I won’t often get up before 9am on a weekend except in exceptional circumstances. My friend M is one of them. She has two spirited sons that won’t wait for a brunch and so I found myself setting the alarm for the ungodly hour of 7.30am one Saturday morning. I had all of the best intentions, to walk to Awaba Cafe. However I was confronted by two things: a bitterly cold 11degree weather and what I refer to without any affection, the “Hill of Death”: i.e. Awaba Street.

If you’ve ever tried walking all the way up Awaba Street from Balmoral Beach you’ll know what I mean. And if you haven’t and have simply driven up and down it, I have no doubt that you’re having a chuckle at me because it doesn’t seem very steep-but don’t laugh until you’ve walked it. They even have an annual run called “The Balmoral Burn” which is simply running up Awaba Street. I’ve walked it myself, once and once only and that was enough for me. I knew it would be hard so I ditched the heels and wore ballet flats and even then I found myself going slowly and rather gingerly down the hill. I passed puffing, red faced and sweaty people all looking like they’d trade in their first born for a taxi ride up the hill. When I was nearing the bottom, there was a man, red and sweaty shirt off pushing a baby stroller up a hill. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that it got worse.

I reach my destination and M and her kids are there waiting already. Awaba Cafe is a sleek all white building with open windows to make the most of the spectacular beach view. It hasn’t aged a bit since I last came here years ago. It’s about three quarters full, mostly full of families and young couples. The kids are of the well behaved variety and there’s no tantrums to be had here today.

Cappucino $3.30

Although the staff are busy and bustling, the coffees take a while to arrive (mine isn’t quite hot enough) and the boys are getting very hungry. Thankfully the food arrives after about 25 minutes.

Scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, chives & toast $16.50

My eggs are a generous serve, although mysteriously cold-but given how long it took to arrive I am reluctant to send it back. I wonder how long they had been sitting on the countertop. The salmon rose is also generous but with a few too many grey bits tucked in under the bottom.

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**THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED. THANKYOU FOR ALL OF YOUR ENTRIES. PLEASE STAY TUNED FOR THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE WINNERS**

I’ve heard that there was a time in Australia when the only seasonings or flavours used were salt and pepper. To me, that sounds unfathomable and a little frightening. Where would we be without the rich scents of the herbs and spices that routinely feature in our recipes today? It goes without saying that Herbies herbs and spices are the best in Australia. If ever there was an area to splurge it’s on good quality herbs and spices. They only cost you a dollar or two more than other but are well worth it as they contain no fillers, starches, MSG, free-flow agents or additives of any kind. Just pure unadulterated spice. I often see Ian Hemphill from Herbie’s on TV in the morning and he often shows how to use these herbs, his knowledge shining through.

This month, we’re giving away two Herbies Spice Kits worth $30 each. For those of you still battling the cold weather (me included), we have one Comfort Foods Spice Kit - Seven spices and blends (ground rosemary, mixed spice, Baharat spice mix, tagine mix, chipotle chilli powder, samber spice mix and thyme) with recipes for Apple Crumble, Bean Mash with Rosemary, Lamb Tagine, Smokey Vegetable Soup, Slow-cooked Ox Cheeks, Sambar and Farmer’s Potato Bake.

For Lovers and Wannabe Lovers we have one Aphrodisiac Spice Kit- Six aphrodisiac spices (Pasilla chilli powder, nutmeg, cardamom, saffron and cumin), plus Za’atar which you could team up with known aphrodisiacs like oysters, olives, artichokes and figs in recipes for making Oyster Soup, Bruschetta with Artichoke Puree, The Bird Stripped Bare, Pears with Saffron Jelly,and Spiced Figs. I’d say these will get you some action better than the phrase “I’ll do the dishes tonight honey, you relax!” or “Go ahead and buy that new Chanel bag, it’s worth every cent!”

All you have to do is tell me “What is the difference between a herb and a spice?” and which kit you’d prefer. Email me on: nqn.herbies.comp@gmail.com with your name, email and postage details. You can enter once daily but because the prize is food, I’ll have to keep the entries within Australia -we don’t want the precious spices to get caught at overseas customs! The competition ends midnight AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time) on Sunday the 30th of September so you have plenty of time!

If you can’t wait to get your Spice Kits, they are available from the Herbies website or at their store:

Herbies
745 Darling Street ROZELLE
NSW 2039 AUSTRALIA
Tel: (02) 9555 6035
Fax: (02) 9555 6037
Email: herbie@herbies.com.au

http://herbies.com.au/

My husband is what I affectionately refer to as a “fruit bat”. He is simply mad for the stuff, in dried or fresh form, his request for Christmas every year is a fruit basket and a fruit cake. And forget eating a dainty slice with tea, the whole cake can and has been consumed in less than a day. We recently went to a lunch after friend’s baby’s baptism and they brought out a lovely home made fruit cake. I placed a firm hand on his arm and said “NO honey, leave some for everyone else” and like a puppy chastised he looked sheepish and sank back down in his chair. I’m sure he had dreams of taking that cake and running away with it.

I had originally bought him the jar of mincemeat for him to eat with a spoon and a grin on his face but I forgot about it in the cupboard. And lucky I did as I needed it to whip up a quick fruit cake. Nigella’s recipe is a ludicrously easy fruit cake at that that you could possibly whip up with what you have in the cupboard plus a jar of mincemeat (I’m not assuming everyone has mincemeat in their cupboard). I looked at another of Nigella’s recipes and it required 2 weeks of soaking that I didn’t have so this was an easy decision. The cake itself is not exactly like a fruit cake in look although a bite into it and it does taste very fruit cakey. I didn’t find that there wasn’t quite enough fruit so I’d suggest adding either more mincemeat or soaking some fruit briefly to plump it up and then adding it in. Still, for the amount of effort, it’s a pretty good cake. I loved the look of Nigella’s Jewelled cupcakes so I used her cues for decorating it.

It was also a good choice to take with us on the long 6 hour drive to the snow for his birthday as it transports easily and is a “hardy” choice (i.e. no delicate layers, no cream). Other fantastic goodies that were cooked up to stave off the Winter chills were Swedish Mulled Wine by my Sister in Law and Finnish Split pea soup by my Mother in Law. I couldn’t have asked for better or more delicious ways to warm up after a day in the snow.

I intersperse the recipes with some photos of the snowfall-apparently, this years snowfall was the best in five years!

Ribena Snow Cone using fresh powdery snow!

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