As part of the Halloween celebrations I made some spooky biscuits, (totally) inspired by the coolest idea on the BBC Food website.
Infact, the only small alteration I made was to use strawberry jam for the ‘blood’ rather than red food colouring, as used by BBC Food. The biscuit recipe is available on the BBC Food website. Isn’t this a fun idea!
And…on a far more clever note…look what my sister created for Halloween celebrations in her neck of the woods!
I love a dinner party! Great company, delicious food, fine wines! One of my favourite parts is scouring through recipe books to create a great menu. I have piles of Donna Hay, Delicious, Vogue Entertaining and Gourmet Traveller magazines on top of my recipe book collection so it’s fun to flick through and find some little gems to cook up.
Here are some of the gems I found to serve as starters for the dinner party we hosted last night.
Raspberry and Basil Mules
based on recipe from Donna Hay Issue 59
The 10th birthday issue of Donna Hay magazine has some fabulous celebration punches. This one called for only 180ml of ginger beer. I increased this to 750ml as it seemed way too potent for my liking. It indicated to the total volume should be 1.5 litres so I am suspicious that 180ml may have been a typo. Here’s the recipe with my adjustment.
125g fresh raspberries
1 cup lime juice
1 cup caster sugar
160ml vodka
750ml ginger beer
1 cup basil leaves, to serve
Place the raspberries in ice cube trays and fill with water. Freeze for four hours or until frozen. Place the lime and sugar in a saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high and bring to the boil. Cook for two minutes or until thickened slightly. Allow to cool completely. Place the vodka, lime syrup, ginger beer, raspberry ice cubes and basil leaves in a 1.5 litre-capacity jug and stir to combine.
Please note, the photo above was taken this morning. The small amount left in the jug had changed from the usual ginger beer colour to hot pink due to the raspberry infusion. So…please don’t think that if you whip this up you’ll have a hot pink cocktail to present to your guests…unless of course you make it 12 hours in advance, which I wouldn’t recommend.
Rice Paper Rolls
from Donna Hay Issue 43
16 large dried rice paper rounds
1 cup Vietnamese mint leaves
1 bunch chives
100g snow pea shoots
Caramelised pork, sliced (see recipe below)
16 slices pickled cucumber (see recipe below)
Nuoc Cham sauce (see recipe below), to serve
Soften a rice paper round in warm water for 30 seconds. Place on a clean dry cloth. Top with the mint, chives, snow pea shoots, pork and cucumber. Fold over each end and roll to enclose filling. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Serve with dipping sauce. Makes 16.
CARAMELISED PORK
85g caster sugar
200g pork fillet, trimmed and halved
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 green onion, sliced
Place the sugar in a saucepan over high heat and cook without stirring for 2 to 3 minutes or until caramelised. Add the pork and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until golden on all sides. Reduce the heat to low, add the fish sauce, garlic, oil and green onion and cook for 15 minutes or until cooked through and sauce is sticky.
PICKLED CUCUMBER
2 tbsp caster subar
60ml lime juice
60ml rice vinegar
1 telegraph cucumber, thinly sliced
Place the sugar, lime juice and vinegar in a non-metallic bowl and stir until dissolved. Add the cucumber and toss well to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
NUOC CHAM SAUCE
125ml fish sauce
110g caster sugar
2 tablespoons water
60ml lemon juice
1 clove garlic, crushed
4 small red chillies, sliced
Place the fish sauce, sugar, water, lemon juice, garlic and chilli in a non-metallic bowl and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Makes 1.5 cups. Keeps in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Duck in Crisp Wonton Cups
from Australian Women’s Weekly
I’m so excited about all of the amazing fruit that is in season. We’re going to try to have something like this every night after dinner. Yum!
Remember last week when I was making an outfit for the cocktail party? Did you notice I went very quiet about the whole thing after posting some inspiration shots. Behind the scenes there was a lot of activity working towards creating something. Unfortunately I created two disasters…it happens!
The first project was inspired by the little black dress I posted last week.
I loved the nipped in waist look and exagerated hips. I had for some time been admiring Alice and Olivia (Vogue 1122) fitted dress.
I thought this could look super cute in pale pink…especially given I was wearing it to a pink ribbon event! I looked high and low for feedback online from others who had whipped this up. But there was nothing to be found.
So – I decided to give it a go anyway. Pretty early on I became a little concerned about those sticky out bits on the hips. I had chosen a fabric with a little stretch and this created a few dramas. I stay taped the hip darts and the side seams to avoid over-stretching and impacting the look. It greatly improved the issue I was having and made it look a little closer to the picture on the pattern cover. But – it was looking very ‘worky’, a prediction my husband made right up front. I hate it when that happens! And the event was drawing closer so I canned this project – and it become UFO No. 1:
Then I got started…just a few hours before the cocktail party started…on a gathered purple silk skirt, inspired by the cute little purple dress I posted last week.
It was hideous! Sooooo not right. I was becomming that desperate person trying to create something to wear in just a couple of hours time! UFO No. 2:
I could possibly recover this to wear during the day in summer with a cute top and flat sandles.
Fortunately I had quite a collection in the wardrobe to choose from, and the winner was the emerald green dress I made late last year based on Vogue 8032.
We had a fantastic night! And now I have two UFOs to finish off…someday!
Just on seven weeks ago I started recovering my lounge. I made good progress at first, but then procrastinated about completing the accompanying armchair. I had always wanted to cover it in the same fabric but took my time to commit…thinking maybe I would come across a gorgeous print fabric that would look perfect with the chaise lounge. Or perhaps I was just cringing at the thought of starting another lounge recover. I always find it so daunting before I get started.
It’s all complete now and I’m so pleased that I stuck with the same fabric for the chaise and the armchair. Very happy.
I was unsure whether I would need to replace my rug. I made some tribal cushions for the chaise with a similar colour palette to tie it together. What do you think? Does it work? I was otherwise thinking of a black wool rug – but I’m concerned it might all look a bit too contemporary for our old Queenslander.
And…what do you think of my Grace Kelly pillow? Another home-made job. I found the fabric at Spotlight. I wasn’t sure how it would look, but I’m actually really happy with it. I have an Audrey Hepburn version as well!
I’m so pleased that this job is complete!
I’ve just discovered the secret to fresh herbs that last…and last. The Tupperware Fridgesmart. I had previously used these containers for storing veges, but had never tried storing herbs. This bunch of dill has been in the Fridgesmart for three weeks and is still fresh and crisp and tastes great.
I’m blown away! No more sad, limp herbs within days of them making residence in my fridge.
Now you know what to buy at your next Tupperware party.
A little ‘end of weekend’ celebration drink.
One shot of vodka, a squeeze of lime juice, a few cubes of ice, a sprinkle of mint leaves topped up with ginger beer. Simple and refreshing.
I hope you had a great weekend!
We’re off to a little cocktail party and I’m wanting to make something new. I need to get a move on – it’s on Friday night!
I found a few ‘re-creatable’ ideas on Net-a-Porter. Would love your thoughts!
The boys had a pupil free day today…no school! I had to work (from home) so the boys spent the day adventuring in the yard, culminating in a request to sleep outside tonight. My first instinct was to say ‘no way…you have school tomorrow’, but I paused, realising that once it was dark they would last about five minutes outside on their own.
They set up their tent…a Huggies tent from when they were babies.
They found pillows and sleeping bags and a torch – ready for the sun to set. They even had their dinner, their bath and did their teeth without any delay. Then it was off to bed…in their tent. Do they look a little scared?
They lasted four minutes.
I’ve just found the most delicious recipe for Balinese Chicken.
Balinese Chicken
from lifestylefood.com.au
6 to 8 chicken thighs, skinless and boneless
1 dessertspoon fresh turmeric (15gms)
1 dessertspoon ginger
1 dessertspoon garlic
1 dessertspoon grated galangal
1 red chilli
2 lemongrass sticks, rough outer leaves removed, roughly chopped
3 dessertspoon peanut oil
2 dessertspoon sweet Indonesian soy (kecap manis)
2 roots of coriander, roots and leaves chopped
½ teaspoon shrimp paste
Aromatic rice
Dash sesame oil
1 spoonful of marinade
6 shallots finely sliced
2 cups basmati
2 kaffir lime leaves
1 star anise
Squeeze of light soy
Squeeze of kecap manis
Squeeze of tomato sauce
4 cups boiling water
Bunch of Snake beans
Grill chicken on rack under hot grill in oven for approximately 15 minutes each side until browned and cooked through.
For the rice, sauté shallots in sesame oil with paste. Add rice and coat with spices. Add lime leaves, star anise, soy, water and simmer on low with lid on for a total of 15 minutes. When rice is halfway cooked (7 minutes in) add whole beans on top of the rice and cover again with lid and cook to complete 15 minutes cooking time.
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