Rolled French Toasts – Genius!

Totally filing this idea under “why didn’t I think of that?!”.  Growing up in an Asian household, it’s part of my genetic disposition to want to roll any type of food and stuff it in my mouth.  Pockets of minced pork, lettuce cups of duck stir fry, steaming broth encased in dumplings, spring rolls – it’s like mailing delicious parcels into my mouth to be posted to my ever-grateful tummy.  Heck, I even fold pizza and eat it.  These would be perfect for the leftover bread on my counter top – am having visions of peanut butter and mashed banana, Elvis-style, perhaps topped with the odd choc-chip.  Mmm…..

Via What Should I Eat For Breakfast Today.  PS.  Avocado baked with an egg.

Fried Nutella Banana Hand Pies

I nearly cried with joy and longing when I saw this recipe for fried nutella banana hand pies.  I have no idea what a hand pie is, nor do I really care when the results look this amazing, but I think I really (really really really) need to try this as soon as possible.  And then vary the fillings – peanut butter and banana, peanut butter and nutella…there’s no stopping me now.

Get the recipe here.

PS.  Deep fried avocado tacos…OMG

Photos of the food and drink requested by musicians backstage

This series by photographer Henry Hargreaves is seriously awesome!  Collaborating with stylist Caitlin Levin, who composed the food items in the manner of Flemish still life paintings, Hargreaves photographed the strange food requests noted in musicians’  contracts when performing in major concerts (known as riders).

Hargreaves notes that what inspired these photos was “the way their requests manage to say something about the performers personality that words struggle to,” and the way they “were able identify with them through what they chose to eat and drink.”

How fascinating!  If you were a famous musician, what would your “rider” request be?  I reckon mine would be Lindt chocolate balls, pears with soft cheese, salt and vinegar chips and pork belly buns.

PS.  LOL @ the Foo Fighters’  request.

Lady Gaga: “Small plate of cheese (nonsmelly, nonsweaty), on ice.”

Frank Sinatra: “One bottle each: Absolute, Jack Daniel’s, Chivas Regal, Courvoisier, Beefeater Gin, white wine, red wine. Twenty-four chilled jumbo shrimp, Life Savers, cough drops.”

Foo Fighters: “Big-a** kielbasas that make men feel self-conscious.”

Nine Inch Nails: “Two boxes of corn starch.”

Billy Idol: “One tub ‘I can’t believe it’s not Butter!’, Pepperidge Farms Soft Baked Nantucket Chocolate Chip Cookies.”

Rihanna: “Hard-boiled eggs, turkey bacon, turkey sausage, at any time throughout the day. Please be prepared!”

Britney Spears: “Fish and chips, McDonald’s cheeseburgers without the buns, 100 prunes and figs, a framed photo of Princess Diana.”

Van Halen: “Herring in sour cream, large tube of KY jelly, M&M’s (Warning: absolutely no brown ones).”

Marilyn Manson: “Gummi bears.”

Via here

Cle Privee – unlock a world of travel and art experiences

Just came across this amazing website called Clé Privée.  The founders, who invested two years travelling the world trying and testing every hotel and escape on the site, came up with the concept of giving a “key” as a gift to your nearest and dearest.

This key will let you access their perfectly curated selection of luxury hotels, unique adventure escapes or gift a work of art from their series of vintage images or current creations by rising artists.

Starting from 100 EUR to 4000 EUR, these are perfect for everyone who has a sense of adventure and a love of style and design.

Check the keys out here – Clé Privée Store

Photo Credit

Have a funky weekend!

This photo proves my point that chilli is seriously the cure-all in my life.  I reach for chilli when I’m sick and need sinus-clearing, when I’m hungover and in need of some seriously spicy salve…and when puppies escape our backyard.  I’m babysitting C’s gorgeous dog, Spike, but Peach + Spike = serious mischief, as I found out yesterday when I got an amused phone call saying the puppies were on the loose.  I know from hilarious experience that Peach is not a fan of chilli, so, armed with Sriracha and some bricks, I set to the house holing up any possible escape routes and spraying Sriracha for good measure.  I’ll let you all know if they escape again!

Hope you all have wonderful weekends, and here’s some awesome posts from around the web.

Phillip Lim for Target is confirmed!!  Whoo hoo!!!!!!

An inspiring read for Mothers Day, plus some fabulous gift ideas – hope you all give your mum the love and hugs she deserves!

Cheddar jalapeno biscuits – yes please.

Things no one will tell fat girls…shout out for body love.  This is awesome.

Pictures of people who mock a photographer – people can be disappointing sometimes.

This dress is achingly cute!

Behind the scenes pics of The Empire Strikes Back – reminds me that I really need to book couch time for a Star Wars weekend.

I’m seriously not a fan of jello, but these sound really intriguing.  Add vodka maybe?

The Designer Says – a funky book of quotes and quips of designers.  Would make a cool coffee table book!

A sweetly comedic outlook on depression – well worth the read, an insight into a debilitating disease that affects so many of us.

Have a Cool Weekend!

Love that signature Bruce Willis stare, don’t you?  He’s seriously the epitome of cool.  He was so dreamy in his hayday – I loved him in those Friends episodes where he was dating Rachel!

What are your plans this weekend?  Tonight I have to go shopping, and I’m hoping I’ll be successful in finding an awesome and wearable but still-conservative-enough-to-wear-to-a-cathedral-wedding dress for a good friend’s wedding tomorrow.  I’m charged with the duties of usher, pew bow-tie-er and mother-in-law babysitter.  There is a little pressure involved – after a phonecall giving us the rundown of duties last night (P is a groomsman), I dreamt that I was so late for the ceremony, I could only find and wear my jeans and I managed to offend the mother-in-law with a tongue in cheek remark.  Despite the dream though, I’m so excited, I can’t wait!

Hope you have lovely weekends, and here are some of my favourite links from around the web this week.

An article on the inspiration of Isabel Marant – “I am my own muse”.

The friendliest and unfriendliest nations for tourists.

The making of Pulp Fiction.

Definitely trying this recipe next – eggplant parmigiana.

And this recipe too, by the awesome Yotam Ottolenghi – baked orzo with eggplant and mozzarella.

An adorable Jennifer Lawrence interview with Vanity Fair – who doesn’t love this gal, seriously.

This place looks seriously amazing.

A mantra I try to live by weekly when doing my groceries.

Otherwordly – a blog about strange and beautiful words (via here) – cool words include “nazlanmak” and “jaaneman”.

Hot pink Chloe bag….my eyes just bulged, and my hands twitched for my wallet…

Have a jolly weekend!

How crazy is it that it’s autumn in Australia already – particularly when us Brisbane people have barely had a summer!  I feel like I’ve been ripped off!  I’m stubbornly refusing to believe the temperatures are descending so I’m still browsing the new Spring/Summer fashion lines coming out in the northern hemisphere.  The dark colours and trenchcoats slowly making their way into department stores have NO appeal to me at all.

What are your plans this weekend?  I’m gearing up for my friend’s hen’s night on Saturday night – we’re headed to Alfred & Constance, but before that we’re going shopping and hopefully getting makeovers.  P’s going to the stag night, and I’m told the stag has been bought a bunny outfit and will be made to go-kart and club as a bunny.  So any Brisbane readers out there – watch out for a bunny in the Fortitude Valley!

Hope you have a great one, and here’s some of my favourite reads this week from around the web.

Video of a baby who is supposed to be napping but is practising diving instead – so so funny.

Wanting this dress but wishing the tomato red version was still in stock.

Continuing my Pinterest obsession…a great visual resource for disorganised me.

A gorgeous engagement shoot – would you have one?

Love Jennifer Lawrence.

Was never a fan of leather dresses until this moment.

The happiest facts of all time.

Wholewheat pasta with brussel sprouts, cheese and potato – I love you Nigella Lawson

A seriously comfy looking chair.

Image credit – Clark Gable, Shirley Temple, Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland

A gang of apparently not-so-hungry Korean kids and a table full of fries

This is seriously awesome….who’s coming to Macca’s with me this weekend?

Via here

Rainy Day Ramen

Gosh, it really feels like we haven’t had a summer here in Brisbane!  I think we had about 3 days of sunshine and hot weather!  It was another miserable weekend, continuing on today, which strangely enough feels perfectly suitable for a Monday.

It’s making me seriously crave for Japanese tonkotsu ramen.  I’m a ramen fantatic – I will search out high and low for the best ramen, and tonkotsu, a rich, steamy, pork-based broth, is my absolute favourite base for the al dente egg noodles that bathe within.  In Brisbane, Haktaya Ramen is my favourite, with Taro’s Ramen Cafe ranking second.

My absolute favourite in the whole world though is Ichiran Ramen.  P and I first discovered it 5 years ago on our first overseas trip together.  Arriving in Osaka, we’d stumbled around trying to get our bearings when we noticed a really long line snaking around, ascending into a black building with a red kanji sign.  Thinking it was some hot club (being 22 years old at the time!), we lined up, not realising that the meal we were about to have would literally change our lives.  We now have a policy when we go overseas to unfamiliar restaurants that if there’s no line-up, it can’t be that good.

The unique thing about Ichiran is that they only have one type of ramen, but you can personalise it the way you want.  You can check out my preferences above – I used to pile on the green onions but they always used to make me choke because I would hoover the whole lot down in one go!  You can only dine in private booths, separate from all those around you, which I find great so that you can savour your ramen in solitary peace.

Such is P’s and my fanaticism that when we were in Japan with his family, we would wake up at 6:00am every morning just to have these delicious noodles for breakfast – Ichiran is open 24 hours!  I really cherished these stolen 15 minutes with P – it was “our” time together.

So guess where we’re stopping after a 2.5 week sojourn in Italy, France and Spain for our honeymoon?  You guessed it – four days in Tokyo.  It wouldn’t be us without ramen.

A Valentines Day Chocolate Mousse with Two Ingredients

Presumably you have better things to do on Valentines Day than to be spending hours sweating over the stove.  There are much more important things you should be sweating over.

Valentine’s Day in our household is celebrated in the merest of ways – definitely no fanfare, flowers or candy.  This year, we’re celebrating with another couple over dinner at our house, not because of Valentine’s Day, but because we totally forgot when organising dinner that it was Valentine’s Day.  Since this lovely couple is also getting married in just over a month, I really want to come up with a nice but simple menu for Thursday (come on, it’s a week night!) to celebrate their last Valentine’s as a pre-married couple.

This recipe could be right up my alley – two ingredients, you read that correctly.  Eight ounces of your favourite high-quality chocolate and 6 ounces of water, and you’ve got yourself decadent and indulgent chocolate mousse.  All you gotta do is melt the chocolate and water together, whip them together like a crazy person, and spoon into ramekins!

I would love to hear about your plans for Valentine’s Day.  Do you celebrate it?

Image via here