Not Another One?!

Nothing beats grating your own nutmeg!

Yup, another food post. With more spiced delicious-ness from Ottolenghi. Not from Plenty this time but from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook.

While I was writing yesterday's post, a chicken was already sitting in the fridge marinating in saffron, ginger, cinnamon and lemon juice from the night before.

I roasted it for dinner topped with a crushed hazelnuts, honey and rosewater paste. Again, I wish someone would invent a scratch-and-sniff function for blogs! When it came out of the oven, man, the smell was pretty out-of-this-world! And tasted PHWOAR! The blurb before the recipe said it all, "...has the most delicate and exotic combination of flavours (rosewater, saffron and cinnamon), which takes you straight to the famous Jamaa el Fna in Marrakech".

I made some Kosheri (also from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook), a nutmeg and cinnamon-spiced basmati rice and lentil dish, to eat with the chicken.

The first time I had it was at Ms Meeps' long lunch. I haven't been able to get it out of my head since. She has created an Ottolenghi-obsessed little monster in me. Haha. But I think all things happen for a reason - she shared her love of Ottlenghi with me just after we moved into our new 'hood where we have a fantastic greengrocer and an Indian spice shop smack right on our street. There is a huge supermarket around the corner, of course, but I much prefer to go to the little shops and make friends with my new neighbours. Will take you on a walk around the 'hood soon!

In the meantime, here's a little "tour" of Ottolenghi. From the book...

Just how good those salads look?!

And them sweet things!

A Rainbow In Our Room // Dark Side Of The Moon

Playing with the exposure button on the camera

The amazing light that we get in this new apartment has not ceased to, well, amaze me!

Yesterday afternoon, I saw this "rainbow" in our room for the very first time.

The first thing that came to mind when I saw that colourful spectrum of light was the cover art for Pink Floyd's album Dark Side Of The Moon. I am not a fan. Not at all! Had to turn to Google to find the name of the album but it's one of those "iconic" images that sticks when you've been trawling record shops for years. Like The Rolling Stones' "Lips" and Velvet Underground's "Banana".

Not Attempting To Do A "Julie & Julia"

(Click on image to enlarge)

Tried another recipe from the all-vegetarian Ottolenghi cookbook, Plenty, on Sunday.

Slightly obsessed? Yes. Can't really help it when all the food pictures in there are so mouth-wateringly pretty and the recipes so easy to follow. Plus we eat mostly vegetables in this household because of my no-meat-off-the-backs-of-animals-with-four-legs eating "policy" and suddenly, I have a whole new repertoire of veggo dishes at my fingertips. Of course I'd want to try making nearly everything! Woo!

The Black Pepper Tofu that I made. Not too far off in terms of looks compared to the photo in the book, huh? And it's exactly how I imagined it to taste and smell from looking at the picture. Haha.

Pals in Singapore, don't be fooled into thinking that the taste is not authentic because the recipe is not written by an Asian! It's very close to those at some of the best tze-char (stir-fry) hawkers' stalls!

How Was Your Day?

Mine was off to great start with an early visit from my pal Ms Meeps. She popped by to pick up some kitchen bits-and-bobs that I had "personal-shopped" for her and she brought me this pretty bunch of flowers in return for the favour. She's such a sweetheart!

After Ms Meeps left to go home to make her beef cheek pies with her new pie tins, the boyfriend and I went had some pub grub for lunch. It was a nice day to be sitting outside.

We walked down the street back to our old 'hood to go to the cheese shop after lunch and saw this pretty row of Vespas. I like how the yellow and red ones look like they are having a conversation.

Came home to make my very first meal from Plenty, one of my new Ottolenghi cookbooks. A caramelised garlic tart.

Garlic from our local greengrocer (it's my new favourite place to shop in our new 'hood) and two delicious goats cheeses we bought earlier.

In goes the soft cheese - Toma Della Rocca.

Followed by the hard one which I've forgotten the name of. It's also from the Piedmont region in Italy and is laced with truffle bits. Very tasty!

Garlic being caramelised. I love garlic done this way! My first taste of them was in this loaf from Brasserie Bread when I first moved to Sydney and it's still my favourite bread today.

The tart fresh out of the oven. We ate it with a rocket and pear salad. Nyum. A good end to a good day. Hope you had a lovely one too!

Sebastian's Last Days At Bams & Ted

Remember Sebastian? He's leaving the latest bams & ted pop-up space this Sunday!

I finally made it there yesterday with Top Bird. And came home with this gorgeous vintage Gunne Sax blouse. (Thank you, Top Bird! For spotting it.) At a super-bargain price! Because the shop is popping down on Sunday and lovely boss-ladies Claire and Rachel are giving a very generous 50% discount off everything!

Some of these vintage goodies are still available so if I were you, I'd be there bright and early this weekend! Before Sebastian wanders off to Morocco.

Sebastian by bams & ted
Locksmith Project Space
6 Botany Road
Alexandria
NSW 2015

Opening hours (last two days!):
Saturday 26 June from 10.00am to 5.00pm
Sunday 27 June from 11.00am to 5.00pm

A Bad Likkle Fangirl

Those of you who's been dropping by to play here long enough would know that I am a big fan of Will Coles' street art/sculptures.

For those of you who don't, you can catch up here, here, here, here, here and here.

This bad likkle fangirl hasn't been walking with her eyes to the pavement for a long time. The last Will Coles post was six months ago! Hoping to redeem myself with this new sighting - a teddy bear that's not been mutilated! Again, along Pitt Street, under the monorail track. Go see it before meanies break his arms and legs!

The Amazing Amazon.Com

Remember the two Ottolenghi cookbooks from my pal Meeps' long lunch? Those that I said I'd love to have?

They arrived today! My first ever order from Amazon. You can laugh at my Johnny-come-lately-ness but I was always under the impression that books from that site are expensive. And then there's the postage to be paid. Don't know how I got that idea. Even the boyfriend is laughing at me for he's been shopping with them for years.

Anyway, the books were cheap as chips (see here and here) and shipping cost was nothing near the exorbitant amount that I had imagined. The grand total was like a small percentage of the cost of one book at its regular retail price in bookstores here.

On top of that, delivery was unbelievably swift! I placed my order on Sunday evening and the UPS man came with the package yesterday, five days earlier that the estimated date! But I wasn't home so he popped by again today. I really wasn't expecting Amazon to use a commercial courier. I was thinking they'd use the Royal Mail.

I am definitely a new Amazon convert!

Serious Bunny Business

This is the unexpected Miffy-super-goodness I found when I was out with my pal Top Bird at Kinokuniya yesterday.

Silly me thought it was another Miffy book that I missed out on a while ago (same size...similar cover) so I grabbed it without flicking through the pages much but it turned out to be something else upon closer inspection when I got home. Duh.

Miffy x Miffy x Miffy - The Photo Book of 200 Miffy Products! Published by Kodansha Press (my favourite Japanese publisher) to celebrate Miffy's 55th birthday on 21st June this year.

But I wasn't disappointed. Very thrilled, in fact! Two hundred Miffy products to perv at!!!! How can I be upset?!

Ready for a huge dose of bunny cute-ness? Here we go...

Where it all began - the 83-year-old Dick Bruna, Miffy's papa.

Cheeky Miffy imitating her papa.

Miffy over the years (click on image to enlarge).

They are just too many products in the book (you HAVE to go get your own copy!) and we've all seen the regular stuff like the books and stationery around so I've picked some of the less common ones to share...

An Etch-A-Sketch-like drawing board.

Tubs of Miffy paints! Pre-mixed for you so you get true Miffy colours like in the story books!

These nesting dolls are not official products. They are one of the many Japanese artists/celebrities contributions found in the book. Wouldn't it be grand if they start making them for real?!

A Japanese range of Miffy skincare products. I've seen Hello Kitty ones too.

Things for your home...

A Miffy coffeepot!

A Miffy pot! If I have one, I wouldn't use it. Don't want to "burn" poor Miffy.

These, I would definitely use! Love the vegetable prints at the bottom of the dishes! Miffy's favourite food?

Oh, and that chopsticks rest!!!! I think it's my #1 must-have out of all the goods in the book! A whole set of them!

In pain?

Fear not! Miffy comes to the rescue with this adorable first aid box!

Festive Miffy!

More snow for the bunny!

Cute warmth for cold Winter hands! Exactly what I need right now.

D-I-Y Miffy!

And finally, Miffy says, "Go!"

Go get a copy of Miffy x Miffy x Miffy if you are a fan. It's a book that will bring instant happiness. I haven't been able to stop smiling since yesterday.

More Bunny Business

No, bunnies are not my latest obsession.

It's just that this morning, while gift-wrapping some chocolate truffles (Grand Marnier-flavoured, if you'd like to know) that I had made for pals, I suddenly remembered that I had these Miffy-print masking tapes. A gift from my pal Poochie (another Miffy fan) ages ago.


I knew the recipients of my gifts would appreciate some Miffy-cuteness so I happily parted with a few centimetres of the precious tapes. Cute, huh? Much better than sealing the noodles boxes with my usual plain white sticky labels.

I always believe that what goes around will come around. And today, after I gave away the Miffy-sealed treats, I found some totally unexpected Miffy-super-goodness when I was out shopping! With more of Dick Bruna's bunnies in it than the few on the tapes! Be expecting another bunny post tomorrow. And no, I really am not obsessed with bunny-wabbits.

Breeding Bunnies

Our bury (just found out that that's the collective noun for rabbits!) of bunnies - Marshmallow is the littlest, followed by hot pink Biffa and then Coconut-Hopscotch that I so need to find the time to finish and make new pals for.

The boyfriend constantly asks, "Why do girls always go goo-goo-ga-ga over fluffy things like bunnies?" I don't know! Because they are cute? Despite the occasional ribbing, I think he secretly quite likes them too. Haha. Enough to drive me out West a second time to try to adopt these...

Green flocked bunnikins! Aren't they just darling-some?!

Image from here

The bunny version of Jeff Koons' Puppy sculpture, in miniature!

We chanced upon them two weeks ago in the shop window of an antiques shop when we were out on one of our old furniture trawl-trips but the shop was shut. We went back again over the weekend and it still was not open so I jotted down their phone number and called them this morning.

Bad news! The man said they are not for sale because they were given to him for Christmas by a lady who brought them all the way back from France. My dream of creating a topiary on our green rug...shattered!

Behind The "M", The "H" And The "F-R-A-N-K-S"

I've wanted a photograph of this building for the longest time. Why? Because I like buildings for various reasons. And this one in particular, I love the look of. The clean lines...the no-frills utilitarian form...its windows (I love a good repeated pattern on things!)...and of course, the typography on the raw walls.

We were blessed with a clear blue sky and a parking spot along the busy Parramatta Road yesterday so I finally got what I wanted. Yay!

Curious about the current use of the building, I Googled "M.H. Franks" the moment we got home and this article was the only relevent one that showed. Wondering what the apartments in there look like, I did another search and found this and this. Pretty sweet, huh?