Love

A giant’s hot cross bun

Posted on by Eatlovego

Oh and forgot to tell you about breakfast as here at ELG central, Easter is one of our most loved holidays and the three of us decided to get a head start on the hot cross bun intake. I bought this yesterday at another love; Bourke Street Bakery. Their bakers have obviously had a bit of fun in the kitchen and may have taken some inspiration from James and the Giant peach as this hot cross bun is certainly not small. It was the size of a standard dinner plate and after warming it in the oven, the waft of cinnamon and nutmeg filled my home and with some butter; breakfast was a big slice of heaven. If you’re in Sydney and love a good hot cross bun, this one doesn’t disappoint so go and grab one today!

Bourke Street Bakery @ 633 Bourke Street Surry Hills, NSW 2010

 

Easter bunny is almost here…

Posted on by Eatlovego

Three days before the Easter Bunny arrives and I am still busily planning my menu for Easter Sunday lunch. If you could just see my dining table…I have open Donna Hay magazines strewn everywhere, a Nigella cook book on the floor, Gary Mehigan’s book flipped open to his crazy delicious brownie recipe and a carton of colourful rubber eggs that I picked up from Bed Bath and Table; perfect for MM’s first Easter egg hunt on Sunday as I’m trying to be a good Mummy and go steady with his chocolate intake! I’ve definitely decided on a starter to get the palate salivating but deciding on what’s to come…wish me luck!

For a while now, I have been enjoying making goodies to give at Easter, just like at Christmas too when I made a big batch of my Gourmet Chocolate and Apricot muesli and bottled portions of it up in glass bottles to giveaway. The smiles from people who are on the receiving end are so much bigger especially when they realise it’s homemade! And so I add this to my Thursday madness as while I am not attempting to make chocolate eggs, I may be planning to make something gooey which involves chocolate of course and maybe a bit of peanut butter…I will keep you posted 🙂

And yesterday out of all of the chocolate shops in Sydney, I paid a visit to the one I love best – Scrumptious on Cross Street in Double Bay. Quite close to another love; Papier D’Amour and two doors down from an endless love; Simmone Logue, Scrumptious is just as its name describes…utterly scrumptious. It is a small shop filled to the brim (especially around this time of year) with so many goodies; both edible and ornamental that it’s an overload on the senses. The scent of chocolate is amazing and the collection that the owners, Nicole and Briar, have amassed of glassware, bunnies, biscuits, eggs, vases, birdcages and baskets is truly extraordinary. On this particular visit, I picked up bits and pieces to decorate my Easter Sunday table and of course some chocolate to top it off.

I must now stop procrastinating and make some important decisions as to what to cook so I wish you all a beautiful Easter and hope you spend lots of time with family and friends relaxing over this long weekend, eating lots of chocolate and also taking some time out for yourself!

Happy Easter!

Scrumptious @ 4 Cross Street Double Bay NSW 2028

Simmone Logue @ 2 Cross Street Double Bay NSW 2028

Papier D’Amour @ 8 Cross Street Double Bay NSW 2028

Eat Love Go dream…no pizza involved!

Posted on by Eatlovego

Saw this on Saturday and thought Huh??? Thought I might have to go and have a chat to the owner about some copyright issues… 🙂

But as I walked away; my mind began to wander and maybe this whole blog thing could one day lead to a little shop that I would love to own and run. Called Eat Love Go. A little cafe with vases of fresh flowers everywhere…where I could make my favourite ricotta hotcakes with chocolate honeycomb butter or on every second day I could alternate and make my apple pancakes with cinnamon yogurt and golden syrup….whatever I love to eat! There will be the Barossa Breakfast blend by Scullery Made Tea of course, as that’s another love. And if pancakes are not taking my fancy then I will always whip up some of my Chocolate and Apricot gourmet muesli inspired by another love – Farmer Jo.

And don’t worry I do see there to be more than just breakfast on the menu but I need to do some more thinking and dreaming…

And what about the GO? Well, I’ve recently taken up some freelance writing in Travel (have a look at Travel Hunch if you’re curious) and if you have read some of my previous posts, you will know that on my travels here and there, I do like to pick up things which remind me of where I have been. So it might be some Carthusia perfume from Capri on the shelves next to some hot pink Pretty Ballerina ballet flats from Cannes, placed next to a shantung silk scarf from Launceston….a small selection of loves evolving over time!

Well…just a thought of mine and thanks for reading!

 

I wish I was here…

Posted on by Eatlovego

Over the last couple of years I have booked many hotel stays through the website Splendia. They specialise in luxury and character boutique hotels around the globe and all of the hotels have been as described; splendid! And if you join as a member, you get freebies at certain hotels. For example, I booked to stay at the Five Hotel and Spa in Cannes and Mr ELG and I both got a free one hour massage.

I also like them on Facebook and for the last couple of weeks, they have been posting these amazing photos where blue skies meet blue waters and the comment is something like “Wish you were here?”

Well on this Friday night, I wish I was on the other side of the world. I wish I was in Nice on the French Rivera where I could walk along the esplanade and stroll through the flower markets counting all of the different colours that the buildings are painted. I could sit down on one of the chairs opposite the beach and stare out to the horizon and then make my way back to the restaurant where I last ate a plate of pasta with fresh vongole, garlic, extra virgin olive oil and parsley. I wish I could get in a car tomorrow and drive along the coastline down to Monaco just because I can.

Oh well, how I do love to dream….

Where do you wish you were?

Sensationally Smitten

Posted on by Eatlovego

Happy Pancake Day!

OK I know I am 5 days late but we celebrated it all the same this morning in my kitchen with a sensational pancake recipe with inspiration drawn from Smitten Kitchen. I recently came across Smitten Kitchen after my ongoing search for the greatest birthday cake recipe…MM is turning 1 in April. In one of her posts, she boasts that she has found the recipe of all recipes when it comes to birthday cakes. When it comes time to baking the birthday cake, I will let you know. Another recipe that took my interest recently is the Chocolate Fudge Cake posted by Hostile Bacon. Miss Ren (of Hostile Bacon)and I share a love for a cake mixer and have had one or two discussions about the innocent Kitchenaid Stand Mixer and its all-reigning asset status in the kitchen…

So getting back on track with Pancake Day; the three ELGs were sensationally smitten. As usual, there was no rush to the corner shop so in PJs I used what was in the pantry so the original Smitten Kitchen recipe has been altered. The result was the pancakes were light, fluffy, golden and the mixture was easy to whip up and held itself together when it came time to flipping the pancakes in the pan. Mr ELG and I had them with the works; dusted icing sugar, squeeze of lemon juice, raspberry sauce and light drizzle of golden syrup. MM had them on his Bunnykins plate in an extremely watered down version. His pancakes were eaten bare but still woofed down all the same.

Apple and Raspberry pancakes

Ingredients:

4 small apples (I used Gala apples but any would do) peeled and grated

2 eggs – beaten well

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup natural yoghurt

1 1/2 cup self raising flour

pinch of baking powder

1/4 cup caster sugar

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

To serve:

Dollop of apple and cinnamon natural yogurt

1 banana – halved and sliced lengthways

golden syrup

raspberry sauce (if not your own then Cuttaway Creek is the next best thing!)

half a lemon

icing sugar to dust

Method:

Combine wet ingredients and lightly whisk together in a small bowl. Combine dry ingredients and make a well in the centre. Add wet ingredients and grated apple; whisking it all together until just combined. Add cinnamon and vanilla extract and stir in.

Brush a hot pan with some butter so it is thinly coated. Add two large tablespoons of mixture and flip over when bubbles start rising to surface. Place slices of banana between two cooked pancakes and dress with remaining ingredients according to personal taste. Makes 8

Eat. Love. Enjoy!

;

hello yellow!

Posted on by Eatlovego

When I was a little girl, my mum never dressed me in yellow. I always remember her saying Chinese people should never wear yellow; looks bad with their skin. Now at 31, I’m going to tell mum I disagree.

At the moment, I am loving all things yellow. And orange for that matter but that’s another post altogether. Yellow to me is sunshine, it radiates, states happiness and has this fabulous frivolity about it. It screams HELLO!

I also love Oscar de la Renta and his classic sharp lines in his design and seeing this yellow piece today from his 2012 collection has given me the inspiration for today’s post. So after the fabulous yellow ruffled sensation spotted on Camille Styles which I will show again here; I leave you with the thought for the day of hello yellow!

The Post with the most!

Posted on by Eatlovego

It’s rare for me to write a post that ticks all 3 boxes but here’s a wrap up of yesterday…

EAT – to start with…oven baked sourdough and prosecco, moving onto fresh, clean tastes in salads such as  yummy Insalata Caprese with ripe red thickly cut tomatoes and creamy mozzarella slices, tuna nicoise salad with poached eggs, bresaola with rocket and shaved pecorino, cucumber ribbon, pine nuts and ricotta and warm stuffed eggplant. Pasta was next with a bolognese penne and a seared tuna and parsley orecchiette before mains arrived of seared swordfish with tomatoes, capers and extra virgin olive oil and crispy pork belly accompanied by lemon wedges and rocket. Dessert could not be forgotten and for Mr ELG and I, this was arguably our highlight….Eton mess with dollops of cream, fresh vanilla bean and plump sweet strawberries followed by a selection of cheese; both creamy and hard with pear and crackers. A cappuccino finished me off!

LOVE – family on hand to look after MM (BIT’s new codename aka Mini Mister), sharing a table with 14 closest and dearest pals over a long Sunday summer lunch where conversation flowed, laughter was bursting at the seams, yummy food was there to be divulged and life couldn’t be sweeter.

GO – Cafe Sopra above Fratelli Fresh on Danks Street, Waterloo Sydney. The private room where the Italian feast never stops.

How to talk to a Widower

Posted on by Eatlovego

I finished this book yesterday. I can’t remember how I came across it but it was one of those funny, random reads and while the title sounds extremely depressing; it actually had a number of laugh-out-loud moments! Written by Jonathan Tropper, the whole story is from the point of view of Doug Parker whose wife has just died in a plane crash. He’s 29 with a dysfunctional family knocking down his door every second to check he’s ok and lives in middle class suburbia in upper state New York.

Without giving anything away, there is this one scene where he’s on a date and because Tropper writes so exceptionally well in first person, you feel like you ARE Doug on the blind date and sitting in front of you is this nattering, nervous ninny who talks a mile a minute and won’t let you have a word in sideways. His paragraph writes so there are no pauses or breaks and you feel like saying to this date “just take a breath will you!” This was just one of my many laugh-out-loud moments.

Totally recommend this book. LOVE

Time for tea and no oranges

Posted on by Eatlovego

After 2 weeks of solid eating and no holding back for another golden gaytime, extra dollop of custard or another piece of cheese; it’s now time for tea and no oranges. In other words; I am on a detox. I have chosen the Quick Cleanse 7 day version and Mr ELG and I are on day 2. So far so good and no major headaches or withdrawals. To put it simply, it’s unlimited fruit and vegetables with oranges omitted, no coffee or caffeine-related drinks, no meat or chicken, lots of water and raw nuts, fish every second day, unlimited tofu and lentils and vitamins three times a day. Yes, I could do this without buying into the program, but at this time of year structure is welcome to get the body back into gear.

So last night in front of the telly when all I could think about was Lindt passion-fruit intense chocolate, I begrudgingly went and made myself a herbal tea. My only saving grace for the next 5 days.

Since having BIT, I have never consumed so much tea as I do now. I don’t know what changed as I still drink coffee (when not on detox) but suddenly herbal tea is no longer reserved for librarians and old ladies. I do have a preference for chamomile, peppermint and ginger and am still not swayed by the berry blends. When I was breastfeeding, a friend recommended the Weleda nursing tea and who knew if it was actually contributing to the supply, but I found it to be a supremely calming ritual at the time much to Mr ELG’s dislike who used to always comment the house smelt like Chinese medicine.

I took this photo of tea being brewed at Revolver Cafe in Annandale. A friend ordered peppermint tea and I love the way so much effort is put into one cup of tea complete with its own minute timer too.

And yesterday amongst all of the tempting madness in a shopping centre where I looked one way to see hot churros rolled in cinnamon or the other way to see chocolate ice-cream; I was a very good girl and took myself off to T2 to order a takeaway herbal tea. It was an iced Turkish Apple and Rose tea – all pretty with the rosebuds floating on top. And if I just closed my eyes, it tasted just like a golden gaytime! Don’t worry, I know I’m dreaming!

Revolver Cafe @ 291 Annandale Street, Annandale NSW 2038