tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48138630177187838372012-02-16T08:27:28.432ZAussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.comBlogger331100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-26213746043578800452011-11-05T08:34:00.000Z2011-11-05T08:34:41.811Z

So last month I hit the big 4-0, forty, or XL. I find the roman numeral for 40 the funniest as the past few months I have been on a diet that is making me less XL every week! 18kgs down in 3 months, although to be honest, October while I still had a loss, it was only a small loss of 3 kgs as I had lots of fun with people I love eating and drinking things I have missed. One thing about this diet,

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-32490881900999238262011-10-09T20:12:00.000+01:002011-10-09T20:12:29.141+01:00

Hussyband is on call this week, which is probably a good thing considering what a crazy birthday party I had last weekend for my 40th, and the dinner we have planned this week at Nobu on my actual birthday/4th wedding anniversary. Being confined close to home has its advantages - I made a HUGE batch of passata with tomatoes and basil from the garden that has reduced down for most of the

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-38368512169717298762011-08-31T09:38:00.000+01:002011-08-31T09:38:07.768+01:00

I have been brushed with the paintbrush of sadness that comes from the loss of friends and family who have chosen to take their own life on more than one occasion over the years. My earliest memory was of an Uncle who had fought in Vietnam, I cant remember how he took his life, but I know that it was spoken of in very hushed voices when I was still in primary school, and that my cousin, his

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-35489921769960483132011-08-26T21:04:00.001+01:002011-08-26T21:05:11.756+01:00

Sorry for not posting for a while again, the diet has now gone to extremes and I am doing Lighter Life - 500 calories a day of soups and shakes that come form little sachets - nothing exciting to write about OR  for the tastebuds! I am currently planning my 40th Birthday Party - a Rocky Horror themed night of drinking and debauchery (I hope). As such, even though I cant eat until then, I am

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-45734758913525537072011-07-17T08:46:00.001+01:002011-07-17T08:59:02.327+01:00

Long time between posts. It’s been a crazy few months at the Casa - we moved house, had no internet for 2 months, the Parentals visited from Oz for 5 weeks, and then we went to Ireland for a week for me to finally meet Hussybands extended family *phew*. When we moved in, the garden had not been touched in over a year, it had the Laura Palmer thing going (she's dead - wrapped in plastic!), I spent

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-21749598582594982232011-03-08T20:21:00.000Z2011-03-08T20:21:12.041Z

This is a quickie, both post and recipe, bought to you at the request of the equally delicious Jane Naylor Jones of Edith & Elizabeth (they make uber cute vinyl wall art for a VERY reasonable price! I currently have 2 - a chandelier in my hallway and "Eat Drink & Be Merry" above my dining table). So there are three smells that give me a a happy feeling deep in my belly: 1. Freshly mown wet grass

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-37895282065039054002011-02-20T20:32:00.001Z2011-02-20T20:34:39.010Z

Following on from last weeks post on Blood Orange Curd, I am being terribly lazy this week, but I promise you it will be worth it. This past week was the lovely Caroline Mead's birthday, of which we are not allowed to mention or celebrate...oops, sorry babe! In honor of this, I decided to bake a cake. A special cake. A Non-Birthday Cake. Ingredients Cake Grated zest 1 blood orange (or lemon) 1

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-51572751074759158142011-02-13T15:49:00.001Z2011-02-13T18:46:02.195Z

Having to stay at home this weekend due to the Hussybands little snip yesterday, I find myself with the time and inclination to play with a few recipes. Orange and lemons the bell of St Clemens...... In my box from Riverford this week, I added a bag of Blood Oranges. The blood orange is a kind of orange with a deep scarlet hue on the inside. The skin pigment on the outside is also darker.

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-19254250774980431892011-02-06T12:24:00.000Z2011-02-06T12:24:11.617Z

Just before Xmas the gorgeous Shahera Jordan from Smartbox™ asked me if I would be interested in trying one of their boxes out and writing a review. A Smartbox™ is a gift package which entitles you to a leisure activity (ex: Ferrari car driving, pampering in a spa institute, luxurious escapes...). The Smartbox™ contains a voucher, with no face value, valid for up to a year and a half, and a 

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-45512616979046843592011-01-30T09:15:00.001Z2011-01-31T18:34:22.750Z

Happy new year dear readers, I am sorry for my lack of posting but work and life got a little insane the last few weeks. This was my first Xmas living away from Oz. Instead of being surrounded by my family drinking and eating ridiculous amounts of seafood in my parents backyard - surrounded by flies, rainbow lorikeets and magpies, we were holed up in Woolwich Arsenal with our growing London

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-8345596601551775042010-11-21T13:39:00.000Z2010-11-21T13:39:20.829Z

Nan I first took over making the Christmas Pudding in our family back in Oz 5 years ago. The first year I stuck religiously to my grandmothers recipe that had been created with love and much stirring many years before I was born. The second year, I halved the amount and doubled the booze, as I am a lush and so are my family. That year my Uncle declared it better than Nan's (much to my

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-75153707275118680042010-10-23T18:05:00.000+01:002010-10-23T18:05:23.110+01:00

On a cold autumnal afternoon in London, I decided to whip up a batch of mussels for the Hussyband so we could snuggle up, eat with our fingers and slurp juices sucked up by torn chunks of crusty bread as they dribbled down our arms. You see people out and about, tucking into pots of mussels in restaurants, daintily trying to eat them with knives and forks....oh the travesty! The waste! Mussels

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-84352337621488546102010-10-19T20:25:00.001+01:002010-10-19T20:26:40.001+01:00

So a couple of weeks back, the Hussyband and I went on a Haggis Adventures bus trip for 5 days through Devon and Cornwall. This was a bare bones trip, with a very comfortable bus and tour guide, and staying in backpacker hostels (I will not get started on my hatred on the accommodation part of the trip.) Being that we were being forced to stay in dorm rooms, I rightly justified that we could

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-42196975670313724132010-10-05T13:29:00.001+01:002010-10-05T14:03:45.289+01:00

I have a love for pink bits. And vodka. So to combine the two can only be good right? Flavored vodka is easy to make, and don't believe the naysayers - it is not a way to cover the taste of cheap vodka, I wont flavor what I would not drink normally. It is the same with vodka as it is with wine ----- if you wont drink it, don't cook with it (or in this case toss some sugary goodness in, change its

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-43597883399399256542010-08-13T13:54:00.000+01:002010-08-13T13:54:16.304+01:00

This weekend I am off on a small journey. Hussyband and I are catching the train and ferry to the Isle of Wight for a weekend of frivolity, Garlic Festival, drinking and silliness. Now, every good journey needs a good meal, and let’s face it people, train food in the UK is just god-awful. So, with this in mind, I bought myself a tiffin. 4 pretty boxes held together with a clasp, in shades of

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-54046715678840280252010-08-05T16:16:00.002+01:002010-08-05T17:34:52.866+01:00

Let me tell you a story of 4 maidens, cast adrift on a harsh unknown sea. There were two Australians, a South African and a Swede. They had found themselves on a desolated shore – no bars, no restaurants, no shoe stores....and then like a mirage on the horizon, they spied their salvation. Glittering in the distance, a purveyor of fine food and beverage...The Rivington Grill in Greenwich. OK, so

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-63256972751690535932010-06-30T20:17:00.001+01:002010-08-05T17:35:39.937+01:00

Last week at Taste of London, Tom Aitkins lamb was one of my favourite dishes. As luck would have it, Allens of Mayfair, also at the festival, had a lovely shoulder of lamb that had my name on it, and was lugged back home across London by a very boozey me at the end of the night. Early Sunday morning, while the rest of the house slept, I was up surfing the net, writing my last post, and getting

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-58538046758022957652010-06-27T09:16:00.019+01:002010-06-28T11:19:52.657+01:00

Last week, my trusty foodie sidekick Kanga_Rue and I headed to Le Cafe Anglais in sunny West London just near Bayswater tube for an instructional afternoon as to how to shuck our own oysters. I got to the restaurant just as the boys from Wright Bros Oyster and Porter House at Borough Market were setting up for the impending hoard of hungry mollusk lovers.Finding us a seat at one of the few tables

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-37073990454408903842010-06-20T09:38:00.017+01:002010-06-20T12:25:43.554+01:00

On a cold, threatening to rain, grey London evening we queued with the masses to enter a Taste of London in Regents Park. We were on a mission, Kanga_Rue and I, we were a hunting. Two things on our hunt for Kanga: Trinity's pig trotter on toasted pain polaine, fried quail eggs, sauce gribiche and pork crackling, and the Nyetimber bubbles. For me: Tom Aitkins 7 hour lamb, and Club Gascon's Pimm's

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-7920799059761166692010-06-02T11:00:00.010+01:002010-06-09T17:32:11.999+01:00

So this weekend saw Hussyband off to the beach at Brighton to enjoy a summer long weekend. As is typical of Bank Holiday here in the Old Dart, it was crap weather. There was wind and there was rain. At one point we did get enough glorious sunshine for me to get my cleavage and arms burnt which was fantastic (on a side note: I am obviously drinking too much if I get my elbows burnt right?)We had

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-34215390929788316942010-06-01T14:17:00.011+01:002010-06-09T17:31:48.687+01:00

Ruth H-B and I were spending a lovely afternoon perusing the beauty that is the Chelsea FlowerShow. We met up for pre-show drinks at 101 Pimlico Road (to get us in the mood and whet our appetites for our later dinner booking). We started off with a huge glass of rose, then decided to move outside and sit in the sun while we chatted with the owner and head chef, while downing a bottle of

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-14433586643740768402010-05-08T16:45:00.012+01:002010-06-09T17:30:55.628+01:00

The deal with Secret Supper Clubs, a phase currently sweeping the globe. Is that you go to a strangers house, you give them money, they give you food (and in some cases wine). Some venues you are at your own table (within elbow distance of your neighbor), others, you dine communally and get to know your fellow campers.On this particular gorgeous Saturday evening, in a secret undisclosed (well it

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-3370926753009623952010-04-09T16:58:00.010+01:002010-06-09T17:30:24.859+01:00

Last night we went to La Matafan for dinner, and whilst the mains really were lovelly, what I want to tell you about is the desert. Not just A desert but THREE deserts all lined up pretty on a platter.Now, unlike Amelie, I am neither innocent or naive, but like her I do so love a good creme brulee - the crack of the sugar under the back of my spoon, the smooth creme across my tongue and the sigh

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-14073186111605253972010-04-05T10:02:00.009+01:002010-06-09T17:29:40.931+01:00

Hussyband and I are currently ensconced in Belle-PlagneView Larger Map in the Rhone Alps, surrounded by chocolate box vistas of snowy mountains and sugar coated trees. Also the sounds of children screaming....but we avoid those by the time honored tradition of going into a pub. Apres Ski is my sport of choice this holiday, I like my limbs in one piece thank you very much.But, after a hard

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-58248677584709480562010-03-24T16:35:00.011Z2010-03-24T16:52:13.285Z

Last night to celebrate the end of a tiresome period of our lives, we celebrated by going to Marco Pierre Whites restaurant at the hallowed ground called home by Chelsea FC.Settling into our very French Bistro surrounds by losing ourselved in a huge corner leather booth, I ordered a glass of Laurent Perrier Brut Champagne, whilst the Hussyband indulged in a Martini (with olives of course).We

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-75918217174638536542010-03-11T08:54:00.003Z2010-06-09T17:30:11.619+01:00

I have tickets booked and am going for the entire weekend....Hussyband is wonderful in letting me have a weekend of food blogging heaven.To quote from the website:"THE International Food Blogger event of the year, FBC 2010, will be bigger and better than ever! We’ve put together a truly incredible weekend jam-packed with networking, exchanging ideas, food and fun in exciting London and

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-59337451214355367912010-02-16T15:12:00.008Z2010-02-16T15:31:27.921Z

Following the energetic consumption of sake the previous evening, our original plans for Valentines lunch were right off the rails. Crossing my fingers, legs and eyes, I dialled the Ealing Park Tavern on the off-chance that they had a spare table for an early dinner. Thankfully, Lady Luck has been having an affair with Cupid, and we snaffled the last table for a 6pm sitting.Hussyband went back to

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-50827205260462072002010-02-16T14:49:00.008Z2010-02-16T15:31:55.508Z

We started the afternoon snuggled into Jonos, an Irish hole-in-the-wall at Ealing Common watching the Irish V French 6 Nations Rugby...suffice to say, we wont discuss the result. After a few beers and ciders with HalfTwinHelen and BeauBrett, we wandered down the block to what Time Out London has nominated as one of the Top 10 sushi bars in London: Sushi-Hiro.The restaurant is tiny, with just five

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-62408774287884493952010-02-12T16:47:00.000Z2010-02-12T16:51:09.055Z

OK....a deal has been made with Ms Kanga_Rue that once I lose 10kgs at the gym I am joining next week, we will go L'Art du Fromage in Chelsea and put a percentage of it back on again. Yes, a cheese restaurant. This will be evil.

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-50353876200746014842010-02-12T13:22:00.000Z2010-02-12T13:32:32.131Z

Back home, my standard work-day lunch is generally something of the asian variety. Thai, Chiniese, Japanese, Korean with an occassional jaunt to Middle Eastern. I am not a sandwich everyday kinda gal.Give me a thai beef salad or some sushi over a bageuette or club any day of the week.Working now in London, there is a serious dearth of asian options. Yet we are surrounded by Pret and Eat,

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-91078002849352799832010-02-06T09:36:00.000Z2010-02-06T10:19:48.953Z

Waxy O'Connors is an awesome Irish styled theme pub between Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square in London. It is full of rabbit warrens of small rooms and booths, 2 bars, live music (at times), many stairs, and a bloody great big tree in the middle of it. It also has a smaller sister pub across the road, appropriately named Waxy's Little Sister.Food is served all day, and the booze on offer is

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-50791656065282533912010-01-31T08:47:00.000Z2010-01-31T09:31:12.688Z

For our first Saturday morning in London I dragged Hussyband off to the Borough Markets near London Bridge Tube, the home of Market Kitchen for Lifestyle Food lovers back in Oz.We started off at the first hot food stall we came across, all of ten feet into the pavilion. Northfield Meat - one of the best bacon, egg & onion rolls I have ever had, washed down with a cup of piping hot mulled wine

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4813863017718783837.post-44372918639597156342009-12-30T20:09:00.000Z2009-12-30T20:12:41.824Z

Every good story involves a quest. My quest begins with a journey, a voyage across the skys and over oceans, through unknown lands - one hot, humid, wet the other arid, sandy and well, still hot. Then at last I will land on the other side of the ocean in a country that seems to pride itself on fast foods, prepackaged meals and a kitchen that needs some serious work (and gadgets!)This quest will

AussieFoodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813903932404441211noreply@blogger.com1