A little election motivation

Krispy Kreme (Australia) has an election sweetener for all registered voters. Register on the site, pick your favourite election sweetener--Original John, Sprinkles KEV07, The Greenies, or Lemoncrats--and sign up for the Krispy Kreme newsletter, and you'll get a voucher that can be redeemed for up to 6 Original Glazed doughnuts on Sunday. Even though I've kicked my Krispy Kreme addiction, I'm not averse to a little nibble now and again!

High Tea @ Swissôtel

I had my not-a-baby-shower shower at the Swissotel's Crossroads Bar. The high tea buffet had been taunting my brain for a few months--cravings, anyone?--and it was the perfect opportunity to sample what I'd heretofore only read about and salivated on Grab Your Fork.

I wasn't disappointed, although I had baby brain at the time (at 36-and-a-half weeks) and didn't even think to take down notes on what I had. So I think I'll leave this as a kind of photoessay instead.

Caramel slices topped with pecans

Maccaroons

Fresh fruit for the chocolate fountain

Creme brulee and chocolate mousse

Lemon meringue tarts

Pistacchio, pecan and caramel tarts

Chocolate eclairs, strawberry shots, and a chocolate tart

I should mention that service was great at the start and miserable at the end. Considering we booked a table for 20 people, we expected some extra special lovin'. We settled for the chocolate fountain instead.

Chocolate fountain

Swissôtel High Tea at Crossroads Bar
68 Market Street (cnr George St), Sydney
02 9238 8888
$29 per head, 2pm-4pm

Fudge & kisses - Sugar Fix

Rob hasn't organised anything for my birthday, and he was sneaky enough to let me know this in advance. To manage my expectations.

But I've been expecting this, what with newborn twins in the nursery, and I was smart enough to let him know where he can get me some temporary love while he sorts himself out.

Thank goodness for Sugar Fix. When I discovered their store at Sydney Central Plaza, I nearly squealed with glee. I may have squeaked and quivered. I found a huge box of Toffifee and that clinched the deal--I was in lust. Unfortunately, they didn't have them anymore when I came back, but they do sell Hershey's Kisses and Reese's cups. Mmm...

But how to purchase these treats without feeling guilty? Easy. I told Rob to check out their marzipan, and now he goes there willingly...and buys me chocolate every time he gets his marzipan. :-)

And if you're reading this, thinking about what a selfless husband I have, you should know that he will probably eat at least half the fudge in that box. I may have to hide it.

Sugar Fix
Sydney Central Plaza, Pitt Street Mall
(in the food court, across from Mrs Fields and New Zealand ice cream)
02 9222 1491

Easter egg hijinks

The Jellybean was supposed to bring a hard-boiled egg to daycare so they can decorate Easter eggs. On Last night, I had eggs boiling in water...AND FORGOT ALL ABOUT THEM. When Rob got up this morning, he walked out to the living area and was confronted by the lovely smell of eggs and melted Teflon.

Panic, panic, I could have burnt the house down! Oh, my gosh, never do that again!!!!! Set the timer next time!!!! Blah, blah, blah. And meanwhile, he didn't even turn the stove off!

It really wasn't *that* bad--the smoke alarm didn't even go off!--but the smell is gross. Luckily, we keep our bedroom doors closed so our rooms don't stink. Or course, Rob had the bright idea of opening the bedroom door and balcony door to "circulate the air". Gah!!!

I'm also down one more saucepan. Though now that I think about it, it's a great excuse to go and buy a really, really good one. :-)

Luckily, I had a spare hard-boiled egg in the fridge so Jellybean still had something to bring to daycare.

Happy Easter everyone!

Why I bought Ferrero Rocher as back-up

So I had this bright idea of making sugar cookies for Christmas, to be shaped and decorated by KB. How cute! you say.

Well.

First, I don't know how to cream butter. So I doubled the recipe in order to incorporate the not-so-creamy stuff into the hopefully creamier stuff. Didn't work.

Luckily, I have Mum as a freelance consultant. Just go on with the recipe, she says. The flour should put everything back together.

Next, I discovered why I shouldn't attempt double recipes with a freaking hand mixer. Luckily, the dough looked relatively doughy so the effort was worth it.

Five phone calls and one broken plate later, I had everything mixed, bagged and tucked in the freezer. I forgot to double the salt content, but whatever.

Tonight, we will attempt to roll, cut, bake and decorate these suckers. Then, I'm going to recruit the hubby into bagging those babies, ready to be handed out tomorrow night.

Oh god, please let me survive Christmas.

There's something to be said...

White roses

...for flowers in the kitchen, especially when they were given unexpectedly.

Have a lovely Christmas, everyone!

Oscars Bar & Lounge

After much e-mailing and SMSing, Mum decided to celebrate my Dad's birthday at Oscars. Although our reservation was for 7:30pm, when Rob and I arrived at 7:40pm, we were the first ones there. We were clever enough to park at the new Coles carpark next door, which isn't quite finished yet and is therefore free. Free parking in Pyrmont? Well, it's virtually unheard of.

Mum arrived soon after, so we had a leisurely wait over drinks. Unfortunately, Oscars doesn't supply highchairs so there was no way to imprison the baby, whose attention span lasted long enough to pick up random pieces of cutlery and bang them about. Fortunately, we were seated at a long, corner position against the wall (cushioned seats) and next to large windows. This was great as we could then take KB out for a walk when he started feeling antsy and bring him to the window where he could prance around and amuse everyone.

The rest of the family trickled in and by about 8:15pm, we were ready to order.

I didn't even hesitate to place my usual order of baby back ribs. For $17, I really don't think you can get much better value. Some people argue that the sauce is too sweet, but I've never had any problems polishing those babies off. Most of my family agreed with me and ordered the same. The chips were superflous, much to KB's delight. He has a serious love of chips.

Oscars famous baby back pork ribs with tangy hickory sauce $17

Dad ordered the T-bone steak with mushroom sauce. Unfortunately, when you put the steak side-by-side with the ribs, you're bound to feel rather envious. He thought it was okay, but not the best he's ever had. I don't think heaping random greens on top really added much to the flavour, either. Actually, the salads accompanying our dishes looked decidely uncreative. Methinks a luscious tomato wouldn't have gone astray.

Chargrilled T-bone steak (400g) with mushroom sauce, creamy garlic mashed potato and roquette $18

Rob ordered the sirloin steak with mushroom sauce. He likes his steaks dead, which can be tricky as most restaurants either undercook or serve a charred mess, but Rob seemed happy with what he got. Again, the salad was uninspired.

Chargrilled sirloin steak (300g) with mushroom sauce $18

You'd think we'd be content after such big mains, but we persevered and ordered a sticky date pudding and a concorde to share ($10 each). They were average - neither bad nor noteworthy - but the babies went totally nuts. Duke (pictured) could not be pried away from the concorde.

I think Oscars has become my family's favourite dining venue for special occasions when Mum doesn't feel like cooking and cleaning up. It's not hard to see why. Prices are reasonable, servings are usually pretty generous, and while the service can be hit or miss, when it's good the staff is very attentive. I have noticed, though, that the ribs seem to undergo a price increase in the vicinity of $2-5 every time we visit. I dread the day it goes past my price threshold, because I really, really love those ribs!

Oscar's Bar & Restaurant
84 Union St, Pyrmont
02 9660 5933

Birthday extravaganza

Birthdays are one of those events when my Filipino and Aussie natures clash. An average party, by Filo standards, has an invitation list of no les than 80 people, which is about the size of a wedding reception by Aussie standards. The only way we'd be able to afford a party for 80 people would be to have it at our little apartment and do the cooking ourselves.

For my birthday? Cooking and cleaning? Forget it! I decided to forgo the pain of cooking, cleaning and watching people trample all over the carpet and reserved a table at Oscar's for a family lunch. And by that I mean 20 of my extended relatives - that's our standard minimum for any family gathering.

We practically had the entire place to ourselves and the manager served out table personally. Twelve of us ordered baby back ribs and when they came out, everyone's eyes bulged at the size of those suckers. I think we must have eaten an entire family of pigs just in those two hours. I wish I'd remembered to take a picture. Actually, I did remember but by that time, my hands were drenched in sauce and there was no way I could get to the camera.

The following weekend, I organised dinner with friends, KKB (kanya-kanyang bayad, also known as Dutch treat). A dozen people turned up to Talentino Restaurant - I'd been wanting to try the food out for ages but especially since I tasted their creamy mushrooms. At first, I was afraid the restaurant would be much too intimate and, well, quiet for our particular group but as the evening wore on, alcohol flowed, people arrived (my friends were totally used to Filo time and weren't fazed at all) and general merriment all served to raise the conversation hum to a comfortable level.

The food was great! The Pão Ipanema, much like bruschetta but with fetta, was just delicious and the sangria was so sweet, it flowed rather quickly (and with this crowd, that's saying quite a bit). Rob had a Portuguese steak, which came with a fried egg on top, which he reckoned it tasted like a Filo steak. I thought it was much like a tapsilog without the sinangag. I had the Espetada, which as the name suggests comprised of meat on a sword-like skewer was suspended with a metal brace that was clamped onto our table. My dish was supposed to be good for two but I managed to eat all but two and a half pieces. It's my birthday and I'll gorge if I want to...

Mum made me a mocha cake, by request, so we had that for dessert. The cake was so tall, I had trouble serving it onto the dessert plates. Mum's pralines were excellent and people kept asking me how to make them. Ummm, well, you do...something.....spread it on non-stick paper and then break it apart. As far as I know, "Mum makes it" is the way it's made.

There are quite a few June babies in my extended family so the weekend was filled with FOOD. I've been having my fill of Filo food while I can. I scored some sapin-sapin, which ate for breakfast the next day, along with some of my leftover cake.

For breakfast? I hear you ask in horror. Because I had to get rid of all the leftover desserts in the fridge. Because there was a tub of Homer Hudson Beyond Fudge Brownies ice cream in the freezer with my name on it.

After all, it's my birthday and no party is complete without cake and ice cream.

Oscar's Bar & Restaurant
84 Union St, Pyrmont
02 9660 5933

Talentino Restaurant
9 Union St, Pyrmont
02 9518 8000

Multiple gastrorgasms

Yesterday, Rob whisked me off to a surprise dinner at the Galileo Restaurant, attached to the Observatory Hotel. I was so excited when I found out (guessed, actually, but not until we were almost there) because I've been wanting to dine there for aaages. Rob apparently chose the restaurant because the menu sounded similar to what the French Iron Chef makes.

Dinner was preceeded with an egg cocotte with foie gras, which was just exquisite. We had the 8-course degustation menu with an extended entree plate. I was soooo full at the end, I thought I'd be sick. I was grateful to be sitting at the corner of the lounge where I could just let it all hang out and put my head on the pillow. Thank goodness we didn't have the Surprise Degustation Menu because frankly, I don't know where I would have put the rest of it. Although... I wouldn't have minded having a go at the chocolate fondant.

The chef, Harunobu Inukai, is Japanese but trained in French cuisine so it really was like being on Iron Chef. He came out to talk to the patrons (he even looks like an iron chef) and it turns out he's good friends with Hiroyuki Sakai (Iron Chef French) and that Sakai is coming over at the end of November to cook for the restaurant. I'd love to go but I can't really see us forking out that much money for one dinner.

The verdict? It was the best degustation menu we've had. Ever. It surpassed the Gekko at the Sheraton on the Park, which had been Rob's top favourite for over six years. It was almost the best food we've had, except I still choose the little restaurant in the corner of nowhere in Paris as my favourite - you just can't top the dumb waiter (as in the mechanism, not a person), the French murmurings and the little poodle (so frightfully unhygienic).

Galileo Restaurant
Observatory Hotel
89-113 Kent St, Sydney
02 9256 2222

Celebrating the new year

I'm so stuffed, I can barely write. I've been eating ham and pan de sal for breakfast, three days in a row now. It's so addictive even Jellybean has a bite.

Eating. It's been the story of my week, starting Christmas Eve. I was hoping to lose weight over the holiday...there goes that idea! My Mum gave us an electronic weighing scale for Christmas (mainly for the baby but I'm sure there was a hint there for me) and I'm too scared to buy batteries! Haha...

Speaking of eating, I recently discovered a blog by a fellow Filipino-Australian living in Sydney. If nothing else, the pictures are mouth-watering. I love reading Sydneysiders' blogs so if you know of others (preferrably personal blogs rather than political ones), let me know.

Last week, we attended a cocktail party to celebrate BottlaRed's engagement. It was hosted by her mum and just lovely. BottlaRed wore a sparkly tiara and there were fairy lights shaped into love hearts adorning several bushes (we suspect one or more of her sisters). I had copious amounts of champagne and caught up with old friends. It was very civilised and made me wish I had the kind of family that could behave long enough - and stand up long enough! - to enjoy cocktails.

Instead, I have the kind that needs to have the karaoke machine running and who measures party success based on the amount of food and availability of good seating. Oh, well, at least we never have to splurge on champagne - Coke is de rigueur and that's about it. We're easy to please. :-)