Love

Ode to Kate

Posted on by Eatlovego

On the eve before a certain Kate marries her prince, it was in fact another Kate that was spoken about in excited tones between friends over last weekend’s Easter lunch. In between caramelised poached apples and cheese souffle; conversation had digressed to the treasure trove of online shopping and all of its rewards and bargains to be had. Different websites were tossed about as we spoke about the availability of international brands and shipping costs to us down under and I informed the others about my weekly activities of hopping onto the likes of shopbop, asos or net-a-porter for a fashionista fix that is unlike anything I can tap into locally. Never one for falling in line with high street fashion, I love trawling through these websites to view the alternative.


Recently for a close girlfriend’s birthday; I volunteered to source the perfect present. After much trawling; both online and in-store, I came back to the Kate which was discussed at Easter. This Kate is fashion-forward without being too on-trend. She can be described in many ways but to me; she is bold and colourful, yet always remains classic and elegant and consistently sits on top of my wishlist as an ongoing love. This Kate is Kate Spade. Still not readily available in Australia and with only a small selection popping up in Pink Zebra, David Jones and Papier D’Amour; Kate Spade is quintessentially New York.

The present I eventually found on Nordstrom’s website suited my girlfriend’s tastes down to a tee. It is a clutch that has a “Read all about it” feel to it as it largely resembles Saturday’s rolled up newspaper; yet has full functionality to store all of one’s needs for a night out painting the town red. I fell in love with it the moment I came across it and almost didn’t wrap it up and hand it over! So as one Kate will soon have all eyes on her as she says “I do”, I dedicate this post to the other Kate; Kate Spade ~ who just happens to be yet another love of mine that I simply wanted to share with you.

Page turners

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LOL; no, not laugh out loud but Lady of Leisure. That is my serene title at the moment as I wait patiently for the impending arrival of the birth of my baby. I am at that “anytime now” stage so trying to make the most out of my LOL status; whilst doing an array of activities to keep my mind supple and in a non-vegetable state as I wind down from work and try and sit still for longer than 5 minutes. Mr ELG has this strength; I apparently do not.

Since mum taught me to read at the ripe old age of 2, I have always been one to have many books on the go. Never a one-book-woman, I find that books of many genres have always been able to whisk me away from the mundane. I love the imaginary landscapes, the truth of numerous voices, the colours and themes and the many characters that you discover are your best friends, worst enemies or just passer-bys. And if I were ever to be stuck on a desert island and it was a pre-meditated journey so I could take a bag of books with me; this is the list in no particular order (which is also ever-changing):

  1. The Solitaire Mystery, by Jostein Gaarder
  2. Perfume, by Patrick Suskind
  3. The Millennium trilogy, by Stieg Laarson
  4. One Day, by David Nicholls
  5. Child 44, by Tom Rob Smith
  6. The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho
  7. Prospect Park West, by Amy Sohn

Right now, however in my LOL phase, I am re-reading the finer points of Active Birth Skills, by Juju Sundin and Sarah Murdoch to prepare myself for that L word that I am about to face and embrace. In addition, I have Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, by Amy Chua on the go. Through her honest style of writing, I am literally laughing out loud as she writes about the distinctive style of Chinese parenting. This is bringing up memories of my own upbringing and how I am running in the other direction! I discovered my local library last week and have a spy novel on the go too (the secret lives of spies is ever intriguing) and let’s not forget the book club book I was supposed to have finished last month; How it Feels, by Brendan Cowell. Loved him in the TV series “Love My Way” but am finding his style of writing extremely confronting.


However it is the magazine MINDFOOD which takes the cake for the Page Turner award of the moment. Yes, I think I am one of ‘those people’ keeping the print industry alive! The current issue has Rebecca Gibney on the cover and despite my many books that I have yet to finish, I have not been able to put this magazine down since its weekend purchase. I usually flick through a magazine cover to cover and then go back to the articles of interest and feel time slip away. MINDFOOD has found the right balance of food and fashion, editorial and advertising, travel and puzzles, gossip and reality. No longer thinking should I purchase that stripy dress…now thinking about how and where do I subscribe?!!

Addiction to stripes

Posted on by Eatlovego

I was shopping with my sister the other day and she said that everytime she sees something stripy, she thinks of me. We were in Trenery and I had picked up a black and white striped tote bag to look at. I laughed at her but then realised she was pretty spot on.

It’s a fact that most days I am wearing something with stripes. Whether they’re blue and white, black and white, red and white, rainbow striped or multi-coloured; I love the look! Not only do I adore wearing stripes but everything around me also falls in line. My quilt cover is a black and white ticking stripe, my coffee cups are red and white striped, I eat off blue and white T.G. Green Cornishware plates and bowls and whilst in Noosa recently, I bought a collection of shirts for Mr ELG; all stripes of course! Sharing this addiction with Mr ELG, we even had nautical chic as our wedding dress code. Knowing what we’re like, many of our guests interpreted this well, paid homage to our addiction in various ways and subsequently a lot of our photos and memories are filled with all things striped.

So why write about stripes now? Well I have recently come across this divine Karina Grimaldi dress on shopbop and felt the need to share and share alike. I have a similar one only it is 3/4 sleeved and not a maxi and I love the flexibility of jersey, its comfort and feel on the skin and ability to dress it up or down. Still pondering whether I should press purchase and go to checkout…?

 

BEST bircher muesli ever!!

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After ordering a great bircher muesli a couple of weekends ago from Clipper Cafe in Glebe; I came home and googled “best bircher muesli recipe”. This returned quite a few responses from different recipe sites such as Taste, Allrecipes.com and bestrecipes.com. Jamie Oliver had a pukka one come up as did Gordon Ramsay. I took a look at most of the pages and started thinking what do I love about bircher? Well, I love its sogginess, non-dry texture and will tend to ask and add milk to get the consistency right. I love grated apple mixed through it although a rhubarb/strawberry compote has worked well too in the past. I love the crunch of nuts also mixed through bircher whether they’re roasted hazelnuts, almonds or pistachios. I love a drizzle of honey for natural sweetness. I don’t mind if there is a scattering of sunflower seeds or LSA stirred through either and I prefer the taste of thick greek yogurt as an added dollop to finish it off.

So with Saturday breakfast not too far off I thought I would enlighten you with what I think is the BEST bircher muesli ever and I have a confession to make; I have made and eaten this three times this week already. Mr ELG also scored it a perfect 10. It incorporates most of my loves noted above with some added extras and is super easy to make the night before and whip together within minutes the moment you wake up. The result is a deliciously scrumptious, textured, slightly tart and yet ever so sweet wholesome breakfast to eat that makes you crave for more as soon as you have eaten the last spoonful and feel good about yourself at the same time!

Ingredients:

2 cups of rolled oats

Juice from 2 lemons

1 cup of water

2 handfuls of almonds – lightly roasted and chopped

1/2 granny smith apple – grated

6 dried apricots – diced

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon per person

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg per person

2-3 Tablespoons thick greek/natural yoghurt per person

Start this recipe the night before. Mix together oats, lemon juice and water. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Per person, spoon 2-3 large tablespoons of the soaked oats into separate bowls. Divide all ingredients equally and place on top of the oats (reserving some of the grated apple) and mix ingredients together so they’re just combined. Garnish with remaining apple, eat, hopefully love and enjoy!

 

a great love

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I am a hopeless romantic. Not a Mills and Boon type by any means but I love a good rom-com, I still subscribe to Polka Dot Bride to see all the beautiful weddings showcased even though I was married almost 12 months ago and I do believe without a doubt that my single girlfriends will find true love despite the shrinking Sydney male population of remaining eligible bachelors!

When I heard the news that Elizabeth Taylor had passed away earlier this week, I went online to ascertain more details and read a recent quote from her, “I have been supremely lucky in my life in that I have known great love.” Not just any old, plain love but a great love! Whether or not she was referring to the renowned great love between her and Richard Burton or any of her other numerous husbands and lovers; I found this to be very inspiring and and a terrific insight into her state of mind especially at the end of such a coloured life; despite the loss and heartache that goes hand in hand with the incredible highs and ultimate lows of a great love.

So what what defines a “great love“? I believe my great love is characterised by plenty of passion, equal amounts of respect, a solid friendship, undeniable sexual chemistry, a shared sense of belonging and is ever-changing and evolving. I hope this is how Elizabeth saw and felt it too…

Go…Eat…Love!

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No, I have not gone mad and forgotten the name of my blog nor confused the flow of the verbs. Instead, let me explain…

It’s no secret that Mr ELG and I love to travel and go places. It could be a local getaway, a longer road-trip or aboard a jet-plane. Doesn’t really matter where we go because somehow it is always a given that by the time we come home, we are numerous kilograms heavier luggage-wise…all due to the innocent jam jar (most likely to be plural).

Fact: Mr ELG loves JAM. Quite unlike anyone I have ever met before. This condiment love-affair also extends to marmalades, chutneys and honeys ~ savoury or sweet and at any time that you happen to open up my pantry, there will always be a jar or maybe 10! Blackberry, Fig and Raspberry rate up there at the top of flavour chart but anything goes really. Personally, pre-Mr ELG; my favourite spread of choice on hot toast was always Nutella. A definite chocoholic morning or night; I love it thickly laden and and spread right to the edge of the crust. Jam for me as a spread was hit and miss, although from time to time, I have bought a jar of Bonne Maman’s apricot variety but I will tell you now, I do not display the same enthusiasm for jam as Mr ELG.

Last year in Tasmania, on a road-trip up the Freycinet coast leaving Port Arthur behind and en route to Swansea, we began to see signs for Kate’s Berry Farm. Unfortunately the sun had just started setting so we cruised past the signs promising to go back the next day to explore. The next day’s exploration did not disappoint and after a flurry of sugary taste-testing, we left the quaint berry farm with two jars of raspberry jam; sugarless and another variety with Cointreau.

Back at home, I remember twisting open the sugarless raspberry jar and within a week, its contents were gone. Spread, devoured by both of us ~ it was happiness in a jar.

A week ago, it was time to clean out the pantry. Looking at the shelf with its numerous jars we had collected various jams from our travels sourced from Maggie Beer, Beerenberg, St Dalfour and Christmas Hills. And there at the back behind the 20 other jars was a familiar looking black and white label. Long lost but certainly not forgotten, there had obviously been a bit of a backlog of jam to get through. It was the other jar; the Raspberry with Cointreau jam we had bought from Kate’s Berry Farm. I must admit at this moment of discovery, I let out a little squeal (it’s always the simplest things!) Throwing aside my pantry cleaning chore, bread was quickly toasted and to eat this jam was priority!

And so I deem this post Go…Eat…Love…pretty similar I think to “I came, I saw, I conquered” as this is what I did. Having gone to Kate’s Berry Farm, I ate some jam and fell in love, on par with Mr ELG’s enthusiasm. Simple as that but admittedly spreading this Cointreau one a bit thinner; in order to enjoy every last morsel!

Kate’s Berry Farm @ 12 Addison Street, Swansea TAS

black or white; one sugar or two?

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At the ripe age of 22, I did the UK pilgrimage-2-year-visa-stint that a lot of Aussie youths find themselves doing. I had just finished Uni and could not care to look at another text book or sit through another lecture so where did I find myself ~ Plymouth, South-West England of all places. A call centre job was paying the bills and while I don’t remember much about the auto-spiel that I once could recite in my sleep to English train travelers, I do remember this lady in a blue smock and her tea trolley that rolled past my desk at 10am and 3pm every day. For 10p/day, this gave me endless cups of strongly brewed EBT otherwise known as English Breakfast Tea. Mainly a cappuccino drinker before that, this is where I deem my love for EBT truly began!


Whilst in the Barossa Valley late 2010, I visited Maggie Beer’s foodie farm and amongst other kilos of jam jars and verjuice bottles, I bought a packet of Scullery Made Tea, in particular the Barossa Breakfast blend. This loose-leaf blend leaves Twinings, T2, Lipton and any other brand for that matter to shame. With one teaspoon for me and one teaspoon for the pot, a good lug of boiling water and 3 minutes up my sleeve to give it some decent brewing time, it definitely makes one cup of damn good EBT. So far I have only seen it for purchase via Maggie Beer’s website.

Oh and if you’re wondering, I love my tea strong with one sugar and a dash of milk.

 

Love a good “I do”

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Masked with tradition or none at all; there’s always bound to be an aisle, romance abundant in the air, a cake cutting moment, cheesy, toothy grins and of course the “I do”! I have always loved weddings. A day to celebrate the loving union of two people madly in love as they publicly declare their passionate feelings to the world. Some shout their written words like they’re on a rooftop, others cry so they’re barely heard and I have witnessed quite a few laughing through their vows as it’s always better to laugh than cry! Stepping away from in sickness and in health, I have vowed to make macaroni and cheese to my betrothed for the rest of our days.

Mr ELG and I have been to two weddings in the past five days with two more to go before the end of May. The first one was a beautiful amalgamation of Jewish and Catholic rituals with readings in French, Spanish and English set against the backdrop of Sydney Harbour. The bride and groom set the scene immediately enticing the entire room of guests to join them in the Hora and with that; the party had started! Last night’s wedding was awash with red and white as a traditional Chinese tea ceremony took place while this bride and groom channeled John Travolta and could have been on Dancing with the Stars instead of dancing their first dance in front of their cheering guests.

And despite all the differences of each wedding there’s one tradition I like to keep to and that is looking at the groom just before the bride walks towards him. It is in this moment that I see love in its finest….bring on the next two!

the importance of that first meal of the day

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Ask most nutritionists “what is the most important meal of the day” and the answer that will likely roll off their tongues is that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Most weekdays, breakfast for me on limited time consists of a smoothie made lovingly by my man which is quickly slurped down before I rush out the door and run for the bus. So when I wake up on a Saturday with far more time and the tummy is quietly rumbling, I immediately start to think what’s for breakfast? Do I poach some eggs with spinach and pancetta on some lightly buttered rye at home or do I throw some clothes on and hurry out the door to explore the big wide world of cafes at my fingertips?

This morning my man and I did the latter option and scurried around the corner to try the recently opened Caffe Dieci on Mallett Street, Camperdown Sydney. Having heard great things about this hole in the wall I was eager to see what would be on the menu to choose from. Sometimes I love a great french toast drizzled in copious amounts of maple syrup and other times, I can’t go past eggs with an assortment of sides. As I was sitting there waiting for my poached eggs, I started thinking about other breakfasts that I’ve eaten; those memorable ones that make you salivate just at the thought. Cafe Sweethearts in South Melbourne with their poached eggs and rosti obviously rates up there as my previous blog entry will attest to but locally I can never go past Flat White Cafe on Jersey Road in Woollahra and their brioche french toast or salmon omlette. Recently I also went to Bitton in Erskineville and ordered their ultimate breakfast which was poached eggs with hollandaise sauce on a bed of spinach and smoked Black Forest ham. My man ordered the exact same thing and as soon as it was placed on the table, both of us had basically inhaled it in a matter of 5 minutes, it was that good!

Back to Caffe Dieci and poached eggs with a side of prosciutto and halloumi arrived. I admit I wasn’t overwhelmed and the plate after I finished was certainly not spotless as it had been at Bitton. The eggs were a tad dry and I know I am a bit of a harsh critic, but there was no wow factor especially for the $15 charge. However the coffee was good and it was service with a smile so given its literally-around-the-corner factor I feel it will get a second chance in a couple of weekends or so…

Breakfast to me is important and no I haven’t just been to see a nutritionist. In fact it’s a critical and essential part of my weekend but then so is lunch and dinner and snacks in between because if you haven’t figured this out already, I just love to eat. Tomorrow, I think I will just play it safe and settle for some eggs at home.

Call me Homer

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I have quite an acute sense of smell and came to this sole conclusion as I was pounding the pavements along George Street, Sydney. Amongst all of the random whiffs of garbage, lingering deodorants, bad BO and greasy Maccas smells, a familiar smell floated past my nose. It was unmistakable, instantly recognisable and barely lasted a second and as I looked around trying to search for the source, I realised I was definitely having a bit of a Homer Simpson moment. Now, I am the first to admit that I have never been a big Simpsons fan but I do know that Homer loves donuts and this is what I have in common with the big yellow fella.

For a mere second the whiff of cinnamon donuts stopped me in my tracks. It’s that hot-just-piped-batter-and-rolled-in-cinnamon-smell that takes me back to being a child after school and eating one from Donut King for afternoon tea. I lick my lips now at the thought of eating a fresh and hot cinnamon donut!

Now, I realise that donuts are not the healthiest snack and don’t think that this is an everyday snack for me as I definitely consider them to be more of a treat. As the cinnamon smell whooshed on by, I had a good  think about when I had last savoured the taste….Australia Day; 26 January 2010 – I was in Byron Bay for the long weekend. Strolling around with my niece and her boyfriend, they both suddenly turned around to my man and I and adamantly insisted that we eat a Byron Bay Organic Donut. “An institution”, they cried. “A must!” Shaped more like a long churros than a circle with a hole, the Byron Bay Organic Donut ticked the rest of the boxes in being hot and crispy, doused in cinnamon and finger-licking good. It was with sadness that I learnt recently that the shop had closed down on Lawson Street however I have been assured that their stall does make regular appearances around the local markets.

Admitting to a love of donuts makes me feel a bit sheepish and slightly bogan. But on second thoughts, I am a proud donut lover and the holey cinnamon circles sit up there with my other bogan loves of iced vovos, toobs, meat pies and passiona. Homer, I’m right there standing beside you!