Syrah

You people are cruel.. I managed to get to page 4 of this thread before I HAD to go and get a packet of Korean imitation Pocky "Funzels" from the pantry. I bought two on Sunday because they were on sale. Alas when I went back for the second box, I discovered that someone had come home for lunch and consumed them then. DAMN! Thank goodness I thought to buy Pucca too..

I have very little idea on what this Super Bowl is about. It seems to be very different to a grand final here and I won't be able to say without crossing my fingers behind my back that I find American football to be in anyway interesting... BUT, that being said I like your menu. It is incredibly blokey sounding and well cheesy. I hope there are no lactose intolerants in the group. Could you alter one of the mini burgers so it is less boring to you? I really like the lamb combo BTW. I was thinking the cheeseburger but stuffed into a wonton wrapper cup. You could bake them in mini muffin tray. Or, could you make a stuffed meatball instead? I have an overused recipe for meatballs that are stuffed with a pinenut and parsley mixture. The woman in me also needs to tell you that you should add some vegetables or fruit. Please feel free to ignore that part. I can only assume there will be beer and that is the beverage taken care of.

I take it as a compliment. It doesn't happen very often though, I think I look older by association. My boyfriend is 6 years older than me.

What about butternut pumpkin and mascarpone for the filling? or a ricotta and herb filling? with a sage brown butter sauce?

I wonder if they will air it here, I don't see why not, even if they do wait until the season is played out before they do.

I thought this could be a fun show. Of course it could easily be very poorly done. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4637300.stm

I made a Tiramisu I've made many times before, the mousse is thickened with gelatin. http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/re...6_14508,00.html The mousse got all little gelatin lumps in it. Nobody complained, my husband said he didn't notice them, but I knew they were there. After asking for advice I think my gelatin wasn't dissolved completely or my egg whites were just too cold. I don't think I've ever made this recipe in the winter before, maybe all the ingredients were too cold when I mixed in the gelatin. ← That's weird, I had never heard of Tiramisu calling for that.

I agree with you. Surely the bubbles are a main part of the point.

Hmm would this work in a salad? It is cherry season here now, but I will not waste the fresh ones with too much cooking. I can't quite taste it in my mind's eye.

There's one in North Sydney that is quite good. I think they describe it as Californian Mexican. Not entirely sure what that means though.

Woops double.

Mine is my mothers recipe. Her mother didn't cook well at all and had no drive to do it. If you like orange flavours with the fruit, you may like it. NB An Australian cup is slightly larger than an imperial one. It is 250 ml versus 237ml. Grand Marnier Christmas Cake 3 cups sultanas (I believe also known as Golden Raisins) 1 cup mixed peel 1 cup raisins 1 cup chopped dates 1 cup chopped prunes 3/4 cup chopped glace apriots 3/4 cup chopped glace pineapple 1/2 cup slivered almonds 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 1/2 cup Grand Marnier 1/2 cup castor sugar 1/4 cup orange juice 250 g butter 1/2 cup brown sugar 5 eggs 2 cups plain flour 3 Tbs Grand Marnier (extra) 1 Combine fruit, nuts and Grand Marnier. Heat castor sugar and orange juice over a low heat until sugar dissolves. Cool. Poor over fruit and stand for 10 days. I usually put it in a container with a good lid and shake about once a day or so. 2 Preheat oven to 150C 3 Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time until well combined. 4 Add sifted flour and fruit mixture, mix well. 5 Prepare a 20cm deep square cake tin or a 23 cm round tin by greasing and lining with greaseproof paper. 6 Place mixxture in tin and bake for 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Once done remove from oven and pour additional Grand Marnier over the cake. Wrap with foil and allow to cool in the tin.

The Sydney one could be the Marigold room.. the food there is unbelievably good.

Thankyou so much for your suggestions. We are mulling them over.

Once again, I find evidence of two people separated by a common language. What is a tuckerbox? ← Sorry. It's a chest freezer.

I have opted to keep the things they like best in the freezer. If that is an option for you I do most heartily recommend it. Also, they are repelled by bay leaves, so I put those in the containers of the items I have to keep outside of the freezer due to space issues. I really really want to get a tuckerbox, but we'll see.

We're heading up to Brisbane for a short holiday in January and I'd like suggestions on where to eat. We are staying in Fortitude Valley which I'm told is prime position for China town which can only be good. Is there anything else that is a must eat?? TIA!

It sounds like it. Do you still have the chunky bits?? Perhaps you could puree them again with a little stock and add to the rest of your soup?? I use a blender usually or a barmix. I would suspect that the only problem with using the smaller blender would be that you would have to do more batches and perhaps be more patient.

I cut one up just tonight as a matter of fact. What I did was to halve it and then I scooped out the seeds. After that I cut in half again lengthwise. This makes it very easy to slice into 2-3cm thick moons. Then with the pieces sitting on a flat cut side, I cut the skin off by curving the knife around the skin (just like peeling an orange). Dice. Voila.

What was your family food culture when you were growing up? White Australian with extreme British influences. Primarily we had meat and three veg. Meat could be anything from chops, sausages, rissoles or BBQ Chicken. She would also make other old school favourites like corned beef with white sauce. It was mostly bland offerings, mum didn't believe in cooking with any salt at all. When I was 10 or 11, mum discovered some international cuisine. Suddenly, we were eating KanTong simmer sauce stirfries and pasta that wasn't always spag bol. She also discovered Chicken Tonight sauces and the Maggi seasoning mixes. So we would have Mango or Apricot Chicken, Devilled Sausages, Curried Sausages and etc. Frozen lasagne was BIG too. She never ever made that. I should mention that mum was an excellent roaster. I always used to ask for Roast Beef if I was shopping with her, because I LOVED yorkshire pudding. Was meal time important? Eating together was a big deal. Everyone had their assigned seat at the table Was cooking important? Sometimes, but particularly in my later childhood it was not. I remember learning how to make scones from scratch at 5 years old, and I remember mum trying out all sorts of new recipes for finger foods, including devon wrapped around mashed potato. But I also remember all the processed "sauces" that were used to get a quick fix. What were the penalties for putting elbows on the table? Being told off. Who cooked in the family? Mum, unless it was a BBQ, at which point it would be dad. Mum would still make the salads, or sometimes my older sisters. Were restaurant meals common, or for special occasions? It was usually reserved for birthdays or other special occasions. It was almost always Chinese. Did children have a "kiddy table" when guests were over? There wasn't much entertaining, but for Christmas and things like that there was a kiddy table. I hated sitting there. When did you get that first sip of wine? 17 or so. Was there a pre-meal prayer? No. Was there a rotating menu (e.g., meatloaf every Thursday)? No, but we did have some monotony. For example, we ate Apricot Chicken every week for about six months. Even the thought of that now makes me want to hurl. How much of your family culture is being replicated in your present-day family life? Virtually none. I like to use fresh ingredients and cook across a multitude of cuisines. I actually enjoy cooking, most of the time and don't see it as a chore. I also like to cook with a lot of asian ingredients, either in fusion style or as they are intended.

My fruit and nuts are soaking in grandmarnier on top of the fridge. This year I have gotten so excited that I am ahead of myself. Normally I soak the fruit for 10 days and then bake around December 1. It will be interesting to see if it makes it any better than usual. Re the cherries, I hate them too. My cake only calls for glace apricots and pineapple, but this year I threw in glace peaches too. Very very exciting.

That's wonderful news!

FYI, I used "All Forums" and "Search Title Only" with the keyword. The regular search bar used to drive me crazy until I started using the Search page. ← THANKYOU! I had no idea the search could be narrowed so much.

I'll happily eat Thai curries and I am almost positive they use the roots in that, so I would say no it doesn't have that same "buggy" taste that the leaves do.

As for myself, it was a toasted brie and nutella sandwich for breakfast. And another for lunch, subbing cheddar for the brie. ← That sounds pretty damn good though. I crave chocolate and salty, but not at the same time. Still I may have to try it.. I never would have thought of strawberry jam and gouda toasties but that was an awesome combo.