Growing up, I was really blessed to be fed homecooked fresh Vietnamese food every night made by my mum. The usual meals would include rice vermicelli with satay pork and peanuts, rice paper rolls with prawns and hoisin dipping sauce, chicken congee with crunchy fried crullers, heady and fragrant beef pho and desserts would always feature coconut cream in some form. I didn’t really appreciate this when I was younger, always whining and complaining about eating the same thing every night, “Rice with caramelised pork again?!” and I constantly looked forward playing at my non-Vietnamese friends’ homes as it would guarantee a rice free, fish sauce free, soy sauce free, noodle free, non-Asian meal. ‘Meat and two veg’ was really appealing to me back then!

I especially loved eating at my friend Sarah’s house as her mum was a terrific baker and would always have some kind of cake or slice to be enjoyed for afternoon tea. My absolute favourite treat by Sarah’s mum was the quintessentially Australian chocolate caramel slice – a shortbread base sometimes flavoured with coconut, topped with a rich, fudgy caramel layer and finished with a slick of chocolate, just in case you didn’t think it was sweet enough. I would make this slice often as a child with my own mum who would always claim it was far too sweet for her own tastes, but would happily let me indulge in my sugar fix.

As an adult now, I can reflect on my childhood and I love that I grew up on Vietnamese food. Now I’m always wanting to learn how to recreate my mum’s traditional dishes and finding out what all of mum’s secret ingredients are. It’s a part of my heritage that I want to retain and will pass down onto my own children one day. It’s nice to know that I will not only teach my future kids how to make the best nuoc mam or pho bo, but I will also get to show them how to make the Australian favourites I also grew up on.

Chocolate Caramel Slice (aka Millionaire’s Shortbread)

Base

85g butter, melted

2/3 cup self raising flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup dessicated coconut

Caramel Layer

400g (1 can) condensed milk

2 gloriously big tablespoons of golden syrup

1 tablespoon of butter

Chocolate Layer

125g best quality dark chocolate (you can use milk chocolate, but I find it way too sweet)

1. Line a 20 centimetre (8 inch) square tin with non-stick baking paper, being sure to leave excess paper overhanging to be able to lift the finished slice when baked. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. In a medium bowl, combine all base ingredients and press into prepared tin and bake for 15 minutes or until risen and golden brown. Allow to cool.
3. In a small saucepan, combine the caramel layer ingredients and cook over medium heat for around 10 minutes or until a light golden brown colour. Don’t forget to constantly stir with a whisk or spatula as you cook, or else it will get lumpy.
4. Pour the caramel filling over cooked base and return to oven. Bake until the caramel layer is just set – this should take 10 – 15 minutes or so. When done, remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
5. Melt chocolate in a double boiler or microwave and spread evenly over cooled slice. Once chocolate is set, cut into squares using a hot knife.

When I started this blog, I discovered the wonderful world of Flickr. It’s basically an online photo sharing community with millions of great photos. I love posting my own photos and being inspired by the brilliant photography and creativity of others.

One recurring theme I’ve come across on Flickr are people sharing thirteen random points about themselves, so I decided I’d share my own ‘13 Things About Me’ with you here. :)

13 Things About Me

1. I was an only child until the age of 11. My parents tried hard for many years for another child, but it was really difficult. When my sister Rosie was born, I really resented her because I was so used to being spoilt and having all the focus on me. Being an older sister has taught me so much about myself and I am grateful for it.

2. I am of Vietnamese heritage and I can understand and speak the language, but rather poorly. It’s a bit embarrassing really, considering I went to Vietnamese school for 6 years as a kid and it’s the primary language we speak at home. I can hold a normal conversation, but if you want to me to talk about politics or climate change in Vietnamese, forget about it! When the time comes, I don’t think I’ll be passing the language onto my children which is sad.

3. I appear very confident and self assured in person, but deep down, I have my own insecurity issues. I constantly stress about my appearance, the way my body looks and worry about what other people think of me. I’ve always had self-esteem issues and I think I’ll have them forever.

4. I have a few nicknames: Indy, Linny, Lin and Linds. I love them all with Indy being my favourite.

5. Ice-cream is my weakness. I can eat it at any time of the day and have been known to eat 1-litre tubs in one sitting. Sorbet, gelati, semifreddo, parfait, whatever you want to call it. Bring it on!

6. I’m in love. I have a boyfriend, Z, and we’ve been together on/off for nearly five years. It hasn’t always been easy and at times it’s been harder than anything, but he is my best friend in the entire universe, my partner in crime and he is literally an extension of myself. I love him more than the world and I think he is the one.

7. I love to sing, but only when I’m by myself. I enjoy belting out a good song or two and dancing around in my undies in my bedroom when no-one is watching. I can carry a tune and I know I can kick ass in karaoke, but am too shy to show it. I am also very fond of singing in the car!

8 . I love my friends and spending time with them. Apart from Z, I have three different best friends: Bree, Paula and Eloise. Each girl is unique in her own right and each girl makes me feel at home. I can tell them my deepest secrets and I would do anything for them. Some people think that you can only have one best friend, but that’s a load of crap. More friends equals more love, more hugs and more laughs!

9. There’s nothing I love better than being curled up on the couch with a good book or the weekend newspaper and a big cup of tea. It’s my favourite way to unwind and relax.

10. I find it strange that a lot of my food dislikes are because of the texture, not the flavour of the food itself. Mushrooms, celery and olives are the three that I hate the most. Urgh…

11. I have terrible eyesight and received my first pair of glasses when I was 10. I had difficulty reading the blackboard and my grade 4 teacher caught me constantly squinting and suggested to my mother that I should have my eyes tested. The first time I visited the optometrist, I sneaked into the testing room and tried to memorise the letters and numbers so that I wouldn’t have to get glasses and look like a dork. Despite my best efforts, I still failed that eye test and have had to wear corrective lenses ever since. As I grew older, my eyesight became much worse and I now wear contacts 24/7. I cannot see anything without them and I carry a spare pair of contacts around everywhere I go. Just in case.

12. I know I’m a smart girl, but I don’t know where I’m headed, career-wise. I’m capable of anything and I know one day I’ll be successful and enjoy what I do, but not knowing what that is right now frustrates the hell out of me.

13. I really didn’t think I’d write this much! :)

To make up for boring you silly with my ‘13 Things’, I’ll share a recipe for the lemon slice I made today.It’s a really simple slice recipe which has a wonderfully tangy and oozy lemon topping on a crunchy shortbread base. Enjoy! :)

Lemon Slice

(adapted from a recipe found at Smitten Kitchen)

Base

225g unsalted butter, softened

½ cup caster sugar

2 cups plain flour

¼ teaspoon salt

Lemon Topping

6 large eggs

2 ¼ cups caster sugar

zest from 6 small lemons

1 cup lemon juice

1 cup plain flour

icing sugar, to dust

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line with non-stick baking paper a 30 x 20cm tin. Allow the baking paper to overhang the sides of the tin for easy removal (you don’t want boiling hot lemon filling all over your hands when you remove it from the tin).
2. For the base, cream together the butter and the sugar until light. Add the flour and salt and mix until until well combined. Tip the dough into your prepared baking tin and press it evenly into the tin. Place it in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill.
3. Bake the base for around 15 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool on a wire rack and get ready to make the topping. Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C.
4. Combine the eggs and sugar into a large bowl and mix well using a whisk. Add the zest and lemon juice. Add the flour bit by bit, ensuring that there are no lumps. Pour the filling on top of the base and bake for around 25 – 30 minutes or until it is light brown and the filling is just set. Unfortunately I was distracted today and overcooked it. #$&@!!!
5. Allow to cool to room temperature. Cut into bars and liberally dust with icing sugar.

At the end of this week, I will be unemployed. For most people it is rather depressing to have no job. But not for me… I’m elated! :)

For the last seven months I’ve been working as an adminstrative assistant and it has literally bored me to tears. Sitting on my arse all day long, answering phone call after stupid phone call, the constant tippity-tappity on the keyboard and doing the same mundane tasks every single day has made me go crazy/depressive/unhappy. The work is boring, so unchallenging and there is no support or positive acknowledgment in my workplace. I’ve also managed to stack on the kilograms from being inactive for the majority of the day (5kg to be exact) and my skin has become so dehydrated from the recycled air in the building. Urgh…

So, two weeks ago I handed in my resignation and by this Thursday, I will be unemployed. I know I should have found another job to move onto first, but to be honest, I’m just too happy to care. :)

Happiness and joy aside, just like any typical 20-something year old, I’m still struggling to find out what my ‘calling’ is and I don’t know which career direction to head into. I have so many different interests but unsure of what to focus on and pursue as a career. It upsets me sometimes, not knowing where I’m going, but then again, I am 21 and have the whole world at my feet. I can and will do anything I want to do. I know I can…

After this Thursday, I’m going to have a bit of a mental break and might do some volunteer work. Wish me luck everyone, hopefully I can find a job/career that I love soon! :)

Caramel Honey Pecan Slice

I made this slice today simply because I wanted something with pecans and too lazy to make pastry for a pecan pie :)

Curled up on the couch with a piece or two of this slice, a big cup of milky tea with the Sunday newspaper and knowing that I’ll be leaving my crappy job soon has made me a happy girl indeed :)

(adapted from recipe by Belinda Jeffrey in delicious. June 2006)

2 cups (300g) plain flour

½ cup (100g) brown sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

180g cold unsalted butter, diced

Topping

100g unsalted butter

1 cup (200g) brown sugar

3 big tablespoons of honey

2 tablespoons of cream

¼ teaspoon salt

250g pecans

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 21 x 30cm lamington tin with non-stick baking paper.
2. In a food processor, whizz together the flour, salt and sugar until combined. Add the cold butter and process until the mixture resembles damp sand. Tip the dough into the prepared pan and press firmly using your, ensuring the base is even. Bake the base for approximately 15 minutes or until the base is golden brown.
3. In the last 5 minutes of baking time, prepare the topping. In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add the sugar, cream, honey and salt and constantly stir to combine. Bring the mixture to the boil and cook for a further minute. Remove from the heat, add the pecans and vanilla extract.
4. Pour the topping over the biscuit base, spread evenly over the surface and bake for a further 12 minutes or until the topping is bubbling and a deep golden brown. Allow the slice to cool completely in the tin before you cut into portions.

Okay, okay, I lied. I’d love to have my own book one day and I’m not really a published writer, but I have had one of my recipes published in one.

Last year, to celebrate their 20th anniversary, Epicure invited readers to submit chocolate recipes for their book, Epicure Chocolate: Recipes from 20 Years of Indulgent Ideas. Naturally of course, I submitted this wickedly delicious recipe and was chosen. My recipe even got a photograph and a double page spread, which I’m rather chuffed about. It is one of the easiest recipes ever, and it tastes oh so good!

Chewy Chocolate Chunk Slice

(my very own recipe which can be found in Epicure Chocolate)

1 cup of self-raising flour, sifted

1/2 cup dessicated coconut

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

125g butter, melted

400g tin of condensed milk (yes, a whole tin!)

100g dark chocolate

100g white chocolate

1/2 cup chopped nuts (either almonds, macadamias, pecans, walnuts, a mixture – I like macadamias, but it’s up to you)

icing sugar, to dust (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line with baking paper a 22cm square cake tin (I find it easiest with oil spray, but you can use butter, whatever).
2. Combine the flour, coconut, brown sugar, cocoa powder, melted butter and condensed milk and mix well.
3. Spread this extremely thick mixture (you could plaster walls with this stuff!) into the prepared tin (eat as much raw batter as you can at this point too).
   
4. Roughly chop the chocolate into largish chunks and press into the base. Sprinkle the nuts over the base.
5. Bake for about 25 -30 minutes (the slice will be firm on the top and very soft in the middle – don’t be scared, it firms up on cooling).
6. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely in the pan (I know it may be hard to resist, but you have to wait until it’s completely cold. If you remove it while it’s hot, or even warm, be prepared to cry because it will fall apart. I don’t want to be the one who says “I told you so”). Cut into squares or bars and dust with icing sugar if desired.