Fortune Cookie My Foot

You Are a Fortune Cookie

You're a rather normal person, except that you have extraordinary luck in life. People want to be around you (even when they're a little sick of you), in hopes of being lucky too!

What Kind of Cookie Are You?

I did this test to determine what kind of cookie I was, as I thought it would be quite intriguing to discover which one I would be. Trivial as it may sound, I felt I had some sort of vested interest in uncovering this tidbit of information seeing as it related to my blog’s namesake.

I considered maybe I would be a choc chip cookie, modest and agreeable, or perhaps even better a macaroon, lush and indulgent. In any case the outcome wasn't as favourable as I would have thought, actually it was rather amusing. The caption explaining my result first read like an encouraging note; and yes I do consider myself quite blessed and lucky, generally life is sweet. Then it went on to say, and I paraphrase- people are sick of me, although want to be around me because they think my good luck might rub off on them.

Well all I have to say is that I am no laughing Buddha sitting cross-legged on your lounge room floor waiting for my stomach to rubbed for good luck. Unfortunately, I don’t dispense any good fortune, just baked goods and a smile. And to top off the insult, I was a fortune cookie, now this is both coincidental and hilarious as that I am in fact Asian. Don’t worry I haven’t found it condescending I am laughing it off, just like the Buddha.

Try out the test, it’s cheap and petty fun and if you want, let me know your results.

Strawberry Friands

So to think this whole food blogging affair was only meant to be a hobby; something on the side, distant and not at all to interfere with my normal life. Well I not only have become a fully-operating food blogger but it has also infiltrated my waking and sleeping life. It’s a peculiar thing blogging, like a fungus it seeps in unknowingly and then all of a sudden you are overcome in its clutches and it begins to overtake the mundane routine of your life.

Not that I don't enjoy it, because I find documenting my gastronomic triumphs and disasters quite a delight. Also I find it forces me to do the best I can at making a recipe work. I have only been tending to this blog for less than a mere two months and I have already developed strong behavioural oddities that I can only attribute to this very thing. Here are my symptoms:

1. My tiny bedroom (which receives the most sunlight) has now become a makeshift photography studio.
This is not good when you are walking through your bedroom in the dark and you end up stubbing your toe on the tripod positioned in the middle of the room.
2. My dining selections are judged not only on the quality of food at a certain eatery, but also on how well the place is lit. If no beautiful photo essay can ensue from a restaurant, then I will be rather tentative to include it in the blog.
3. All potential handbag purchases must pass the “dimensions test”, namely "Will my not-so-tiny digital SLR fit in this bag?" and if the answer is “Yes”, then it’s hired!
4. No one touches their food unless I have taken a photograph of it, lest they want to encounter my wrath.
This is probably my most neurotic food blogging trait, and I am embarrassed even to admit.
5. Whenever I bake/cook for blogging purposes I only do so during the well lit hours of the day, if there is any cooking done at night a portion of the food must be saved in order for photos to be taken the following day when there is adequate light.
This is probably my second most anal blogging eccentricity that I am mortified to even be typing this right now.
6. I am now beginning to scour textile and stationery stores for good backgrounds for photos.
So far I have only two backgrounds that you will notice are interchanged every other post.
7. My dreams are beginning to be about food and blogging. Or should they be called nightmares, I don’t know?
8. And lastly, I now make plate purchases on the merits of how well the pieces photograph.

So here to celebrate the little idiosyncrasies brought about by food blogging is a recipe for Strawberry Friands. Also known as Financiers, these little cakes are ubiquitous in the Sydney cafe scene. They are spongy and moist and can be flavoured with almost any type of fruit or nut. Here is the recipe.

Strawberry Friands
(makes 6 friands)

2/3 cup unsalted butter or ghee (clarified butter)
½ cup all purpose flour
1 cup almond meal or almond flour
1½ cups icing (confectioners or powdered) sugar
¼ tsp salt
6 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
½ tsp grated lemon zest
1 punnet strawberries, chopped into pieces. Slice some lengthways and reserve to decorate the tops later.

Place butter or ghee in a saucepan and simmer over medium heat until browned, be careful not to burn the butter. Set aside to cool.
Preheat oven to 200°C.
In a bowl, combine flour, almond meal, icing sugar and salt.
Fold in the lightly beaten egg whites and then add the lemon zest, vanilla and browned butter. Mix until incorporated.
Then add the chopped strawberries, leaving those that are sliced lengthways for later. Mix until blended thoroughly.
Fill friand trays or moulds just almost to the top and lightly knock the tray or mould down onto the bench to release any trapped air bubbles.
Bake the friands for approximately 4 minutes. Then remove from oven and top each one with some sliced strawberries.
Return to oven and bake for a further 5-7 minutes or until the cake springs back when pressed.
Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

NOTE: The browned butter or ‘beurre noisette’ adds a hint of nuttiness to the friands. Also if almond meal or flour is unavailable you can make your own by processing blanched almonds until finely ground.
You can add any type of berry or fresh fruit to the friands, just follow the basic recipe and improvise your fruits!

It's Moments Like These

If you think was going to refrain from posting something about the World Cup, well you were wrong. All the talk around here in Australia- in the news, in the local pub and at water cooler has been the controversial loss of the Socceroos to Italy. We had come so far, only to have our World Cup dreams dashed in the last minutes by a dubious penalty decision. If we had been outplayed by Italy and went down fighting it would have been all right, if we had been beaten fair and square even in a shoot-out that would have been okay. The mere fact that our chances were ruined by very suspect and ambiguous refereeing is what is most devastating.

As someone who has only just jumped on the World Cup bandwagon, the sense of national pride and soccer fever has hit me hard. I find it happens every few years with the Olympics, when that overwhelming sense of patriotism envelops the country. What can I say, I am a proud Aussie. All I can say is the mood here for a lot of Soccer fans and bandwagon jumpers is bitter disappointment.

So to counter the sharp pain of defeat, I decided to make Melting Moments. It has nothing to do with soccer, or Australia for that matter, other than the fact that I see them sold at every cafe in Sydney. I never knew how they achieved that smooth, melt in your mouth texture and after some research on the Joy of Baking, I discovered that its secret came from cornstarch or cornflour. Instead of the traditional ball shapes I decided on little crescents, I guess if you wanted a correlation between the cookies and the World Cup, you could say they look like little frowns if you hold them upside down.

The cookies are fairly easy to make and I found using high quality unsalted cultured butter, usually the kind that does not contain any water is the best to use. Because cultured butter does not contain any water, it doesn't takes as long to soften to room temperature. Here is the recipe.

Melting Moments
(makes 3 dozen)

1¼ cups all purpose flour
¾ cup cornstarch (cornflour)
¼ tsp salt
½ cup confectioners sugar (icing or powdered sugar)
1 cup high quality unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
½ cup confectioners sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, and salt, set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.
Add the flour mixture in batches, careful not to over work the dough. Scrape the bowl down and place the dough in the refrigerator for one hour until it firms up.
When the dough firms, take it out of the fridge and knead briefly on a floured surface. Then form little crescents by taking a portion of dough then rolling it into a 5cm long rope. Gently roll each rope so that the tips are tapered and curve them slightly to resemble crescents.
Place the crescents on the baking tray, and bake in the oven for about 12-15 minutes.
Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.
Using a sieve, dust the cookies with icing sugar.

Good Food and Wine Show 2006, Sydney

Having just done a recent bout of night shifts at the network, I have been going crazy. But what do you do when your mother tells you she has bought you tickets to the Good Food and Wine Show, even when you haven’t had any sleep from the night before? Well you still take the offer; of course I’m never one to turn down a freebie. Even at the risk of potential madness and irritation, I decided to go.

After having knocked off five out of seven night-shifts in a row, your body goes into this state of either constant awakedness or sleepiness. When the day kicked-off it was certainly awakedness I was feeling, I was excited to attend my first GFAW Show. Then after hours in the exhibition hall battling the hordes of people, it went from awake to sleepy to aggravated. To the point where I wanted to crash tackle this sweet old lady nibbling on her King Island Double Brie, oblivious to the fact she was standing in the middle of the walkway blocking everyone’s path.

This reminded me why I didn’t go to the Easter Show. I don’t do crowds very well. Markets are pleasant enough as they are outdoors, but being in this crammed space where you can barely walk two feet in front of you without doing a shuffle is just not my cup of tea. As one who obviously dislikes great crowds, I don't know how I managed to delude myself into going. I blame my mother’s gentle art of persuasion.

Despite all the pretty lights, the place was actually not conducive to photography, especially photography without the use of a flash. Maybe I’m just a bad photographer, but I need LOTS of light. Also the throngs of people made it very difficult to get a clear shot of anything. There would always be some person’s hand in your shot grabbing free goodies. People aren't as nice as they are in the markets, they won't move just so you can take a photograph. Navigating the crowds with goodie bags in tow, all the while attempting to capture things on your digital camera, wasn't very pleasant.

Be that as it may, I shouldn’t nit pick too much, as there was free food to be had, and I got to have lots of that free food. The wine and beer was flowing, and I got to have lots of that free wine and beer. So ultimately, the only thing I am complaining about are the crowds. Whinger.

So without further insomniac-ridden adieu here are the photos. I will try to describe them as accurately as I can, but in my insomnia-induced state, I cannot vouch for any sort of accuracy. Sorry.


Fresh juicy Strawberries from the Batlow Fruit Co-operative


Ben O'Donohue of Surfing the Menu fame live cooking demonstration. One of his dishes was a Sugar Miso Encrusted Shark Fillet. It was quite an interesting mix of flavours and the place smelled of burnt sugar afterwards, yum.


Avocado Oil from The Grove


Live honeybees at work


Green Tea Frappe (Gluten Free) from Thirst Beverages


Assorted vinegars and preserves


Empty escargot shells


Laksa sampling


Delicious cookies from the ladies of Whisk and Pin. The Pistachio Cranberry Shortbread was a delight. They also sell Rocky Road meusli, yummo.


The most adorable stand by far. Edible Blooms' boquet of flower cookies, in Honey and Chocolate flavours.


Creamy Hot Chocolate


First time encounter with Salmon Jerky , which was quite tasty, in fact I kept going back for more.


The most exceptional chocolates by Jeff de Bruges. The coffee infused chocolate beans were particularly good.


By far one of the most entertaining live demonstrations was by Irish lad Darren Simpson, from La Sala. His sarcarstic and jovial nature drew quite a crowd. He made a simple Osso Bucco with parsley salad and bruschetta, and a Steamed Coral Trout on a bed of clams and wilted baby spinach. Simple authentic Italian fare, it was great.


Rows of free-range chicken from Lilydale Farms.


Freshly made pasta from Pasta Vera in Pyrmont.

We also attended the Donna Hay live cooking show (no pictures though), where she showcased three quick and easy dishes from her book 10-minute meals.

Also my new favourite beer is from the James Squire Brewhouse called Porter. It is a dark, although not too thick and syrupy beer. It bears slight coffee and musk undertones and apprently goes well with a slice of chocolate cake. That last tidbit of information was the beer's selling point for me.