Christmas Craft Market

On the weekend, my sister and I took her little munchkins to the local Christmas craft market.

These are their stories.

in pictorial form.

I do love a nice, nana-baked item.

butter and jellies and jams, oh my!

This one came home with me.

So did this.

aaaaaand this. I love John Steinbeck, and I love East of Eden. My grandpa introduced me to him (figuratively, of course) in my early teens and he's been quite the topic of conversation among the hundreds of letters we wrote to each other over the course of my life. When Veggie Dad and I were married, we named all the tables after great authors of literature, and we named the bridal table after Steinbeck. A little way of having my grandpa with us on that day. I miss him <3

My nephew was such a darling, keeping his little sister amused while mama and I browsed.

When we came home, it was imperative we have a tea party and eat all the goodies we bought.

This little poppet sent my hormones OFF. THE. CHARTS.

So I demanded hugs. lots of hugs.

I love this sweet, generous, thoughtful child as if he were my own.

So, how was your weekend? indulge in any nana-baked treats? get baby hugs? Tell me all about it :)

Thanksgiving

2010

It has long been a little personality tweak of mine that I am drawn to all things American. I've said it before, I can't tell whether I should have been born in the US, or England (another life-long love), but I'm not sure Australia is where I fit in. Therefore, I adopt all the traditions from the land of the red, white and blue, and the land of the ... er... red, white and blue.

Thanks to my avid cultural consumption, from the start of October I begin receiving emails reminding me that I need to get a turkey and have I decided on what sides I'll have on the table for my family this Thanksgiving? Ads and articles start popping up in the American magazines I subscribe to, and nowadays my Twitter and Google reader is filled with a Thanksgiving theme. Of COURSE I have to partake.

This is my third or fourth Thanksgiving and I subject the good-natured Veggie Dad to traditional dishes the likes of those he's never heard of before, and we sit down together and talk about all the things we're thankful for. I'm too afraid to invite anyone over for an extended celebration, as I'm worried they'll say "what in the hell are you talking about? We don't celebrate Thanksgiving, we're Australian (duh)" and "Well, where the hell is the turkey?".

My first Thanksgiving, I stuffed a pumpkin. One year I made Paula Deen's stuffing the star of the show (and ate it for the next week it was so huge). This year, after reading this article in the New York Times, talking about the importance of sides, I decided this Thanksgiving, we were having a side-fest. No turkey wannabes.

Our menu:

Paula Deen's Macaroni and Cheese
Mashed sweet potato
Green beans with lemon and slivered almonds
Art Smith's no-knead rolls (Yes, Oprah's previous personal chef)
Corn on the cob
Homemade gravy
Pumpkin Pie

You owe it to yourself and those you love to try that pumpkin pie. I'll explain in the post exactly how frightened I was of it, and how unbelievably excited I was to try it and immediately become pumpkin pie's biggest advocate.

Paula Deen's Macaroni and Cheese

Oh boy. Cheese. Gooey, baked, melted, slightly browned cheese. With token pasta.

If you're looking for a heart attack (otherwise known as food that's actually going to taste pretty awesome), it's to Paula Deen we turn. And so I did when I needed a traditional American side dish for Thanksgiving.

Please let's have a moment of reverent silence for macaroni and cheese.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups grated cheddar
3 eggs, beaten
4 cups cooked elbow macaroni
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Melt butter into cooked and drained macaroni. Add the cheese until sticky.

3. Mix sour cream and eggs, add to macaroni and stir.

4. Add milk, stirring for a few minutes to see if you need to add any more to keep the sauce creamy.

5. Spread out in a greased casserole dish, cover with cheese (yes more cheese) and breadcrumbs if you like, and cook for 35-40 minutes.


And because watching Paula is half the fun (that voice sure is polarising), I've added her here. Happy cheese, y'all!

Pumpkin Pie

I have to admit, I held out on this pie for a really, really long time. I mean, it's pumpkin. It's a vegetable. It's not a dessert. It goes with gravy, not whipped cream.

Well, I'm pleased to announce I was wrong. This is one versatile veggie!

I still find it funny when I search for pumpkin on American recipe sites and iPhone apps, and am bombarded with dessert dishes. I just never grew up with it served in that way, and sometimes it just looks and sounds plain wrong. Like pumpkin pie. But I'm now pumpkin pie's biggest convert and loudest advocate. I'm not sure what any other pumpkin pie tastes like, but this was the first one I ever made, and I hit the jackpot when I did. Look no further, this is the most ridiculously delicious pumpkin pie on all the Earth. I swear. In fact, it's 10.30 am and I've just talked myself into eating a piece right now. To hell with waiting for dessert.

Ingredients:

1 9-inch pie shell
2 cups mashed pumkin
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoons ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup cream
2/3 cup milk
4 large eggs

Method: 

1. Preheat oven to 200C and position a rack to the bottom of the oven.

2. Organise and pre-bake your crust. I usually bake mine 10 minutes until just golden.

3. Put pumpkin, sugar and spices in a pan, heat until simmering on medium, and cook until thick and shiny, about 5 minutes. Stir often.

4. Whisk in cream and milk and simmer.

5. Whisk eggs and add slowly to mix, whisking the whole time until incorporated. You don't want pumpkin-flavoured scrambled eggs.

6. Pour into pie shell, bake 25 minutes until dry-looking, but centre wiggles slightly. Cool.


Original recipe here


This year, I made a Betty Crocker pie crust - recipe here. My tip - if you're using butter instead of shortening, use unsalted.

Oprah's Menu: No-Knead Dinner Rolls

I love Oprah. There, I said it.

If she has it, I want it. Therefore when her previous personal chef Art Smith said he made these dinner rolls for Oprah's Thanksgiving once, I needed to make them too. And I'm actually glad I did. They're little, soft, perfectly browned and soak up butter like nobody's business. Best of all, they're easy to make and making your own rolls just sounds so darn impressive.

Yep. Try and reisist that.

I made 12 rolls, but the original calls for 24. It's easily doubled. Perfect recipe for those people like me who love cooking, but hate getting their hands dirty. Especially when it comes to dough - I avoid it at all costs. I don't have a KitchenAid who will lovingly and mechanically knead or mix dough for me, so I have to hit it 1950s -style and mix it myself. With this recipe, I don't have to!


Ingredients:

1 cup warm water
1 package 1/4oz dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 tablespoon salt
3 cups plain flour
1/5 tablespoons melted butter

Method: 

1. Preheat oven to 200C

2. Pour water in large bowl and sprinkle yeast over. Leave for 5 minutes.

3. Add sugar, eggs, almost all the oil, and salt. Gradually stir in enough flour to make a smooth ball.

4. Lightly brush the top with oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let stand for one hour until doubled.

5. Brush round cake pan with butter. Punch down dough and separate into 12 pieces with floured hands.

6. Keep flouring your hands and form the dough into rough balls. Arrange in pan.

7. Cover loosely and stand 35 minutes until doubled.

8. Brush with melted butter, bake 20 minutes or until golden. Let stand in the pan for 5 minutes.

9. Accept the accolades that come with baking your own bread.

It looks just like real bread!

"Chicken" Strips with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

When Veggie Dad and I went on our whirlwind trip through the US, I have to say I was overwhelmed by the TV options. Growing up, I had two TV stations (yes TWO) and I got to see most of what everyone else was talking about in TV Hits magazine only at Christmas time when I visited my nana. Suddenly I was figuring out who the hell JTT was and why Pamela Anderson was so famous.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't a big TV watcher, so didn't feel too left out. I had Roseanne, Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, Seinfeld, Video Hits, Degrassi Junior High and all the ABC cartoons one could want, so my comedy and drama needs were met. At Christmas i indulged in a great deal of Agro's Cartoon Connection and would wearily flick past the endless cricket.

When Dr Phil once mentioned America had 500 channels, my mind boggled. It literally could not comprehend the vastness of that number, I couldn't possibly watch or want or need that many channels. Hell, I don't even have pay TV now. I don't even have A TV.

But when we were Stateside and we had a bit of downtime, I was first in line to the remote. I wanted the Food Network, and I wanted it more than Veggie Dad wanted ESPN. I make no secret of my deep and abiding love for Paula Deen, and I watched her on planes, trains, automobiles and hotel rooms right across the country. In between getting my Paula fix, I was also introduced to the wonderful world of Food Network stars (and found Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives to be hilarious yet fascinating). Two such stars were the Neelys  and their "Down Home" cooking. They put bacon in everything (lovingly calling it "pig") and I could barely eat one-tenth of anything they made, yet I couldn't look away. They were... mesmerising.

I have some kind of weird attraction to Southern food, maybe because it always has the word "comfort" attached to it, maybe because it just screams hospitality and niceness, I don't know. I'm forever adapting Southern recipes (bacon, get out of my life) and testing them out on poor old Dad, who has never heard of them before, to fuel my addiction. I don't know whether to blame Dr Phil or Britney for my adoption of the word "y'all", but it's just so damn SOUTHERN I couldn't help myself.

So when the Food Network brought out an iPhone app, I was probably the first in the world to buy it. And I made the Neely's Chicken Tenders with Honey Mustard Sauce. Only I didn't fry it and I didn't use chicken. I think I would be banned from anyplace under the Mason-Dixon line.

So here you are, a recipe for non-fried, non-chicken chicken tenders.

Ingredients:
1 packet Sanitarium soy fillets, or any other chicken substitute. If you're feeling game, you may like to try tofu, but we all know how I feel about that.
1 egg
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Honey Mustard Sauce

1/2 cup dijon mustard
1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to about 180C

2. Cut the soy fillets into strips.

3. Beat the egg in one bowl, and mix the panko crumbs with the rest of the ingredients in another bowl.

4. Dip fillet strips into the egg and then the panko to coat. Set aside.

5. When all are covered, place on an oven tray and bake until brown on either side. You could also fry them.

6. Mix all the honey mustard sauce ingredients together.

Original recipe here

Custard Tart

Confession: I've always been a little afraid of custard tarts. I'm fairly certain it had everything to do with a deep distrust of nutmeg and the fact that really, the only custard tarts I'd ever tried were the nameless, tasteless, fake-yellow gelatinous goo-flled ones I'd had the misfortune of eating from supermarkets. blecch.

I'm not a fan of gelatinous goo.

Anyhow, as there's always a surplus of sad little egg yolks left over from such meringue-y goodness as Eton Mess, there has to be a way to use them up. And custard is always the first thing I think of. I wanted the sinfully rich cream-and-egg mixture like Nigella Lawson would make, and not some supermarket goo-filler, so I've adapted a regular pouring custard into something that would hold its shape (somewhat) in a crust.

Oh and by the way - I bought the crust so am only posting the custard recipe here. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 cup milk
1 cup thickened cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 egg yolks
1 1/2 tablespoons cornflour/cornstarch
1/3 cup caster sugar

Directions:

1. Combine milk and cream in a small saucepan. Add vanilla and cook over medium heat 5 minutes. Do not allow to boil.

2. Whisk egg yolks, cornflour and sugar together. Pour hot mixture over eggs and whisk until combined.

3. Return saucepan to low heat and cook gently, stirring constantly for 10-15 minutes. It may not take that long (mine didn't), but you want it to be lovely and thick. Take it off the heat if it starts to boil.

4. Allow the custard to cool, stirring regularly to help thicken and to avoid getting a skin (um, ew).

5. Pour cooled custard into browned and cooled frozen pie shell.

Graduation: or lack thereof

Today the year 12s at my husband's school are graduating, as are many excited 17-year-olds around the country.

It got me thinking about the year I would have graduated, had I not decided Timezone was a better place to hang out from 9-3 on a weekday. I left school in term 2 of Year 11, spending my time stalking people at Hungry Jacks and smoking cigarettes with the other cool kids down in Freo and pooling our money together for a cask of Wild Peach.

I've never drunk Wild Peach since. Does it still exist? #puke.

When we weren't choking down warm goon, we were drinking a horrific blackcurrant alcopop concoction called Vault. They had a little tag around the bottle that became ultra-fashionable to wear around your neck.

Exhibit A:

Yes, I still have mine.

So while I was wasting time at Chelsea's ordering chips with chicken salt and sour cream, 

Yes that's a Swatch Watch. And a glow-in-the-dark Bananas in Pyjamas shirt. Le sigh.

I dare say I should have been doing any one of these: 

And because I would just walk out of any class that was boring me, I ended up with these: 

Just in case you're wondering, it was exactly like George Orwell's Room 101.

So I sorta just stopped going.

To this day I've no idea why I did these things... I wasn't stupid, but I didn't have a lot of self-esteem, so was always doing what the cool kids were, even though they probably thought I was a complete douche. 

What did made my last year of school so amazing was my best friend Kylie. I'd never really had a best friend before. Well, one that didn't bully me every opportunity they got. You know, best friends one minute, the next they're spreading rumours that I tried to steal the guy they like when I'd never even seen the guy before. Anyway, Kylie and I were prolific letter writers, and I have everything she's ever sent me in the last 14 years. But these ones are still my favourites: 

And I quote:

"Gwennie,

Figure this out...

"Find the equation of the line perpendicular to 3x - y = 1 through the point (6,1)"

I am now in English, if you couldn't already guess.

I am now practically counting the minutes until we meet.

5 hrs and 15 minutes to go.

Hopefully Josh will be in Freo as well.

Did Jessi the long-haired dream guy ring you last night? They were going to ring you first but Jessi's shy around you apparently, I'm not sure.

Jessi reckons you're a bit alright. What are you going to do? If Jessi asks you out?

Are you going to see him? He's so cute.

Well gotta cruise, <3 you babe, your Gertie."

End quote.

For the record, I never even saw this Jessi in person, ever. We did speak on the phone a couple of times, and it was awkward. Which is practically the law for teen telephone conversations. And he never asked me out. 

The following year, Baz Luhrmann released an album with The Sunscreen Song on it, dedicated to the Class of '97, which I would have been in. And what I was doing instead is a story for another time. Perhaps even another blog. But I digress. The words in this song/speech I think are worthy of repeating. And because I hate sitting through videos, I've also provided them underneath for those who feel the same.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’97.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. 

The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliablebthan my own meandering experience…I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.

But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. 

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you.

Sing.

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s. 

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own..

Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you should hold on. 

Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize

that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will ook 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it.

Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over theugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen…

And simply because John Safran rules, I am posting his follow-up that he released the next year. So amazing, so hilarious, so Australian.

Long live the Class of 97! 

In honour of the royal engagement: Eton Mess

Today I decided to make Eton Mess in honour of His Royal Highness Prince William's engagement to Catherine Middleton. Finally. Plus I just really wanted to eat whipped cream.

Prince William + Princess Diana's ring + Kate Middleton = wedding.

Meringue + strawberries + whipped cream = Eton Mess.

I know which one I'd rather eat.

Prince William studied at Eton, a very prestigious British independent school which has been described as the most famous public school in the world. It must be, because it comes up a lot in crosswords, as if one is just meant to know these things. Hell, any school that in this day and age that still makes their students wear a black tailcoat, waistcoat and pinstripe trousers deserves that kind of recognition. 

Anyhoo.

Eton is where this sinful creation of crispy, chewy meringue and sweet cream comes from. And I for one am grateful.

Now if you're in a hurry, you buy some meringue nests, whipped cream and strawberries and away you go. But if you want a five-star, upper-upper-class royal British taste sensation, then you make your own meringue. Trust me, it's not hard.

This is why you want to make your own meringue: 

Ooh marvel at the gooey marshmallowy goodness inside! 

You just don't get that out of a shelf-stable box of meringues. No siree Bob, gosh, crumbs, pip pip cheerio and and all that.

Home-made meringue is crispy on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside, and has just the right amount of chewiness. When you bite into it, nothing cracks and then shatters into tasteless chalk dust in your mouth. No siree, etc. etc.

So. Onward. Upward. Tally-ho. Forward to the meringue-making.

Ingredients: 

6 egg whites

1 1/2 cup caster sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons cornflour/cornstarch

1 teaspoon white vinegar (or lemon juice)

Method: 

Preheat your oven to 125C. Yes, very low.

1. If you haven't already separated your eggs, be careful when doing so. The tiniest bit of yolk may ruin your chances of the whites properly whipping. They say have your beaters and bowl chilled before starting, but I've been making this since I was 12 years old and I've never had a problem.

2. Whip the eggs to soft peak stage, thus: 

3. Beat in the sugar, a little at a time, ensuring the first batch is properly distributed and hopefully dissolved before adding the next.

4. When all whipped, semi-firm and glossy, add the cornflour and vinegar. Whip to combine. 

5. Spread out fairly thickly on a tray covered in baking paper. As you'll be wanting some crispness, make a few peaks.

6. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes until lightly brown. Turn the oven off and leave the door ajar while the meringue cools.

7. What you should have would look a little something like this:

8. Break it up into a large bowl. If you can resist eating bits as you do, you're a better man than I. Mix with 1 cup cream whipped with 1 teaspoon sugar and a dash of vanilla, add strawberries, and get eton eatin'.

Looking for a way to use up all those leftover egg yolks? Try my custard tart.

Ministry of Food: Classic Mince and Onion Pie

It was about 3.30am and I was en route from Los Angeles to Brisbane. It was a 12-hour flight, connecting from Washington DC with a six-hour layover at LAX. I was three hours from home, dog tired and unable to sleep. To the television I turned, going straight to the cooking channels, as usual. It was there I made the decision to watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.

BIG mistake.

What I thought would pleasantly entertain me in the wee hours of the morning and hopefully help me to drift off to sleep, instead enraged me, upset me, inspired me and completely broke my heart. Hello increased heart rate, and hello one of the most uncomfortable things I've ever watched on TV.

I thought teaching people to cook healthy meals was a great idea, and eagerly watched as Jamie spread the word about over-processed, artery-clogging, fat-filled food and his attempts to replace it with good, fresh produce with great flavour. My eagerness turned to despair, and then real anger as I saw his efforts met with resistance, stubbornness, ignorance and even hatred. Everywhere he turned, from school cafeteria to radio DJs and regular people, he was hated, ridiculed, despised and even lied about. I couldn't stand it. When the first episode finished, I was desperate to know if he'd cracked the uncrackable exterior of the scared and offended people... but I couldn't bring myself to watch any more. Eventually I relented and watched the second episode. There I stopped, when the headway he was making was so unbelievably incremental.

When I was given the Ministry of Food cookbook recently by Veggie Dad, I was excited. What I liked even more was that these recipes were made to be shared, with as many people as possible. As a food blogger, I'm always careful to use recipes that are in the public domain, but some of the best are in the cookbooks I own. Here is my chance to get these delicious morsels to you!

The idea of the first Ministry of Food was to ensure there was enough food to go round during war time, and to educate the public about food and proper nutrition. Thousands of women who could cook were sent out across the UK to help others. Jamie has asked the readers of his cookbook to pledge to learn just one recipe from each chapter of this book, then pass it on. To at least two people, preferably four. Then they, in turn, can pass it on, creating change with a modern ministry.

Well Jamie, I accept your challenge, and forthwith offer my veg version of a comfort food staple - the classic mince and onion pie.


Ingredients:
3 medium onions
2 carrots
2 sticks celery
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
olive oil
2 bay leaves
1 packet veggie mince (I use either Quorn or Sanitarium brand)
1 teaspoon English mustard
1 teaspoon Marmite (I used Vegemite - cos I'm a Happy Little Vegemite!!)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (I used one with no anchovies)
2 teaspoons flour, plus extra for dusting
Enough beef stock cubes to make one litre of stock (I used four Massell beef stock cubes, which are vegetarian and gluten-free)
1 sheet frozen shortcrust pastry
1 large egg or a splash of milk

To make your mince filling: 
Peel and roughly chop onions, carrots and celery - don't be fussy, just get them small!

Remove rosemary leaves from woody stalks and chop finely.

Place a large pan on high heat, add 2 lugs of olive oil, the veggies, rosemary and bay leaves.

Stir every minute for around 10 minutes until veggies have softened and lightly coloured. Stir in the mince and break up chunks.

Add mustard, Marmite/Vegemite, Worcestershire sauce and 2 teaspoons flour.

Dissolve the stock in a litre of boiling water and add to the pan, bring to the boil.

Turn heat down and simmer with a lid slightly askew for about an hour, stirring every now and then.

To make your pie: 
Fill a large baking dish with the mince filling and allow to cool slightly.

Preheat oven to 180C/350F.

Place your thawed pastry on top of the dish, running a knife around the edge to remove excess. Using a fork, press down around the pastry to crimp it and help it to seal.

Make a hole in the middle of your pie with the tip of your knife. Brush the top with beaten egg or milk.

Bake at the bottom of the oven for 40 minutes or until pastry is golden and crisp.


For anyone curious about how veggie mince looks, behold:

Pretty normal.

At the end of your hour, your mince mixture should look like this. If it's too runny, add a little flour to get a nice, thick consistency:

Egg helps the top of the pastry to be a beautiful, shiny, crisp brown. Feel free to use milk or even soy milk.

*drool

So there you have it - learn, enjoy and pass it on!

Bumpington

My dear and highly-talented artist friend Joel Birch took this cute picture of the bump when we visited Love Letters, the showing of his latest collection of illustrations and photographs.

He has a crazy knack for photographing things exactly at the right moment, with incredible composition, half the time without even looking. I is jealous of this. He also does it with actual vintage cameras, and develops the film in his own unique way.

To see more of his amazing graphic design work, art and photographs, check out his blog, AM/PM.

You won't regret it...

Anniversary weekend

November 3rd was our third wedding anniversary. It was time to go somewhere nice, relax, soak up the sun, hang out and generally ignore the world for as long as we could. Given that I wasn't cooking, I thought a few snapshots would make a pretty post instead. And for those interested, stay tuned for a bump shot!

It rained for two days prior to us leaving... and I was so sad. All I could think about was the beach, sunscreen, sarongs, cool drinks and ocean swims. All weekend.  Were we going to be stuck indoors like last year when we went to Daydream Island and we had a tropical storm the entire time? When we arrived at our Marcoola hotel (the Atlantis - good fun! especially for families), the view was cloudy but gorgeous.

But as they say in Queensland - beautiful one day, perfect the next, and in a matter of hours, we looked out upon this: 

Nothing to complain about here!

I wasted pretty much NO time the next morning getting to the beach. I've only just gotten over my fear of the sea (definitely grew up mostly in outback Queensland, the ocean was completely alien to me), and the bump came along for the ride:

 We don't have many bump picutres, so thought we'd better capture the 22-week moment. I have a feeling this one's going to be a water baby!

Now I don't know about you, but I'm always starving when I get out of the water. All I ever want to do is eat hot chips and tomato sauce like I did when I was a kid and swam at the local pool every day. But I'd packed a little picnic in THE coolest picnic basket of all time, which was way more fun.

The butter and jam were for our croissant breakfasts the next morning... and boy were they GOOD! Looking out over the crashing ocean, sitting on our little sun-drenched balcony, enjoying each other's unrushed company. Beautiful.

Given that we don't have a TV, Veggie Dad was pretty happy (understatement alert) to catch up on the cricket. And given we only have one tiny, ancient couch that we usually have to both squish on to, he was pretty happy to stretch back on this baby. It proved a little harder for me - I fell into and out of one of these all weekend. Bump doesn't allow for much manoeuvrability!

But the only thing I fell into at Noosa beach the next day was in love :)

The Sunshine Coast rules!

And of course, the day that started it all...

Happy Anniversary, Veggie Dad! <3 <3 <3

Thai basil vegetables

Food.com (formerly Recipezaar) has become a goldmine of amazing recipes for me - the fussiest home cook on the planet. Even if everyone at the table is raving about a dish I'm still all "well it could do with some more garlic", "it's nice, but it's not great" and "wow. what was I thinking?"... in other words, Captain Critical.

But that's because I love food, and I love food that has amazing flavour. I'm not about mediocre or "delicate". I want something that punches me in the face and pops up cheerily saying "HA! weren't expecting that now, were you?"

And that's what I find on Food.com. I've never (repeat, never) been let down by any recipe I've ever tried. And that is precisely where I found this little darling.

It is full of flavour, and full of veggies - two of my favourite things. Oh and coriander. Which I adore, but if you hate it (it seems to be quite polarising) you can very well do without. In fact, I forgot it last night, along with the basil, but remembered after a few bites, and it was just as delicious without. Baby brain... my go-to excuse for everything.

Ingredients: 

• 2 medium zucchini, sliced
• 2 cups chopped mushrooms
• 1/2 cup slivered carrot
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 cup chopped coriander
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 lime, juiced (if using lemon, add another spoonful of sugar... brown is nice)
• 1/2 tablespoon minced ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon sambal oelek chili paste (to taste)
• 1 tablespoon cornflour 
• 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 
  

Method: 

1. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, lime juice, ginger, garlic, sugar, sambal and cornflour.

2. Heat oil in large pan over high heat. Add veggies (feel free to add whatever you like, broccoli and capsicum are good choices. Mine changes every time I make it.) Stir fry for 3 minutes.

3. Turn heat way, way down. The lowest of the low. Add your sauce and a splash of water if it's looking to be too thick.

4. Cook until veggies are crisp-tender (I find broccoli takes longer, so add accordingly).

5. Stir in herbs and serve with rice or noodles.

Recipe vegetarianised and adapted from here.

Apple Cinnamon Scrolls

I've mentioned before that I'm not a fan of fruit. Not really, anyway. I know it's good for me and all that, but I just don't have much of a sweet tooth. It is also a conundrum that I adore baking, but rarely eat the fruits (tee hee) of my labours for the above reason.

Now being 21 weeks pregnant with bumpington, I know it's important to eat lots of fruit. Plus, I live in Queensland, Australia, where it's sunny and beachy and summer-fruity and I can get just about whatever I want in good quality. I don't mind a mango or peach here and there but apples and bananas? Winter fruit? nuh-huh.

Therefore if I'm going to bake, then I try to at least get some fruit in somewhere. Even if it's covered in a sugar-butter caramel (hello Pineapple Upside-down Cake). Hence the attempt at Kidspot's Apple-Cinnamon Scrolls. Which, by the way I have just received a text from Veggie Dad as we speak (how's that for timing?) describing them as the YUMMEST SCROLLS EVER!!!!!

And I concur. Apple whole? No thanks. Apple cooked in soft bread with a sprinkle of cinnamon and brown sugar? Well I might just eat that. Especially if it goes nicely with a cup of tea (it does).

You can find the recipe here... As you can see, baby brain led me to read the recipe quite vaguely and I failed to chop my apples fine. I also sprinkled caster sugar before realising it should have been brown. So I sprinkled both. To hell with it, I'm pregnant! I think I will also try it with applesauce to get a smooth filling. Or jam. Or lemon curd. Or vegemite and cheese (oh my!) Or apricots and almonds. Or cheese and chutney. Or cheese and jalapenos or... etc etc, ad nauseam.

They freeze well, and need nothing but a little heating up before eating. Yum!