Greek Almond Cookies

Greek Almond Cookies
Home Cooking



This was a case of - when you're cooking, why stop? I already had 2 recipes going but I felt like committing to one more... for fun. The recipe for Greek-style almond cookies was something I flipped onto and mentally bookmarked as not requiring many ingredients.



It's really easy... like, really, really easy.

When I baked my batch, I had to consider the fact that my family has been eating till bursting for the past few days so I kept it moderate and divided the recipe by 3. The cookies are so easy and good though, I've included the ORIGINAL quantities below and recommend you use these amounts :).

Caffe e Gelato Milany

Caffe e Gelato Milany
http://www.gelato-milany.com/



I'll be the first to admit I have a phenomenal appetite, but during the hottest days of Summer, I find it trying to think about eating anything more than cold fruit and ice-cream. Ice-cream is a Summer staple for me and because I know many of you guys share this stance, I'm going to share this amazing gelato cafe.

Milany's is co-owned by Olympian Tatiana Grigorieva and was recommended to me by a friend in uni. We were waiting for patients and the computers in the clinic stations were vacant so he took the opportunity to Google the website for me to browse. Um... have you clicked the website? It's impossible to look at the photos in the menu page and not want to go.

Pumpkin and Zucchini Thai Green Curry

Pumpkin and Zucchini Thai Green Curry
Home Cooking



This is another marriage of all those little crazes I get: pumpkin, coconut, curry... oh there's sweet potato in here too but it disintegrated so I didn't include it in the title.


I picked up the veggies on the weekend and grabbed a can of coconut milk and some green curry paste. That's all there is to it! The rest of the ingredients are pantry basics and of course, there's a lot of flexibility with what vegetables you include. If you really want to add meat - I SUPPOSE that's allowed too :p.

Lure at The Coro

Lure Seafood Restaurant
28 McDougall St, Milton



Last night, I met up with a couple of my best foodie mates for dinner. After being indecisive about what/where to eat for AGES, I put my foot down for seafood. It must be something about the Queensland Summer because all my vegetarian cravings have subsided for thoughts of water, fish and crustaceans.

One of my friends had been to Lure before and gave the restaurant a thumbs up. We didn't make a booking (figuring that whatever restaurant doesn't work out can be replaced with somewhere less packed - i.e. adventurous/spontaneous dining) but rocked up real early as the first table.

Pho Hien Vuong

Pho Hien Vuong
319-341 Mains Rd, Sunnybank



Last night I made a quick pho stop in Sunnybank with a friend before spending hours, non-stop (literally) trying to beat old school Dr. Mario.



Pho Hien Vuong has a reputation of good, cheap pho (big servings too) and the other bonus is that they open till lateish every day. There's a small courtyard area outside and the inside feel is very typical of an Asian eatery.

Coffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

Coffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
Home Cooking



Last weekend my friend hosted a BBQ as part of our after-exam celebrations. We were asked to bring a plate of food and rather than picking up something from the shops, I thought I'd bake something. This was decided on a whim and I was at my parents house so I had to work with the ingredients available in the pantry.



I decided to bake cookies because they're easy to share at a party and I also happened to have chocolate chips etc all at hand.

Breakfast at Four Winds, Gold Coast

Four Winds Revolving Restaurant
2807 Gold Coast Hwy, Surfers Paradise



A while back my parents went on a weekend away at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, down at the Gold Coast. They had tonnes of fun and told me about this breakfast buffet at the top of the tower which they wanted to show me when exams were over.

Hotel lobby

Now that time has finally come. The Four Winds restaurant does lunch and dinner buffets daily but breakfast is only on Sunday. Bookings aren't required so we rocked up when they just opened, at 7am.

Summer Mediterranean- Spanakopita and Greek Salad

Spanakopita and Greek Salad

Home Cooking



I've always loved the idea of spinach pie - it's just the kind of thing that appeals to me since I'm automatically drawn in by anything that's packed with veggies (don't I just sound like some kind of kid's education program??)



My first taste of spanakopita was from the farmer's markets and it was so yum. It didn't really occur to me to make my own until I saw Alex Perry do it on Celebrity Masterchef.

End of Exam Celebrations at The Point

The Point Restaurant Bar
http://www.thepointrb.com/



If ever I needed an excuse to dine out, end of exams must be the most valid, ESPECIALLY if they're the last lot for the year. You slave away on a caffeine high for 2-3 weeks straight, surviving on ridiculous hours/patterns of sleep and then BAM it's over. Time for a break.

My friend happened to finish his exams on the same day as me so we decided to party it out food-style (much better than getting wasted, although I did manage both :D). After cruising through Southbank for a while (we originally intended to go to Stones restaurant but it was packed), we decided to go all out and enter the paid parking zone (way more luxurious than scouting for street-side spots).


Since we were quite hungry and not very picky, we wandered into the first place that looked decent: The Point. I remember when my uncle came from the States, he ate there and told me the fish and chips were good. I had no intention of ordering fish and chips but nice feedback of any kind always makes you more willing to try a particular location.

Atomica Eat Drink

Atomica Eat Drink
3/173 Boundary St, West End



One of my best mates flew up from Canberra recently after exams. She is a BUSY girl but managed to squeeze me on for the obligatory catch up. We are all quite lax with dining locations so I took the easy option of going to West End and deciding from there. We met up with another friend and wandered down Boundary Street for a while. This happened to be a Monday and lots of restaurants/cafes in West End just don't open on a Monday. We were slightly limited but happened to pass Atomica.

Breakfast at The Pancake Manor

The Pancake Manor
18 Charlotte St, Brisbane



There's a bit of story behind how I finally ended up writing this post. Sure I've been to The Pancake Manor numerous times. They're one of the only 24hr dining joints in Brisbane and besides, the food is not half bad. I've got a collection of photos from going there in the past (and they're still relevant now since the menu doesn't change) but I sort of put it off until I could get a more recent/fresh experience to write about.


And I finally got it... but it was an adventure.

These days, especially with exams and all that, I've had a lot of trouble sleeping. I go through phases where I can't sleep till early in the morning anyway but if I have nothing on the next day, it doesn't matter much. When I have something on that requires a good night's rest, it gets problematic. Yet, the thing with sleep is: the more you need it, the less likely it's going to come. In fact, I find that the moment I think 'man, I really want to fall asleep right now', I'm stuffed. It's all over. I might as well just turn on the lights and wait it out.

Back in action

Time to put my feet up :D

Many apologies for the dry spell but you know how it is... exam season = a special kind of craziness. Sure I would have taken on any excuse to procrastinate, including writing on this blog but I had NOTHING to contribute. I've moved out of home (again) and this time into a share house so I haven't really picked up any motivation to cook.

As for eating out well, the unemployed uni student budget is my main problem there. Also, everyone else has had their noses stuck in textbooks for the past couple of weeks and if I'm eating by myself, I tend to favor food court over sit-down with a menu.

BUT...

As I say... the holidays have started so everything is going to pick up. All good!