Lady Lamington for Cocktails and Nibblies

Lady Lamington
483 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley

As a major forward planner, I'm ashamed to admit I made a huge mistake in choosing a date to escape to Cairns. The long weekend at the end of September seemed ideal so I made the flight and accomodation bookings only to then realize OMG I was missing Kat's birthday. Crapola. Lousy best friend of the year award goes to me.

In a scramble to make ammends, I offered to take her out the weekend beforehand on a night of food, drink and dancing. After all, the Chinese like to celebrate birthdays in advance. Poor excuse, I know but I did what I could.

Oat and Vegetable Torta

Oat and Vegetable Torta
Home Cooking

My long lost friend Mochi has been initiated into the world of healthy, organic eating. She's detoxing from sugar and green-juicing it. I am so proud of her. I try to eat as 'clean' as I can during the week but man, sugar is in bloody everything! Everything good, that is. I've cut it out of my mixers at home (now buying sugar-free soda water or lemonade to pour my vodka with) but I don't know if health benefits are identifiable when you're drinking alcohol. Anyway, at least she's inspired me to some extent and that's better than nothing.

Mochi recently posted a link on my Facebook wall for a recipe to make an oat and vegetable torta. We are similar in that a lot of boring/weird-sounding foods appeal to us. We like things with oats and nuts and desserts made from vegetables. Whenever I bake these days, I always question "does this only sound good to me, or will other people eat it too?" For many items, I'm sure they would only sound good to me and Mochi, so I bypass them and stick to the conventional.

I'm not sure how an oat and vegetable torta sounds to anyone besides us but I can imagine Marc pulling his face and asking "where's the meat?" or "why are oats and vegetables in the same dish?"

Taste Gallery Revisited for Yum Cha

Taste Gallery Revisited for Yum Cha
http://www.tastegallery.com.au/

For dad's birthday recently, we decided to go to Taste Gallery, after hearing rumours that they were now offering yum cha dishes during the day. Mum and I debated back and forth over e-mail as to whether or not we were even talking about the same place. I only knew the English name. She only knew the Chinese name. In the end, I sent her a link to the website and she said it looked about right so I made a booking.

I don't think a booking was strictly necessary. They weren't that busy when we went, which was on a Saturday at lunch time. I'm still glad I did though because we got a nice booth table. We'd all been to Taste Gallery before, numerous times (the first visit was blogged here) but it's changed a bit since then so it's worthy of an update.

Low fat Raspberry and Oat Muffins

Low fat Raspberry and Oat Muffins
Home Cooking

Wait a second... did someone say low fat? And muffin?  I'm there! I was Googling food one night (basically what I do every night) when I came across this recipe for low fat raspberry and oat muffins. I originally wanted to make blueberry muffins but I remembered I had some raspberries in the freezer. This was a monetary relief since blueberries go at roughly $1000000 a punnett.

I've mentioned my attraction to oats in baking recipes before. The fact that these muffins contained oats, yoghurt and raspberries as well as being low fat made me leap for joy. I didn't literally leap for joy. What I really did (which is arguably just as crazy) was wake up at 5:30am one morning and baked these as stealthily as I could so as to not wake up my housemate, Stain. I'm not sure how successful I was but soon, the smell/promise of freshly baked muffins overrided my consideration for his sleep.

Champ for Breakfast

Champ Kitchen and Bar
http://www.champkitchenandbar.com.au/

When I first read about Champ opening up on The Urban List, I was really excited. Because of my hateful sleeping disorder, no matter when I go to bed at night (usually late on the weekends), I'm awake at 6:30am like clockwork. Marc doesn't even aknowledge the existance of this time period so I often find myself in the position of needing a local (near West End) place to have breakfast by myself. Champ is a new cafe-slash-bar in South Bank, which is a perfect morning stroll from where I stay.

I've ventured out there twice now. I have a self-imposed rule for my blog where I refuse to blog a place unless I have at least 2 proper dishes to write about. Sometimes I can get away with ordering 2 things at one place because a) they're smallish items or b) because I don't think I'll get a chance to go back anytime soon (e.g. if the cafe/restaurant is interstate). Because Champ was so close by, I figured I'd order one thing and go back a second time to get enough data for my review.

Mushroom, Goat's Cheese and Hazelnut Open Sandwich

Mushroom, Goat's Cheese and Hazelnut Open Sandwich
Home Cooking

I recently went through a frenzy of flipping through my cookbook collection, dog-earing pages and highlighting ingredients. Any recipe that sounded doable was meticulously listed onto my phone so that I wouldn't forget. The problem with anything in book form is that I do forget and end up Googling for recipes instead. I'm trying to make my cookbook purchases financially justifiable. I need to use them more. To be completely honest with you, as nice as it is to have a hoard of cookbooks to decorate your kitchen/bookshelf/coffee table with, they are a pain to look through. The internet is much more practical, but I'm going to put in the effort and get my money's worth from these old purchases.

Bill Granger provided the first viable option. I found a recipe for an open sandwich with mushrooms, hazelnuts and goat's cheese in his book 'Feed me now!' When it comes to sandwiches, I don't think they can be correctly termed 'recipes' but rather ideas of what to put on bread. I hadn't thought of this idea before but it sounded great to me. I once asked Marc "if you had to guess what supermarket items I can't live without, what would you say?" I actually asked the question on this blog first and then randomly decided to ask him. His first guess was goat's cheese, which is correctly on my list. That should tell you how dependant I am on goat's cheese. If goat's cheese was a banned substance with life-destroying properties, I'd be in rehab for it.

The Bun Mobile

The Bun Mobile
http://www.thebunmobile.com.au/

Ah, The Bun Mobile. There exists, in the foodie blogosphere, things that become a must-do. Describe it however you like: buzz, hype, frenzy. I can't even remember when or how I first learnt about The Bun Mobile but I know it's been sitting on Urbanspoon's 'Talk of the Town' list for weeks, if not months. If something's that 'talked' about, I just HAVE to try it. Coincidentally, I was on a plane to Thailand and flicking through the in-flight entertainment when I got my introduction to Eat St. I don't know if anyone outside of the states knows of this but I watched one episode and fell in love. The episode I watched featured some of the hottest food destinations in The States at the moment, and I don't mean fine dining. The show is all about street food and I got a taste (not literally, unfortunately) of what's available out there in the form of grilled cheese vans, gourmet tacos served out of a backyard caravan and giant shnitzels cooked by a white homie rapper. Man, that show was awesome. It also planted the idea of food vans deep in my mind, which made me even more keen to try The Bun Mobile.

The problem is, The Bun Mobile is well, mobile. It's in a new spot every day. I'd imagine that living in Brisbane, this might not be a huge issue. I reside in Toowoomba and am only graced with the honor of eating in Brisbane on weekends. The Bun Mobile doesn't run on Sundays. The time frame in which myself and The Bun Mobile have to meet is clearly limited. One minor plus was the fact that it occasionally stops in West End, which is where I stay in Brisbane. Would there ever be a day that I would be in town, with no other plans, and The Bun Mobile also present? It all came down to fate.

Lemon Cheesecake Squares

Lemon Cheesecake Squares
Home Cooking

 The thought of lemon cheesecake wormed its way into my head at some point this week and couldn't find its way out again. I was hooked on the idea. I had to make cheesecake. Usually, making a baked cheesecake is a real ordeal involving stand mixers and water baths and you end up with a giant cake that's impossible to dish out when there's no occasion for it.

My solution to get around that was to make mini cheesecake squares that were bite-sized and easy to share either with workmates, friends, family members or Marc. I started Googling for recipes. I had something distinct in mind because I wanted it to be baked rather than set (mainly because set cheesecake tend to require condensed milk and I didn't have any of that in my pantry) and I wanted a layer of lemon curd on top for an extra zing of flavor.

I found this recipe, which was an answer to my prayers because it was everything I wanted - a cheesecake recipe that didn't require an extra trip to the grocery store. So many cheesecake recipes call for sour cream or cream or something else to go into the cheesecake mixture besides cream cheese. This one only requires eggs, which I had plenty of, so it was ideal for me.

Homemade Lemon Curd

Homemade Lemon Curd
Home Cooking

My baking project for the week was lemon cheesecake squares. I was in a lemon cheesecake kind of mood. I wanted it to be baked and I wanted it to have layers. When my mind is set on something, there's no compromising.

I found this great recipe, which was pretty much EXACTLY what I wanted (post to follow). Only, I had 2 egg yolks left over from making the low fat raspberry muffins (using 2 egg whites there) so I wanted a lemon curd recipe that used up egg yolks. Instead of using the lemon curd recipe suggested in that link, I went and found my own. If that seems irrational to you, just think about having 2 rogue egg yolks sitting in your fridge. It's unseemly. It's one of those things that bothers me. The same applies to unused egg whites. This recipe from Taste.com came to my rescue.

How to sterilize a jar for jams and things

Jar Sterilization
Not-exactly-home-cooking-but-related

It appears that I don't do things by half measures. I made some raspberry jam once for the Linzer Torte recipe and got it into my head that I would need lots of jam jars for future jam-making. I bought a s-load of jars and they have been sitting in my pantry unused for months... until yesterday when I decided to make lemon curd for lemon cheesecake squares.

I realized that storage of homemade preserves wasn't just a matter of pouring and screwing the lid shut. There's like, germs and things to be considered.

Jocelyn's Provisions for Sweet Treats

Jocelyn's Provisions
http://jocelynsprovisions.com.au/

It was dad's birthday a couple of weeks ago. He's at that age, and has always been of the personality type to not make a fuss about any special occasion, his own birthdays included. We went out for lunch at Taste Gallery (updated review to come) and I thought I'd do my bit and bring a cake along. What's a birthday without cake? I did consider baking one but it had been the most insane week at work and in any case, transporting a cake over the 2 hour drive from Toowoomba to Brisbane has it's challenges.

I went for the more practical alternative which was to purchase a cake instead. Jocelyn's Provisions has been almost like a myth to me. I'd heard of its reputation as an amazing bakery but never really looked into where it was or what the deal was. One weekend, I was having breakfast with Kat at Harveys and we happened to walk past it. That incepted Jocelyn's into my mind and on the first occasion I needed to buy baked goods for (dad's birthday was the one), it was the obvious choice.

Avocado Egg Salad Sandwich

Avocado Egg Salad Sandwich
Home Cooking

I get the 11-midnight munchies predictably, as long as I'm awake around then (which I usually am). I don't improve matters by then scouting the internet for food porn. I was on one of my favorite everyday eating food blogs (by which I mean, he makes plausible food suggestions that are easy to reproduce at home), Closet Cooking when I found a suggestion for avocado egg salad.

It's a hilarious concept (in an inside-joke way, so apologies if no one else gives a bum) because to me, it sounds DELICIOUS. I love avocado in any way shape or form (including as a dessert or cooked or whatever) and so I was interested in how it would work as an egg salad sandwich. Marc HATES avocado, HATES tomato and hates egg (he'll eat it if it's disguised in cake form but that's about it). He especially hates egg salad. There's not many things he doesn't eat but those 3 items pretty much cover it. If I snuck in some olives (the food he hates more than anything in the world) , I would have successfully created an amalgamation of his worst food nightmare.

Anyway, I didn't add olives. But the rest is all there.

Sydney Cafe Marathon 3 - Joe Black

Joe Black
27 Commonweatlh St, Surry Hills, Sydney

When you're away on a work-related trip, it's important to make it to at least some of the educational components of the program. Let's call it a work/play balance. I had just finished lunch at Reuben Hills and my mood was soaring and the weather was fabulous and I was skipping (not literally; didn't want to draw unwanted attention) back to the conference when I stopped short. Commonwealth Street. Hmm... that sounded familiar. I realized that's where Joe Black was, another cafe on my hit list.

Ok let's step back a bit. I admit I just had lunch at Reuben Hills. I did also have breakfast that morning at Savichees (which wasn't that long prior). My stomach was in no mood for more food. But I'm a food blogger. It's really bloody hard for me to resist going into an on-trend food destination when there might not be another opportunity for me to do so. I live in Toowoomba. It's not like I'm in Sydney every weekend (those 2 past weekends notwithstanding).

Sydney Cafe Marathon 2 - Reuben Hills

Reuben Hills
http://reubenhills.com.au/

I may hail from sunny Queensland but when it comes to finding good places to eat in any part of the world, I do have a few tricks up my sleeve, namely The Internet. Urbanspoon is my old faithful but I like to cross-reference with other sources too. It so happened that when I checked into my hotel room, a copy of some magazine (name escapes me) had a special food edition showcasing NSW must-visits. It was conveniently categorized so I skipped over to the cafe section and noticed Reuben Hills and Joe Black mentioned, both of which I'd first heard of on Urbanspoon.

I ummed and ahhed about how to get to Surry Hills. My knowledge of Sydney is 'fair' but limited. I also find that how far apart everything is depends on who you travel with. Does anyone else notice that too? You'll get some travel companions who will say "let's cab it" about everything and that makes the city feel huge and inaccessible to pedestrians. On the other hand, if you're travelling with a 'walker', and the attitude is "let's just walk there", you realize that important destinations are not all light years apart.

Sydney Cafe Marathon 1 - Savichees for Breakfast

Savichees
http://www.savichees.com.au/

Interstate trips are wonderful. You get a change of scenery, better food/shopping destinatons and often a chance to catch up with long distance friends. Consecutive interstate trips, on the other hand, really take their toll.

Marc and I had a trip to Sydney booked ages in advance (during which time we visted Ms. G's, est and Ding Tai Fung amongst others) but a sudden work-related conference lead me on a second excursion to Sydney the very next week. I was exhausted but figured I'd make the most of it and what else does a food blogger do to make the most of her time besides find places to eat?

Trang for Lunch

Trang Vietnamese and Chinese Restaurant
59 Hardgrave Road, West End

Being an avid user of Urbanspoon, it's hard not to be aware of Trang. It's one of the headlining restaurants under the Cheap Eats section on the main Brisbane page. As a frequent Sunnybank goer, I'm not that confident with Asian eats outside of the Southside and didn't think much of it. As it happens, fate intervened and I ended up having lunch there last weekend. We were in need of a feed on Sunday and Marc, who's normally quiet in his opinions insisted on Vietnamese so I fished out Trang from my mental database of local food establishments and we made the trek out there.

Zucchini and Carrot Slice

Zucchini and Carrot Slice
Home Cooking

When it comes to baking, it's not hard to find a host of sweet recipes. I went through a few and got a bit overwhelmed by sweetness. There's only so much sugar I can handle! It was time to find something salty, and I don't just mean in the form of salted caramel or the likes.

I had zucchini in my fridge and a couple of carrots too. I hate eating carrots raw but I like them in baked products so I was glad when I found this recipe for zucchini and carrot slices. It sounded reasonably healthy too so I figured it would be a good idea for workday lunches.

Jamie's Espresso Bar for Breakfast

Jamie's Espresso Bar
http://jamies.com.au/

I might have managed 1 or 2 weekends of 'sleeping in' by which I mean, I'd still wake up at 6 or 7am but not 'need' to leave bed and end up slothing till 10ish. Somehow this past weekend I reverted back to my old sleeping patterns. It was Saturday morning. I hadn't had a BIG night the night before but I'm pretty sure we went to sleep not that many hours prior to when my eyes snapped open again. I couldn't help myself... I NEEDED to be on the move. So off I went.

Apple and Rosemary Muffins

Apple and Rosemary Muffins
Home Cooking

This post is from a couple of weeks ago but I somehow forgot about it so the photos have just been sitting in a folder, abandoned. I think part of the reason why is that I demolished these muffins as breakfast/snacks so speedily that it wasn't long before they were a shadow of the past. My original plan was to give some to mum and dad and some to Marc and not have to live with the pressure of finishing 12 muffins on my own. Two things happened that interfered with that scheme: 1) I got into the habit of eating breakfast (prior to that it was just instant coffee before work) and 2) I developed this paranoia that no one else would be able to cope with the rosemary, vomit out my food in disgust and put me off baking for life.

I personally LOVED the addition of rosemary. I took a basic apple muffin recipe and added the rosemary myself. It wasn't a very difficult or even innovative alteration. I really just chopped up some rosemary for the batter and put more on top of each muffin before baking. Apple and rosemary has been used in combination for yonks, mostly in savory items but it's definitely not unheard of in desserts. If you're after a boring plain old muffin, go on, click the original recipe. If you believe you only live once, want to try something different, get excited by savory elements in sweet things (or vice versa) or even just like rosemary, sprinkle some fresh rosemary in. It may surprise you!

Funny Funny for our Reunion Dinner

Funny Funny Korean Restaurant and Bar
85 George St (corner Mary St), Brisbane CBD

It's a sign of us all growing older, or should I say (more positively), 'growing up' that many of my closest and oldest friends have moved out of Brisbane and are living all over the East coast of Australia. Howl, one of my favorite people on this planet, made a trip back to Brisbane last weekend. Needless to say, I had it marked in my diary months in advance as something to look forward to.

Whenever Howl's in town, he pulls together the 'old crew' (from our uni, class 2010) and the night tends to end up boozy with a lot of karaoke. That's not relevant to my food blog but they started with dinner on this occasion, which gave me something to write about.

Roast Pumpkin and Bread Pappardelle with Ricotta and Thyme

Roast Pumpkin and Bread Pappardelle with Ricotta and Thyme
Home Cooking

I haven't made a pasta dish in a long, long time. There are 2 things I can't be bothered with when cooking for myself at home and that's proteins and carbs. Boring right? That's why you mostly see baking recipes on here. My dinners tend to comprise of vegetables cooked in different ways (usually boiling or if I'm feeling adventurous, stir-frying) and mixed with something for flavor. Goats cheese and/or pesto is my go-to. I'll add lemon if I'm feeling 'fancy' and if I have nothing else, plain salt will do.

For 99.99% of the population this will undoubtedly sound like boring mixed with bland, but that's the reality of what I eat during the week. That should also explain why pumpkin pasta, despite not being the grandest of meal affairs, is still exciting to me and a step outside my comfort zone. It contains carbs after all (in the form of pasta). It's not that I'm a health freak (have you seen what I bake or eat on the weekends?) it's just that I'm lazy after work and like to keep things simple.

Survey Co for Dinner

Survey Co Bar and Bistro
http://www.surveyco.com.au/

I've slowly restarted ticking through my list of Brisbane restaurants (2 weekends in Sydney set me back a bit). Survey Co was a pretty obvious pick for the weekend. I was in the mood for a more straight forward meal (as opposed to kooky and innovative) and it's also a convenient walking distance alway. Oh, and it's also a bar.

I think it was on Thursday, or maybe Friday of last week when I made a proclaimation that I was going to drink less at restaurants because it was affecting a) my taste buds and b) my photography skills.

Yeh.... that didn't happen.

White Chocolate and Apricot Blondies

White Chocolate and Apricot Blondies
Home Cooking

One of my biggest struggles with deciding what to bake is that it needs to be able to keep. Wednesday is my official baking day because that's when I don't have to work. I don't see Marc or my parents until the weekend and that's who I need to share the products with. Cookies seem fine but most cakes pose a bit of a problem.

I did some research and found that mudcakes keep well, as well as brownies and most slices. I extrapolated that to include blondies too. I've put way too many brownie recipes on this blog to feel interested in doing another one (unless it's AMAZING, in which case, feel free to share) so the thought of making a blondie seemed much more appealing.

Popolo for Lunch

Popolo Italian Kitchen and Bar
http://www.popolodining.com/

Nina from Nina Will Eat and I have had some Murphy's luck with trying to catch up over a meal. A couple of failed attempts later, we finally managed a lunch meeting at Popolo.

I walk through South Bank a fair bit but I'd never noticed Popolo before. It's in a portion of the parklands called River Quay, which is waterfront and further towards the Goodwill Bridge than Victoria Bridge.