Happy 200Fine!

Man the silly season goes quickly. It's all one long hangover, really. First you're having a sip of champagne for the Melbourne Cup and the next thing you know it's January 1st.

There have been many memorable moments of the last few months but more importantly last night I made a Discovery. This was the unexpected guest of honour at a new year's dinner last night, and goes by the name of Gordon's Cup. Originally I thought I'd give it a bash cos it sounded fun, but holey dooley it was delicious! Summer in a glass! Perfect for warm weather, subtle enough for a taste sensation and ginny enough to get you liquored, new year's style.

Basically this magical drink is gin (Plymouth was recommended and used, and was so light and lovely), tossed in a shaker with muddled lime and skinless cucumber and a dash of sugar syrup. That's it. But heavens, the flavours are refreshing and complex at the same time, and I felt dreadfully elegant drinking them. Until the third, after which I was just plain pissy.

Anyhoo, Gordon was a lovely new friend to help me see out 200Great (which has been quite a momentous year for me - 2 new jobs, finishing the masters, a lovely new squeeze) and usher in 200Fine. Which I hope is just as tops. But maybe a little more stable!

Said squeeze is on his way over post new year's day golf (worst idea ever, apparently!) and we're going to make gin and tonics to relax (with frozen tonic ice cubes. We're not into watering down drinks in any way, shape or form obviously!).

So cheers, especially to you Gordon, and happy new year!

Holiday project number one - herb garden

The silly season - my best time of year - has just kicked off in earnest and as a result I am constantly hung over, tired and wondering what to wear. This week is the start of my official Christmas parties - I've my work one on Friday (a local dinner), one with the Marrickvillains on Sunday and some other event every other night this week. I suspect up until late January (post Vanuatu holiday, hurrah!) my holiday projects will all have to be on hold.

All except this one! Finally, after banging on for 18 months about wanting a wee garden, I have finally pulled out my (green) thumb. Last weekend at the markets we came across a herb seller, and really there was no excuse but to invest. I picked out some window boxes and up they went!



They make my rather prison like house a bit more homely...or maybe they just emphasise the bars! (incidentally I am delighted that it's prison like. I am super terrified of being kidnapped - because of my fabulous wealth and influence, you know - and this way I feel a bit more secure about miscellaneous Marrickville thugs breaking in.)





I've gone with tarragon, parsley, thyme, two lots of basil and rosemary. I actually get no sun whatsoever on my stoop (word on the street is herbs are all about the sun) but so far and no deaths (touch wood). I rather fancy myself quite the Jamie Durie. I'm not entirely sure this counts as a reno but it's definitely home improvement (until said Marrickville thugs snack on them all out of frustration at my impenetrable fortress).

Average 30

Just back from afternoonies (or matinee drinks, my preferred term!) at Jimbo's house - a friend who has recently returned from a stint in Darwin. During it we were lamenting the lack of fancy dress parties in our lives (one of the guys there, Evan, is going to a 'Come as You Were' party. You have to get a picture of yourself from the past and reenact it - and bring the picture along to compare your success!).

Evan and I share the same birthday - February 1st - so we have decided to celebrate it this year with a fancy dress affair. I'll be turning 31 and he 29 - so we're calling it an 'Average 30th'. The theme jury is still out although it's looking like 'Heroes and Villains' will be the most likely (although Jacs, for some reason, seems obsessed with having an 'Australian Icons' party, which we may go with due to our birthday's proximity to Australia Day).

Anyhoo home now, and looking forward to my first weekend in after finishing school (I had to go home two weekends ago and then hit the mountains last week). I have a Hot Date lined up with the couch, a bottle of wine, and the quarterly essay which I will feel no guilt whatsoever reading as I have no outstanding uni work ever again!

Off to a Spanish themed (flamenco dancing, tapas and cervesas) engagement party tomorrow - it's a harbour cruise affair so hopefully the weather won't replicate today's. We'd wind, hail, sun, overcast, rain, you name it all day. But then, if I'm liquored Spanish style, I don't suppose it matters what the weather is like.

The first internet

I spent last weekend in the Blue Mountains with Tim's family - it was a lovely leech filled getaway (OK, far nicer than a leechy getaway but a leech filled walk was the cause of much panic and therefore sticks in my mind!).

His folks had been sent a telegram which was rather fun. The top of it proudly stated 'Telegraph - The First Internet'. Hmmmm. Is this where the marketing of telegrams has gone - latching onto the success of the world wide web? I told my sister and she has requested that she only be addressed in morse code from now on (anther dying art - morse code. I'm making s summer to do list and it crossed my mind that perhaps learning morse code should be on it...but nah, I'll stick with learning proper grammar).

Congraduations!

I have just submitted my final essay of my Masters degree. Like, half an hour ago I hit 'send'. It feels a little surreal - I have spent the last five years studying (first my undergrad in social work and now the masters). I am not entirely sure why I am still sitting near a computer and typing because for the last few weeks I have been swearing that the second I am done my mac is getting thrown on a celebration bonfire, along with all my text books, notes and papers. Hurrah!

And now...a whole summer of freedom! No, wait - a whole forever of freedom! (although I am considering studying next year but unsure exactly about the finer details as yet). I hardly know what to do with myself, although I am fairly sure it will involve lots of reading of trash, lots of afternoon wines, lots of cooking and eating outdoors summer picnic style, hopefully some swimming, some home renos (painting, I think, and perhaps some gardening), and...well...anything I darn well like!

My first dream, though, and the thing I am going to do right now, is to scrub my house from top to bottom. That, and then get liquored. Hurrah!

And now I think I rock.

So I won the 'Best Cake' award! But not, as anticipated, for the chocolate cointreau cake - but for the rhubarb crumb cake (which I'd actually had to call Pre-Loved Rhubarb Crumb Cake as Tim and I had sampled a piece the night before the bake off) (well, you try sitting and looking at two whole cakes on your sideboard, with their scent wafting deliciously towards you, and your sweets stomach so so empty). There were some great entries - the Occupational Therapy team walked away with 'Best in Show' and 'Best Decorated'. They'd made a chocolate cake shaped in the letters O and T, and covered it with white marzipan. Then they'd fashioned four little figures representing the four aspects of OT - rest (a little guy sleeping), work (a Bob-the-Builder-esque tradie), leisure (someone playing) and self-care (a nudie dude putting his clothing on). It was truly tops and totally unexpected, and well deserved the prestigious awards it won!

So now I reckon I'm the best cake maker ever. I am off to dinner tonight (to meet Tim's folks for the first time, eek! J helpfully said I should wear a titty halter top so I look like a Nice Young Lady, ha ha!) and I have made dessert. In a cocky manner befitting my recent victory, I (foolishly) decided not to follow a recipe but to combine several. So here is my balsamic caramel glazed mango sour cream cake. Too many flavours, anyone?! The cake batter was great news (I licked the beaters, then the wooden spoon and then the bowl) but it rose a lot more than expected so I am not sure if it's going to be too dry and cakey. But nothing a good dose of nice cream won't fix, I guess!



Rest of the weekend has been nice - finally I burrowed my head in some readings. My final uni papers are due in just over a week and I got quite a lot of work out of the way which is, well, overdue. Went to a night picnic last night (Tim made a Passata Fritatta - while tring to make a roast spring garlic fritatta he accidentally started following the recipe next to it, which required an addition of tomato passata. The end result was a pinkish fritatta that was actually pretty tasty, and hilarious), played some night frisbee, and that's been about it.

Righto, off to go get my cleavage out before this dinner lark!

2008 Bake Off!

So sadly I have been having way too much fun to be doing any lamo blogging! I've had the Girl's Annual Holiday to MotoGP (it was our 5 year annualversary and also the first year my sister came) (it was, as always, tops. My husband AntWest did poorly but what's not to like about camping, breakfast beers, old mates, an island and loud loud motorbikes?!), school work that I've been shunning, a last minute idyllic camping trip to the Kangaroo Valley (idyllic if you minus the leech that secretly attached itself to my hip, ugh) and a fairly busy time at work. And speaking of work, tomorrow is the Inaugral DADHC Bake Off!

There are several categories - best cake in show, best looking cake, best non-edible cake and best non cake item. Punters can enter as many as they like, and people can pay $10 to be a judge. All spectators and eaters make a gold coin donation. The bake off has been led mainly by my team, as I suspect we're the greediest department there could possibly be! Some entrants include: a marscapone and nutella tart, a baked cheesecake, 'the best scones in the world' a vegan mud cake, and two types of rhubarb cakes (Ricky loves rhubarb apparently!).

I was thinking of entering 36 hour choc chip cookies (which I've been talking up for ages) and this big crumb coffee cake, but a chat with Phil at the noodle markets last week changed my mind. Phil declared that the secret to winning a bake off is liquor. Apparently it doesn't matter how much effort everyone else has gone to, or how gorgeous the cake is - if it's got alcohol in it, you're practically guaranteed to win!

So...I stayed with the coffee cake (only cos the crumbs looked divine, and I also am partial to rhubarb) but decided to also make a drink fused one just to hedge my bets. I found a recipe for a chocolate cake called 'Winning Hearts and Minds Cake', added a healthy dose of cointreau, and renamed it 'Winning Heart and Minds and Hopefully Bake Offs Cake'.

Either way it's win win - I'm paying my tenner to be a judge - not so I can be biased but so that I'm guaranteed to get a taste of all the goodies!