Me. Because both ‘real bird’ and ‘mirror bird’ flew off shortly after.

Okay, new kid on the block, Mueslie4Me impressed. Nice big servings and good shipping price. Yes, I’m a morning muesli gal, I need to try these all out!

My mix included figs… mm…

Breakfast-ilicious!

(All this warm muesli is upping my soy milk intake and thus my calcium. PLUS figs are full of calcium!)

You’ve been warned!

So, you can understand my amusement when I’m out for dinner with a mostly Asian group of friends at The Chairman & Yip, I pull out my camera to get a pic of the dishes, and one of the girls shrieks “argh! why are you doing that Asian thing? Taking photos of food! Stop doing that Asian thing!” Cue jokes about me being the whitest girl alive, and the only white gal at the table. And continue trying to take pics, which are clearly affected by low light and a few glasses of wine ….. ;)

I love how they put the menus into design magazines!

Blurry-making wine!

There’s a large group of us (9), but the banquet doesn’t do it for us – too much seafood! So we order two by 4 of the dishes… plus a serve of the duck pancakes at the demands of one girl… no pic of that, but she was disappointed :(

Stir-fry king prawns with chili and plum jam, $33.50

I swear this dish is awesome and I could eat it to myself – Shan-tung style lamb – $29.50

Red curry chicken, $28.50 – definitely ‘medium’ heat, not mild!

We also ordered a vege dish, which took too long to come out :( came out as we were finishing the others, which is no good for a vego dish, I think….

Birthday cake was devoured by the others (cake from the Cheesecake shop) while I sipped my soy latte. Nice night :)

I have to say, though, I recommend the “Earlybird Special” at The Chairman & Yip… It’s $28.50 for two courses from a set menu.. Take a bottle of wine at 6pm, have an hour or so to eat and drink, then stumble off for coffee and dessert at another awesome cafe in Civic. Trust me. It’s good! (and get the Lamb!)

Arrived in Frankfurt from Vienna on a morning flight, trained to the city and checked into a cheap hotel. Rish went for a nap, and I went for a walk…

The giant Euro is probably my strongest memory of Frankfurt, but let’s see what else comes flooding back as I look at my photos! It IS pretty impressive, though. In a nerdy way…

Like in the other cities, I ran into various cultural events. In Frankfurt it was a Thai festival!

The Bear and the Bull outside the Bear and Bull pub

Want to get around on one of these?

Went for a couple of walks along the river… one by myself that day, and then with Rish in the evening. Gorgeous little spot. :)

Look at me, with my hands on my hips!

On the museums side of the river. It could be art, but I don’t know these things.

hell YES! Kebabs from a boat ftw!

Blokes on a Bierbike

Quack!

More Turkish and Palestinian protesters

I went into the Jewish Museum and saw this cool model of the old ghetto. Way vercrowded, no wonder it kept burning down…

Support the German Football team, buy Kamps

Condensation trails over Frankfurt airspace. I wonder where they were going?

Luring ducks

That night, we went to dinner for Chinese… it may or may not have made us ill, as something had us both n the toilet for the following couple of days in our different locations… it tasted nice!

MAGIC WOK, Jade Wok

HUGE cokes.

The BEST QUALITY IN THE WORLD

Yum, but possibly not good. Unsure. It COULD have been the rolls from the bakery with cheese..…

Next morning it was off for pastries for breakfast!

Then off to the station for my trip to Cologne and Rish’s to the Black Forest…

TBC….

Drink, talk, stare at the flame, listen to the music, laugh with new friends. I love Hippo :) Don’t go there enough.

We had an abundance of eshallots in the fridge, so google sent me to that recipe, and I changed it to:

Ingredients (serves 4)
1/4 cup (60ml) peanut oil
6 green eshallots, chopped
1 (about 600g) pork fillet, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tsp finely grated ginger
2 tsp Chinese five spice
1/4 cup (60ml) oyster sauce
1 cup coriander leaves
450g pkt fresh rice noodles (I used dried)

Method
Heat the oil in a wok over medium high heat. Add one-sixth of the shallots and fry for 1-2 minutes or until golden brown. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a plate lined with paper towel.
Add one-quarter of the pork to the wok and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until browned. Transfer to a bowl. Repeat in 3 more batches with remaining pork. Add the remaining shallots, garlic, ginger and five spice and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until golden. Add the pork with oyster sauce to the wok and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until heated through. Remove from heat and add the coriander and remaining mint. Gently toss to combine.
Meanwhile, place the noodles in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Set aside for 6-8 minutes to heat. Use a fork to gently separate. Drain well.
Place the noodles among serving bowls. Spoon over the pork mixture. Top with fried shallots and mint leaves. Serve immediately.

I served with steamed carrot and beans.

Yums!

Mmm made the Banana cake again out of Go Dairy Free, this time making a double mix, the cake’s a bit bigger and I made a bunch of mini-muffins too, which I see Rish has been nibbling on this afternoon!

And some Sunday Mutterings:

1. Inception :: day
2. Anticipation :: exhilaration
3. Space :: the final frontier
4. Earn :: money
5. .com :: boom
6. Hello! :: Hai!
7. Equivalent :: equal
8. Swore :: dammit
9. Actions :: speak louder than words
10. Expletive! :: #$@#%%%%#!

Please, don’t shudder in horror, but it was really quite nice – from the curry place at Westfield Kotara food court. Dahl and a vege curry with a garlic naan.

The naan had nothing on the ones we used to make when we worked in the Indian restaurant through uni. The scars from the tandoor are worth it! (lived on an alternative diet of naan and butter chicken sauce and pad thai through uni. My tummy couldn’t hack that these days!)

One vase, think it works!

After a dazed day at work (I’m got a cold and am generally worn down by other health stuff. No, I’m not pregnant, though someone suggested it might be why I’m tired!) I dolled up in a new LBD, new tights and some killer heels to head to Rocksalt for dinner.

Perusing the specials

We started with the SOFTEST BREAD IN THE WORLD, for $4 each. God bread. Served with olive oil and dukkah.

For dinner, I went for the Duck, and Rish the Pork…

Roast Duck breast with confit potatoes, snow peas and a plum jus, $34

Braised pork served on an apple tarte tarin with pye lentils finished with a honey glaze, $32

All the while, we drank a 2007 Pinot Noir Rose from Olssen’s Winery in Central Otago, which we’d been hanging onto since our NZ Trip at the end of 2007. Still tasted as awesome (well nearly as awesome as drinking it in generous sample sizings amongst the vines!)

I gave dessert a miss, except for a few mouthfuls from Rish’s tasting plate. mmm.

Truffles with the bill, Rish tells me they’re as rich as they look!

Lovely night out with Rish, rambling about the present and our future. Now to plan for his birthday in a month!

Last year’s work cupcakes for my birthday. Hello Kitty!

Okay, any notion I had of doing a 101 in 1001 is long gone, I can’t even WRITE a list, let along get started on one. So perhaps, 30 items before my 30th birthday will be more manageable? We can always hope!

So, let’s see. What are 30 things I would like to achieve in the next 24 months?

1. Finish my Masters
2. Visit Japan
3. Run 8km
4. Sort out my diet
5. Buy some knee-high boots that fit my calves
6. Learn to cook tofu in at least 3 ways (including stirfry)
7. Read 20 Popular Penguins (a few can be checked off already, will let you know in my first update!)
8. Do some unassisted chin-ups
9. Eat gluten free hot cross buns
10. Finishing knitting the pink/red scarf that’s been in the cupboard part done for at least 2 years
11. Run 10 km (Mothers day classic?)
12. Have made at least 2 things from each cookbook I own
13. Meet at least 10 more ‘internet people’ IRL
14. Sell or play my clarinet
15. Drastically reduce my diet coke intake – no more than one in a day, no more than 4 in a week
16. Have a caffeine free month
17. Try Body Balance. At least twice.
18. Properly tag all my mp3s
19. Do a pole dancing course or burlesque course (I’ve only done a one-off hens night)
20. Make this gingerbread cake
21. Get down to my “preferred weight” and maintain it for 3 months
22. Successfully give blood (ie no passing out before they have enough)
23. Take and blog a photo a day of me for a month
24. Buy a re-usable coffee cup for my takeaway coffee (recommendations sought)
25. Sew a skirt
26. Sew a dress
27. Do a wine tasting course
28. Go skinny dipping!
29. Bake awesome vegan cupcakes to take into work
30. “Go Dark” for a weekend (preferably on the South Coast!)

I’m sure to “achieve” other things in that time, but here’s a few to keep tabs on.
Wish me well?

Oh and here’s a song you should all listen to. Because it’s my ring tone.

Late last year, The Del in Newcastle started a renovation and expansion to include a fancy new dining room. Initial impressions were not that great (such as an hour to get food, having to order at the counter for $30 meals and so on) despite the gorgeous look inside. But thought I might give it another go, and set about gathering friends there on my visit…

Blurry, low light pics ahoy!

We set about amusing ourselves on the paper-covered tables with a pen we found on the floor. I think Victoria was in Tony’s belly button.

The staff don’t necessarily ‘get’ gluten free and questions about other food requirements. They claim something that’s done in Guinness is gf, however I’m told Guinness isn’t gluten free. Anyway. Read the menu carefully and ask a few times to be sure, I say!

My duck

Phil’s chicken

The service was certainly speedier than last time I was there, and people seemed happier in general than other times. There’s still coordination work to be done, such as not being asked by each of the waitresses in succession if you’d like bread, or if the rest of the group is coming.

And I hate having to get up to get drinks when you’re supposedly in a ‘nice’ place. I think it’s still a little confused about whether it wants to be a restaurant or a bistro. Table 26?

On an answers note, I got a 12 month higher duties contract out of that last round of interviews and job applications! It was what I was hoping for once I’d come out of the interview, but wasn’t sure what I’d get. I’m pleased… There’s work to be done but I feel like I’m finally getting there.

And, prompted by Veronica… My top referral searches for the month to date:

Vodka Cruisers, anyone? (What? I’m not 16 anymore?)

Last time I was up in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie council were doing something on the Toronto foreshore to the old toilet/change block at the lake baths. Seems it’s a new little cafe – selling coffees, light lunches like wraps, and hamburgers and fish and chips (of course!)

Mum got her skim cappuccino, me my soy latte. Not the BEST coffee, but quite drinkable :p And good just to sit over close to home and close to the lake on a sunny winter’s morning.

Hard at work

Gorgeous Lake!

He’s such a poser. Sees the red light of the camera and out come the smiles!

Sadly, blurry. Too cold and windy for my poor lil camera!

Other challenges – when dogs growl and you decide to walk the long way instead… but you see purrty flowers!

Oh and deciding whether it’s a good idea to sign up to a bootcamp run at 6.45 Monday morning. Opinions?

Risotto Betterave (Cumin roasted beetroot with pinenuts, goat’s cheese and rocquette) – $18

It was pasta and risotto all around, with one work mate opting for this interesting Beetroot Risotto! She commented that it was nice, but the large serving (nice sized servings for you $18-20) was a bit much of the same.

Linguini Tonnato (tuna with basil, olives, tomato, garlic and chilli, tossed in olive oil) – $19

I had the Linguini Tonnato – a simple tuna linguini. The menu comments on whether meals are gluten fre, vegetarian or dairy free, or if there’s an option. The pastas which aren’t creamy are generally cooked with butter, but you can ask for a non-butter option, and Parmesan is generally added by yourself at the table.

Soy Latte to end the meal

I love and hate farewell dinners. I know it’s a new start for the person, and we’re sure to get someone new and like-able in their place, but it’s always sad to see them go!

The fog across the oval at work this afternoon.

Nothing a little tights action couldn’t brighten up!

Something I got onto via the Velocity program is winemaket.com.au, which has some great deals on wine brands that I know and like… Such as a mixed dozen whites for $99 and a mixed 16 reds for the same… Sweet!

They tend to include a mix of 2005+ wines, with wine regions like the Hunter Valley, Barossa and Margaret River all represented in brands you’ve heard of. A nice quick stock of the ‘cellar’ for dinners and BYOs to come :)

(and bolognese galore! with home made garlic breads using those bake at home rolls, minced garlic and margarine)