Snowy London

Christmas has arrived early in London! We have had 3 consecutive days of snowing, which is a completely new experience for Bernie and I. The snow is beautiful and soft and really brightens up the gloomy winter days. Frosty the snowman above (also called "Softy" by my little buddy Theo who made the snowman with me) was built on the 3rd day on the balcony of their flat.

This photo was taken on the first day when it snowed.

On the first day....

Two days later....

The park nearby was completely covered in snow in just two days.

However beautiful, it did not last long. The snow all melted away on the weekend, which is actually to our relieve. The sudden snowy weather had caused major disruptions to travel-road and airport closures, train cancellations etc and on a personal level, I fell on my fat arse after slipping on ice, leaving me with a bruised bottom and sore neck. Looks like we will still make our flight on Monday with a good forecast of a clear day with no snow. YAY..

We are now officially on holiday for two weeks! Off to Zurich before lounging at Lake Como for one week before a week of skiing in Davos (or more of an attempt at skiing on my behalf- no black runs for me, unlike my expert husband). We will be joined by our best mates from Melbourne on this holiday, which makes it extra special. Cannot wait... our very first white Christmas.

Banana Muffins

Another few more days and I will be saying goodbye to Melbourne and saying hello to London. What I will miss most is definitely family and friends who have so kindly looked after me this last couple of weeks. The other thing would also be the lovely spring weather! The garden is green and all the beautiful flowers are in full bloom. This has also been partly due to a very wet October.

When I came home to Melbourne, I brought with me a cookbook by the famous Hummingbird Bakery and the banana muffin recipe that I used is adapted from this book. Another banana-related recipe as there are always ripe bananas lying around. Good recipe- not too sweet and really moist.

Banana Muffin Recipe (makes 12)

230 g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp cinnamon powder and extra to sprinkle
100 g caster sugar
225 mls milk
1egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
40g butter melted
260 g banana mashed
12 hole muffin tray line with paper cases

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.
Put the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and bicarb of soda and cinnamon in a large bowl and stir until combined.
Put the milk, egg and vanilla in a jug and mix to combine. Slowly pour into the flour mixture and beat on slow speed until all the ingredients ar incorporated.
Pour in the melted butter and bet until incorporated. Stir in the bananas with a wooden spoon until evenly dispersed.
Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until two thirds full and sprinkle a little extra sugar and cinnamon over the tops.
Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 mins or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool slightly in the muffin tin before turning out.

                                                Flowers from our garden............. I love spring!

Vanessa's First Birthday

My visit back to Melbourne has really been productive and fun-filled, despite the MC experience being short lived as expected. I probably did not have the je na sais quoi or the X factor to be on the show. That's okay, because I don't think I could have handled the time pressure in the kitchen. This experience has not deterred me from my love of all things food related. I am also very happy to be reunited with my KitchenAid which has been put to good use this last few days.

Anyway, I just had a fabulous day helping out close friends with their daugther's birthday party. Vanessa turned one and she is soooo adorable! Aunty Jo Jo made a whole heap of cupcakes and also her birthday cake to help her celebrate this wonderful day.  Her cake (pictured above) is a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting topped with a sugared deco ( I bought that from a cake deco shop in the city). The cupcakes below the cake were also red velvet with the same frosting topped with caocaus and princess-themed flags.

Her mum and I also made a trio of starters. Smoked salmon, dill and cream cheese on crackers followed by tuna and mayo on cucumber. The last was chorizo and egg in vol au vent cases, but I must have missed taking a photo of these.

Tuna and cucumber starters

These are the 3 batches of cupcakes- pink ones were strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Yellow ones were lemon cupcakes, and the white ones were red velvet. Definitely a hit with little people.

I will post the recipes up when I have a bit more time...

Happy birthday Vanessa!

Back In Town

Guess what? It feels good to be back home. Yup, I am in Melbourne at the moment trying to get over the jet lag and exhaustion of a 24 hr long travel from London. Why am I home, you wonder? Well, I am wondering the same thing. The truth is, I am home because I somehow managed to get an audition for Season 3 of Masterchef Australia. Crazy right? Eek! The reality of it all sunk in only when I was frantically packing my bags a few days ago. The chances are so slim to get on the show, but I'm going to give it my best shot and hopefully it will be an experience I will never forget, whether I get on or not. Hopefully, my current delirius state from lacking sleep will somehow aide me during the audition. Haha! This has really turned into a journey of an obsession hasn't it?

Anyway, it is sooo good to be home. When the plane landed at Tullamarine airport, there was a feeling of deep content within me. I am glad to be home, even if it is only for a few weeks. Everytihng is so calmly familiar. I am even enjoying the non-stop rain, hail storms and chill. Good ol' Melbourne.

Anyway, I am hoping to catch up wih family and friends during this time. If I haven't been in touch with you, and if you happen to read this, please call me. Would love to catch up, especially over a cup of chai latte.
Also, will be keeping you posted on the audition (could be a very short-lived experience!).

Bern, loving and missing you. Wish you were here!

xx  Jo Jo

Bruges, Belgium

The rest of our holiday was spent in Bruges, where Bern had a medical conference. Bruges is definitely a must-see destination. The place is beautiful and everything is conveniently at walking distance. Above is the most photographed spot in Bruges. If you are thinking of visiting Buges, make sure you watich In Bruges, a movie with Colin Ferrell in it, to get a taste of the place.

The town centre

The Belfry

The city is best viewed by taking a boat ride along the water channels, and the cost was only 7 Euro per person. Again, there were no shortages of chocolate shops, and the best would be The Chocolate Line, but be prepared to fork out twice as much as the other shops. But definitely worth it. We are savouring the last few pieces that we bought!

Bern and I met up with some friends in Bruges that were also attending a medical conference. It was really nice to see some familiar faces, and it made us quite home sick. The restaurants here all have fairly similar menus, and moules and frites (mussels with fries) was definitely on every menu. I had moules and frites 3 nights out of five! Really fresh, tasty and plump mussels served in a huge pot, and normally cooked in white wine and garlic.

Bern as usual opted for steaks, but had moules and frites on some nights.

I always chose Belgian waffles for dessert. Some places were better than others, but generally, the waffles were light and fluffy, but cruchy on the outside. Really lovely, especially served with ice-cream and drizzled with dark Belgian chocolate.

Bern on the other hand was happy sampling many of the Belgium beers with his mate. On one occasion, they had four each. Considering the alcohol content (which was 9-10%, double of the usual beers), that is quite alot to drink.

City Centre at night

On the third day, our friends kindly took us on a drive to the outskirts of Bruges and one of the places we visited was Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetry and Memorial to the Missing.  Tyne Cot is a  burial ground for the dead of WW1 in Ypres Salient. Many Australians fought in this area, and were instrumental in capturing the area. The cemetery and its surrounding memorial are located outside of Passendale, near Zonnebeke in Belgium.

The other great thing about Bruges is that there are many tea houses around serving beautiful cakes. It must be the French influence. The baguettes here were just as good too, and that was had on many lunch occasions.

A tea room that Bern and I went to for lunch on the last day.

My hot chocolate was served in a little teapot and also came with a little cupcake. On the left are aperitifs of beef tartare on toast.

Bern's Croque Monsieur

My moussaka.

Overall, Bruges exceeded expectations. I am personally biased as I love France, and Bruges reminds me of France- beautiful, clean and most importantly, has good food!

Brussels, Belgium

Bern and I have just returned from a week in Belgium. Having not known much about the country, it was definitely better than expected. Belgium is truly a beautiful country, and its charm was enhanced by lots and lots of good quality chocolates, waffles and heavy beers. Plus, the trip is only 2 hrs by Eurostar train from London. Our first stop was Brussels, and we stayed for one night before heading to Bruges. Most of the people spoke Dutch, French and German and this mixed culture is evident in the food.   

I thought I would start the blog of with pictures of yummy chocolates. In Brussels and also in Bruges, almost every second shop was a chocolatier. It is a good thing we don't own a weighing scale in London. All that pigging out would definitely do some damage to the waistline and not to mention the effects on my coronary arteries. Oh well, it was well worth it. Who could resist? :)

It did not take me long to dig into my first of many waffles... and all drizzled with good quality Belgian chocolate.  MMMMmmmm.... salivating while thinking about it.

I did not forget about the city itself. Above is the main square called the Grote Markt. We came on a good day as the city was having a Balloon Festival. The streets were littered with tourists and locals alike and it was amazing to see all these giant balloons of many caricatures parading down the streets of Brussels. I personally like the giant blue Smurf and Spongebox Squarepants. But there was also Betty Boop, Ninja turtles, characters from Dr Zeuss, to mention the least. These balloons were accompanied by marching bands that were very good.

Above is Manneken Pis (translated as little man urinating). It is a famous landmark in Brussels and it is a little bronze statue of a boy urinating. This fountain was built in 1618 and has many legends as to its beginnings.

However, I'm not going to dwell on that, Wikipedia it if you are curious. Also, his outfit changes several times a week, and all his outfits are kept in a museum.

More photos of the main square

Ahhh... Belgian beer. Definitely not for the faint hearted. They all pack a punch, many with 9-10% alcohol. Needless to say, Bern could not wait to have a couple.

There were a few streets in Brussels that reminds me of Lygon street in Melbourne. They all have people standing outside the restaurant trying to lure customers by offering first drinks on the house. The place we went to served fresh seafood, but was definitely overpriced. But we had our first taste of Moules and Frites (Mussels and Frites) plus a whole lot more. Strangely enough, every restaurant was also serving Paella, a Spanish seafood rice dish. I don't think Spain was ever part of Belgium culture or history.

Mussels cooked in white wine- very French influenced

Our seafood platter

Paella

I forgot to mention that we were travelling with some mates from Melbourne. After dinner, we decided to pig out on some lovely fondue at Hiagen Daz (another French company). Great way to start a trip and end a lovely day.