“‘Cause it happens, you know. We all have bad gnocchi days.”
– Alex Herbert
Month: May 2009
The Local, dubbed by fellow attender Dave as a great name for a pub with possibility for nabbing business from other ‘locals’ . E.g. ‘Want to meet at the local? Sure, think I know the one, The Local, yeah.’
In any case we did intend to meet at this particular local, for a casual get together with some fellow Food Media Club members and friends. The Local is run by some nice boys from Melbourne, and we had some great beer and a trip down German memory lane for me as one of our guests was German. I blame this nostalgia on my friend Chilli Walter who did such a good job as a host whilst I was her guest in Ulm that I now think of Germany as my favourite place to visit. Ever. I mean I crave the schinken (ham), the brot (bread), the bier (you can guess that one), the vast green pasture. It is unreasonable that I am so fond of the place, although they do have a little shop called ‘Baren land’ as in ‘Gummi bear heaven’. Those who know me need no more information. Those who don’t, I won’t recall the lolly addiction list here, that’s for another day.
Anyway, I digress. A fun night, relaxed, intimate, meeting a few new faces and catching up with some familiar ones (note I didn’t say old).
The antipasto plate was delicious.
I have an apology to make. I have been very tardy with keeping this blog up to date. “What have I been so preoccupied with?” you may rightly demand. Well, ever since Easter I have been eating chocolate, on my couch, in pyjamas. Green & Black’s organic, once deemed too expensive, now just politically correct and a downright pantry staple. The Maya is midway between dark and milk (around the 54% mark) and has a hint of orange and christmas spice. Not bad at all. The milk is also a touch darker than your average milk (34%) so has a little more of a cocoa hit but without the bitterness of a dark. Ok, shutting up now. Sad, but what was once a treat is now an obligatory indulgence both anticipated and satiated.
I have also been sucked into watching Master Chef, however like my friend’s 4 year old son, have an aversion to the trauma of Thursday night eviction night. “But mummy, will we ever see them again?” says a concerned little voice with watery eyes. It’s just too confrontational and drawn-out ‘biggest loser’ style. Hurry up AJ, I mean Sarah, get us to the master class. Inspiration and instruction are where these types of shows can earn credibility by doing some good as well as just entertaining the masses.
But who am I to criticise, I’ve got my chocolate to distract me 🙂
This is a yummy little dessert made last night after being inspired by my good friend Malini’s blog.
chilliwalter.blogspot.com/2009/05/golden-syrup-puddings.html
I used an assortment of pots, two of the small ones as in the picture, normally used for olives etc. and three larger 250mL capacity pillyvut porcelain dishes I somehow managed to inherit from Grandma. That lovely lady had good taste. So all of these went into a large baking dish half filled with hot water. For the recipe see the link above.
The puddings are buttery and light with a sticky golden syrup base that you can tuck into or avoid, depending on how much sweetness you feel like. I haven’t turned them out as they looked so pretty as is. I did test one though and with a quick whip around the edge with a blunt knife, and an inversion onto a plate came out very easily.
This is a Jill Dupleix recipe from ‘Old Food’, and a very nice one at that.