I received the Masterchef cookbook quite a while back and had yet to crack it open. The recipe that I had been anticipating sadly wasn’t there (Poh’s deep fried meringues) but I did see some dishes that I really wanted to cook. I wanted to make these lace pancakes as I adore pancakes in every shape and form and these to me were quite unusual and I was intrigued about their texture.
Ladies and Gents (or if I were 5 years old, I would have started this with “Ladies and Germs” and promptly keeled over in a laughing fit), you didn’t think I would forget about you this Valentines Day did you? Well I have a present that is going to appeal to both of you… a beef and beer cooking class! Now ladies, both taken and single, you may have difficulty getting your Significant Other or whom you want to be your Significant Other to attend a cake making class but dangle a beef and beer cooking class in front of a guy and his ears are likely to swivel around in interest.
Mumu Grill’s Beef and Beer cooking class was such a success during the Sydney International Food Festival that they had six times the amount of people wanting to book than there were places. It had to be taken off the website before October such was the demand. So I have two places for one very lucky reader to their next Beef and Beer Masterclass on the 20th of February. If you miss out they hold regular Beef and Beer Masterclasses on the second and third Saturday of each month.
There was a list that has floated around for years titled “You know you’re Chinese when…” and proceeded to list 100 items that were frighteningly true. One of the points was “You have Tupperware in your fridge with three bites of rice or one leftover chicken wing”. I am also loathe to throw out food and indeed you may not find a single leftover chicken wing (I would have just eaten it) but I always seem to have leftover icing. I always seem to make too much of it, especially for cupcakes and cakes and whilst this is slightly deliberate in that I loathe running out of icing (so inconvenient mid piping) it means that there’s always a surplus and eating it straight from the container by the spoonful is not recommended if you want to fit into your clothes.
Dear Reader, you know I don’t often insist that you make a recipe but if you happen to love carrot cake I’m going to have to insist that you make this ice cream. It is quite simply, heaven in an ice cream form. When Mr NQN came home from work I was so excited I was jumping up and down asking him to try it. He’s not a huge carrot cake eater but he adored it.
I’m confused and wandering around the Botanic Gardens. I want to ask someone directions but everyone else looks like a tourist. My phone rings and it is Christie. She too is lost too. Joggers are everywhere with earphones so I am loathe to stop them although I figure they are locals. I stop one that has no earphones and ask him directions. “Oh I’m sorry” he says with a friendly American accent “I’m a tourist”.
“Are you lost?” an English voice chimes in behind me.
“Well…yes I am” I admit.
“What are you looking for?” I tell her the Andrew Boy Charlton Pool and she is amazingly headed in the same direction. Even though I was born and bred here, I am directionally challenged and it takes a friendly visitor from overseas to lead me to the door where I find my fabulous blogging buddy Christie.
We’re about thirty minutes late for our booking and it’s pretty crowded. Downstairs, swimmers are bathing and doing laps . There are families still on holidays with their small kids and tanned gods (yes it’s said to be a popular gay haunt) strutting around in very small swimmers. Upstairs is the cafe and we take a seat on the bright orange seats. We’re hot after our little traipse across the Botanical Gardens and all I want is a cold drink and the lukewarm tap water does little to cool us off.
We take a quick look at the menu but are too busy catching up. It’s been over six months since we last saw each other and the waitress really seems to want to take our order so we have a quick look. We’re both trying to eat healthier so we choose frappes and salads. There is a breakfast menu which we presume is available now as they’re presenting us with it and a lunch menu which is broken up into small plates with items such as Manzanillo olives, artichoke dip with crostini, zucchini flowers and lamb cutlets and then there are the mains which features salads, a prawn spaghetti and battered flathead fish and chips. Prices reach up to the low $20′s for a main.
very good looking men
Lychee, Strawberry and Cloudy Apple Frappe left, Blood Orange and Mango Frappe $6 each
There are those who love playing games and those who don’t. I come from a family that like playing board games but loathe any sort of game where they have to test their physical dexterity. Mental dexterity is fine but anything where you have to act silly or have fun making silly gestures is out. When we used to go away with Mr NQN’s family and mine for Christmas and someone would suggest charades my family would opt out and simply watch from the sidelines watching everyone have fun. I think it’s a cultural thing where they were afraid of embarrassing themselves but to me, they seemed to be missing out on all the fun.
I love to participate in things and if you want to play a game I will be there although I have a firm rule: no cheating. Otherwise what is the point? I was determined to participate in this month’s challenge as Lauren from Celiac Teen is one of my favourite bloggers. She’s articulate, smart and mature and still at school which is a fact that constantly surprises me.
Australian bakers may relate to the frustration when we see cheesecake recipes and see that the recipe specifies graham crackers. They’re next to impossible to get here although common as muck in the U.S. I was so excited to try these when I visited the U.S. many years ago that I jumped up and down in the supermarket aisle and said “Oooh look graham crackers!”. People around me must have thought that I was very strange or easy to please (either that or I had just gotten out of prison) and I tried these honey and vanilla flavoured biscuits and thought they were delicious and I was excited to be able to make these again. I made sure to make a lot so I could process them into crumbs and freeze them in case of emergency cheesecake making (or to top my 5 minute cheesecake). I wasn’t sure how to style these-after all they’re just bars and what else can you do with a bar but then I though of the game Jenga and decided to do a Nanaimo Bar Jenga.
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