tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73212877544478905752024-03-13T04:05:11.520-07:00Tea Time with DuckieJuliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321287754447890575.post-81671318212262091712015-07-19T21:10:00.000-07:002015-07-19T21:10:03.603-07:00Cherry sultana cake<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXfXjCbu6EXgEWXkIsVgJQ-8zudV40ol4OnVo34zCH3IcNbxWOovMtO4hFWLZALmFaV7c3DVc0fhdAqmmMmoSgQR-irZ4ovGaIr8n9QMwcWXboHS19Z0zyCLO3xPmUDjeRqbFRunweXWQ/s1600/IMG_1170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXfXjCbu6EXgEWXkIsVgJQ-8zudV40ol4OnVo34zCH3IcNbxWOovMtO4hFWLZALmFaV7c3DVc0fhdAqmmMmoSgQR-irZ4ovGaIr8n9QMwcWXboHS19Z0zyCLO3xPmUDjeRqbFRunweXWQ/s320/IMG_1170.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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A hot cup of tea and a nice, sturdy piece of cake. What way to fend off the cold and other maladies?</div>
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I personally am not built for the cold and am really struggling in this body-numbingly cold Sydney winter (apparently last week had the coldest couple of days in 20 years!). But there's plenty to be happy about!</div>
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Just a quick recap in what's happened since I last posted. First of all, I finished (and passed) all my placements!! Hip hip hooray!! It was certainly a busy (and at times stressful) semester - anyone who has been on placement will understand the pressure of being constantly judged, the insecurity of being a not-quite-experienced-enough student, and the anxiety of whether you are good enough to pass the grade, not to mention making sure all the various checklists and competencies get written up and signed off. Overall though it was a rewarding experience in so many ways. I really developed my dietetic skills through the successes and challenges, had the opportunity to work in wonderful places and meet other talented professionals, and last but not least made some great new friends along the way :)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnfFGGiKy6_PVuUM2cs_ds6bfA3JeEFc2jURj5bfKcIXmp1h_Q1Xgxjo06_A38xNbx_kA1R75XCM9ZYxE2LVrz5zlL0RYjfP8YAGCoJAXpDXTStV-pqwzr7s1GWDoP6cZVNgVxnNx_W2M/s1600/IMG_1188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnfFGGiKy6_PVuUM2cs_ds6bfA3JeEFc2jURj5bfKcIXmp1h_Q1Xgxjo06_A38xNbx_kA1R75XCM9ZYxE2LVrz5zlL0RYjfP8YAGCoJAXpDXTStV-pqwzr7s1GWDoP6cZVNgVxnNx_W2M/s320/IMG_1188.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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In other news, an old school friend recently gave birth to her first child, a beautiful baby girl! To support her through this new phase of life, my friends and I put together a care package, and I baked a reliable, traditional sultana butter cake as my gift. I wanted a cake that would hold up solidly over the course of time and would deliver comfort with every mouthful. Not the healthiest thing I know, but I do think new mums and dads need as much love and support as they can get, even if it's in cake form!</div>
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In the meantime, now that I've had some time off, I also made Mr Duckie his favourite cherry and almond cake (I've written about his love of <a href="http://teatimewithduckie.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/romantic-cherry-bakewell-cupcakes.html">cherry-and-almond based sweets</a> before).The result was that I had lots of leftover sultanas and cherries!</div>
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I actually wanted to remake the sultana butter cake because it looked so tasty when I first baked it! But then I found this recipe and thought it would be the perfect way to use up all my leftover fruits (and leftover brandy from these <a href="http://teatimewithduckie.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/chocolate-caramel-easter-cake.html">cherry truffles</a>)!</div>
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The recipe itself was very easy to make - simply melt the sultanas, butter, sugar, and brandy together, and then add in the cherries, eggs and flour. You could do it all in one pan! I also added some extra mixed spice and ground ginger to increase the fruit-cake like flavour, and because I really like the combo of mixed spice and sultana! I also ran out of marmalade, so I substituted with golden syrup and mandarin zest (because I also had no oranges around!).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready to go in one pan!</td></tr>
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The one thing to watch out for is the cooking time. The recipe states one and a half hours, and I took mine out at one hour and ten minutes, but the cake seemed a bit dry (hence the crumbly looking slices in the photos). So next time I would take it out a bit earlier, although I know this depends on the oven.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fresh out of the oven but still needs cooling before eating!</td></tr>
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Also the recipe calls for the cake to cool for 8 hours before eating - of course, I didn't quite have the patience to wait and cut into it a bit earlier, again leading to crumbly slices, but when I cut it again a bit later it held up better so you can see the beautiful glossy red cherry slices.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking a bit more solid after sufficient cooling!</td></tr>
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Nonetheless, whether crumbly or solid, it was a very tasty cake! The kitchen smelt absolutely gorgeous as the cake was baking. The flavour of the butter really came through and seemed to have infused into the sultanas. Mr Duckie has taken the final piece with him as he travels for work so hopefully it is sturdy enough to withstand the journey. In any case, I do believe that this cake was strong and sweet enough to hold up to a cold winter's day ;)</div>
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Cherry sultana cake</h3>
Adapted from <a href="http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/12114/cherry+sultana+cake">taste.com.au </a><br />
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125g butter, at room temperature, cubed</div>
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2 cups sultanas</div>
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1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar</div>
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2 tablespoons marmalade (or my alternative: 1 tbsp marmalade and 1 tbsp golden syrup + zest of one mandarin)</div>
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1/4 cup brandy</div>
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3/4 cup plain flour</div>
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1/4 cup self-raising flour</div>
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2 tsp mixed spice</div>
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1 tsp ground ginger</div>
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1 cup red glace cherries, quartered</div>
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2 eggs, lightly whisked</div>
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1. Place butter, sultanas, sugar, marmalade and brandy in a medium saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until butter melts (do not let the mixture boil). Set aside for 45 minutes to cool.</div>
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2. Preheat oven to 150 degrees. Line base and sides of a 10 x 20 cm (base measurement) non-stick loaf pan with 2 layers of brown paper, then 1 layer of baking paper, extending each 5cm over sides of pan (I just used 2 layers of baking paper).<br />
3. Sift the flours into a bowl.<br />
4. Add cherries and eggs to butter mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until combined. Add the sifted flours in 2 batches, stirring after each addition until combined.<br />
5. Pour into prepared pan and smooth top with the back of a spoon. Bake in preheated oven for 1 to 1.5 hours (check after 1 hour), or until a skewer inserted in centre of cake comes out clean.<br />
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6. Remove from oven and cover the cake (still in the pan) tightly with foil, then wrap the pain in a tea towel.. Set aside for 8 hours or overnight to cool completely.</div>
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321287754447890575.post-43072626487909232742015-06-18T05:08:00.004-07:002015-06-18T05:12:25.737-07:00Vegemite Chocolate Brownies<div>
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Are you a fan of trying strange or unexpected food combinations? I'd like to think that I'm fairly adventurous, particularly if chocolate is involved!<br />
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I'm sure you've all seen the new Cadbury's Vegemite Dairy Milk chocolate. I think the idea is that the saltiness of the Vegemite should go well with chocolate, in the same way that sea salt and chocolate are a good match.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8fDxYH4tzP-b5CTX6fbttZrqoS6fFkhfU4fwMfjX7UyahakwADl7O6SEWrjDpbzgxvhxgIj4XkRzuxmK4eigZmbyjgf7E9SvcGsx0kx_RA3Pyk09r0KlvN5LepagoVV98WmVydG9YYi0/s1600/IMG_0643.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8fDxYH4tzP-b5CTX6fbttZrqoS6fFkhfU4fwMfjX7UyahakwADl7O6SEWrjDpbzgxvhxgIj4XkRzuxmK4eigZmbyjgf7E9SvcGsx0kx_RA3Pyk09r0KlvN5LepagoVV98WmVydG9YYi0/s320/IMG_0643.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Initially I thought that the Vegemite would either be a thick paste in the middle of the chocolate, or that perhaps there would be Vegemite flavoured chips throughout the chocolate. In fact, the Vegemite comes as a Vegemite-flavoured caramel in the centre of each square. The caramel itself is a dark brown colour and smells quite strongly of Vegemite.<br />
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The best way to eat the chocolate is to put a whole square in your mouth at once and chew. This way, the caramel mixes with the chocolate and becomes a background savoury type flavour. You don't even really taste the Vegemite per se, but rather it adds an extra richness to the chocolate. Be careful though and don't do what I did the first time which was to eat the caramel on its own - it's quite strong and even a bit overpowering!<br />
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Anyway, it wasn't too bad overall, although I probably wouldn't eat more than a couple of squares at once, mostly because the richness becomes all a bit too much. I felt that having something to act as a foil to the strongly flavoured chocolate was what was needed. Something thick and cakey like a brownie to act as a cushioning for the bursts of flavour.<br />
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I decided to go with a more plain cakey textured brownie rather than my usually fudgey brownie, as I thought this would go better with the richly flavoured chocolate. The recipe itself was pleasantly simple and quick, which I very much appreciated!<br />
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The combination of the simple brownies and Vegemite chocolate was surprisingly good! The brownie mixture really did help to take the edge off the chocolate, resulting in a much more palatable sweet. In fact, some of my taste testers did not even know that it was Vegemite! As usual, Mr Duckie polished these off, eating six pieces in one go!</div>
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So, why not add some Vegemite to your usual brownie repertoire - you may be surprised at how much you like them!<br />
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<h3>
Vegemite Chocolate Brownies</h3>
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Adapted from <a href="http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/25252/chocolate+brownies">taste.com.au</a></div>
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250g butter</div>
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1 cup caster sugar</div>
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1/2 cup brown sugar<br />
4 eggs</div>
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1 1/2 cups plain flour</div>
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3/4 cup cocoa<br />
1 tsp vanilla essence<br />
1/2 x 250g block of Cadbury's Vegemite Chocolate (or more if you dare!), chopped into squares<br />
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1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line a 20cm x 20cm square pan with non-stick baking paper.<br />
2. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat. Stir in sugars. Add eggs one at a time and stir until mixture is thick and glossy.<br />
3. Sift the flour and cocoa over the egg mixture and stir until well combined. Stir in vanilla. Spread into prepared pan. Top with Vegemite chocolate squares.<br />
4. Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside to cool in pan completely. Cut into pieces and serve.<br />
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321287754447890575.post-28410326188251333652015-05-13T03:43:00.003-07:002015-05-13T03:43:54.277-07:00Wild Pear Cafe, Dural<div>
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What nicer way to spend a Sunday afternoon than enjoying a dainty high tea in a beautiful garden setting? This was how I celebrated Mother's day last Sunday with all the ladies in my family!</div>
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For the past two Mother's Days, I have taken the mums out to cafes set in nurseries - all the mums love looking at plants and planning their gardens, and the cafes in these nurseries offer delicious fresh food. The cafe we (my mum, mother-in-law, grandmother-in-law, and sister-in-law) went to this year was Wild Pear Cafe in Dural. The cafe is set in a cosy cottage with a balcony that overlooks the nursery, perfect for a post-meal stroll. Inside the cafe itself was very busy - in fact it had been all booked out for Mother's Day! I was quite surprised given that it's in a quite out of the way part of Sydney, but at least it was a good sign that it would be a good cafe!<br />
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Our high tea started off with a colourful carafe of water flavoured with mint leaves, strawberries, lemon slices, and pomegranate seeds. I was really impressed with how I could taste all the different ingredients in the water, and it made for a naturally sweet and refreshing drink.</div>
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Shortly afterwards came the actual high tea, with loads of goodies beautifully presented on a three tier stand!<br />
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The bottom layer was filled to the edges with a delicious selection of sandwiches, including curried egg and cucumber; avocado, chicken, bacon and spinach; smoked salmon and cream cheese, avocado, ham, brie and lettuce, and falafel and salad. The sandwiches were very generously filled and heartier than the usual dainty finger sandwiches! I was also very intrigued and impressed by the interesting flavour combinations. The sandwiches stacked together looked so pretty and colourful, like a sandwich garden!</div>
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The second tier held the lovely sweets! The mini lemon meringue tarts were definitely the highlight for me - the tangy lemon filling merged seamlessly with the sweet, soft meringue so that it was one big creamy mouthful! There was also slices of carrot cake topped with a caramel pecan, squares of bread and butter pudding, and mini pavlovas topped with pomegranate, pashmak and pistachios. I loved the vibrant contrast of pink and green of the meringues and the moist, dense texture and spices in the carrot cake and bread and butter pudding.</div>
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The top layer held the scones - two plain and two fruit. As usual we were already too full by the time we got to the final plate! I managed to share one with my mum - the scones were served with deliciously thick clotted cream and strawberry jam, both of which I slathered on thickly onto my scone half!<br />
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The staff were able to accommodate Anita's nut allergy by providing her with a separately made up plate of sweets. However there was so much she wasn't able to finish it all! So I was able to save a lemon tart to take home to Mr Duckie, which he very much appreciated! I also saved a scone to take home for him, as I felt sad that he was missing out on the fun (this was a ladies only occasion!).</div>
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Finally, as usual with family gatherings, I have a funny story to share. We each received a glass of pink sparkling wine complimentary with our high tea. Our waitress mistakenly left the rest of the bottle on our table. Meanwhile, in the five or ten minute gap before the waitress came back, Grandma had already downed her first glass of champagne and asked for a second one to be poured for her! According to her, the alcohol "helps the food go down" and she claimed that it did not affect her, claiming that "It's just like Coke!" It was quite a hilarious moment, and in any case dear old Grandma certainly got her money's worth on wine!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Helps the food go down!</td></tr>
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Overall it was a lovely day out with good food in a peaceful location. Wild Pear is a very family friendly cafe, and it was nice to treat all the mum's out to a special afternoon. Make sure you book ahead though, especially on the weekend, as it certainly gets busy fast! I would definitely recommend a visit especially if you are in the area - I know I am looking forward to trying some of their lunches and other desserts! Hope you all had a happy Mother's Day too!<br />
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One final quick picture - our light Mother's Day brunch before high tea. I made sure it was nice and light so I had plenty of stomach space left for high tea!<br />
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<b>Wild Pear Cafe</b></div>
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658 Old Northern Road, Dural, 2158</div>
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(02) 9651 6600</div>
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321287754447890575.post-49012205851588521942015-04-20T21:15:00.000-07:002015-04-20T21:15:52.209-07:00Apricot and Muesli Bliss Balls<br />
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This week autumn has well and truly arrived with gale force winds and driving rains. Unfortunately the wild weather has arrived at the same time as my holiday week but on the bright side I am lucky to be staying inside whilst the rain pours down outside!<br />
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I've just finished my second placement which was my community nutrition/public health placement. I was placed at a not-for-profit charity that aims to promote healthy eating in schools. They do great work including helping canteens to have healthy menus and implementing fruit and veg programs in schools. Indeed the food environment in schools these days has come a long way! I had a fantastic time on placement - I was lucky to do quite a bit of hands-on work, I got to work at a couple of school canteens, and I learnt a lot about the challenges of implementing public health policy.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I made a cardboard cash register - harder than I thought!</td></tr>
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Of course, as usual, Mr Duckie and I had our fair share of emergency and drama. A few posts ago I wrote about the breakdown of our old car Jeeves during my first placement. That was a pretty big scare, so what else could happen right?</div>
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We were shown what could in fact happen on only the second day of my placement. That morning, Mr Duckie was having a shower and I needed to duck into the bathroom to grab something. As I pushed open the door I thought, why does the door knob feel funny? I kept jiggling the door knob and it felt stiff and unmoveable. Then, for goodness knows what reason, I decided to close the door. Big mistake, as lo and behold, I had locked us into the bathroom.</div>
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I had never been in this situation before. My brain took some time to adjust to the situation. The reality took some time to sink in, as I thought that perhaps if I shook the door knob hard enough, it would move. Then I thought I could break the door down. When I realised we were stuck, hysteria started to take hold. Luckily Mr Duckie stayed calm and he tried to figure out a solution.</div>
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Luckily the bathroom had windows, albeit very small windows. So I was sent forth to climb out of the window and get help. With a bit of a leg-up from Mr Duckie, I managed to get out, with a few scratches on the way. Now the next challenge - the fence to the front garden was too high for me to climb, as were the fences to the neighbours on both sides. Luckily I found a way to get into my back door neighbour's garden and eventually I got through and knocked on her door!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Give as a gift to those who have been good help!</td></tr>
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My back door neighbour, whom I had never met before, turned out to be a very kind and generous lady who was more than willing to help. She helped me to call a locksmith and so eventually we managed to get back into the house and open up the bathroom door. What a relief!<br />
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Anyway, in times of unexpected dramas, something sweet is always good to help give an energy boost. Whilst I was on placement, I looked up a number of healthy sweet treat recipes to pass on to schools and parents, and I became quite familiar with the concept of bliss balls!<br />
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These balls are very easy to make and only use a few basic ingredients, pretty much just dried apricots, muesli and sesame seeds. Whilst many bliss ball recipes contain nuts, this recipe is nut-free, so can safely be taken to school. They also smell amazing whilst cooking from all the lovely spices added in!</div>
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Hope you enjoy this recipe! I'm off to my food service placement next so we shall see what happens then!<br />
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Apricot and muesli bliss balls</h3>
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<i>Adapted from <a href="http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/2487/apricot+and+muesli+sesame+balls">taste.com.au</a></i><br />
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100g dried apricots<br />
3/4 cup cold water<br />
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon<br />
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg<br />
1 teaspoon ground cardamom<br />
60g sesame seeds<br />
3 cups natural (untoasted) nut-free muesli<br />
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1. Combine apricots, water, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom in a saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes or until apricots soften. Uncover and set aside until cool.<br />
2. Place sesame seeds in a pan and toss over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until golden. Place into a bowl to cool down and set aside.<br />
3. Place muesli in bowl of food processor and process until finely chopped. Add apricot mixture and process until a stiff dough forms - you may need to add a bit of extra warm water. Transfer to a bowl.<br />
4. Use teaspoonfuls of mixture to roll into small bowls. Roll in toasted sesame seeds. Place in fridge to firm up a bit then serve.<br />
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Makes approx. 30 balls</div>
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321287754447890575.post-7550365472465300312015-04-09T01:04:00.003-07:002015-04-20T21:16:12.858-07:00Chocolate Caramel Easter Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hello there! Hope you all had a great Easter break! Easter celebrations here in the Duckie household were, naturally, happily full of food!<br />
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Easter marks the end of Lent and the end of Lenten fasting. Which for us means celebrating with meat and chocolate!<br />
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To mark this special occasion, I got up early on Saturday morning to prepare an Easter chocolate cake for our Easter feast that night. In the weeks leading up to Easter, I began my search for the perfect chocolate celebration cake. I eventually found a very yummy salted caramel chocolate cake recipe and when I saw it I knew that was going to be the one! I carefully prepared for the cake-making by doing a thorough search of my local supermarkets to find suitable Easter-themed chocolate items for decoration (and eating!).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPxRb0td-wnpt3rF1HFHwIuBBUAJOwJi56RVlW2OP11kmS0L9aWMkGhLwWAKEB-cvl9aF4Hr6_ydfs3ce0P3g3fy8KrTz3u2UN5KQCYdh-y_cvL-MNJbvnVXkd_YB6SA1662Qf752oAiU/s1600/IMG_0216.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPxRb0td-wnpt3rF1HFHwIuBBUAJOwJi56RVlW2OP11kmS0L9aWMkGhLwWAKEB-cvl9aF4Hr6_ydfs3ce0P3g3fy8KrTz3u2UN5KQCYdh-y_cvL-MNJbvnVXkd_YB6SA1662Qf752oAiU/s1600/IMG_0216.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Caramel oozing everywhere, creating a sticky mess!</td></tr>
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Salted caramel, whilst being totally delicious, also always turns out to be extremely messy for me! This was only my second time dealing with caramel, but again I found that it managed to go absolutely everywhere! I filled the cake with the caramel mixture but somehow mine did not look thick and gooey like the one in the picture, but more saucy and runny. I realised the next day when I took out my caramel from the refrigerator that it wasn't chilled enough - so if yours is too runny make sure to put it in the fridge for a bit! Anyway, half an hour later, I found all the filling had oozed out! So we ended up putting the caramel on top of the cake as a sauce. I think I may have also overcooked the cake slightly but luckily no one else seemed to mind!<br />
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Here are some more pictures of the festivities! First, some mini beef burgers:<br />
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Some pigs in blankets (sensing a miniature foods theme here?)<br />
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And finally I had also prepared some cherry chocolate truffles the night before, but we were so full that these were barely touched! They did taste very nice the next day though ;)<br />
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Hope you've all had your share of yummy Easter chocolates and feasts too! I'm off to work my way through the rest of my Easter chocolate stash ;)<br />
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<h3>
Chocolate Caramel Easter Cake</h3>
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Recipe adapted from <a href="http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/12981/hannah-obees-salted-caramel-chocolate-cake">BBC Good Food</a><br />
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115g salted butter, plus extra for greasing<br />
225g dark chocolate (70% cocoa)<br />
150ml milk<br />
225g light brown sugar<br />
2 tsp vanilla extract<br />
2 large eggs separated<br />
150ml sour cream<br />
200g self-raising flour<br />
2 tbsp cocoa powder<br />
1 tsp baking powder<br />
1 tbsp sea salt crystals<br />
Chocolate bunnies and eggs, to decorate<br />
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For the caramel<br />
450g caster sugar<br />
2 tbsp golden syrup<br />
115g salted butter<br />
125ml thickened cream<br />
2 tbsp sour cream<br />
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For the chocolate ganache<br />
225g dark chocolate (70% cocoa)<br />
250ml thickened cream<br />
Dessertspoon sea salt crystals (or to taste)<br />
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1. First, make the caramel. Pour 100ml water into a large saucepan. Add the sugar and golden syrup, gently cook until melted, then turn up the heat a bit and cook until the caramel is a dark golden brown colour. Swirl the pan occasionally to prevent sticking but to not stir (add a few drops of lemon juice if any big crystals are forming). Turn off the heat and carefully whisk in the butter, cream, and sour cream - it will bubble up quite high. Whisk until smooth, then leave to cool slightly set (you may need to put the caramel in the fridge for a bit to make it thicken up). You can make this up to 3 days in advance and chill in the fridge - just gently reheat until soft enough to spread before assembling the cake.<br />
2. For the cake, heat oven to 180 degrees. Grease a 23cm springform cake tin and line the base with baking parchment. Melt the chocolate, butter and milk in a large pan over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat, then beat in sugar and vanilla. Cool slightly.<br />
3. Beat egg yolks and sour cream together, then mix into chocolate mixture, followed by the flour and baking powder.<br />
4. Whisk egg whites in a clean bowl until stiff peaks form. Stir a third of the egg whites into the cake mix, then gently fold in the rest along with the sea salt.<br />
5. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 40-50 mins until firm to touch. Leave to cool for 20 mins, then remove from tin and finish cooling on a wire rack.<br />
6. For ganache: heat chocolate and cream together over a low heat until chocolate has melted. Pour into a bowl to cool.<br />
7. To assemble: slice cooled cake in half horizontally. Sandwich together with some of your caramel - you may not need it all, but be generous in order to balance the bittersweet ganache topping. Spread ganache over the top of the cake and sprinkle with some sea salt crystals if you like. Decorate with bunnies and eggs.<br />
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<h3>
Cherry Chocolate Truffles</h3>
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Recipe adapted from <a href="http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/18601/glace+cherry+truffles">taste.com.au</a><br />
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200g dark chocolate, chopped<br />
1/3 cup thickened cream<br />
2 tbsp brandy<br />
20 glace cherries<br />
1/4 cup cocoa powder<br />
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1. Combine chocolate and cream in a heatproof, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave, uncovered on medium (50%) for 2-3 minutes, stirring every minute with a metal spoon, or until melted and smooth. Stir in brandy. Cover. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours or until firm.<br />
2. Line a baking tray or plate with baking paper. Using 1 teaspoon of chocolate mixture at a time, roll into balls.<br />
3. Flatten balls using palm of hand. Wrap discs around cherries and form into a ball. Place cocoa into a shallow dish. Roll balls in cocoa to coat. Place on prepared tray or plate. Refrigerate until firm.Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321287754447890575.post-77032348325581012012015-03-25T03:15:00.002-07:002015-04-20T21:16:23.515-07:00Cutlets - carrying on family traditions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In a food-driven family such as ours, a lot of history and memories can be encapsulated in cherished dishes and treats. This particular dish is indeed very special, shared with me by Mr Duckie's grandmother.<br />
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For Mr Duckie, his Grandma's cooking is a tradition that he can always rely on. Grandma is a wonderful lady who has devoted her life to looking after her family. When Mr Duckie was young, it was Grandma and Grandpa that raised him and cared for him, teaching him how to write and how to do maths.<br />
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Of course, Grandma is a very capable cook as most ladies of her generation are (all those years of experience!), and she is quite famous for her food. Even now, old family friends and relatives reminisce about the food she used to make. Grandma specialises in traditional Sri Lankan food, excelling in the sorts of recipes that would have been handed down generation after generation. I wanted to take down some of her stand-out recipes as a way of carrying on these cherished family traditions.<br />
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So as I mentioned, Grandma is always trying to look out for those around her. After I said to her that I wanted to learn her cutlet recipe, Grandma tried for weeks to tee up a time with me! She even got up early one Sunday morning to make sure we could do this together! </div>
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Cutlets are a traditional Sri Lankan snack food, made up of crunchy balls of spiced tuna. It is a light yet satisfying "short eat", and one of Mr Duckie's favourites!</div>
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Learning this recipe, I realised just how important the many years of Grandma's cooking experience was. Whilst trying to shape the balls of tuna, mine kept falling apart whereas Grandma's stayed nice and neat! I got some very firm instructions on the proper shaping technique, but I still don't think I've quite got the hang of it.<br />
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I also got some educational notes on cutlet recipes. Grandma informs me that cutlets are usually a round, golf ball shape, but she flattens her slightly to reduce the amount of oil needed for frying. Also, the balls are usually crumbed with egg as the "glue", but as my sister-in-law is allergic to egg, Grandma has substituted with a flour and water mixture. </div>
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So, I am very honoured to share this special recipe and I hope to take down more of these time-honoured recipes to keep the family history alive!</div>
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<h3>
Cutlets</h3>
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Makes 18-20</div>
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<b>Ingredients</b><br />
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1 large potato</div>
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1 large onion</div>
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1 teaspoon black mustard seeds</div>
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1 teaspoon fennel seeds</div>
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A few curry leaves, finely chopped (optional)</div>
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1 finely chopped green chilli and ground black pepper, or 1-2 tsp chilli powder</div>
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1 x 425g tin tuna</div>
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3/4 cup flour plus 1 cup water, or 1 egg</div>
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2 cloves garlic</div>
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3-4 cups dry breadcrumbs (or "rusks" as Grandma calls them!)</div>
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Canola oil, for frying</div>
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1. Chop potato into small chunks. Place into a pot of water and bring to the boil. Boil until potato is tender.</div>
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2. Meanwhile, chop onion very finely (so that you can't tell the onion pieces in the tuna mixture)</div>
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3. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, fennel seeds and curry leaves. Fry for a few minutes to toast spices</div>
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4. Add onion to spices and fry until onion is soft and translucent (do not brown onion)</div>
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5. Drain tuna and crush it with a fork so it is broken up. Add to onion mixture and stir to combine.</div>
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6. Finely chop garlic and grind to a paste in a mortar and pestle. Add to onion mixture. Add some salt and chilli powder to taste. Take pan off heat.</div>
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7. Drain potato and roughly mash (some small chunks will remain). Add to tuna mixture and stir to combine.</div>
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8. Taste again to see if more salt or chilli is needed. Set aside and cool slightly.</div>
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9. Mix flour and water until it is a runny paste (or alternatively beat egg). Take tablespoonfuls of tuna mixture and squeeze together in your hand to form a small ball. You need to make sure to squeeze hard so that the mixture holds together firmly, so that it won't fall apart when frying. You will see some of the liquid oozing out when you squeeze. If there are any bits of onion or curry leaf sticking out, pull them off.</div>
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10. Flatten balls between palm of your hand slightly. Dunk balls into flour mixture, then into breadcrumbs. When coating with breadcrumbs, first cover the top with breadcrumbs. Then flip it over and with your fingers spin the disc around in a circle. Whilst doing this, gently squeeze the ball - the aim is to try to give a nice round shape and also help the ball to stick together</div>
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11. Put cutlets in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to firm up. </div>
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12. Heat about 2 cm oil in a pan. The aim is to have enough oil to cover the cutlets whilst they are frying.</div>
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13. Once the oil is hot, drop in a few cutlets at a time. Fry until breadcrumbs are golden.</div>
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321287754447890575.post-33956375810787917082015-03-21T17:32:00.001-07:002015-04-20T21:16:38.444-07:00High tea at The Hydro Majestic - the Blue Mountains Life<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking out into the Megalong Valley</td></tr>
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Hello everyone! Sorry for the long absence. I am finally back home, having finished my first placement in the Blue Mountains! I have to say that I was somewhat apprehensive at first at having to move to a regional area, but in fact I really enjoyed living in the Mountains. Everyone was very friendly, the lifestyle was relaxed, and of course there was always a stunningly picturesque view right around the corner. The Blue Mountains Hospital itself is a lovely hospital, and even though it was a quieter than one of the bigger hospitals, I was glad to have had the time to develop my basic nutrition assessment and education skills.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watching the sunrise from our balcony in Leura</td></tr>
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As usual though, Mr Duckie and I had an emergency drama to deal with which certainly kept life more than interesting! The first week back Mr Duckie and I drove back to Sydney for a wedding. Mr Duckie was best man so he went to the groom's house the night before to help with some last minute preparations. Our beloved car, Jeeves, who was Mr Duckie's first car, and who we have had for over eight years, had given us some trouble over the past year but he had managed the drive up and down to the Mountains without any trouble (about a 90km drive each way!). However, that night things took a very scary turn for the worse. On his way home, the front right wheel of Jeeves fell off! Luckily Mr Duckie was on a straight stretch and the road was very quiet. We were lucky that no one was hurt. Sadly though, I think it is now time to let go of Jeeves. He's been fixed and is sitting in the driveway of my parents-in-law's house, but I'm not sure if he will go again. We managed to quickly buy a new car that is basically a newer version of Jeeves, but we still miss him very much.<br />
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Here's a picture of our beloved Jeeves. As you can see, he's been through rather a lot in the past 8 years. He somehow lost his hubcaps (unfortunately they got stolen whilst we were out one night), he's had a few dings, and in the end the side mirror and boot door were no longer working. You can also see the front of the new car just behind him - in fact, he is a newer version of Jeeves! Once Mr Duckie finds what he likes, he sticks with it ;)<br />
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So you would think that I've gotten all the drama out of the way for a while! Not so - funnily enough, right at the start of my second placement we had another emergency! But that may be a story for another post ;)<br />
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During my stay in the Mountains, I managed to check out the local food scene (as every good dietitian does!). The one place that I really wanted to visit was the iconic and legendary Hydro Majestic Hotel, which is very famously perched on the edge of the cliff face overlooking the Megalong Valley. Much to his credit, Mr Duckie had secretly booked us in for a high tea on Valentines Day!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from The Wintergarden</td></tr>
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The Hydro Majestic Afternoon High Tea is served in The Wintergarden. The hotel recently underwent a multi-million dollar renovation and re-opened last year. It has a very glamorous Art Deco inspired atmosphere. And the view truly lived up to its reputation - it was the unique point making all the difference to the afternoon tea experience! Combined with the relaxing songs being played on the grand piano, and the slightly grey and cloudy sky, I felt like I could have been in the English countryside!<br />
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I again had my breath taken away when the high tea came out. The food was served in a traditional three-tiered stand and was very generous in its proportions. I imagined that it was like the three meals of the day in one!<br />
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We started off with the sandwiches and savouries (middle tier). There were chicken and walnut sandwiches, cucumber and herb butter sandwiches, and roast beef and tomato chutney sandwiches. The other savouries were a blini with smoked salmon, and a tart filled with goats cheese, olive, and cherry tomato.<br />
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Next we went onto scones. These came out very warm and soft! And in a very generous touch we got two scones each - one plain and one fruit. They were served with thick clotted cream and a nice, runny strawberry jam. My recommendation though, as tasty as the scones are, is to only have a maximum of one scone each as they are so filling!<br />
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Last of all was the sweets layer. Unfortunately by this time we were so full we couldn't make much headway into the sweets! This layer contained honey and mango pannacottas, strawberry macarons, mini almond friands, and passionfruit and raspberry tarts (my favourite!). We tried our best to eat them but eventually we ended up taking the rest home in a takeaway box.</div>
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Afterwards we decided we should try to walk off some of our fullness and we enjoyed the beautiful views out into the Megalong Valley. Ultimately though what we needed was a good old fashioned afternoon nap!<br />
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Next time you are looking to relax and get away from the hustle and bustle of city life, I definitely recommend a visit to the Blue Mountains and to indulge yourself at The Hydro Majestic!<br />
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<b>Hydro Majestic Afternoon High Tea</b><br />
Wintergarden Restaurant<br />
The Hydro Majestic Hotel<br />
Great Western Highway, Medlow Bath<br />
NSW 2780<br />
http://www.hydromajestic.com.au/<br />
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321287754447890575.post-27234914518715805012015-01-19T01:43:00.001-08:002015-04-20T21:16:55.057-07:00Vegan raspberry and coconut cheesecake<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">These days there is a growing appreciation and understanding of vegetarian and vegan diets. I'm sure that many of you have friends or family that follow these diets, whether full-time or perhaps on selected days, for religious, ethical, or environmental reasons. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, for the last course in my four-course menu assignment, I decided to make a vegan-friendly dessert. As an extra challenge, I decided to take on a dessert that relies heavily on non-vegan ingredients, namely, the cheesecake! My aim was to modify an existing cheesecake recipe so that it could satisfy special dietary requirements (in this case I managed to make the cheesecake both vegan and suitable for lactose intolerant individuals) without sacrificing on flavour!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">My first adjustment was to use tofu as a replacement for cream cheese – tofu is rather firm and creamy, like cream cheese, and from afar they even look similar! Tofu is also a good source of protein, and so adds another health benefit to those who are vegetarian. It is important to use the right texture of tofu though. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">For this recipe I used a high-protein tofu which was far too firm, and so the mixture ended up being a bit grainy (as you may be able to see in the picture), as well as a slightly yellow colour and a bit too strong in tofu flavour. I think a regular firm or a silken firm tofu would work far better.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The other big replacement I made was to use coconut cream instead of dairy cream. I found quite a few online tutorials showing me how coconut cream can miraculously be whipped just like regular cream! First, you need to use a coconut cream that does not contain any thickeners or stabilisers, as these prevent the cream part from separating from the liquid. Second, the cream needs to be cold, so put your can in the fridge overnight, or in the freezer for 10 minutes. This also helps the fat to separate from the liquid. Finally, you only want the cream part of the coconut cream, so scoop this off the top of the can and leave behind the liquid. This is the part that is nice and thick, and what will make your coconut cream whip up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Finally, I replaced the gelatine in the original recipe with cornflour. However, I'm not sure this step was necessary as the mixture had a bit of floury after-taste. So I think I need to experiment with this some more!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">I tested this recipe on Mr Duckie's family, who normally won’t go anywhere near tofu!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">So how did it go? Well, funnily enough, when I had a small taste test of the filling, I thought that it tasted awful! I even felt sick thinking about it! Unfortunately, I didn't have enough tofu to try again, so, with a heavy heart, I served up my cheesecake with lots of caveats and warnings.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">However, I shouldn't have worried, because everyone else seemed to love it! The cream part itself was very mild and most people did not pick that it contained tofu. My mother in law said that it was nice and light, not too sweet, and a good way to end a heavy meal. A visiting uncle (who inadvertently also turned into a test guinea pig) said “pretty good for a healthy dessert, although I still prefer regular cheesecake”. Even Mr Duckie, who normally wouldn’t poke tofu with a stick, decided that it was “not too bad” and went back for another serve. Now I thought that everyone was just being nice to me, but, the cake was finished by the end of the day! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgXnnYQ3klwsFIqaZz1xdDpVHOPMSSI1AlOJmNGVg850UBWRAabM8PMN5gWT1277310pJi5aeu4yOIONyoQZyZ3Eu06AHvkQmmfimXFhobYu3HIZK8H3ZP83Qm6WZ-K7tGEAT0WsPnAAk/s1600/dessertslice2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgXnnYQ3klwsFIqaZz1xdDpVHOPMSSI1AlOJmNGVg850UBWRAabM8PMN5gWT1277310pJi5aeu4yOIONyoQZyZ3Eu06AHvkQmmfimXFhobYu3HIZK8H3ZP83Qm6WZ-K7tGEAT0WsPnAAk/s1600/dessertslice2.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Apparently, I managed turned a family of tofu-haters into tofu-lovers, so I think it is definitely worth giving this recipe a shot, regardless of whether you are a vegan or carnivore! It was also a very fun process to modify a recipe to suit different dietary needs, so I definitely encourage some kitchen experimenting with different ingredients to suit your needs!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">On a final note, I once again may disappear from this blog for a few weeks as I prepare to go on my first clinical placement in the Blue Mountains! I'm both excited and a bit nervous, but looking forward to learning a lot and developing my skills as a dietitian!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<h3>
<b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Vegan raspberry and coconut cheesecake</b></h3>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br />
Serves 8<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">250g plain sweet biscuits</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">125g canola spread</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">3 tsp cornflour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">1/4 cup hot water</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">500g firm tofu</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">100g caster sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">300ml coconut cream, chilled, creamy part only (see note)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">1-2 tsp rosewater (depending on how strong you prefer the flavour)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">200g frozen raspberries</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">30g caster sugar, extra</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Coconut flakes, to decorate</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Method<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Grease
and line a 20cm-round springform pan. Process biscuits until mixture resembles
fine breadcrumbs. Add canola spread and process to combine. Press mixture over
base and side of prepared pan. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Combine
cornflour and boiling water and stir to combine. Using an electric mixer, beat
coconut cream until it becomes thick. In another bowl, beat tofu and sugar
until smooth. Fold in coconut cream, cornflour mixture, and rosewater. Pour into prepared
pan. Cover, refrigerate overnight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Combine
raspberries and extra caster sugar in a small saucepan. Heat over low heat to
form a sauce. Set aside to cool.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Remove
cheesecake from pan and transfer to a plate. Cover with raspberry sauce and
coconut flakes to decorate. Serve.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Note: for coconut cream, start with chilled coconut cream - either put the tin in the fridge the night before, or in the freezer for 10 minutes (be careful not to keep in the freezer for too long). Remove tin from fridge/freezer and open tin. Scoop out the top, thick creamy part only, leaving the liquid behind in the tin.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Original cheesecake recipe (for comparison against modified recipe)</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Recipe taken from <a href="http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/28023/blueberry+cheesecake">taste.com.au</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">250g plain sweet biscuits<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">125g butter, melted</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">3 tsp gelatine powder </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">¼ cup boiling water<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">500g cream cheese</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">1/2 cup caster sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">300ml thickened cream, whipped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">1 tsp vanilla bean paste</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">300g fresh or frozen blueberries</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Icing sugar mixture, to serve</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><b>Method</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Grease a 6cm-deep, 20cm-round (base) springform pan. Process biscuits until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add butter. Process until just combined. Press mixture over base and side of prepared pan. Refrigerate for 20 minutes or until firm.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Sprinkle gelatine over boiling water in a heatproof jug. Whisk with a fork until gelatine is dissolved. Set aside to cool for 15 minutes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Gradually beat in gelatine mixture until combined. Fold in whipped cream, then 1 cup blueberries. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Smooth top with a spatula. Sprinkle remaining blueberries over cheesecake. Cover, refrigerate overnight.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Remove cheesecake from pan and transfer to a plate. Dust with icing sugar. Serve.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span>
</div>
</div>
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321287754447890575.post-40866641125993353862015-01-15T16:35:00.002-08:002015-04-20T21:17:09.256-07:00Botswanan beef and lemon casserole<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7uC3C9Opj5KSExBv06A21So3FLAvG-oodFe7qBODIiVbCA63OqSMIaunP3YFybfIciUWUxvSnK6JjbGciOb957FWCOg_yJofjUyIR78awQk5zPgzPHrsd_x3UDEEvSbjIz6RYfOxz_EU/s1600/main_beef2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7uC3C9Opj5KSExBv06A21So3FLAvG-oodFe7qBODIiVbCA63OqSMIaunP3YFybfIciUWUxvSnK6JjbGciOb957FWCOg_yJofjUyIR78awQk5zPgzPHrsd_x3UDEEvSbjIz6RYfOxz_EU/s1600/main_beef2.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Hi everyone! I’m back again after an extended Christmas/summer
break! It certainly has been nice to have some time off and just relax! Now I
thought I would pick up where I left off, with the next course of my special
four-course meal.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">For my third (main) course in my four-course meal assignment, I decided to do a meal from an unfamiliar culture. This one was tricky, because the requirement from our lecturer was that if we had regularly eaten the food before, it doesn't count as unfamiliar, even if that food is from a different cultural background to our own. As someone who loves food and who has certainly tried a lot of food, I realised I would need some inspiration!<br /><br />Luckily, I am an an avid reader, and it is through books that I travel to new and exotic locations, and learn about different places, and different foods, around the world (and of course I also love reading food blogs from around the world!). One of my earliest literary-inspired food memories was from The Chronicles of Narnia, in which the White Witch tempts Edmund to betray his siblings with Turkish Delight (of course, this then magically made me love Turkish Delight).</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsiZKN8mo0e3P8o5hE86vJVdC-g0392scP6mhMsYBd7bqzo767CPu1winYlLYAPCzFFweHN4_Jf5uCWyWohLjKpBPgi4f5mnBHgPB94tn7MK9njUGewd3FCNlwNE1rwgw36ROUnjzqsEo/s1600/main.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsiZKN8mo0e3P8o5hE86vJVdC-g0392scP6mhMsYBd7bqzo767CPu1winYlLYAPCzFFweHN4_Jf5uCWyWohLjKpBPgi4f5mnBHgPB94tn7MK9njUGewd3FCNlwNE1rwgw36ROUnjzqsEo/s1600/main.JPG" height="254" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">More recently, I have been enjoying The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, by Alexander McCall Smith. These books are set in Botswana and tell the story of Mma Ramotswe, who starts the country’s first ever female-owned detective agency. I have actually always been rather intrigued by Botswana since learning about the Okavango Delta in high school. These beautiful stories, with their strong, wise, and funny characters, and the depiction of a delightful, genteel culture, inspired my imagination further. Food of course features prominently in the stories, particularly as Mma Ramotswe gathers her family around the dinner table. So I wanted to cook a meal that would be right at home at Mma Ramotswe’s house.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">One prized ingredient in Botswana (as I learned from the book series) is beef, with the size of a family’s cattle herd reflecting a family’s wealth. After a thorough search online, I found a Botswanan beef and lemon casserole, which in its simplicity and homeliness I thought would be right at home in Mma Ramotswe's kitchen. I served the beef with a spicy Botswanan cabbage and Mealie Pap, which is essentially like polenta.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
<br />I received some mixed reviews about the various parts of the meal. We all enjoyed the beef, which was very tender, with a tasty, tangy sauce. Our uncle said “the beef is nice and soft, melts in the mouth, and is a good casserole for a cold day.” However, the cabbage rather divided the crowd. Our 14 year old cousin gave rated it 4 out of 10, explaining that she thought it was too spicy! Luckily, the mealie pap was fairly well liked, with the family deciding that the pap soaked up the beef sauce nicely.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I hope that this dish brought a little bit of Botswana to Australia, and I am looking forward to trying out some more new exotic recipes!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<h3>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Beef and lemon casserole</span></b></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><i>Recipe adapted from <a href="http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/miscellaneous/fetch-recipe.php?rid=misc-beef-lemon-casserole">Celtnet</a></i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Serves 6</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">1.4
kg gravy beef, cut into strips<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">2 x
130g unwaxed lemons, thinly sliced (remove any pips)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">2
small onions (180g), sliced into thin rings<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">200ml
water<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">2
tbps (40ml) olive oil<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">1
tbsp (10g) plain flour<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Salt
and pepper, to taste<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Method<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Preheat oven to 160°C. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan. Fry beef until brown on both sides. Layer beef into a casserole dish, separating each layer of beef with a layer of onions and lemon slices. Finish with a layer of lemon slices on top. Pour in water and season with salt and pepper. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 90 minutes. Remove foil, then mix plain flour with 2 tbsp water to a smooth slurry. Stir this into casserole. Return to oven and cook for a further 15 minutes. Serve with mealie pap and cabbage.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Botswanan cabbage</span></b></h3>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><i>Recipe adapted from <a href="http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/miscellaneous/fetch-recipe.php?rid=misc-botswanan-cabbage">Celtnet</a></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">1
tomato, finely chopped<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">1
onion, sliced<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">1 tsp
ground ginger<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">1
tbsp dried oregano<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">1 tsp
dried chilli<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">½
small white cabbage, shredded<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">2
tbsp olive oil<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br />
<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Method</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Heat oil in pan over medium heat. Fry onion and tomato for five minutes, then add herbs and spices. Stir well until a thick paste forms. Add cabbage and sauté for 2 min to combine. Then cover and cook for 5-10 min or until cabbage is soft.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<h3>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Mealie pap</span></b></h3>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Recipe adapted from <a href="http://globaltableadventure.com/2010/07/11/recipe-cornmeal-pap/">Global Table Adventure</a></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">170g
polenta<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">1 L
water<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">1
vegetable stock cube<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Method</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Heat water in a medium pop and bring to boil. Add stock cube and
stir to dissolve. Stream in polenta slowly. Whisk to keep mixture from lumping.
Simmer mixture gently, stirring constantly, until cooked to desired
consistency, about 5-10 min.</span></div>
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321287754447890575.post-32015998890046217912014-12-08T02:08:00.003-08:002015-02-28T20:34:19.739-08:00Tea-smoked salmon<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">For my second (entree) course in my four-course meal, I decided to take on an unfamiliar cooking technique. I thought this would be quite a challenge as I could not for the life of me think of a technique I hadn't tried before, and that was interesting enough to write an assignment about (I've never deep fried food before but I wanted something more exotic for some bonus marks)!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Luckily a Google search of "unusual cooking techniques" came up with some absolute winners, from recipes with an intriguing back story (Beggar's Chicken - in which the chicken is covered in mud and then baked) to new ways of using household appliances (salmon in a dishwasher, anyone? how about an ironed cheesed sandwich?). I was surprised at how many techniques there actually were to try!<br /><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The technique that I eventually decided on was tea-smoking - it had a nice balance of being unusual enough but still within the realms of my abilities (and it gave me an opportunity to try out a new cooking method for my beloved tea!). This method originates from Sichuan province in China, and uses tea leaves to create smoke. Normally duck is used, but I chose to do salmon because I love smoked salmon, and I also thought it might be a bit easier!<br /><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">What got me about this method was that I had always thought of smoking as being some sort of very caveman-like, primeval experience, requiring a big smoking shed
and a wood fire, and filling the air with great big billowing clouds of smoke. But with tea-smoking you don't need to bother with all of that fuss, as the smoking can be done completely inside, in a regular kitchen, with just a wok or a pot!<br /><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Luckily, the end result was perfectly cooked salmon with a lightly smoky flavour, and most surprisingly the tea leaves did impart their unique fragrant aroma to the dish. I used green tea to keep with the Chinese theme, but I think it would be a nice to experiment with different types of tea leaves to see how it changes the flavour.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />My family taste testers enjoyed this dish overall, commenting that the salmon had an unusual but nice taste, and that the tea taste was in fact quite noticeable. The only quibble was from Mr Duckie, who said that it was missing some flavour - of course in my hurry I had forgotten to put some salt on!</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I was rather nervous about making this dish, as I had images of myself smoking out the whole house and setting off the fire alarm. In fact, this turned out to be a very easy dish to make . Basically you just put some tea leaves in the bottom of a steamer, heat up for a while to create some smoke, then pop the salmon pieces on top! I should warn you though that this will create some strong smelling smoke - in fact Mr Duckie kept asking me whether I had burnt something - I reassured him multiple times that it was supposed to smell smoky, although I’m not sure that either he or I was convinced!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Overall, I think this dish definitely gives you bang for your buck. There are plenty of healthy omega-3 fats from the salmon and no other fats or oils need to be added. Adding a simple side salad can easily turn this into a complete meal. The process is quite quick and straightforward (although do make sure to open your windows!). And you can easily impress your family and friends by pretending you had to use some fancy smoking equipment to create the unique flavour!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now onto trying some more unusual cooking techniques!</span></div>
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Tea-smoked salmon</h3>
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Serves 6<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Ingredients</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
600g salmon fillets, skin on<br />
8 tbsp jasmine rice<br />
8 tbsp soft brown sugar<br />
4 tbsp green tea leaves<br />
3 carrots<br />
4 radishes<br />
1 tbsp cider vinegar<br />
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Cut salmon fillets into six pieces, or so they will fit into
a steamer basket. Place salmon, skin down, into steamer basket (the skin protects the fish from sticking to the steamer).<o:p></o:p><br />
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Line a pot with 4 layers of foil. In a small bowl, mix rice,
sugar and tea leaves. Place in the bottom of the pot and spread it out so it
covers the base evenly. Cover with a lid, place over a low heat, and leave to
smoke for 5 minutes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Remove lid and place steamer basket over the pot. Replace
lid and smoke for 10 minutes (or until cooked to your liking). Once cooked, remove salmon from basket. The salmon flesh should lift away easily from the skin.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Meanwhile, combine carrots, radishes and vinegar.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Serve salmon with carrot and radish salad.<o:p></o:p></div>
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321287754447890575.post-59539376815029629892014-12-01T02:01:00.000-08:002015-02-28T20:44:58.044-08:00Chicken meatball satays - for the whole family!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWEgGmlXUozhhZAgl1uYP0pJAQkNLAMAZHNqK8L46cK92UVQzKW5Agv6ajLK-z1MrHFYZJhj-fuDha7srJY9fIAOQXJrJU3OYxy5Lkv3iX7tVG292eeUdd6J_AuAlpExOBOb8pDo66IrE/s1600/appetiser.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWEgGmlXUozhhZAgl1uYP0pJAQkNLAMAZHNqK8L46cK92UVQzKW5Agv6ajLK-z1MrHFYZJhj-fuDha7srJY9fIAOQXJrJU3OYxy5Lkv3iX7tVG292eeUdd6J_AuAlpExOBOb8pDo66IrE/s1600/appetiser.JPG" height="206" width="320" /></a></div>
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Food plays an important role for so many in bringing people together - we celebrate special occasions with big dinners, or catch up with loved ones over tea and cake. So what happens when you can't just eat and enjoy freely, when your diet has to meet strict guidelines, or when different people have different dietary needs?<br />
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This was the topic of one of my assignments this semester. Actually this was the most fun assignment I've ever done - not only did it involve cooking new recipes, but I could appreciate just how important it would be to understand and respect individual requirements, cultures, and beliefs in providing useful and appropriate nutrition advice.<br />
<br />
The assignment involved making a four course meal, with each course following a particular theme to challenge our cooking and menu planning abilities: (1) therapeutic modification (e.g. to meet requirements of people in hospital); (2) unfamiliar cooking technique; (3) unfamiliar culture; and (4) social modification (e.g. religious, ethical, economic).<br />
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For my first course (appetiser), I chose to take on a therapeutic modification, which would involve changing a recipe to meet certain therapeutic guidelines. What I wanted to do was to make a meal that everyone could enjoy - for those of you who have to cater to different needs, I'm sure you're familiar with having to cook multiple meals so that no one gets left out. Having one meal that everyone could happily share would be the perfect antidote to all this fuss!<br />
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This was my favourite challenge, as in Mr Duckie's family there are a couple of people with special needs. At the time, Mr Duckie's grandpa had recently returned home from hospital, and had been put on a texture-modified diet due to swallowing difficulties (swallowing is actually quite a complex process requiring multiple muscles and nerves!). This requires that he eats only soft-textured foods that can be easily chewed, so as to reduce choking risk.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In addition, as I mentioned in a previous post, my sister-in-law Anita is fatally allergic to nuts. S<span style="line-height: 115%;">he is so sensitive that she can even smell when someone has eaten peanut
butter in her vicinity! So, my task was to make a tasty, nutritious meal that
the whole family could enjoy.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">I decided to take on what would normally be a
no-go recipe, grilled satay skewers with peanut sauce. I chose a meat-based dish
as people with swallowing difficulties often have difficulty eating enough
protein as it tends to be more tough.</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">To modify the meat, I used chicken mince and added tofu for extra softness.
I shaped the mixture into meatballs to
increase the visual appeal, as usually soft food tends to pretty much big lumps of pureed mush (we had the opportunity to try some of these foods in class, actually I found the pureed meal quite tasty!). I also poached
the meatballs instead of baking or frying them, to make sure that there would
be no hard surfaces</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj13MsEAox3v3yY6w1S51EumBZ7Ri0BxphZTCe61_d8rikyv_zyLbBegAhKQvxJ5FYfxQGcVOCEtmIA876YrxPMWiuOJpC4hbMavFVhUfS8yakTreglH_KyRkm_KFKJQOYupwn6XuZBza0/s1600/texturedmodified.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj13MsEAox3v3yY6w1S51EumBZ7Ri0BxphZTCe61_d8rikyv_zyLbBegAhKQvxJ5FYfxQGcVOCEtmIA876YrxPMWiuOJpC4hbMavFVhUfS8yakTreglH_KyRkm_KFKJQOYupwn6XuZBza0/s1600/texturedmodified.JPG" height="256" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An example of a pureed hospital meal and some thickened fluids for people with swallowing difficulties, actually all yummier than they look!</td></tr>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">To modify the peanut sauce, I used tahini (sesame seed paste) instead of peanut butter, as I found that this had a similar consistency and also gave a pleasant nutty taste. The addition of the sauce to the meatballs was also aimed at keeping the meat moist, making it easier to swallow, and adding some extra calories in to ensure Grandpa's energy needs were met (with swallowing difficulties it can be hard to get enough in because the process of eating is so much more troublesome).</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmdRqvL93Df544g4jJnSUVETgDtzi3TNPSCqzWt5w1daP-qvDqhyphenhyphen93Ky07byxzg7JzkXw-z5KzM6HMPVj8ucLrtxrN-cjNqz3gRiiPv4EdnpUIWgxkubApCVPv6krE0ULu9akWo9H6uew/s1600/peanusaucenew.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmdRqvL93Df544g4jJnSUVETgDtzi3TNPSCqzWt5w1daP-qvDqhyphenhyphen93Ky07byxzg7JzkXw-z5KzM6HMPVj8ucLrtxrN-cjNqz3gRiiPv4EdnpUIWgxkubApCVPv6krE0ULu9akWo9H6uew/s1600/peanusaucenew.JPG" height="215" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not so peanut sauce!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">So,
how did these family-friendly chicken satays go? Luckily, everyone was very
impressed by the sauce. My father-in-law said “If you had said it had peanuts
in it, I would have believed you”. The funniest comment came from Anita who exclaimed “so that’s what peanut tastes like!” The meatballs
themselves were nice and soft, and were easily mashed up with a fork.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 115%;">My main
guest-of-honour, Grandpa, decided that the meatballs were “very nice”, which
given his speaking difficulties, I took as high praise! Most importantly, he
had no difficulties in eating his meal.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">Overall, this was an easy to prepare
dish that happily brought the whole family together, showing that having
special dietary needs does not mean anyone has to be left out! I was really glad to have been able to make a meal that everyone could safely eat but also enjoy. Stay tuned for the next post on my second course - a new cooking technique!</span><br />
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Chicken meatball satays</span></h3>
<h3>
Serves 8</h3>
<i><br /></i>
<b>Ingredients</b><br />
<br />
<i>Chicken meatballs</i><br />
<br />
300g silken firm tofu<br />
600g chicken mince<br />
2 cloves garlic, finely grated<br />
10g fresh ginger, finely grated<br />
1.5 tbsp soy sauce<br />
1 tbsp honey<br />
2 eggs, beaten<br />
60g wholemeal breadcrumbs<br />
<br />
<i>Satay sauce</i><br />
<br />
1 cup tahini<br />
300ml coconut cream<br />
3 tbsp kecap manis<br />
2 tbsp brown sugar<br />
2 tbsp lemon juice<br />
<br />
For the meatballs: Wrap the tofu with paper towel and let it drain for 15 minutes. In a large bowl, combine chicken mince, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, honey, and eggs. Break drained tofu into small pieces and mix into mince mixture. Add breadcrumbs and stir well to combine.<br />
<br />
Shape 1 tablespoon full of mixture into meatballs.<br />
<br />
Fill a large pot with water and bring to the boil. Drop meatballs carefully into water and poach gently for about 10 minutes or until cooked through.<br />
<br />
Thread cooked meatballs onto skewers and serve with satay sauce.<br />
<br />
For satay sauce: combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 3 to 5 minutes or until combined and heated through.<br />
<h4>
</h4>
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321287754447890575.post-78609602841761373552014-11-11T16:56:00.000-08:002015-04-20T21:17:27.613-07:00Pink zebra cake and life lessons<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjspuyhiFhdEwPurDKSgGF6wHo8ZBMheSyEi2qofApRQUI-yXXeaiMjMDb0Y0B9ORcIfVosFLqAp6kUbD8GXTo2VGgDYN4F2sWBwXUmnSpQb0o7CRHhl8NBjCAE7L4xa-YOlUL4R0gHDg/s1600/IMG_3313.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjspuyhiFhdEwPurDKSgGF6wHo8ZBMheSyEi2qofApRQUI-yXXeaiMjMDb0Y0B9ORcIfVosFLqAp6kUbD8GXTo2VGgDYN4F2sWBwXUmnSpQb0o7CRHhl8NBjCAE7L4xa-YOlUL4R0gHDg/s1600/IMG_3313.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
It's come to that time of the year again - exam time! And how time has flown by. It has been about three months since I last posted, but not because I haven't had anything to post about.<br />
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Somehow in August and September all the bad things seemed to happen at once, one after the other, in quick succession, with a fresh problem occurring just when one resolved. I'm sure that most regular people would be able to re-gather themselves quickly and move on. Unfortunately as I've come to realise over the years, I am rather more sensitive than the usual person, so whatever the situation is, good or bad, I seem to feel it more and take more time to recover back to a state of normalcy.<br />
<br />
Now I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that there is not really such a thing as "normal" life, one where everything runs smoothly, everything's in order, and life events can be planned out carefully. But that is ok with me! In spite of the extremes, I don't think I would want life any other way. Accepting that normal can mean erratic bursts of chaos has helped me to be more happy with situations and people (including myself) even though there may be limitations and imperfections. And it pushes me to take more action in putting the balance, fun, and peace back into my life, rather than just waiting for things to change.<br />
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Now onto some more light-hearted talk after all that reflection! As I mentioned, I have had a number of occasions in these past months which provided some good
baking opportunities. One such occasion was my mother-in-law's birthday last month, and birthdays naturally means there must be birthday cake! However, with summer looming and concerns about losing that sneaky winter weight, I wanted to make a simple and light cake that would look impressive but that wouldn't take too much fuss. Luckily,
as I was idly flipping through food magazines, I came across a recipe for chocolate zebra biscuits
which triggered a distant memory of a zebra cake recipe I had read about ages
ago. With some research and a few tweaks, I had the makings of a perfectly pretty
birthday cake.</div>
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First, I decided to replace
the chocolate with a pink batter, as I thought this would love more feminine and festive. Then,
as a healthier (and easier) alternative to a full buttercream icing, I decided
to top the cake with some dollops of light cream cheese and strawberries.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I was quite pleased with how easy it was to make. Basically
you just have to put alternating spoonfuls of batter on top of each other. Normally when a recipe is described as being simple, I somehow find a way to get
confused, and I really did not believe that such a simple method could create
such perfect layers (at least not in my hands). </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo2VqjYqDvtp1b4mtEp9_bqNuhMjpJiW1T_ULQHJoP2WDJbIqXztvPGkWC3VyW0b7XFs5FQnUPcg7pwMTd-aakhAu-8EMJ-EjQGcQpQFnnvINJkjHzdo1xF80LEuGB3lQCH1WXbKZRSz0/s1600/IMG_3304.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo2VqjYqDvtp1b4mtEp9_bqNuhMjpJiW1T_ULQHJoP2WDJbIqXztvPGkWC3VyW0b7XFs5FQnUPcg7pwMTd-aakhAu-8EMJ-EjQGcQpQFnnvINJkjHzdo1xF80LEuGB3lQCH1WXbKZRSz0/s1600/IMG_3304.JPG" height="238" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My first tentative spoonfuls</td></tr>
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But, to my joy and relief, I did achieve an orderly pink and white striped cake! The only problem I had was that my circles started to drift to one side as I poured the batter on!</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiltDWGJ0KVyDlksE7C-flEWvPkfpcXKdfqlY6ps333X-JS2Kt3ieBuQf-fbzGEhb72MSRr85mHopAUhIoapQKmD7-DkNLrhYaxTpTgYuVssUvXisLqWz6ovr_MFXyNzETt2sZek8yTFLQ/s1600/IMG_3305.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiltDWGJ0KVyDlksE7C-flEWvPkfpcXKdfqlY6ps333X-JS2Kt3ieBuQf-fbzGEhb72MSRr85mHopAUhIoapQKmD7-DkNLrhYaxTpTgYuVssUvXisLqWz6ovr_MFXyNzETt2sZek8yTFLQ/s1600/IMG_3305.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My swirls drifting towards the left...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">So what I did was to slowly drift my circles back in the other direction as I poured them on, which seemed to do the trick (although it did mean my cake no longer had a bullseye look, but more of a random swirls look).</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEve9AJ7NEvOUdipZC6NJwWee08cIKQMTRXtI0L80BzkC6IVtYRv0ufjWn90RV02cWCl9DiHoDt_etvzSjGSqKrTu4nPy-8sl-ItXyUz5EmhLJ7GsFqMCJQv-irwU5RrQ2Wv3PvTcQawI/s1600/IMG_3306.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEve9AJ7NEvOUdipZC6NJwWee08cIKQMTRXtI0L80BzkC6IVtYRv0ufjWn90RV02cWCl9DiHoDt_etvzSjGSqKrTu4nPy-8sl-ItXyUz5EmhLJ7GsFqMCJQv-irwU5RrQ2Wv3PvTcQawI/s1600/IMG_3306.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Slightly off centre swirls...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div>
Although the cake was simple, it was enjoyed by the whole family, particularly my mother-in-law! Whilst it tasted like a simple butter cake, the swirls of pink seemed to give it a special lift (I'm sure pink is a flavour!). I was also surprised at how nicely the little dollops of cream cheese went with the cake, adding a rich creaminess to the cake. And the batter uses oil instead of butter, again reducing the saturated fat and also making the batter super simple to prepare and work with.</div>
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So overall, it really has actually been a good few months - these "life lesson" times always seem to turn out that way, even though it feels like it's all too much at the time. Now I'm looking forward to finishing exams (only one more to go - yay!) and hopefully to sharing more of what I have been up to soon!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbPeWaF4qwj5vzGEjp9q9FP7dnxQ_Db22Vmz2mcbOsGbWdNWdMX95FUzUG4bati0PJHhqKnCV4zFj0am8jPu3XeO4969NIy2_08yIphMHSdzpBfPNqnoVw5PTjKDbu1Z3wvltl62qI17I/s1600/IMG_3334.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbPeWaF4qwj5vzGEjp9q9FP7dnxQ_Db22Vmz2mcbOsGbWdNWdMX95FUzUG4bati0PJHhqKnCV4zFj0am8jPu3XeO4969NIy2_08yIphMHSdzpBfPNqnoVw5PTjKDbu1Z3wvltl62qI17I/s1600/IMG_3334.JPG" height="283" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy Birthday!</td></tr>
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<h3>
Pink Zebra Cake</h3>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Adapted from Lorraine Pascale's Crounhing Tiger, Hidden Zebra cake, recipe from <a href="http://www.mybaba.com/lorraine-pascales-crouching-tiger-hidden-zebra-cake/">My Baba</a></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Serves 8-10</span><br />
<strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></strong>
<strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Ingredients</span></strong><br />
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">250ml canola (or other flavourless) oil, plus extra for greasing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">250g caster sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">100ml reduced fat milk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">4 medium eggs (at room temperature)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A few drops of vanilla extract</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A few drops of pink food colouring</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">325g self-raising flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">1 tsp baking powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">220g extra light Philadelphia spreadable cream cheese</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Icing sugar, to taste</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Strawberries to decorate</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Method:</span></strong></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease the bottom of a 23 cm sandwich tin with a little oil and line with baking paper. Set aside on a large baking sheet.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Put the oil, sugar, milk, eggs and vanilla extract in a large bowl and whisk together to combine.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Pour out 400ml of this mixture into a medium bowl.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Sift 175g of the self-raising flour into one bowl along with 1/2 teaspoon of the baking powder. Mix well and set aside. This is your vanilla mix.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Sift the remaining 150g of self-raising flour and 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder into another bowl. Add pink food colouring to achieve your desired pinkness and mix everything together well and set aside. This is your pink mix.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Put a tablespoon of the vanilla mix in the middle of the cake tin. Then, using a clean tablespoon, put a blob of the pink mix in the middle of the vanilla one. Keep doing this, alternating between vanilla and pink, so you form a type of ‘bull’s eye’ or ‘target board’ look. Each time you dollop a blob in, the whole mix will spread out across the base (you may need to adjust where you put your blobs so that you get an even distribution of cake mix along the bottom). By the time you have used up both of the cake mixes, they should have just reached the edge of the tin (the pictures I looked at ended up with even concentric circles, looking like a bullseye, but don't worry if yours is not so geometrically accurate).</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Remove from the oven and cool in the tin for 10 mins. Then remove cake from tin and cool completely on a wire rack. Decorate with strawberries and cream cheese then serve.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Check the cake is cooked by inserting a skewer into the centre. It should come out clean. If not, then return to the oven for another 5 minutes or so until cooked. Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes in the tin. Then carefully remove from the tins and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Meanwhile, mix icing sugar into cream cheese to taste. Decorate cake with cream cheese and strawberries, then serve.</span></div>
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321287754447890575.post-64965654263105896592014-07-26T06:44:00.000-07:002014-07-26T06:44:02.565-07:00Carrot, orange, and apple muffins<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhB-uC-w-TZb7ypNdBOHtBy4LbLAD37VQzGsD4d6E_WSUYYRjwpkia_dgIXRdh5cftEfsOOFReArl1E5EyQWPlw6udY9kxSRmPGHbpBgWeb-TJF8WBVqXnUB09tHKewW0VnY_t-VQx18U/s1600/DSC03108.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhB-uC-w-TZb7ypNdBOHtBy4LbLAD37VQzGsD4d6E_WSUYYRjwpkia_dgIXRdh5cftEfsOOFReArl1E5EyQWPlw6udY9kxSRmPGHbpBgWeb-TJF8WBVqXnUB09tHKewW0VnY_t-VQx18U/s1600/DSC03108.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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It has been a slightly topsy turvy couple of weeks! Poor Mr Duckie has been working strange hours - New York hours to be precise. New York is 14 hours behind Sydney, which has meant that Mr Duckie had to leave for work in the late afternoon/evening, come home in the early morning, sleep for a bit, wake up to do some more work, have another nap, then head off to work again!<br />
<br />
This necessitated more flexible meal and snack plans, in particular, I wanted to give Mr Duckie something healthy and filling to take to work with him whilst he was up at work between "dinner" (now served at afternoon tea time) and "breakfast" (taking place at around morning tea/lunch).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUc7go5TTy9zMjTTREcot4DMtzSX1OqCL73K_oAHuaT_lXK0dRg1equ9j5IX-LJcR_cRZvxob75_zqQri_9IrKHmAgRa_ut0ROuifNLhrscuJX7YHIsZaYE27N10U6xKxiQGXCh4nwQYI/s1600/DSC03106.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUc7go5TTy9zMjTTREcot4DMtzSX1OqCL73K_oAHuaT_lXK0dRg1equ9j5IX-LJcR_cRZvxob75_zqQri_9IrKHmAgRa_ut0ROuifNLhrscuJX7YHIsZaYE27N10U6xKxiQGXCh4nwQYI/s1600/DSC03106.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes there are two muffins missing at the back - we were too eager to try them!</td></tr>
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Luckily, I'd bought some oranges (and neither of us like eating oranges on their own that much), so combined with some other fruits, carrot, chia seeds, and wholemeal flour, I was able to whip up some yummy and goody filled muffins!<br />
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To bind the mixture together, I used mashed banana and chia seeds. Grated carrot and apple add some extra moisutre and sweetness (and some extra nutrients!). I also had to add a bit of milk as I felt the mixture was a bit stiff, but of course you could replace this with any non-dairy milk substitute of your choice.<br />
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One of the best things about this recipe is that your kitchen will smell great, thanks to all the orange! In fact, when Mr
Duckie got home, he immediately said "Have you been cooking? What's in
the oven? Something smells lemony!" (haha I suppose lemons and oranges do smell rather similar once cooked!). And then of course he got very excited and hopeful, as he has a nose for baked goods and is always optimistic
for sweet treats!<br />
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In terms of the taste and texture, the muffins were actually very light and soft. The orange added a real citrus tang to the muffin, and the mixture of the other fruits and carrot helped to add some natural sweetness.<br />
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These muffins can be frozen and stored for later when work or school snacks are needed. I think the addition of your choice of dried fruits or nuts would also add an extra taste dimension!<br />
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Anyway, luckily the New York hours are over and the both of us are now back on Sydney time! Hooray! Time to sleep it all off and return to normal! :)<br />
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<h3>
Carrot, orange, and apple muffins</h3>
<i>Adapted from </i><a href="http://recipes.coles.com.au/recipes/3463/wholemeal-carrot-orange-muffins/"><i>Coles Recipes & Cooking</i></a><br />
<br />
Makes 12<br />
<br />
<b>Ingredients</b><br />
<br />
1 1/2 cups wholemeal plain flour<br />
1/2 cup cornflour<br />
4 tsp baking powder<br />
1 tsp cinnamon<br />
Pinch of salt<br />
1 large carrot, grated<br />
1 granny smith apple, grated<br />
1 medium banana, mashed<br />
1 orange<br />
1 tbsp chia seeds<br />
1/2 cup canola oil<br />
1/4 cup milk or milk alternative (e.g. soy milk)<br />
<br />
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees (180 fan forced). Line 12 1/3 cup capacity muffin pan with paper cases<br />
2. Mix chia seeds with 1/3 cup water in a small bowl. Set aside for 10 minutes until chia seeds swell up and form a thick gel.<br />
3. In a large bowl, sift in wholemeal flour, cornflour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Zest orange rind over the top<br />
4. Remove pith from orange and cut into small pieces. Place orange and any juice that came from cutting up the orange into a small bowl. Add carrot, apple, banana, oil, milk and chia seeds. Stir to combine.<br />
5. Pour wet ingredients into flour mixture and stir gently until just combined.<br />
6. Spoon mixture evenly among prepared muffin pan cases and bake in oven for 20 minutes or until cooked through. Cool in tin for 10 minutes, then remove from tin and enjoy!Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321287754447890575.post-7271778007110733492014-07-22T05:40:00.003-07:002014-07-22T05:42:59.534-07:00Birthday dinner at Quay!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This year for my birthday Mr Duckie planned an amazing surprise dinner!<br />
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Normally Mr Duckie is not very good at keeping secrets, especially exciting secrets! Normally, every year for my birthday we go to a restaurant at the Overseas Passenger Terminal called Wildfire - it was one of our traditions! However, sadly they closed this year :(<br />
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So, poor Mr Duckie had to find an alternative! Leading up to my birthday, I really wasn't expecting too much - Mr Duckie had been very busy at work and I didn't want to make too much fuss. Mr Duckie had also cleverly been priming me - for weeks, he kept lamenting how he was so disorganised and had no plans. He also kept asking me to run through all the best restaurants in Sydney and saying that we should try some of these restaurants!<br />
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On the night of my birthday, Mr Duckie suggested a nice walk around Circular Quay and to go to the OPT to see what happened to Wildfire. As we approached where Wildfire used to be, Mr Duckie kept walking. And as we got to the end of the terminal, Mr Duckie started getting quite excited and a sneaky smile appeared on his face.<br />
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When we got to the end of the terminal, we saw the signs for Quay. Mr Duckie led me towards the elevator going up to the restaurant, and said "Let's have a look up here, they won't mind!". At which point I figured out that this had been his plan all along! I was so surprised and amazed! Most of all, I was so impressed at how far in advance Mr Duckie had planned (it takes months to get a Saturday night dinner booking at Quay!) and at how well he had been able to keep it a secret! Also extra brownie points to Mr Duckie as I inadvertently threw a spanner in the works - I only told him at the last minute I had a hen's night to attend that very same night, and he managed to change the booking to accomodate a later start!<br />
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The dinner was an amazing experience from the very beginning! When we arrived, we were led to the bar area whilst we waited for our table to be ready. We were met with the stunning view of Sydney Harbour, looking out onto the Opera House and the night-time ferries travelling back and forth in the water.<br />
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We started off with a delicious mocktail, which was a mixture of ginger, lime, and apple. It was a genius flavour combination and I was so impressed!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ginger, apple, and lime mocktail</td></tr>
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We were then led to our table, which looked right out onto the harbour!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beetroot and goats cheese</td></tr>
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We started with an appetiser of beetroot, rosehip, and goats cheese. I thought I had misheard the description, as at first I couldn't see how there was any beetroot. Then when we dug in, we saw the beetroot hidden underneath! The sweet, earthy beetroot was complemented perfectly by the salty and creamy cheese. Also the cheese looked like it would come as hard shreds, but was in fact soft and melted in the mouth! Also all the details were great - note the pearl handed spoon!<br />
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Then came the first course. I had the mud crab congee. It was the fanciest congee I had ever tasted! The egg yolk emulsion tasted like a steamed egg custard like my grandma used to make, only made much more fancy. It reminded me of traditional Cantonese food but with that special twist! Also I apologise for the captions - I didn't take notes on the night so I may not have complete description of the dish.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Congee of Norther Australian mud crab, fresh palm heart, egg yolk emulsion</td></tr>
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Mr Duckie had a dish of finely diced raw smoked wagyu. It was served on a lilypad shaped plate which so pretty!The meat was tender and soft, and had a light smoky flavour. The creamy topping was a perfect complement to the meat.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raw smoked Blackmore wagyu, dory roe, horseradish, soured cream, milk skin</td></tr>
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For the second course, I had the XO Sea five sea textures. Again, it reminded me of traditional Cantonese food but fancied up! The dish was a small bowl with lots of beautiful sweet seafood (I think there was octopus, prawns, clams, squid, and scalllop), topped with a salty and flavoursome XO sauce and some crsipy cured pork.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">XO Sea, five sea textures</td></tr>
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Mr Duckie's second course was the confit pig cheek. this dish was so delicious as there were multiple layers that complemented each other so well - the tender pork, a very soft layer of melty fat, the sweet and soft scallops, and the crunchy toppings. The best part of this was the crispy cracking, which offset the perfectly meltingly soft pig cheek (and who doesn't love crackling!).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Smoked and confit pig cheek, scallop, kombu, koji, shiitake, sesame</td></tr>
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For the main course, I had masterstock goose, with kombu and ice plant. The goose came on a very pretty blue plate. Decorating the plate was a crispy leaf, which was almost translucent yet still retained it's natural flavour. The goose itself was very soft and tender, and had a rich meaty flavour. Underneath the goose was a sorrel puree, which added a surprising citrus flavour. Also alongside the goose was some ice plant, which is a very interesting vegetable - it was crunchy and succulent, and covered in fine crystals that looked like ice crystals! Apart from the texture, it also added a delicate saltiness to the dish.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWBt67aCTkVou4mec8XCRrdv1Z-HUmsxAf1THWGrwxtfKqiJU_UszYdXBIMynw1cVUpVVHexcdnzpBMwjvZWZHWMEK1Q0YdjYUoKYNYDIf0dufQesvioKhdJg92EU2UEUyRI-aixiBD-w/s1600/IMG_2960.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWBt67aCTkVou4mec8XCRrdv1Z-HUmsxAf1THWGrwxtfKqiJU_UszYdXBIMynw1cVUpVVHexcdnzpBMwjvZWZHWMEK1Q0YdjYUoKYNYDIf0dufQesvioKhdJg92EU2UEUyRI-aixiBD-w/s1600/IMG_2960.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roasted masterstock goose with kombu and sorrel puree</td></tr>
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Mr Duckie had the Angus beef. The beef was so tender and perfectly cooked, with a delicious meaty flavour. The beef was topped with a mixture of crunchy grains of barley, which added both texture and a slightly smoky, nutty flavour. There was also a mixture of funghi on top which added extra earthiness that went very well with the beef.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4OxJnAay1WCmXIWfqUftohlM8Xix4Ch7P8VGlFCRtUk1fcvj0Wx3oUhBgwi8ULLuaVzAkpyeHwKBLwZdAutoC77ErhMDE3fDHQDZGo4QlT7RmwUTtbb9Z7p2Qk44DaVoeFu1Yo3CCB_8/s1600/IMG_2957.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4OxJnAay1WCmXIWfqUftohlM8Xix4Ch7P8VGlFCRtUk1fcvj0Wx3oUhBgwi8ULLuaVzAkpyeHwKBLwZdAutoC77ErhMDE3fDHQDZGo4QlT7RmwUTtbb9Z7p2Qk44DaVoeFu1Yo3CCB_8/s1600/IMG_2957.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grass fed pure Angus beef, black barley, smoked and raw funghi</td></tr>
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Now, onto the best course, dessert! Of course, we had to try the most famous snow egg, which really came to fame during Masterchef. Given how much everyone has raved about the snow egg, I was worried that it wouldn't live up to its' reputation. However, I had nothing to fear! In fact, the snow egg more than lived up to its' reputation, and Mr Duckie and I definitely are now a part of the snow egg fan club!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5AuklhPfAvywAX3esLgq_Oci9AjOEj7gHpgQSB5wJkcG6sWaKZ4mLNjZZBC6Aqc9tsAnmme45ok4S1VFRmJ_l_6CsPuYdpfyIhrvtfms0j0K6VsHVLFWGmPTCbfeJtItgzUthi_5FTKo/s1600/IMG_2967.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5AuklhPfAvywAX3esLgq_Oci9AjOEj7gHpgQSB5wJkcG6sWaKZ4mLNjZZBC6Aqc9tsAnmme45ok4S1VFRmJ_l_6CsPuYdpfyIhrvtfms0j0K6VsHVLFWGmPTCbfeJtItgzUthi_5FTKo/s1600/IMG_2967.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snow egg</td></tr>
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The snow egg dessert is a perfect sphere of the lightest, fluffiest, melt in the mouth meringue. In the centre of the ball is ice cream (I believe ours was guava flavoured). The meringue sits on top of a crunchy, icy granita, and on the bottom of the glass is a pool of strawberry cream. I was amazed at the technique involved - especially with filling the meringue with ice cream. Altogether, the dessert was a perfect mixture of soft, icy, and creamy textures and delicate, elegant flavours.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBJWXhAG_I5rrkZB2yVqP-6GD3sfsE4qWHhkNLGC22gUXh3cDPTC1ahjlZvXF5FY2GlpVQvpYadmy3dhkX6wWZpmlaCV6acH7uRilJRuJ3LRKnXpdaJsQYeYCzkrREIkZlV8CMe3ErKBM/s1600/IMG_2972.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBJWXhAG_I5rrkZB2yVqP-6GD3sfsE4qWHhkNLGC22gUXh3cDPTC1ahjlZvXF5FY2GlpVQvpYadmy3dhkX6wWZpmlaCV6acH7uRilJRuJ3LRKnXpdaJsQYeYCzkrREIkZlV8CMe3ErKBM/s1600/IMG_2972.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the snow egg!</td></tr>
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We also ordered the chocolate dessert. The dessert came out looking very artistically coated in curls o chocolate. In fact, these curls were nitrogen-frozen chocolate! The freezing processes gave the chocolate a very crisp and actually crunchy texture, which really crackled in the mouth. Underneath the curls was a base of many delicious components, including muscatels, nougat, salted caramel, and almonds, bound together with chocolate. Overall, this was a very decadent dessert!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglgMWUvk7EndJekMtLxcJfQoj8lh-P1mVeCY9x8N3GH64pzcX3h0plKIViz0LOprgIXJnxf3wKeR8Qz2iqpZRRvw_WvzJCChyphenhyphenz870m9G6k5i8BCfvHucjR3OaLRJCvq5dvV2iituShB9A/s1600/IMG_2971.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglgMWUvk7EndJekMtLxcJfQoj8lh-P1mVeCY9x8N3GH64pzcX3h0plKIViz0LOprgIXJnxf3wKeR8Qz2iqpZRRvw_WvzJCChyphenhyphenz870m9G6k5i8BCfvHucjR3OaLRJCvq5dvV2iituShB9A/s1600/IMG_2971.JPG" height="289" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chocolate, almond, muscatel, olorose caramel</td></tr>
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To finish we ordered some Earl Grey tea and Darjeeling tea (of course we had to have tea!). The tea was served with some delicious truffles,which came in a very cute pumpkin shaped bowl. I believe there were pistachio, salted caramel, crunchy ball coated, and a dark chocolate truffle.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Rc7-q92HBnDfqkEtfTIZGFv0IG3O7VqZWkjt8gIZQhHOdk-wZfMkSG4FVQ6sNdr2qSRv98NxJclx3i6xNKVeLjBc4IBvY22AlbfpvEN9UgbkcXSwfkYzAjB_Tl99Jj2DwtGtYDscXxs/s1600/IMG_2977.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Rc7-q92HBnDfqkEtfTIZGFv0IG3O7VqZWkjt8gIZQhHOdk-wZfMkSG4FVQ6sNdr2qSRv98NxJclx3i6xNKVeLjBc4IBvY22AlbfpvEN9UgbkcXSwfkYzAjB_Tl99Jj2DwtGtYDscXxs/s1600/IMG_2977.JPG" height="237" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Truffles in a pumpkin bowl!</td></tr>
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One of the things that made this dinner so special was the attention was given to every little detail in the experience. I especially loved the unique cutlery and dinnerware that came with each dish, from the pearl handled spoon that came with our appetiser, to the unique bowls and plates for our meals, to the gorgeous tea service.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look how cute the sugar tongs are, like angels wings!</td></tr>
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The friendliness and attentiveness of the staff also added to the experience. In fact, when one waitress found out that it was my birthday, I was given a small box of truffles, packaged in a special Quay box, to take home as a small gift!<br />
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Overall, I had a perfect dinner in one of the most elegant and sophisticated restaurants in Sydney. The grandeur of the backdrop enhanced the luxurious feeling of the whole experience. Each course also flowed smoothly from one to the next, so that I felt perfectly satisfied and content at the end of the meal. I feel so lucky to have had such a special dinner! Thank you Mr Duckie :)</div>
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321287754447890575.post-52772099041562574232014-07-14T04:34:00.000-07:002014-07-14T04:34:03.487-07:00Chocolate and salted caramel cupcakes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Recently Mr Duckie and I celebrated our "dating" anniversary (hehe that sounds so daggy!). We have been together for 8 years now! The years have definitely flown by what with all the busy-ness that life is full of, and I am so glad to have had someone special to share all these experiences with :)<br />
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Every year for Mr Duckie's anniversary present, I like to follow the "traditional" anniversary gift ideas (e.g. first year is paper, second year is cotton, and so on). I know these are meant to be wedding anniversary gifts, but it still helps me to come up with some meaningful!<br />
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So, a quick check of Wikpedia told me that for the 8th year, the traditional US gift is bronze, and the traditional UK gift is salt. This left me pondering for a while. I wasn't sure that a jar of salt was quite an appropriate present, and I wasn't sure I could do much with bronze either!<br />
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And then I thought, of course! I should bake something with a bronze and salt theme! And then I realised - yes, salted caramel! It covers both the salt and bronze components (caramel is kind of a bronze colour, right? At least that's what I told myself). And in any case, salted caramel is so tasty, who would be upset with receiving it as a gift?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Please excuse the messy piping, I am definitely still learning my piping skills!</i></td></tr>
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I decided to use a chocolate cupcake as a base for the caramel, as I wanted something that would be strong enough to stand against the sweetness and richness of the caramel. The cupcakes themselves were quite easy to make and had just the right amount of chocolatey-ness.<br />
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However, the caramel part turned out to be quite messy! I somehow managed to dribble lots of sticky caramel all over the kitchen bench, down the side of the kitchen drawers, and onto the floor. I think I flung little droplets of caramel into another part of the kitchen as well. And of course, whilst making the icing I managed to cover all the benches in a fine dusting of icing sugar.<br />
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I should also warn you to be careful when mixing the caramel - take care not to splash it on yourself as it will burn! I was rather too vigorous whilst stirring the caramel (I got a little scared when I added the cream to the melted sugar as it started fizzling so much!), so I ended up with a couple of sugar burns on my forearm.<br />
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But it was all worth it!<br />
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Overall, this was a very rich and sweet cupcake. Mr Duckie was very pleased when he saw the cupcakes, and quickly downed one in a few bites. However, much to his dismay, he couldn't manage a second one! I also had a huge sugar rush after eating one of these cupcakes. So do make sure to have a cup of tea on standby to wash all the sugar down!<br />
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I also had lots of caramel sauce left over, so I served it on the side (although as I said, this is a very rich cupcake, so go easy with the extra sauce!). I think it would also go nicely on top of some ice-cream, or perhaps to jazz up some plain cakes with!<br />
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This is definitely a special occasion only recipe, but I'm sure that whoever you make these for will appreciate you for it :)<br />
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<h3>
Chocolate and salted caramel cupcakes</h3>
Makes 12<br />
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<b>Ingredients</b><br />
<br />
<b>Chocolate cupcakes</b><br />
<i>From "Crave" by Maureen McKeon</i><br />
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185g unsalted butter, at room temperature<br />
235g (1 cup) caster sugar<br />
100g dark chocolate, melted<br />
2 large eggs, beaten<br />
185g (1 1/2 cups) plain flour<br />
2 tsp baking powder<br />
1 tbsp cocoa powder<br />
125-185ml (1/2-3/4 cup) milk<br />
<br />
<b>Salted caramel sauce</b><br />
<i>Adapted from <a href="http://loveswah.com/2013/09/triple-salted-caramel-cupcakes/">Love Swah</a></i><br />
<br />
1 cup caster sugar<br />
1/2 cup water<br />
3/4 cup thickened cream<br />
1-2 tsp salt (or to taste)<br />
<br />
<b>Salted caramel butter cream</b><br />
<i>Adapted from <a href="http://loveswah.com/2013/09/triple-salted-caramel-cupcakes/">Love Swah</a></i><br />
110 g butter, softened<br />
3 cups icing sugar mixture<br />
1/2 of the salted caramel sauce<br />
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For the cupcakes:<br />
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1. Preheat the over to 180 degrees. Line a standard muffin tin with paper cases<br />
2. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the cooled melted chocolate. Add the beaten egg and beat until smooth<br />
3. Sift the flour, baking powder, and cocoa together. Fold the dry ingredients into the chocolate mixture in two additions, alternating with the milk. Use 125ml (1/2 cup) of the milk to start with, adding more if necessary to give a light mixture.<br />
4. Divide the mixture among the paper cases, filling each about three-quarters full. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until well risen and cooked.<br />
5. Cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then remove and transfer to a wire rack.<br />
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For the salted caramel sauce:<br />
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1. Combine sugar and water in a heavy bottomed saucepan and stir to dissolve. Heat over a medium heat until bubbling.<br />
2. Bubble mixture for 5-10 minutes without stirring, until a deep golden colour is reached. Keep a close eye on the mixture as you do not want to burn the sugar.<br />
3. Take mixture off the heat and carefully stir in cream (I found using a wooden spoon is best). Be careful as the mixture will bubble when the cream is added. Don't worry too much if some sugar lumps form, this happened to me, and I just ended up taking a big lump of hardened sugar mixture out.<br />
4. Stir in the salt to taste. Pour mixture into a bowl and place into fridge to cool.<br />
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For the frosting:<br />
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1. Beat butter and icing sugar in a large bowl for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.<br />
2. Add caramel sauce and beat to combine. Taste and add more caramel if necessary.<br />
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To finish:<br />
1. Pipe icing onto cooled cupcakes. Drizzle over some of the remaining salted caramel sauce to decorate.<br />
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321287754447890575.post-31431667420379587662014-07-01T20:00:00.000-07:002014-07-01T20:00:36.612-07:00Apple "pie" breakfast apples<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hi there! Again sorry for the much extended break between posts. There indeed has been a lot that has happened since I last posted. I've just finished my exams (yay!) - I can never seem to get myself well organised enough to do much else when I'm studying, so unfortunately there are no pictures of my cooking during that time. Mr Duckie and I also entered the Cooks River Fun Run, which raised money for Bowel Cancer Australia. We entered the 10km run, which I know probably isn't a very challenging run for most fit people, but it certainly was an achievement for Mr Duckie and I! We battled a very chilly and grey morning, and despite being quite out of shape, we managed to finish the run, although we were the last to cross the finish line ;) It was a really lovely community event and a fun family day out (there were some very fast kids competing in the shorter races!), raised money for a good cause, and most of all I am very proud of Mr Duckie for getting out there and getting active!<br />
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This recipe is something that I sort of just made up one Saturday morning during this busy period. Mr Duckie's parents had very kindly given us lots of fruit to take home with us. However, by the end of the week, I still had lots of apples left over! The apples we had were Fuji apples - Mr Duckie loves Fuji apples because they are so sweet, but for some reason, I am not such a fan, even though I generally love most other apple varieties. In fact, I have a weird problem with certain fruits, which is that when I eat them raw, they make me feel quite nauseous - the worst culprit is watermelon, and I don't think I've actually eaten any watermelon since high school.<br />
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Anyway, I wasn't up to eating a whole lot of Fuji apples, but I did not want them all to go to waste! So I decided to see how they would taste cooked up with lots of spices and some sultanas.<br />
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Much to my pleasure, they tasted amazing! The cooked Fuji apples seemed to take on an almost jelly like consistency once cooked. There was a bit of tanginess from the lemon juice, and a delicious fragrance from the cinnamon.<br />
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I served the apples with some toasted and buttered baguette (because I also needed to use up the baguettte!). Mr Duckie was very pleased with his breakfast, and decided that the combination of the sweet apples and crunchy bread tasted almost like eating apple pie for breakfast!<br />
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I think this would also be a great dessert, replacing the bread with some sweet biscuits and maybe some ice cream ;) And this is a relatively healthy recipe, so you can eat apple pie for breakfast without feeling too guilty about it!<br />
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<h3>
Apple "pie" breakfast apples</h3>
Serves 2<br />
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<b>Ingredients</b><br />
<br />
4 Fuji apples<br />
Juice of half a small lemon<br />
Sprinkle of cinnamon<br />
3 tbsp raw sugar<br />
Sprinkling of sultanas (I used about 2 tbsp, but add as many or few as you please!)<br />
<br />
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Add a splash of water, and cook on a medium heat for about 10 minutes until apples are soft and cooked.<br />
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There's no real recipe for this so you can change the amount of sugar and spice that you add, use your own favourite apple variety, and cook for a shorter time if you prefer your apples a bit more crunchy! Feel free to play around with this recipe to suit your own taste!<br />
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<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321287754447890575.post-16740671967068766482014-05-24T00:25:00.001-07:002014-05-24T00:25:20.914-07:00Saucy microwave puddings<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m so sorry it’s been such a long time since I last posted!
Since that time things have been quite crazy – I managed to lose my building security
pass, break my iron (I dropped it on the ground), get sick, look after Mr
Duckie whilst he was sick, and make sure I had all my assignments ready to hand
in at uni. After all of this, my brain just decided to give up. In fact, I
spent most of last weekend asleep or doing not much at all whilst trying to
recover. Hopefully things will calm down a bit now, and I can get my head back
in order again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">During these busy weeks, I’ve been heavily reliant on meals that are quick
and easy, whilst still giving the required nutrients. This microwave pudding is simple, quick, and
requires very little fuss. It isn’t exactly the most healthy, but it does help to lift
the spirits (which is undoubtedly another important role of food!). When Mr
Duckie was ill and in need of something sweet and comforting, and I didn’t have
much time to spare, this was my go-to dessert.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Apart from its ease, the best thing about this recipe is
that it is so versatile. I’ve provided both a vanilla and a chocolate recipe here,
depending on what you feel like. I used the vanilla cake base to make a saucy
lemon pudding, just by adding some store-bought lemon curd to the bottom of the
bowl! This gave a bubbling lemon sauce underneath the vanilla sponge top (it got quite hot, so be careful when eating this!). I’ve
also made this into a jam pudding by dolloping some jam into the bottom (using my favourite cherry jam). This was also delicious and I think I even liked the jam version better than the lemon!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I used a very special-looking vanilla bean paste for the
vanilla sponge. The paste contains lots of vanilla seeds in it, and a spoonful
of this paste is equivalent to a whole vanilla bean! The pudding had lots of
lovely tiny black flecks throughout thanks to the vanilla paste.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2lHsYU2L7luWK78coAuTAyUGGzZooKmdt4WhcjVesIhSHx6SYtZtt3LeiMEsQhtwrJ4ygUO5mmPynu1G2huwaxwq2OxifKjigW9_65iHraU6GDg-uDqY35_BElZu1BARUjBdfHkLl_aU/s1600/DSC02977.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2lHsYU2L7luWK78coAuTAyUGGzZooKmdt4WhcjVesIhSHx6SYtZtt3LeiMEsQhtwrJ4ygUO5mmPynu1G2huwaxwq2OxifKjigW9_65iHraU6GDg-uDqY35_BElZu1BARUjBdfHkLl_aU/s1600/DSC02977.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For the chocolate version, I added big chunks of chocolate
in the middle to give it a melty chocolate centre – I ended up with little pools of chocolate sauce throughout the pudding! I would definitely experiment with different types of
chocolate as well – maybe some caramel chocolate to add some caramel sauciness
to the centre ;)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This pudding is egg-free and can easily be made dairy free
by using a milk alternative and dairy-free chocolate. Also note that the
serving is big enough for two or even three people, so you’ll have plenty to
share with your special someone. Feel free to play around with your favourite
additions and jam flavours to make this pudding your own!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPBgKQp8jOMn3771F8_hr1qNFKKNoVNYTVdmC31yap_IHdr31-qqg9mN4wdBBAgq7qoiyKEDF68vxZSo8AgHz2IoeQWCv0wzljiHQ5ywmYJaockHd5O0megCoDOLmvtTI4kTyge3PHMj4/s1600/DSC03007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPBgKQp8jOMn3771F8_hr1qNFKKNoVNYTVdmC31yap_IHdr31-qqg9mN4wdBBAgq7qoiyKEDF68vxZSo8AgHz2IoeQWCv0wzljiHQ5ywmYJaockHd5O0megCoDOLmvtTI4kTyge3PHMj4/s1600/DSC03007.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mr Duckie polished off his pudding!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Saucy lemon pudding</span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Adapted from <a href="http://thestir.cafemom.com/food_party/157343/perfect_vanilla_cakeinamug_recipe_you">the Stir</a></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Serves 2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Ingredients</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">2 tbsp lemon curd or your favourite jam<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">4 tbsp plain flour<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">2 tbsp sugar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">½ tsp baking powder<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A pinch of salt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">1 tsp vanilla bean paste<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">4 tbsp milk<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">2 tbsp oil<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">1. Place lemon curd or jam into the bottom of a bowl.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">2. In another bowl, combine dry ingredients and stir well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">3. Make a well in the centre and add in milk, oil and vanilla paste (add a little extra milk if you feel the mixture is too stiff - it should have a dolloping consistency like regular cake batter). Stir well to combine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">4. Spoon over the lemon curd/jam. Microwave for 3 minutes, stopping every minute to check whether the cake is cooked (do not overcook cake otherwise it can be dry).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">5. Serve straight from the mug!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Chocolate microwave pudding</span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Adapted from <a href="http://allrecipes.com.au/recipe/9198/5-minute-chocolate-mug-cake.aspx">allrecipes.com</a></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Serves 2<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Ingredients</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">4 tbsp plain flour<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">2 tbsp sugar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">2 tbsp cocoa<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">½ tsp baking powder<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">1 pinch of salt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">4 tbsp milk<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">3 tbsp canola oil<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">1 tsp vanilla extract<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">50 g chocolate chunks (I used 8 squares/2 rows of chocolate from a Cadbury Old Gold block)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">1. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZORrqc9D3HKsjXgRKIiPLQDQXZ9JyAQnhNMO4yahHhMII3pHjNgUlUInl4rJDM-IQPBRCdoSBQsPQJxLE98vCBTnbDnPEtp3zX7inn4bB9LmOpHLk00ZYbSMwCKdaswmu3JDC-9Y2ZU/s1600/DSC03051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZORrqc9D3HKsjXgRKIiPLQDQXZ9JyAQnhNMO4yahHhMII3pHjNgUlUInl4rJDM-IQPBRCdoSBQsPQJxLE98vCBTnbDnPEtp3zX7inn4bB9LmOpHLk00ZYbSMwCKdaswmu3JDC-9Y2ZU/s1600/DSC03051.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">2. Make a well in the centre. Pour in milk, oil and vanilla
extract and stir to combine </span>(add a spoonful of extra milk and oil if you prefer a fudgier texture)<span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6IHvBa2bAB7ZACFG6BHD3L3_s_o_u5QlG5VAi1vvW3FrS-YXqJ3Rd7M9FtkRVFC559X7UcNxBZjof_Hh7A0PgQ4RA31m6k_LBqR4hyphenhyphenYOYX6weGqJhWKiNNfcTPCBG59lRgS9Op0xHKss/s1600/DSC03052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6IHvBa2bAB7ZACFG6BHD3L3_s_o_u5QlG5VAi1vvW3FrS-YXqJ3Rd7M9FtkRVFC559X7UcNxBZjof_Hh7A0PgQ4RA31m6k_LBqR4hyphenhyphenYOYX6weGqJhWKiNNfcTPCBG59lRgS9Op0xHKss/s1600/DSC03052.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">3. Push chocolate chunks into the centre of the pudding.
Microwave for 1 minute. If cake is not yet cooked, microwave for another 30 seconds.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">4. Serve straight from the
mug, with a scoop of your favourite ice cream!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<h3>
<br /></h3>
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321287754447890575.post-78553319980854863142014-04-26T03:48:00.001-07:002014-04-26T03:48:25.614-07:00Easter coconut and chocolate tart<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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Hi everyone! Hope you all had a fantastic Easter break last weekend! Luckily for me, I also had the week off from uni, although somehow, what with all the errands and catching up on study and assignments, it went by incredibly quickly. </div>
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This year (like every year!) Easter was celebrated with much feasting and indulgence. Mr Duckie and I were particularly looking forward to eating meat and chocolate again! I'd had chocolate on my mind for weeks, as I was thinking and researching ideas for what chocolate dessert would be best to celebrate with. My mind first turned to some chocolate mousse and cream type cakes, and the recipes I saw did look incredibly delicious. However, as the years pass, Mr Duckie and I find that our digestion is not as strong as it used to be (sigh...old age...), and I wasn't sure how our stomachs would cope with the sudden onslaught of indulgence.</div>
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Then my mum brought home an old magazine from her work. It was a health focused magazine, and best of all had a "Guilt-free Desserts" section showcasing vegan desserts! There were pages and pages of sumptuous looking desserts, and from these recipes I chose this delectable chocolate tart. Ingeniously, instead of cream, coconut cream is used to make the chocolate filling, and the butter in the tart shell is replaced with coconut oil. This was the perfect recipe as I already had most of the ingredients at hand, and with all the non-dairy substitutions, I hoped it would be a little easier on the tummy!</div>
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And indeed this tart did not disappoint. Even though the filling was dairy-free, it was so very creamy, velvety and rich. In fact, my mum and my mother-in-law both thought I had used cream cheese to make the filling! The filling tasted intensely chocolately, whilst the crust had a mild coconut aroma and taste. The original recipe used ground hazelnuts for the crust, however, I replaced these with plain sweet biscuits so that Anita could eat it. I think it would taste quite nice though with hazelnuts -perhaps even a half-and-half mixture of nuts and biscuits would be good!</div>
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Overall, it was a satisfyingly delicious chocolate dessert, without all the usual heaviness! I decorated the top with Easter eggs, but of course you could use berries or your favourite fruit instead, or just enjoy it as is!</div>
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Coconut and chocolate tart</h3>
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<i>Adapted from Nourish magazine, July-August 2013, p 82.</i></div>
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<b>Ingredients</b></div>
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220g plain sweet biscuits (I used Shredded Wheatmeal biscuits - which I subsequently discovered are quite tasty on their own or with a cup of tea!)</div>
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30g shredded coconut</div>
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40g cocoa powder</div>
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2 tbsp honey</div>
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3 tbsp coconut oil</div>
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1 can (400ml) full-fat coconut cream</div>
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280g 85% dark chocolate, broken</div>
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Easter eggs, fresh berries or fresh fruit, to decorate</div>
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1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.</div>
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2. Lightly grease a 20cm round springform tin with coconut oil. Line the base with baking paper.</div>
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3. Crush sweet biscuits into a fine powder - you can do this in a food processor, or put the biscuits into a zip-lock bag and crush with a rolling pin (lots of fun!). Place the crushed biscuits into a bowl, then add coconut, cocoa powder, honey, and coconut oil. Stir to combine</div>
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4. Press mixture into tin and bake for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool completely.</div>
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5. In a small saucepan, bring the coconut cream to a gentle simmer. Remove from heat and add broken chocolate. Stir continuously until smooth and velvety and pour into tart crust.<br />
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6. Refrigerate for two to three hours, then top with desired decorations and serve.<br />
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<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321287754447890575.post-8677024960561852462014-04-16T04:04:00.001-07:002014-04-16T04:04:28.979-07:00Chewy fig and coconut cookies<br />
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As I may have mentioned before, Mr Duckie often travels for work. He has flown with quite a few different airlines, but this week was his first time on Virgin Australia. We caught up with an old uni friend on the weekend (also a frequent flyer) who told us about his experiences flying on Virgin, including how they were now giving out a complimentary snack on the flight. Mr Duckie looked puzzled. "Don't they normally give food?" he asked. When we explained to Mr Duckie that in fact, there was no in-flight meal, he looked horrified. "But what am I going to do for food!" he cried.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuNuJZk01pqjb6nUrN6BMxvFGk1BrHpYbIEtpT-naV_FbS2In9G02tNNzKX8SNwDRaJoLmk2U73B_aKsWDYyr_g_GrT5vqj4PDfxZ6-Pc4Kx0roEcOc0UulYmytZqUTQudZ_O1ynpBnis/s1600/IMG_2601.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuNuJZk01pqjb6nUrN6BMxvFGk1BrHpYbIEtpT-naV_FbS2In9G02tNNzKX8SNwDRaJoLmk2U73B_aKsWDYyr_g_GrT5vqj4PDfxZ6-Pc4Kx0roEcOc0UulYmytZqUTQudZ_O1ynpBnis/s1600/IMG_2601.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Luckily I had already planned to make these cookies. I have been rather intrigued by the coconut oil phenomenon for quite some time now. We even had a small discussion in class about whether coconut oil is in fact healthy! The main concern surrounding coconut oil is that it is high in saturated fat - in fact, according to the label on my jar of coconut oil, it contains 93.5% saturated fat. According to the Australian Dietary Guidelines 2013, saturated fats are linked with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and as such should be limited. However, proponents of coconut oil argue that most of the saturated fat in coconut oil is in the form of lauric acid, which is a a medium-chain fatty acid. It is claimed that lauric acid can improve blood cholesterol, assist in weight loss, and has antibacterial and antiviral properties. Coconut oil is also promoted as a useful moisturiser for skin and hair.<br />
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At the moment, it appears that more research needs to be done in order to clarify and confirm the benefits of coconut oil, especially given that there is such strong evidence on the need to limit saturated fats. Whilst I would be happy to use it as a moisturiser (in fact, I did try some on my hands and it smelt very nice!) I don't think I'd start using coconut oil as a replacement for olive oil or canola oil.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl3PJqUZ_DfIDMIGZt7HMAxc1ViOt9pVWbLnaMlxrXwaMu8gMKeB4R3M_n0CmCgyRWaiVGbN-h9tEflwkYUGOQlTVIq2KQssp0IBgNlZ6j8m3VoUNr_I1p08J8Yta0nu3xTsahBdC-1Yo/s1600/IMG_2603.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl3PJqUZ_DfIDMIGZt7HMAxc1ViOt9pVWbLnaMlxrXwaMu8gMKeB4R3M_n0CmCgyRWaiVGbN-h9tEflwkYUGOQlTVIq2KQssp0IBgNlZ6j8m3VoUNr_I1p08J8Yta0nu3xTsahBdC-1Yo/s1600/IMG_2603.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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In any case, I was very curious to find out whether coconut oil did in fact smell and taste of coconut. I was not disappointed! As I opened the jar, I got a waft of fragrant coconut. I then tried tasting some of the oil on its own (as I saw a well-known celebrity chef do on TV - although I only had a tiny dab of oil, rather than a whole spoonful!), and I found that the coconut oil had a pleasant, mild coconut flavour and smooth texture.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu-uI-VeC18Fug487Wz_PcnwEnElETHai_RHNr4Buz0z_duThxhxiqT1bZ1Enu9HESf0owP-2IluAOAFfMx3M20mpjXuIZHxQjx2cOtqbTEXcUAXED9XvaM7Rpncl0bVYaAGZM4uJOmRE/s1600/IMG_2595.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu-uI-VeC18Fug487Wz_PcnwEnElETHai_RHNr4Buz0z_duThxhxiqT1bZ1Enu9HESf0owP-2IluAOAFfMx3M20mpjXuIZHxQjx2cOtqbTEXcUAXED9XvaM7Rpncl0bVYaAGZM4uJOmRE/s1600/IMG_2595.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A spoonful of coconut oil straight from the jar</td></tr>
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These coconut cookies are doubly coconutty from the combination of the coconut oil and the shredded coconut. Luckily for me, there was a special on figs at the supermarket, so I was able to add them into my cookies. I think you could easily replace this with dried figs or any other dried fruit of your choice.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEpF89uIHoNTRlSpcp9drE6D9UNZFAnTQgtumN7A3w0BW7ZUrC4hPa1OtWmUu5hZIGi40OPvwLqlUIUEfOdVN2bQyfA1X3Y-Mnt2pR1DYyX8naNzoJeQOnhq3hDUOkaldrLU7XZaKkeBM/s1600/IMG_2590.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEpF89uIHoNTRlSpcp9drE6D9UNZFAnTQgtumN7A3w0BW7ZUrC4hPa1OtWmUu5hZIGi40OPvwLqlUIUEfOdVN2bQyfA1X3Y-Mnt2pR1DYyX8naNzoJeQOnhq3hDUOkaldrLU7XZaKkeBM/s1600/IMG_2590.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yay fresh figs!</td></tr>
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My kitchen was filled with a delicious coconut aroma as these cookies were baking, which helped to cheer up a dreary, rainy morning. These cookies were also very easy to make - I pretty much just mixed everything in one bowl, then dolloped the dough onto trays! The cookies were crisp on the edges and soft in the middle whilst warm (I couldn't resist trying them straight away!), and they became more chewy once they had cooled. The diced figs also provided bursts of flavour and softness throughout.<br />
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So, although I am not yet convinced of the health benefits of coconut oil, I do have to say that the coconut oil was the winning ingredient in this recipe, as it added a distinct coconut flavour to the cookies!<br />
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Just a note: don't put your coconut oil in the fridge like I did, as it will go very hard and it will be very difficult to spoon it out of the jar! If you do find your coconut oil is too hard, try putting it into a bowl of hot water and this will soften and liquefy the oil and hopefully let you spoon it out!<br />
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<h3>
Chewy fig and coconut cookies</h3>
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<i>Adapted from <a href="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chewy-coconut-cookies/">allrecipes.com</a></i></div>
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<b>Ingredients</b></div>
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1 cup plain flour</div>
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1/2 tsp baking powder</div>
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1/2 tsp salt</div>
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1/2 cup coconut oil</div>
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1/2 cup raw sugar</div>
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1/4 cup caster sugar</div>
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1 egg</div>
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1 tsp vanilla extract</div>
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1 1/3 cup shredded coconut</div>
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2 figs, diced</div>
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1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line two baking trays. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside.</div>
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2. In a medium bowl, beat coconut oil, raw sugar and caster sugar until combined. Beat in egg and vanilla until fully combined. Sift over the flour mixture, add shredded coconut and mix to combine. Stir in diced figs.<br />
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3. Drop teaspoonfus of dough onto prepared trays. Bake for 15-20 min or until golden. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdx-pz4cU_bmLmO-mXRFFSxf6Q-DK9C0lpogebsKNQ4w714AkTPvzV6IhJ71Te6UUlTxBmdto21kl_ldiGsBsPH6JLH85Kaup08k0SwWUrsHu-_XU9OQ9H6lWPWtyRpR4YQZucftMRIZI/s1600/IMG_2594.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdx-pz4cU_bmLmO-mXRFFSxf6Q-DK9C0lpogebsKNQ4w714AkTPvzV6IhJ71Te6UUlTxBmdto21kl_ldiGsBsPH6JLH85Kaup08k0SwWUrsHu-_XU9OQ9H6lWPWtyRpR4YQZucftMRIZI/s1600/IMG_2594.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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4. Leave on trays for 5 min then cool on wire racks.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi20vw6-dSy_sthXUMeLxCm15u4BOBSndevHwlaYnm_DgCEn9frCJ2E9teDfFZERXC-bDc9L71NzJlvDro7bvoo2Uq2Iw9cNFhDMXGtkDmeuU6E-4HTM8BoGrU7LJHyv8EucC0o8xivVOY/s1600/IMG_2597.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi20vw6-dSy_sthXUMeLxCm15u4BOBSndevHwlaYnm_DgCEn9frCJ2E9teDfFZERXC-bDc9L71NzJlvDro7bvoo2Uq2Iw9cNFhDMXGtkDmeuU6E-4HTM8BoGrU7LJHyv8EucC0o8xivVOY/s1600/IMG_2597.JPG" height="162" width="320" /></a></div>
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Makes approx. 24 cookies<br />
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321287754447890575.post-70780702391312656092014-04-02T00:11:00.002-07:002014-04-02T00:11:10.786-07:00Ginger and spring onion sauce<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFPrxg0ZiuwYdc2XQ1ITtavnvHu4H5-UETCxg9QUIXKnashyiTIOocUHHaZLH9Sxi3BVyelFxQAXzr5ch1NFuJoHuftrG9kIataLX1iOIDZiheqaTYNfQha29ToBOV1VvvNd9OUH6phgw/s1600/IMG_2401.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFPrxg0ZiuwYdc2XQ1ITtavnvHu4H5-UETCxg9QUIXKnashyiTIOocUHHaZLH9Sxi3BVyelFxQAXzr5ch1NFuJoHuftrG9kIataLX1iOIDZiheqaTYNfQha29ToBOV1VvvNd9OUH6phgw/s1600/IMG_2401.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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A few weeks ago, I was talking to Mr Duckie about his favourite kinds of food. He thought for a while, and then said "I really like the green sauce, the one that your Dad makes." This left me rather confused - I thought at first that he meant something like salsa verde or chimichurri, but my Dad has never made either of these sauces!</div>
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I questioned him further, asking him what the sauce was normally served with. He replied, "It usually comes with the white boiled chicken." And then I realised what he was talking about! Except that my Dad doesn't actually make either of these things - he simply buys the white cut chicken and the accompanying sauce from our local Chinese barbecue meat shop!</div>
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So what is this magical sauce? It's actually a very simple mix of spring onions, ginger, salt and oil. Despite the simplicity, the sauce adds that special extra lift to whatever it is served with. As Mr Duckie and I are not eating meat at the moment, I served the sauce with some poached salmon. And to make it really like a Chinese barbecue style meal, I also added some rice and bok choy.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPfbme6MFU7FYsD3JJZOkEU___3K_BdLK7wB0RFOicpYJ5JL3sHbNoDJyW7OoLe5-0kLq2Et1olXtrdcOmdv0koU20XFdUnJKQfeelg5d-YUgFutZ44xs-Vsq33LwQ9kzVGdkofMXMs4M/s1600/IMG_2403.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPfbme6MFU7FYsD3JJZOkEU___3K_BdLK7wB0RFOicpYJ5JL3sHbNoDJyW7OoLe5-0kLq2Et1olXtrdcOmdv0koU20XFdUnJKQfeelg5d-YUgFutZ44xs-Vsq33LwQ9kzVGdkofMXMs4M/s1600/IMG_2403.JPG" height="256" width="320" /></a></div>
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The recipe made quite a bit of sauce for two people, but Mr Duckie and I managed to finish off a fair amount of it! I kept the rest in the fridge and had it again a couple of days later with some rice and a boiled egg - and again the sauce made my simple lunch quite delicious!<br />
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I hope you enjoy trying this sauce with your favourite meat, or even simply with some rice or noodles!<br />
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<h3>
Ginger and spring onion sauce</h3>
<div>
<i>Adapted from <a href="http://www.cooksnapsavour.com/2013/02/06/ginger-scallion-sauce-%E8%96%91%E8%8C%B8-recipe/">Cook, Snap, Savour</a></i></div>
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<b>Ingredients</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
4 spring onions, finely chopped (both the green and white parts)<br />
Approx 50g or two thumb sized pieces of ginger, peeled and finely grated<br />
1/2 tbsp salt<br />
1/2 cup canola oil<br />
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1. Mix spring onions, ginger and salt in a heatproof bowl.<br />
2. Heat the canola oil for about 1 minute. Pour over the spring onion and ginger mixture (it is best to place the bowl on a tray or in the sink in case the oil splatters everywhere, or your bowl breaks!).<br />
3. Stir to combine and then serve with your favourite meat!<br />
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<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321287754447890575.post-9052688668475143412014-03-25T02:37:00.001-07:002014-03-31T01:22:14.004-07:00Weekend Getaway in Melbourne!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoQUBPcGIPaRxxmjkc743Po-9oTwkcbhYyLdXdztQQ59afsSqlqNe9BlIZ00RvbJoklKZH8FAnyTKd2fiK2LmXu2woYXsQa2Hh38HugV_B9A_qEdEnpL61L1S10UHNXIPh-vprfAAwBxs/s1600/DSC02916.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoQUBPcGIPaRxxmjkc743Po-9oTwkcbhYyLdXdztQQ59afsSqlqNe9BlIZ00RvbJoklKZH8FAnyTKd2fiK2LmXu2woYXsQa2Hh38HugV_B9A_qEdEnpL61L1S10UHNXIPh-vprfAAwBxs/s1600/DSC02916.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Last
weekend I was lucky enough to have an exciting, whirlwind weekend in Melbourne!
I was joined by Mr Duckie and my sister-in-law Anita. Our main reason for going
was to attend an event as part of the <a href="http://www.vamff.com.au/">Melbourne Fashion Festival</a>, but of
course, food also featured heavily during our stay!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
flew in on Friday night, so by the time we got to where we were staying it
was nearly 10pm – unfortunately there wasn’t anywhere near us that was open, so
we ended up getting pizza delivery from Dominos for dinner!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
next day fared much better on the food front. For breakfast, we headed down to <a href="http://loadingdockbar.com.au/">Loading Dock Bar</a>. Inside there was a light and breezy cafe feel, with arty prints and paintings hanging on the walls. There were already quite a lot of people there having breakfast, along with their dogs and babies!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Feeling a little bit greasy from the previous night’s pizza
overload, I opted to have the muesli for breakfast, which was served with natural yoghurt and some very
prettily sliced fresh fruit. The muesli was very tasty and actually very
filling – there was lots of oats, puffed crunchy grains and seeds, macadamias
and dried fruit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv_rF6Y_39hZapxg2lKCCtU-BH6PO0gKRJYlgbw1__44wbqkt-r-y__COJbZO7hiDy3YXGpoWQA6zsGwWKtmEEnRbbgU9hCS0kSoRNHaA6aKUro1m6TObHhJ-7D8pVVxM8VyG9uhXLTk0/s1600/DSC02922.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv_rF6Y_39hZapxg2lKCCtU-BH6PO0gKRJYlgbw1__44wbqkt-r-y__COJbZO7hiDy3YXGpoWQA6zsGwWKtmEEnRbbgU9hCS0kSoRNHaA6aKUro1m6TObHhJ-7D8pVVxM8VyG9uhXLTk0/s1600/DSC02922.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDmuOqBWYxal0fbd8B4hyphenhyphen0Kgd58ObZqxlxQ6trcMcALHHFjxTNMwrv0Dmi4sgNAIrb6yYOAdyXEB8MlanVqKU3jCT2kfK_qmHE6_wJJ4utPRbm5zFBNr6lyM88nweIe-jvC2ejA8l5EiA/s1600/DSC02924.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDmuOqBWYxal0fbd8B4hyphenhyphen0Kgd58ObZqxlxQ6trcMcALHHFjxTNMwrv0Dmi4sgNAIrb6yYOAdyXEB8MlanVqKU3jCT2kfK_qmHE6_wJJ4utPRbm5zFBNr6lyM88nweIe-jvC2ejA8l5EiA/s1600/DSC02924.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>G-Lux Muesli, $11.90</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mr
Duckie, ever the sweet tooth, ordered the French toast with caramalised
bananas. The French toast was perfect - crisp on the outside and eggy and soft
on the inside. The highlight though was definitely the caramalised bananas,
which were so fragrant, sweet, and melted in the mouth.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhenRcGiSv0xS3gbmUo2_0RzXybbQJcgnmdbpJvswJtKJ0KYtSLS8uIseQlskj8jij6_lParLJUzWPdhFb9fYKpziQPnDkQNz037u7K4zI77pUR0Qb_puZ463vfp-cSIUWXMES9VlreXPw/s1600/DSC02920.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhenRcGiSv0xS3gbmUo2_0RzXybbQJcgnmdbpJvswJtKJ0KYtSLS8uIseQlskj8jij6_lParLJUzWPdhFb9fYKpziQPnDkQNz037u7K4zI77pUR0Qb_puZ463vfp-cSIUWXMES9VlreXPw/s1600/DSC02920.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>French toast with maple syrup, $9.00, and caramelised banana, $2.00</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Anita
went for the ricotta pancakes, which came as a humungous serve! The pancakes
were lfluffy and soft, and best of all were drenched in delicious maple syrup (maple syrup makes everything tasty)!</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqFxN-68Rk9eqvLzUE7qWCKEAc7hOSmhPysHRMrN5L9TI9JDDKgwDwcOu6R5_hKMuCY6UJcgXerF4ySw0L9CUdnOC6kEjFwUZtVkV8o4OKSNmXIEntgnek31sEK-4dBcf5plAXk8piEak/s1600/DSC02921.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqFxN-68Rk9eqvLzUE7qWCKEAc7hOSmhPysHRMrN5L9TI9JDDKgwDwcOu6R5_hKMuCY6UJcgXerF4ySw0L9CUdnOC6kEjFwUZtVkV8o4OKSNmXIEntgnek31sEK-4dBcf5plAXk8piEak/s1600/DSC02921.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Ricotta pancakes with maple syrup, $11.90</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
also ordered an Earl Grey tea, because breakfast of course is never complete without tea!. I thought I would post a picture of how it
was served up as it looked so cute – I love how the tea bag came in its own
separate plate for me to add in and brew to my taste! And a cup of tea was definitely needed, as we were all so full after our huge breakfast!</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxk909yEX2xJoROdl7mfkptHpDUwDfvJlB51j040J-v0hnlT-j4-sswUp4Y5kFfnhKoVbNvlE5CKRLMVq6TOU1_nyciAn79ZTUncsalaewYF0cKOseyCkgb3HJVZwl4wb7Aft8rPlqM0E/s1600/DSC02917.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxk909yEX2xJoROdl7mfkptHpDUwDfvJlB51j040J-v0hnlT-j4-sswUp4Y5kFfnhKoVbNvlE5CKRLMVq6TOU1_nyciAn79ZTUncsalaewYF0cKOseyCkgb3HJVZwl4wb7Aft8rPlqM0E/s1600/DSC02917.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Earl Grey tea</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">After
breakfast, Anita and I went to the L’Oreal Paris Beauty Workshop, held at the
Central Pier, Docklands, which we had signed up for as part of the Fashion Festival. When we got to the pier, we saw a queue leading into a room in which there appeared to be many make-up artists and guests.
We were a bit confused on where to go, so we thought that joining the queue would
be the best thing to do. As it turns out, we were in the wrong place!. The
queue was for the L’Oreal Paris Boutique, and the make-up artists were
doing colour consultations and some lipstick trials! Luckily we got in the
queue early, so we managed to be seen by the make-up artists, before we hurried
along around the corner to where the workshop was actually being held!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUDcxSyT6gyDOHwxV74ErWpfsUQzN29hopu1F2QEbymnH9UmuZwElvnVrDePeZ_d2K7bJcRjA5f6gUirQP9KG1ngTvHuZERhsF-VF1TUmXreykNJ2r82amm1iUcG38aAj72fa3ObfaqR4/s1600/IMG_2352.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUDcxSyT6gyDOHwxV74ErWpfsUQzN29hopu1F2QEbymnH9UmuZwElvnVrDePeZ_d2K7bJcRjA5f6gUirQP9KG1ngTvHuZERhsF-VF1TUmXreykNJ2r82amm1iUcG38aAj72fa3ObfaqR4/s1600/IMG_2352.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Outside the Boutique, where we mistakenly lined up!</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
workshop itself was very useful and interesting. I am not really make-up proficient, so I learnt a lot of practical tips on different makeup techniques, such as flawless foundation, winged eye liner (which is apparently very trendy right now), colourful eyes, and matte lip colour.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgldnOX-PLxDEgRMJN3yxhslxpetmY65EeSVovQ5RAhEpF_MemjDPQL4SddjeZUyb7VCkIKPoK5X_9hkRoW7xkKxuW_KOZ1BBrBG879DvBoJ6_TgZ_5BWM27oBSYjxloCCg_0byPrZJNiU/s1600/IMG_2354.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgldnOX-PLxDEgRMJN3yxhslxpetmY65EeSVovQ5RAhEpF_MemjDPQL4SddjeZUyb7VCkIKPoK5X_9hkRoW7xkKxuW_KOZ1BBrBG879DvBoJ6_TgZ_5BWM27oBSYjxloCCg_0byPrZJNiU/s1600/IMG_2354.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The stage set up for the Beauty Workshop</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px;">I was quite inspired to try some of these techniques, so I bought some new products after the show at the Boutique (everything was 25% off!). I got a "Butterfly Wings" mascara, a very cool eyeliner that looks kind of like a felt-tip marker, so hopefully should be easy to use, and a nifty eyebrow pencil that has the actual pencil on one end, an eyebrow wax on the other end, and a small comb on the cap to help keep your eyebrows well groomed!</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjgCP85DV4GjD8o_duqkZfeqF2nFqqYxTjDb2-ugyJM8ry_aktmHvnu1PhNAdiBqDegtG1gcqKkx554VfNtYp8LQh_MBOSD4qCUyS3SATKX8PPE7EpcVY8-ELH1Y1ONSeWRi0hLPeRE-Y/s1600/DSC02945.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjgCP85DV4GjD8o_duqkZfeqF2nFqqYxTjDb2-ugyJM8ry_aktmHvnu1PhNAdiBqDegtG1gcqKkx554VfNtYp8LQh_MBOSD4qCUyS3SATKX8PPE7EpcVY8-ELH1Y1ONSeWRi0hLPeRE-Y/s1600/DSC02945.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>New make-up!</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px;">Best of all, we received some very generous gift bags, filled with loads of hair and skin products!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggEjAwyqVRvSoTrhVkvDNrphf543j0X2JnYmO2Tkx2HAREqSQTNkYW2X92XlQDSdoz9Kqe9s5by_2S19p1HjY4GbORe0vO-XqUCrxBsHhYzPFphQqkOV9Ol-bCajWRTNBD-J07ISvqnmE/s1600/DSC02944.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggEjAwyqVRvSoTrhVkvDNrphf543j0X2JnYmO2Tkx2HAREqSQTNkYW2X92XlQDSdoz9Kqe9s5by_2S19p1HjY4GbORe0vO-XqUCrxBsHhYzPFphQqkOV9Ol-bCajWRTNBD-J07ISvqnmE/s1600/DSC02944.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>So many goodies!</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Now
onto lunch! Mr Duckie had been quite busy and was feeling quite tired by the
time afternoon came around, so Anita and I went out in search of takeaway to
bring back to eat. Unfortunately I didn’t get a picture of our lunch, but believe me it was very tasty and again incredibly filling! We ended up going to </span><a href="http://www.hooksattheyarra.com/" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hooks At The Yarra</a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">, and got a huge serve of fish and chips, served with salad, tartare sauce and aioli, as well as a seafood risotto, and an olive and rosemary focaccia. Although we only got two mains between the three of us, we were so full that we couldn't even finish all the food! I have to especially mention the chips, which we thick cut and chunky, and perfect for dipping in the sauces. This may sound
a bit lame but I always have lots of fun bringing food back in to eat – sort of
like having a restaurant in your own home!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Dinner was delayed somewhat that night after our huge day of eating. We went to a nearby Japanese restaurant, <a href="http://www.zenizakaya.com.au/">Zen Izakaya</a> (previously called Kinya). The
restaurant had beautiful décor and an intimate atmosphere, with very friendly and attentive service.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Despite still being full from lunch, we managed to order (and eat) heaps! We
started off with takoyaki topped with bonito flakes. Mr Duckie had never seen
the effect of heat on bonito flakes before, which makes them wave about in the
air, and he stared mesmerised at his takoyaki before finally eating it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Takoyaki</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">I also ordered a miso soup as I felt rather in need of something warm and wholesome
(it had been a very cold and rainy day!). This was indeed a very rich and flavoursome miso soup, with silky chunks of tofu bobbing throughout. Mr Duckie, who had never had miso soup before, decided to try some, and liked it so much he ended up drinking half the bowl!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A rather funny incident happened with the drinks. I had ordered a green tea, and Mr Duckie had ordered a raspberry lemonade. But for some reason when the waiter brought out the drinks, he assumed I had the very pink raspberry lemonade, and gave Mr Duckie the green tea!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyUTJckbe8LNcJ9u2J2zYP15jjeNNofdkDwqXOeY4SNCogy2TSj87gMmyzrPCleuJdMXQGf9gjrnZSUV4wlLrqL8vAiNzhopnyGcqaLf4w4WCXSsfo8jmbjk0oftCkPcvLsaRZtsyTuoA/s1600/DSC02937.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyUTJckbe8LNcJ9u2J2zYP15jjeNNofdkDwqXOeY4SNCogy2TSj87gMmyzrPCleuJdMXQGf9gjrnZSUV4wlLrqL8vAiNzhopnyGcqaLf4w4WCXSsfo8jmbjk0oftCkPcvLsaRZtsyTuoA/s1600/DSC02937.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Miso soup and green tea</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Anita
ordered the tempura udon. The udon was beautifully presented in a blue stone bowl,
and was topped very generously with a wide selection of tempura prawn and
vegetables and some shiitake mushrooms. The broth was also very warming and was the perfect antidote to the cold weather.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBJKiAhkpaKFA8h7TeNC8xDHgOr-2Rd1HI1v01a-xlLTWLbxfahJe9GBQG7lzjcCaTFVDJDXtn2NF-BfIi62yShow__PLOkfDsEVKEom2s_7LtDVtiSnupTgdMXLXj2JH9huxRcEVHsiQ/s1600/DSC02940.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBJKiAhkpaKFA8h7TeNC8xDHgOr-2Rd1HI1v01a-xlLTWLbxfahJe9GBQG7lzjcCaTFVDJDXtn2NF-BfIi62yShow__PLOkfDsEVKEom2s_7LtDVtiSnupTgdMXLXj2JH9huxRcEVHsiQ/s1600/DSC02940.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Tempura udon</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mr
Duckie and I shared a teriyaki salmon. The salmon also came on a very pretty blue green plate. The fish was cooked just right so that it was firm but still very moist, and was
covered with a rich, sticky and flavoursome teriyaki sauce. Mr Duckie is a huge salmon
lover (like a grizzly bear!) so he finished most of this in no time!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvYH8FoK7gTiEp8nTP615qe7kdkwsrdlUOGIectCK5OgvsVR0owFPnNfYbAUM896Gzhzlr66i-VBENHEJkUtyDyVtoRRkgLUG4fv7A1nkrVxbGpq9ViHg3_J-Zgms-zIdgsF8DqPmGF30/s1600/DSC02942.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvYH8FoK7gTiEp8nTP615qe7kdkwsrdlUOGIectCK5OgvsVR0owFPnNfYbAUM896Gzhzlr66i-VBENHEJkUtyDyVtoRRkgLUG4fv7A1nkrVxbGpq9ViHg3_J-Zgms-zIdgsF8DqPmGF30/s1600/DSC02942.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Teriyaki salmon</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">More food was still to come! Mr Duckie gets a bit excited with ordering, especially when there are interesting items on the menu like these king crab gyoza. Luckily, I have the appetite to match, and these gyoza were so tasty that it was not at all a problem to eat them! The gyoza were generously filled with sweet crab meat, held together with a creamy and very savoury sauce, flecked with orange tobiko. On the side was a very tangy and citrusy ponzu sauce which nicely complemented the gyoza.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvmStvMF3_Shg5Cv8doDT-GCaBH4Zd4vShloVg9PnhzbzuyHhxXrt0SmKwvU01ghIbiHS77kxnCWq6l54qsyCqenj-O6FrIkzBJliItKjRfTEYpUQEFSND9tlJxB26cn4rWPGCfk8uEbw/s1600/DSC02943.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvmStvMF3_Shg5Cv8doDT-GCaBH4Zd4vShloVg9PnhzbzuyHhxXrt0SmKwvU01ghIbiHS77kxnCWq6l54qsyCqenj-O6FrIkzBJliItKjRfTEYpUQEFSND9tlJxB26cn4rWPGCfk8uEbw/s1600/DSC02943.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>King crab gyoza</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We also ordered the dragon roll (without avocado, as Mr Duckie and I don't like avocado - yes, that does sound strange!). Our roll had tempura prawn in the filling, and was topped with grilled eel and tobiko. Unfortunately by the time I got round to eating this the eel had gone cold. But it was still a very tasty sushi!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ESx0CKwwxqov7m-js_kxq8sMMy5rYz_wl_ZtR6gvf3b_ENZNtWkvx6ntz9hwZL4-0OHcH5Q4nMJMkos0AReRCAdClAojRcU3Mn6p50to6vGZH5Gp8pCK4ZQfR9kclhJ-0B38AOETK7E/s1600/DSC02941.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ESx0CKwwxqov7m-js_kxq8sMMy5rYz_wl_ZtR6gvf3b_ENZNtWkvx6ntz9hwZL4-0OHcH5Q4nMJMkos0AReRCAdClAojRcU3Mn6p50to6vGZH5Gp8pCK4ZQfR9kclhJ-0B38AOETK7E/s1600/DSC02941.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Dragon roll</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And yes, we did find space for dessert, which was a scoop each of green tea, black sesame and red bean ice cream. These ice cream flavours are always solid favourites! Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of these - I think we were all rather too interested in eating our dessert!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">The next morning we woke up rather late, so we only had a short amount of time for breakfast before heading out to the airport. We went to the Mad Duck Cafe for breakfast - of course I immediately loved the name! The staff were very helpful - we informed them that we had to be out in half an hour, and they managed to get all our food out to us so quickly that we did manage to finish within that time!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">I again started off with muesli, this time served with natural yoghurt and a deliciously sweet fruit compote. There was an extra thoughtful touch with a small jug of skim milk served on the side. The muesli had a good mix of oats, pepitas, sunflower seeds, bran, as well as almonds and macadamia nuts, and currants and dried cranberries.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU3ll18p8JA1MLXNUSkm__qG8WRZ88kRJHmZOr0XZOFfap3jUBF0bPGSo4N-Ul1NxiVpx1wFSiNvfS_woUZ2uKHOOL2BuT-A33YkaLgfCRn75IshSuDcvFs3wknCobE8RV2e9bbDAANK8/s1600/IMG_2373.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU3ll18p8JA1MLXNUSkm__qG8WRZ88kRJHmZOr0XZOFfap3jUBF0bPGSo4N-Ul1NxiVpx1wFSiNvfS_woUZ2uKHOOL2BuT-A33YkaLgfCRn75IshSuDcvFs3wknCobE8RV2e9bbDAANK8/s1600/IMG_2373.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Muesli, $6.90, with yoghurt and fruit compote</i></td></tr>
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Mr Duckie ordered the Eggs Florentine, which was two poached eggs served on lightly sauteed spinach and toasted English muffins. The eggs were perfectly poached, with the yolks oozing out when cut into. The Hollandaise sauce was also very tasty - I normally find Hollandaise too rich but this one was quite light, and had a slight tanginess that helped to cut through the richness.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirBYXT5CZDh2BOcEVhPTDLac7Vjho7O6vLuA3fGqxF1oC-SIgJXotCbujHO9sN7_XUwZp7RHnx3DnOo14iDwBTPGrMP7JKFD1TIXXR_DBXYgKbyzxCVLYcrO7jygamE3HKNiEgzycxrcg/s1600/IMG_2374.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirBYXT5CZDh2BOcEVhPTDLac7Vjho7O6vLuA3fGqxF1oC-SIgJXotCbujHO9sN7_XUwZp7RHnx3DnOo14iDwBTPGrMP7JKFD1TIXXR_DBXYgKbyzxCVLYcrO7jygamE3HKNiEgzycxrcg/s1600/IMG_2374.JPG" height="219" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Eggs Florentine, $14.90</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Anita had the pancakes with strawberries and ice cream. Again the pancakes were huge! They were soft and sweet, with lots of maple syrup drizzled on top (yay!), and the tangy strawberries and creamy vanilla ice cream made the pancakes extra special.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pancakes with strawberries and ice cream, $13.90</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">And again, I had an Earl Grey tea with breakfast. The tea was served with a very thoughtful touch - an extra little jug of hot water on the side, to top up the teapot in case extra tea is needed! Unfortunately we were running out of time, so I didn't get a chance to use the extra water!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Earl Grey tea</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Then it was off to the airport to catch our flight home! Overall it was a very fun (and food) filled weekend, and it was certainly nice to have a mini-getaway and explore a new city. Thanks to Mr Duckie and Anita for a fantastic weekend!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">70 Lorimer Street, Docklands</span></div>
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50 River Esplanade, Docklands</div>
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(03) 9043 4221</div>
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www.hooksattheyarra.com/</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>Zen Izakaya</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">92 River Esplanade, Docklands</span></div>
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321287754447890575.post-43125332578611859162014-03-17T01:22:00.002-07:002014-03-31T01:21:35.504-07:00Thai red curry prawns<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This week, as part of my Nutritional Assessment
subject at uni, I had to complete a Food Record Diary. This is a detailed
record of everything I ate and drank (including water) for four days, including the weight (in
grams), meal type, and time of consumption. As you can imagine, this was quite
a difficult and tedious task, as I had to weigh and record everything promptly and
accurately before I could eat! Here’s a picture of my diary to give you an idea
of what I had to do (please excuse the messy writing, also sorry as for some reason the picture has come up on its side).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The idea of these food diaries is to give an idea of
your average food intake. Apparently, these diaries are also often used in
weight loss programs, and have been found to be effective in helping weight
loss – maybe it helps to make people more aware of their eating patterns, or
perh</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">aps like me, the effort of having to record each food rather puts people
off eating!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I also found myself using some shortcuts and tricks
to make the diary easier, which may reduce the representativeness of my diary.
For example, I sometimes served myself a slightly bigger portion so that I
wouldn’t have to measure any second servings, and I tried to finish all my meal
so that I wouldn’t also have to measure the leftover weights. All in all though
it was a useful exercise, as I gained an idea of what my future patients may
have to go through, and I became more aware of portion sizes and of what I
generally eat in a day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lots of vegies!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">I included this Thai red curry recipe as one of the
entries in my food diary, hence some of the rather precise and specific weights
I have given (also I apologise for the low quality photos, as I only had my
phone on me at the time I was cooking). Mr Duckie loves Thai red curry, and has
been feeling the pinch of not being able to eat meat, so I decided to make the
curry with prawns. I initially adjusted the recipe so that it would be for two
people, but somehow I ended up with enough for dinner and then lunch the next
day – maybe my measurements were off!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYBYXDki-kQZvJvHJ7nlC8-LAVep4efpyDDWAb06ApEhQ6sfEYriLgZ1EOricsqtKvmF0faLIUUz6WuNwj13-u1BBVwsF9AQBlXaDRCIBzYxMixSuCeNhvkxynXp6I1ApoxGcxXdKCJok/s1600/IMG_2332.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYBYXDki-kQZvJvHJ7nlC8-LAVep4efpyDDWAb06ApEhQ6sfEYriLgZ1EOricsqtKvmF0faLIUUz6WuNwj13-u1BBVwsF9AQBlXaDRCIBzYxMixSuCeNhvkxynXp6I1ApoxGcxXdKCJok/s1600/IMG_2332.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Plenty left over for the next day!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This was a very quick and easy recipe to make – you
can use any vegetables you like (I used what I had in the fridge) and if you
prefer, you can easily replace the prawns with firm tofu. The curry was rich, creamy
and fragrantly spicy, with a slight tanginess as well from the addition of lime
juice. Mr Duckie described this dish as hearty and a good substitute for meat.
I added some peanut butter as well to the curry, which added an extra richness
and savouriness, but feel free to leave this out if you have a nut allergy.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This is a tasty and versatile meal for any night of
the week! What quick dinner recipes do you rely on? And have you ever done a
food record diary?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Wishing you all a very lovely week!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h3>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Thai red curry prawns</span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Recipe adapted from <a href="http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/recipes/Pages/Thai-prawn-curry.aspx">Heart Foundation</a>
and <a href="http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/30491/vegetable+thai+red+curry">taste.com.au</a></span></div>
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<i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">*Please excuse if some of the spoon measures are a bit off – I
took down the gram weights but not all the spoon measures!</i></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>Ingredients</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">About 2 tbsp Canola oil (17 g)</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">1 brown onion (179 g)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">2 cloves garlic (6 g)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">1 thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled (15 g)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">2 tbsp Thai red curry paste (56 g – I used Ayam
brand paste)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">270 ml can light coconut milk (269 g – I used Ayam
brand)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">200ml water<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">1 -2 tbsp soy sauce (I used 12 g but you can adjust
to your taste)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">1 heaped tbsp crunchy peanut butter (35 g)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Juice of half a lime (19 g)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">1 tbsp raw sugar (8 g)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">600g your choice of vegetables, cut into bite sized
cubes (I used Kent pumpkin, fresh shitake mushrooms, fresh baby corn and
broccoli)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">200 g green prawn meat<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Black pepper, pinch<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high
heat. Add onion, garlic and ginger and fry until soft (about 4-5 min). Add
curry paste, stir until combined with onion mixture and cook until fragrant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">2. Add coconut milk, water, soy sauce, peanut
butter, lime juice and raw sugar, stir until combined and bring to boil.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">3. Add vegetables and simmer until vegetables are cooked (10 -15 minutes depending on your vegetables).</span></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">4. Sprinkle prawns with black pepper, add to curry and simmer until cooked through (about 5 minutes). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.</span><br />
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321287754447890575.post-81171227526997213712014-03-10T21:42:00.000-07:002014-03-31T01:21:00.502-07:00New Beginnings: Healthy banana oat bars<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last week I started back at uni again! After three long years studying undergraduate science, I have now finally made it to the Masters in Nutrition and Dietetics. I have been looking forward to this for so long - the whole of my bachelors degree was geared towards meeting the requirements for this Masters, and during those years, when people found out I was studying to be a dietitian, I would inevitably be asked for some nutrition advice. Unfortunately I didn't have enough nutrition knowledge to say much useful, but hopefully now I will be able to give some better advice!<br />
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The first week was certainly busy. It was quite intense with learning new material and with getting used to longer class hours (unlike the relatively more laid-back undergraduate lifestyle!), but it was also very interesting, especially as there is quite a practically-oriented approach to much of the coursework, including learning professional skills such as group education and counselling. We are also very lucky as we are some of the first students to use a newly built building in our university - it was only completed in December last year and it is very modern and comfortable!<br />
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Last week also marked the start of Lent, a period of penance and prayer in preparation for Easter. I always think that Lent is a beautiful time of year, as it guides us to reflect on our lives, identify areas for change and growth, and to be thankful for all our blessings. Lent is also a time of fasting or "giving up" certain luxuries. Every year, Mr Duckie and I give up meat and chocolate - Mr Duckie loves meat and I love chocolate, so we give up both in support of each other - so expect to see more vegetarian recipes coming up soon.<br />
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These bars are a perfect choice for taking to school (or work, or wherever you need to go) and are a great chocolate alternative when an energy boost is needed. They are very easy, and I dare say fun, to make, and the sweet fragrance of banana that fills the air during baking is sure to lift your mood. Best of all, the ingredients are held together by mashed banana, so there is no need for butter or sugar.<br />
<br />
The bars are chewy and naturally sweet from the banana and dried fruits, and the nuts and seeds provide a satisfying warm crunch. This recipe works with whatever nuts, seeds and dried fruits you like - in particular, if you have a nut allergy, feel free to replace these with some more seeds or fruits. These bars can also can be frozen, so you can keep a handy store for any last minute snack emergency (I have also reheated these bars in the microwave and eaten them warm for breakfast)!<br />
<br />
I hope that all has been well in your busy lives too and that you all have a great week! I am looking forward to trying out some more vegetarian recipes and hope to post these up soon too!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi456tjsWI3xyVeD9JvAsaELD_FLhOxIk4aeXySzTbAJIliB8uhAcsjUjdu-RMti1cMdQnm1hM0qsTyrIq3y_yoAB_vA6nCCJ5zaIVu1mZowOwqSmkNhjxslKB8cQ8zHvY6etdoDURMMCM/s1600/DSC02895.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi456tjsWI3xyVeD9JvAsaELD_FLhOxIk4aeXySzTbAJIliB8uhAcsjUjdu-RMti1cMdQnm1hM0qsTyrIq3y_yoAB_vA6nCCJ5zaIVu1mZowOwqSmkNhjxslKB8cQ8zHvY6etdoDURMMCM/s1600/DSC02895.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<h4>
Healthy banana oat bars</h4>
<div>
<i>Adapted from recipes from <a href="http://www.eatyrgreens.com/nut-seed-banana-oat-snack-bars/">Eat Your Greens</a> and <a href="http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/31575/super+healthy+banana+apricot+and+date+oat+bars">taste.com.au</a> </i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
1/4 cup finely chopped apricots</div>
<div>
1/4 cup dried cranberries</div>
<div>
1/2 cup sunflower seeds</div>
<div>
1/4 cup chia seeds</div>
<div>
1/2 cup nuts, roughly chopped</div>
<div>
4 medium bananas, mashed (about 2 cups mashed)</div>
<div>
1 cup porridge oats</div>
<div>
1/2 tsp cinnamon</div>
<div>
1/2 tsp salt</div>
<br />
1. Grease and line a 22cm square tin. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.<br />
2. Mix together the dried fruits, seeds, nuts and oats in a bowl. Mix in the mashed banana, cinnamon and salt. Pour into prepared tin and flatten surface with the back of a spoon.<br />
3. Bake for 30 minutes or until top is firm and edges are golden brown. Cool in tin for 5 minutes then turn onto a rack to fully cool. Slice into bars in the size that you prefer (I made 18 smallish bars).<br />
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<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321287754447890575.post-36738264406931661122014-02-24T17:05:00.001-08:002014-02-24T17:05:16.137-08:00Earl Grey Tea Loaf<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjavMHKdTsbTA23SvSS3PpLe-fykgiMKFCw7Xmg0uOXIA0g1IPKo4Gm_exee50XgCW7YoWJWll0Z6hB9gnNU3n1YjDY_GJEOEElKaAhs3kOH0jq3Z5S79uWG5R-47_Yy5Q4pSS4peUDlUk/s1600/DSC02871.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjavMHKdTsbTA23SvSS3PpLe-fykgiMKFCw7Xmg0uOXIA0g1IPKo4Gm_exee50XgCW7YoWJWll0Z6hB9gnNU3n1YjDY_GJEOEElKaAhs3kOH0jq3Z5S79uWG5R-47_Yy5Q4pSS4peUDlUk/s1600/DSC02871.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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As you can probably tell, I love tea! I believe that tea is a suitable drink at any time of day and has the ability to help out in any mood or situation, whether it be as a morning wake-up, as a way to unwind at the end of the day, as a soothing balm when sick, or as a reviving drink to perk up our spirits when everything is getting a bit out of hand. And with such a wide range of flavours and varieties available, a perfect match can always be found!<br />
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<span lang="EN-GB">Mr Duckie is, of course, even more of a tea fiend than I am. One of our favourite
teas is Earl Grey, a very elegant and distinctive black tea. I love the delicate citrus flavour and floral aroma that comes from the bergamot oil flavouring. Traditionally it is served with a slice of lemon, making it a very light and refreshing alternative to regular black tea, although I must
admit that I like it with milk as well!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Earl Grey tea lends itself very well to all sorts of baking - in fact one of the flavours in our wedding cake (made by the very talented <a href="http://www.sharonwee.com.au/">Sharon Wee</a>) was a chocolate cake with Earl Grey tea and cookies ganache! </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3XjPEXuSxqu4Sg9a2dICm5OxEn-2wpK4PGbhtdkCCUs_Vx4PkSDpn3Ndj3bvTim5y1AfmQy3ESGf22CnF0rGVnfOYICCK6df8Q25MlBZP13TVAGMvdpDCsuuuh-x-9hIN1k0MCAt7ams/s1600/DSC02438+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3XjPEXuSxqu4Sg9a2dICm5OxEn-2wpK4PGbhtdkCCUs_Vx4PkSDpn3Ndj3bvTim5y1AfmQy3ESGf22CnF0rGVnfOYICCK6df8Q25MlBZP13TVAGMvdpDCsuuuh-x-9hIN1k0MCAt7ams/s1600/DSC02438+-+Copy.JPG" height="221" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A slice of our very yummy wedding cake, filled with Earl Grey flavoured ganache</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
So, I was curious as to how Earl Grey tea would taste inside a cake itself. My aim was to make a light and fluffy loaf
cake, studded with sultanas in the style of an old-fashioned fruit loaf, the
kind that is the perfect accompaniment to a cup of afte<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">rnoon tea. The recipe I first used was based on a <a href="http://www.waitrose.presscentre.com/Recipes/Yorkshire-Gold-Tea-Loaf-Based-on-a-Traditional-Recipe-9f8.aspx">Yorkshire Gold tea loaf</a> recipe that I picked up from the supermarket Waitrose when I was living in London.</span><br />
<div>
<br />
I used an Earl Grey tea containing lemon and orange peel, as well as blue cornflower petals, and which looked very pretty indeed!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2qbXYeRespVNEyFI17AIZoEBrw-JdBMYtWowckV860e_idpHx4mDFKUcLOL7VwroJ8pG1pqi2PIjZpsY_T_N2N2PwVrQHoyYaHvyen5PZEftWuXDFAsktc0qw8U883LtpZB3sHKMQsnM/s1600/DSC02544.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2qbXYeRespVNEyFI17AIZoEBrw-JdBMYtWowckV860e_idpHx4mDFKUcLOL7VwroJ8pG1pqi2PIjZpsY_T_N2N2PwVrQHoyYaHvyen5PZEftWuXDFAsktc0qw8U883LtpZB3sHKMQsnM/s1600/DSC02544.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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I had high hopes for my first attempt. The preparation process itself was a lot of fun, with wafts of tea floating around as I mixed the ingredients together. Unfortunately, the cake did not turn out as well as I had hoped - mostly due to my not following the recipe and making my own adjustments. First, I had used a loaf tin that was too big, so my cake was rather flat and looked more like a slice...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKTmfE6padVCHlm2j_JPWE0oFABZ-sbCIbkWz3vfAl93MvB4vGKEGkWpkuR_05nHd6cx0XSzOWkzv74wMAYQdhQvUoVu9bjVRUHUwJJ0A9qjWvzqqAk6kIA8OqI_2REuIsBP2I_IEAEiQ/s1600/DSC02567.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKTmfE6padVCHlm2j_JPWE0oFABZ-sbCIbkWz3vfAl93MvB4vGKEGkWpkuR_05nHd6cx0XSzOWkzv74wMAYQdhQvUoVu9bjVRUHUwJJ0A9qjWvzqqAk6kIA8OqI_2REuIsBP2I_IEAEiQ/s1600/DSC02567.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So flat :(</td></tr>
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When I cut it open, rather than a soft fluffy cake, I had a very dense cake - most likely I had added too many wet ingredients to dry ingredients. I could hardly even see the sultanas, as they appeared to merge with the cake itself...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf_rQ73z2w5h55E0AkmTsGti-G6uM7QcHY5qSQ3t1SExBPqb3ubz0W_UcYO6l0eeMhU1mzVRuRzKmq7qRtiPy7QwEGRcONF2Wsv0eLJw7b-0OVCJjk5IykcbI6ZKzHZ1IGb0gVruld_14/s1600/DSC02583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf_rQ73z2w5h55E0AkmTsGti-G6uM7QcHY5qSQ3t1SExBPqb3ubz0W_UcYO6l0eeMhU1mzVRuRzKmq7qRtiPy7QwEGRcONF2Wsv0eLJw7b-0OVCJjk5IykcbI6ZKzHZ1IGb0gVruld_14/s1600/DSC02583.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Most disappointing of all, the Earl Grey flavour was also hard to detect. I had added an orange icing, thinking that the orange would match the citrus citrus notes in the tea, but unfortunately the flavour was too overpowering! Mr Duckie, ever supportive, insisted that it was still a nice cake, but I wasn't convinced. Overall, it was a pleasant tasting cake, but the tea flavour just did not shine through strong enough, and I didn't have the soft, fluffy cake that I was aiming for.<br />
<br />
But I wasn't about to give up on my tea flavoured cake quest!<br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">For my second attempt, I added
more flour, and some extra raising agents for extra lift, and I reduced the wet ingredients to prevent the cake from being too dense. I also used a lemon syrup instead of an orange </span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">icing. Finally, I added a tablespoon full of vinegar - this sounds strange but I have used it in another trustworthy eggless cake recipe in the past, and I found that it helps to keep the cake light when you aren't using any eggs. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">I eagerly awaited the outcome of this second cake. And, much to my
excitement, I had a proper fluffy loaf cake!</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsOl2vHhLheAnOqYFPhvTgjO29_UizEgXU0tMIGRb2yfkOXB3CzrwujLAUDGF3zzVUZL7O4ilIzhl44C_kHa19wcYVPRl1s98oW_EKSyV0sHNnRfU8ijVik5t6n0hNVacKp205fdE6w9M/s1600/DSC02868.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsOl2vHhLheAnOqYFPhvTgjO29_UizEgXU0tMIGRb2yfkOXB3CzrwujLAUDGF3zzVUZL7O4ilIzhl44C_kHa19wcYVPRl1s98oW_EKSyV0sHNnRfU8ijVik5t6n0hNVacKp205fdE6w9M/s1600/DSC02868.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">The cake looked so pretty with the
tiny brown flecks of tea leaves throughout it. It had a nice soft, crumbly
texture, with sweetness from the juicy sultanas studded throughout the cake.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5m71Qjsi2yVv6RPFfaiJIx1k1AwHLNllJ7Je5phPYeW3tZX586Ayx_dseBK6Upx8fC2XiqgWbZWy9uiECui_6wryyPsCWXdDB522UyjyMIxUIQOaOJa4SqCvXF5iT82b6we8CStMUD8o/s1600/DSC02866.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5m71Qjsi2yVv6RPFfaiJIx1k1AwHLNllJ7Je5phPYeW3tZX586Ayx_dseBK6Upx8fC2XiqgWbZWy9uiECui_6wryyPsCWXdDB522UyjyMIxUIQOaOJa4SqCvXF5iT82b6we8CStMUD8o/s1600/DSC02866.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 115%;">And most importantly, it tasted like Earl Grey tea! Best
of all, as the sultanas had been soaked in the tea, they tasted like tiny bursts of tea in each bite!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">So, w</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">hat is your favourite hot drink? And of course, do feel free to
experiment with your own favourite tea to make your own very special tea cake!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<h4>
Earl Grey Tea Loaf</h4>
<i>Adapted from recipes <a href="http://www.bohemianmama.co.uk/blog/?p=218">here </a>and <a href="http://www.topwithcinnamon.com/2014/01/earl-grey-tea-blueberry-and-lemon-cake.html">here</a></i><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;"><i>Loaf</i></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;">3 Earl Grey tea bags</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">1 cup boiling water<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">150 g sultanas<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">300 g self-raising flour<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">2 tsp baking powder<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">½ tsp baking soda<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">Pinch of salt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">1 tsp mixed spice<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">100g raw sugar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">½ cup rice-bran oil<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">¼ cup soy milk<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">1 tbsp vinegar<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;"><i>Lemon glaze</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">50 g caster sugar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">100ml water<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">2 tbsp lemon juice<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">1 tsp finely grated lemon zest<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">1. Cut open the teabags and empty leaves into a bowl. Add the
boiling water and brew for 5 minutes. Add the sultanas and soak for at least 1
hour.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOt8Q_d0wjt3Qk2nlpzJ4-RTmEUPKrkIQy4A_5YqEKzhLEQ50PfuqD_itQEPoE3JiSh-k548s9v6LAjBzx9eo2-wfS9G5DREffDli1-k8PspwDUEW2vyzz22YwAHiRysw6NC-j0t8Bytg/s1600/DSC02852.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOt8Q_d0wjt3Qk2nlpzJ4-RTmEUPKrkIQy4A_5YqEKzhLEQ50PfuqD_itQEPoE3JiSh-k548s9v6LAjBzx9eo2-wfS9G5DREffDli1-k8PspwDUEW2vyzz22YwAHiRysw6NC-j0t8Bytg/s1600/DSC02852.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line and grease a loaf tin (my
dimensions were approx. 21 cm x 10.5 cm x 7 cm) .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">3. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and mixed
spice into a large bowl. Add the sugar and stir to combine. Make a well in
the middle. Add the fruit and tea mixture (including all the tea leaves and the
soaking liquid), oil and soy milk and stir gently to combine. Then add the
vinegar and stir to combine.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPxMdQDCvA6uPVpFAu6wd1geyeWTwjD5UU9vGNMgp4PIBS3RGHETBCVsYEpx_V6-cDVeNderCSuDuVYhIOJLdN9CGtp1N-3kNJss3tAsJ_BBgMYG9IuAPkjfkZriXjHr1i7xMUpdEIFvU/s1600/DSC02853.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPxMdQDCvA6uPVpFAu6wd1geyeWTwjD5UU9vGNMgp4PIBS3RGHETBCVsYEpx_V6-cDVeNderCSuDuVYhIOJLdN9CGtp1N-3kNJss3tAsJ_BBgMYG9IuAPkjfkZriXjHr1i7xMUpdEIFvU/s1600/DSC02853.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">4. Spoon batter into loaf tin. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a
skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">5. To make glaze, put the water, juice and zest into a small pan
and gently bring to the boil. Add the caster sugar, give a quick stir, and
bring back to the boil. Boil on a medium heat for about 5-10 minutes until
thickened slightly and syrup is a golden colour.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">6. Once cake is out of the oven, prick the cake all over with a
skewer then brush syrup all over the top of the cake. How much syrup you use is
up to you and how sweet you like your cake – I only used about half the syrup
and I kept the rest to serve on the side (or as for Mr Duckie, with some
vanilla ice-cream as a makeshift lemon sundae!). Leave to cool in the tin.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">7. Once cool, slice and serve with any left over syrup, and of
course, a cup of your favourite tea!<span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321287754447890575.post-14708493798295250762014-02-17T18:44:00.003-08:002014-02-24T16:08:28.825-08:00Romantic "Cherry Bakewell" cupcakes<br />
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It sure has been a topsy turvy week! Between moving house and attending significant events with friends and family, I unfortunately haven't had much time to write much. I did however manage to squeeze in some baking!<br />
<br />
I made these cupcakes as a Valentines Day present for Mr Duckie. This Valentines was particularly special as it was out first one as a married couple :) Having had such a busy week, we wished only to have a quiet evening in our new home, and I thought that there could be no better way of settling in and celebrating love than with some home-made baked goods.<br />
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Mr Duckie, true to his British roots, is a huge fan of all the Mr Kipling cakes and tarts. His hands down favourites though are the Cherry Bakewells - those delicious tarts with a jammy base, sticky white fondant icing, and a bright red glace cherry in the centre. These were a common treat for us when we lived in London (much to Mr Duckie's pleasure!), as they were so easily and cheaply available. However, these tasty tarts are harder to find in Australia, so I thought that I would make my own version.<br />
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My aim was to make cherry and almond cupcakes to reflect the soft and fruity Bakewell filling, and then to top with a rosewater icing and glace cherries. The cake batter was easy to put together, only requiring some mixing and folding. I had some misgivings as I filled the cases and saw that they were rather full, but the recipe warned that this would happen so I kept on going. Everything was going smoothly, until I went to take the cupcakes out and saw that they had spilled over the edges and had sunk in the middle! And whilst the tops were getting golden brown, the inside was still not cooked! Clearly I had put too much batter into the cases...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidCqEPMfbWAXJdJAFdnKI2S8IqjieE1KZYhRA-otriyb8YIlI5EfYbsdvKMwlavolQofTn_nK8TqM8jVIEkacF7j_8MI9CmS6NZKr86wVVoWkdKvdnmu0npWXXJCvUHbU6_ivqtRu0LLo/s1600/baked+cupcakes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidCqEPMfbWAXJdJAFdnKI2S8IqjieE1KZYhRA-otriyb8YIlI5EfYbsdvKMwlavolQofTn_nK8TqM8jVIEkacF7j_8MI9CmS6NZKr86wVVoWkdKvdnmu0npWXXJCvUHbU6_ivqtRu0LLo/s1600/baked+cupcakes.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh no...overflowing cakes!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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With some post-baking reconstruction, whereby I trimmed the edges and filled the holes the excess cake...<br />
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And carefully covered with icing (so useful for hiding mistakes!), I had some not too bad looking cakes...<br />
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Luckily Mr Duckie did not notice anything was wrong, and ate his cupcake wholeheartedly and with much satisfaction! The cupcakes were very moist from the almond meal and yoghurt, with a fruity hit from the cherries and a nutty crunch from the toasted nuts. The floral fragrance from the rosewater icing was also a nice complement to the cherry and almond flavours of the cake. Next time though I will definitely be more careful when filling the cupcake cases!<br />
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Overall, it was a very cosy and relaxing Valentines Day, and a perfect end to the week!<br />
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<br />
<h4>
Romantic "Cherry Bakewell" Cupcakes</h4>
<div>
<i>Adapted from recipes from <a href="http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4434/romantic-rose-cupcakes">BBC Good Food</a> and <a href="http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cuisine/european/english/old-fashioned-cherry-cake.html">Delia Online</a></i><br />
<br />
<b>Ingredients</b></div>
<div>
<br />
<i>Cupcakes</i></div>
<div>
150 ml natural yoghurt</div>
<div>
3 eggs, beaten</div>
<div>
1 tsp vanilla extract</div>
<div>
1 tsp almond extract (this only gave a very subtle flavour, so feel free to add more if prefer a stronger almond flavour)</div>
<div>
175g caster sugar</div>
<div>
160g self-raising flour</div>
<div>
1 tsp baking powder </div>
<div>
75g ground almonds</div>
<div>
200g glace cherries, quartered (put some aside for decorating the cupcakes)</div>
<div>
50g slivered almonds, toasted (I used a mixture of pinenuts and almonds which were on special at the supermarket)</div>
<div>
3/4 cup canola oil</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>Icing</i></div>
<div>
250g icing sugar, sifted</div>
<div>
1 tbsp rosewater (if you like you could use lemon juice instead)</div>
<div>
1-2 tbsp water</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
To toast slivered almonds: Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line a baking tray with baking paper and sprinkle nuts over tray. Bake in oven for about 6-8 minutes until nuts are golden brown - be careful to keep an eye on the nuts to prevent them burning.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For cupcakes: line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases and heat oven to 190 degrees/fan 170 degrees fan. In a jug, mix the yoghurt, eggs, vanilla extract and almond extract. Put the sugar, flour, baking powder and ground almonds, plus a pinch of salt, into a large bowl. Mix well and make a well in the middle.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Add the yoghurty mix and oil to the dry ingredients. Quickly fold in with a spatula, metal spoon or wooden spoon - don't overwork it. Spoon into cases so that they are about two-thirds full (you will most likely have leftover batter, which you can bake in another batch, or in another muffin tin if you have one). Bake for 20-25 mins or until golden, risen and springy to the touch. Cool for a few minutes, then lift cakes onto a wire rack to cool completely.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For the icing: combine icing sugar, rosewater and water (add 1 or 2 tablespoons depending on how thick you want your icing) in a bowl until a smooth paste forms.<br />
<br />
Once cakes are cool, spread icing over and decorate with half a glace cherry. Keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze as soon as possible.</div>
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099309007192038233noreply@blogger.com0