?

2005-04-30T01:33:00.000+10:00

Photo courtesy Airlinemeals.net

Ahhh….airline food. You either love it or hate it. I happen to LOVE airline food, its one of the highlights of flying I reckon – the excitement of heading to the airport knowing you’re about to start on your holiday; the anticipation of getting on the plane and praying you don’t end up next to a smelly fat guy or a family with two howling toddlers; and of course what surprises lay ahead when you see the flight crew wheel the food trolley down the aisle.

Unfortunately nowadays being fed on any flight is pretty hard to come by, unless you’re on a long haul flight or lucky enough to be in business class. Gone are the days when even on a 2 hour flight you would be served a meal fit for a king, even in coach class. Now US domestic flights typically serve a packet of pretzels and a beverage, and that’s it.

But when you do get fed - bliss! Each course neatly packed into its own little container and beautifully presented on a tray. So compact, you would think there couldn’t possibly be enough food to fill you up, but it always does. Of course the presentation isn’t on par with bento boxes, but I think given the conditions its close enough for me.

In one of those “Why didn’t I think of that?” moments, the New York Times has published an article about a website devoted entirely to photos of airline meals. Ever wondered what the flight crew eat on flights? What cuisine is served on a first class flight from JFK to LHR? What they serve on Uzbekistan Airways? Well airlinemeals.net is the site for you. There are thousands of photos and you can contribute your own too, with the best photo of the week posted on the site’s main page.

I’ll have the chicken, thanks.

Random Pictures

2005-04-27T12:56:00.000+10:00

Houses near Prospect Park in Brooklyn - Sunday afternoon

Our apartment building - I wish

The tree lined streets of Brooklyn

Car park in Manhattan - don't know why I took this, but it looks pretty cool

My Dilemma

2005-04-24T01:35:00.000+10:00

After ordering take-out last night at Lassi, a terrific Indian place near our apartment, I got to thinking about the last time I actually prepared a home cooked meal. It took some working out, but I figured it was almost two weeks ago - flounder lightly floured and sauteed with some butter and lemon juice and string beans on the side.

I'd love to cook more at home on weekdays, but by the time I finish work and spend an hour at the gym, I'm too exhausted to go buy groceries to cook anything. I’m sure everyone feels the same way, no matter where they live. But it got me thinking, how often does the average New Yorker cook at home?

The problem with New York is that most apartments are quite small. The apartments you see in Friends do exist, but the rent is astronomical. The first apartment we lived in was tiny – over $2,000 a month for a space that could barely fit a two seater sofa and a coffee table. The kitchen (or galley which is probably a more accurate description) consisted of a small bar fridge, a sink and a cooker. The chopping board doubled as bench space when rested over the sink because there was no room anywhere else.

As a result we spent most of our time eating out, like most New Yorkers. It is more convenient to walk a block and pick up dinner than to wrestle with a frying pan in a space the size of a public restroom cubicle. There are so many restaurants, take-out places, bars and delis to choose from - if you ate out at a different restaurant every night for 5 years, you won’t visit the same place twice. Why? Because restaurants open and close down like there’s no tomorrow. I read somewhere that for every one successful restaurant in Manhattan, ten will close down within a year.

Now I don’t have a problem with eating out, I LOVE eating out. The problem I have is that eating out so often can’t be good for you. You can’t control the amount of fat or quality of ingredients that goes into your meal compared to preparing it yourself at home. I’ve asked friends about this and most say it is just more convenient to buy take-out than to cook at home. If pressed, they would eat at home once or twice a week – which means popping in the microwave a supermarket bought pre-packaged meal.

You would think a diet like that, mixed with drinking out three to four times a week would result in chubby New Yorkers, but the opposite is true. Americans are known for being larger than everyone else (in size and ego) - head outside of New York and parts of California and you’ll see what obese really means. But how do New Yorkers stay so slim? Is it really the hectic lifestyle, the competitiveness of working 60 hours a week and the stress that keeps people trim? Or is it because most people walk everywhere because they can’t afford a car, let alone the $800 a month to keep it in a car park in Manhattan?

So even though I love to eat out and will continue to do so, I’m going to at least try to balance things out…somehow…

Summer

2005-04-21T04:17:00.000+10:00

A very balmy 83F (28C) today. Its as if spring only lasted a week. What better way to enjoy the warm weather than some yummy guacamole.

After having Mexican food in the States, I don't think I can ever go back to Old El Paso ready-mix you buy in supermarkets in Sydney. There is such an abundance of Mexican restaurants in Manhattan ranging from dirt cheap but bloody good to gourmet and hideously expensive, you're bound to find one that you like. Our favourite by far has to be Mexicana Mama located at 525 Hudson Street in Greenwich Village, a tiny place with only six tables (we have a tendency to like restaurants in tiny spaces) that's moderately priced. With daily specials, amazing salsas and magaritas that will blow your socks off, we've taken everyone who comes to visit us in New York there.

I created this recipe from trial and error as I was craving guacamole a few weeks ago (yes, in the middle of winter). You may think that one avocado is not enough, but trust me, its plenty for two people.

A perfect snack on a warm day. Icy beer optional.

Guacamole
1 Serving

1 avocado pitted and smushed
Half diced tomato
¼ cup finely chopped cilantro (coriander)
1 minced garlic clove
1 thinly sliced green chilli
Half diced red onion
Half lime juice
Salt & pepper

Combine all the ingredients and serve with tortilla chips

Getting Around

2005-04-17T01:19:00.000+10:00

The C train out to Brooklyn

We headed out to Brooklyn last night for dinner to a neighbourhood called Fort Greene, about a 20 minute subway ride from Manhattan. Despite the many complaints there are of how dirty and crappy the New York subway system is, I reckon its a pretty impressive ride considering its over 100 years old.

The trains are relatively clean and they run on a regular schedule - there are usually trains every 5 to 10 mins, and for a flat rate of $2 you can go anywhere in Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. I guess the only bad thing I can say about the system is that the subway stations can get pretty unbearable in the summer, where the humidity underground is stifling.

Navigating the subway is pretty straight forward. All train lines are colour coded so you just pick your destination and find the corresponding train line on the subway map and off you go.

After dinner and a few too many drinks, we decided to catch a cab home. The cost of living in New York may be expensive, but I find the taxi fares here a lot cheaper than in Sydney. A cab ride from mid-town to the West Village where we live costs about $8, whereas travelling the same distance in Sydney would cost closer to $25.

The cab driver was getting a little ansy with us taking flash photography at the back of his cab at 1 o'clock in the morning, understandable I suppose considering it probably doesn't help his driving. But this is a pretty cool picture John took of a map of Manhattan found in every cab.

More soon...

Map of New York inside a yellow cab

Spring in New York

2005-04-11T10:53:00.000+10:00

New Yorkers enjoying their first weekend of warm weather at Pier 45 near Chelsea

It felt as if spring sprung out of nowhere this last week. After months of cold, lousy weather, we had almost one full week of heavy rain. After the rain finally ended, so did the cold temperatures.

Add to that my new camera arrived in the mail and you can understand why I am in good spirits. My new toy is so damn sexy I can't stop playing with it (that sounds kind of kinky but I'm sure you know what its like when you get a new gadget, nothing else matters).

The only problem, as with all newer models of cameras of course, is that this one has more functions and buttons than I need. Nevertheless because its my gadget of the moment, I plan to read the entire manual. Whether I remember it all is another matter.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I plan to take more pictures when I'm out and about. There have been many great photo opportunites that I've missed, and I don't know how much longer we'll be in New York for. So there is no time to start my online photo journal like the present.

Saturday night we headed over to the East Village for a late bite to eat. Natori at St Marks Place (8th Street) between First and Second Avenue is a tiny Japanese restaurant we've been to a few times before. The decor isn't anything to write home about and there are only six tables, but its roomy enough for diners not to feel too cramped. I would imagine this picture would make any sushi connoisseur cringe, but John had a little accident with the rice and the soy sauce.

Ooops

We had a sandwich at home for lunch on Sunday before we went out for our usual stroll. We headed over to Chelsea and walked along the Hudson River. The area there is really nice as the piers are now part of the Hudson River Park Trust, so there are plenty of places to sit and people watch.

From there we headed over to Soho for some window shopping and more people watching. I had a feeling we'd be seeing someone famous, but alas that was not the case (my closest brush with fame was seeing Sarah Jessica Parker shooting a scene for Sex and the City, now that was cool!).

Soho has a great mix of quirky stores and trendy restaurants, which means it also tends to get a little touristy. It was quite busy around there today but its still worth walking around and taking it all in. The true sign that spring has finally arrived is that many of the restaurants have opened up their windows and doors for sidewalk tables, a perfect place to sit and to watch the world go by.

Funky cafe in Soho

Prince Street - one of the main drags in Soho

With early evening coming, we stopped off at Cafe Dante on MacDougal Street for some gelato before heading home to mentally prepare for yet another week of work.

Dramarama

2005-03-31T10:47:00.000+10:00

Last Saturday we had plans to go to the Lincoln Center near Central Park to watch a jazz performance. As the show didn’t start until 9.30pm, we stopped off at Fanelli Café in Soho for a burger and some beers. The burgers there are delicious, and they have been voted amongst the best burgers in New York. A thick juicy beef patty with the best hamburger bun I’ve ever had. Instead of the usual sesame seeds sprinkled on top of the bun, it’s got flecks of fried onions. The fries however are another story - a soggy, greasy pile of limp fries which barely fit the term "fried", but I reckon the burger more than makes up for it.

After the burgers, we caught the subway up to Central Park.

I had finally decided that I should bring my digital camera with me whenever I was out, since I’ve missed out on so many opportunities to take some great pictures around the city. So what happens the evening I decide to do that? Disaster!!

Even though it was only 8.30 on a Saturday night, the trains were remarkably empty. I thought to myself, “A-ha! Perfect photo opp!”. Unfortunately as I whisked the camera out of my bag, the train suddenly swayed and, grabbing the closest thing I could to support myself, I bang my hand (or rather my camera) against a nearby pole.

The camera hasn’t been the same since.

I can turn it on, I can change the settings, I can view the pictures taken before the accident. But I can’t take a damn picture with it anymore. I’ve been tossing up whether I should get it fixed, but since I bought it over two years ago for under 200 bucks I guess it would probably be cheaper to just buy a new one.

I had planned to take some pictures on Sunday as well, as I was going to make lamb chops for dinner. I guess bad things happens in pairs, because after our usual Sunday stroll, I headed to the supermarket to buy my ingredients and what do you know, all the stores had closed early because it was Easter Sunday! Since Easter wasn’t a public holiday here, I wasn’t expecting them to close early.

We decided to have a belated Easter Sunday dinner so tonight I’m making grilled lamb chops with rosemary & thyme. Spuds are roasting in the oven and lamb is marinating in the fridge. Unfortunately there will be no pictures of this fabulous meal, but I’ll be looking around this weekend for a replacement camera.

Happy Easter!

2005-03-26T02:44:00.000+11:00

Didn't realise it was Easter. I haven't seen any decorations or Easter eggs around the city. Worse still, Easter Friday is a work day for me. Them's the breaks.

I suppose its not P.C to be celebrate Easter in the US. They don't call Christmas trees Christmas trees here, they're called community trees!!

Happy Easter anyway! :)

Back to Reality - Part 2

2005-03-19T10:11:00.000+11:00

Sunset sail on the Appledore Schooner

We decided to stay at The Mermaid & The Alligator again as we had such a nice stay last year. We booked the same room as before - a lovely room called the Key Lime complete with our own porch.

Living in a tiny apartment has made me appreciate open spaces a lot more now, so it was nice to just sit on the porch with a book in the afternoon after a day at the beach.

Largo - permanent guest at the Mermaid & The Alligator

We tried a few new restaurants on this visit. As we had a 6am flight down to Key West, we were too tired on our first night there to venture far, so we went to a tiny Cuban restaurant for a quick bite of pulled pork and Cuban steaks before collapsing into bed by 10pm.

Day two saw us heading for the beach and exposing our pale pasty skin for some much needed sun. We stopped off at 5 Brothers Grocery, a family run corner shop to pick up some Cuban sandwiches for lunch at the beach. Roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and a dollop of mustard and mayonnaise squished into two thick slices of Cuban bread. Just what you need after a swim in the crystal blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Dinner was at 7 Fish, a funky little seafood restaurant which we've been to before. My appetiser of grouper with avocado sushi was delicious, as were John's fish cakes. Main courses were scallops, succulent with peas and mash; and curried grouper over rice. The food was so good there that we, or rather I, had to have dessert - yummy cheesecake with raspberries. We thought our first meal there last year was nicer, maybe because the element of surprise was gone. But still, overall it was a great meal.

After a morning swim on day three, we cycled to B.O's Fish Wagon, a shack (literally) with outdoor seating near the touristy Mallory Square. Their fish sandwiches have been voted the best in Key West and it's easy to understand why. Tender pieces of grilled or fried mahi mahi, lettuce, tomato on Cuban bread with their home-made Key Lime sauce. John had the grilled (his attempt at being healthy!) and I had the fried. The fish was melt-in-the-mouth tender, I'm drooling just thinking about it.

On our third night we went to Pisces, formerly Cafe des Artistes, where I have to say I had by far the most expensive dinner I've had in a while (even by New York prices). I had ordered their signature dish at the suggestion of our hosts at the the B&B; a luxurious lobster dish with mangoes and a Cognac and butter sauce. It was divine, but whoa did I get a surprise when the bill came. Let's just say next time I'll be a little more wary when the menu says "Market Price". :) We both agreed that John's entree, which was just as delicious, was far better value. A lightly floured filet of snapper served with sauteed vegetables and a butter reduction sauce.

Our last day in Key West was a day at the beach of course, lunch a simple sandwich. We then cycled to the wharf and hopped aboard the Appledore Schooner for a romantic sunset sail around the bay.

We decided to go for something light on our last night in Key West. So we headed to Origami, a sushi spot popular with the locals. Fresh salmon, hamachi, mackerel and eel - the freshest fish I've had in a long time all washed down with an icy cold beer. A perfect end to a near perfect trip.

It was when we were having this last meal in Key West that I realised that I hadn't taken any pictures of the food that we had. No bother, we will just have to do that on our next visit.

We stopped by 5 Brothers again on the morning of our flight to buy two more Cuban sandwiches. Even if the airline did serve a meal on the flight (which they didn't), nothing beats taking a piece of paradise home with you, even if it's in your belly!

Back to Reality - Part 1

2005-03-16T06:02:00.000+11:00

Ah...the joys of post-holiday depression. I'm sure everyone goes through the same motions when they return from a holiday, especially from somewhere warm.

Flew into New York last night from Key West and back at work today. I can't help but stare out the window and think back to the long lazy days on the beach, the booze, the sunburn, the seafood ~ bliss! Even though it was only yesterday, it already feels like it was weeks ago.

The digital camera made it on the trip, but we only managed to take a few shots, none food related would you believe. I only realised this on the last evening when we were merrily chomping away on the freshest sushi I've had in months. Guess that's what sunburn does to my brain cells.

More to come...

Work & Play

2005-03-04T17:24:00.000+11:00

Absolutely knackered from a hectic week at work, I am so glad its Friday tomorrow. Not just because it’s Friday, but because I’ve begun counting down the days until we go on holiday next week. We haven’t taken time off for a few months now, add that with the cold weather and anybody would be frantic with anticipation. Fingers crossed the weather will be good.

Made the Italian wedding soup again last night for dinner. It turned out ok, though I think I may have used a little too much parsley in the meatballs – I didn’t bother measuring the ¼ cup and in retrospect it was more like ½ a cup!! It really did take 20 minutes to prepare which was great, especially after coming home late from work. Though I have to admit I did have some help this time around.

Actually to be honest John did most of the cooking and I didn’t mind one bit. After all, he has to practice the skills he learnt from the cooking course we went to last week.

Cooking course??

Yes, a cooking course!

I thought it would be great to do a “couples bonding” kind of thing since we have both been so busy with work lately, so a few weeks ago I signed us up for a cooking course at the Institute of Culinary Education. They have a great Recreational Division that offers a variety of courses ranging from knife skills to lobster workshops. John had no idea about this of course *grin*, so last Friday I took/dragged him to a course called Easy Entertaining for Couples. Sounds kind of kitschy and I suppose in a way it was – 6 couples all in their 20’s and 30’s learning how to cook on a Friday night!

We made:
Crostini with Ragout of Oyster Mushrooms and Black Forest Ham
Mesclun & Arugula Salad with Frizzled Shallots and Sunflower Seeds in Raspberry Vinaigrette
Porc Mignon Roasted with Sweet-Hot Caramelized Shallot Glaze
Spaghetti Squash Carbonara with Smoky Bacon and Onions
Banana-Chocolate Chip Croissant Bread Pudding with Godiva Chocolate Liqueur

In a nutshell it was a good night, we prepared the food and milled about with a few glasses of wine, then sat down and enjoyed the fruits of our labour. The class was for four hours which seems long but wasn’t as long as I thought it would be, given that there was wine involved. My favourite dishes were the crostini and salad which I would make again. The frizzled shallots were fun to make and delicious. You can find more details about the course from the Institute’s website.

Unfortunately the photos I took didn’t turn out as well as I hoped they would so I’ll just post one for now.

Sunday

2005-02-27T05:11:00.000+11:00

Kicked off last Sunday with brunch at home before a nice walk in Central Park.

Chick Pea's poached egg with asparagus, proscuitto and truffle oil

I have yet to name this creation, though I did get my inspiration from ’inoteca in the Lower East Side, a lively Italian restaurant serving various kinds of tramezzini, panini and bruschetta. We were there a few weeks ago and I had this wonderful truffled egg toast - a thick slice of toast with an egg in the middle, covered in yummy melted cheese and a drizzle of truffle oil.

Poaching eggs isn’t as hard as I thought it would be. All it took was just a skillet with about 2 inches of water. Wait for the water to boil, bring it down to a simmer and plonk the egg in. Give it a few seconds for the egg white to form and then you swirl the water a bit to give the egg white a nice shape and 5 to 6 minutess later, voila, a perfectly poached egg.

After this filling meal we set off for a walk around Central Park. The weather here is still quite brisk but it was nice to get some fresh air after being couped up in the apartment all morning.

The Gates is an exhibition that has been showing in Central Park for about 2 weeks now. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to read up on it but seeing it in the Park was spectacular. Over 5,000 brightly coloured saffron "gates" were laid out on the footpaths around the Park. It certainly brightened up the grey drabness of winter. Makes me look forward to spring, which is hopefully just around the corner...

New York Times, New York Metro and Bobby Flay

2005-02-24T15:30:00.000+11:00

A funny thing happened over the weekend. Well, not exactly funny but it gave me a little chuckle.

Nothing beats a Sunday afternoon sprawled on the couch with the Sunday New York Times and a cup of coffee. My favourite section is the Sunday Styles Weddings Section which lists the weddings of the week. Now bear in mind that most of the people that actually announce their wedding in this section aren’t your typical Mr and Mrs Average (that is of course if she chooses to take her hubby’s name, darling). No, this section is fun to read because of the amount of detail that goes into describing the bride and groom’s impeccable ivy league education, their fabulous jobs and what their parents did before they retired to their mansion in the Hamptons. No, let me correct myself. My favourite section within Weddings is the corrections for the previous week’s announcements. “The groom’s father is a full professor at XYZ University, NOT associate professor”. Woop de dooh dah, does anyone care??

Anyway an article in the latest issue of New York Metro says that the New York Times will now be charging people for the privilege of announcing their wedding in the newspaper. This will make future announcements more interesting for sure.

Over the weekend Bobby Flay, everyone’s favourite Food Network chef (not) got hitched. According to the column it’s his third trip down the aisle, good luck to his lady I suppose.

I have to say that out of all the Food Network chefs Bobby Flay is the one that I despise the most. Despise is a strong word yes, but he is such an arrogant schmuck I just have to turn the TV off when he’s on. Watch any one of his shows and you’ll know what I mean. And it seems I’m not the only one that feels that way. This was a pretty interesting article about Mr Flay.

Rachel Ray’s on-air enthusiasm is wearing a little thin too but that’s another post.

The funny thing about all of this is that the article made a reference to a blog called Veiled Conceit devoted entirely to trashing the New York Times Weddings section which I have duly bookmarked. The latest entry on Mr Flay is hilarious.

So there you go. I thought I was the only one that felt that way about The NY Times Wedding section and Bobby Flay but thank goodness I'm not...