Spoiled Rotten!

Word recognition fail! I typed 'spoilt'... then changed to 'spoiled', now I don't even believe it's a word anymore. The point is that lately I have been spoiled in the food region! In the last few weeks, I have been invited for dinner 3 times :) Let's kick off with Josh's amazing parmesan and herb-crusted rack of lamb <3  

Served atop a bed of buttery mash, some roasted cherry tomatoes, garlic, and asparagus! My god it was brilliant! He followed that stellar effort up a few days later by making Paella!!

It was also amazing! He didn't use seafood, but that's ok cos my favourite bit is the chorizo anyway :D Also I was taking leftovers to work the following day for lunch and i didnt want stinky prawns in the microwave!

If that wasn't good enough, my dad invited me over for some home-cooked Lasagna a la Zack! I love trying people's lasagna because you never get 2 lasagnas the same! They are always so individual and ALWAYS delicious. You can't really fuck up a lasagna, can you? Anyway, here are some pics of the yummy dinner they put on for me:

Greeted with beer, nice touch :)

Bubbly lasagna top with basil leaf detail, another nice touch! 

Zack dishing up his creation

My first ever Golden Syrup Dumplings!

YUM!

The dumplings are kind of like donuts, cooked in a combination of Golden Syrup and sugar. We all felt a bit ill after eating them, that's fo sho! Needless to say, I was so full and satisfied after each dinner. There's always something special about being cooked for, i love it :)

Dish 44) SARMAAAAAA

Last weekend I made a long overdue dish with some current and ex- workmates. The dish is called Sarma (roll the R), and my Serbian pal Dragana had told me all about it back in the day when we worked together!

It has proven to be quite the contentious little dish as my Croatian friend angrily objects that it is actually a Croatian recipe. And some Sri Lankan girls at work said "um.... isn't that Indian??" haha. Whatever it is, I can tell you that it rocks my warm Winter Socks off!

Here are some pics of the prep...

Here we have minced pork, minced beef, onion, capsicum, aborio rice, and a little mixture of carrot, parsley, garlic and paprika! On top of that, you also need some whole pickled cabbage leaves, water, vegeta stock, more paprika, bay leaves, an egg, smoked pork ribs and Spec (smoked bacon).

Start by cooking the onions for 20 mins, then add the capsicum for 5 mins, then the minced meat, then the spices, carrot mix and rice. Cook for about 20 mins until all browned and combined.

Next, take a cabbage leaf, fill it with mixture, and fold up into a little parcel!

Layer them in a pot with the Spec and ribs...

Fill with water, and add bay leaves, paprika and a bit of oil...

Cook for about 1.5 hours on the stove with a lid on, and serve up as below:

Yeah, it looks a little like a selection of body parts, but it is sooooo yum! If you are sceptical, I would compare it to something like Chop Suey/Chow Mein.. like an Aussie mama makes haha. Comfort food to the MAX!!!!!!!!!!


We had a nice day catching up in her lovely newly built house, and I was quite taken with her elaborate iPhone cover! It is so unevenly bumpy with bling that she can't rest put it down on its back!
 

Wow, I have totally spaced on something cool and big. My 6 year anniversary with Josh!

We celebrated this about, oh... 2 months ago! Not writing about this is grounds alone for Josh to give me the flick. Well I'll make up for it now!

So I arranged accommodation at "The Blackman" hotel - one of the Art Series Group. They are very VERY cool! Don't get me wrong, the property was very lovely, but next time I think I'd try 'The Olsen' - it has a pool and is closer to more restaurants etc. My friend tried to warn me, but I wouldn't listen! So here is our balcony Suite for 2 nights:

So on our first night, Josh arrived super late so we got some room service dinner and lounged around in our big fluffy robes drinking red wine. I may or may not have spilled a few drops on my robe :S Of course I did... c'mon. Food is an all over experience!!


The next day in the city, we took the opportunity to do some shopping and lunch. Seeing as we both have champagne taste on a beer pay check, we went to the "Clear It" outlet on Brunswick Street Fitzroy to get some Jack London (for him) and Dangerfield (for me) items. The place was so intense. Because there weren't really any mirrors, we used my camera to model the things we liked. Here is Josh modelling but pretending to look casual. He is going to kill me for putting these up :D

Lovely <3 And here is me...

I don't know why it is so blurry. Either Josh doesn't know how to use a camera or he felt super self conscious in the girls section taking pics of his little lady so lifted it for a split second to take the picture before quickly lowering it.

Anyway he bought a few jackets and i bought... nothing! Unreal!! So we worked up an appetite and went a few doors up to the Little Creatures Dining Hall. It was awesome! You could leave your ID and borrow a board game. Naturally because Josh is obsessed with 'Words with friends' on iPhone... we got scrabble. We played at our own pace while eating, sampling the fine tap beers, and also while Josh juggled a few more scrabble games on his phone.

My yummy lunch! Beef and kipfler potato salad, with a poached egg. YUM! 

Josh got a club sandwich on a chopping board :)

That night we mustered up the appetite and energy to go out for dinner to "The Kitchen Cat" (used to be Jamie Oliver's Fifteen) which is run by Tobie Puttock - who was working hard in the kitchen :) It is a really nice basement layout and has such delicious food, but I thought it was a little pricey - particularly the alcohol. There was a great selection but we just couldn't manage it :( frown frown. I had the best EFFING dessert there - a beautiful plump grilled peach with vanilla marscapone. DROOL!! Check out their site - you will be convinced to try it.


For the rest of our time we lounged around on the most comfortable bed I have ever slept on in my life. I pulled the sheets up to see what it was...

I'm now looking out for ex-art series hotel mattresses. Providing they don't come with ghosts and STI's :) ahhaha...

Celeb Crush: Rory Culkin

Is it just me... or is there something about Rory Culkin?

I saw Scream 4 a few weeks ago and developed a bit of a crush on the character Charlie, played by Rory Culkin. I know what it is too, the hair. The long hair, the nerdy vibe, and the sexual inexperience- despite his chiselled face and attractive features. I love that shit. I wanted to show Charlie how it's done. A few people have told me I could be a good teacher, so I am going to imagine this is what they had in mind when they said that. Teaching skinny shy boys how to party (strictly in my imagination of course).

This all makes me recall the days when Josh and I were courting. Ahhh, those were the days indeed! There was me; the born and bred tom-boy trying to correct myself slowly by quitting skating, wearing more pearls and trying to learn how to rock a short hairdo without being mistaken (again) for a lesbian. And there was Josh- the skinny, shy, slightly nerdy guy with a chiselled jaw, Iron Maiden T-shirt, unrealised attractive features and hair longer than mine. A match made in heaven- well, at least that's what Wes Craven seemed to think when casting Charlie and Kirby!

Anyway, those were fun times. We would be walking down the street and someone would say "Excuse me, Miss?" and I'd turn around to respond, but they would be looking at Josh. Hmm... that was meant to be a joke but I have a feeling it could have actually happened.

This has always been a thing with me. You see, when I was a kid I went to Catholic Primary School, and in grade 3 we had to make First Holy Confession. I didn't have anything to confess so I made up a lie (as you do in confession...) that I had sinned by fighting with my brothers. The priest couldn't see me, and asked how many brothers I had. I told him two. He resonded "Wow, THREE boys? Your mum must have her hands full!" and my tiny but apparently gruff voice responded ".....I'm a girl...." to which he apologised. One other time I was getting my hair dyed and my housemate said I looked like my dad when I don't wear make-up. Oh god. It seems I've had to try extra hard to be noticed as a girl in this life. Perhaps that's why I overcompensate by wear pencil skirts and bust-enhancing tops? Who knows...

Anyway, I can be a little rough and Josh can be a little soft but we work pretty nicely together. For example, tonight I will be going to his place to drink beers and watch a doco about Grizzly bears (which I am promised has some gruesome fight and kill scenes) but maybe tomorrow we will be drinking tea together and i will be asking him which colour shoe looks best with my new skirt and knowing that I will get the correct answer.

I don't know what this has to do with Rory Culkin anymore, but I think the lesson is clear: I can't stick to a topic, but the result is still pretty entertaining. And Rory Culkin is awesome and why are there so many Culkins?