I woke up this morning when my dad knocked on my door and said, "Hey Sarah, you've got a package here from England".
Woohoo!
This is my Christmas gift from my friend DG! And it totally rocks! (Pun intended, see below).
She got me...
stash
Some fab artisan chocolate from Rococo Artisan Bar in Chelsea, London... one bar caramelised almond, one bar sea salt. (I requested a nice flavour and an unusual one).
choc choc
And she got these cuuuuute chocolate gold buttons! I feel that a batch of Versace-esque cupcakes is required now...
gold buttons
And, oh my God, she bought me a Living Kitchen Egg Cup & Saucer set, and got Nigella herself to sign it! FAINT!
Check it out - Nigella's heard of my How to Eat project!
cup and saucer
And next up, we have, perhaps, the most electrifying cookbook in food entertainment today... the official WWF cookbook, Can You Take the Heat?!
Can you take the heat?
The Rock, the most electrifying man in sports entertainment (and definitely the sexiest), has 3 recipes in here - The Rock's Famous Rock Bottom Pancakes, The Rock's "Smack-aroni" Salad, and The Rock's Favourite Chocolate Chip Cookies. I can't wait to flip his pancakes, bake his cookies and spank... er, I mean "smack"... his salad.
Rock - 245 pounds of ass-whoopin!
Hehehehe
I'm so ecstatic, this was the best Christmas gift ever!!! Thank-you DG!
xox Sarah
Woohoo!
This is my Christmas gift from my friend DG! And it totally rocks! (Pun intended, see below).
She got me...
stash
Some fab artisan chocolate from Rococo Artisan Bar in Chelsea, London... one bar caramelised almond, one bar sea salt. (I requested a nice flavour and an unusual one).
choc choc
And she got these cuuuuute chocolate gold buttons! I feel that a batch of Versace-esque cupcakes is required now...
gold buttons
And, oh my God, she bought me a Living Kitchen Egg Cup & Saucer set, and got Nigella herself to sign it! FAINT!
Check it out - Nigella's heard of my How to Eat project!
cup and saucer
And next up, we have, perhaps, the most electrifying cookbook in food entertainment today... the official WWF cookbook, Can You Take the Heat?!
Can you take the heat?
The Rock, the most electrifying man in sports entertainment (and definitely the sexiest), has 3 recipes in here - The Rock's Famous Rock Bottom Pancakes, The Rock's "Smack-aroni" Salad, and The Rock's Favourite Chocolate Chip Cookies. I can't wait to flip his pancakes, bake his cookies and spank... er, I mean "smack"... his salad.
Rock - 245 pounds of ass-whoopin!
Hehehehe
I'm so ecstatic, this was the best Christmas gift ever!!! Thank-you DG!
xox Sarah
Golden Fruit Cake
Golden Fruit Cake is a rich, buttery, light cake, ideal for the festive season and a nic change from the traditional style of fruit cake.
250g sultanas
125g mixed peel
60g slivered almonds
125g glacé cherries
125g glacé pineapple
125g glacé apricots
125g glacé ginger
250g butter
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 cup castor sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups plain flour
Line a deep, 20cm round cake tin with three layers of greaseproof paper, bringing paper 5cm above edge of tin. Combine sultanas, peel and almonds in bowl, add chopped glacé fruit. Cream butter, lemon rind and sugar; beat in eggs one at a time. Stir into fruit mixture, then stir in sifted flour. Spread mixture evenly in tin, decorate top with almonds if desired. Bake in slow oven for 3 hours or until cooked when tested.
Cool, covered in tin. When cold, refrigerate in airtight container for up to 3 months.
My mum soaks the dried fruit in rum, makes the cake in muffin tins and cooks them for a much shorter time. Also, we don't bother with that wrapping and waiting crap, we just dig straight in!
MERRY XMAS EVERYBODY!
Golden Fruit Cake is a rich, buttery, light cake, ideal for the festive season and a nic change from the traditional style of fruit cake.
250g sultanas
125g mixed peel
60g slivered almonds
125g glacé cherries
125g glacé pineapple
125g glacé apricots
125g glacé ginger
250g butter
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 cup castor sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups plain flour
Line a deep, 20cm round cake tin with three layers of greaseproof paper, bringing paper 5cm above edge of tin. Combine sultanas, peel and almonds in bowl, add chopped glacé fruit. Cream butter, lemon rind and sugar; beat in eggs one at a time. Stir into fruit mixture, then stir in sifted flour. Spread mixture evenly in tin, decorate top with almonds if desired. Bake in slow oven for 3 hours or until cooked when tested.
Cool, covered in tin. When cold, refrigerate in airtight container for up to 3 months.
My mum soaks the dried fruit in rum, makes the cake in muffin tins and cooks them for a much shorter time. Also, we don't bother with that wrapping and waiting crap, we just dig straight in!
MERRY XMAS EVERYBODY!
I woke up this morning to a wonderful thing - the warm, inviting smell of baking. Mum was making her fabulous Christmas cupcakes.
These are actually from a Women's Weekly cookbook, Best Recipes from the Weekly, but don't let that put you off, they are brilliant. It's actually the recipe for Golden Fruit Cake (I'll post the recipe later), which Mum bakes in muffin tins, to give to her friends.
Christmas Cupcakes
Thank goodness, she let us sample a couple of them. And we loved them so much (as we always do), that she relented and let us eat more! She says she'll bake another batch tomorrow. Can't wait!
Jewelled interior
These are actually from a Women's Weekly cookbook, Best Recipes from the Weekly, but don't let that put you off, they are brilliant. It's actually the recipe for Golden Fruit Cake (I'll post the recipe later), which Mum bakes in muffin tins, to give to her friends.
Christmas Cupcakes
Thank goodness, she let us sample a couple of them. And we loved them so much (as we always do), that she relented and let us eat more! She says she'll bake another batch tomorrow. Can't wait!
Jewelled interior
My brother recently completed all his university subjects, and will graduate next year in March. So to celebrate, we went out to dinner at Silks in Crown. (Right next to my old restaurant, The Conservatory). It was all so delicious, washed down with a bottle of 1995 Dom Perignon champagne.
We'd never been to Silks before, but it had an awesome atmosphere - there's this cool Mongolian tent in the centre in which you can sit and have drinks, and beautiful table settings.
Place setting - these plates rock! Apparently they're $500 a pop. They were specially made for Silks by Noritake.
Tea pot tea champagne glass
The Menu
Peking Duck
Baby spinach with century egg
Deep fried prawns with wasabi sauce and sweet chilli sauce
Pei Pa Tofu (tofu with crab and mushroom sauce)
Roast beef with pepper sauce
Fried Ice-cream
Fruit Platter
sweet and crunchy peanuts - addictive!
Chinese waiter crispy duck trick
Peking Duck
Baby spinach with century egg
Deep fried prawns with wasabi sauce and sweet chilli sauce - this had a fabulous combination of flavours!
Pei Pa Tofu (tofu with crab and mushroom sauce)
Roast beef with pepper sauce - check out the delicious rareness of the beef.
Deep-fried ice-cream, my favourite
fried ice-cream
fruit plate
Fruit platter
I loved it! A fabulous meal all up.
Congrautlations to Daniel!
We'd never been to Silks before, but it had an awesome atmosphere - there's this cool Mongolian tent in the centre in which you can sit and have drinks, and beautiful table settings.
Place setting - these plates rock! Apparently they're $500 a pop. They were specially made for Silks by Noritake.
Tea pot tea champagne glass
The Menu
Peking Duck
Baby spinach with century egg
Deep fried prawns with wasabi sauce and sweet chilli sauce
Pei Pa Tofu (tofu with crab and mushroom sauce)
Roast beef with pepper sauce
Fried Ice-cream
Fruit Platter
sweet and crunchy peanuts - addictive!
Chinese waiter crispy duck trick
Peking Duck
Baby spinach with century egg
Deep fried prawns with wasabi sauce and sweet chilli sauce - this had a fabulous combination of flavours!
Pei Pa Tofu (tofu with crab and mushroom sauce)
Roast beef with pepper sauce - check out the delicious rareness of the beef.
Deep-fried ice-cream, my favourite
fried ice-cream
fruit plate
Fruit platter
I loved it! A fabulous meal all up.
Congrautlations to Daniel!
Oh my god, how stoked am I?! I've had a dish named after me! That's right, li'l old me!
Lisa created the dish... and it is named... "Awesome AussieSarah Chicken".
And how delicious does that sound? Ranch dressing, GOOD. Rice, GOOD. Red peppers, GOOD. Tabasco, YEAH BABY YEAH!
aussiesarahchicken
single serve
I can't wait to make it myself, all my fave ingredients in the one tasty dish.
Thank-you Lisa! You rock my world!
Lisa created the dish... and it is named... "Awesome AussieSarah Chicken".
yes, a dish I've named after our dish aussiesarah. It's chicken sprinkled w/Ranch dressing mix, roasted on rice, then sliced red peppers added and doused w/Tabasco at table. Ace!
And how delicious does that sound? Ranch dressing, GOOD. Rice, GOOD. Red peppers, GOOD. Tabasco, YEAH BABY YEAH!
aussiesarahchicken
single serve
I can't wait to make it myself, all my fave ingredients in the one tasty dish.
Thank-you Lisa! You rock my world!
Nigel Slater (aka my future husband) has a blog!
Check out his website... there's information on the man himself, his new book The Kitchen Diaries, a blog, and an "ask Nigel" section.
http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/microsites/nigelslater/default.aspx
Check out his website... there's information on the man himself, his new book The Kitchen Diaries, a blog, and an "ask Nigel" section.
http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/microsites/nigelslater/default.aspx
Today was the first day of summer, a gorgeous 34 degree day, with endless blue skies, a warm breeze and sun, sun, sun! So, my friend George and I donned our bikinis, and drove down to Rowville to pick up our boy Markii, and went to Edithvale beach to make the most of this wonderful day.
Mark made a fab beach-friendly lunch, which he duly packed in an eski for us to enjoy on the beach.
Le Menu de la Plage de Chef Markii
Roast chicken focaccias with whole-egg mayonnaise, cucumber, tomato and pepper
Olives, sundried tomatoes (with toothpics), kabana
Ginger Beer
Fruit kebabs - pineapple, pawpaw, strawberries, watermelon, honeydew melon
George and I also bought a couple of little additions from Safeway on the way to Mark's house.
Salada lite poppyseed crackers
Black Swan spinach & pinenut / roast pumpkin dip
Diet coke with lime
Schweppes Agrum (pink, citrus flavoured soft drink)
George & Focaccia
Picnic bits
Fruit Kebabs - what genius, putting the fruit on sticks made it easier to eat, and less prone to sand infestation!
Fruit Kebabs
Look at the fanned strawberry. Mark says, "That's my attempt at garnish". Very nice.
Frozen Grapes. You know, I've never had grapes like this before, but they're brilliant. And now I don't think I could have them any other way!
Awesome day, awesome food, awesome friends!
Mark made a fab beach-friendly lunch, which he duly packed in an eski for us to enjoy on the beach.
Le Menu de la Plage de Chef Markii
Roast chicken focaccias with whole-egg mayonnaise, cucumber, tomato and pepper
Olives, sundried tomatoes (with toothpics), kabana
Ginger Beer
Fruit kebabs - pineapple, pawpaw, strawberries, watermelon, honeydew melon
George and I also bought a couple of little additions from Safeway on the way to Mark's house.
Salada lite poppyseed crackers
Black Swan spinach & pinenut / roast pumpkin dip
Diet coke with lime
Schweppes Agrum (pink, citrus flavoured soft drink)
George & Focaccia
Picnic bits
Fruit Kebabs - what genius, putting the fruit on sticks made it easier to eat, and less prone to sand infestation!
Fruit Kebabs
Look at the fanned strawberry. Mark says, "That's my attempt at garnish". Very nice.
Frozen Grapes. You know, I've never had grapes like this before, but they're brilliant. And now I don't think I could have them any other way!
Awesome day, awesome food, awesome friends!
Posts
