bad bad bad bad girl

Yes I am supposed to be saving, yes I am going on a fabulous holiday in a few months and should be putting all my savings towards that BUT I have also been looking for a pair of red shoes for a long time.

So I tried these on.

And I felt like Dorothy.

And I put them on lay-by....BAD!!

I haven't talked too much about my shoe collection (read obsession) but I had put myself on a total shoe ban to save for this holiday.

But just picture these boots in London, with boyfriend jeans, and tartan Pepe jeans jacket....CUTE!! How could I leave them behind?

H will yell...

By the way, they are Nude and little Miss M spotted them for me after lay-buying her own pair of HOT boots. The shop is Tienda and it just opened on Victoria Avenue in Albert Park. It's packed with lots of gorgeous goodies!

Guess What.....

I've found heaven, and it was so close to home!!

Earlier this week H came home raving about the best bacon sandwich he had ever had, in fact I believe he said 'best sandwich hands down'! Being the typical picky and annoyingly critical chef that he is (if you've read earlier posts you'll see what I mean) it's unusual for him to eat anything new without having something negative to say so naturally I was intrigued...

As it happened we both had yesterday off - H had his young chef interview at Grossi's and his generous boss gave him the whole day off. Coincidentally I had a work commitment in the city which involved a massive screaming match(yes on my day off, I've really earned my pay rise. PS if you ever get into a screaming match with a crazy person you won't win, they can always out scream you) Once that was over I was quite happy to try on shoes that I can't afford at David Jones for an hour while H finished up, so once we were both done with the screaming and the shoes and the interviewing we were on Bourke Street and looking for some lunch. (FYI, H didn't seem confident, last year they questioned his choice of place of employment, and this year, when he has one of the top jobs in town they just seemed to want to know how his boss runs the business...sheesh!

H was still filled with warm scrummy bacon memories from his first jaunt to our new nirvana, so we whizzed down Little Bourke to the deli-slice of heaven (sorry for the pun), also known as Earl Canteen. We could only wrangle a 15 minute car park so we raced in, H ordered the Pork Belly - crispy skin Otway pork with apple and coleslaw on a crunchy baguette - and I could not look past the Confit Duck, with caramelised wild figs, walnuts, onion jam, radicchio and watercress on perfect ciabatta (half of which is pictured, I munched down the first half before it occurred to me to take a picture...I always do that). It came quickly served by friendly young staff and was scoffed down with 3 minutes to spare on our parking space.

My heaven can be found at 500 Bourke Street (enter from Little Bourke Street, located under Movida) and they open Monday to Friday for brekkie and lunch. Do it!

You can find their full menu at www.earlcanteen.com.au

Sharing The Love

For any of you game to try the magic rainbow cake here is a copy of the instructions I sent to a few friends. It really is quite easy so have fun!!

Ok guys, here is my invented techni-colour dream cake recipe. More experienced bakers might have a better way of doing this, but this is how I went about it. It really comes down to the food colouring. Ok, first the cake. I made three cakes, each a different colour. Try and get good quality gel icing colour as you will only need to use a tiny bit to get vibrant colour and it works for cake and icing. I did all of this in a kitchen aid with a paddle attachment but I think electric beaters would do the trick.

CAKE INGREDIENTS

240g butter
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
4 eggs (beaten lightly)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

METHOD

Pre heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Grease and flour a 20-25cm cake tin (if you have a spring base PERFECT)

Mix butter and sugar together.

Sift the flour and baking powder together and add to the butter mix, alternating a bit of flour for a bit of the beaten egg to get a really smooth batter.

Add the vanilla and food colour (a little bit at a time!)

The batter will be quite thick. Pour into tin , smooth out and give it a band to eliminate air bubbles. Bake in the oven for 30 mins.

EASY!!

Buttercream:

This is what makes this cake a winner. You will need one batch of the following for each cake layer and then a double batch for the outside of the cake.

INGREDIENTS

250g icing sugar sifted
80g unsalted butter at room temp
25ml whole milk
couple of drops of vanilla extract

METHOD

Beat the icing sugar and the butter together in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or handheld electric mixer) on slow/medium speed until the mixture comes together.

Turn the mixer down to slow speed.

Combine the milk and vanilla in a separate bowl and add to the butter mixture a little at a time.

Once all the milk is incorporated turn the mixer up to high speed and continue beating until frosting is light and fluffy (at least 5 mins) add your colour at this point so it is totally incorporated.

ASSEMBLY

Slice the tops off your cakes so you have three even, flat layers.

Choose which colour you want on the bottom and make one batch of the frosting in the same colour. Smooth the icing quite thickly over the cake, leaving a little to one side.

Place your next cake layer on top. fill in any gaps around the outside with the frosting and scrape off the excess. Make another batch of frosting the same colour as the middle layer and repeat the process with the final layer of cake. Once your third cake layer is on top make the double batch of icing to cover the entire top and sides of your masterpiece.

Decorate any way you see fit! We used multi-coloured choc rocks and edible glitter. H got this stuff and the food colour from a cake decorating shop in Melbourne which has an online store - I can highly recommend, http://cakedeco.com.au/

If my instructions are hard to follow feel free to call me (or invite me over and we can do it together - I'll even bring my colouring ;)

Good luck cake lovers - and once again thanks to L for the inspiration and inspired method of getting those sprinkles onto the side of the cake!

Good Vibes

H has his interview for Good Food Guide Young Chef of The Year tomorrow morning.

Everyone send him good thought please :)

Mastershite

Last year I fell in love with a new breed of reality TV. Masterchef was like a breath of fresh air, different format, judges who knew what they were talking about, contestants that didn't make me feel the need to go on a murderous rampage and best of all, some of Australia's most exciting culinary talent showcased for the nation to feast on.

That was last year. This year, I hate it.

The blatent product placement, the simpering, whining, crying contestants and the fact that most of them just want their faces on television drives me nuts and I find myself sounding so much like my father when I say, it's rubbish.

H and I caught up for drinks with another chef friend and his charming wife (M & A) on Sunday and M made an excellent point. Some of the contestants this year are quite young, not yet in there twenties, and they sit there on screen talking about their dreams of becoming a chef. Well if that is the case why not become a chef? Seriously, H didn't start his apprenticeship until he was 18, my own father started his last year and there is a serious shortage in Melbourne. H's boss wants to hire an apprentice at the moment - now that is the opportunity of a lifetime, if you want to be a chef, not if you want to be famous.

And to top it all off, Matt Preston's plate throwing antics and the cliffhanger style ad break truely was 'disgusting'. The lack of all of that scripted drama last year was what distinguished Masterchef from all the other annoying, crappy drizzle.

Like A said on Sunday, the first season of a reality TV show is always good, before the contestants start seeking the fame and money that will come along with it rather than persuing dreams of a different life.

Yuck. Rant over.

TA DAH!!

I've gotten a bit behind on my blogging so this is semi-old news....but regardless of that this deserves to be blogged about, my techni-colour dream cake was a massive success.

With the help of a couple of gorgeous cousins the cake was assembled and transported with minimal difficulty and cut and served with maximum success!

Getting the chocolate pebbles on the sides was a highlight, we began by throwing them at the still sticky frosting until L came up with an innovative idea and sort of spatulared them on.

I was so thrilled when it was cut and three perfect rainbow layers appeared (instead of the brown blobby mess I was expecting) that I proceeded to do a screaming victory lap of the party and then sit down to sign autographs on people's napkins.

Possible the proudest moment in my life, not sure that childbirth will even compare ;)

"I'm No Good At Weddings"

Many will recognise the title of this blog as a line from The Simpsons, uttered by a blubbering Moe Syzlak. Well, I am also no good at weddings, but I'm even worse at good byes.

Last month my sister left for her UK working holiday. I did not expect to get emotional for a few reasons: 1. She was meant to leave 3 weeks earlier but was delayed due to that oh so funny Icelandic volcano, so there was a big build up and a bit of an anti-climax. 2. I was really happy and excited for her, I've done it and it was the best experience of my life, nothing sad about it (except coming home) 3. I like to think of myself as a pretty cool customer, nothing phases me, I'm worldly and smart and oh so chic...BAH! I'm just lying to myself on that one!

When it came time to wave little sis off through those big doors we (being H and my parents) looked over to her travel companion who was in tears bidding her also very teary family adieu and laughed quietly to ourselves about how unemotional we all were...I think I was still laughing when I realised I was crying. It was big sobby crying too, much to the chagrin of H who muttered something about me being a two pot screamer. Yes, I admit, I had two ciders at dinner but I'm afraid this is not why I was so upset, I am just no good at good byes.

I hate the feeling of not knowing when I'll see someone again. Our last few days in London were particularly emotional, as was the last time I saw my girl HJ in Canada.

That was two years ago and now all it takes is a glance at a photo or an sms from my long lost friends to bring me undone...missing people is much worse than saying goodbye to them.

So we've decided enough is enough, WE'RE GOING TO LONDON!!! I am over the moon, crazy, freak out excited. We're going for two weeks in October (two weeks if H manages to drag me back onto the plane that it!)

More details to come but it is going to be a holiday filled with great food, fantastic friends, OH and of course a couple of days in Paris...before we have to say goodbye again :(