My Bloggable Day

Paris after dark

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Bec

I was about to title this post Travel Tuesday. And then I realised it’s Wednesday. Ugh.

I love Paris at night. Everything is so sparkly.

Drinking cheap red wine on the banks of the Seine.

Inky.

Possibly the worst photo I’ve ever taken. But I love it. So ugly.

Musee du Lourve.

Again out of focus. I do have one of the Eiffel Tower at night in focus, but this captures the essence of my trip far more accurately.

I reeeally need to plan another trip soon. I’m getting itchy feet. Do you have a fabulous destination planned for the not too distant future? Go on. Make me jealous.

Posted in Travel | Tagged architecture, cheap red wine, Paris, paris at night, Photography, Travel | 8 Comments

Thrift shop party

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Bec

(Just imagine Macklemore playing underneath this blog post)

On Saturday night Bec and I hosted a thrift shop themed housewarming party. I rarely exaggerate (or use sarcasm… ha!) but I’m not sure I’ve ever had so much fun at a house party in my life. Let me set the scene: it’s 7pm, people are meant to be arriving in an hour, your eyeballs are dry with fatigue and your tongue with dehydration from an ill thought out bedtime of 3am the night before. You’re in a towel. Scowling. Attending a Pussy Riot concert in Saudi Arabia seems more likely than managing to muster a smile upon greeting your friends.

Flash forward to 3am. You are having the time of your life. You have danced for hours to the perfect mix of mid nineties pop, current indie/folk rock with a bit of top 40 thrown in, for you know, irony. You have managed to produce party pies, sausage rolls, spring rolls and the world’s oiliest samosas with only a small burn to your finer and even had the foresight to stash some back in the freezer for the next day. You’ve won at least one dance off so far. Two people have already been carried home. Another is passed out on the couch. The rest are still dancing/doing shots in the kitchen. AND THEN ‘You’re so vain’ by Carly Simon comes on.

I. Die.

How was your weekend?

Posted in Misc | Tagged My Weekend, Op Shop, Party, Thrift Shop | 4 Comments

The Bloggable and the Unbloggable

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Bec

BLOGGABLE

This impromptu tasting platter:

On Sunday my housemate Bec and I needed sustenance whilst watching The Help (understandable, given the abundance of amazing southern food in that movie) so I whipped up two amazing dips with stuff from the fridge and pantry. For the beetroot dip I blended a tin of beetroot with a few big dollops of greek yogurt, some lemon juice, cumin, salt and pepper. For the avocado dip I blended half an avo, more dollops of greek yoghurt, lime juice, cumin, salt and pepper. SO easy. And delicious. I still cried during the movie though.

Being in the blogger spotlight on Teen Book’s blog

Umm, THANKS! Harriet wrote some lovely things about my corner of the interwebs. Read them here.

Having enchiladas for dinner

Enough said really.

UNBLOGGABLE

Forgetting about Shrove Tuesday aka PANCAKE DAY.

These are pancakes I enjoyed recently, lest we forget. I really can’t believe I let pancake Tuesday pass WITHOUT MAKING PANCAKES. I don’t really know what Shrove Tuesday is about, but any international food holiday for something as significant as pancakes needs to be commemorated. Last year I dragged my electric fry pan into work so I could flip some ‘cakes for everyone in my office to enjoy (side note: am I an awesome coworker or what?!). So to have let this day pass without drizzling some lemon and sugar on a fluffy short stack is extremely disappointing. I am very upset with myself.

Staying late at work

I stayed back an hour and a half today. I don’t mind doing overtime, but lets face it, it ain’t bloggable. It does however show what a hardworking and dedicated employee I am (hi state editor, if you’re reading).

Locating foul smells

The other night I was trying to drift off to sleep when I kept copping wafts of the most acrid smell imaginable. It didn’t take me long to find the smell localised entirely within a forgotten cup of tea on my bedside table, growing a small city of mould with more cultures than a petrie dish. Ewwww.

What are your bloggable and unbloggable moments from the week?

Posted in Misc | Tagged Best and Worst of the Week, Bloggable, Misc, Unbloggable | 5 Comments

Pizza Night

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Bec

My new housemate Bec has many talents. One of which is making incredible pizza dough. (her name is also Rebecca, I haven’t started referring to myself in the third person… yet) Last Thursday night we had some friends over, cooked up a batch of pizzas and ~~made a decent dent in four bottles of wine~~ had a few quiet drinks.

I highly recommend you pilfer this dough recipe. It’s so easy and delicious. I doubt i’ll ever buy a bland overpriced pizza base from Coles again.

First things first:

Put two cups of plain flour in a bowl and sprinkle one 8g sachet of dry yeast on top. Add 1 teaspoon of caster sugar and half a teaspoon of salt. Stir.

Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 3/4 cup of warm water and knead. Add a bit more flour if it’s too runny.

Have some fun, throw the dough around, sing That’s Amore.

Split the dough in half and cover with cling wrap very loosely, so the lumps have room to expand.

Here you can see I take my assistant duties very seriously.

While the dough is rising prep your favourite toppings.

Then pound out the dough on a floured bench top and use a rolling pin to flatten it out. Add your toppings. On one pizza we had tomato paste, ham, cherry tomatoes, capsicum, onion, olives and spinach. On the other we had BBQ sauce (controversial), leftover chicken, roasted sweet potato and a bunch of other delicious stuff.

Stuff your faces:

The dough is so light and fluffy. And we had an entire pizza leftover to take to work the next day. Yes Bec and I work together as well as live together and share the same first name. Talk about identity crisis! At times I wonder if we are indeed just the same person…

But then I remember Bec was able to get to work by 5:45am the morning after our pizza night. She’s tough as nails. Difference established.

Posted in Food | Tagged dinner, Food, incredible pizza, Pizza, pizza base, Pizza Dough Recipe | 4 Comments

I.M.A.G.I.N.E

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Bec

Imagine if I could think of something better to spell out with my paper garland. I couldn’t. SO ‘imagine’ it is.

This is the coolest thing I’ve purchased in ages. With 72 lettered tiles and 8 decorative tiles you can spell out whatever you wish.

I bought mine from Fossick Handmade, but you can also buy this Theatre of Dreams Garland on Amazon. This probably stems from my ongoing bunting obsession. I apologise.

Posted in Misc | Tagged Garland, Home Decor, Misc | 4 Comments

Wordless Wednesday

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Bec

This is one of the greatest places I’ve ever been. You should go there.

Happy hump day x

Posted in Misc, Travel | Tagged Monument Valley, Travel, Wordless Wednesday | 2 Comments

Banana Bread

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Bec

I told y’all I baked banana bread! Bananas are one of the few things that are equally as good in death as in life. In life they are a delicious snack that comes in its own convenient packaging. In mushy death they are perfect for smoothies and baking.

It looks like a cake because I left my loaf tin at work, which is weird because we don’t have an oven there. I looked at a few recipes and came up with this delicious hybrid.

You will need:

3 overripe bananas
4 tablespoons maple syrup
1 cup of sugar
2 cups self raising flour
2 eggs
About 100g of butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat over to 180 degrees celsius.

Grease and line a loaf tin. Mash the bananas in a bowl, add the maple syrup and stir in the sugar. Add the eggs, sifted flour, cinnamon, baking powder and butter and combine into a gluggy mixture.

Bake for about 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Eat warm with a giant cup of tea. My housemate and I did so while listening to Ella Fitzgerald. So romantic.

Posted in Food | Tagged Baking, Banana Bread, Food, overripe bananas | 8 Comments

Things.

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Bec

An entire wall in my kitchen is a blackboard. I put this Mark Twain quote up today after my boss wrote it on a whiteboard at work recently. I like it. But don’t go thinking we’re intellectual, there are also quotes from Shoshanna and song lyrics by Montell Jordan.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this blog lately. About why it exists and if it should continue to do so. Every day is not bloggable, obviously. Blogs are mostly showreels of all the best kodak moments. But not all days are good, you might step in a puddle in the kitchen in your clean socks, spill a cup of tea in your bed or get a parking ticket. Or something much worse. I don’t really write about bad things, I figure people don’t go looking to read other people’s gripes on the internet. Talented bloggers like Mrs Woog can make mundane shitty things so enjoyable to read. What a skill.

In other news it seems I have replaced shopping with baking. Dangerous. I also also finally starting using the My Fitness Pal app (a calorie counter) last week and quickly became addicted, logging every bite and every second of exercise with glee. Then yesterday I had to add a Whopper value meal from Hungry Jack’s and the app lost a bit of lustre. No one needs an electronic reminder of their poor morning-after food choices. Back on track tomorrow.

Today I baked banana bread. I took some over to my neighbours. I accidentally slept on their couch once… It’s a long story. I love knowing the neighbours. Do you know yours? When I was younger we lived next to a grouch called Ivan. Oh how I loathed him.

Another week ahead. I hope it’s a good one. How was your weekend? x

Posted in Misc | Tagged Things | 4 Comments

Cupcakes in ice cream cones

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Bec

Friends, feast your eyes on these:

Why yes, those are cupcakes baked into ice cream cones. Rocky road cupcakes with marshmallow frosting to be precise. I saw the recipe on A Beautiful Mess and tweaked it a bit. The flags were for Australia day.

For the cupcakes (I got about 23 out of this recipe) you will need:

Mini ice cream cones
2 1/4 cups plain flour
2 cups caster sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used peanuts)
1/2 cup mini marshmallows

And for the frosting:

1 cup of butter
1 cup of partially melted mini marshmallows
2 cups icing sugar

1. In a large bowl sift and combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

2. In another bowl whisk together the oil, eggs, water, vinegar and vanilla extract.

3. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and stir until nearly no lumps remain.

4. Roughly chop the nuts and measure out the marshmallows.

5. Stir in the nuts and marshmallows.

6. Fill your ice cream cones 2/3 full with batter (I always overfill patty pans and the like, don’t copy the photo above!).

Bake at 180 degrees celsius for about 20-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. You will, at this stage, be blown away with what you have created:

Ohhh right. See what I mean about filling them too much? Sweet crunchy overflow.

So the icing is where things got a bit complicated. The recipe said to: cream together 1 cup softened butter with 1 cup partially melted marshmallows. So I put some marshmallows in the microwave and as I tried to beat them with the butter they turned hard very quickly and stuck to the mixer:

Frustrating. If any more seasoned bakers have any advice re this please comment! In the end I creamed together 1 cup of butter and 2 cups of icing sugar with hard marshmallow lumps. The lumps kept clogging my icing bag, but I got there in the end.

And now I am hungry. Go forth and bake!

Posted in Food | Tagged Cupcakes in Ice Cream cones, Dessert, Food, Marshmallows, mini ice cream cones, Recipe, Rocky Road Cupcakes | 8 Comments

My top 3 NYC delis

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Bec

This post was inspired by Hannah‘s NYC eating map. It’s really cool. I wanted in.

The following places aren’t particularly hip or unknown, but they are the best. There is nothing I love more than a three-inch thick pastrami sandwich with a side of pickles. Except for maybe pancakes with bacon and maple syrup.

1 Eisenberg’s Sandwich Shop

There used to be pancakes on that plate. Eisenberg’s is my favourite because the staff are so friendly, the food is delicious and they never let your coffee run out. It’s also located right near the Flat Iron building. I’ve been a few times by myself and they always made time to chat to my lonely self.

2 Katz’s Deli

This is where Harry met Sally. Literally. The pastrami here really is orgasmic (and better than at Eisenberg’s shhhh) but it’s always packed. But you have to go there.

3. Tom’s Restaurant

So Tom’s is technically a diner who’s facade is well-known for its role in Seinfeld. The inside looks nothing like where Elaine, Jerry, Kramer and George used to hang out (which was a studio in LA). The pancakes are great and the bacon cooked exactly to my liking.

Carnegie Deli. Because it’s famous. I guess. The bacon here is so overdone it’s completely dry which I don’t appreciate. But from the below photo it looks like I ate a massive serve (and side serve) anyway…