Those of you that have been following for the last few months have no doubt read the occasional rant from me about the bathroom renovations (and since when have renovations not come accompanied by a rant?). Luckily the kitchen was a rather easy process and one that was relatively stress free. I was waiting for my oven for a while however. The kind people at LG had offered me the latest EM790SP (yes the one with a TV screen that I fell in love with at the Good Food & Wine Show) and I waited and waited for it to arrive. One month turned into two and then looked dangerously close to turning into three until it was confirmed that it might not arrive for a few months after that. They offered me the LG EM780SP instead which had all the features except for the screen and within 48 hours it was installed and I was standing in front of it like a proud owner. She was just like me in that she liked dramatic entrances and I’ve already decided it is a she, like our car is a she.

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I don’t encourage food snobbery but there are some things that I just cannot abide by and one of them is fake fruit flavour. When I was young, we’d get a tub of Neapolitan ice cream (and it was always Neopolitan, certainly none of this gorgeous gourmet ice cream you see these days) and despite my natural graviation towards anything pink, I’d always give the faux strawberry ice cream a definite miss. It seemed just not quite right to me and not strawberry like enough. Although I should just target faux strawberry – I’ve found the worst offenders for the faux fruit flavour banana and cherry which taste nothing like the actual food.

Rant over I’ll get off my (pink) soapbox and explain how overjoyed I am that Summer fruits are coming back into season. This last weekend I filled my fruit bowl with Pomegranates, Mangoes, Strawberries, Nashis and Papaya. So I wanted to do something with some of this fruit but also combining it with mascarpone which I had made just before. The heat this week also convinced me that it needed to be an ice cream of some sort too.

If you had a quick glance at the ingredients list you’ll see that I have balsamic vinegar and black pepper. Honestly, I haven’t taken leave of my senses, they’re both fantastic accompaniments to strawberries but of course you could leave these out or try one at a time but to me it just enhances the taste. I bought these mini cones a while back and miraculously they survived the move and I placed them in these adorable pastel mini tin pails I found at Pink Frosting, where I have been given the rather lovely title of “expert” and I pick my favourite products from their range once every 2 months!

The ice cream is smooth and cheesecake like because of the mascarpone. In fact with some of the cones, I crushed some biscuits and rolled the tops of them in them and then froze them for a later party which I think qualifies them as strawberry mascarpone cheesecake ice creams. The biscuit crumbs allowed them not to stick together – a practical measure you see and you had better believe that I pretended that they were supposed to be like that all along!

So tell me Dear Reader, what is your favourite Summer fruit and how do you like to eat it? On it’s own, in a salad or in an ice cream or sorbet? If you missed out on listening to my interview on the ABC702 Food at Eleven program with Simon Marnie, here is a link! I’m there with Demis and Helen discussing our favourite events from the Sydney International Food Festival. Time really flies when you’re having fun and before I knew it, the interview had finished (although will I ever get used to the sound of my own voice? ).

And because it’s Wallpaper Wednesday, here is a Wallpaper to help you get through Hump Day! Chee Chong Fun Rice Noodles.

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Hello my pretties! Take my (severed) hand and let me give you a peek into my annual Halloween party. It’s an event that gets me going throughout the year. This month was particularly busy with the Sydney International Food Festival and before I knew it, it was the 20th of October and I hadn’t even sorted out my costume.

Luckily I had been planning this party even before last year’s finished (yes I’m an obsessive kind of person, can you tell?) and I had my menu sorted. I wanted to make different things from last year and I wanted it to be even more grisly than last year. I waited and waited and waited for my oven. It was about a month late and was on the way to me from the nice people at LG. It finally arrived and I can already see that she (and it is a she no doubt) is also something that loves dramatic entrances so we’ll get along just fine. I was set for my baking duties and so I had to get my costume together.

Bloody Brain Pannacotta and Shortbread Witch’s Fingers

I am not one for sewing. In fact the only craft I can muster up is really cooking. So I chose to buy my costume and there was one I had my heart set on, the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland (I even had the tiara ready for it). Now that I had my outfit sorted, I needed to turn my attention to the decorations. Places were selling out of their Halloween goodies and whenever I’d walk into a shop, there would be a gaggle of people amongst the Halloween section with adults and kids alike grabbing costumes and decorations.

I wanted to go more ghoulish and squeamish this year so I went with Donna the Dead, the moaning sensor activated animated moaning head. I picked up my charming severed head from The Party People in Sans Souci and discovered a treasure trove of ghoulish goodies. We got to chatting and they agreed to lend me some props for the party including these two charming mummies and a faux bloody brain and severed hand! Mr NQN dressed up as a surgeon gone psychotic and answered the door holding the body parts (he was originally to go as Hannibal Lecter holding a bottle of chianti, fava beans and a liver).

But enough dithering, let me show you the food which is always one of the most important parts to a celebration aside from the company!

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