Goodbye 2006, Hello 2007!

Wow! What a year!

It’s been a year of adventure, and a year of challenge,
a year of great joy and achievement; a year of sorrow and mourning.

A year of weddings,
a year of birthdays,
a year of newborn babies.

Mountains and valleys,
exhilaration and despair.
Rough seas, and torturous blows
have shaken us to the core,
but we are still standing.

A year of blessing, a year of opportunity.
A year of great favour,
A year of grace.

Friendships were made,
bonds were cemented
Memories were made,
etched into eternity,
never to be forgotten.

It’s been one heck of a year,
Let’s do it all again, Bring on 2007!!

2006 is the year I started this blog, so it will always go down in history as the year I decided to step out of my comfort zone and embark on something new and foreign. As I tip toe, and feel my way through this venture called food blogging, I know I will stumble upon more and more unlikely surprises. I can't wait.

Above, is a little taste of what has been happening in my kitchen. Look out for it in 2007!

I wish you and your loved ones a safe and Happy New Year!!

Love Jen xxx

Happy Holidays!

I trust that you all had a wonderful Christmas, filled with laughter, food and a little bit of lunacy thrown in for good measure. I know I did! Our family celebrates with a Noche Beuna, a midnight feast on Christmas Eve, followed by a ritual of opening presents.

Seeing as we celebrate Christmas, on the eve, it meant that we had all of Christmas day to lounge, laze and loll in whatever fashion befitted us, so we decided to do our lounging at Bradley's Head near Mosman. And although, thunderstorms and rain seemed to be the prevailing overture for the Christmas weekend, there suddenly came a change in weather as the sun managed to make an appearance and emerged from the cover of clouds, just in time. Although I was revelling in the possibility of this rain easing many people’s misery over the Christmas season, I was undoubtedly glad to see the sun after all those dreary clouds.

A great afternoon was spent frolicking at Bradley’s Head and then it was off to Georges Head for some picnicking; with cheese, crackers, a bucket of prawns and the obligatory bottle of champagne. Bottoms up, everyone!

As I pat my full rounded belly, all I can say is that I hope you continue to enjoy this holiday season, eat up, be merry and seize every moment you have in 2006!

Oh Mille Feuille, Oh Mille Feuille

One more sleep!
Is your Christmas tree up? Are you stockings filled?
Have you hung the mistletoe?
Have you done all your shopping?

Our sun-drenched summers are indeed something to boast about, but we down-under are bracing ourselves for one of the wettest Christmases in years! A statement that would normally, not be punctuated with an exclamation, although for us in Sydney, the wet weather is a more than welcome respite for our drought affected state. Christmas prayers and wishes have been answered as a sizeable downpour has descended on Sydney, and it couldn’t have come at a more opportune time- a well received gift from the heavens.

As I am writing this post, there is literally a monsoon pouring down from above; a symphony of rain to accompany these words. It’s a well-timed and long-awaited Christmas present for the state of New South Wales, and after flying over the drought affected areas while en route to Melbourne, I never grasped the extent of the drought until that time. So it is good news for all!

To offset the grey hues currently draping our city, here is a Summer Berry Mille Feuille that is the perfect dessert for anytime of the year. Berries are the perfect fruits to counter any grey day, their vibrant tints and superb contours are just the thing to chase away your troubles. If berries won’t make you happy I don’t know what will. The apples are soaked in a little drizzling of lemon juice and honey, but if you prefer you can leave them undressed, they taste just as good.

So here's to a very merry and wet Christmas to all! Go and jump in some puddles, run in the rain and may your garden look greener than ever.

Summer Berry Mille Feuille
special equipment: mandolin slicer
serves 4-6

1 red or green apple
juice of ½ a lemon
1 tablespoon honey
½ cup mascarpone cheese
1 cup berries

Raspberry sauce
½ cup raspberries (frozen)
¼ cup caster sugar

FOR THE SAUCE
Place frozen raspberries and sugar in a food processor with the blade attachment and pulse 5-8 times until the raspberries are crushed.
Place in an airtight container and store in the freezer.

FOR THE APPLES
In a medium bowl, mix the honey and lemon juice.
Slice the apples thinly, using a mandolin slicer and drench slices in the lemon and honey mixture.
Set aside for 5 minutes to soak.

ASSEMBLY
Spread a thin layer of mascarpone cheese on two slices of apples.
Place one layer on a plate and top with berries, place the second slice of apple on top and top with another layer of berries.
Top with another slice of apple and drizzle, with raspberry sauce.

Numbering the Days

Summer makes me forget that I have a blog. Don’t get me wrong, the eating doesn’t stop but somehow the blogging part goes by the wayside. Since starting this blog in May, I have never been more disinterested in baking and blogging than today. As I lay in my bed looking up at the golden beams of sunlight streaming through my window, my thoughts turn to how I could possibly rid myself of the responsibilities of work and squander away the day at the beach. It seems that summer also makes me forget that I have a job.

With only 2 more days until I go on annual leave and 6 more sleeps until Christmas, the imminence of the holiday season makes me grow even more eager with anticipation. If you haven't already noticed I love just love summer. And perhaps it’s the romantic, heady wistfulness I get whenever summer comes around, but whatever that feeling is, I am addicted to it. Summer is when you can throw all caution to the wind and forget about everything else, caring only about the things that really matter.

While most of you in the northern half of the world will be making snow angels and snow men, eating turkeys and egg nog while sitting in front of a crackling fire; we folks below the equator will be busying ourselves with sand angels and sand castles, while munching on prawns in the heat of the summer sun. Yes, that’s what an Australian Christmas looks like. And although I have always been romanced by thoughts of a white Christmas- a whim agitated by all those Hollywood movies, I am still a sucker for a warm Christmas.

And even though the warm weather has somewhat dried up my motivation for blogging, these gorgeous asparagus cigars are making me fall in love with summer all the more. Other than berries, asparagus are probably summer’s other bounty that I am most passionate about. There is just something about these spears that scream “summer’s here!”

These cigars are so simple to make and are the perfect appetisers when entertaining. They come out of the oven golden brown and crispy; after cooling them for a couple of minutes they are ready to serve. I filled my cigars with some Grano Padano, however you can fill them with whatever cheese you want.

Asparagus and Parmesan Cigars

2 dozen bunches of green or white asparagus
24 sheets spring roll wrapper or filo pastry
½ cup Parmesan or Grana Padano cheese, finely grated
sea salt
cracked pepper
olive oil
small cup of water

Preheat oven to 210°C.
Take asparagus and snap off the bottom quarter by simply bending the stalks until they snap or by taking a knife and chopping the last segment from the base.
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and blanch asparagus for 1-2 minutes.
Drain asparagus and run under cold water. Set aside.
Take a sheet of spring roll wrapper and sprinkle some cheese, salt and pepper.
Place a stalk of asparagus at one corner of the wrapper and begin to roll the wrapper tightly around the asparagus, seal the end corner by dipping your finger into the cup of water and dampening the corner before closing the cigars.
Repeat process for the remaining asparagus and then lay them on a baking tray, drizzle generously with olive oil and bake for 10-25 minutes or until the cigars are golden brown in colour.
Remove from tray and place on a serving dish to cool.