Woah, August has just flown by! There was that little Sydney trip, which I'm still in the process of blogging. Apart from that, I'm happily back to working full time after having taken a much needed and very welcome eight month break. This means I haven't been going out as much (Mama needs her beauty sleep!), but I've still been eating and cooking up a storm.
A few Nigella recipes, of course. I was very proud of this Toad in the Hole (from Kitchen). It's basically a Yorkshire pudding dough with the added deliciousness of sausages. Look how high it rose!
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Toad in the Hole |
Also from Kitchen, another night I made Nigella's Asian-Braised Shin of Beef with a Hot and Sour Shredded Salad, (recipe here!)
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Asian-braised beef shin with a hot and sour shredded salad and chilli radishes |
I was invited to the "Dogustation" event at Phat Brats, which was super fun and a lot of yum! It was a degustation of hot dogs, with matching Southern Bay Brew Co. beers. My favourites were the "corn pup" (little sausages dipped in corn batter and deep fried)...
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Corn Pup with Beer |
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Hotdog Sundae: Donut bun, double-choc ice-cream, toasted coconut, berry coulis, vanilla bean double cream and pistachios |
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David Lebovitz' salted butter choc chip cookies |
Speaking of baking cookies, I also made a batch of double-matcha matcha sablés, (from the book Okashi) which I made as a gift for the lovely Catty when she came down to Melbourne for a visit. (Full blogpost on the sablés to come!)
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Matcha sablés |
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Swiss Bratwurst - grilled and served on a poppy seed roll w/ sauteed onions, house made sauerkraut & sweet Bavarian mustard |
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Chilli fries with cheese and beef chilli |
I wasn't a huge fan of the Swiss Bratwurst, finding the overall taste a bit plain. (The Currywurst is way better!) But I have to say I liked the fact that their house made Sauerkraut had tiny bits of bacon in it. Very echt und lecker. The chilli fries were totally delicious and were surprisingly spicy.
After the hot dogs, we went to Cupcake Central, because, you know, I had to be a good host to our out-of-town visitor.
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Left: Cookie dough Right: Salted caramel |
I bought some extra cupcakes to bring home - their passionfruit flavour is insanely good, and my favourite out of all the ones that I've tried. (So far!)
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Bottom to top: Devils Food Chocolate, Passionfruit, Salted Caramel, Red Velvet |
A good thing about working in the city - apart from proximity to cupcake bakeries, of course - is going out for drinks in the city! As I've mentioned before, I'm not a huge fan of just getting smashed with your colleagues of a Friday evening, but I've really enjoyed catching up with my lovely cousin Catherine (also a CBD-worker!) for Friday night drinks! Last week we hit up Tony Starr's Kitten Club for espresso martinis and chicken "satays". I'd never been to the Kitten Club before, but the whole vibe and menu reminded me very much of the venues I used to visit when I was twenty (back in '04) and just discovering Melbourne's bar scene. A little blast from the past!
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Left: Espresso Martini Right: Chicken Satay |
We visited Porgie and Mr Jones for the first time this month, a great cafe from the same people who brought you Snow Pony (Balwyn) and Friends of Mine (Richmond) - despite being crazy busy on the weekends, P&MJ's service is friendly, and the food seems to come out within a reasonable time frame. (I've only been there once on a weekend, but don't worry - I'll go back to confirm!)
April's enthusiastic suggestion, I tried their house-smoked salmon, and it really is fabulous.
A little further from home - actually, right on the other end of town - is my new favourite cafe: Beatrix in North Melbourne. After drooling over their Facebook page and tweets for months, we finally visited earlier this month, and swiftly returned the next week with my parents in tow because it was that awesome. They're rightly famous for their amazing cakes, but I like their crazy-good ciabattas even better! (Full blogpost on Beatrix to come!)
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Beatrix goodies: Ricotta cannoli, coconut layer cake, grapefruit chiffon cake |
This month I've also been drinking heaps of bubble tea.
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ChaTime Bubble Tea |
I was invited on a 'behind the scenes' tour of ChaTime back in July, and was given a whole lot of vouchers to try out their range. I've finally used them all up, and tried a good cross section of their (huge and bewildering!) menu. I'm pretty sure I've figured out how the menu works and will be blogging about it shortly. In the meantime, my tip for you is to just order "Peach QQ, regular size, with ice, half sugar". So good!
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Peach QQ, regular size, with ice, half sugar - $5 |
And that was August! For September I'm planning to take it pretty easy: a little weekend away, some lunch/dinner parties, that sort of thing. I'm so excited for spring and summer! I'm very much over the cold weather and looking forward to longer days, drinks in the sun, picnics, the beach...
10 comments
AHH I never realised you could ask for less sugar at Chatime. Good to know!
ReplyDeleteWuuu wahhhh so much yumminess I can't take it! I love seeing your blog posts/IG photos of Nigella's dinner recipes on a weeknight. Really delicious and inspiring would love to try sometime. Gotta try that matcha sables recipe too. And woo-hoo for Chatime looove... BEST
ReplyDeleteAgnes - I know! Ever since I found out I can't stop drinking it, hehe.
ReplyDeleteWinston - Awww thanks! Nigella recipes are the best, you have to try them! :)
xox Sarah
ahhhh maaaaa gaaawd! I want it all, really need to try that beef shin recipe. Every time I watch her make it, it reminds me, then I forget straight away
ReplyDeleteWow you did a lot. How sweet that you made Catty some matcha cakes since she is so OBSESSED with matcha - perfect for her!
ReplyDeleteShellie - The beef shin is awesome! You have to try it! :)
ReplyDeleteCara - Haha the matcha cookies were a little too strong for me but Catty said she liked them, lol!
xox Sarah
That dessert hot dog looks so interesting! :o
ReplyDeleteLorraine - They've actually added it to the normal menu now in a full size!!! Something to try next time! :)
ReplyDeleteThe salted butter choc chip cookies - is it chewy like subway cookies or crispy like famous amos? tks! hehe
ReplyDeleteThe salted butter choc chip cookies are chewy like Subway or Mrs Fields cookies! :) xox
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