Caleb's Birthday Party

My nephew Caleb had his 2nd birthday party on the weekend. I can't believe he is 2. He has grown up so fast. I'm not being biased but he is such a smart young man. At the tender age of 2 he is out of nappies, knows how to have a proper conversation and always says Please, I Love You and Ta. He also has great taste buds. He loves Fried Tilapia and eats all different kinds of fruit without hesitation.

For his party I made some sausage rolls and rocky road. Below is the recipe I used for the Rocky Road. This is a child friendly recipe which means no nuts.

Simple Rocky Road

Ingredients

2 Blocks of 250g Cadbury Black Forest
1 250g Strawberry and Vanilla Marshmallows (chopped into small pieces)
¼ cup Desiccated Coconut
8 Chocolate Ripple Biscuits lightly crushed
Sprinkles to decorate

Method

1. In a bowl add desiccate coconut, chopped marshmallows and crushed biscuits.

2. In a separate bowl melt the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl for 2 minutes. Pour the chocolate over the dry ingredients and mix until combined.

3. Put mixture into pattie pans and decorate with sprinkles.

The cutest little girl in the world. This is my niece Caitlin. Isn't she a doll? She makes everyone smile.

My brother hired a Slushie machine. Oh this was very popular as it was an extremely hot day. The next day we all tried to drink as much as possible since it was going to go to waste. Oh the brain freeze was intense. SLUSHIE OVERLOAD...

Sausage Rolls. I will post the recipe I used in upcoming post. This was a healthier version packed with carrots and celery.

The chocolate fountain was a hit too. This was served with some strawberries, banana bread, banana and pineapples for dipping in the fountain of joy. Yummmmmmmmmm.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALEB. I HOPE YOU HAD A GREAT TIME AT YOUR PARTY..

I LOVE YOU...

ALWAYS

AUNTY KATHY...

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Belgian Beer Cafe

During a hectic working week it’s always good to take a break and have a few drinks and a nice lunch with some friends at work. On this particular occasion it was Danny’s farewell lunch.


We went to the Belgian Beer Café. Perfect timing as it was Mussels Wednesday. From Midday to 10pm its half price mussels. They also have a special menu of two courses for $25.00 to celebrate their 10th anniversary.


I ordered the Mussels Poulette. These are cooked with white wine, bacon, vegetables and a touch of cream. Normally $26.90 but because its was Mussels Wednesday it was only $13.45. The mussels were plump and poulette had a nice flavour and loaded with ham and vegetables.



The mussels came with the Belgians signature chips with mayonnaise. The chips were very oily this time around. It wasn't up to its normal standards.

Kat and Danny ordered the A l'Escargot. These are half-shell mussels, grilled with garlic butter. Normally $25.90 but $12.95 for Mussels Wednesday

Chris ordered the Heritage Herb & Chicken Schnitzel $24.50. I tasted a little piece of the chicken and it was just very herby for me.

Mon ordered the Belgian Chicken & Mushroom Vol au Vent. This is a chicken, mushroom and asparagus casserole served on a Vol au Vent. This was part of their set menu which is 2 courses for $47.00 and 3 Course $57.00.

The Belgian is a good place for lunch especially if you go when they have their specials. Their website has a lot of information on upcoming promotions and specials so check it out.

http://www.belgian-beer-cafe.com.au/

135 Harrington Street

The Rocks NSW 2000

Located in the old St. Patrick School Hall, just behind Grosvenor Place

Telephone: (02) 9241 1775

Fax: (02) 9241 1875

E-mail: info@belgian-beer-cafe.com.au

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Blog Award..

Wow I got my first Blog Award. I'm in shock..

Over The Top Blog Award:According to the rules of the award, I must provide my readers the answers to the below 35 questions in ONE WORD I also must THANK my award giver Ellie @ Almost Bourdain for this fun award AND grant 6 of my FAVORITE BLOGGERS this award. Then, give them the heads-up that they have been nominated by yours truly..

Where is your cell phone? Desk
Your hair? Brown
Your mother? Inspiration
Your father? Hero
Your favorite food? Crème Brulee
Your dream last night? Money
Your favorite drink? Lychee Shake
Your dream/goal? Successful
What room are you in? Lounge
Your hobby? Baking
Your fear? Sharks
Where do you want to be in 6 years? New York
Where were you last night? Brothers
Something that you aren’t? Selfish
Muffins? Raspberry
Wish list item? Kitchenaid
Where did you grow up? Australia
Last thing you did? Bake
What are you wearing? Jeans
Your TV? LCD
Your pets? 2
Friends? Rocks
Your life? Interesting
Your mood? Happy
Missing someone? Family
Vehicle? Yaris
Something you’re not wearing? Skirt
Your favorite store? Marc Jacobs
Your favorite color? Purple
When was the last time you laughed? Now
Last time you cried? Thursday
Your best friend? C/H/A/R/E
One place that I go to over and over? New York
One person who emails me regularly? C/H/A/R/E
Favorite place to eat? Home


OK before I post my pick I just wanted to say that I have a lot of favourite blogs. and it was really hard to choose the 6. If I could grant 200 I would :)


I would like to pass on this wonderful Over The Top Award to 6 bloggers (in no particular order):

Conor @ Hold The Beef
Trisha @ Sugarlaced
Peachkins @The Peach Kitchen
Mary @ Keep Learning Keep Smiling
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella
Lauren @ Celiac Teen

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Kulinarya Cooking Club - Turon

Today marks the first post for the Kulinarya Cooking Club..

Kulinarya was started by a group of Filipino foodies living in Sydney, who are passionate about the Filipino culture and its colourful cuisine. Each month we will showcase a new dish along with their family recipes. By sharing these recipes, we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino Food as we do.

The first dish that we decided to make is Turon. This is a very common snack in the Philippines. It is eaten any time of the day. There are a few versions of making this, but typically it is sugar bananas with jackfruit dipped in sugar and wrapped in a spring roll wrapper and fried.

Below is my version:

Ingredients

2 bananas (you can use sugar bananas but you will need 4)
1/3 cups brown sugar
3 to 4 piece of jackfruit in syrup (you can use fresh jackfruit)
1/2 cup syrup from jackfruit or water
8 spring roll wrappers.

Method

Slice the bananas in half and then length ways.
Slice the jackfruit into strips about ½cm wide.
Dip the banana one at a time in the syrup and then roll in the brown sugar
Put the coated banana on top of the spring roll wrapper which should be in a diagonal. Put 3 to 4 pieces of the jackfruit on top.
Wrap the bananas like a spring roll and set aside
Fry the Turon in vegetable oil until golden brown. You can also deep fry them if you have a deep fat fryer.

If you're interested in joining our Kulinarya Cooking Club, please feel free to drop by the food blogs below and leave a comment - we would love to hear from you!

http://sugarlace.fragiled.net/
http://www.trissalicious.com/
http://www.acupcakeortwo.com/

I would like to say a big THANK YOU to Helena for designing the banner.

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Making Ensaimada

Ensaimada has always been a family favourite. My mum often orders this and we would eat the entire box in one day. Its a soft fluffy bread that often has butter, sugar and Edam cheese as a topping.

I'm not really a bread baking kinda girl. The thought of waiting and punching out dough scares me. On Saturday as I was getting ready to read through some emails my mum shouts out "Oi we are making it". So I said "what are we making what?" Then she said "Ensaimada hurry we are making it."

So I went to the kitchen and she had a recipe ready for us to get started. She chose a recipe on Burnt Lumpia. She must have spent some time on Google looking for a good recipe. I was so glad she chose one that came from a fellow food blogger's site.

Punching out the dough was fun. It's a great way to relieve stress. Just think of your worse enemy and punch away...




The Ensaimada was delicious. My mum and I looked at each other in shock as we bit into the hot bread. I will definately be making this again. It was also a great bonding experience for me and my mum. She only yelled at me once. ehehehe..

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