Frills in the Hills

Easy-as Beef 'n' Guiness Stew - make it for Food Revolution Day - this Saturday 19th May!

2012-05-13T03:02:09-07:00

This weekend I'm inviting my workmates over to my home to mark Food Revolution Day. Most of us are foodies or at least love eating food, so gatherings with us and food are always fun ones. What's so great about our gatherings over food is also that we represent so many backgrounds - Filipino, Malaysian, Spanish, Venezuelan, Indian, Middle Eastern - and of course me - a bit of everything. The challenge is for all my guests to bring something that they love to eat or cook that's made from scratch.

Food Revolution Day is about getting back to basics, reinforcing or discovering where our food comes from - and raising money to go into programs that helps educate kids to make healthier choices and have that understanding about where food comes from - you all know a cause I am most passionate about!

So given this is a revolution run by and inspired by Jamie Oliver I thought I would try and spread the world and inspire you also to register a dinner party an even or go along to one..

So onto the recipe - This is adapted from Jamie's Food Revolution Cookbook 'basic stew' recipe - beef and ale variation.... I found a lovely blade roast reduced at the supermarket so used that - you can use any kind of stewing steak - blade steak, gravy beef etc.

Ingredients:

1kg blade steak

2 large onions, diced

4 large carrots, diced

3 stalks celery, diced

3 bay leaves

2 tb plain flour

1 420g tin peeled tomatoes

500ml guinness or stout of choice

Using a blade roast meant I could dice it consistently.. Luckily I got two - because I like doing it that way!

Good right?

Try and dice all your veges at roughly the same size, helps them cook evenly.. (carrots are from our garden, soo sweet and lovely!)

Ok, so get started and slosh some oil in the bottom of a heavy based pan or frypan with a lid. Add your veges and cook them until the onions become transparent and the veges have 'sweated' (i.e. glisten)

Add the meat, bay leaves and flour, toss it around well.

Whilst that is cooking, add the tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes until meat is totally browned..

Next add in your Guinness - or stout.. it will foam up a little at first and then simmer down.

Turn down the hob to it's lowest and put the lid on, or put in the oven (again with lid on) at 160 degrees c.. your choice!

Cook for about 2.5 hours - give it a bit of stir at the 1 hour and 2 hour marks...

I served mine with baked garlic and rosemary potatoes, but you could do mash or rice if you like..

Have I inspired you at all?

Maybe you could make it at your own Food Revolution Day dinner party?

If you can't go along to one or can't host one, you can still contribute - you can donate here to the Food Revolution via my dinner party!

Easiest Raspberry baked custard pudding EVER.

2012-05-13T00:05:16-07:00

Bless that Martha Stewart. Honestly, bless her cotton socks. I just adore this recipe and I'm going to use it a lot. A LOT I tell you. It's super easy and so delicious I can hardly stand it. It's also totally adaptable. I'm going to make it with tinned peaches... and another time maybe pears and ginger.. and then another with.. gosh I could go on and on.. and on.

We had this today for Mothers Day with my Nan. I originally had plans for Victoria Sponge but that went awry when I realised that I had run out of time.. this turned out so much easier and much more fitting as I wasn't captive in the kitchen and got to spend as much time with my Nan and my girls as possible.

Source: www.marthastewart.com

Ingredients:
3 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 tb vanilla extract
65g butter
2 punnets fresh raspberries (you could use 2 cups frozen)

Method:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees c

Put the butter in the bottom of your baking dish (I used a small round cake tin) and into your oven for 2-3 minutes until it's melted.

Whilst it's melting, get busy with your blender. To milk, eggs and vanilla extract, add sugar..

Your flour...

When your butter is melted, pour it into your blender and then brush the rest around the pan to ensure it's totally covered and greased..

Whizz for 30 seconds...

Pour into your tray..

Plop in your raspberries (or other fruit you're using)..

Look at that! YUM!

Bake for 35-40 minutes until cooked in the centre.

Serve with double cream or icecream!

And here's a little bit of my Mother's day... homemade pressies! I got two of these - so I can always publish what dinner AND dessert is (benefits of having twins!)

Pecking order of twins...

2012-05-10T01:40:04-07:00

When my twins were babies I did a stint as a PR Director (volunteer of course) for the Australian Multiple Birth Association. It is a great organisation where you get 'support from those who know' and at my local chapter just being in the company of those with twins and triplets older than mine I had some hope I would have time one day to wash my hair and have more than a 5 second shower and more than 2 hours sleep.

As the PR Director nationally when it came to National Birth Awareness Week I organised a few publicity events - The Today Show, Channel 10 Evening news in Sydney, Kerrie-Ann (yes, me and my family were on Kerrie-Ann) Ready Steady Cook and even 2 sets of quadruplets playing each other on Family Feud...

The families of quads I found were utterly amazing - the parents seemed so calm and proud and their family units were so tight.. but with one family in particular there was a strong sense of pecking order. Although as babies they were all born by caesarian section and within 4 minutes of each other from there was no illusion amongst them all who was the 'eldest' and who was the 'youngest'.

This I found so interesting because the youngest of the four being a girl was termed as 'the baby' and treated that way where the eldest, a boy was the natural leader of the siblings.

It perplexed me. I didn't want one of my girls feeling like they had something over the other one and when I discussed this with hubby we agreed - we wouldn't tell them or people who didn't know (close family and friends who we briefed that we wouldn't tell them). So our girls have always grown up with no real birth order 'older/younger' twin thing in their vocabulary. There's no greater responsibility with being the 'eldest' twin or leniency with the 'youngest' twin. They are equal.

When people ask me in front of them 'Who is the eldest?' I let them answer:

'We're twins, we're born on the same day'.
'But which one of you were born first?'
'Both of us'.

Love the gappy mouths!

I truly don't understand the fascination about this with others - my girls say 'Eloise is the big sister and we're the little sisters'. That's enough don't you think?

Of course there's going to be a time they will know - it's on their birth certificates 'older or twins/younger of twins'...

If you have or know twins - do the twins know? Do you think it has a bearing on their relationship with each other or within the family/outside the family?

Karma or chance, what do you think?

2012-05-07T06:02:48-07:00

source: pinterest

I love this saying because it's so true, and I've found the best things in my life have happened completely by chance and when I was least expecting it...

My hubby came along when I didn't want a relationship - well that didn't work!

Twins came into my life of course completely by chance and although it's been a challenge along the way it's endearing to see how close they are... like just now, I sneaked in to give them a good night kiss and there they are, in the same bed of their bunks, cuddled up.

My career which I do love is something I fell into just purely by circumstances - many years ago now... so happy I did.

Do you believe in karma or life being a string of happy (or not so happy) accidents?

The day when Tim Tams grew on trees

2012-05-06T04:26:38-07:00

On Wednesday I was at The Truly, Madly Tim Tam Orchard as a guest of Arnott’s Tim Tam.

I mean honestly - Tim Tam invite you to an event.. you go, right? I haven't been to any bloggy events in ages because I haven't been in the country or I've been too busy but I just had to make time for this one! I'm so glad I did.

Tim Tam invited Sydney-siders to come and claim their free Tim Tams from their Tim Tam Orchard in Martin Place to not only share the Tim Tam love but also explore the statement posed by a Tim Tam Facebook Fan.. 'I wish Tim Tams grew on trees'.

I posted on my Facebook page and asked Twitter 'what's your favourite Tim Tam variety?'. So many responded the original but me, I love the choc-mint or the black forest (in the fridge). Someone even posted they like to milkshakes with theirs.. so of course I had to try that..

Verdict - not so sure... It made the biscuit bit a bit too soggy for me... but hey it tastes unmistakeably tim-tam-ish!!

I have also made Tim Tam Cake here:

So I headed up to Martin Place on Wednesday and the orchard was fantastic and all the punters loved it - such a clever marketing campaign.. when I arrived at 4pm they had handed out 60,000 packets of Tim Tams!! When peak hour hit at 5pm it was mayhem and literally all the 'farmers' in the orchard found it hard to keep up with demand and pallet after pallet after pallet was generously handed out to the public.

At day's end I believe 100,000 packets of tim tams where gloriously envoyed with Sydney-siders everywhere.

The vibe was fantastic - especially around the large Tim Tam tree - which was central to the TV ad being shot there also.. it had names of Tim Tam Facebook likers ... tried to find my name.. but I guess there's a lot of us!

I asked passers-by what they like about Tim Tams:

'Part of the Australian Identity'
'Great hit for a chocoholic'
'Fun for Tim Tam Slams'

(here's Jennifer Love Hewitt's instructional video!)

but I had so many people say 'what DON'T I like about Tim Tams?'.

When I got back to my office and let them know where I'd been, within 5 minutes the office was albeit silent - they had all rushed to Martin Place! Look at these happy faces!

Our colleagues from The Philippines and Malaysia will be spreading the good tim-tam word!

I reckon the only way you could improve on a Tim Tam Tree is by putting 100 buck note in each pack. That would be brilliant - that way you would get money AND tim-tams whenever you wanted!

If you could choose something to grow on trees what would it be?

Caviar Pie - simple and moorish

2012-04-16T07:51:10-07:00

In my time in Manila I have met some wonderful folk and I have eaten some wonderful things, and most of the time these two things intersect. This is one such dish that I tried at a Thanksgiving dinner last November and the minute I tasted it I knew I HAD to have the recipe.

So I politely demanded (!!) the recipe from Tanya whose Mum had made it. When that recipe arrived in my inbox, I was soo happy. And then when I saw how simple it was I couldn't understand why I didn't work it out! So simple, so delicious!

I made it last weekend when we were having a social weekend, I made a double batch because we had two social gatherings - but even if you don't I'm warning you - it's addictive you may want to do it anyway!

Even if you are not a fan of caviar I urge you to try it. Olivia who doesn't even like fish kept coming back for more and more and more... and more.

Soooo good. Serve it at your next get together or take it to one. Go on.. you know you want to.

Ingredients
1 tub philadelphia cream cheese
1 tub sour cream
3 spring onions, finely chopped
10 or so garlic chives, finely chopped
lemon juice
lumpfish caviar

Method:
In large ramekins of even teacups, small bowl, whatever you want - line it in cling film, roughly chop up your spring onions, discard ends.

Chop up your garlic chives - good rule of thumb with these if the ends resemble blades of grass, you don't want to eat that bit..

In your food processor, whizz up your spring onion and chives - if you don't have one, chop them up as small as you can.

Add the sour cream and cream cheese.. give it another whizz (again if you don't have a food processor stir very well until well combined - hope your arms are strong!)

Give it a whizz (I did mine for about 20 seconds)

Spoon into your bowls/ramekins and flatten out.. fold over leftover cling wrap to seal on top.

Refrigerate until you want to use (up to 2 days ahead.

To serve, unwrap the top, turn out onto a plate and top with caviar.. squeeze over some lemon juice.

It doesn't look exciting, but wait til you taste it!

I made a large one in a souffle pan and topped with red caviar! YUM.

How easy can it get! It certainly is a conversation piece!

20 pics of my day - In Manila

2012-04-01T03:47:28-07:00

It is staggering how different my life is now to what it was this time last year. Then, I was busy being the school uniform shop mum, freelance writing, blogging full-time, hanging out with my Nan on Tuesdays, and cooking a lot.

Now, I've traded in my baking pans for suitcases, blogger for MS Visio and Project and my Nan, well her life has changed probably just as much if not more than mine.

To give you a glimpse into a day of my life, one whilst travelling for work, here I am in my home away from home, Manila. I've grown to love Manila, and believe it or not when I'm away I miss it a little, the people, the food, the culture. My life in Manila is not a typical Filipino one clearly, I'm a tourist and an expat. It's a good life for expats here - the shopping is good and dollar is strong. You get value for money. But first and foremost the people are lovely. Courteous, professional and very friendly. That's what makes The Philippines so wonderful to visit.

So here's a few snapshots from my day:

#1 - Book, I hard get to read ordinarily but I've seen most of the movies on the plane (occupational hazard) so I read Jacey Dugard's biography, halfway through it - harrowing and sad but utterly fascinating.

#2 - Postcards - a colleague of mine sends his son a postcard every day he's away. I think I could do that if I had 1 child, but 3 it's a bit hard to come up with 3 original things each day but I did do it in New Zealand and I'll send the frills a few this week too.

#3 - Surprises - Paris Hilton has an accessories store in the shopping centre next to my hotel. It's very pink, black and white. I didn't venture in as I'm sure there's nothing age or fashion appropriate for me.. I'm an old lady!

#4 - I love the supermarket gawk in foreign countries, but after being here so much I know exactly what I'm going for - cinnamon grahams to bring home, you can buy them by the bucket for P99 - ($1.50).
#5 - I have no idea why but the Starbucks is so much better here. The signature iced chocolate in Venti size is what I always order, without whipped cream. It's not as filling as it is in Australia, and the cinnamon rolls, oh my! They are sooo good.
#6 - My hotel has really good bathroom supplies including glycerine AND milk soap, hair ties, tooth brushes, bubblebath - everything. I think a woman must have had something to do with that.
#7 - Collagen facial. I try to have a facial every time I visit. They are brilliant here and with an eyebrow wax comes to $30. Bargain. My skin feel sooo smooth.

8. Back to my hotel, it's in my favourite chain - and have stayed in the ones in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Beijing, first time here - not disappointed.
9. Beautiful view from the lobby today where I had lunch. Great service.
10. My lunch - combination satay - for $12.00
11. My room, not so shabby.

#12 - some of my shopping today - it's graduation/back to school season here so stationery is really cheap, stocked up on some pencils and a sturdy sharpener (for 3 girls you have no idea how many we go through!)...
#13 - also stocked up on some Barbie lip gloss etc. for Eloise's birthday party favours. I couldn't resist, we're going to have a 'girlie birthday party' with finger nail painting and hair crimping. My girls are growing up!
#14 - And of course my Cinnamon Grahams but I couldn't resist a Filipino foodie mag too - this one is about desserts - yay!
#15 - manicure supplies, well priced and needed because I left mine at home! Whoops!

# 16 something amusing, front page of the Philippine Star, Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House!
#17 - Love how they bring your washing in a basket and in tissue paper!
#18 - I get to watch trashy TV - TalkTv is my trashy favourite.

#19 - Love that even through I'm half a day away, hubby does his best by sending me pics of the day they had without me - this is Olivia and Eloise (Laura is there too) at a birthday party.

#20 - Last but certainly not least - thank goodness for iPads and FaceTime, my favourite part of the day when I get to speak to hubby and the frills.

Sunday baking project: Banana and coconut loaf (or cupcakes!)

2012-03-31T13:08:00-07:00

Oh my baking days are far and few between but goodness I enjoy them when I can have them! I whipped this up quickly last Sunday afternoon to use up some bananas that were on the turn. It was a great afternoon tea and enough for school lunches for the week.

How my frills have missed the homebaked treats!

Ingredients:
2 cups self raising flour
1 cup caster sugar
1 1/4 cup dessicated coconut
4 medium sized bananas
1 egg
1 large tin (400ml) coconut cream

Method:
Preheat oven to 170 degrees c
In a mixing bowl mix together flour, caster sugar and coconut.

Slowly add the banana and mix through well.

Add the egg and coconut cream and you will get a thick-ish cake batter

Pour into greased loaf tin (it will do two) or cupcake (this made 10 of those plus 1 loaf tin).

Bake cupcakes for 25 minutes, loaf for 55 minutes.

OK, who is hungry?

Slowcooker BBQ pork - 3 ingredients!

2012-03-27T13:00:01-07:00

A busy Mama just doesn't have time sometimes to lovingly cook a meal for an hour or more - sometimes it's got to be quick and dirty. This is one-such-recipe. Bung it in, throw a couple of things in and walk away. It taste absolutely delicious and leftovers for lunch on bread rolls (or even hot on buttered roll...drool!).

Ingredients
1 boneless pork shoulder (mine was 1.2kg)
1 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 cup brown sugar

Method:
Put your pork shoulder in the slow cooker, pour over the Worcestershire sauce over the top and then pack the brown sugar on top.

Place on high for first hour, remove cover and baste, then turn down the slowcooker to low for a further 3-4 hours.

Serve and dribble sauce over the top, it will literally fall apart and melt in your mouth! I serve this with leftover lazy-as-sin potatoes!

Lazy-as-sin slowcooker scalloped potatoes

2012-03-26T14:38:02-07:00

Man I love my slowcooker. This past couple of weeks I've been a bit obsessed with it. I finally too my own advice and got the Breville flavour maker slowcooker (I've been telling everyone else to buy for near on two years). What I love about it is how you can use the inner on the stove and transfer to the oven afterwards if you like too. Brilliant.

This one I chucked together Friday afternoon in less than 10 minutes and served with my homemade swedish meatballs. I even had leftovers for Sunday's dinner too!

Ingredients:
1kg new potatoes, sliced (I left skin on)
1 brown onion, peeled and sliced
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
1 tin cream of anything soup (I used celery but mushroom, chicken, asparagus anything would be good!)
1/4 cup lite sour cream
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup tasty cheese (optional)

Method:
Place potatoes, onion and garlic in your slow cooker.

Roughly mix your soup, sour cream and milk in a jug and pour over the top.

Put lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for 3 hours or low for 5. For the last 30 minutes sprinkle over the cheese...

Crisp up until the grill for 10 minutes if you like!

The Frills in the Hills Autumn cleanout checklist

2012-03-26T16:49:44-07:00

Hello friends!

After a weekend dedicated to the Annual Autumn clean-out that I normally do just before Easter I realise working I just don't have time to do it all at once and secondly before making myself a list I thought I would never get through it, but I've done my list and I'm working my way through it so I thought I'd share it with you and you could join me for the ride (and even give me some of your tips!)....

Here's my list:

Prune:

I prune my prolific growers - jasmine and gardenia- really just to give them shape, just a small trim really but it now looks a lot better!
Clean out your summer harvests if you have some - get your tomatoes gone if they haven't done that by themselves already - here's some ideas to preserve your glut
I give my herbs a bit of a haircut too, not a major one, just again the prolific growers like mint and oregano.

Plant:

Bulbs for spring before it gets too cold. We're planting some daffodils.
If you have a vege garden, now's the time to be planting your carrots, brussel sprouts and cabbages - here's other suggestions too

Feed:

The lawn, your plants and your trees. Especially feed your flowers that will bloom in spring.

Our passionfruit got a good feed this weekend, isn't it glorious!?

Gutters:

Clean out the gutters whilst its dry - nothing worse than having your roof cave in because you have stuff caught in your gutter (happened to us almost, next-door neighbours cricket ball!)

Sweep and Rake:

This would have to be the most thankless job of the autumn, because just as soon as you've done it, you need to do it again, make it a once-a month job.

Clean:

The exterior of the house - we have a karcher but any guerney will do - you can hire them cheaply if you don't have one or a friend to loan you one, ask your neighbour or friend if they want to split the cost... it takes no time to do and you can give your deck/entertaining area and driveway a good once-over too.
Also if you have any outdoor furniture it's a good time to give that a clean and seal if it's wooden - Wash all cushions and store in the garage for spring if you don't think you'll be outside much in Autumn.

Cull:

Time to get rid of that stuff sitting in your garage that you've been meaning to take to the tip... that space you will need for the car and other outdoor stuff you may want to store undercover over winter

Clean:

Your oven - before you get those casseroles and puddings and baked treats in there, give it a good clean.
Your bedding, before it gets too cold or wash your doonas, blankets, throws and cushions. Get them dry-cleaned before the rush if that's what you prefer. If they were cleaned at the end of last spring and you haven't used them, just give them an air on the washing line for a few hours.
Light fittings, because you'll be using more artificial light during winter, pull them apart, give the shades a good once over, keep them bright.
Cobwebs - you probably haven't noticed them, but make it a habit to seek them out at least once a month - you can use a broom brushed with lemon oil to deter the spiders from coming back.
Walls - clean from bottom to top to avoid streaks but I just do this with a vileda sponge that has the non-scratch scourer on it and some warm water with liquid sugar soap, you notice the difference straight away- pay note to light switches and power points too - they get a bit grotty!
Defrost your freezer, and get rid of any food you don't recognise or looks a bit dodgy!

Service:

Now's the time to have your fireplace or heating serviced if you need to (before the price-hike!) get your firewood sorted or just clean the filters in your heaters.
Your coffee machine if you have one - you can get DIY descaling kits online.

Cull:

Clothes you don't wear anymore, clothes your kids don't fit anymore - donate or list on ebay - but if you haven't listed after 2 weeks, donate!!
Pantry goods that are out of date
Plastic containers you've been saving for a 'rainy day'.
Books and magazines you've read that you're not likely to read or refer to again
Toys and Board games that are missing pieces

Look at my donation pile! This is going to Salvation Army/Freecycle, and this is HALF of what I started with (already freecycled a bit!) I also took about the same to the tip!

Store:

Hand-me down clothes and toys for later - I find spacebags work best. Store them above wardrobes, under beds or in trunks. Don't forget to label the contents and sizes!
Outdoor furniture/soft furnishings/portable fans.

So friends, feel free to add your tips or your thoughts - do you do an Autumn Clean? Are you motivated to do one? I'm about 1/3 of the way through mine, and on track to finish before winter, are you keen to join me?

These boots...

2012-03-16T19:53:53-07:00

are not only made for walking, they're making mummy realise how much her frills are growing up!

Last year I promised faithfully this winter my girls could have some knee-high boots. A promise is a promise but waaaah they are so grown up in them!

My big girl Eloise is now seven going on seventeen. I can't believe how big she is now and the things she comes out with! 'Mum, when can I walk home from school by myself?' "Mum, I need an iPhone' I'm not ready!!

Laura is still her cheeky hilarious first but she also has her devious side...and she certainly lives up to the reputation those fiery red-heads have -but she is always kind and quick with a compliment and makes friends easily - socially I never have to worry about Laura... what a poser!

And my little sensitive one, Olivia - though these days these boots could be mistaken for bossy boots, she is getting a bit bossy especially at home. She likes it the way she likes it, and I have to say she gets that from me... so I totally understand her need to be in control! That said she does have the sweetest side and is very empathetic and sensitive to others..such a sweetheart.

As they say, they grow up too fast!

The 'Quik' Fairy-fabulous self saucing pudding - in less than 10 minutes!

2012-03-15T13:08:16-07:00

A busy mum like me doesn't have time these days for recipes that take lots of time. That doesn't mean I don't like to cook and I don't like to spend time in the kitchen, I do love experimenting and of course time in the kitchen with my frills is always fun.

Olivia asked me for 'pink pudding' on the weekend and to be honest I was a bit stumped but I remembered that I had some Nestle Quik powder - I think I bought it for a treat for afternoon playdates with friends last year and forgot about it... so seemed like the perfect candidate to substitute for sugar in a sauce saucing pudding.

Using the microwave is the quickest way to get your pudding done, if you don't have a microwave, just bake for 20 minutes at 200 degrees.

Ingredients

1/2 cup milk

125g melted butter

1 cup self raising flour

1/2 cup quik (you could use any flavour you like!)

1 1/2 cups hot water

1/4 cup quik, extra

Method:

Get your helper to add milk, melted butter into a bowl.

sift in your flour and quik

Now for those of you freaking about artificial colours/flavours, you may be surprised to know that nesquik has none! I know I was!

Whisk it all up!

Good luck prying it away from your little chef!

Press into a greased microwave proof dish

Pour water over the top and sprinkle the last of the quik...

Microwave for 6 1/2 minutes on high, I sprinkled some edible glitter on top but use 100's and 1,000's if you like :)

Serve with custard or cream, great quik-fix on a cold day or just when you've got a hankering for something sweet!

Pretty damned yummy actually, not too sweetly-sickly at all!

Warm Pizza Dip and the multi-national-pot-luck-dinner

2012-03-26T03:37:48-07:00

Hello everyone I hope your weekend has left you well rested and ready to tackle another week. These weekends for me go waaaay too fast. Way too fast!

I spent Saturday morning at the hairdresser with the laptop on my lap, then seeing my Nan and then we went to catch the Gymboree sale at Parramatta - not a very short trip but we did get some very cute items, I promised my Mum I would take some photos of their fashion parade, so I may share those with you too. My frills are growing up SO fast.

Sunday I spent some time cooking - at present Pinterest is a major source of cooking inspiration to me and when I saw this pizza dip on there I knew then and there I would be making it and soon. In fact I made it only hours later. It's a great simple recipe that hasn't done the rounds as much as spinach/french onion cob loaf or seven layer dip. This is incredibly simple and dangerously addictive.

Great to have a with a few wines or take to a gathering - which is what I did - our office is always a flurry with colleagues visiting/staying here in Sydney from all corners of the world we all got together for 'multinational pot luck' night. It was really fun and delicious, and I'm sure we'll do it again.

Chicken Masala, Beef Rendang, Malaysian Omelette, a tofu dish (I can't remember I don't eat tofu!), crispy duck, Chinese BBQ pork, rice.. salads.. amazing!

But OK, let's get back to the dip!

Adapted from Closet Cooking

Ingredients:

250g Philadelphia cream cheese

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

1 jar pizza sauce

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, extra

1/4 cup tasty cheese

1/8 cup finely grated parmesan

pepperoni

olives, optional

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees c

Mix together philadelphia cream cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream,1/2 cup mozzarella, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Spread over the base of a quiche or pie tin.

When it's even, then spread over a pasta sauce - I used woolworth

Then top with remaining mozzarella and tasty cheese, place the pepperoni and olives on top and grate over the remaining parmesan cheese.

Bake for about 20 minutes, until bubbly on top. Serve with pita bread or as I did white corn chips

Look at my friends hoe into it, gone in seconds!

Oven baked Jerk Chicken

2012-03-03T02:50:36-08:00

I've often come across recipes for 'Jamaican Jerk' chicken and think 'what the..?' but what the 'jerk' really refers to is the way the meat is slit or cut to absorb marinade. This recipe is a super-easy one and I think I will be making this up in bulk in the marinade and storing it in the freezer. Easy to pull out, defrost and 'bung in the oven'. Even if you don't go down that route, to make it all up really does take no time at all. This time I marinaded for only 30 minutes and had it on the table 1 hour later.

You can spice this up as much as you like, as I was trying this recipe out for the first time I thought I would tone down the chilli for my frills - they like chilli but I thought I would play it safe. I think next time I'll ramp it up a bit, but you know know what you like, go with what you think is best.

I adapted this recipe from 'Cook Express' by Guy Mirabella. I love this cookbook, I got it from one of those liquidation book sales, so if you find it - pick it up! I found a copy of it in Philippines and gave it to a colleague and his fiance as an engagement present, it's like the encyclopaedia of quick fix meals!

Ingredients:
1.5 kg chicken pieces
zest and juice of 2 limes
1 red and 1 green chilli, de-seeded and chopped
handful of coriander
handful of italian parsley
2 stalks thyme
3tb brown sugar
2tb vegetable oil
1tb cracked pepper
1tsp sea salt
1 tin of sliced pineapple

Method:
Score some slits into your chicken about 5mm thick and place into a ziplock bag.

Zest your limes (I just want to show off my microplane, I love this for zesting!)

Put the rest of the ingredients besides the pineapple and chicken in a food processor and give it a good whizz!

Now it looks like sludge, but it's delicious sludge, put it on top of your chicken in the ziplock bag...

Squeeze the air out of the ziplock bag, zip it up and give it a good shake and make sure the marinade is well distributed all over the chicken. Put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or overnight if you like..

Preheat oven to 200 degrees c.

Place the chicken in a baking dish and place the chicken in the bottom. Lay the pineapple rings over the top of the chicken and pour roughly half the juice from the tin over the top of the chicken.

Bake for 1 hour. Serve with rice or salad

Yum!!

How to make Ginger Snaps

2012-02-26T21:44:56-08:00

I think in life you're a ginger person or you're not. For me definitely yes. I love ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamon, all the aromatic spices. It's no secret to friends of mine that gingerbread and it's descendants liebkuchen and Taai Taai are high up on the list of my favourite biscuits/cookies.

When I buy cookies on a rare occasion it will always be the gingersnaps. The really hard ones. The ones that you nearly have to break a tooth to bite off a chunk or leave into your mouth until they go soggy. I became quite addicted to them when I was pregnant and I still do this day cannot replicate them. I'm guessing it's a good lot of molasses and sugar and I'd just rather be in denial I think about how much....

But these gave me a much needed ginger hit when I had tonsillitis recently. They arent totally chewy but they have a spongy centre and deliver just the right amount of sweetness for me. Good for lunchboxes too.

Ingredients:

2 cups plain flour

3/4 cup caster sugar

2 tsp bicarb soda

1 tsp allspice

1 1/4 tsp powdered ginger

175g butter, at room temperature

1 large egg (or 2 small ones)

1/4 cup treacle

Method

Preheat oven to 190 degrees c

In a bowl mix flour, sugar, bicarb and spices. Mix well.

Add butter, treacle and egg/s. Now I realise it doesn't see like there's enough liquid but bare with me...

It makes a good dough in no time when you mix it together. If by any chance you have thirsty flour, add a teaspoon or two of milk.

Roll the bits of dough into 1 1/2 inch balls and roll or dip into a bit of extra caster sugar

Place onto a greased tray and push down a little to flatten.

Bake for 15-18 minutes. Leave to cool on tray for 5 minutes before transferring ~~into your mouth~~ onto a plate until completely cool. Store in freezer in ziplock bag for up to 2 months or in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Source: recipe adapted from http://www.applepiepatispate.com/

Chocolate cake mix cookies!

2012-02-23T22:13:18-08:00

Now I'm the first person to say 'ditch the packet mix' and this isn't usually something that I would have in my cupboard, but my friend and college Nancy from the USA and loves to bake recommended I make these as she was suprised with the results... and you know I just had to know.

The results are pretty good actually. A bit cake-y, a bit biscuit-y, a bit brownie-ish actually but over all really really easy and really, really chocolatey. So if you're a chocolate lover these could be your ticket. They freeze well too - so you could, if you like, take them out, put them in the microwave for 20 or so seconds and serve them with icecream.. oh was I bad for suggesting that?

You could use any cake mix you like, I used a mud cake mix because I wanted the chocolately chocolate-ness. But you could get any chocolate cake mix. It's all about the consistency really.

Ingredients:

1 packet cake mix

2 eggs

125g soft butter

1/4 cup plain flour (you may need less or more depending on the consistency/size of your cake mix)

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees c

In a bowl, mix all ingredients.

The consistency should be like clay, it should stick together but also have a bit of firm-ness to it. Add flour as you need to. If you add too much flour, add a little milk until you get the right mix.

Roll them up into balls about 1.5 inch diameter.

Place on a greased tray (or one sprayed with canola oil) and press down slightly.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, then leave to cool on tray for 10-15 minutes.

Cool (or serve with cold milk warm - YUM!)

Irresistible to a six year old !!! (and a forty year old!)

Quick snack solution - DIY microwave popcorn - in under 3 minutes!

2012-02-18T16:29:28-08:00

No special bags.
No extra ingredients.
You just need a paper lunch bag and...
1/2 cup popcorn kernels!

Oh, and a microwave!

When I think about the times I have caved in and bought microwave popcorn from the supermarket because I was in a hurry or just wanted to avoid the oil/washing up I'm a bit annoyed with myself now. I needn't have bothered! I can see this being the easy way for morning teas on mornings I find myself short of stash lunchbox legends or we are going to watch a family movie. I just can't get over how simple it is.

And you don't oil!

Of course you could melt some butter and mix it through afterwards and shake a little salt through it, or cinnamon or whatever you love but for my kids, they didn't even ask!

Step 1
Pour 1/2 cup popcorn kernels into a paper lunch bag (the kernels cost about $1 for about 2.5 cups - I just used homebrand paper bags)

Fold the edges over, my tip is the second time I made this I made the creases shorter, and doubled it over three times...

Pop in the microwave - depending on the wattage of your microwave up to 3 minutes. Mine is 1100W and it took 2 mins 20seconds to make it PPPEEERFECT. The lower the wattage, the longer you need to leave it in.

Watching it won't make it pop faster, but it amuses small people. Olivia grabbed a chair to watch...

Voila!

How easy is THAT!!??

Hungry hoardes dig in!

Recipe sourced from http://www.squawkfox.com

Shortcut slow cooker tuna pasta casserole !

2012-02-17T02:49:46-08:00

Hello!

As you might have guessed I've been rather time-poor recently. My big project I've been working on has gone live - but before that one ended, I've started another 2 phases of the project and preparing another! It's caaarazy. So these days on the rare days I do get to cook I find myself wanting to spend time with the frills and basically, sleeping!

This one's super cheaty. It's not something you'd want to eat every day but it's a firm favourite with kids and I love it for the comfort-food factor. The added bonus is it only has a few ingredients and takes about 10 minutes to prepare. And there's leftovers - feeds us two meals! And the biggest bonus for me is my biggest Frill Miss Eloise can make it with me.

Ingredients

1 tin cream of mushroom soup

300mls cream or evaporated milk

2 large tins of tuna, with brine (don't drain)

2 cups uncooked macaroni

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup frozen corn (you can use whatever you like, mixed veges if you like!)

3 shallots or spring onions, chopped

1 cup shredded/grated cheese

1 tsp ground pepper

Method:

One by one add all the ingredients to your slowcooker...albeit the cheese.

Remember if you want to use evaporated milk instead of cream, that's a lower fat option..

Eloise loves to cook with Mummy. I miss my frills!

If you're in a bit of a hurry, pre-cook your macaroni for 5 minutes - this will cut down the cooking time in the slow cooker to 1 hour on high.

I love white and black pepper, but you can add other herbs like parsley or chives also if you like!

Cook on low for 5 hours or medium-high for 3 hours. About 30 minutes before serving, stir in the cheese.

Delicious! And so simple, great for a lazy or busy day!

18 Lunchbox legends - boredom busters!

2012-01-31T03:58:55-08:00

If your kids are anything like mine they get pretty bored with the 'usual suspects' in the lunchbox so I need to mix it up a bit. At the beginning of this school year whether you have kids in high school or beyond or a little one starting I hope you find some inspiration to make some scrumptious 'stash' lunchbox legends for the freezer.

I generally will make 1 week's worth each week - but I start by making 2 or 3 weeks worth - so I can mix them up. I generally will stash them in portioned sizes in large ziplock bags, so I just grab them out frozen either the night before of the morning of... keeps the lunchbox cool too!

Share them with your friends, family and anyone you think may need some lunchbox inspiration!

Sunday baking project - Choc banana brownies!

2012-01-22T01:52:40-08:00

Ohhhhmygod.
Oooooooooohmygod!

So good! After what seems like an eternity I have finally be reunited with my holy trinity: My KitchenAid, my oven and baking!!! Last week in anticipation for the frills' arrival from Manila (I came home a week ahead of them for work) I bought bananas. I couldn't help myself given then are so affordable here now! But alas, I think they overdosed on bananas in Manila and weren't much into eating them... so what to do with bananas that are on the turn?

I love banana bread, and banana cake and even the odd bit of banana tapioca pudding and the kids' favourite lunchbox legends banana date slice and banana bran muffins but hubby loves his brownies so I thought I'd make some moist brownies with bananas. A bit reminiscent of Ben and Jerry's chunky monkey icecream really.

Simple to put together, they smell absolutely divine baking and so yummy to eat! These are my new favourite brownies!

Ingredients:
185gr butter, soft or partially melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup caster sugar
3 large ripe bananas, peeled and chopped (about 1 1/2 cups worth)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup walnuts
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Method:
Preheat oven to 160 degrees c

Combine butter and sugars together until smooth and cream-like

Add banana and vanilla and mix until smooth

Add cocoa, flour, bicarb soda, walnuts (optional) and choc chips, mix well.

Couldn't you just eat a spoonful of this??

Spread into a tin lined with baking paper and sprayed with canola oil.

Bake for 50 minutes to an hour, then leave to cool for a further hour before cutting into squares.

Look at the ooozy chocolate, I've got to tell you it smells SO good!

Try not to eat it all .. at once.

My hubby got this as his birthday cake.. he loves his chocolate!

Do you find yourself with bananas to use? Give this a try!

The answer to lots of tomatoes - DIY quickie sundried tomatoes!

2012-01-19T13:54:45-08:00

Tomatoes are my favourite fruit - I can say that hand on heart. If anyone told me I had to cut out tomatoes from my diet permanently I think I would probably die of a broken heart. As a child I used to take whole tomatoes to school instead of apples, yes, my love affair with tomatoes started early.

And anyone who has a vege garden this time of year usually has a glut of tomatoes. Or those of you who go to farmers markets or just love a bargain at the supermarket may find themselves buying some extra ones. I have lots of recipes for tomatoes if you have an oversupply - my vege garden is going to be getting a lot of attention this weekend, a wee bit overgrown since we've been away..!!

If you have this problem or just love tomatoes, you can also try these recipes:

Sweet green tomato chutney (seriously amazing, my favourite on cold meats)

Melissa's Passata (Italian base sauce)

Now this one is EASY PEASY. If you have tomatoes, and you have an oven you can make this in a day or two.. I just fitted this in around my other cooking/baking and did it in two but you could perceivably do this over a day and night.

What you need is:
A baking tray
Baking paper
Tomatoes!
Light Olive oil
Peppercorns
Any herbs or garlic you like..

Method:
Layout your tomatoes on baking tray on baking paper. If you've got larger tomatoes slice them into 1 inch thickness, no need to cut cherry tomatoes.

Place in the oven at 75 degrees c. Check on them every 3-4 hours. After about 12 hours you will need to turn them over and if you have cherry tomatoes squash them down a bit or 'pop' them to assist in them drying out.

Once they are crispy-ish - put into a sterilised jar (I just boil mine in water for 5 minutes with the lid) and then place your tomatoes, peeled garlic, peppercorns (I put in about 15 or so) and fresh stalks of herbs if you like (rosemary and oregano are nice ones to add)..

Fill with oil so everything is moist (about 2/3 full)

Store in the fridge, give it a shake every couple of days. Good to eat after a week or so.. if you can wait that long!

Are you a tomato lover too? What's your favourite way with tomatoes!!

The Frills Family do Hong Kong Disneyland!

2012-01-11T22:03:02-08:00

I remember Sunday nights, 5:30. Wonderful World of Disney was my favourite. I dreamed about going to DisneyLand. Going on those rides, Meeting Mickey and Minnie.

That dream came true last weekend when Hubby and I decided quite last minute to take the kids to Hong Kong for the weekend. That sounds really extravagant doesn't it? But truth be told we were only two hours away anyways in Manila and I had to travel back to Sydney for work ahead of time via Hong Kong as there were no direct flights available from Manila to Sydney.

Unfortunately I didn't really think of some important things - namely:

Before you get the travel agent to book your business flights, make sure your family can get on the same flight.
Remember more than 12 hours ahead you're travelling into winter, especially if you've only got summer clothes and shoes with you.

So, after not being able to get hubby and the kids on my flight (I had to be flown business class) I put them on a discounted airline. The plus to that was they were leaving an hour ahead of me so they could get sorted into the hotel ahead of me. Wrong. Their flight was delayed 1.5 hours and in fact I arrived ahead of them. Hubby's first words to me after getting off his flight was - 'soooo. How was business class?'. I thought it best not to tell him that the Cathay Skybeds are brilliant and the fabulous service I had.

The morning of the flight I had to do the mercy dash to the department store across the road from my office and find some jeans and long sleeve shirts for the frills - luckily I had bought some winter party shoes on sale - and jeans I was able to find but long sleeve shirts were non-existent. Hubby picked some up at another store - and apologised in advance by text before I saw them 'beggars can not be choosers'. ahem.

So we arrived late into Hong Kong and made our way to our apartment. We didn't know they would be one to a floor and although superb, Hubby and I had to separate to spread ourselves between the rooms. Super romantic!

So after the debacle of actually getting there, the dream began... off in the taxi from Hong Kong Island to Disneyland - about a 30 minute drive... very exciting seeing these signs!

And even more exciting getting to the entrance! I think at this point Hubby was more excited than the kids!

And when this greets you as are walking in.. you know you're at the right place!

Yay, we have tickets! They worked out about $40 each which I think is an absolute bargain right? Buy them online here

As you get into the park you can take a tour on the train that circumnavigates the park, you get a good idea of what you're in for!

But we headed straight up Main Street USA, we needed jumpers - as it was 12 degrees! Very fabulously greeted by a marching band!

There are many shops, they mostly sell the same thing... it's fun trying on all the bits and pieces..

Hubby as Lotsa:

Perfect for cold ears right?

So after we were all warm we decided morning tea was in order - cue Mickey waffles:

Delicious and about $5 with cream, maple syrup and strawberries!

Then we headed off to tomorrowland - all things fantasy and space.. note, ensure people taking pics of you and your family realise you have three kids, not just one.. lol

The flying saucer ride, good for kids 4 and up..

Then we headed to space mountain, which I thought was maybe a 3d movie thing about being in space.. it wasn't until we'd lined up for five minutes, I spotted this screen and realise that's not what we were lining up for at all...

and I don't do rollercoasters. But the kids were excited and I couldn't leave them.. I was a wreck before I got on.. It was terrifying, I had my eyes closed for most of it, hubby was loving it.

When it stopped all three girls were crying and saying how scared they were. Clearly they are their mother's daughters. I felt dreadful to put my babies through that. Then we went and saw the pic... we laughed through the tears and put it behind us. I think I'll have company whenever hubby decides to go on another rollercoaser (he loves them)

Horrid!

We made our way to Fantasyland - the land where dreams come true!

We arrived to see Mickey helping Minnie into the Dumbo ride - sweet!

My frills went bananas!!

Daddy braved it on the merry-go-round - lines on the rides were mostly great, a few had long lines, we just gave them a miss!

Then on to the banquet hall...

For Mickey Jelly (as you do!) $2.50 each

Meatballs with Mickey watermelon! With a drink $9

Three little pigs pork buns! ($6)

After lunch we got to meet the idols! My girl Eloise is so happy!

I bet Hubby didn't think he'd ever meet Mickey Mouse when he was a kid - let along high-five him!

Clearly they connected...

Family pic!

This is just a fraction of our time here, but you might overdose on the photos!!

In summary

I would totally recommend a visit - I think it's reasonable in cost - and it's good for kids between 3 and 10 - I think if you wanted to take older kids I would go to Ocean Park in Hong Kong instead.
It only takes a day to see everything - no need for a two day pass
Stay at the resort if you can - we didn't but it would have been better - you get discounts on merchandise and can have anything you buy delivered to your hotel free of charge if you do.
Merchandise is pretty reasonably priced - sweatshirts were $35 each and most souvenirs are under $15 each.
Get it a good spot to see the street parade - 3pm daily - it's a must see.
In hindsight we should have started at lunchtime, and stayed for the fireworks at 8pm - but we were buggered after starting at 9am, left at 5pm instead.
Winter-time is apparently great time to visit (Nov-Feb) as the lines are shorter.. good to know!

Simplest choc caramel and pecan slice in the world - done in less than an hour!

2012-01-11T02:47:00-08:00

Those Filipinos love their chocolate. They love anything sweet and the more sugar and syrup, the better. I made this quickie slice one day to take into my team because a) they deserve it! b) I knew they'd love it and c) I saw graham crackers and I couldn't resist (We don't get those in Australia easily!).

Of course if you can't get graham crackers, use whatever biscuit you like - if you there's never enough chocolate you could use choc ripple cookies or try some good ol' milk arrowroot biscuits with a teaspoon of allspice and a tablespoon of honey mixed in with the melted butter.

You literally chuck this together, it does not take more than 10 minutes to get it in the oven!! They are rich, you don't need much and they are perfect to share! This slice makes at least 24 squares or rectangles, depending how big you like to cut ~~eat~~ them.

Ingredients

250g biscuits of choice

100g butter, melted

1.5 cups pecans

1.5 cups chocolate chips/buttons

1 tin condensed milk

Method:

Preheat oven to 190 degrees c

Line a tin with baking paper or foil, grease well.

Process your biscuts in a food processor or place in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin until like breadcrumbs.

Mix through butter until moist like sand. Depending on your biscuits you may need more/less butter.

Press into the bottom of your tin.

Sprinkle over pecans evenly, then choc chips. Lastly pour over condensed milk, ensure it's as even as possible.

Place in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until the condensed milk becomes caramel-like

Leave to cool for about 20 minutes, then turn out, and slice.

Store in airtight container for up to a week in refrigerator. You, your family and friends won't believe how something so delicious is so simple!

Messages from Manila part four - touring with the family!

2012-01-01T17:19:01-08:00

Now this one is for all of you who may have thought about a holiday here with kids, or without!

Last week I finally travelled back with my family in tow, it's wonderful to be reunited and showing them where I've been living, doing our numerous skype calls, giving them an overseas experience and of course exposing them to different food and environments.

What we have found invaluable here is getting a hirecar with a driver. Cost about $85 for a 12 hour shift plus petrol and meal money of $7.50 a day. All up about $100 a day. No getting lost. No worrying about driving on the other side of the road... hubby can indulge in a few beers... :)

Today we took a drive down to see the smallest volcano in the world - the Taal Volcano near Tagaytay. Pretty breathtaking. It last erupted in 1965 and before that in 1911, guessing it's due again shortly??

We also have had some amazing food here. It's impossible to be on a diet here. I never finish a meal!

My drink (the yellow one) is a virgin pina colada - using the local pineapple, banana - so refreshing - the kids are drinking watermelon ice shakes - all cost $2.50 each at an upmarket restaurant!

We were hoping to get suckling pig but they had run out - so we got this pork knuckle - it's deep fried!! But it's a amazingly good - two pieces were enough for me!

All the way down and back we passed numerous pineapple and banana plantations. There are stalls scattered all along the road on the way in and out of Tagaytay... this is the one we bought our stash from:

The thing I love most about the Philippines is the people. The people rock!

Each branch of bananas - $2.50!

Pineapples.. 1.00 each - and these are HUGE and freshly harvested. Pineapples are SO delicious here, I just can't describe HOW good.

Our loot, we bought watermelon, bananas, pineapples and candied peanut disks (sooo good!) - bargain - gave more than half of it to our driver - he has four kids!

These candied peanut disks are gooood. *drool*