CROQUEMBOUCHE... COMPLETE!

Ello, ello, ello! Well, it's that time of year again! The time between Christmas and New Years where you feel neither here nor there and feel like you've suffered a beating of the worst kind. Happy Days! I have something to tell you.... i have finally made a croquembouche! BOOYAAAHHHHH

It was completed at my friend Jess's house over 2 days. I think i jinxed the family and stressed them all out to be honest. Hope everything's ok over there now! So... we started off with the profiteroles!

Choux pastry was OK to make, although you have to add the egg 3 teaspoons at a time and beat, and there are 6 eggs in each batch we did! Good thing there were mix-masters going. Then the next day we did the Cointreau custard and assembled the whole thing!

That's me nursing a toffee burn on my knuckle, trying to get in finished quickly. I think if i ever ever ever make one again... i will not use toffee cos i don't like having scabby knuckles. sounds so bad... haha. It tasted really good, everyone was a big fan :)

Anyway, that's one more thing off the list, how exciting!



cookin' up a storm

Hello fair ladies and gentle fellows! I have some news on the cooking front! Recently I made this asian vermicelli noodle salad for dinner. I didn't have much to work with in the fridge so i grated some carrot and cucumber to mix through the noodles, found a spring onion, some mint and some bean sprouts in the fridge too. oh and i put some finely grated purple cabbage through and added some splashes of sauces....

It was really yummy, although being the big eater I am, it wasn't enough to fill my tum tum. but by the time i got hungry it was late.... i often find myself contemplating second dinner around 11pm...but i almost always resist and turn in for the night. Oh, also, a few days ago i had quite the baking day! I made shortbreads, banana bread AND made a recipe i have been wanting to make for a long time!! CANDY CANE COOKIES! Let's watch:

Here are my Christmas stars... I thought i had a decent 5 point star cutter, but turns out i have this weird 4 point star cutter. who ever heard of 4 points? it looks a bit like a nazareth star...if that's a 'thing'. I'm talking shit again. Ok, so i used the lavender to make lavender shortbread love-hearts. Apparently got rave reviews... Also i used the over-ripe bananas to make banana cinamon bread. yummo...

And the Pièce de résistance... CANDY CANE COOKIES!

I have looked at this recipe every christmas for the past 5 years i reckon. Laaaazy! I finally unlocked the door to this cool recipe! Thats another 2 recipes off my list! But they were kinda fun to make.... actually they were really fiddly and the dough was almost like trying to work with water so they were annoying to make. But worth it.

That's the finished product. I put them in gift bags last night for some lucky people, but about 3 of them broke........ god damn it al to HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!

So Christmas is in a few days..... woo! I am not feeling organised but i no longer care. This year i am feeling kind of grinchy about the whole christmas thing. I know decorating my house and baking cookies doesnt seem like grinch behaviour... but believe me, i was more excited last year haha. Need to be more positive about this time of year. promise to be next year. It should be a nice festive season, and I'm lookig forward to New Years Eve too cos I'm hosting the party this year and it's gonna be "Frat Party" theme. I hear Lady Gaga is making an appearance. I'll make sure I get a photo with her in my toga.. :)

In the Lygon Street Zone!

Do Y'all know Lygon Street? I'm sure if you're from around here then you would for sure. It's the Italian restaurant mecca of Melbourne. Very famous etc etc. The problem for me is the abundance of "Ferrari restaurants".. you know the dark 70's style decor with faded Ferrari posters on the wall? Yes, those. Well I had a few Ferrari experiences around here so I'm always looking for nice new places to go! Josh and I have come here quite a bit as it's near my work and his uni, and we occasionally go the the NOVA cinema on Mondays when tickets are $8! The place directly across from Nova is called "Tiamo" and i love it! But going there 3 times in a row was starting to feel a tad.... thoughtless. So we tried a place closer to the city end which was OK, and then on Monday night Josh and I tried "D.O.C" onthe corner of Faraday and Drummond.

Let me just say: I really liked it! From what I can gather from the Italian menu, it is a concept restaurant which is kind of like a mozzarella bar with multiple cheeses on offer. They had some antipasto on offer, and a selection of pizzas with what I can only imagine are carefully designed with the nicest ingredients in stock. No Don salami here. On the back of the menu they have descriptions of types of cheeses and salamis on offer...

So we drank some Italian Beers while we perused the menu and stared around at the passers by...

And then got our pizzas very quickly and they had that "minimal" vibe to them which i like, especially when everything on it was top quality and tasty! If we go there again (I'm sure we will) I'll get the pizza which had cremy broccoli something on it :)

I demolished mine!! And I even had a bite of Josh's too! Make no mistake people, I have a healthy appetite! A fact which many old people like to tell me, and a fact which I suppose I should embrace. It's just a shame that this deliciously relaxing dinner was spoiled by the movie we saw afterwards. Josh gave me the option of two movies.. one set in Tokyo and one set in Finland. So can you guess which one I chose? Yah, Tokyo.

We saw "Enter the void" - a French film in English about an American guy living in Tokyo who dies during a drug deal and comes back as a ghost to revisit past experiences and watch over his redneck fucking dickhead stripper sister who is incestuous and fucked up from growing up in foster homes. It comes with an Epilepsy warning... maybe I should have heeded the warning. But no, I chose the movie and we sat through almost 2 hours of it while a few people left, and then we called it quits after the abortion scene. As did the man sitting next to us. Maybe I'm not "cool" enough to appreciate the message behind it, but whatever. It was boring and repetitive, and each time i saw a light or lamp in a scene i was fearful because the ghost camera hovering around the room goes into the light and you are assaulted by a white screen of strobe for 20 seconds, then the ghost backs out and flies around some more and watches his sister fucking her gross sleazy boss. I dunno, i dont want to recommend it, but i think it would be interesting to see what point you get sick of it and walk out. i couldnt imagine sitting there for another half an hour or whatever was left of the movie... and i felt gross and depressed for the whole night and all of yesterday from it. I'm kinda past the assaulted feeling now and just dislike it. I liked the opening credits and the scenes near the very beginning where they were walking around Tokyo... i felt very nostalgic. And there was one scene during a flashback where his sister is taken away from him which was genuinely sad, and not a punch in the face like other shit going on it the movie. hmm.... thats about it. But it was so indulgent and wanky.

That is the second movie I have walked out on. The first was that Johnny Knoxville movie "The Ringer" where he pretends to be special needs in order to win gold at the special olympics. The audience were such bogans and were laughing AT the downs syndrome actors instead of along with the movie. It was horrific.

Anyway "Enter the Void"... to see or not to see?? YOU BE THE JUDGE. Some people have never walked out on a movie, it's a good feeling.

CHRISTMAS HAS LANDED

ATTENTION! ATTENTION! CHRISTMAS HAS LANDED! BE PREPARED! I am just starting to get organised, but I think I will be adding to my Christmas decoration collection a bit this year! Last year i was pretty poor, but this year I may be getting some new things i hope! This is what I have started off with in order to spread some Christmas cheer throughout the house:

And then some more lovely roses from darling Josh....

Can't wait to get some more stuff! Maybe a wreath...or a giant inflatable santa and sleigh to put on the roof!!!!! Just kidding. I need to find a place to hang the stockings too, so watch this space. This christmassy space :D

New Vego Restaurant (2/5) CROSSWAYS

Howdy Y'all! It has taken me a while to find this place, and I'm going to say it's because i couldn't seem to find it and it wasn't where i thought it was... Yeah that washes. You may know it as "cross roads" the Hare Krishna Restaurant. Basically it's $6.50 all you can eat curry, dessert and drinks (cordial or lassi) and $5.00 for concession card holders - that's YOU students :)

It's on Swanston almost near the corner of Little Collins :) This is the curry they had - a yummy chunky vegie one.

The only problem is that it was about 45 degrees up there and i nearly sweated my face off.. nearly. It was one of those times when the backs of your knees get sweaty. feral. I am sooo not a summer person. Anyway, at least you get to look at their cool pictures :)

And watch people eat funny...

And enjoy the breath of fresh air on the way out :)

If you can stand the heat (figuratively and literally) this is the place to go for your next weekday lunch :)

New Dish 25/52: Roast Beetroot Salad

Yum. Side note: Going to the toilet after eating a lot of beetroot is.... interesting. And disgusting.

New Vego Restaurant (1/5) WHITE LOTUS VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT

Ok, you're probably going "omg what a dick head... that place has been around for years....". Well yes, i fucking know that. The 2001 Cheap Eats guide review blu-tacked to the wall made it quite clear that I have officially arrived late to the opening night party of this place. But that's ok, I like the un-pretentious vibe it had and the fact that for a booking of 4 we were given a big round table for 12. I have been meaning to come here ever since i found out the definition of 'Vegan', and now... I HAVE. WHOOPEEE!

You can find this place on Victoria Street near the Queen Vic Market - just past Peel Street. They specialise in mock meat here, and their most famous dishes are mock duck and mock fish. Crazy huh? Here are a few of their beliefs displayed on the walls...

Pretty cool. We ordered some starters - an assorted plate of starters. Eggplant fritters, taro fritters, wontons, and spring rolls. Bear in mind that this is all vegan...

We got a bucket of rice to share - that was cool...

And here are our mains! This is Steak and black bean :

Wasn't amazing, but nice. This next one was just mind-blowing. It is the fake fish. It looks, smells and tastes like fish.... but it is not.

It's in a tamarind sauce. I highly recommend it. I think it was $19... which is pretty much what you would pay for fish at a chinese place. You have to eat it to believe it! Ok, and here was what i got... DUCK:

Again it looked, smelled and tasted like duck. Awesome! It had crispy skin and everything!! We were so impressed we tried to get rad out the front but i had the lighting all wrong and the 2 guys are just blurs of satisfied customers...

Then we went looking for ice cream at Korean Groceries. Corey found this yummy fish.. it was like ice cream cone with ice cream and red bean inside - was cool!

Sacha got a nice sponge cake ice cream coffee concoction which was also good. I am all about sharing ice creams in case you didnt notice already. I didnt want a whole one, but i wanted to try them both. With a little suggesting they happened to pick one that i liked too hhah

Then squelch decided to get some sushi for lunch the next day. Was pretty funny cos none of the assorted packs could cut it so the lady opened about 4 packs and did some swaps so he got the ultimate pack :)

So there you go, a bit overdue but that was the first new vego place i was meaning to try and have done it :)

what's been goin' on!

Ahoy Noahssss! Well, lately I have been a bit all over the place (what else is new?) and haven't given you news on a massive achievement! MY PERGOLA IS FINISHED! Woo-hooo! My Dad put the roofing on last week. He slaved away with Maki in the heat and wind trying to screw down the colorbond and laserlite sheets. Crazy! But yes, it is done!! So now, I can focus on the yard. The massive yard. And those horribly low fences!

I need to get some crushed rock and mulch and make a nice garden so it doesn't look so desolate out there. So looks like I can tick this pergola item off my list. I did help about 1%... BUT i did financially back it, and it ended up costing DOUBLE what I was told it would cost, so that has pushed all my other plans back :S So I think i helped it get built in a way haha... oh dear. I suck. Watch this space and hopefully i can make my backyard beautiful for you to enjoy! Anyway in other news, Josh bought me some lovely roses...

Lovely roses, bad photo! Sorry, I compressed it heaps for a forum, and cbf uploading it again! haha. Also... in other JOSH NEWS.. He gave Missy a haircut last night, and she is like Patchy McBaldy now. She had heaps of grass seeds and burs and knots. It is bonkers....

Aaaw little missy :) Yeah so TONIGHT I am trying out a new Vego restaurant - as part of my list :) I have to try 5 new ones. Luckily at World Vegan Day I got handed a business card for a BRAND NEW vegan cafe. I lost it though.. that's the bad news!! I'm sure it will work out :) Life always does... life... finds a way...

little shop of horrors: ORIGIN

Yo yo yo yo yoy oyo yo yoyyooooo!!! So, you all remember Josh's friend Jim, yes? He let me borrow his Dutch cookbook, and NOW has let me borrow his "Creepy Things" DVD set! BEHOLD... 20 great scary movies!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

check out some of these promising movie titles...

Did you happen to see the name "Kim Cattrall" next to 1977's 'Good Against Evil'?? Well it's there if you want to look again! T'aint goin' nowhere. Samanth off Sex in the City... the early years. Also, I'm excited to see some of the Vincent Price ones!! I kicked things off last night by watching 1960's Little Shop of Horrors "starring" Jack Nicholson. I do have the ultimate soft spot for Jacky boy, he is an absolute legend. Also, I have the Rick Moranis re-make on DVD too, so I thought I'd start off on a familiar note. It was pretty pretty pretty cool! So, it's 50 years old yeah!! How awesome is that!? It was Black and White, and unlike the stage show and movie re-make, it is NOT a musical! It was a horror... and I think it's meant to be a comedy too. Maybe a black comedy. 

There was one scene that made me laugh. It was some dialogue between two detectives on the case. It's in that abrupt wise guy dialogue. Check it (courtesy of IMDB):

Det. Sgt .Joe Fink: How's the wife, Frank?
Det. Frank Stoolie: Not bad, Joe.
Det. Sgt .Joe Fink: Glad to hear it. The kids?
Det. Frank Stoolie: Lost one yesterday.
Det. Sgt .Joe Fink: Lost one, huh? How'd that happen?
Det. Frank Stoolie: Playing with matches
Det. Sgt .Joe Fink: Well, those're the breaks
Det. Frank Stoolie: I guess so.

Haha, so dry. The scenes that were slapstick weren't really my style...contrary to the fact that I actually LOVE physical comedy. There was a show on TV at mum's last night which was a top 20 countdown of injuries. Soooo goood! Anyway. I thought Jack Nicholson must have played a major role, like... SEYMOUR or something, which is what this movie poster would suggest...

But actually, this is Seymour:

Jonathan Haze. He was really good! Jack Nicholson was good too, but he actually played a small character called "Wilbur Force". If you've seen the re-make you'll remember Bill Murray as the masochistic dental patient getting off on the pain? Well Jack was the original masochistic dental patient :)

 I remember Bill did a good job, in the scene he knows his way around the dental surgery and puts on his own bib, stuffs his own mouth with cotton and all that stuff ready for crazy sadistic Steve Martin to bring on the pain. In the original, Seymour poses as the dentist and Nicholson convinces his to pull some teeth and leaves with half his teeth gone. Pretty 1960 funny :) If my maths is correct, Jack Nicholson is about 23 years old in that picture. Craaaazy!!  

So what should I watch next? Any ideas? I like the sound of "The Brain the wouldn't die", or maybe "The Dead Eyes of London". Weeeeeeeee