SIFF 2010

I love Octobers simply because it signifies the celebration of good food around Sydney. Unfortunately due to work and uni commitments I haven't had many chances to check out many of the offerings at this year's Sydney International Food Festival. One thing, however, that my sister and I knew we couldn't miss out on was trying one of the special brunch offers.

So today, battling the insane windy weather conditions we ventured out with the family to have brunch at Hyde Park Barracks Cafe. We did the SIFF Brunch here last year and based on that and the set menu that they were advertising it sounded promising.

The 3-course brunch began with a homemade granola, vanilla yoghurt and poached fruit. This was followed by Eggs 3-ways...

Being vegetarian I had the meat-free version. This included - eggs florentine, a mushroom and fetta omelette with ciabatta bread, and an egg and roast tomato tart.

The third and final dish was raspberry waffles with white chocolate sauce, vanilla gelato and berries.

Overall, the food pretty tasty but I can't say that I was overly impressed. It might have been the service that put me off a bit, as at times it was plain offensive (I won't elaborate too much, but I think 90% of the people dining there had been personally insulted by one particular waiter)...but with 3-courses for $25 I can't really complain.

The best part of online shopping...

...is receiving the order early on a miserable Monday morning. As you can imagine, I was ecstatic to receive my most recent order of books, CDs and DVDs.

I FINALLY have a copy of Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare.

It is the follow-up series (or rather a prequel series) to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series. I love, love, love this series and am constantly recommending it to everyone as a good read (and once again I must thank my friend S for introducing me to the series, so thanks S!!). While it has the elements of vampires and werewolves that are quite typical of the fantasy genre in young adult fiction at the moment, it is a very well-written series that draws you in. In fact I was so captivated by the series that when S lent me the series I didn't leave my room for 2 whole days because I just had to finish the series. Needless to say, I absolutely cannot wait for the weekend so I can read Clockwork Angel.

Also in the parcel was the Season 4 boxset of Psych.

My sister and I love this show, I remember we began watching it way back when Channel 10 put on a couple of episodes one summer. Unfortunately it didn't get the ratings in Australia and was soon after taken off air. In the US however Psych is much loved and has recently been renewed for a 6th season. I can understand why the show may not be to everyone's tastes, especially with a multitude the crime shows on tv, but more particularly because of the fact that the show's fast-paced (sometimes crazy) humour has it's roots in pop culture references that some people may just not get.

On the CD front I FINALLY got around to ordering a copy of Glee Vol. 3 Showstoppers...

...And there was a copy of American Dreams: The Original Soundtrack.

It's no secret that I love all things 1960s, but it was particularly the tv series American Dreams that really got me interested in the popular culture of the '60s (and finally after many years I managed to track down a copy of the soundtrack!). Although at times historically inaccurate the series chronicled the major historical events of the decade while following the life of a typical middle-class American family. What I really loved about the show was how it re-created and depicted the popular '60s show American Bandstand and as such had an array of famous modern day musicians cover the chart-topping songs of much-loved '60s bands.

Well, I'm off to order me some more books (I really wasn't lying when I said I love books) especially with the Aussie dollar currently doing so well. Happy Monday all!

10.10.10

It's been a crazy busy couple of days for me but for the most part it has been crazy in a good way. I spent the most part of my weekend at work but this led to me being introduced to one of the best dumpling places I've ever been too. It also reminded me of the age-old adage to not judge books by their covers. In this case I'm referring to the little dumpling place. Upon first glance it doesn't seem all that welcoming or enticing but appearances aside the food was authentic and absolutely delicious.

After work today I headed down to the Rock's Markets to check out the Australian Cheese Showcase 2010 with a couple of my lovely coworkers, after sampling (and purchasing) some delicious organic goat's milk cheese we wandered around the rest of the markets. This was followed up with a stop in at what is by far my favourite French patisserie in Sydney, La Renaissance. They do THE most divine cakes and their hot chocolates are pretty delicious too! Today my sweet of choice was the Fleur de Lys...

(Source - http://larenaissance.com.au/images/savouries/Zulu.jpg)

It's simply divine. It's a rich chocolate mousse made from Valrhona 70% chocolate, with a crunchy praline and biscuit base. Yum!

Other lovely things that have made my weekend a good one included my newly acquired book bag.

I have been going on about these bags for a while (previously mentioned here), and my lovely sister surprised me by buying me one...and in my favourite pattern too! (Thanks F!!)

In return for my sister's generous and most thoughtful gift of the coveted book bag, I stopped by kikki.K and bought her the 2011 Inspiration Diary that she has been eyeing for a while. In fact the diary is so neat and has some great inspirational quotes throughout, that I ended up going back and buying one for myself.

Bullying.

This past week I've been reading a lot about the teen suicides in the US that were a result of bullying and I can't help but feel incredibly sad while thinking about what an incredibly cruel place the world can be.

Bullying is a huge issue not only in the US but in Australia too. The saddest thing about it is that not a lot is often done (or even said) about it. In many cases those being bullied feel completely helpless and even worse many find the only way out is suicide. The case that has made the biggest headline recently is that of Tyler Clementi, an 18 year old student at Rutgers University who was driven to suicide after he was outed as being homosexual by his roommate who secretly taped and streamed his sexual encounter with another male online. After reading about this I felt sickened and appalled. What sick and heartless human being does this to someone? What makes a bully feel justified in carrying out such a vicious attack on another individual? It is simply heartbreaking that an innocent was driven to take his own life because of the cruel and careless actions of another.

I've never shared this openly before, but when I was younger I was bullied. Growing up I have always been incredibly reserved and somewhat shy. This can make me seem socially awkward when I'm around people that I don't know all that well, when in truth once I get to know someone I can be incredibly outspoken - in fact my nickname from my family since I was 3 years old is 'chatterbox'. Sadly though coming across as quiet and socially awkward led to some people finding it justifiable to taunt and make fun of me - and just be plain horrible. The worst part was realising that my supposed best friend never stood up for me and actually found it "kind of funny". This same 'friend' actually ended up being a huge cause of misery for me as they were reflecting their own insecurities on me and constantly putting me down, making me feel like a complete 'loser' who had to prove myself. Needless to say my self-esteem took a massive hit, and even today I'm incredibly cautious about the people I surround myself with. While I never came out and spoke about my experience to anyone, including my family, I somehow made it through - perhaps it was the sheer determination of proving all those people wrong and the fact that I wanted (and still want) so much more in life. Unfortunately, many people aren't so lucky to come out the other side of being a victim of bullying, and I understand only too well how hard it is to talk about it and ask for help.

Whether the bullying be a result of sexual orientation, race, religion or some other factor, it is completely unacceptable and something needs to be done. For the moment it seems that raising awareness about the issues surrounding bullying in society, and offering support to those that may otherwise feel completely helpless and alone while experiencing bullying is a step in the right direction. The campaign supported by US talk show host Ellen Degeneres in conjunction with The Trevor Project is an example of a positive and much needed action against bullying (especially for LGBTQ youth).

I can only hope that the teen suicides that have plagued the media this past week shows other youths that they are not alone and that there is support out there even if all they feel is a complete sense of helplessness and despair.

Pretzels.

A little while back I ordered this pretzel cookbook, titled The Pretzel Cookbook by Priscilla Warren.

Since my mid-semester break is drawing to an end I thought I would try out one of the recipes. Of course, while at first this seemed like it would be easy, it turns out that you need to plan ahead and give yourself a 24 hour period in which to make them. And so the process began...

Deciding to make a basic pretzel, I made the dough and then left in the refrigerator overnight to rest and let the yeast do it's thing.

Today I pulled the dough out and formed my pretzels. I decided on medium-sized pretzels thinking they would be nice - but let me tell you going the large-pretzel route would have been far more practical and easier when dealing with the dough.

After leaving the formed pretzels to rest some more, I finally got them in the oven. After all that effort they only take 8-10 minutes to bake. It really is true that making bread of any kind requires a great deal of patience, as the preparation itself takes forever!

Unable to decide what toppings to put on them, I decided on salt and poppyseeds. Despite the length of prep time required these pretzels are delicious, and are similar to the traditional New York style pretzel, making all that time and effort worth it :)

Waiter Rant.

I just finished reading this really great book titled Waiter Rant. The book is the brain-child of 'The Waiter' an anonymous guy who started up a blog in 2004 chronicling life as a waiter. The blog became (and still is) wildly popular and even won the Bloggie Award for "Best Writing in a Weblog" in 2006.

My sister is the one that first came across this book, and tracked it down online. It sounded intriguing and so while we waited for the book to slowly make it's way across the globe to our front doorstep I looked up the blog and I can see why it is so popular. The book like the blog is insightful and witty, once I started reading I couldn't put it down. It tells of the highs and lows of working as a waiter.

The thing that struck me most after reading this book is how cruel, rude and inconsiderate diners can be - well, 20% of diners anyway, according to The Waiter who terms this 20% as "socially maladjusted psychopaths". What's more is that this book has changed my outlook on dining out - every time I dine out now I can't help but think of the waiters and what might be going through their minds. I then try everything in my power not to annoy them. If the book has taught me anything, waiters are powerful individuals. While some diners may treat them like scum, what they fail to realise is that they can and will enact revenge in creative ways that you would never think to imagine. I'm not talking about the cliche "spitting in the food" scenarios, although The Waiter informs us that this does in fact on occasion happen - I'm referring more to an intellectual warfare of sorts.

Now, whenever I go out (regardless of whether the place is fine dining or not) I have always tried my best to be polite to waiters and not make their lives difficult. However, I once had the misfortune of being in the company of an individual who acted entitled and treated the waiters like they weren't human beings. It is by far one of the most embarassing situations I have ever had to endure. I feel like sending this rude person a copy of the book. But then the other part of me is comforted by The Waiter's musings and the fact that somewhere, someday a waiter will teach this person a lesson and bring them crashing back down to earth.

All in all, great read. I highly recommend it. If you can't get your hands on a copy of the book, then check out the blog here.

Tulips, Parades and the Elephant Boy.

Just got home from a wonderful day out with the family. We decided to go for a bit of a drive down to Bowral for lunch, and it just so happens that the locals were in the midst of celebrating their annual Tulip Time Festival.

For lunch we stopped in at the Elephant Boy Cafe. The cafe has a quirky decor, filled with all sorts of odds and ends, and shelves lined with old books.

The food is (for the most part) really good. I opted for the Vegetable Lasagna was supremely tasty with it's fusion of Indian and Italian flavours - while it had a traditional bechemel sauce it was spiced with a lovely pancha masala.

My dad and sister tried the Fish Cakes (made from Salmon and Potato), which is a dish Elephant Boy is quite popular for. I, of course, could not resist and stole a bite from their plates and decided that they were indeed absolutely delicious.

Because I had trouble deciding what to order my mum decided to get the Sweet Potato Tart so that we could share and I could have both the lasagna and tart. It too was spiced with some uniquely Indian flavour and with the accompanying Mango Chutney was incredibly tasty.

After lunch we decided to go for a bit of a wander around the main street and check out all the stores we like to visit whenever we head to Bowral. Despite the fact that I'm in the middle of a mission to save money for a holiday I couldn't help myself and had to buy something. I opted for a little bar of Herbal Clothing Protector. I figured it was practical, protecting my clothes from potential moth infestations, and so it justified the spend.

Then my sister and I went into one of the many antique stores. There is simply so much character and history behind each piece, I love it!

While we were out on our little wander we noticed the street was beginning to fill up with locals, and it was then that we discovered that today was in fact the main day of the Tulip Festival, and because they were celebrating it's 50th year there was going to be a parade through town. The parade itself was pretty standard, showcasing the organisations and things that make the Southern Highlands unique.

Following the parade there was going to be wheelbarrow races and lantern parades but we decided it was time for a break from festival-watching and decided to grab some coffee and cake instead. We usually head to the Bowral Cafe and Patisserie, but having enjoyed our earlier meal at Elephant Boy we decided to head back there. Sadly, this second visit was a bit of a let down. We ordered our coffees, as well as a slice of Carrot Cake and a slice of Pear and Almond cake to share. When they arrived we were shocked to discover that there was in fact mould on the Pear and Almond cake. This put a major dampener on our afternoon.

Despite the mould debacle the coffees were in fact really good, living up to the claim on the door that they have "the best coffee in town". Predictably I ordered a Chai Latte, and not only was it perfectly made it came in a little bowl, which I thought was pretty neat - even if it did present a slight challenge when it came to drinking it.

All in all it was pretty great day :)