Thursday 23rd December 2010

At work today, Ian had also made some sweet for us to share. They were delicious little Caraway Cupcakes with Lime Icing.


Dinner
Mum's Beef Rendang

Oh my gosh, the beef was so incredibly tender - it dissolved in my mouth!

Wednesday 22nd December 2010

Breakfast
Mum's Lor Mai Kai


Lunch
Marissa's Chicken Nuggets with Salad

I took home some of these chicken nuggets that Marissa made for our feast yesterday. I rummaged around in the fridge for whatever nibbles I could find to throw together this plate of leftovers for lunch.

In the evening I busied myself making cupcakes to take to work tomorrow for everyone. I used the prepackaged White Wings chocolate cake mixture but instead of using milk, I used buttermilk.

I also added chocolate chips into the mixture.

To decorate, I made a butter cream frosting.


By adding drops of green food colouring, I transformed some of the frosting to green and piped little 'christmas trees' on some of the cupcakes.

I crushed a candy cane to sprinkle onto some of the cupcakes.


I tried to pipe a 'wreath'. I think I need to work on my piping skills!


I didn't have time to find a cutter to make holly leaves, so I had another idea. Here's how to make holly leaves from green musk sticks:

Slice the musk stick.


As you can see, one side gets flattened against the chopping board when you slice it. Using a blunt utensil, make an indentation into the flattened side and this should reshape the musk stick slice to look like a holly leaf!

Voila! I used red mini M&Ms for the holly berries.


Dinner
Prawn Salad with a Tangy Dressing

I made the dressing with mayonnaise, tomato sauce and fresh squeezed lemon juice.

At a recent party I went to, they had this gorgeous new drink that I instantly fell in love with.

Smirnoff Vodka with Blood Orange

Tuesday 21st December 2010

After work I headed into Subiaco to purchase some goodies to take to Marissa's for lunch. Well, it was supposed to be lunch but it turned into dinner by the time we had everything ready. Just as well I scoffed some pasta at work earlier to tide me over!

Marissa was busy crumbing some sliced baby eggplant and diced chicken when I arrived.

Home made chicken nuggets!


I prepared a trio of dipping sauces:
Nando's peri peri sauce, sweet chilli sauce and Vietnamese dipping sauce.


I thought the fried eggplant tasted a bit like calamari!


Marissa also made a salad with lettuce, cherry tomatoes, orange segments and avocade with a thick balsamic glaze for dressing.

I brought some meats from the store in Subiaco for a charcuterie platter. The Spanish Serrano was divine! Much more sweeter and it had a softer texture than the Prosciutto. I also got some Hot Salami and Honey & Mustard Glazed Ham. Yum!

Oh dear! I just realised I forgot to take a photo of the cheeses! I bought a segment of the Jensens Red soft cheese that I've posted about before and Marissa loved it. 'Smelly Feet' cheese, she calls it. I also bought a French Baguette from Jean Claude's Patisserie, which Marissa cut up and we ate it with the cheese.

This was the first of two jugs of Pimms we had throughout the evening!


Our feast on the ottoman.


For dessert, we shared a little Brioche that I bought from Jean Claude's Patisserie in Subiaco. It was soooo good! It was filled with a deliciously creamy custard with small chunks of rhubarb with what we thought was Cognac or some sort of brandy.

After our feast, we lounged infront of the TV with a cup of flower tea. The tea 'flower's have been handwoven! Very pretty.

What a day. *rolls into bed*

Monday 20th December 2010

Mum made one of my favourites today. In Hainanese we call it 'Dap Sai'. It's got shitake mushrooms, black fungus, cabbage, carrot, vermicelli and usually some sort of meat. Mum makes it with beef, pork or chicken. I think it was chicken tonight but I was so hungry I just wolfed it all down with lots of Mum's homemade chilli paste.

Sunday 19th December 2010

I made a bowl of Easy Mac for breakfast at work this morning. I love macaroni and cheese! I know it's strange, but the Easy Mac that comes in the plastic sachets tastes better than when you get the ones in the plastic cups.

Dinner
Seafood Laksa


In the bowl, I added the bean sprouts and kang kong. They will cook when I add the hot soup.

Saturday 18th December 2010

Victoria came over this morning and we went out to buy ingredients to do some Christmas cookie baking.

We intended to go home and poach some eggs for breakfast, but the lure of chips and gravy was too great. We succumbed.

At home, we set about making two batches of biscuit dough.


One vanilla, the other chocolate. Same as what we did last year.


I love the ones we coated in pink sugar crystals.


Victoria made a few that looked so much like dog poo!


As Victoria pointed out, these look like the invincibility stars in Super Mario!


We bagged them up in cellophane - now they're ready to be given away as gifts!


While our last batch of biscuits was in the oven, we made a quick lunch.

We marinated a piece of porterhouse in soy sauce, sesame oil, fish sauce and chilli flakes. We seared each side in the pan and after resting it for several minutes, we sliced it up for the salad.

We threw together some roughly chopped roma tomatoes, washed rocket leaves, sliced red onion and cubes of avocado. I added some olive oil and white balsamic vinegar into the remaining marinade and whisked it together to create a salad dressing. Yum!

Thai Beef Salad



LORETO LOUNGE
45 William Street (cnr Francis Street), Northbridge

Sarah and I decided to have a quick dinner in Northbridge before taking the train to Subiaco for the U2 360 concert. We chose this place because it wasn't busy and I've been curious about it since it took over Vultures Cafe.

We both ordered the $20 sirloin and chips special that was on the board, asking for it medium rare. It took a while for our steaks to arrive and we were both really disappointed that they were like cardboard. They were cooked all the way through and difficult to swallow. We were hungry though, and there was no time to order something else or have it recooked. We did mention it to the waiter when he came to clear our plates though. It's a pity it left a bad impression for us because it is a great location but I don't think I will be returning for the food.

After the concert, we walked into Northbridge and Sarah and I were so incredibly thirsty. We ordered a can of grass jelly each and polished them off immediately. We asked for a second one. So...thirsty!

The U2 concert was great, by the way.
The 'spaceship' stage really did look out of this world!

Friday 17th December 2010

Today I picked up some pizzas from Domino's on the way to work. I had tried to order them online but when it got to the final stage of processing and confirming my order, an error message popped up. I called the store in Victoria Park and was told that their internet ordering is offline at the moment. Great, it would have been good to know this before wasting my time on their site.

Meatlovers
Hawaiin
BBQ Chicken & Bacon
Fire Breather
Vegorama



Jocelyn cooked tonight. She made noodles. I was a bit reluctant to eat it because the one and only other time she cooked for us, we all got food poisoning. The noodles weren't bad! I had to add lots of chilli though because it lacked spiciness.

I was still hungry after the noodles, so I put together a little snack.

Smoked Mussels & Dolmades