Statistical analysis of monetary spending

Theory: That the relentless purchase of scrapbooking supplies has a positive effect on creativity.
Analysis: As the graph below shows, there is some correlation, but not in the anticipated direction.
Spend is trending in a positive direction while Creativity trend is slight negative with a tendency towards an indefinite plateau.
Action: Spend more. Creativity has to go up eventually…


It hasn’t all been bad, though. In a rare one-night window of artistic imagination, I made a page with a photo taken at the KISS concert. I tried to make it a little bit grungey and rough, in keeping with the event (or, rather, the crowd), but I couldn’t get away from being kind of naturally neat and structured.

They’re a weird mob, those patissiers

Cinque terre. What does it mean**? 5th earth was my attempt at translation but it doesn’t make sense? Why do I have to be so literal? These strange names for gateaux – it’s probably some psychological ploy by a patissier to have some fun and confuse his customers.

Anyway, cinque terre is flourless chocolate biscuit, citron crème, raspberry crèmeux, candied vanilla olives and chocolate cinnamon mousse topped with meringue. The mousse is deliciously chocolatey and rich but tempered by the bitter tang of the citron. The surprise of olives is embedded in the chocolate mousse. The bf commented, ‘Nice, isn’t it?’. ‘Ur mmm erhnmm’, I replied (translation: oh gosh, this is divine).

And speaking of weird names, what’s this? First, Ed is flavour of the month, with all sorts of proposals being thrown at him; now this. Tsk tsk, Ed. Knocked up, indeed!

** I did look it up, and cinque terre (as most people know, except me) are five coastal villages in the province of La Spezia in the Liguria region of Italy. Hence the olives in the cake!

If kids can do it, so can I

I don’t know what it says about me that I sometimes prefer recipes that have been written by/for children. Maybe it’s the simplicity of the recipes, or the fewer ingredients. Or maybe it’s because I feel so bleah after a day at work that simple is best?

In any case, this zucchini slice was adapted (via delicious magazine) from the Artarmon Public School 2002 Cookbook. Those kids are onto something, because this is a very tasty, easy slice that is quick to make. The bacon can be omitted and other veges such as corn kernels, capsicum pieces or chopped mushrooms added to make it healthier. And the leftovers are scrumptious the next day.


Zucchini Slice

5 eggs
150g (1 cup) self-raising flour, sifted (I used about ¾ cup for a less floury taste)
375g (about 3 smallish) zucchini, grated
1 onion, finely chopped
200 rindless bacon, chopped
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
60ml (1/4 cup) vegetable oil


Method
1. Preheat oven to 170 deg C. Grease and line a 30 x 20cm lamington pan.
2. Beat the egg in a large bowl until combined.
3. Add the flour and beat until smooth.
4. Add zucchini, onion, bacon, cheese and oil and stir to combine.
5. Pour into the prepared pan and bake in oven for 30 mins or until cooked through.

Makes about 10 slices (depends on the size of the baking pan).

Recipe from delicious. February 2003

And check out the old copy of delicious that it is from (remember when it used to be $4.95 a copy!).

Alright, if you insist

On a bit of a cake roll with the new Adriano Zumbo range.

This one is called 'You name it', but with that yellow pate and comb-over, 'Homie' is much more suitable, don't you think? It has Homer J Simpson written all over it...

The selling point for me with this creation was the lychee jelly (love love love lychees). The jelly sits atop some mango mascarpone creme and is inside caramel mousse embedded with choc mint bits.

Tabitha gave it a once-over but thankfully left it all to me...

Stop press update: Given that there is a Homie, then shouldn’t Storm Cloud be renamed ‘Marge’?

Three new cakes, one uninterested cat

Had a mini crop at my place on the weekend, so it was a chance to sample the new Adriano Zumbo cakes for afternoon tea (as if I needed an excuse?).

Doesn’t the new range look spectacular, all lined up in the glass case; it’s sensory overload, so be patient on the poor indecisive customers who can’t make up their minds when confronted with such Beauty.

I got 3 cakes, mainly based on their appearance.

Epice is pistachio cheesecake with whole morello cherries and lime and cardamom mousse and pistachios. It is apparently very reminiscent of Indian desserts (according to Mandy, who knows these things).

Next is a new Charlotte, Guadeloupe, though I’m not sure where the Mexican connection is. She is made of dacquoise, chocolate bavaroise, caramelised pineapple with a choc macaron fence around it. I thought I detected ginger in the pineapple as well, but that could be my imagination. I love the AZ ribbon around it as well.

Then, another cloud, Stormy. Filled with tangy lime crème, it is topped with soft Italian meringue. The blue dust on top has glitter sprinkled through it as well. Spectacular, as the young punters around the display case will agree…(lots of ‘awww mum, I want that one??’)

I have to say that the cakes went down a treat. Tabby was apathetic though she looks kinda interested in the photo.

And thanks, Lin Mei and Mandy for coming over. Our crop was real fun (and delicious)!

Scenes from the mall

Hasn't Rhodes (near Homebush, NSW) changed a lot? At least, I think it has. I remember only 10 years ago when there was nothing there. Now, it houses NSW's only IKEA, as well as a shopping centre and thousands of snazzy apartments. And for us, it's a destination in itself, with a semi-express train from the city getting us there in about 30 mins.
The other reason for going there is another in the Phoenix yum cha chain.

For this yum cha, we tried some new dishes - a fried eggplant-prawn dish that contained about 12 million calories, and a great watermelon and grass jelly dessert that was served out of a carved watermelon, yummy.
And they had one of my personal favourites, a sago 'thing' filled with red bean and egg yolk. The bf thinks it looks like something laid by an alien.

And here are some wonderfully graphic fabrics in IKEA. That place is massive, though I rarely buy anything because I don't want to queue at the checkouts (a bit 'princessy', am I).
The floating grass balls were hanging in the shopping centre. I thought they looked cool.

Last call for old tarts

This is the last cake (and chocolate) I had from Adriano Zumbo. Last one from the old range, that is, because the new range is out now. Vale Maxiadz.

And, no, I don't usually eat the cake off the floor, I just wanted to see what Tabs would do with it. And she does what she always does - nothing.

For something different, here is something from Emperor's Garden cake shop in Chinatown. It was very nice, and for $1.80, excellent value. We can't worship at King Adriano's altar all the time, so the emperor is just as good...almost.

Dinner at Ocean Room, Circular Quay

We celebrated bf’s b’day at Ocean Room, by the water. I was tossing up between it and Raita Noda’s other restaurant, Rise in Darlinghurst, and Ocean Room won mainly because it was easier for us to get to, and we were there last year and had a wonderful meal, so…

And same as last year, we both had Raita’s Tasting Menu ($90) which is made up of a selection of 8 dishes from the current menu. I love tasting menus because I usually get bored with a large main after a few bites, so tasting plates are a fab way to try all the best things on the menu. Raita Noda didn’t appear to be in the kitchen on Saturday night, but the food was fantastic anyway.

We started with oysters, with the Merimbula ones being my favourite, their freshness and large size just bursting with flavour.
Next came sardines on toast, topped with an amazing tangy tomato sorbet. It was tongue-tingling cold, as a sorbet is, and just so surprising; it was the best.

Then arrived a taco, though much better than any others I’ve ever had. There was a seafood theme on the night, and the taco contained soft shell crab, and was accompanied by a prawn with wasabi sauce and a little potato ball. One (little) gripe, if I may: the lighting at Ocean Room is really dim, making it difficult to see in front of your nose, let alone the plate. I’m not sure if the chefs realise that the effort they probably put into the presentation may be lost on their diners…? (That’s the reason the photos are with a flash). And I do like to see what I’m eating.

The next dish, ocean trout, was beautifully fresh and melt in the mouth, as was the sushi/sashimi (the tuna was especially ‘oooohhh, you have to taste this’).

By this time, I was starting to flag, so I gave some of my grilled tuna to bf, who happily scoffed it. A caponata that came with the tuna was definitely scoffed by me, though.

Then, just as I couldn’t eat another bite (except for dessert), comes a Wagyu meat pie, which the waitress said she’d never seen on the tasting menu before. The meat was really tender, but, sorry, I couldn’t do it justice.

Of the desserts, my fave was the passionfruit and coconut mousse cake, because it was refreshing after the large meal. And we both enjoyed the choc-coated honeycomb.

I really adore Ocean Room: apart from the food, the waitstaff were friendly, efficient and helpful. We had 8 courses and they all came out of the kitchen without any delay. I can’t wait to go to Rise next…maybe for my birthday (hint, hint).

Thai green chicken curry (spicy!)

Recipe time!

This is for a Thai green curry with chicken. The recipe was originally for 4, but I’ve halved it for a cosy 2. And having made a similar recipe before, I can vouch that the heat in the curry depends on the type of curry paste you use (assuming that you use a pre-made packet one like me!). For this one, I used Trident’s green curry paste, and it is very hot. There was another (real Thai) one at the shop last time that was fantastic but it’s not there anymore (darn) and I can’t remember its name (double darn!).

Thai Green Chicken Curry
(serves 2)

Ingredients

1 tbls vegetable oil
25g green curry paste
2 chicken thigh fillets, cubed
200ml light coconut milk
1 tbls fish sauce
1 tbls lemon juice
½ tbls brown sugar
20 snow peas, sliced
Steamed rice, to serve

Method
1. Heat oil in wok over medium heat and fry the green curry paste for about 1 minute.
2. Add chicken and stir fry until sealed.
3. Add coconut milk, fish sauce, lemon juice and sugar.
4. Bring mixture to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minute.
5. Add snow peas and simmer further 3-4 mins.
6. Serve with steamed rice.

How healthy is this?

For a change of pace (and healthier to boot), I tried the spelt loaf from Adriano Zumbo. Spelt is a grain that is high in protein but easy to digest. It may also be suitable if you have a wheat intolerance.

Its taste is reminiscent of old-fashioned brown bread (remember school day tuckshops with your friend’s mum on duty?) and it tastes fantastically good – here, it is sliced not-too-thickly for maximum chewability.