Chicken tastes better after a good Rubb!!!

So it appears I have been using my Moroccan spice a bit lately!! Well, yes I have because I love it!! I love spice mixes, I really do. You can get some amazing flavours and forget store bought marinades with goodness knows what kinds of flavour enhancers and all that stuff that makes it live longer on the shelf! You can still get flavour in your dishes the natural way, just head to the spice shop if you have one near you, or check out some spice mixes at your supermarket.

Some tips if you have kiddies, is to choose spices that have a mild flavour.Some spices are very strong in smell and flavour and I find these are the ones my kids freak out over!!  If you aren't sure, ask for a taste test if you are at a spice shop, or smell the mix. You can always purchase a small amount and give it to someone else if your family doesn't like it.  If you add some oil to a dry mix it instantly becomes an amazing marinade. You can also sprinkly spices directly onto meat, especially if you are going to slow cook, the jucies of the meat will mix with the spices. Add spice mix to a soup, sauce, or gravy for a taste sensation.

Anyway, there are a few examples, here is a great recipe:

1 large whole roasting chicken


500g of potatoes

500g pumpkin

500g sweet potato

1-2 tablespoons of flour

2 tablespoons of moroccan spice ( or spice mix of choice)


Method
1.Rinse chicken under cold water and make sure you rinse the cavity well and pat dry with paper towel


2.Sprinkle moroccan spice all over chicken and in cavity and massage all over.

3.Put in slow cooker on low for up to 6 hours or on high for 2-3 hours. Keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't over cook. The meat will become dry. You might want to spoon the juices over the chicken a couple of times if you can.

4.1 hour before chicken will be ready cut up vegetables. Spray with oil, season with salt and pepper and bake in oven at 180C for 1 hour or until brown and cooked through.

5. Take Chicken out of slow cooker and allow to stand and cool for a couple of minutes.

6. Pour juices of chicken into sauce pan over low/medium heat.

7. Add first tablespoon of flour and mix through( can whisk) until mixture thickens(it will change colour). Add more flour if a thicker consistency is desired.

8. Carve up chicken.

9. Place vegetables on plate, add chicken and pour gravy all over.

Bon Appetite

Succulent Moroccan baked chicken breast with vegetable rice

Sorry if the title sounds a little boring, I'm not feeling creative tonight with titles and names:( As for the dish, well the picture speaks for itself!! This was a 'del-ish-us' meal and  everyone in my family, including the fussy eater, ate every last mouthful, veges and all!! Yes, I too could not believe it! So what did I do?

1 large chicken (skin on )Breast
Tbsp of light olive oil
10 green beans - each bean chopped into 3 pieces
1 red capsicum (any colour can be used) - diced
1 large carrot - diced
2 1/2 cups cooked rice
2-3 ablespoons of Morrocan Spice mix ( spice mix of choice)

Method
1. Mix the teaspoon of oil and 1-2 tablespoons of spice mix depending on size of the chicken breast or how many you want to use. Spread mixture over chicken breast liberally and allow to stand for at least 15 minutes or if you have time for about an hour or so.

2. Put oven on 180C and line small baking tray with foil.

3. Place chicken breast in baking tray and bake for  15-20mins - when chicken is burnt a little on top of skin and crispy. Keep an eye on the chicken as over cooking will cause the chicken to dry out.

*** Please remember that chicken is opaque white when it is cooked. If its is still pink put it back in the oven. Eating pink chicken can cause terrible food poisoning.*******

4. While chicken is cooking, add a little bit of oil in a frying pan. Add carrots first, cook for about 2 minutes until getting almost soft. Then add capsicum and beans.

5. Add cooked rice and then add 2-3 tablespoons of spice mix until combined through and fragrant.

6. When chicken is cooked, allow to stand for up to 5mins.

7. Slice chicken on an angle.

8. Spoon a generous amount of rice on the plate and then top with slices of chicken.

Depending on spice mix used you can add a dollop of youghurt if you wish.

Apologies for small picture, I had to take it on my iphone!


Pantry Ingredients
Rice
Spice mix
Olive oil

chicken breast  - from freezer

More Friday Blog hops

I said I would post more hops as I came across them here is another:

Bananas: I caved in and bought some today!

I came across a great blog yesterday, How Sweet it Is, and saw the recipe for whole wheat banana pancakes and I was literally salivating! I have not had a fresh banana in about 3 or possibly 4 months. Due recent natural disasters here in Australia, the price of bananas in particular of have gone through the roof! I think they plateaued at about $14/kg for a while in the supermarkets. It has made me so sad, because I really love my bananas. I love to eat them from their skins, cook/bake with them, add them to smoothies, add them to yoghurt, I just love them in so many ways and I misse them. However, out of principal, I stopped buying them because I couldn't believe how expensive they got and to be honest back int Feb, we ate in Kingsford for my birthday and the bananas there were $3/kg but back at my local supermarket they were $13/kg and it was then, that my suspicions were confrimed. We really were being ripped off for no other reason than greed!! It made me so upset, so I decided I would not purchase bananas until they were reasonably priced again.

I was at a local fruit market and the good bananas were these little mini bananas. They were $8/kg and because I had seen the pancake recipe, I caved in and purchased some.

I also bought some very over ripe ones at $2/kg so I could make some banana bread and other goodies. So I am somewhat happy!! I am eating bananas again, but now I am worried $8/kg was still not a low enough price! Anyway, I can't worry too much about it, the overripe ones are the ones I care about for baking and they were a steal in my books! I also scored some Aussie navel oranges for 50c/kg and giant box of mandarins for $10 which work out to be about $1.50/kg.  Mate I love a good bargain!!!

So what is your latest food bargain?? How much do bananas cost where you live?

Frills in the Hills Slow Cooker and Home Cook Bundle Gvieaway

One of my favourite bloggers is running an awesome giveaways at the moment. Liss from Frills in the Hills is giving away 2 Home Cook bundles which included:

A Brevill Fast slow cooker

DVD of Neil Perry's Fast and Fresh

DVD of Bill's Food

3 Commonsense Cookery Books

Its a great prize for the cooking enthusiast and especially if you want to upgrade your slow cooker for your winter delights!!

Click the link and it will take you to her page with details on how to enter via her blog and also FAcebook. Good Luck should you choose to enter!

FRILLS IN THE HILLS HOME COOK BUNDLE GIVEAWAY

Dodged Another McDonalds bullet tonight with this....

So I was seriously thinking an easy meal was install for tonight. I had work today, went to gym and had to get kids off to Achievement Night at 6:45pm, so something had to give. I really didn't want to get McDonalds, if I did it would just be for the kids anyway. I think I have grown out of McDonalds, I felt sick the last couple of times I have eaten it, so I try to steer clear of it, which is a food thing of course. Anyway, I had made the decision and as I was finishing at the gym, I felt like Mexican. I love Mexican!! The first thought was to make nachos but by the time I got home I realised I had my trusty food storage ingredients and could whip up something even better, quesadillas!

I used a breast of chicken in the fridge,a tin of corn, a tin of red kidney beans, salsa, and burrito bread. I have to say here, that burrito bread is very versatile and can live in your pantry for up to 12months and still taste good. I purchased mine about 3months ago on special, so it was now coming in handy!

What do you do?

1. Diced the chicken into small pieces. Heated a frying pan over medium heat and added some oil.

2. To the oil I added a ground cumin and ground paprika and stirred that through the oil for about a minute then added the chicken.

3. Rinse the kidney beans and corn in a colander or sieve under cold running water until bubble disappear and water runs clear.

4. As the chicken is cooking, if some pieces can be broken down further, do so.

5. Add the kidney beans and corn and stir through and lower heat.

6. Take off heat and allow to cool slightly.

7. Put burrito bread in microwave as per instructions on packet or oven, whichever you prefer.

8. Using a foccacia or flat sandwich press, place one piece of bread down and top with chicken mixture.

Add grated cheese if you like and put another piece of burrito bread on top and lower sandwich/foccacia  press.

9. Cook until golden brown and cheese melted.

10. Serve with sour cream, salsa or my mexican aioli dip.

The story behind the Aioli.

I made some homemade Aioli on Sunday as I had some left over egg yolks. It is the first time I have ever done it and I was so proud of my creation, its tastes do yum!  For this meal, I didn't feel like sour cream but I did want to have something with the Quesadilla. I saw the aioli in the fridge and wanted to use it some how. By itself, it wasn't too bad, but it needed to be Mexicanised!!

When I was last in Melbourne, I finally went to a grocery store my sister-in-law had been telling me about for a while. Leo's Fine Food and Wine store in Kew. Its like a regular supermarket, but with a twist! It has an array of foods one would only find at range of delicatessens or speciality food stores. Its a amazing, to me, better than Costco - Woh! That's saying something!!! Amongst other amazing items, I came across a brand I have not seen much at mainstream supermarkets for a while, and I have missed. Byron Bay Chilli Co. I purchased a bottle of the green jalapeno sauce with coriander.

It sounded delish and too good to refuse. As we were flying home, I was limited to how much I could take home with me, so this made the cut and we also bought some exquisite nougat that was so smooth, not chewy or crunchy, just right. Unfortunately after about 10 minutes of leaving the store the nougat was devoured!! It was that good!!

 Back to the the recipe. I just added the Green Jalapeno sauce to the aioli and I made an amazing dipping sauce that was just what the quesadilla needed. I am a genius!!!


Pantry Ingredients

Kidney beans
Corn
Burrito bread
Salsa
ground cumin
ground paprika
Byron Bay Chilli sauce (optional!!)

Winners for the Food and Wine Show Tickets are.....

Thanks to everyone who posted a comment, liked my FoodMuster page, or sent me an e-mail to enter the giveaway. I wish I had enough tickets for everyone, but alas, I'm not that big - yet!!! So here are the lucky winners drawn using random.org:

N.A.D.I.A
Carina
Diana
Tanya

Please contact me, or leave me a comment to say you can accept the ticket and I will be in touch. If no contact is made by 10pm Wednesday 22nd June, I will redraw and another winner will be contacted. Thanks again everyone. I will be doing another giveaway soon and it will be a craft one. I will be introducing an awesome crafter/artist to you all.

Slow Cooker: Moroccan Curry - tastes better than it looks!

Yes, I know what it looks like! I'm not going to be offended because I too think it looks like a cow pattie! Even my daughter said it looked like one, but if you can get past that, the taste is absolutely out of this world sensational.  I love, love, love my slow cooker! Its the best thing I have in my kitchen at the moment and all I want to make every day is something in my beloved slow cooker. A perfect piece of advise I want to share to those getting married, ask for a slower cooker! If you are trying to cut down on your food bills, but still want to make great food, buy a slow cooker! If you want to make yummy food, and freeze left overs, buy a slow cooker!! Truly, I believe so deeply in the wealth of a slow cooker, it is amazing. The bestest part is putting all the ingredients in and then walking away. Its that awesome! I have heaps of recipes that I have made in my slow cooker, so stay tuned! Anyway, before you think I am totally off the planet, I will explain my latest creation.

This Moroccan curry is by know means authentic. I haven't eaten lots of traditional Moroccan foods, but what I have tasted I have loved. A couple of months back when I was shopping at Parklea Markets, I happened across a spice stall. Its smelt divine, so much so I wished I could capture the aroma and take it home! I enquired about a few spice blends and what would be good on a roast chicken. I purchased the chicken blend, but I was recommended the Moroccan blend and after smelling and tasting I was hooked! I have made a baked chicken and rice dish, that my kids loved and I will post soon. Actually that was such a hit I made it a couple of times. I have also rubbed it on a roasting chicken and slow cooked the chicken. I also used the juices for a traditional gravy that tasted so delish with the Moroccan flavours, very different. The recipe I will share this time is the curry.

 My son loves butter chicken and he kept asking me to make some or a curry. I was a little shocked at the curry request because he is such a fussy eater and to hear him ask for curry was a request too good to refuse. At the time I wasn't sure what I should put in it because I didn't want anything spicy or even medium heat and my curry powder is too spicy. So I decided to use the Moroccan spice( at least 3 heaped tablespoons),  a can of coconut milk, a can of coconut cream, and some split peas. The split peas had been in my cupboard for a while as part of my food storage and I wanted to see what they would be like, so in they went. I had some gravy beef, so in that went into the slow cooker with about a cup of water. By evening I had a house full of Moroccan aromas and a very hungry family. The curry went down a treat. The split peas bulked up the dish but didn't offend anyone. Add some rice and you are the best mum in the world!!

Pantry Ingredients
Split peas - 1 packet
Coconut Milk Light - a tin
coconut cream Light - a tin
Moroccan Spice - I will have to find out the name of the company where I got mine, but I would say any brand would be fine.
Basmati rice
Gravy beef - can be kept in the freezer

Also note that the meal was good for 2 adults and 4 kids.

Friday Blog hops

Here are some blog hops I have come by recently. Its a great way to increase your readership and connect with like minded bloggers, and of course increase your traffic!

 

 

Frills in The Hills Baby Food E-Book Review

Liss, from Frills in the Hills sent me her e-book, "First Foods I Fed my Frills". Liss, has written a great and informative guide on what you need when your bub wants to start eating. There is a great list of items one needs when your baby is gearing up for his/her first foods.  She provides a variety of recipes from mushy foods for 6-8months up to chunky and real foods for  up to 12months and beyond. What I like best about Liss's recipes, is that she provides you with bulk amounts, so that you can then freeze the dinners and they can last for either the whole month or even two. Her advice is true when it comes to making dinners in bulk. This will save you time and money. You are also making the food, so you know what is going in it and you know it is fresh ingredients, which is so important with young children.   If you are a novice in the kitchen and have no idea what to feed your little ones, or  if you are looking for 'something else' to add to your own recipe collection, then I highly recommend you give "What I Fed my Fills" a try.

Such an extensive guide should have an extenisve price right? Not this time, the e-book is just $5. How do you order your e-book? Click the link on the sidebar, its that simple, unfortunately there is no free set of steak knives:(!!!

Double Dream Hands - my kids are so into this!!

Move over Miley Cyrus with the hodown throdown! This is what my kids are totally into at the moment!! We found this youtube video on a friend of ours facebook comment and since then the kids have been hooked. I have not seen my daughter glued to a youtube video like this since she was practising the hodown throwdown (not sure if that spelling is write but ykwim, right?). Check it out, its hilarious and infectous, I too wanted to learn the dance! Who knows, maybe we might load up a family video of our family doing Double Dream hands!!Hahaha!!!

I've also added for your entertainment, double dream feet which is done by the same guy. He really loves to dance!! He also went on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and danced with her staff. You can look that one up on youtube ya self!!

Dining at Tobie Pottuck's The Kitchen Cat Melbourne

On my recent trip to Melbourne I dined at Tobie Pottuck's The Kitchen Cat. I was with family who had eaten there before and told me I would really enjoy it. So I figured, why not? From the entrance of the restaurant I was intrigued. If you have never been its in an alley way and the entrance is like something our of the 18th Century, you feel like you are being taken back in time. As I walked down  the stairs I was greeted by a window of curing meats, rather like a lolly shop window, but salty not sweet! I was told later by Tobie the meats are all handmade in the restaurant.  Its not totally appealing really, I didn't think wow, get me some of that meat!! None the less it was interesting and I peered through the glass to take a close look to see if they were real and curiously stare at them for no reason other than they were there, wondering why these ugly chunks of meat were made a feature. Then I turned right to this gorgeous and inviting atmosphere. A large marble bar table with walls of wine was at the front of the restaurant. I don't drink wine, but I like a child, I wanted to touch the boomerang marble bar table because it was so smooth and stare up at the colourful array of bottles, because they looked pretty! We were warmly greeted and shown to our tables. The waitstaff are all dressed in smart casual and it instantly put me at ease. I didn't have to act a certain way, I was dressed appropriately and now I couldn't wait to be seated and see what was on the menu.

The menu was full of different dishes, like fried pigs ears! What mind thinks of cutting up pigs ears, crumbing them and deep frying? All I could think of, "Don't dogs chew on pigs ears?" So naturally, we ordered them! You can't knock it till you try it right! We also ordered, the pork, grilled cheese, wild olives, and shin tortellini for our starters. The star of the starters had to be the shin tortellini.

The thinly sliced pork salad.

Grilled cheese

The tortellini with shin and in a burnt butter sauce

Wild Australian olives

And of course, the fried pigs ears with lemon! They look good and of course tasted good too!!
You will have to forgive me and I hope I don't offend Tobie, but I can't remember the actual names for all the dishes and the correct name for the cheeses too. The cheeses all have different names, but I am new to this review thing, and I hope to get better at making sure I have the correct names for the dishes! What really matters is how they taste and I have to tell you that the Tortellini was my favourite of the all the starters and I am still dreaming about eating it. The sauce was amazing and I love how the meat, tasted like real slow cooked meat and nothing else! I have had handmade tortellini before but this really was the best I have ever had and I was scooping up the sauce on my fork(tempted to ask for a spoon) until there was nothing left! I had to excuse myself though, as it wasn't actually my dish choice, but my sister-in-law didn't mind! It sounds like a lot of food, but it was sufficient for all 7 guests at our table and we couldn't wait for our mains. I ordered the white polenta with mushrooms and with an Italian cheese. Again, there is a name for it but I can't remember it, all you need to know was it was sensational! It looked a bit like brie without the white crust and  with a similar creamy texture but had a bite to it like parmesan but it was also a little bit sweet, if that makes sense! I loved it and slowly ate each bit savouring the flavours and aromas.

My hubby ordered the organic chicken which was stuffed with parsley and cheese. The chicken was juicy and cooked to perfection. The stuffing, was nice, but not as flavourful as I had hoped it would be. To go from white polenta, which is a bland dish to having so many wonderful flavours that made the dish amazing, I would have thought the same would be with the chicken. It was still lovely and enjoyable to eat.

The photos of the food ends here because my camera was running out of battery power and I was hoping to catch a pic with Tobie as he was present in the kitchen that evening. I have to mention one other dish though, my sister-in-law had the roast lamb, which had been cooking since 10am that morning and it was so divine. The meat melted in the mouth and the flavour rustic, but rich and .....yummy!!!  By the end of our main meals we were all full to our maximum capacities! I so badly wanted to choose something from the 'sweeties' menu but I knew there was no way I could fit it in, nor enjoy it. So we ended our dining experience there. I did manage to score a chat with Tobie. He is a lovely man. He was happy to chat and talk about what we thought of the meals and the dining experience. I told him that I loved the menu and the of course the tortellini which was the highlight and the cheese on the polenta! He explained how the staff makes a lot of the cured meats on site and some cheeses, although the cheese on my dish is imported from Italy as it is made and aged a specific way, hence the intense but sweet flavour. Now it made sense to me why the hanging meats are a feature as you enter the restaurant. To showcase what they make on site. Click!

My camera just had enough juice to take this pic and then it died! So it's a little blurry. Thanks goes to Tobie for being a great guy and chatting with me. He runs a great establishment. I would consider most of the dishes to have a rustic direction married well with contemporary flavours. I wish there was one here in Sydney, because I would be there every month! I have not had a dining experience before where I all can think about is the food and wanting to have those flavours again and again! The prices are very reasonable, mains averaged around $25-$30, so very affordable dinning. The menu does change, so you may not got what we had. When calling, ask if they are making the shin tortellini!!

Thanks Tobie:) Looking forward to the next time I go to Melbourne so I can eat there again or consider opening one here in Sydney, pretty please:)

.

The Kitchen Cat
115/117 Collins St
Melbourne VIC
1300 799 415

The kids ate Vegetables and they didn't know it!

I like different ingredients. What I mean by this, is that I like trying something new or something that is not a mainstream groccery for food item. I find a lot of these types of products, but have not mentioned them here as yet, well not as often as I would like to anyway. So, I thought I would introduce a product that I discovered a couple of weeks ago at my local Woolworths/Safeway.  I found it in the isle with the pickles and chutneys. I am partial to a good tomato relish and while I much prefer a handmade one, I don't mind Masterfoods take on a tomato relish. So I was here checking them out and found this little jar:

It's actually not super small but the colour of the relish is what caught my eye. When I looked at the ingredients of capsicum, tomato, and eggplant. I thought this would be good to add to a lasagne or pasta dish, or even a paragania. So I took the plunge and gave it a try. As its in a jar, its a great food storage product.

What did I make?
I decided to make a big dish of my pasta bake with homemade bachemel sauce. The kids love this, but this time they didn't know they were eating capsicum and eggplant!!  When you open the jar, there is a strong smell of vinegar, as it is a relish. To combat this, I added a jar of our favourite pasta sauce, also to mask the fact that I had something 'else' in it.

The portions are for my family of 6 so adjust to your own portions or at least you can freeze for future meals.

Ingredients.
1 jar of Ajvar Vegetable relish
1 jar of pasta sauce
500g mince meat (chicken, pork, veal, beef)
500g of dried pasta cooked and cooled.
1-2 cups of grated cheese

Bachemal Sauce
100g butter
2 table spoons of flour
1-2 cups of milk

Tuscany herb sprinkle (Masterfoods)

Method

1. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain and put aside to cool.
2. Cook mince meat until brown and drain excess juices.
3. Add Ajvar Vegetable relish and pasta sauce and stir and cook through. Lower heat and allow to simmer.

4. Put cooled pasta into a baking dish and add meat sauce.
5. In seperate saucepan melt butter on medium heat.
6. Add flour and stir until becomes a paste and quickly add 1/2 cup of milk and stir until thickens.
7. Continue to add 1/2 cup at a time and stir until thickens.
8. Once all milk used and desired amount of sauce made add a good sprinkle of Tuscany herbs and put aside.
** Be careful with the bechamel. It can thicken quickly. If this happens adding a little milk will thin it down. Once you get the desired thickness, its best to take off heat immediately and add to dish*****
9. Pour on top of meat sauce and spread across bake. Add grated cheese and sprinkle with more tuscany herb sprinkle.

10. Bake in oven at 180C for 15mins or until cheese is melted and browned or to your liking.

Pantry items
Ajvar relish
pasta sauce
dried pasta
flour
butter (can be kept in fridge or get canned butter)
Milk (tetra or can use powdered if necessary)
herbs

Free Facebook and Twitter Icons - where did I get them?

I have been wanting a cool looking facebook and twitter icon for ages now. I have downloaded a couple but have either not liked them on the blog or haven't been able to work out how to get the code properly. Now it may just be me, not being computer orientated - because I am more food and craft orientated, but I just can't doing anything more than copy code and paste it where I need it. That's easy, I can do that, CRTL C and CRTL V, its easy and I can do it almost with my eyes closed!

So the search was one for a site that offered this. I found a few but the ones that I found most user friendly and I didn't have to like someone I didn't want to on FAcebook, were:




http://www.facebookicons.net/

 This site has straightforward icons and with copy and paste code. Its so easy to use.

For Twitter I liked:

Again, straight forward icons that are super cute and eye catching and so easy to add to your blog.

Now there are some other great ones out there, but if you are like me and just want/need to keep it simple, I highly recommend these sites.

Hope you find this useful!

PS, If you are after something more complex or at least just to see what else is out there I found this BLOG POST  interesting.

Sydney Good Food and Wine Show Giveaway

As I totally lurve my food I totally lurve this show! I have been going to the GF&Wine show for ages, I think I have only missed a couple. Some of you know that I won a competition that was run by Lastminute, and I scored free tickets to the Melbourne show and also I met Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris. It was a totally awesome experience and I highly recommend you see their celebrity show at the Sydney show if you go. Its like a Master Class and this time you get to smell the aromas not just see them and wished you had smello-vision. I love the show so much I figured I should do 4 lucky people a giant favour and giveaway some tickets to this year's event. This way, you can spend some extra money and do one(or more) of the classes like, the Cheese Matters Discovery class, the Fisher and Paykel Celebrity theatre, Victor Churchill Butchery Class, Adora Handmade chocolate class, or for the wine enthusiast the Riedel Decanter Bar session.  One of the main reasons why I like going to the show is to taste test new products that are out there and in particular the smaller food companies that make such awesome food and are trying to reach the masses. It is us, the people who can ask our local supermarkets, or delis to carry these products and help the smaller buisness get their awesome products out there and grow the Australian influence in the food and grocery market.

 So what do you have to do?

1. Become a follower if you want
2. Leave a comment telling me one of your favouritist meals.
3. Like my Facebook page, which you can do by clicking the button to the right and you will get an additional entry, leave an extra comment saying you have liked me. If you have already 'liked' my page then leave an additional comment saying so and it will earn you an extra entry.
4. Giveaway closes Sunday 19th June Midnight AEST.
5. I will announce the 4 winners on my blog on Monday 20th June in the evening. I will do my best to contact winners, but it will be up to you to come back and check if you are a winner. If no contact can be made to a winner within 3 days. I will redraw for another winner.
6. The prize is a ticket for ONE adult entry worth $29.50 and I have 4 to giveaway.
7.Winners must have an Australian address. The show dates are 1st -3rd July 2011.

Good Luck to all!

I would like to thank the people at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, for providing these tickets, you rock!!

Cake Bombs! Little explosions of sweetness!

I invented these when I had left over rainbow cake mixture from the cake pops I made. I didn't want to just eat the left overs and I didn't want to waste it either. I added some chocolate covered popping candy into the mixture for something different. In hindsight, I should have added it to the mixture from the beginning for the cake pops too, I'll remember for next time.

I had some bright coloured mini cupcake liners/patty cases so rolled small balls of cake mixture (to cover the base of the liners) into the liners and dropped a teaspoon(maybe more!) of chocolate onto the top of the ball. I then sprinkled popping candy and sprinkles on top. They looked super yummy and cute. As these are smaller, they are a great treat to have if you don't like super sweet things and also if you are worried about calories and trying healthier treats for your party (portion/size control). Also there is not need for lollipop sticks. The popping candy gave the cake a zing! I call them cake bombs because I think they are the BOMB!! No seriously, they explode with yummy goodness in your mouth and the popping candy pops as you chew!  

Birthday Cake Pops, the best Eye Candy !

I have not posted a recipe for sometime now, even though I have heaps of posts to do! I recently posted about my daughter's birthday party. I so loved preparing for her party and thinking of cute things to make. I heard about cake pops last year from Bakerella and have so wanted to make some ever since. So I figured this would be a great opportunity to do so.

I followed Bakerella's youtube video on how to make the cake pops. Initally, I made rainbow cupcakes.

However, they came out of the oven a little over baked and cone-head shaped on top. So I decided to crumble these up to make the cake pops. I added Betty Crocker frosting as I had some on hand. I put the mixture in the freezer and then the fridge for the time Bakerella suggested.

I then rolled the cake mixture into balls and then refridgerated again while I melted the chocolate.

I dipped my lollipop sticks into melted chocolate first then into the balls so they stick would cling to the cake ball. I then dipped into chocolate and sprinked chocolate coated popping candy onto the cake pop. Some I also sprinkled coloured sprinkles.

Super delicious and a different way to serve yummy cake!

I used:
1 box Betty Crocker vanilla cake mix
2 satchels of vanilla frosting (the ones you get in the box with the cake)
Food colouring - red, yellow, blue, green.
250g white chocolate - I used Nestle Plaistowe, its the best.
Lollipop sticks, paper ones.
Chocolate covered popping candy and sprinkles to decorate.

Meeting Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris from Masterchef

One of the perks for the weekend away that I won via LASTMINUTE was not only to have free tickets to Melbourne Food and Wine Show, but to also meet with Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris. I got a copy of their latest book, "Your Place or Mine?" and it was signed by each of them. So what are Gary and George like in real life?  Well, they are just like what you see on TV, really nice guys! When we arrived in the 'black room'(I call it this because I always hear of the 'green room' on TV. This area was attached to the celebrity cooking theatre at the show and it was where the chefs chilled out before going on stage and it was black!!) George and Gary were chilling with Matt Moran and some other people who I only assumed were family or friends. They did not seem inconvenienced or annoyed by our arrival, which straight away put me at ease. They were more than happy to chat about whatever. I won't bore you with what we chatted about but we did want to know where we should eat that night for dinner. Here is a list of recommendations from the lads and I have looked up all the restaurants for their locations and link with the website details for convenience:

Mama Sita's - (I was feeling like Mexican, so this was their number 1 recommendation.)
1/11 Collins St

Little Press Club - 72 Flinders St

Bar Lourinha - 37 Little Collins St

Cumulus Inc - 45 Flinders Lane

Gin Palace - 10 Russell Place

Movida Next Door - Cnr Flinders and Hosier Lane

Gary also highly recommended if we wanted to try Vietnamese to go down Victoria St.

I have to say though, I did try to tell Gary we are not drinkers, so all the info about bars was not necessary but I didn't manage to get this across to him. I figured it was still good info to pass on to you anyways. As for where we ended up eating, well, we didn't end up eating out after all. My sister-in-law invited us to her place as she just got her new kitchen completed and wanted to cook us up a Vietnamese storm! We figured we would head out later in the evening and see where we ended up. My sis-in-law's meal was superb and as good as any vietnamese I have had in a restuarant and I am not just saying that! The sauce and the marinades were done from scratch and all authentic Vietnamese ingredients and flavours. So I was glad we ate with the family in the end. As for going out in the evening, I'm a bit of a sad case really! I was too tired, but in my own defence, I was up early that morning and we walked around all day at the show! Yes, I am 32 but sometimes my body acts older (I do have 4 kids remember!!). Anyway, I will always have this list and with family in melbourne, there are many opportunities in the future to get to some of these places.

We did manage to get to Tobie Puttock's, The Kitchen Cat on the Friday evening and I will write a seperate blog and review for that.  So I did have a fine dining experience to brag about!!!

We also got front row tickets to George and Gary's cooking show. It was all about cooking with fresh seafood, which was good for me. I rarely cook seafood at home. No other reason than I don't think about it when I am planning my meals. Seafood is something I tend to eat out but I have been trying lately to incorporate it at least once into the weekly/fortnightly meals.  It was a good experience to watch these guys up close and smell the cooking that I normally can't sitting at home.

So all in all, it was a fantastic day and an amazing experience that I am so happy I won and so happy I shared it with my darling husband. The show was great and suprisingly different to the Sydney one, I suppose just in the different types of food on display and to try. I think there is a different approach to good food in Melbourne that Sydney is starting to catch on to.  I will do some other posts about some of the amazing products I came across soon. Yes, I do have a lot to post about and I will be kept busy for the next little while!

From left, Gary Mehigan, Me, James (hubby), George Calmonaris

My camera ran out of battery power the evening before and I of course I didn't take my charger with me:(   We had to rely on hubby's iPhone and in this shot we didn't know his flash was not on! So we went outside and took the top pic.

I'm the BEST Mum Ever!!! My daughter's 10th Birthday Party!

My daughter turned 10 earlier this month and being the kinda organised mum that I am,( sound confident don't I? ) I asked her a couple of months ago what she wanted for her birthday. All she wanted was a birthday party. Her last party was about 4 years ago, so I can understand why she was wanting another. She didn't want any presents from us, just the party. Which, to me, I thought was a good present to ask for! So we went about thinking about themes. After about changing her mind at least 5 times, she settled on a 70's Disco theme. Straightaway, I thought rainbow colours!! So I went about searching the net for ideas. I came across a great site, http://www.amyatlas.com/. This lady is super talented and she specialises in dessert tables for parties, weddings, and other functions. She is has done dessert tables for the rich and famous including Oprah as one of her A-List clients. If you check out her 'eye candy' you will see some amazing master pieces. So from this, I decided I must have a dessert table. One of the main features of the dessert table are the candy/lolly jars! I'm a lover of lollies and I have always been! My in-laws call me the 'Lolly Queen' and its a title I am proud of!! So old fashioned style lolly jars were on my list and what type of candy/lollies was I going to choose and where would get them from?

My internet travels took me to the home of , THE PROFESSORS TECHNOLOGY. These guys are the answer to any lolly lover's dream but they also stock a range of interesting and unique lollies that I personally have not seen anywhere else. The team there are very helpful and very quick to respond to e-mails and were happy to help me with some great items for my eye candy jars!!  I also discovered chocolate covered popping candy. I have never heard of this before. I used the popping candy to cover my cake pops which made them not only look great, but delivered a sensational surprise to anyone who bit into the cake pops!

So thanks to The Professors, I had the lollies covered. Now I had to think of decorations. Some may not feel decorations matter, but personally, I think decorations deliever a sense of wonderment when done properly! It can make or break a mood. I went to a friends birthday party and saw these amazing pom poms made from tissue paper. I didn't get a chance to ask where they got them or if they had made them. So I searched youtube for a tutorial on tissue paper pom poms and I came up with a couple of good videos which were my saving grace. These pom poms are so cheap and so easy to make, but best of all they look so great and really give that festive feeling when you walk into the room. My daughter also had fun helping make the pom poms. We also used rainbow ribbon and some pom pom yarn that I found at the Reject Shop(variety discount store) for $2 each. I picked up some cute cardstock and cut out I had some pink and white bakers twine to make up a garland. I also purchased some hand dyed vintage doilies last year some time, from a seller that nolong sells on Etsy anymore, so I can't give you a link. I stuck them on the wall as they are vintage/retro!! My decorations were simple but, if I do say so myself, look great and everyone that came through the front door commented! See for yourselves:

Sorry, pictures aren't the best because the day was pretty glum and overcast:(

We had the invitees come dressed up 70's style and they all went to a lot of effort to do so! We borrowed some flashing lights and a smoke machine from a friend that does discos and the girls loved it! While they didn't care of too many 70's songs, they enjoyed the atmosphere and danced around and had fun. Other than dancing we played one party game, pass-the-parcel, because it seems even at 10 years old its a fun game. To do something a little different though, I showed the girls how to make button flowers, using buttons from my vintage collection (to carry the 70's theme!) and then they were able to make there own. They loved it and it took up a big chunk of the time. I also bought different bright coloured nail polish but the button flowers proved more popular. The button flowers were their party favours to take home, and I suppose a little craft activity that they can pursue at home.  I will post a tutorial on how to make them in the future.

So what did I serve on the dessert table? Well other than the lollies in the lolly jars. I decided on marhsmallows dipped in white chocolate and covered in sprinkles, cake pops, fortune cookies dipped in coloured white chocolate, and cake bombs( I will post recipe and explanation soon). As for the savouries, sausage rolls, honey soy chicken drummies, mini spring rolls and pastizzies. I kept it simple and I have learnt from hosting other parties in the past, that most kids don't eat that much as parties. At the end of the party each child was allowed to fill their treat box with lollies from the lolly jars. We had rainbow:
Sour War Heads
Gobstoppers
Red Liquorice and Solar Seeds(chocolate covered sunflower seeds with a candy shell)
clouds
Jelly beans.
Jolly Rancher Lollipops

You maybe able to see the stickers on some of the jars. I want to mention these because they are so cute! I discovered a fellow Aussie, JoeyDesgins on Etsy. I loved the cute little stickers Danielle designs but because I was having a rainbow 70's theme party I asked if she could design some rainbows and perhaps some peace signs. She was so good about it and came up with the cute rainbows and peace signs with no hassles at all. Be sure to check her out, her turtles and jellybeans are so cute! I also gave the girls some stickers in their treat boxes. I will be showcasing her work in a post soon with a giveaway, so stay tuned!!

 Keeping with the groovy 70's rainbow theme, I had to make a rainbow cake! I came across some of these during my interent searches. I will break down what I did to make it in a seperate post, but I had so much fun making it and the finished product looked so good! The key to the cake and its vivid colours, is to use lots of food colouring!!!

It was a fun day and I had a lot of fun organising it! So I am I the BEST mum ever??