The Boss' Streets

The boyfriend's "real" birthday present finally arrived in the mail.

Again, because it was his birthday, I pandered to his occasional "bad" taste in music (see last year's birthday post) and got him a copy of Springstreets - a not-to-scale map of New Jersey drawn with "200+ lyrical references" from Bruce Springsteen's songs.

Springsteen's music bores me as much as Dylan's so I guess I win again this year (again, refer to last year's post). Haha! Got the boyfriend something that he loves which I don't have to listen to or watch.

But I have to say that I really love the look of the map even though I don't know most of the references. At least it'll look good on our wall when it's framed.

And I have India Knight to thank! I wouldn't have found such a perfect present if I hadn't seen it on her blog - this is not the first time that her blog has helped with ideas for gifts! If you have not been, I strongly urge you to and file away things that you see there for later use.

[She also says the nicest things - it's nearly a year since the post was written but I wasn't going to brag (yes, a mention by India Knight is a BIG deal to me!) until I've had time to calm down and not write a gushy bucketload of embarrassing squeally-hyperventilating-fangirl crap about it.]

Selling vs Buying

I didn't do too well on the selling front at A Little Bazaar on Saturday. Can't expect to rake it in every market day, can I? But I think I did good with the buying. Or, when rationalising my cheeky purchases to the boyfriend, "supporting my fellow makers-of-things".

I squeal with delight whenever I see clever things. Like this handcrafted ceramic takeaway noodles box by Nicholas of Nicked Design.

A clever name too! For someone who's cheekily nicked the design of an everyday object and reinterpreted it. And I'm a sucker for such witty and sometimes slightly-mindfucking "object-reinterpretations" (some examples here, here, here and here). This is Nicholas' first "nicked" design (he said I was the second person in the whole world to own one) and I can't wait to see what he "steals" next!

About the ceramic boxes: They are "100% handmade in Sydney by local craftsmen" and are "dishwasher-safe" and "safe for both hot and cold food presentation". You can have one with the characters "食物" ("food" in Chinese) painted on the front but I opted for a plain one. Because I'm Chinese enough already. Haha.

I'd love to eventually have a set of 6 or 8. Would be hilarious to have for a noodles- or cheap Chinese takeaway-themed party! And I think they would make great gifts too.

They are going for AU$40 for one or AU$100 for a set of three. He hasn't got an online shop set up yet but if you want some of his cute boxes for yourself or your pals, you can find Nicholas here.

A new add-on collar to add to my collection! By the lovely Gena of Jelly's Edible Wearables who's also the organiser of A Little Bazaar.

I love her new range of colourful fabric collars! Can't wait to pile some of my own Empress Dowager's New Jewels on this happy printed green one! I think they'll make great pals!

Her collars are all reversible. Boring me picked one with a plain underside but Gena's got loads with printed fabrics on both sides (I got one of those but it's a pressie so I can't show it just yet. Tee hee hee.)

The collars are so new that they are not up on Gena's website but if you get in touch with her, I'm sure she'll be able to sort you out with some. I think they will make great Summer accessories! I'll be wearing mine heaps, I think, with all my whites.

Tails

Looking at Mr Fox on Saturday made me think of poor Emmett Foveaux Sanford III, my faux fox stole from Slow and Steady Wins The Race, who's not been taken out for walkies as often as he would have liked this Winter.

I righted that wrong yesterday - took him out to say "good bye" to Mr Gordon at lunch.

"Trungpa" Cardigan - Tigerlily, Vest - Witchery, Gold Stripey T-shirt - Woodford & Co, Jeans - Topshop, Oxfords - some online shoe shop

I gave myself some tails too. Tee hee hee.

Lightweight

Usually, fizzy fruity soda-pops (this newly-discovered-on-Sunday Capi one was quite tasty) and greasy fried egg butties work like magic when I want to be rid of my hangovers.

But this is not a whinge-post about how I've been feeling delicate and real sorry for myself the last two days when I didn't even hit my usual tipping-point with cheeky drinkie-poos on Saturday. It's a post about the best bit of drunk-texting I've ever read.

It's one sent to my visiting pal, Mr Gordon, by his drinking buddy B late Friday when he was at their regular watering hole without Mr Gordon for company. Now, I usually get turned off and shout "Poser!" when someone name-checks any of the writers mentioned in the text but I've met B and he's not some young and pretentious Bukowski-shrine-erecting hipster douchebag. He's a 40-something father of two with a top job at a multi-national corporation who loves doing crosswords and is a joy to talk to about anything under the sun.

Here's his drunk-text, with no changes made on my part:

"So, increasingly, when I don't want to feel badly the next day after pushing it a little hard in a bar (or home tipplage) right before a BIG workday, I try and wake up like one of my literary heroes. Sure, there's Steinbeck and Joyce and Greene and Huxley and Hemmingway but those guys are pretty much light-weights. No, I go for the real master - Bukowski. Yes, Charles Bukowski offers a wide-ranging selection of options based purely on apathy and hedonism around the pursuit and avoidance of after-effects of alcohol abuse. Yes, pretty much every single form of drinking malaise can be remedied simply by projecting yourself into one of many useful Bukowski personae. Intellect, drunk poet. Short-fused alcoholic scrapper. Slut-chasing whiskey hound. Or my favourite: cheap wine-guzzling layabout. Yes, you too can feel like a genuine gutter rummy. Get your Bukowski home kit today and let the tediums of corporate schlepping drift away like a C-note in a bar full of 10 dollar BJ whores. Ahhhh..."

I can't even form a proper sentence sometimes when I've had too much to drink!

No, his advice didn't help me one bit when I woke up on Sunday, as well-written as it was. I know of Bukowski (thanks to the hipster-hanger-ons I used to know in my younger days) but I've never read any of his books (most probably put off by the same hipster-hanger-ons going on about them all the time) and therefore couldn't "project" myself "into one of his many useful personae".

Mr Fox Of Shady Pines

Besides their selection of single-malt whiskeys (the best in town) and general happy vibes, I like going to the Shady Pines Saloon to see my furry pals.

We were there again on Saturday evening with Ms Meeps and the visiting Mr Gordon. And lucky us got to sit right next to Mr Fox (and his mangled front paw). Being so close to him made me want one for our home more than ever. I guess it's a natural progression - graduating from wearable furry things (capes, stoles, gilets and bags) to wanting a stuffed furry little critter on display.

I would also one day like a piece by this "modern" taxidermist whose blog I've been reading for some time now. I love her "found" animals posts best. Very dead but still cute. And useful to her.

This Saturday

A Little Bazaar is back!

And I'll be there with a fresh load of The Empress Dowager's New Jewels.

In bright and happy Spring colours.

Hope to see you there!

________________________________________

A Little Bazaar:
"An Out-of-the-Ordinary Handmade Jewellery and Objects Market"
brought to you by Dialogue PR, the good people behind
the very successful Fringe Bar Markets

Where:
Australian Centre for Photography
257 Oxford Street
Paddington
(a few doors down from Country Road)

When:
This Saturday, 28th August
from 10am to 4pm

________________________________________

It's part of the Paddington Alive Festival

held in conjunction with the Rosemount Sydney Fashion Festival
so be expecting loads of other fashion-fun

along the whole shopping strip.

Come play with us! xx

"Gimme Blood Juice!"

His mother said, "He was actually dipping his fangs into the juice and then putting them in so they looked all gory. I couldn't get a decent photo of that though, he kept escaping."

Another big fan of blood oranges! My bloggy-pal Skye's Little Dude!

How cute is that mini apron?!

These hilarious pictures are just two of a selection that popped into my Inbox yesterday along with this note:

"He is having a love affair with blood oranges (because he's a bloodthirsty vampire, of course) and I thought of you when he came in this morning with orange in hand begging me to make blood juice."

Thank you, Mama Skye! They made my day! Like all the Little-Dude-in-action photos that you've sent on other occasions. His fans in Singapore (Hello, Auntie Poochie!) will be very happy to see these too.

Hit + Miss

The "Hit"
The boyfriend's birthday pudding - Blood Orange Jelly + Buttermilk Pannacotta.

The suspense was killing me - not knowing if I had achieved the right consistency. I couldn't wait until after dinner to find out so I popped one out of the mould (I made quite a big batch for only two people) yesterday afternoon. SUCCESS! Woo!

I knew it was going to be good when it plopped out and spread its super-wobbly self across the plate instead of standing upright, all rigid.

I thought since I've got one out, I might as well play with the plating instead of eating it right away. The plan all along was to go old-school cheesy (I love the look of the sweets in this book) hence the use of the fluted jelly moulds. But try as I might, I just couldn't bring myself to go too over-the-top because I'm, by nature, a person who likes good clean lines. This is how it looked at the end of the afternoon's trial...

I was going to leave it as it was in the first photo but I thought there was too much white around the plate so I added a few strands of candied zest.

On the top are strips of candied blood orange slices and more candied zest. And around the base, I piped some vanilla-flavoured whipped cream. Nothing shouts "old-school" more than star piping tubes! Haha.

However, it all changed when it came time to serve it for real after dinner. I forgot I had more blood oranges in the fridge (and also forgot to get a picture) so it was topped with juicy segments of the fruit and candied zest. Candied orange slices were chopped finely and used to dot the middle of the piped cream stars, every one of them (as over-the-top as I could get, I guess).

And it was delicious, if I do say so myself. The tartness of the jelly and the orange segments + the refreshing hint of sourness in the oh-so-delicate buttermilk pannacotta + the sweetness and creamy-ness of the vanilla cream + the crunch of the candied fruit = party in my mouth! The birthday boy loved it too. Yay!

The "Miss"
The main course of Blood Orange Marmalade-Glazed Duck didn't turn out as good as the one I made last year. How bah-some!

Was very "ducky" - I don't like eating duck when it still tastes too much like duck but the boyfriend loves his that way. And my maryland, being the slightly smaller one of the two, was a bit overdone while the boyfriend's huge-as one was just pinkily-right. But I have to say that the addition of the fennel seeds this year brought a whole new dimension to dish.

I gave him most of my duck and ate loads of the salad - seared scallops, blood orange, witlof and watercress in a blood orange vinaigrette.

This vinaigrette. The colour is soooo pretty!

That's all the duck tales...until his next birthday. Actually, maybe sooner because I bought a 2kg bag of duck marylands - there are three more in the freezer which I think I'll confit. Nyum, tender meat that slides of the bone without much prodding.

Gin + Tonic = Supersonic!

The party has started! Slightly after noon.

The birthday boy(friend) cheekily got a day-off without telling me. Glad I didn't leave the present-wrapping to the last minute!

This bottle of Hendrick's Gin is one of his presents. We never drink that juniper berry-flavoured stuff (stinks and makes me a moody drunk) until he discovered the cucumber-infused Hendrick's recently.

It's really delicious and tastes nothing like gin. The next time you go to a reputable bar, ask the barman to make you a Hendrick's G+T. It converted this vodka-loving girl! And eat those garnishes! Cucumber cured in Hendrick's and lime is something that I might incorporate into a light Summer dish!

In such a haste to drink some, I forgot to serve the drinks in these cute cups...

...I was so happy to find them because I always say "I am king!" to him on my birthdays to make him do silly things for me. Tee hee hee. Thought he might like to feel like a king for a day.

To accompany the drinks, I made some French toast for brunch. We ate them Singapore coffeeshop-style - slathered with my homemade kaya and butter.

And it's more-silly-presents time! The real proper one is still crossing the globe to get here. Tee hee hee.

Matching lunchbox and cutlery-in-a-box! I've always threatened to pack his lunches in cutesy Hello Kitty-type boxes instead of his grown-up Pyrex glass one to embarrass him in front of his work-pals. Haha. I was being merciful when I bought him this plain green set made for Japanese kiddies.

When I saw this Smoking Donkey, I knew I had to get it for him!

Because Donkey poos cigarettes!

And our Mongkey is still totally amazed by Donkey's ability to make white turds. Haha.

Alright, going now. My turn to make the next Supersonic Gin + Tonic. And jump around to The Kinks with the birthday boy.

An Orange Afternoon In The Kitchen

I love August in Australia! It's the last month of the dreadful cold (mild Aussie Winter, my ass!) and it's also blood orange season! There's no other fruit that I look forward to cooking with and eating more than blood oranges. They taste more like candy than a fruit and that colour...WOOO!

But they are not in-season for a long time so this afternoon is the first of many that I hope to devote to extending their "shelf-life".

Candied Blood Orange Zest
I stripped them of their peel before I juiced them...

... julienned the peel (and practised my knife skill)...

...and candied them in a thick syrup.

Blood Orange Jelly + Buttermilk Pannacotta
The boyfriend's birthday is also in August. Tomorrow. Lucky boy! If I was born during the blood orange season, I'd want a whole birthday meal done with the fruit as the core ingredient. So instead of baking him a cake this year, selfish me decided to make him tonnes of little blood orange jellies and buttermilk pannacottas.

I just hope they turn out alright! I love my pannacottas very wobbly but this batch is looking a little too so. Will find out tomorrow.

Duck a l'Blood Orange (That Old Chestnut!)
The pulp is too good to chuck so it went into the marinade for the duck. The same easy duck dish that I made the boyfriend last year.

He's not getting beef if I'm cooking! Duck is our middle-ground - it's dark meat but off the back of a two-legged (not four-legged!) creature.

This is going in too - the last bit of the blood orange+ruby orange+pink grapefruit marmalade I made this time last year. The power of loads of sugar in preserving things! Wow!

I don't know about you but sometimes, when I have to look too long at the food that I'm prepping, especially meat, I feel like I can't eat it when it's cooked?

And I looked at these duck marylands for quite a bit today. So many tiny feathers to pluck out!

The legs happily marinating away until dinner-time tomorrow. I thought I should change the flavour a little this year and added some aniseed-y fennel seeds and ground cumin.

And I'm not done with my blood orange madness! Look at these candied sliced...

...also from this time last year! I've been slowly savouring them but now that the oranges are back, I can eat them all and make a new batch. And loads and loads of marmalade! And this cake using blood oranges! Nyum nyum nyum!

Hell-O-Kitty Goes To School!

The sticker-er of all these Hell-O-Kitty prints (see here, here and here) around our neighbourhood of Surry Hills has been making me such a happy girl!

I spotted this new one on Saturday from the other side of the road. Was so excited that I jay-walked (more like jay-dashed, really) across without looking out for cars and got told off by the boyfriend. Oops.

I think our sticker-er has got himself/herself some new Hello Kitty pictures to blow-up and transform into Hell-O-Kitty. Tee hee hee. I like! Very much!

PS. Petite Princesse, a reader who's also into street art-spotting, wrote to say that she saw Hell-O-Kitty recently at Splendour In The Grass, a music festival! On a bridge stump on a "Wanted" poster. Wheeeeee!

The New House In The 'Hood

House is a new-ish eatery serving food from Isaan, the northeast region of Thailand. Set in the beer garden of Triple Ace Bar, it is an off-shoot of Spice I Am, a Thai place serving non-region-specific nosh just up the road.

When we first moved to Sydney years back, everyone we met, especially my chef-pals, knowing how much we love to eat, said that we have to go to Spice I Am. We did. Twice. And that was it. We were not impressed the first time but thought we should give it a second chance. The food didn't win us over on our return and we've not been back.

What was wrong with the food, you might ask. Well, there was no "body". You know how with wine-tasting (not that I'm an expert - I'm an unashamed guzzler), they tell you that you first get a top note then the body then an end note? Things that play games with your tongue and make each mouthful a wondrous experience? There was none of that with the few dishes that we had at Spice I Am on both visits. And this is Thai food that we're talking about! You would expect a huge party in your mouth with the amount of aromatic herbs that go into each dish. No layers of flavours unveiling themselves as you chew, flavours that have you guessing what's gone into the making-of. Just a spicy (chilli-spicy) top note and that was it. Kind of boring, if you ask me.

Anyway, back to House. We have walked by many times since the kitchen opened, usually on our way to our beloved Chat Thai. (Just looked into this blog's archive and wow, we've been eating there at least once a week since 2007!) On sunny Saturday, we decided to give House a go. We've not had Isaan-style cooking before and I was too hungry to walk the extra two blocks down to Chat Thai. The promise of a cold late afternoon beer from the adjoining pub with our lunch was also a huge lure.

The whole point of being there was to try as many Isaan dishes off their menu (printed in English and Thai) as we could but our choices were narrowed by my no-eating-of-meat-off-the-backs-of-four-legged-animals policy and out of all the fish and poultry dishes only this chicken-steamed-in-banana-leaf parcel piqued our interest...

..flavoured with a course paste of chilli, lemongrass, eschalots, banana flower and fish sauce.

It smelled really good when we unwrapped it and got us hopeful that the taste would measure up. Hmmm...we were let down again by the Spice I Am gang. The chicken chunks under all that fragrant herbs were bland...had no "body". How?!

We were glad we ordered the rest of our lunch off the non-Isaan "Street Food" section of the menu. Generic things that hawkers in Singapore sell too - things so simple to make that if they get them wrong, they should change their profession.

Crispy battered pork chop with rice for the boyfriend.

And thin egg noodles in a mushroom sauce for me, without the sliced roasted pork. It was actually really tasty and is something that I'd go back to eat again. But what's the point of going to an Isaan-specialty eatery to eat something that's not really from that region?

Oh, we went straight back to Chat Thai for our weekly visit the next day. House is not going to miss us - like the mother-ship, Spice I Am, they are already getting rave reviews everywhere (three separate blurbs in this month's Australian Gourmet Traveller alone!). Sometimes I wonder if Sydneysiders eat ruled by their tastebuds or by herd instincts. Or maybe I'm just a fussy eater compared to most.

House
202 Elizabeth Street
Surry Hills
Phone: (02) 9280 0364

Happy Ass

Mine would be ecstatic if we had these at home for it to plonk itself on to.

It'd be over the moon if we got the whole set!

We were at Vampt on Saturday for a good bit of chair-porn. I love chairs. Especially those sexy mid-century modern numbers that Vampt stocks. We know we'd have to live on bread and water (and no shopping for me!) for a few months, at least, if we were to take one home but we still like to go in to perv from time-to-time.

Lost And Found Under A Big Stack Of Denim

Jumpsuit - Secondhand Sass & Bide, Sweater - Country Road, Clogs - Funkis

This jumpsuit! Yesterday. Yay! Was so excited unearthing it that I have to share.

The first time it got "lost" was soon after it came home from the secondhand shop. I don't usually melt when I see something by Sass & Bide like the majority of girls living in Australia but I do love it when I see a piece of cute denim and it was going for cheap.

It had big 70s-style bell-bottoms for legs then (I should have taken a "before" picture!), something that I know I won't wear very often so it was put in the "To Be Altered" pile.

It stayed there for nearly two years, I think, until we were packing to move and was found again. I took it to our alteration specialist to have the legs straightened (it was the plan all along) and it came with us to the new flat only to be forgotten again - the built-ins in this flat have shelves so high that can be reached only if I use our Steppy. Out of sight, out of mind, I suppose.

Now that it's resurfaced, I'm not letting it out of my sight! So many fun ways to wear it. Woo!