Cute Stuff #6

Some new cute stuff I've been into lately.

The Seychelles dress by Twenty-seven Names …

and these similar dresses from Obus. What a rad summer uniform they would make.

This happy pillow from Gorman's Home Time range.

It's much too early to be talking about 2015 calendars, I know, but the Ask Alice Annual Charity Calendar is available for pre-order, and it's a beauty.

Hungry for That. I wish I could dive right into that bottom photo, mouth first.

I have been really into the new Jamie Oliver series, Comfort Food. That's him and Caitlin Moran ogling his toasted cheese sandwich, above, which was an amazing episode. The series, and cookbook is all about taking retro, run of the mill dishes and making them spectacularly, over the top. That cheese sandwich was so impressive.

Raro Markets

The Punanga Nui Markets in Rarotonga are an absolute must visit experience, especially if you want to try some island food. Like these Raro donuts. So delish.

Poke is another one of my favourites. This is paw paw cooked in coconut milk thickened with arrowroot, and on the right is banana.

Head Ei's. The flower crown trend has been going strong in Raro since way back.

Mushroom and Barley Soup

I was inspired by this Hungry and Frozen post to make mushroom soup the other night. It was very easy to make and ended up being so delicious I thought I'd share.

You will need:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic (I like things super garlicy, you might want to only use one clove, up to you!)
• 2 cups chopped mushrooms
• 2 slices chopped bacon (optional)
• 1 teaspoon dried sage
• 1 litre chicken stock
• 1/2 cup pearl barley
• a generous splash of white wine
• grated parmesan and chopped parsley to serve (also optional)

To cook:

• Heat olive oil in a heavy pot and add garlic, then mushrooms, bacon and sage. Get it all nice and sizzling, then once it's starting to get a bit sticky deglaze the pot by splashing in your wine. Lower heat and leave for a few minutes to reduce and cook.

• Add stock and barley and bring to the boil. Simmer for around 20 minutes until the barley is cooked through and softened.

• Once it was cooked I used a stick mix straight in the pot to blend it up slightly to create a half smooth, half chunky texture. Now you're ready to serve it up, with plenty of parmesan on top, and some chopped fresh parsley.

I managed to prepare all this while Ray was having his dinner. Then I left it simmering while doing his bath, I put him to bed, then I jumped in the bath, then it was ready to eat! Not that I ate it in the bath. I got out and ate at the table, then spent the rest of the evening on the couch. A most peaceful and relaxing Saturday evening!

Raro Holiday

As I mentioned in my last post, we just returned from Rarotonga. We had a big family celebration for my Dad's 70th birthday. Even though it's Winter in the Cook Islands, it's still warm enough to go to the beach, and eat tropical fruits.

Beautiful flowers. Hibiscus flowers only last for a day so my Mum picked a new batch every morning for the table.

We gave Dad a tuna harpoon for his birthday, and commissioned a local carver to work on the handle. It turned out so good!

Huge avocados off our tree.

Massive grapefruit!

A teeny banana!

Preparing rukau, made from taro leaves. You have to remove the stemmy middle, which has that fuzzy mouth taste similar to kiwifruit. Otherwise it tastes like spinach.

Mr Meet-Cute lending a hand.

Coconut buns.

Taro cooked in coconut cream, and ika mata, which is fresh raw tuna.

Le Bon Vivant Bakery and Cafe. We had a delicious lunch here.

They make their own version of 'Mayonnaise', which is a classic Raro potato salad, made with tinned beetroot to turn it pink.

And donuts, which are another popular Rarotongan food, though traditionally they're not made with sugar and cream like these ones.

Food lately

… or rather, food from the past year or so.

I snacked on these 'Happy Crackers' a lot while I was pregnant. Recipe from My New Roots.

Then after Ray was born I couldn't wait to get back into eating soft cheeses and deli meats! I made this platter when my mum came over to meet Ray, and also piled on some seasonal figs.

Muffins were a handy snack when Ray was still in the hospital, and the days were so busy I didn't get time to sit down for lunch. Then once Ray came home the days were even busier! I'm in awe of anyone who manages to still cook, let alone bake with a new baby at home. If you know someone who has just had a baby, then I think muffins would be a great gift to drop off for them, as most food needs to be consumed with one hand!

Delicious brunch with Mr Meet-Cute at St Ali, on one of our first outings with baby in tow.

Cauliflower soup, a Winter staple.

Donut and a cuppa on a gloomy Winter day.

Little cheesy potato bakes, with more cheese than potato.

Egg baked in an avo! I love the idea of this more than I actually enjoyed eating it, as the avocado ended up a bit weird and dry.

Takeout salad from Munsterhaus. This was after a week of eating rubbish, and I was craving some fresh healthy goodness!

Amazing french toast at Dench when Mr Meet-Cute's Mum was in town.

Winter Recipe

I've spent a lot of this year feeling sleep deprived, and generally on the verge of sickness, so trying to eat some healthy meals has been a top priority. Now that winter has arrived, I'm sure there's a lot of you out there feeling a bit sniffly and miserable too. Might I suggest this super immunity boosting dish? Adapted from Marion Grasby's Beggars Chicken recipe, this is a meal to help you get back on your feet if you're feeling rundown.

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch coriander
• 10 cloves of garlic
• few cms of ginger
• 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 6 x chicken thighs
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 5 star anise
• ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon white sugar or palm sugar 
• 1 litre chicken stock or water 

• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 head of broccoli
• one bunch of spring onions

Method:

Cut the leaves off the coriander, and rinse the roots and stems. Chop into a fine mush, along with the garlic and ginger. Use a pestle and mortar if you have one big enough.

Heat your oil in a large saucepan and add the coriander-garlic-ginger, heating through for a minute or so to create a fragrant paste. Add the whole chicken thighs and cook for a few minutes until slightly browned.

Pour over soy sauce, fish sauce, and stock or water to cover your chicken.  Add the star anise, black pepper, and sugar, then simmer the lot for about 40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through, and you have a delicious broth.

While this is cooking, get your brown rice on. I use one cup of rice, to two cups water. Or pour enough water over to sit two centimetres above the rice. Cover, then once the rice is boiling away keep an eye on it until it looks like the water has just about evaporated, and then turn it off. If you keep the lid on the rice should just steam itself cooked in about 20 minutes. This is my fullproof rice cooking method.

Add your chopped broccoli to your pot of rice, and it will all steam up nicely together.

Before serving, add chopped spring onions to your chickeny broth, and the shredded coriander leaves. Pull the chicken out and slice into bite sized pieces, to make it extra nice and easy to consume. Layer up your rice and broccoli in bowls, and cover with your chickeny broth. Delish!

Preggo eats

I was going to include this picture of a cheese plate I had last year at The Yarra Valley Dairy in my Spring Eats roundup, but then I thought it would just look too weird to everyone because who has a cheese plate with just one type of cheese on it? Well, you do when you're knocked up because you can't eat any 'soft cheeses', or any other delicious mouldy type cheeses. When we ordered this we had to explain that I was pregnant and could have hard cheeses only. I loooooove cheese, so this felt pretty odd. And I wasn't 'showing' at all at this stage, so I felt like people would think I was making a fuss, which was silly of me because most people are really understanding once you explain that you can't eat specific things because you're pregnant. I have had one older lady tell me that she drank and smoked through all her pregnancies and her kids all turned out fine! Things are mighty different these days.

Here are some other things that are off the menu if you find yourself knocked up. There's actually a lot more than just this, it's quite the minefield. And I thought it was just alcohol!

• poached eggs, or any eggs that are runny or not completely cooked. This has been the toughest one for me because I love my poached eggs! Homemade aioli and hollandaise are also out. I usually make tiramisu for Christmas, but not this year as it has raw egg whites in it. Had trifle instead, yum.
• any cold meat, including paté, and smoked salmon - meat has to be cooked and hot! We had beautiful seared tuna at a restaurant a while ago which had to be sent back. I was too embarrassed to ask for it to be well cooked so Mr Meet-Cute had to do it for me. I'm such a wuss!
• sushi. I really had to rethink my lunch options after learning I had to steer clear of sushi.

I guess I think about food and my stomach A LOT so this took a bit of adjusting. It's only for nine months though, and then I shall eat all the poached eggs and hollandaise I can get my hands on!