“You’re Not Quite Normal are you?” my friend says staring at my practice brain for Halloween. I’m not offended and agree. I’m a Halloween girl, there’s no doubt about it and I’ve been planning this year’s Halloween party since let’s think… November 1st last year? The one item I really wanted to make was a bloody brain jelly but alas I didn’t have the time to buy a mold last year. This year I was determined to do it though and nothing was going to stop me. I was more determined than Tracy Flick from Election or Rachel Berry from Glee. If I rode a fitness bike, I would have had a picture of the brain jelly in front of me while working out furiously to music. Thankfully no such props were necessary and a purchase of the brain jelly mold was easy.

At first I wanted to make a glowing green jelly brain a la Dr Frankenstein’s lab but when I saw the effect of a creamy vanilla pannacotta jelly with faux blood clots on top of it I was sold on the latter. And like all of my Halloween food, it’s entirely edible and it tastes just like a regular vanilla pannacotta in a thicker jellied red sauce. The idea of slicing this up did frighten my friend and remind her of that surreal scene in Hannibal involving Ray Liotta but once she tried a slice of it, any protests were quelled with a murmur “Mmm brains” she said. I think I turned my friend into a zombie…

Donna Hay cupcakes $3.50 each

And I was excited to see two of my favourite stores also share an interest in the Halloween theme. Donna Hay’s General store in Woollahra has a window devoted to Halloween where you can order cupcakes and buy boxes of pumpkin, witch and ghost cookies, lollies and trick or treat bags.

The Halloween window!

Ghost, witch and pumpkin cookies

I bought some lollies for my Halloween party and was offered a Gift With Purchase of a box of Donna’s Cookie mix (I chose oatmeal and cranberry) which comes with a purchase of $80 or over (while stocks last for this coming week).

Then Buppa from Buppa’s Bakehouse in Newtown emailed to let me know that she had some Halloween food including Pumpkin Pie (of course!), a rat treat, a mummy cupcake, a ghost cake and a skull cookie. I knew what I had to do with this box of Buppa’s goodness. Share it with my mum who is addicted to them.

The Mummy Cupcake was a moist chocolate cupcake topped with buttercream and jaffas for eyes. Ingenious!

The rather realistic rat was made of smooth, rich ganache like chocolate coated in finely ground cookie crumbs.

The Pumpkin Pie had a lightly spiced pumpkin and a slightly wet crust probably due to the pumpkin.

The Ghost cupcake was a light and fluffy vanilla cupcake taken out of it’s sleeve and coated with a rich buttercream.

The Skull cookie was my favourite with a crumbly chocolate cookie filled with cream cheese icing.

Happy upcoming Halloween fellow creepies!

So tell me Dear Reader, are you celebrating Halloween this year? And if so, what is your costume?

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I don’t get up early for many things. Come the weekend, if I must rise before 9am I become a crankypants of the most irritable sort and it takes a lot of good food and shopping to get me back to normal (whatever normal is for me). This weekend was different however. I needed to rise at 4am and not only this, but I had to do it 2 days in a row (but once you hear why, you’ll understand why I didn’t kvetch too much). And I needed to make myself a breakfast that wasn’t too taxing but would mean that I wouldn’t wilt come 8am.

This breakfast was riddled with inspiration. I first read about the idea of Chai Porridge Oats with stewed Rhubarb only a couple of days before on Betty’s site and I immediately thought “what a brilliant idea!” and saved the idea until the weekend. I pondered it further thinking to myself rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb as they say, and then I suddenly recalled wanting to replicate the rhubarb and pear compote I had eaten at Le Grand Cafe a month or two earlier. I had loved the stuff so much I had asked if it were available for purchase even asking Justin North (yes my stomach really does the talking) who said there were plans for it to be made in the future.

Slightly placated knowing that I could at some stage in the future purchase some, the urgency died but the urge didn’t so I decided to make my own. It was easy, rhubarb is in season now and its glorious magenta stems can be seen everywhere at very reasonable prices. The oats were delicious if I do say so rather boastfully and Mr NQN asked for seconds (there weren’t any so I just made a second lot). From begining to end the whole thing took about 10-15 minutes which was entirely doable even on this early, early Sunday morning. And what got me up this early my Dear Readers? Ahh that’s a secret until tomorrow although I’m sure 6,000 Sydney siders can probably guess!

So tell me Dear Reader, what gets you up on a Sunday morning? The promise of breakfast? Children? Or horrifyingly, an alarm?

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Alejandro Saravia

Introducing a new cuisine to a country isn’t an easy thing. First of all there’s the issue with sourcing ingredients and if you happen to be trying to introduce it to a country like Australia with strict customs and quarantine laws, it is made all the more difficult. But that’s just what Alejandro Saravia is trying to do with Peruvian cuisine. Chef Saravia arrived in Australia almost 3 years ago now and after a time working at El Bulli Surry Hills, has turned his attention to setting up Illapu Peru, Peruvian Gastronomy Concept, a company that he has formed to help spread the word of his native Peruvian cuisine. And as part of the Sydney International Food Festival he is holding a series of dinners and we are the lucky recipients of an invitation to dine at one of them and have the chance to meet with and talk to Alejandro. What is Peruvian cuisine you might ask? Take my hand Dear Reader and let me show you…

Walking into the restaurant we’re surprised as we’re dining at private tables (rather than a large shared table) which is a nice touch. I am shown to our tables and chat to Anna from Morsels and Musings is already seated with her sister. Later on Suze, Helen and Billy arrive. We’re invited to go up to the bar and order one of the three cocktails which all use Peruvian ingredients. I go for the Don Santiago Pisco Punch with is muddled pineapple wedges, fresh orange, syrup, Don Santiago Queirolo Mosto Verde and soda water which Mr NQN ends up liking.

Traditional Santiago Queirolo Pisco Sour

Don Santiago Pisco Punch

I prefer his order of the Traditional Santiago Queirolo Pisco Sour with fresh lemon juice, simple syrup, Santiago Queirolo Quebranta, egg white and bitters which is refreshing and sour at the same time.  They mention that they are served without straws so that you can experience the full aroma of the ingredients as they use such high quality mixers and aromatics and a straw would inhibit the ability to inhale deeply while imbibing.

Chef Alejandro Saravia at work

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