Kumquat Marmalade. Or, Chopping Tiny Fruit for Hours.

If you have a kumquat tree you will know that when they are in season the fruits will suddenly grow abundantly, seemingly all at once, and you will feel like some kind of giant harvesting tiny oranges one by one.  This was the case at A's dad's farm, which led to our first delicious round of marmalade.

All the kumquats!  Faded view of our hero, the serrated knife, is also in frame.

So delicious was this Kumquat Marmalade that when our local supermarket incorrectly priced them (in our favour) this weekend, we went home with 6 more bags of these tiny orange friends.  Cue more feeling-like-a-giant-cutting-things time and we now have 12 jars of the sweet jammy stuff.

The recipe we followed is here, with some tweaks / tips taken from here because David Levobitz is the jamming king; we added a couple of limes for taste and the little serrated knife is key - both for cutting through the tough-ish citrusy skin and poking the seeds out as you do.

We had so much fruit we started measuring in bowls instead of cups.  The recipe calls for 2 cups of sliced kumquats and we ended up with 5 bowls.  Multiply the sugar, prep time and boiling minutes accordingly i.e. we went to bed pretty late.

The finished product!  Extra delicious with a hard cheese.

As you might be able to tell, the making of marmalade coincided with us playing around with a pro camera for a week, so the photos for this post are a little fancier than normal.  Hope you enjoyed!

24 hours in Portland

I mentioned earlier that Portlandia is real - but outside of hipster spotting and fixie bike riding 'seeing' Portland is basically just 'eating your way through' Portland; there are some incredible eats in this city and being the fattie that I am that dictated a lot of our movements.  People really love their food here, the obsession with local produce is all too true, but refreshingly sans the San Francisco price tag.

Here's what we covered over 24 hours:

The famous longstanding Outdoor Store which is basically a man's paradise, selling everything to artisan hand knives to fishing vests.  C bought some cowboy boots from a guy who I think may have actually been a cowboy, and picked the right boots for him in one go just by looking at his feet.

Voodoo doughnuts!  This is 'Portland's official doughnut', perfectly puffed and filled with creamy goodness.  This was also the first of many times that we lined up for a specialty food (not sure whose idea that was... *shifty eyes*). 

We spent a good part of our day cycling around on fixies to explore the city - being very bike-friendly it was relatively easy to get around but do keep in mind that Washington Park is up a hill so if you're like me, get ready for some bike-walking.  This was their famous International Rose Test Garden.

As a part of our cycling around we got lost in Lower Burnside - Amanda was the friendliest local who helped us get on our way.  Lower Burnside = cute rows of vintage stores and galleries, retro side-of-the-road diners.

A specialty roll at Bamboo Sushi: the world's first sustainably certified sushi restaurant and some of the best Japanese fusion food I have ever eaten.  I recommend going to the Northwest location so you can window shop down 23rd Ave then wander back on 21st Ave for a cheeky drink at a bar.

Not pictured but also enjoyed:

Salt and Straw - pear and blue cheese ice cream - this was the second time we lined up for food
Aviary - explore the Alberta district while you're there, a bit of an emerging arts neighborhood
Boogies Burgers and Brew - in Lower Burnside, as a break from browsing vintage shops
Lovejoy Bakers - there's a few of these, if you're road-tripping, grab a flaky pastry for the road here
Stumptown Coffee - excellent coffee!  You'll be cheering to know there are multiple of these too
Voodoo Doughnuts - I know I already said this, but did I mention it's open 24 hours?!  Make an experience of it and line up at the original location on SW 3rd Ave.

Ok I'll stop now.  #nomnomnom

New go-to fall recipe

Caramelised goodness in a flaky, buttery case.

Just invested in The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook and first cab off the rank was this Butternut squash and onion galette.  There is something supremely satisfying about making something out of a new cookbook and having it turn out just right the first time around.  Even if you didn't realise that a pastry blender is wildly different from an actual blender (thank you, internet for that last-minute save).

It was really interesting to see how she'd modified it over the years from her original online recipe to the one in the book - giving the option of thyme instead of sage, or replacing the sour cream for greek yoghurt.  If anything this has given me more gumption to have some flexibility when cooking things up from a recipe.

Thoroughly recommend both the cookbook and the dish - perfect for fall.  Yes, I called it fall.

Burgers of SF

One thing that 'Merica really does right is the burger - I've written before about my addiction and they are they are a whole different beast over here.  While I'd love to order the ones I've sampled into an empirical 'best of' list, it just wouldn't seem fair to all the other burgers out there that I am yet to sample *I'm-a comin' for youuu my pretties*.  Also, I sadly don't even have a picture of one that currently tops my list (over at Spruce - order it off the bar menu), so I can tell you now that this tour of beef patties in pictures is already incomplete.  Until part two, here's five spectacular sandwiches, objectively ordered by accessibility - don't make me pick favourites yet!

In-N-Out: enough said.  When is this a bad idea?  The answer is never.  I resisted on the double-double here, but if you're a first timer that's a must - you could even go 'protein style' if you want to skip the bun, but that sort of defeats the purpose really.

This is the 'French and Fries' over at Roam - not going to lie, I thought the fries were an addition on the side but when this arrived I got this pleasant surprise.  Gruyere really makes this one - but in reality that cheese is the cause of and solution to all of life's problems.

Truffle again.  This compact little package comes to us from Umami Burger - I love this place, but hear mixed reviews from guys, maybe based on the fact that the portions edge on the small side.  Personally, this is a favourite of mine - order it with their smushed potatoes and a plate of their huge golden onion rings.

A favourite pastime of mine: going to swish restaurants and ordering the burger.  I added bacon to this fancy, glorious pile of happy from Mission Beach Cafe.  Yes that's truffle parmesan fries.  Yes a side salad was an option.  No I haven't been to the gym a week.  Thank goodness for like-minded friends to dine with.

Glazed doughnuts instead of a bun you say?  Why yes, yes I think I will.  'The Ringmaster' from Straw was a beast I shared with a buddy as part of an early celebration.  True to our waiter's words, the savory of the beef cuts through the sweet of the doughnut and actually makes this a surprisingly moreish parcel.

This is definitely only 'Part 1'.

Summer snacking

Things I do while I wait for my laundry to finish:

1. Creepily take other people's used magazines out of the recycling bin to read in the laundry room
2. Empty out the lint from the other dryers (more because I strangely enjoy this, rather than to be a nice person)
3. Blog, not very well

So much has happened in the last few weeks that I haven't captured - I am always torn between "meaningful post later" or "crappier post now", seeing as the first approach isn't yielding me any action, let's try the latter until my clothes are ready for harvesting.  It's officially summer here now, so let's talk about snacks we can eat outdoors.  (Brain: Hahahaha oh Lorna that isn't really a topic but ok whatever) -

Favourite froyo stop - Fraiche on Fillmore.  The best toppings, all organic and conveniently en route to Safeway.  When I really don't want to step out to buy toilet paper, telling myself I can get one of these to go while I trot down the street is my incentive.

The Chairman's pork belly bao with pickled daikon.  Officially my favourite food truck, discovered via a friend at the Treasure Island Flea.  Steamed bun all the way.

The freshest made-that-morning mochi I have ever tasted from a little mom and pop store which a good buddy took me to.  Can't remember the name, but oh it's at the top of the stone walk in SF Japantown (there's only one after all).  Yet to try the elusive strawberry flavour, only available on Saturdays!

Humphry Slocombe's.  Arguably better than Bi-Rite in my opinion, but I know that's controversial so I'm not going to harp on it too much.  I feel like the flavours are more adventurous here, and the servings more generous - reminds me more of Messina, my first love.

Aaannnnd that post was surprisingly really easy for me to churn out.  Looks like I snack a lot and enjoy documenting it, who knew (eep).

To summer!

Sydney, you've grown!

Ok last Sydney post that I just have to squeeze out.  I could write about catching up with C and family and all the lovely folk back home but all those emotions are even more difficult to capture than the mountain tops of Yosemite.  It was so, so great to visit, but also strangely wonderful to get back here - which I didn't expect to feel in such a short amount of time.

Anyway, to a more superficial aspect of how Sydney has changed - with the free time that I had I was determined to see the slew of new places that have opened up in the city, and boy was I impressed!  We're definitely a step closer to giving Melbs a run for their money, methinks.  Of course, everything felt wildly overpriced compared to 'Merica but that's a story for another time.

Here's a snapshot of what I sampled, accompanied by some of the worst photos ever taken.  *Bad Asian me*.

China Lane - the delicious, younger CBD sister of China Doll which C met me for lunch at - yes, it's in that birdcage alley, but the artwork actually adds to the ambiance.  Order the shrimp San Choy Bau.

A most delightful belated birthday dinner with my traditional duo at Mejico, right next door to Jamie's Italian.  They make the guacamole for you fresh on the spot (I'm talkin' someone will actually cut and scoop and mash that avocado in front of you and ask you if you want pistachos in with it too - say yes!)

Bizarrely this looks like some kind of creepy RSL but it's in fact The Rook - the perfect, hidden rooftop bar in the city in that it's actually indoors (hard to explain, but the roof is see through in parts).  It's annoyingly owned by the Cargo crew, but you have to give props for when an empire gets it right - and this was loads of fun!

My most favourite new place of all - Monopole, which was conveniently stumbling distance from home.  C managed to get us late reservations on a Saturday, and we were seated even later, but they entirely made up for it with some of the best service I've had in Sydney - delicious canapes coming out to us with their apologies for the wait, and the best wine recommendations.  Love!

Finally, while not that new at all I really wanted to go to The Apollo as I still hadn't tried it.  I'd heard mixed reviews, but I really loved it!  C was on a health kick, so he didn't let me order the baked cheese (*shakes fist*) but the sardines, octopus and salads were no less enjoyable, and super flavoursome.

And then I came home and went on a juice cleanse.  Well, tried to.

G'night everyone.

Peachy craving

Jamie's famous 'Christmas' salad.  Strangely not on his website so far as I can see, but recipe here.

I get out-of-control cravings for two things: cheeseburgers, and peaches.

The cheeseburgers, I realised, are because I rarely eat red meat in any other form outside of cheeseburgers.  My cravings are really for red meat... smothered with cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.

The peach cravings began in Year Two, when we were reading through James and the Giant Peach.  I remember sitting cross-legged on the classroom floor, Mrs Frawley was reading through the part where James and the insects are *starving*, having been floating around on the peach for so long, when they suddenly realise they are sitting on a fruity goldmine and they start ravenously tucking into its juicy flesh.  The description was so deliciously vivid I actually asked mama if we could go to the supermarket on the way home that day, and remember surreptitiously throwing some peaches in the trolley.  When I got home I cut it open myself and did that thing where you slice it all the way through and then twist it so the top half pops off - do you know what I mean?  It was such an awesome feeling, and with that peaches forever cemented a place in my heart.  Even if only in candy form.  I guess this also means that Roald Dahl gave me a love of reading, and fruit.

Anyway, I had a similar craving today but quickly put it out of my mind (it is the middle of winter here, after all).  You should have seen the excitement on my face when I saw a small pile of them at Whole Foods today - oh how I love that store!  As if my mind had been preparing for this moment, I instinctively grabbed the ripest one, some buffalo mozzarella, a few leaves and power walked home as fast as my TOMS would take me.  I did a lot this weekend, but this salad is the crowning highlight for me.  Not sure what that says about my priorities, but there you go.

Probably the most expensive peach I've ever had, but I would spend that $1.69 all over again.

Post-dinner-party brunch

This Friday gone I passed the new-homemaking milestone of having a couple of friends over for dinner.  It's funny how little acts become more important when you're doing them by yourself, in a new city, with an apartment that may or may not be kitted out with everything you need for a dinner party (turns out I'm missing a grater, serviettes and the corkscrew I *borrowed* from corporate housing breaks easily).  I was a little nervous of how it would go, especially without head chef C being there, but three courses and five hours later, it was one of the best nights I've had while here.

Anyway, I had another kind of excitement this morning when I remembered the delicious bonus that comes with hosting a dinner party: extravagant brunch made from leftover ingredients.  I cannot express how much I was looking forward to this.  The entire time while I went for a run this morning I was debating whether or not the potatoes should go in the eggs or just outside, cooked up with some onion like some kind of hash.  Which of the four happy cheeses leftover from the cheese board should I incorporate into my omelette?  These are the hard-hitting questions that plague my mind.

Pick at leftover strawberries and cheese while you start your cook up.

You can see that I decided on potatoes in, mushrooms out.   Picking at the strawberries continued, with some green juice. 

Enjoy with a view of anything except your laptop. 

This is the weekend, people.  You had a dinner party and now you're eating roasted portobello mushrooms and prosciutto for breakfast - you have a lot to be thankful for!  Now, put on some music and think about the walks you'll go on, before the cheese plate you'll probably have for dinner tonight.

Animal-style

Don't let anyone tell you that In-N-Out is a bad idea.  In fact, it turns out to be the greatest thing you can do on a Monday after work with a friend.  I resisted the double double but couldn't help going animal-style on the fries.  It was both the very best, and very worst way to start the week.

Yes!

It's just one gigantic mess, effectively.

Mmm.  On a side note, I think I was also just craving red meat.

Ok Tuesday, I am ready for you.

Giving thanks

Well folks, this weekend has been a big one - I enjoyed my first ever Thanksgiving, caught up with new and old friends and somewhere in between even managed to sign a lease!  So, so much to be thankful for, one of the greatest things being that I no longer have to troll Craigslist every half hour.  I will spare you the unnecessary number of photos I have of my new place (for now) in favour of sharing this sunny little harvest I had in a friend's backyard on Thursday.  With the sun out full force and persimmons weighing heavily on their tree, I got to see an impromptu first picking of the season. The fruits were still a little firm, but perfectly sweet:

Heavy bunches of persimmon ready for picking.

Tug and catch!  This was the closest I got to an action shot, but I missed the burst of leaves that came with each successful pull.

I love the star in the middle. 

The fruits of our labour.  Well,  not my labour - but I did sit, snack and supervise.

Sitting barefoot with a coffee on their steps, it was the perfect way to start a day of thanks.

So Sydney

Currently fighting the jetlag off in my first few hours SF - am here for what they call a brief 'home trip' (which sounded strange to me as I still consider Sydney my home, but the purpose of this is to scope out your new 'home' before moving out here).  As I haven't ventured beyond my laptop in the hotel and eating these to stay awake (demolished half a box already, someone please stop me), I thought I'd do a roundup of my 'so Sydney' activities of late.

The weekend past has been full of all of my favourite local things, in fact I consider this post the ultimate weekend for anyone thinking of coming to visit Sydney full stop.

Lunch with a view over at The Bucket List, Bondi.

The always stunning Icebergs kicking off the Bondi to Coogee walk.

Noodle markets in Hyde Park with friends from out of town.

Taking the Manly ferry back to the city after lunch at Hugo's and beers at 4 Pines.

A long awaited dinner for two at the newly opened Movida Sydney - we got lucky and just turned up for a table last Saturday,  only had to wait 20 mins over a vino at 121 BC, which we didn't mind at all!

At least the sunshine has followed me here!

Failsafe vegan gingerbread

Discovered this recipe via my brother, a once vegan with gingerbread cravings.  I have been known to fail at making a cup of instant coffee, so for me to say that I am yet to ruin a batch of these really proves them as failsafe.  As they store well they can be made in advance as a gift or in my case, for that baby shower you're going to on the weekend (yes, I know).

Over-index on the amount of flour you use to roll the dough out, and cover your hands with it too.

When they say 'chill for an hour in the fridge' they really mean that, it can't be replaced with 8 minutes in the freezer (so I found).

Look at all those little guys!  If they're super floppy and hard to transfer from your bench to the tray it's probably because you took that aforementioned shortcut when chilling the dough.  Come on admit it, don't blame the internet recipe.

Well hello there!  This one was a little cracked because I rolled the dough out thicker than it should've been - but again, I just left them to cool and the cracks just sort of melded together.  More importantly, it was no less delicious!

Other fun facts - molasses can be replaced with treacle, you can undercook them slightly for chewier gingerbread, or overcook them slightly if you want crunchy, and finally any time you lose the recipe, you can just google 'vegan gingerbread' and it's the first result.

Happy gingerbaking!

The local moment

Whenever I go to a new city, I'm never truly satisfied until I feel I've been somewhere truly local and been able to navigate my way through a situation, sans driver or guide.  While my drive around town had been amazing, it was hardly experiencing the city as locals do (pretty sure they don't get carted around in the back of an air-conditioned Toyota with iced water all day).

That changed yesterday when I came across this chaotic canteen at Shilparamam and had the delicious local moment I'd been waiting for.

The guy at the very back would squeeze the flour out into the piping hot oil, which firms it up into ball form.  I actually tried to order one of these but when I said "can I have one of those round balls please?" they just laughed at me haha!

I finally worked out that there was a ticketing system which meant fixed prices from the board - refreshing after all the haggling I'd been doing.  Went with a masala dosa, thanks to C for introducing me to these crispy pancakes on the poncy streets of Surry Hills.

Success!  Perched it on a chair as it was insanely hot to hold through the paper plate.  Not sure what the darker sauce was but it was delicious as it was lethal!

The chair I was resting my dosa with was swiftly taken away from me when someone else needed to sit down.  Seeing me struggle, these two beautiful girls made room for me on their table and even shared their iced water with me! (I was crying from spices at this stage).

Authentic local meal achieved - and with the kindness of strangers I didn't burn my hands or belly.

My hands and face were covered with oil at the end of it all (napkins aren't big over here) yet even my meal at the palace wasn't nearly as satisfying as that burning dosa.  

Was the perfect end to my (almost) week in Hyderabad.  Best 44 cents I ever spent.

Food, on a truck

Went to my first PechaKucha in a long time on Tuesday to see a friend, and to my delight it also afforded my first Sydney food truck experience!  Eat Art Truck was there to cater the event and boy was it delicious - smoky barbecued pulled pork buns, spicy crunchy noodles and fried chicken wings anyone?

The art portion of the truck.

Ordering food from a truck window is strangely novel and exciting.

They have a legit kitchen going on in there!  He fried up the wings fresh as my stomach made impatient noises.

Sticky fried chicken wing goodness.

Reaching up to collect our food from the whirring truck was a moment straight out of my last trip to the US, and oh it felt great knowing they are here to stay.

It's Friday!  It's a food truck!  Happy long weekend y'all - see if you can chase a food truck down yourself.