- Make banana pudding.
- Bring banana pudding to work.
- Profit.
I felt a little ashamed of myself, actually. I’m supposed to be revered for my mad PHP skillz, not my pudding-making ability. Oh, well.
Tag: food
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How to Win Over 15 Male Software Developers
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Weekend Update… and it isn’t over yet!
Three-day weekends are so nice. Yesterday the Snook and I went to Newtown to meet up with Steve (visiting from London), Kenya, and Sal. Most places were either closed for the ANZAC Day holiday or packed with people playing two-up, so we ended up getting lunch at Kelly’s on King. It was good to catch up with friends we hadn’t seen in a long while.
Today was a busier day. I talked to both my parents on the phone, and my Dad mentioned how impressed he was with how far I’ve been running. I was so tickled I went right out and did five miles! Then I headed to Newtown for SSK, which featured the usual bunch of great folks. I finished one Twisted Flower Sock heel and got started on the second. On my way home, I stopped in Better Read Than Dead and picked up a new copy of American Gods (in preparation for Neil Gaiman’s visit next week). When I got home, the Snook and I headed over to Broadway to look at digital cameras. My old Canon had finally given up the ghost and I was looking for something small and light to carry with me. An hour later, I walked out of Harvey Norman with a brand new Fuji Finepix Z20 in cherry red. It’s so tomorrow! I love it. We also picked up a new litter box for that cat. You know how she likes to hang her butt over the edge? Snookums has finally gone for the nuclear option, purchasing a giant plastic storage tub that she has to jump in and out of.
Finally, there was food. I made homemade pea and ham soup from a Rick Stein recipe in delicious, and it was very tasty. I started by boiling a ham hock to make some stock. (Quoth the Snook: “Hot ham water? YUM!”) For dessert, the Snook cut up the pineapple I bought at the markets last weekend and created a from-scratch pineapple upside-down cake. We had it warm from the oven with ice cream. SO GOOD, PEOPLE.
And the best part of the weekend? That I’ve still got one more day of it left. Ahhhh…
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Decaf Skim Latte
On one hand, I hate being the type of person who orders a “decaf skim latte.” I mean, really, what’s the point? But on the other hand, it’s either this or nothin’. And on a rainy, crappy day like today, I just can’t take nothin’.
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Flemington Markets
Last week Eva kindly invited me to accompany her, Steph, and Kathleen to Flemington Markets on Saturday. I’d been to Paddy’s in Chinatown before, but this is the big market out near Homebush. It was INSANE. Hundreds of stalls with people selling fruit and veggies by the boxload, and it was all incredibly cheap. Bananas for $1/kilo. Whole crates of apples for $5. A one-kilo bag of peeled garlic for $2. We rented a cart and started piling stuff up. A couple hours (and one cramped car trip) later, we pulled it all out in Steph and Eva’s garate to divvy up. For less than $20, I ended up going home with apples, bananas, plums, mandarins, a pineapple, a pomelo, beans, coriander, cherry tomatoes, purple sweet potato, asparagus, the aforementioned bag of garlic, and nine(!) bulbs of fennel. So of course, now we’re cooking everything in bulk and stocking up the freezer for winter…
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Biscuits and gravy
The Snook made us oatmeal for breakfast this morning, so I was nomming my way through that when I read this thread on the great Full British Breakfast (which is more or less the same as a full Australian breakfast). Yum. Not something you can eat every day, but when you’ve got a hangover, it’s the Best. Thing. Ever. I was surprised at the couple comments from Americans who couldn’t fathom eating baked beans at breakfast. Huh? I don’t remember ever thinking that. I mean, baked beans = double plus good, no matter what time of day (as far as I’m concerned). But anyway, the whole point of this is to mention that towards the end of the discussion, somebody linked to the Wikipedia page for “biscuits and gravy”, and I nearly choked on my own drool. There’s not a lot I miss from home that I can’t get here, but that is definitely #1 on the list. I’ve tried making it myself, but it didn’t turn out well. The biggest obstacle is finding the right sausage. American-style breakfast sausage – the heavily spiced “Jimmy Dean” type – just doesn’t exist anywhere else. Maybe I need to try to make my own…
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La Rochelle… *sigh*
Cool. The SMH travel writer visited Sakai-san’s restaurant in Tokyo. I’d love to do that. And despite the guy’s protests about all the food in Tokyo being expensive, that dinner works out to about AUD$150 a head (including drinks!). You can spend a lot more than that on a fancy night out in Sydney…
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Still Life with Vodka
Still Life with Vodka. My co-worker Paul (who is from Russia) sent those around today. I am perplexed by the number of them that include raw garlic. Evidently they eat it that way a lot.
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My First Pho
At lunch today I continued my exploration of North Sydney. On Miller Street I found a little food court called “Street Eats,” and inside I was thrilled to spot a “Pho Express” stall. I’d never had pho before! So I ordered the basic beef noodle soup and was soon presented with a big steaming bowl. They had a condiments tray nearby with sliced chili, lemon wedges, and several different types of sauce (“pho” sauce, soy, fish, etc). I didn’t know exactly which was best to use, so I pretty much put some of everything on. It was fantastic. The beef was tender and juicy, and the broth itself tasted slightly sweet and salty. There were bits of green onion and bean sprouts hiding amongst the slippery noodles. It was actually lucky that the food court was so noisy, because I caught myself (more than once!) making contented “mmmmm” noises as I slurped my soup!
So, any pho experts out there? Any tips on the proper application of pho condiments?
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My last day…
It’s my last day here at TC, and I’ve had some lovely messages from customers, staff, and friends. I even got some surprise presents!
The cupcakes are homemade by Becca, and they’re very tasty! I immediately ate the “K”. The surprise flowers are from Zephyrama, who I’ve gotten to know through Ravelry. Sunflowers make a good day even better!
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Caramel Pecan Upside-Down Banana Cake
How Not to Diet: We baked this cake last night. Oh, except we substituted pecans for the walnuts, so really our version is a “Caramel Pecan Upside-Down Banana Cake.” ZOMG. It is delicious. The recipe suggests that the caramel is too sweet though, and you may prefer the cake without it. I think that’s rubbish. Personally, the next time we make this, I’m going to leave the cake out and just make a cookie sheet of caramel-coated pecans. They were that good.