May 28, 2007

Tart for a Tart

A few weeks ago my cousins, Ben and Ed, brought over a bag of home grown mandarins - i'd love to say they were sweet juicy organic jewels of flavour sensation, except they were dry and sour and they were sitting there about to go mouldy. haha

So what to do with a bunch of mandarins that aren't fit to eat? I was thinking of making jam but that might require me to sterilise jars and take much more time and effort than I was willing to invest on a sunday morning, so I decided to take the easy option - mandarin curd. It was the first time I made it - I used a recipe for lemon curd from the Bill Granger recipe book that my cousins gave me for my bday (yay), except the mixture wasn't thickening and I ended up doubling the batch thinking it was some juice to egg to butter ratio. In the end I consulted Nigella's domestic goddess turns out I didn't have enough heat. I love her cookbooks!

Baked some left over pastry, spooned on the curd and it was great. I also ended up using 10 egg yolks and so had to make a double batch of lemon friands to use the left over egg whites. It was a baked goods daily double...not so good for the 'lean mean paddling machine' diet though.


May 21, 2007

brunch at Kazbah


It's my birthday - Let the feasting begin! Sat morning breakfast feast at Kazbah in Balmain with friends and lovers...

May 08, 2007

Update

So most of you know i'm pretty blind - i've worn glasses since I was in year 7 when my science teacher Ms Ratcliffe (affectionately referred to as Ratty) pulled me out of class to demand that I should stop squinting at the blackboard and go to the optometrist. ah the joys. Next thursday I'm finally biting the bullet - I'm getting Lasik eye surgery and i'm hoping I will be able to jump out of bed without first having to search for my glasses and jump into the water without having to scrunch my eyes shut worrying that my contacts will float away....I will miss my funky purple glasses though - I often get mistaken for a doctor when i wear them HA HA (okay I also work in Kogarah where most people either work for St George Bank or for the Hospital so it's not that unbelievable!)

I'm thinking of doing a photographic homage to my life with glasses...but the photos would be so dorky i dont think I could bear it hahaha (exercising my right to self-censorship!)

Marley's first birthday

On the weekend we went to Jpeg's cousin's son's first birthday party. And in true Rotuman island style it was a BBQ with a whole big bunch of family and friends and lots of food. We got to watch 20 kids try to whack the crap out of the hardest pinata we have ever seen haha. There's something so enjoyable about watching kids hyped up on lollies and soft drink and giving them a big stick and yelling at them to HIT IT HARDER...especially when they're not your kids and you don't have to take them home. haha.


This is the birthday boy, Marley wearing a traditional 'te-fui' necklace lei ...with his mum and dad. I think he was abit overwhelmed by all the attention.



These are the snags on the barbie...



...and this is the can of cow on the barbie.


I wasn't joking - it's a can of CORNED BEEF. And that's how they cook it - on the barbie in the can. If they were using the traditional underground oven (lovo) they just shove the can ontop of the hot ashes. I think it's just to warm up the fat so that it's not solidified when they open the can up.

That's my culinary tip for all you folks for this week! hehe.

Personally i can't stand canned corned beef. I dont mind the silverside variety, but just not the shredded beef bits, it just reminds me too much of dog food! But Jpeg LOVES it and apparently all 'true' pacific islanders love it too!



HAPPY bIRTHDAY MARLEY!

May 01, 2007

What about Brian?

A pics from Brian and Irene's gorgeous wedding...