Cupcake Decorating Class

Last Sunday I had a super creative day, I did Cupcake Decorating Class with 2 friends & the teacher was my BFF Handi Mulyana from Handi's Cakes. I thought he was joking when he said the he needs 4 hours for the cupcake decorating class & yes it did take us approximately 4 hours to decorate cupcakes.

It was a big day for 3 of us since none of us got any decorating experience. We are still amazed that we did decorate the cupcakes with proportions of 20% messy ones & 80% OK looking. I never knew that cupcake decorating is quite time consuming. If anyone charge $6-8 for a prettily decorated cupcake, I understand the reasons behind the figure right now.

The blue cupcakes & the family theme

The pinkie cupcakes + girls + baby

The greenie cupcakes with teddy bear, butterfly & love heart decorations

Zucchini Flower Fritter Dinner

I went a little crazy last week when I went to the Northside Produce Market, I bought brocolli, cauliflower, oyster mushroom, avocado, zucchini fritters and other goodies. I really have to cook tonight otherwise everything will be spoiled in a few days.

Here you go...this is my dinner tonight, zucchini fritters plus all the goodies from the market.

Zucchini Fritters from Northside Produce Market

Zucchini Fritters with mashed avocado and lime juice, stir fry brocolli, cauliflower and oyster mushroom plus Chilli Jam from Pastabilities

Cafe XXII Pyrmont Again

A friend came from Singapore & we visited Cafe XXII Pyrmont for lunch, yayyy I can have my fettucini meatballs again.

Pumpkin, ricotta and roasted almond bruschetta, very yummy, I feel inspired and I might give it a go @ home one day

Wagyu Steak sandwich for R who just had his detox program

This is the only Missoni that is pocket friendly ... sparkling water Missoni Pellegrino

Fettucini Meatballs with pecorino cheese for me, very generous meatballs today, normally they serve 5 pieces of meatballs

Grilled Ocean Trout with cous cous salad for my friend I who is going for 10km run next week, a healthy choice compared to my fettucini meatballs

Baby Shower

Sunday 21/11/10 - To celebrate Priska's 7th month of  pregnancy we organised Indonesian (Javanese tradition) style baby shower, aka siraman. Consists of a set of rituals and followed by having traditional dishes for the dinner.

We can't wait to have the Indonesian Yellow Rice (Nasi Kuning). I was drooling since 5pm ish, purposely had small lunch for this event. My lovely friend Ike cooked & decorated the yellow rice. I seriously don't know how she cooked all of this as she had catering for 500 people the day before. Her Indonesian yellow rice is the best & her hard work is paid off, everyone was very pleased with the dishes.

Indonesian yellow rice (Nasi Kuning) - clockwise - Indonesian salad, Chilli egg (Telor Balado), Chilli prawn (Sambal Udang), Chicken in brown sauce (Ayam Rujak), Chilli Chicken liver and tempe (Sambal Goreng Ati Tempe), Fried tempe (Tempe Goreng), Fried Tofu ( (Tahu Goreng)

Too cute to eat, Cupcakes by Cupcakeholics & Baby Shower Cake by my friend Handi Mulyana

 

Nappy Cake by moi, thanks to youtube tutorial, non edible though

Ju-Rin

I am running out of ideas to take my best friend Handi out for his birthday. I realised he has never been to Ju-Rin in Crows Nest. He is happy with the idea as it is a little suburbia and easy for him to find parking. Booking done, we picked the 8pm seating, we were quite lucky to get a table as I did last minute booking (3 days prior to the dinner).

We also ordered the Beef tongue miso udon but I forgot to take photos. The soup is really tasty & the beef tongue is really tender, a definite must have when you visit  Ju-Rin.

Ju-Rin today's special

Torched Salmon with avocado sauce, the sauce is really refreshing & it complements the perfectly grilled salmon

Zucchini flower tempura stuffed with prawn paste, crunchy and tasty prawn paste stuffing

Wagyu beef karubi, very tender and juicy wagyu

Dessert Menu

Sakura Mochi, cherry blossomed flavour mochi with red bean filling, if you like low level of sweetness dessert, this mochi is your best friend :o)

Tempura green tea ice cream red bean, the portion is quite generous, it can be shared for 2-3 people. I marked the tempura ice cream 5/10, presentation yes... the quality of the vanilla ice cream & the tempura batter not so great

Charlie & Co

I went to Charlie & Co, owned by Becasse, with 2 work friends in the new Westfield about 1 week after their opening day. Unfortunately, we did not have a great experience, I guess they are still new and they have some teething issues. We waited in total 55 mins from Q-ing till receiving my takeaway.

We ordered Wagyu burger, Federation burger (Aengus burger), Chilli Crab burger and herb fries.  My Aengus burger looks awesome, generous 1.5 cm thick Aengus pattie, however it was slightly overcooked (ie. dry), what a pity ... otherwise the burger will be perfecto.

Federation Burger - Aengus beef pattie, cheddar, fried egg, bacon, sauteed onion, lettuce and tomato on a sesame sourdough bun

Herb Fries with mayonnaise ($1.5 for the sauce) - I think the mayo is home made coz it was quite runny and has a different texture to the one readily bottled. Nice chips, crunchy and generous portion.

My friend S had a drama with her Chilli Crab burger order.
S         : Can I order the Chilli Crab Burger - please remove the asian salad and replace it with just lettuce
Staff 1 : Sorry...Sorry...
S         : Repeated her instructions
Staff 1 confused looking.
Staff 2 came to the rescue.
S         : Repeated her instructions again to Staff no. 2
Staff 2 : Yes..yes..I got it...

S collected her take away & we walked back to the office.
When she opened her burger she nearly fall off her chair, she received Chilli Crab Burger still with Asian greens + NO sauce at all.What a drama after 55 mins in the Q.

Chilli Crab Burger - sesame bun + crab cake + greens + NO sauce

Looks like the 3 of us are not in any hurry to go back in the next 6 months. It was just an unlucky day for us.

Cafe XXII Pyrmont

When I used to live in Pyrmont back in the good old days, I often come to Cafe XXII for breakfast, dinner, or dessert (the cafe is located behind the Star City casino). I never tried their lunch till 3 weeks ago. I had to go to Pyrmont for work & decided to drop by for lunch to refresh my memory about the cafe. My fave lunch menu is the Spaghetti Meatballs with pecorino cheese. I forgot my camera & my phone was dying too.

The following week I came back with my friend & ordered the same stuff again, i.e. the spaghetti meatballs & this time I brought my baby camera.

Staffs are very helpful & attentive, and I still see the same bubbly waiter that I saw about 2-3 years ago. He is the best & he does brilliant coffee.

The Big breakfast - sausage, hash brown, bacon, 2 poached eggs, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms and toasts.

The yummylicious Spaghetti Meatballs with pecorino cheese - al dente spaghetti, flavoursome tomato based sauce & juicy meatballs.

The ultimate meatballs

The Marie Antoinette High Tea

A friend organised girls get together session to experience the Marie Antoinette High Tea @ Westin Hotel Lobby Bar. 
It was a great girls get together day, started with a sparkling rose, colorful zorro styled mask provided by the hotel, great high tea menu, 3.5 hours chit chat and friendly & attentive staffs. We felt quite special. Hope you will have the same great experience if you try the high tea.

The Marie Antoinette High Tea menu

The High Tea - nicely decorated individually

Roast beef with creme cheese - the beef was excellent & perfectly roasted

BLT & deviled egg finger sandwich - the base was in heart shaped, how cute ...

Kiwi & Orange croissant with mascarpone - the combination of orange & kiwi surprisingly work well together

Lime curd meringue tart with edible Marie Antoinette portrait. I wonder how they did the Marie Antoinette portrait? It is one awesome tart. I wish I can have tart no. 2. Lime tart is usually too citrus-ey & make you squint your eyes up to the max. This tart is one exception. Squint free & has the right level of sweetness.

Chocolate cream with exotic fruit caramel & candied walnuts

Blueberry macaroon - hhhmmm this is unfortunately a NO NO for me, it was too sweet. 1 bite is plenty.

Beetroot & Cherry cupcake - I love the amount of 'little' icing, less is more !!

Typos

I went to a Taiwanese tea house today & found a few interesting items on the menu ....

'Pork Guts with ....'   What will I get if I order Pork Guts?

'Reddish Cake, Pan Fired Dumpling, Deep Fry....'   Radish Cake, Pan Fried Dumpling & Deep Fried perhaps ?

Northside Produce Market in North Sydney

My local fresh produce market, held every 3rd Saturday of the month from 8am-12pm, Northside Produce Market. For fresh produces & varieties, this market is indeed a must go monthly ritual if you live around the neighbourhood. Hail or shine the market is there for you & let's support our local farmers/ food producers.

Parker's Organic Juice in a cup, Mango & Peach is still my flavour of the year

Parker's Organic Juice take home pack, arrrghhh they are no longer available in plastic bottle, this glass bottle is heavy !!

Fresh pretty & colourful Flowers

Pink Lady Apple Juice, really fresh & natural

Baby Cherry Tomatoes

Green Mulberry - Pity they didn't have a stall. I bought it from a young lady that walked around with a basket of green & purple Mulberry. My very 1st time tasting green mulberry, it is the sweetest mulberry so far. She got the fruits from her neighbour (an old man who loves gardening & plant the mulberry) & she was helping him sell the fruits. How sweet !!

Banana bread stall - FLEUR DE LYS Award Winning Banana bread

Try before you buy ... Once you try you will buy :o)

Best Banana bread ever, really moist, high quality ingredients, right level of sweetness, and it is professionally packed (majority of Banana bread producers always pack the bread with zillions of cling wrap). No surprise that they are award winning. They deserve the medal.

Freshly Baked Olive Bread, if you take it home, put it in oven & dip it with olive oil & balsamic vinegar, Yuuummo !!

Jelbonleigh Estate Macadamia Nuts, Wasabi & Honey Roasted are my favourite flavours.

NSW Food Authority Wall of Shame

The New South Wales Food Authority bible of truth is out, the website list premises that were fined due to their failure to comply to hygiene standards.

It is interesting to scroll through the list, from your little take away shops, sushi shop, bakery to famous restaurants. Don't get shocked if you find premises got into trouble because they found evidence of cockroach, pests, rodent, droppings, a live rat, potential nesting areas etc.

Happy browsing !!

Jackman and McRoss Hobart

My favourite lunch spot when I visited Hobart a few weeks ago. French style bakery with great selection of pies, pastries & bread.
What more do I need?
Well..I do need a table to start ordering my lunch .... :o)

Jackman and McRoss
57-59 Hampden Rd
Battery Point

Jackman & McRoss at Battery Point
Everything looks yummy & well presented on the display. You just want to buy each of everything they have.Fresh baked breadsRoast Duck Tart & Baked Polenta cakes
Crispy skinned Pork Belly & pea custard Tart with salted Toffee Apple

Pear tart & Opera Cake

Pasta Salad

Seared Wagyu beef parcel with scallop, parsnip & parmesan

A piece of juicy & tender Wagyu inside the parcel
Chicken & Mushroom Pie with home made sauce

Scrambled eggs wrapped with smoked salmon
Deliciousssss...