To tweet or not to tweet? That is the question that has been on my mind for the last few weeks or so (well that and “should I pay $3000 for a new MacBook Pro?”). It seems that Twitter is “like, the coolest thing everrrrr” right now and I’m wondering if it’s worth jumping on the bandwagon. Do people actually want updates on what I am doing? Do I want to hear about Oprah gushing about puppies, or when Ashton Kutcher reaches his two million followers or what my boss’ wife made for dinner last night or what every other person in the world is doing at that very second? I know it’s a great networking tool and understand that technology is just evolving by allowing us to communicate and connect  with each other more easily, but do we really have to go this far now?

It’s similar to the Facebook phenomenon. Everyone seems to be on Facebook, making ‘friends’, joining common groups and generally spending hours stalking ex-boyfriends/ex-girlfriends/potential partners/friends you wish death upon. Don’t get me wrong, I have a Facebook account and I quite like it. I can see what my friends and family are up to, from those that live down the road, to workmates I see five days a week, to family on the other side of the globe. It’s great… but  the constant status updates of pure drivel from everyone are really starting to do my head in. Worthy examples include:

‘Amy just ate a bowl of milk-less cereal’

‘Christine wore purple socks today!’

‘Kevin is waiting for the 501 bus’

I either have really dull ‘friends’ or just really unimaginative ones, haha! But seriously, before Facebook and Twitter came along, who would have thought to share with the world every boring detail of our lives?

But back to the original point, to tweet or not to tweet? Do I join? Hmm… not sure yet. Maybe I should only follow people who actually compose interesting tweets (but we all know that the majority don’t!).  I’m a bit unsure at this point, but I reckon if I joined today, my first tweet would be:

Hungry? Get this French toast in your belly. You know you want to :) http://tinyurl.com/r6avpd

French Toast with Spiced Pears

Serves 4.

3 eggs

½ cup milk

1 tablespoon caster sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

8 thick slices of white bread

butter, to fry

Pears

3 large pears, peeled, cored, quartered

30g butter

¼ cup brown sugar

good splash of maple syrup

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

maple syrup, to serve

1. For pears: in a small saucepan, melt butter until slightly foamy and the crackling noises stop. This is the water coming out of the butter. Add pears, sugar, cinnamon and maple syrup and mix well. Cook over moderate heat until pears are cooked through.
2. For French toast: in a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Melt a tablespoon or so of butter in a large non-stick saucepan. Wait until foamy, then dip the bread into the egg mixture, place into hot pan and fry until golden brown. Repeat with remaining bread.
3. To serve, place the French toast on a plate, topped with pears and extra maple syrup.

Cream, vanilla ice-cream or plain yoghurt make nice accompaniments.

*Update: 9 October 2009 – Considering this post, I’ve actually joined Twitter now. Follow me @_lindanguyen_ if you are a fellow foodie or friend.

I love autumn and it’s my most favourite season of the year. The days are mild and sunny with lovely clear blue skies and crisp, gentle breezes. The night always seems to catch up on us unawares and I love how the deciduous trees’ leaves begin to change into pretty shades of red, yellow and orange and fall in preparation for the winter. It’s fresh, invigorating and there’s a sense of renewal in the air…

It’s not even May yet, but it seems that those lovely autumn days are over and the transition into winter has arrived in Melbourne rather early. The wind is gusty, biting cold and always seems to whack you in the face when outdoors, the rain seems heavier and louder and the chilly weather just makes you want to stay in bed all weekend, cuddling a loved one watching DVDs or burying your nose in a good book. Fashion drastically changes too, with scarves, tights and knee-high boots dug out from the back of the wardrobe to keep us cozy and warm. This kind of weather also marks the start of heavy homely comfort food like soups, stews and delicious rich desserts like this date and banana pudding with butterscotch sauce.

Sticky date pudding is a real winter favourite here in Australia. It’s a moist, muffin-like pudding with dates and the usual suspects of of butter, sugar, flour and eggs. Once cooked, they are doused in a good helping of butterscotch sauce and a dollop of thick cream or vanilla ice-cream alongside. I decided to make a variation of this dessert with the addition of bananas and a few chopped pecans sprinkled on the top for some crunch.

Date and Banana Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce

180g dried dates, pitted and chopped

1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

75g butter, softened

150g brown sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 eggs

180g self-raising flour

2 medium ripe bananas

3 tablespoons of pecans, chopped

thick cream or vanilla ice-cream, to serve

Butterscotch Sauce

200ml cream

½ cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

50g butter, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line 8 holes of two 6-hole Texas muffin pan and set aside.
2. Place dates in a saucepan with 180ml of water. Bring to the boil, remove from heat and add the bicarbonate of soda. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool.
3. Cream butter and sugar in large bowl using an electric mixer or food mixer. Add vanilla and add the eggs one at a time, ensuring it is well incorporated.
4. Add date mixture and bananas. Fold through the flour and divide amongst prepared tins.
5. Bake for around 25-30 or until cooked through and tested with a skewer/knife.
6. For the sauce, add all ingredients into a small saucepan. Stir over moderate heat until butter is melted and everything comes together. Allow to cool slightly before using.
7. To serve, invert a pudding onto a plate, whack on a big dollop of cream or ice-cream and douse the pudding in the sauce. Sprinkle the pecan nuts on top. Ta-dah!

As I sit here and write this post at 2.55pm, the mercury has risen to 43.3°C (110°F for all you Farenheit lovers out there) with the sun fiercely burning down and melting all residing in Melbourne. It is disgustingly hot, too hot even for the beach for an ocean dip and there is nothing left to do but to stay indoors and keep close to my new best friend, the air-conditioner.

I have been lounging around all day, feeling rather lethargic and lazy, but with that said, I had enough energy to turn the oven on and bake something to try keep my mind off the stifling heat. I didn’t want to make something too difficult, nor a recipe that involved numerous bowls and utensils as I really couldn’t be arsed with all the washing up in the heat. So one bowl macaroons it was.

This recipe is ridiculously easy. It’s basically a meringue-type base with coconut and almond meal mixed through, then shaped into small balls and baked. Once cooled, I like to sandwich them with raspberry jam, but they are still quite delicious eaten plain.

Coconut Macaroons with Raspberry Jam

Adapted from a recipe by Karen Martini found in Sunday Life.

2 large eggwhites

¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

100g caster sugar

50g ground almonds

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

200g shredded coconut (must be shredded; desiccated coconut will not work)

4 tablespoons raspberry jam

icing sugar, to dust

1. Preheat oven to 150°C. Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper (saves washing!).
2. Beat eggwhites with an electric mixer until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and gradually add the sugar, beating continuously until mixture is thick and glossy. Fold in almond meal, salt and vanilla. Fold in the coconut.
3. Spoon walnut-sized dollops of mixture onto the prepared baking trays. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until pale golden and cooked. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Once cooled, sandwich together with raspberry jam and dust with icing sugar.

Makes around 24 macaroons; 12 sandwiched together.

Wash-up count: one bowl, the beaters, one spoon and a spatula :)

When I was a little girl I would go to the trash and treasure markets every Sunday with my dad. I loved exploring the different stalls and their wares, with all their little trinkets and knick-knacks being offered for sale. From memory, the goods ranged from old mechanical parts to garden tools to baby budgerigars in cages and trays of farm-laid hen eggs. In hindsight though, I think there was much more trash than treasures to be pawned off each week. But I digress.

If I discovered something that I liked and had been a good girl, that is, if the ‘thing’ was less than a dollar, my dad would buy it for me and I’d be the happiest girl ever until I either lost it or broke it. And although I loved to roam the market and enjoy spending one-on-one time with my dad, my absolute favourite part of the day was visiting the friendly old man inside the greasy jam doughnut van (hey, that kind of rhymes!). We would always buy three (one each for my dad and I and one for mum later) and eat them piping hot, straight from the fryer. They had wonderfully crispy golden exteriors and were warm and fluffy on the inside with oozing, gooey, ruby red jam that would drip all over my hands no matter how hard I tried. But I did love making a real mess of myself and licking off all the sugar and jam off fingers though. I loved those doughnuts.

I don’t frequent those markets anymore, but the memory of those early Sundays mornings prompted me to try my own homemade donuts. I did intend on making jam donuts, but we had no jam and was too lazy to go and get some, so these sugared doughuts were made. Simple, but ridiculously delicious. Enjoy!

Sugared Doughnuts

Recipe from ‘Modern Classics 2′ by Donna Hay.

This recipe can be adapted to make doughnuts with any type of filling. Try custard, Nutella, chocolate ganache or any kind of jam you like. To do so, at step three, omit the step of cutting out the middle hole and fry as instructed. Pipe your desired filling into your doughnut using a small piping bag. Don’t toss them into the sugar, dust with icing sugar instead, or leave them be.

4 teaspoons active dry yeast

¼ cup lukewarm water

1 cup lukewarm milk (I just combine the two liquids in a jug and nuke it in the microwave for a bit)

3 tablespoons caster sugar

100g unsalted butter, melted

4 ¼ cups plain flour

3 eggs

vegetable oil, to deep fry

1 cup caster sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, to coat

1. Place the yeast, water, milk and one tablespoon of sugar in a bowl and set aside for 10 minutes. The mixture will start to foam, indicating that the yeast is active.
2. Add the butter, flour, eggs and remaining sugar to the yeast mixture and mix with a butter knife until a sticky dough forms. Bring the dough together by kneading on a lightly floured surface. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with a tea-towel and set aside in a warm place for 45 minutes or until doubled in size. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for five minutes or until it feels smooth and elastic.
3. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until 1cm thick. Cut 8cm rounds with a cutter. Cut a 3.5cm hole in the middle of the rounds. Place a tray lined with non-stick baking paper, cover with a tea-towel and set aside in a warm place for 30 minutes or until risen.
4. Heat the oil in a saucepan until the temperature reaches 180C. Cook the doughnuts a few at a time until golden. Drain briefly on paper towel and toss in the combined sugar and cinnamon.

Last month, my full-time job was made redundant (thanks global financial crisis!) and being unemployed for five weeks prior to Christmas has made it tough in the money stakes, but luckily Mr. VISA has since come to my rescue.  For the last fortnight, I have been ringing up the credit, running around like a headless chicken and narrowly avoiding car bingles as I fought with the million other shoppers for a parking space, to buy presents for family, presents for friends, presents for my boyfriend (whoo, Guitar Hero World Tour!), presents for several Kris Kringles and finally, to keep myself sane, a small present or two for me (a pretty scarf and a Moleskine diary). Phew!

Money troubles aside, I do love the festive season as I get to spend time with my family and friends, enjoy summer at it’s best and in true Australian tradition, I love to eat the copious amounts of food at the numerous BBQs which frequent my December calendar. There’s nothing that says Christmas more to me than a few burnt sausages, a juicy slice of watermelon for dessert and a suntan from sitting outside eating all day.

Although unemployed and having lots of “spare” time up my sleeve,  I have been rather slack in the baking department and I didn’t do any Christmas baking this year. No gingerbread house/men, no shortbread, no sweets. Although a blessing in disguise for everyone’s waistlines and arteries, I still feel a little guilty. So today, on New Year’s Eve Eve, I made a big batch of passionfruit marshmallows to share with my family and friends who missed out on the usual goodies that I make. These marshmallows are the most fluffiest, softest and tastiest morsels of sweetness they will ever encounter so hopefully all is forgiven!

Hope you’ve all had a wonderful Christmas and here’s to a Happy New Year! :)

Passionfruit Marshmallows

Recipe by pastry chef Catherine Adams of Rockpool found in the December 2007 edition of Gourmet Traveller.

180ml passionfruit juice (you’ll need around 10 passionfruit)

500g caster sugar

20g powdered gelatine

2 eggwhites

snow sugar, for dusting (Snow sugar is icing sugar with vegetable fat, cornflour and dextrose added to prevent the sugar from absorbing moisture and dissolving. Icing sugar/confectioner’s sugar is a suitable substitute if you can’t obtain snow sugar)

1. Lightly grease and line a 17cm x 25cm shallow cake pan an dust base liberally with snow sugar. Combine passionfruit juice with gelatine in a bowl and set aside.
2. Combine caster sugar and 1 cup water in a saucepan and coojk over low heat, stirring, until sugar dissolves, then increaseheat to medium and cook for 5-10 minutes or until syrup reaches 125C on a sugar thermometer. Remove from heat, add passionfruit mixture to syrup and stir until gelatine dissolves. Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, whisk eggwhites and a pinch of salt until frothy. Gradually add passionfruit mixture, whisking continuously on medium speed until mixture has doubled in size, then slowly decrease speed and mix until mixture is warm (about 40C). Pour into prepared cake pan, and using a lightly oiled spatula, spread evenly, then dust top liberally with snow sugar. Stand at room temperature for 3 hours or until firm. Using a sharp, serrated knife dusted with snow sugar, cut marshmallow into squares and roll in snow sugar to coat.

Store in an airtight container between sheets of baking paper at room temperature for up to two weeks.

One of my most favourite goodies to bake and eat are cookies. They are always so simple to prepare, the perfect accompaniment to a cup of tea or coffee and I never feel guilty when I eat more than a few (as opposed to eating a huge chunk of cake or pie).

Four reasons why I love to make cookies:

• Cookies are so versatile and can be made with a myriad of flavours. They can be spicy with ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg or rich with chocolate, coffee or vanilla.  They can be chunky with nuts, dried fruit, oats or chocolate. Sweet fillings such as caramel or jam can be used to sandwich them together, making them even more yummy!
• They are the simplest things to bake and with the average cooking time of around twelve minutes, you always get to eat a few while you wait for the other batches to cook.
• If they are roll out cookies, you can make them in any shape you like. It’s a great excuse to collect as many cookie-cutters as you can and fun edible shapes are perfect for kids.
• There is less washing up, as I never have to wash the trays as I use baking paper I just toss into the bin after I’m done. Huzzah!

Roll your sleeves up and try your hand at these delicious chocolate cocoa cookies.  They are so easy to make and even easier to eat. They especially go down very well with a tall glass of ice cold milk. Enjoy!

Double Chocolate Cookies

Recipe from ‘Simply Bill’ by Bill Granger.

250g unsalted butter, softened

350g brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 ½ cups (310g) plain flour

½ cup (60g) cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

350g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Beat together the butter and saugr until light and creamy. Add the vanilla and eggs and stir together well. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt and mix until just combined. Fold in the chocolate.
3. Place large spoonfuls of the mixture on paper-lined baking trays, leaving room for spreading.
4. Cook in batches for 15 minutes, until the bases are cooked. Cool on trays.

Makes around 40.

The blog has been on hiatus for the past month not due to the usual reasons of laziness or lack of inspiration. I have the most boring excuse of all to give you: I am on a diet :(

I have been on this health kick for about a month now, trying to have a better diet and increasing my physical activity (if you live in Melbourne and ever in need of a laugh, you can witness me trying to “run” along the Hume Highway almost each day. Or come to my local gym and watch me flail my arms and legs in a Body Combat class. It’s hilarious.). It hasn’t been too bad to be honest, though. I have been eating less processed and fried foods, increased my fruit and vegetable intake and I have drastically limited my consumption of desserts and sweet treats!

After limiting my sweet tooth for over three weeks now, I thought it was about time a real treat was in order. My mind went into overdrive as the possibilities to break my “sugar drought” were endless. Triple chocolate ice-cream sundae with fudgy chocolate sauce? A big custardy trifle with lashings of cream? A warm bowl of banana butterscotch pudding with rich vanilla ice-cream? I could have it all and had much difficulty in deciding!

As I flicked through my online recipe archive with the many “must try” bookmarked pages, one ridiculously easy recipe just sang to me… churros with dulce de leche sauce. How can one go wrong with some deep-fried goodness dipped in caramel?!

Just make these little crispy suckers. You can thank me later.

Churros with Dulce de Leche Sauce

Adapted from a recipe by the Bodega Tapas boys found in Gourmet Traveller, October 2007.

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cups plain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

vegetable oil, for deep frying

mixed ground cinnamon and caster sugar, for dusting

Dulce de leche sauce

400g can of condensed milk

60ml of milk, warmed

1. For the sauce,  place unopened can of condensed milk into a large saucepan and cover completely with water. Bring to the simmer over medium heat and cook for 2 hours, adding more water if necessary to keep can covered. Cool completely in water (do not remove can while still warm as it may explode), then open and remove dulce de leche. Combine dulce de leche with milk in a bowl and stir until smooth. Set aside in a warm place until required.
2. For the churros, combine oil, 600ml water and salt in a large saucepan and bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Gradually add flour and baking powder, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon until dough is smooth.
3. Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan to 165°C. Spoon the batter into a piping bag with a 1-centimetre star nozzle. Carefully pipe 10cm lengths into the oil, cutting the churro from the bag with scissors, being careful as the hot oil may splash (if this is too fiddly, pipe the batter into a slotted spoon first, then lower into the hot oil). Fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towel and toss in the cinnamon sugar mixture until well combined.
4. Serve warm or cold with the sauce. Don’t forget to lick your fingers :)

* The plate used in this post was kindly given to me as a farewell gift by the boys at work. Thank you Gareth, Pete and John. This post is for you! :)

October is Breast Cancer Month in Australia and October 27 is Pink Ribbon Day. It is a day to help raise funds for the research into the causes and treatments for breast cancer, for support services for women and their families and community education programs to increase awareness of early detection and the need for regular screening.

Breast cancer affects many women, with one in eleven women diagnosed before the age of 75. It is unfortunately the most common cause of death among women.

Please support either through donation, the purchase of merchandise or by attending special fundraiser events. There are breast cancer networks around the world and in Australia, this is through the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

For all the mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers and nieces in the world affected by breast cancer, think pink and get involved to raise some money in aid of fighting breast cancer.

Linda x

Vanilla Cupcakes

To show my support for Pink RIbbon Day this year, I made a big batch of pink-frosted cupcakes to sell at a morning tea fundraiser being held at work.

Recipe from Marie Claire Taste 101, Edition One.

1 ½ cups self-raising flour

½ cup caster sugar

175g unsalted butter, softened

150ml milk

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting

2 ½ cups icing sugar mixture

2 tablespoons liquid glucose

50g unsalted butter

pinch of salt

pink food colouring

1. Preheat the oven to 175C. Line a twelve hole half-cup capacity muffin tray with paper liners.
2. Place all ingredients into a bowl of a mixer and beat on low speed until mixture just comes together. Increase the speed and beat for 4-5 minutes or until the mixture is thick, smooth and aerated. Spoon into the prepared tin, filling them two-thirds full.
3. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 25 minutes or until the cupcakes are firm and golden brown. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
4. For frosting, beat all ingredients in a bowl of an electric mixer until combined. Add 3 tablespoons of hot water and pink colouring, then beat on maximum speed for 6-8 minutes until frosting is smooth and shiny. Frost the cooled cupcakes using a small spatula. Decorate as desired.

I. LOVE. GRANOLA.

Yep, I love it so much, I had to declare it in capital letters. I know everyone else does too. My first granola recipe is one of the most popular recipes visited on my blog and I thought another version might be appreciated.

What I love about this particular granola recipe is that it’s sweet without being overpoweringly sweet, it has that warm homely smell of cinnamon and vanilla, the apricots had a different textural dimension and it has the perfect amount of crunch. Delicious for breakfast in the morning with yoghurt, yummy as an on-the-go snack and yummy with milk for a late-night treat in front of the TV.

Enjoy!

Apricot Granola

I particularly don’t like clumpy granola, but if you do, simply ensure that you firmly compress the granola into the trays before you let it cool. Then, once it’s cool, you can break it up into clumps.

7 cups rolled oats

2 cups slivered almonds

1 cup brown sugar

¾ cup raw sunflower seeds

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

? cup vegetable oil

½ cup honey

1½ tablespoons vanilla extract

1½ cups diced apricots

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line two large baking trays with baking paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine the oats, almonds, sugar, sunflower seeds and cinnamon. In a small saucepan, heat the oil and honey over medium heat until just simmering.
3. Pour the liquid mixture over the oat mixture and thoroughly combine with your hands (careful it’s hot!) until everything is coated. Spread the mixture onto the prepared trays.
4. Bake for approximately 25 minutes, stirring every ten minutes to ensure even browning. Bake until golden brown. Stir in the apricots as soon as you remove the trays from the oven. Allow to cool completely on trays.

Nothing makes me happier than sunny, warm weather, exploring open spaces, taking photos in magical light, spending quality time with my boy and indulging in good food and wine. Luckily for me, I was able to have all of it on the weekend.

I have just returned from a weekend getaway to the Yarra Valley in Victoria’s north-east. This place is known for its lush greenery, wonderful regional produce and fabulous wineries. It is only 45 minutes from Melbourne, yet it feels like a totally different world and is a fantastic place for a foodie/wino to visit, even if it’s just for the day.

The weather was so lovely and warm and on our last day there, I wanted to finish with a simple dessert which wouldn’t take too much time to prepare.

As there is nothing better than seasonal fresh fruit, we happily consumed a big bowl of fresh local strawberries with a rich cinnamon mascarpone cream. Just perfect for Spring!

I hope you enjoy the random photographs that I shot whilst in the Yarra Valley too :)

Strawberries and Cinnamon Mascarpone

500g strawberries, washed

250g mascarpone cheese

a few big tablespoons of icing sugar

ground cinnamon

1. Mix the mascarpone with the icing sugar and cinnamon to taste.
2. Serve with the strawberries. That’s it!