A Few of My Favourite Things !

I came home on Wednesday to find that A sitting in our living room next to this display holding a lovely bouquet of flowers and a present for me! I knew what the present was already because the purchase was made when we were in NY and had been sitting quietly, all wrapped up, on the top shelf of my wardrobe just waiting for this day to arrive. In fact, it had been sitting so quietly that I’d almost forgotten it was there, let alone what was in it!

On Saturday night, we had some friends over for a housewarming/birthday celebration. Mum, who is a fantastic cook, offered to prepare everything for us so A and I didn’t have to lift a finger. I even called her up that morning to ask if she could boil some rice for me – terrible, I know! She made curry puffs, dahl, chicken and potato curry, beef rendang, fried mee hoon, pandan chiffon cake and a very old favourite of mine, a Black Beauty cake. Mum learned how to make this when she first got married and didn’t really know how to cook. She is now an amazing cook and still this cake remains a prized recipe of hers. I haven’t had this cake in years but I have now been reminded of why it was my favourite. Hmmm, I think I’m going to have to alternate having this and a Black Forest cake for my birthday each year!

Of course, I couldn’t resist making SOMETHING, so we bought some roast duck from Victoria Street and made some peking duck wraps. I also baked some chilli-chocolate shortbread and cheddar cheese biscuits to give away at the end of the night. The chilli-chocolate shortbread, which I went straight into the kitchen to prepare after reading Niki’s post about them, were outstanding. A would be polishing them off right now if we had any left – alas, they were all given away. I think I’ve become a fan of ice-box cookies now. I even rolled the dough for the cheddar biscuits into a log and cut the slices instead of rolling out and using a cookie cutter.

Finally, congratulations to B and SJ on your engagement!

A drizzly start to what turned out to be a fine and sunny Melbourne day, but this did not deter many from making their monthly visit to the Collingwood Farmer’s market. We brought our shoping trolley along to wheel our purchases home, and boy did this come in handy! We hit the Hope Farm bread stand first because they ran out of the sticky malt sourdough last time and I was determined not to miss out this time! Luckily for us, there were plenty of loaves left at the stand and we ended up getting not just the malt loaf but also a fruit loaf densely filled with plump sultanas, dates and apricots then generously covered in poppy seeds. We also bought some duck eggs to try, spices from the Spice Bazaar, the best tasting Nicola potatoes, organic chicken, and leafy watercress and lettuce amongst other things. We didn’t spend long at the market but, as always, well worth the visit. It is a lovely setting and, looking around, you wouldn’t even believe that you are only 5 minutes away from the city. Hope that you made it there too, Plum.

On our way home, we took the route that led us down Victoria Street so that we could pick up some roast duck for the party tonight. Victoria Street is lined with Vietnamese restaurants and grocery stores. Best of all are the Vietnamese bakeries where we can get banh mi and sesame mung bean balls. We have only recently discovered banh mi, having tried one a few weeks ago in Footscray (yes we have been a little slow on the uptake, haven’t we?) and could now easily have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A ordered a banh mi bi from our favourite Victoria St bakery. It was pretty good, but the one we had in Footscray is still the best so far. Think this has something to do with it being the first?

Cat food bloggers unite every weekend and share photos of your gorgeous kitties with us! If you would like to join us, leave a comment with Clare at Eat Stuff together with your permalink! and add a “weekend cat blogging” tag to your post.

It was my birthday on Wednesday and as part of my surprise, A had bought a balloon for me, tied it to a little cow soft toy and placed it on the rug. Bella and Tasha both started attacking the cow straight away then Bella got it into her head to try and swallow the streamer tied to the balloon. Here she is in action. Tasha is sitting behind her so all you can see is the tip of her left ear!

Sorry for being late again for weekend cat blogging. I’ll be more organised next week, I promise!

The Collingwood Farmers Market is on again this weekend! A & I try to get to this on the second Saturday of every month. We make it part of our Saturday morning stroll to drop by, but if we buy lots of goodies, it’s not always as much fun getting home! Fortunately, my lovely husband never lets me carry much of the heavy stuff – even the not so heavy stuff .

Also, a reminder that there will be an Artisan Producers’ Picnic being held at the Abbotsford Convent, St Heliers St as part of the Slow Food Festival on the 10th and 11th September. You will have the chance to meet the producers directly and to purchase food from them to create your own picnic – YUM! See you there!

Bella and Tasha just have the best view from their scratching post, don’t they? Sunshine and city views – no wonder they love it up here…

I’ve been doing some shopping on Amazon (well, my birthday IS coming up soon, so I told A that these could be my presents) and received my FIRST delivery (out of two) this week. I already have two of Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid’s books, Hot Sour Salty Sweet and Homebaking, and love the travel writing as well as authentic, well-researched recipes (see below for recipe for Beirut Tahini Swirls). Although the covers of Seductions of Rice and Flatbreads and Flavours are not as good-looking (yes, I will judge a book by its cover), they are just as well-written and I’m looking forward to trying some of these recipes. I get so excited about trying new recipes!!!

A and I went on our usual Saturday morning walk today and enjoyed some glorious sunshine – very unusual for Melbourne at this time of year. Just two days ago, it was pouring with rain, but the sky has been blue-as-blue-can-be today. We stumbled upon Casa Iberica, a well-known Spanish grocery store, on Johnstone Street in Fiztroy during our stroll. A bought some delicious jamon, chorizo and manchego whilst I stocked up on some smoked paprika, paella seasoning and tins of sardines, cockles, cod and…fish roes (sic) with lemon, something I’ve never seen before. I can’t say that I know a lot about Spanish food, but I love trying new things and browsing in grocery stores. A knows this, of course, and upon spotting Casa Iberica, pulled me into the store and made sure that I had time to wander through slowly – isn’t he wonderful!

I wanted to try the paella seasoning straight away so I whipped up some mouth-watering cheddar cheese twists seasoned with oregano, dried parsley and paella seasoning for A.

Beirut Tahini Swirls

Bread: 1/2 tsp active yeast, 1 cup lukewarm water, 2 1/2 cups flour, 2 tsp sugar, 1 tbs olive oil. Filling: 3/4 cup tahini, 3/4 cup sugar (I replaced sugar in both the bread and filling with honey but didn’t measure amounts -sorry)

1. Dissolve yeast in lukeward water then stir in 1 cup of flour followed by sugar and oil. Incorporate 2nd cup of flour, turn dough out and knead for 5 min, or until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 2-3 hours until doubled in volume.

2. Divide dough into 6 equal portions and work with 3 at a time while keeping the others covered. Roll each portion out into rectangles (5 x 10”) on lightly floured surface. Spread almost to edges with 2 1/2 tbs of tahini and sugar mixture then roll up rectangle from long side into cylinder. Coil bread around itself, flatten with palm of hand then set aside to work on other 2 portions.

3. Roll first portion out gently then let rest while rolling out other 2 portions before coming back to the first until you have rolled each to about 6-7” in diametre. Don’t worry if some filling leaks.

4. Bake at 190 C for 15 – 20 min until golden brown and flaky. Serve warm or at room temperature.

A prefers them at room temperature because you can taste the flavours better.