My week - The long way home

Just a few links this week, I'm about to head to Sydney for the weekend and haven't packed a thing!

A new wedding video! Six months have gone by so quickly.

I'd love to make this 10-minute puffed pancake for a weekend breakfast or dessert emergency.

I've been listening to this amazing three-part radio documentary that takes you inside the drug courts of New South Wales. Totally great radio.

A drool-worthy guide to eating in New York written by a London food magazine writer.

My friend Sophie has prepared the most beautiful nursery for her baby boy.

This pic is from my trip to Green Cape lighthouse last weekend. We went home via the cutest general store and cafe in the tiny town of Candelo. They make their own Monte Carlo biscuits! It made me want to move there.

Hope you enjoy the last weekend of summer. I'm planning to see it out with a gelato from this much-recommended shop in Sydney's Five Dock. Apparently it's better than Messina!

What I buy for one-year-olds

I've just come back from a first birthday party and thought I'd share a few tried-and-true gift ideas because buying for babies can be surprisingly tricky, especially if you don't have any of your own.

I really like these gorgeous ride-on animals, which my friend Kristy recommended (her son has the pig!). They're great as special presents. I bought the small wheely bee for my niece and teamed up with a friend to buy the cow for our nephew. They're surprisingly small and are made from wood and leather, which makes them lovely keepsakes too. Most importantly, they've been a hit!

For smaller presents, you could buy a board book about their favourite animal (I bought this one for my niece), an insulated lunch bag with their name on it (for all of their snacks) or anything bubble related like a bubble machine. If you choose the latter, just make sure you have the toy set up and ready to go so you're not fussing around with batteries and bubble liquid. I've totally made this mistake before :)

P.S Speaking of first birthdays, this is my favourite ever smash-cake story!

Lighthouse weekend

I've just come back from an excellent weekend in Green Cape, where I stayed right by a lighthouse with friends. Living inland, it's always exciting to see the ocean and feel the salty sea breeze again.

My friend Vanessa organised the trip for a very special occasion - her baby's first birthday - and four friends joined her mum, husband and son to celebrate as family.

We ate pancakes on the verandah, went swimming in the bay, took turns playing with the baby and told ghost stories at night. I saw the biggest goanna of my life and took lots and lots of photos.

On Sunday afternoon when everyone went off to nap or read and the house fell quiet, I set about making my nephew's first-ever birthday cake. I was totally thrilled to be entrusted with this special task. Vanessa had chosen this flourless chocolate cake, which we ate later that night with strawberries, rich local cream and champagne.

My other contribution to the weekend was a batch of salted choc chip cookies, some homemade muesli bars and a big tub of coconut and cranberry granola. Amazingly, everything survived the flight and the humid 8 hour drive south that followed.

On our last night, I climbed to the top of the lighthouse with my friend Sean and the view was spectacular, if not a little daunting. The lighthouse hadn't looked so high from down below! 

I was so honoured to be part of this special family celebration and am already looking forward to my nephew's next birthday :)

My week - A favourite podcast returns

Happy Chinese New Year! We shared a curry at home to celebrate but if I lived in the city, I would've loved to have had a yum cha picnic or a yum cha high tea.

Speaking of the Lunar New Year, my brother-in-law found these incredible photos of Beijing completely deserted after people left the city to spend the holiday in their family's village.

A couple of weeks ago I shared my favourite Australian podcasts and just this week, Catherine let me know that Leigh Sales and Annabel Crabb have uploaded a sixth episode of their show Chat 10 Looks 3. It's such a funny episode and I so hope this means they're back for good in 2015.

I heard about a proposal at a Fifty Shades of Grey screening this week (?!), which naturally reminded me of my most favourite movie trailer proposal. One guy made this proposal preview for his Muppet obsessed girlfriend.

I finished my first book of 2015 the other day (it ended with a recipe!) and am about to begin Richard Flanagan's The Narrow Road to the Deep North. I would also like to read this cute looking graphic novel.

I really liked this post about how to archive your phone photos and make an end of year book. I'm guilty of keeping thousands of photos on my phone and photo books have always seemed daunting.

And finally, if you're thinking of doing some baking this weekend, you might like to check out Kate Berry's awesome Lunch Lady Vs The World series, where she picks a packet-mix cake or frozen snack and makes her own version from scratch. Inspiring stuff!

Today I'm heading to the coast for a mini-holiday with some friends to help celebrate a special little person's first birthday. I can't wait. Catch you next week.

Just watched: The Wind Rises

I am a big Studio Ghibli fan and a few weeks ago I watched director Hayao Miyazaki's final feature film The Wind Rises and loved it. 

It's a beautiful, surprising and heart-wrenching movie that I cannot recommend enough. The film didn't make it to the cinema in Wagga Wagga and I spent a few Sydney trips trying to catch it. Interestingly, I'm yet to find any Studio Ghibli films to rent on iTunes, which has been a good excuse to build my DVD collection.



The Wind Rises tells the story of Jiro, a young boy who dreams of building aeroplanes who grows up to be a gifted but somewhat reclusive aeronautical engineer. In between the two world wars, Jiro is entrusted to work on a special project and builds a plane that is ultimately used in World War Two.

If you're worried about watching a movie about planes, don't worry, it's a love story too. And while it's more of a historical drama and one of the least fantastical of Miyazaki's films, it is still manages to be totally magical, funny and moving. Its depiction of earthquakes is particularly amazing.

The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness makes excellent companion viewing, it's a documentary that follows Hayao Miyazaki as he works on The Wind Rises and contemplates retirement. The way he works is pretty fascinating (he doesn't plan the story out first but lets it unfold as he storyboards and writes the film) and if you're tempted to watch this before The Wind Rises, just know that it is packed with spoilers!

If you haven't watched a Studio Ghibli movie before I can recommend starting with My Neighbour Totoro, Ponyo and Spirited Away in Japanese with English subtitles :)

P.S - It would be fun to make your own choc-tops for a home movie night.

Three rainy day pastas

We ate pasta on Valentine's Day,  a big bowl of lamb bolognese with spaghetti each to be specific and it was great. Most years, my birthday meal is a pasta too. If you share my love of pasta, I reckon you'll like these three recipes, they're easy to make and delicious.

1. Donna Hay's slow-cooked beef ragu

I have a soft spot for tomatoey pastas and this is one of my favourites. It's birthday-dinner worthy. My friend Angie introduced me to this recipe while I was staying with her late last year and I've made it so many times since! It's a really good one to cook for new parents because it's rich, comforting and easy to transport. Also you're actively cooking for about 15 minutes and the oven does the rest.

I use beef cheeks (which are often called ox cheeks) for this dish. You don't need to worry about trimming the fat from the meat because you can pull it off easily after it comes out of the oven.

2. Joy the Baker's one-pot french onion pasta

If I'm cooking for vegetarians, I make this dish using a vegetable-based chicken stock (if that makes sense) like the Massel brand. I made this pasta just last week and it's so yummy, and kind of genius how it all cooks in one pot. This is a great one for a simple dinner party, where you can have it on the stove, make a few sides and not fuss too much in the kitchen.

3. Smitten Kitchen's tomato sauce with butter and onion

My sister sent this recipe to me years ago, and we've been making it ever since. I'm a big fan of Smitten Kitchen recipes and this one is a reliable last-minute dinner, with simple ingredients that you probably already have at home. The butter is an excellent addition.

P.S - My most favourite places to go out for pasta are Italian & Sons in Canberra, A Tavola and Fratelli Fresh in Sydney (or Buon Ricordo if it's a special occasion) and Mates Gully Organics in Wagga Wagga. 

My week - Chinese New Year countdown

Next Thursday will be Chinese New Year's eve and now that I'm married I'll be giving out red packets filled with lucky money instead of receiving them. I'm super excited and have bought a few little gifts too, this cookbook for my youngest brother who is a budding burger chef and a sweet dress for my niece. They went in the post this week.

In less cheery news, I had two wisdom teeth out this week and have been eating soft food ever since. Thank goodness for whipped coconut cream, speculoos cookie butter and hazelnut gelato. As soon as I'm better, I'm making rocky road.

I have a sudden interest in toast now that I'm temporarily unable to eat it and this lady is a toast queen. Anyone who puts Kit Kat on toast is a winner in my books. She packs amazing lunches too.

At my work we're heading towards end-of-year reviews and Tony pointed out this interesting Life Matter's segment on pay and gender as food for thought.

And just in case you hadn't noticed, it's Valentine's Day tomorrow. I'll be listening to Finetooth Radio's latest anti-Valentine's Day mix (last year's is excellent too) and would love to make these delicious looking bittersweet chocolate and malt milkshakes. I might make these multigrain choc chip cookies too, for balance ;)

Have a happy weekend.