La Galette De France

There is always something so delightful about a french cafe!  I have to say that a perfect weekend for me would include a visit to a cute, small but buzzing cafe somewhere around Perth!  That’s one of the things I love about Perth – our fantastic weather permits frequent such cafe visits!

A colleague had raved about the crepes at La Galette De France – so one weekend ages ago A and I were somewhere around the Nedlands area, and decided to stop here for a quick lunch!

Some pictures of the interior and the French delights that await you…

Don’t you just love the french touches in the cafe?!  Nice Efifle tower in the corner!

Rows and rows and trays of freshly baked pastries!  It took me awhile to decide what to have!!!

Now, these pockets of buttery and almond “goodness” is what they are famous for!  IE.  Almond Croissants!  Their first stall is at Subiaco markets – so perhaps you would have munched some of this whilst fruit and veg shopping!  If you google around, these almond croissants come up as perhaps being Perth’s best! My Mum is the almond croissant connoisseur!  These are pretty good, she says – but the swiss bakery in Subiaco is still her favourite!

So you ask where is the crepes!!!  Haha!  Here it is!!!  To be honest, it was only average!  A little disappointing!  (I actually prefer my own chicken crepes that I make – one day I will share that – my photography for my crepes were terrible… Will have to make it again and post it!)  The crepe was rather dry and hard, I expect it thin and moist!  It felt very healthy tho – like wholemeal, a little too crunchy for my liking.  A liked it tho!  I think this was a ham and egg crepe or something like that… this is the problem with blogging about something that happened ages ago!

Now!  My heart always skips a beat when I see such pretty colourful tarts!!!  Call me weird, but honestly these little beauties are such a delight to look at – I always feel a bit sorry to have to eat it   *Sigh*

I can never leave a cafe without trying one of their tarts if they sell it… again, the Swiss bakery in Subiaco wins hands down.  The custard for this was a little too yellow… but their shortcrust pastry from memory was lovely!  Crispy, slightly sweet and tasted like very nice biscuit

Would I return?  Yes I would Their coffee was decent and they have a good range of fresh pastries!  Try it next time you’re in the area! (By the way, this perhaps was the most staffed cafe I have ever been to – there were more staff than customers for such a small cafe! Haha!

La Galette De France

125b Broadway

Nedlands WA 6009

Christmas Nibbles!

The past week since Christmas has been hectic!  However before the 12 days of Christmas is over, I wanted to blog about these yummy Christmas delights we had over the festive period!

These are Nigella Lawson’s Snowflake Brownies!  You can readily find it on the internet – I’m quite sure it is the same as the one in her book. 

The Memoir held a fun filled Christmas Eve party at her place and we all brought a plate or two along, so we brought these along! 

These are gorgeous, rich, dense brown squares of delight!  (I used the Lindt 70% Cocoa chocolate!  Use these if you want a slightly less sweet but deep chocolate brownie!) 

The recipe says for it to be baked for 25 minutes – and true enough 25mins is perfect – any longer and you lose its moist and dense texture   You’ll know when it is ready when the top has a light brown crust on it.  Don’t forget the brownie will continue to cook as it cools in the tin. 

They were freshly baked and warm and straight unto the plate!  By the way, I can confirm that even when the brownies are still warm and you sprinkle the icing sugar on it, it doesnt melt! Cool huh!!!

These are creamy tuna vol au vents!   Tiny cute cases of puff pastry (easily bought ready made at Woolworths!) filled with a mixture of tuna, japanese mayonaise, finely chopped purple onions, corn and red and green capsicum!  Pretty yummy although I think next time I should make them a little creamier as they do dry out a little once you bake the whole thing in the oven for about 10-15mins!

This was our Christmas Day Brunch!  Croissants filled with creamy scrambled eggs (I followed Bill Granger’s recipe – again easy to find on the internet.  I didn’t have cream so modified it with half low fat milk and thickened cream!) and smoked salmon!  Yummmo!!!

By the way, believe it or not, this was one of my first times making scrambled eggs, so I googled to find out exactly how to make it.  I think the key is in the cream (yes so fatty!!!) and also not overcooking it and folding it in gently!  Even when you think it needs a bit more cooking, switch off the heat.  You’ll get very fluffy and tender scrambled eggs!

It was fun cooking this!  I can’t wait to make more of these eggs!

Hope you had a really good Christmas and a lovely time with Family and Friends, and remember this is the Day Jesus was born!!!

Happy New Year!  Wishing you a wonderful and blessed 2010!!!

Look Who’s coming to Dinner?

Yes, Vera is coming to dinner!   This is Vera’s “Lace” Collection.  Thank you to dearest A for a very indulgent, luxurious Christmas gift that I shall treasure for years to come! :)  I have been totally spoilt!  I jokingly “scolded” A that he must not introduce or teach me such indulgence!    I did not even realise this range existed!

This gift will be extra special and meaningul if we can share it, so we can’t wait to share this gift with you all when we have our own home in a few months!

(Well, it’ll be awhile before we have the full set, but we will definitely want to share this gift with you all once we have more of the collection!)

Read the note above carefully…. there is a “1 year accidental breakage replaceable” policy… phew… A said we dont need to be too careful with it for the next year then! Haha! Wrong!!! I shall still be treating these dishes with the utmost care!  They shall be an heirloom most likely… haha! 

So we invite you to have tea with Vera and us in the near future!!!

Hope you all had a very Happy Christmas!!!  

(p.s.  By the way, this is not the “baby” I’m referring to… stay tuned!  Thanks to A for these awesome pictures… Vera would be proud!!!)

Christmas Cookie Pops & Jars!

Three sleeps to Christmas! I know I keep saying this, but I can’t believe how quick Christmas has come around again! I LOVE this time of the year – everyone is always a bit more relaxed (although work is still busy!) and the pretty things in the shops, the lovely christmas music that plays everywhere and of course the huge amount of food and parties!

Last week was a baking marathon for me! Yay! So fun! I had planned these little christmas ideas for awhile so it was very satifying to put them into action!  IIt was the memoir’s birthday yesterday (Happy Birthday!!!) so a few of us got together for a bit of a Birthday + Christmas breakfast on Saturday.  I always find it really nice to start the weekend off with a nice relaxing breakfast! 

To wish everybody a Merry Christmas, I presented each person with one of these little jars of Christmas goodies!  These little glass jars were filled with cute pieces of homemade shortbread.  Perfect to have with a cup of coffee! 

And then after breakfast and running some errands, I spent part of the afternoon doing up these Cookie pops!  I have been dreaming about doing them for a few weeks so it was so satisfying to sit infront of all these cookie pops and ice them individually.  I used the “Cake Mate” Writing icing pens, which is readily available at your local supermarket to trace out these cookies!  It was a bit of a trial and error, but once you get going, it is good fun!  I felt about 5 again!  It was rather therapeutic, and reminded me how nice it was to be creative and to just do something that had heaps of colour and sugar, haha!  These cookie pops were made of shortbread as well, and I used paddle pop sticks and the satay sticks to prop them up!  Secure the sticks into the cookie before baking!  The Mini M&M’s represented the christmas decorations!

And… look at my geeky gingerbread man!

They were individually wrapped with cellophane paper and tied with a ribbon and arranged like a “Cookie Pop Bouquet” in a glass vase

I have all these other Christmas plans and things I want to make and bake by Friday but I have a feeling I have to save some of them for “Christmas in July”!!!  Haha!   The Memoir is hosting Pre-Christmas drinks at her home on Thursday night and we have a big family dinner on the Christmas Day itself!  So exciting!!! I have all these cooking and baking ideas but now sure if time will be my friend!!!   So watch this space!

Hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!  I will blog again before 2010!  Stay tuned for more posts on my “New Baby”…!!!

(P.S.  Thanks to A for these awesome and delicious pictures!!! Yum yum!!!)

A weekend away…

It is rare to have a free weekend, and it is even more rare to actually head down south!  Our family had talked for awhile about having a quick trip away before the end of 2009… so one night we quickly looked at our diaries and decided this weekend that had just past was the only time everybody was free!

We headed down south, using the new freeway (very cool, apparently saved us 30mins!  Plus the toilets that they built somewhere along the freeway was also very clean and good to use!) and before we knew it, we were in Margaret River!

We stayed at this awesome place called Treetops, which is managed by In-House Holidays.  The level of professionalism and cleanliness and quality is to be highly commended!

Once you walk through the front doors, here is what greets you…

You felt like you were in the middle of nature and yet in total comfort… ahhh…

Loved the outdoor area… it was so nice having breakfast on the balcony and spotting really colourful pretty birds and just seeing a LOT of green!

This place gave you a choice of two balconies…

My pictures don’t justify how cool this place was!  It is not everyday that you get to have natural Aussie land and bush right at your doorstep! 

Of course, a weekend away makes LOTS of eating! Yikes!!!  We had really lovely meals too… but have to admit that by the end of the weekend we were all eager to have some chinese food!

Our Saturday’s lunch was at the Margaret River Hotel…

This was a scallop and bacon pizza… really yummy!  An interesting combination but a good one!  The scallops were still nice and tender and juicy, cooked just right!

I had the chicken caesar salad, it had a poached egg on top!  The chicken was really nice and tender and moist!  Yummy!  I’m not a huge fan of cheese so it was a little on the cheesey side for me… but still really yummy, with bits of anchovies in it!

My brother and sister had the fish and chips!  Talk about chips worth the hip space!  These were it!  Crunchy yet fluffy inside… wow, these were great!

The highlight sweet of the Saturday definitely had to be from the Berry Farm (which by the way has THE best strawberry jam ever!  I haven’t tried this new batch yet, but from memory this jam is really delicious and exactly what you would imagine strawberry jam to be!  Bursting with the “happy fruit” and full of the glorious red colour, this has to be the Berry Farm’s best flavour!  We must have tried almost all the flavours but we always still come back to this one as our favourite!)

This pie was bursting with boysenberries!  Even if you are not a fan of this berry, you will adore their short crust pastry!  The pastry was slightly warm and soft, it almost seemed a cross between cake and the typical tart pastry!  It was perhaps one of the most delicious shortcrust pastry that Mum and I have ever eaten!  I wonder how they made it?!  It’s hard to describe… you just have to eat it!

How could we go home without eating these fluffy scones, served with fresh cream and their famous strawberry jam?!  Serious afternoon tea material

It was such a nice time to be away – I caught up on my sleep, and reading   Will have to do it again sometime soon!!!

Hope you all also had a good weekend in Perth!

Orange & Almond Cupcakes Continue…

As promised, here is a snapshot (using my humble pink Canon digital camera! All natural, no ability to edit or photoshop!!! Haha!) of my orange and almond cupcake!

It looks extremely orangy here… I dont think it was this orange in real life, I suspect it could be the lighting!  Very tasty!  A little too moist was the feedback from some of my colleagues, although the other half said it was exactly right - and guess what!  It has a shelf life of 5 days!  Still nice and moist after 5 whole days!   Yay!  Looks like my tweaking was fine after all!

Orange and Almond Cupcakes

A couple of weeks ago I received my first OFFICIAL cupcake order from my colleague!   Yipppee!!!  It was for my colleague’s mother in law’s 65th birthday!  They mentioned something about a lemony type of flavour cupcake… so immediately my head went into thinking mode of something rather adult yet yummy for a 65th birthday!  Bearing in mind apparently this was a very hip and modern 65 year old!  The thought of orange + almond came into mind… almond meal is quite subtle in flavour and gives the cupcake a slightly rough but yet more solid feel to it, which I felt was more appropriate for such a birthday, rather than for example a more plain flavour, like a vanilla cupcake!

Tonight, I finally got time to bake these orange and almond cupcakes…and I know I know, I should always follow a new recipe first, but I always find it way too tempting to meddle with the recipe, and ended up modifying it quite a bit, haha!  I’m not sure how it tastes yet – it is still sitting on the kitchen top, cooling down!  First impression?  I need to work on it again!   I think I was too generous with the orange juice… creating a citrus chemistry…

Will see how it turns out and may blog the pictures later this week!

Recipe was found from Home MadeS’ blog:

Original Recipe:  Almond and Orange Blossom Cakes

Source: Donna Hay Magazine, Issue 41, October/November 2008

 

125g butter, softened

¾ cup (165g) caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 cup (250ml) plain flour, sifted

1 tsp baking powder, sifted

¼ cup (30g) almond meal

½ cup (125ml) milk

2 tsps orange blossom water

sugar flowers, to decorate

Preheat the oven to 160C (320F). Beat butter, sugar and extract until light and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beat well. Fold in the sifted flour and baking powder, and then almond meal, milk and orange blossom water. Combine well. Spoon the mixture into 18 x ½ cup-capacity (125ml) muffin tins lined with paper cases.  Bake for 15 minutes or until springy to the touch. Remove from the tins and cool on the wire racks.

Ho Ho Ho!!!

I gotta go to bed now! Boohoohoo!!!   But just wanted to say Hello!  It has been TOO long!!!  I really miss blogging!!!

Cannot believe tomorrow is 1 December 2009!!!  Where did the year go?  That seems to be the general consensus amongst all! 

Just a quick one – our Christmas tree is up! Yay!!! My bro bought the tree, my sister decorated it and I am wrapping up the “presents” to place under the tree haha!

Also, we bought a gingerbread house!  I am SUPER excited!  Cannot wait to decorate it!  It’s a bit smaller than I expected tho!  A suggested we buy two kits and build a double storey house!  A mansion! HAHAHA!

We have stockings and christmasy stuff hanging around the house now!  Hope you have a fun December… Hohoho!!! Stay tuned or more blog posts!

I better dash off to bed now… panda eyes otherwise!

My Favourite Time of the Year…

…. is Christmas!   I love everything about Christmas…!  I love the festive mood in the air, the pretty lights, the glowing decorations and how special everything feels!  I love the big family gatherings, the feasts, the food, the presents, the fuss!!!  Most importantly for us christians, it is a time to remember the birth of Jesus

Christmas every year seems to catch me by surprise!  Yes, I know, it is the 25th December, every single year, so you would think that I would obviously not be surprised when I see all the decorations and christmas carols playing!  Yet, it comes by quicker and quicker each year!  I feel like I dont get to absorb the mood and festivity before everything gets packed away, and I’m left thinking, what just happened?!  Yes, I love the christmas theme, Natalie Coe, Michael Buble’s christmas carols, even Mariah Carey’s christmas songs.  I love shortbread, turkey, the red and green colour, the perfect excuse to eat and not feel guilty (well not too guilty anyway!).  When we were young, it took forever till it was Christmas…. how 365 days nowadays feels quicker than that!

Our young, big eyes would stare at all the glorious presents all wrapped up underneath the tree at my Grandma’s house.  I’m not kidding, I reckon it went for at least 2m around the tree!  It was the best time of the year!  Of course, everyone wrapped mutiple presents for us kids, so that we could keep upwrapping and upwrapping gift after gift!

So, this year, I want to better absorb the Christmas season!  Bonus, we are actually in Australia this year to celebrate, so we can start cooking and baking!!!  Yay!  I cannot wait!!!  Stay tuned – hopefully you will see some christmas goodies emerging from the kitchen!

What are you doing for Christmas this year?  Hope you enjoy your Christmas this year… enjoy it, love it, embrace it and stuff yourselves full of food, fun and laughter!

(Photos courtesy of www.taste.com.au – check it out!  There are lots of great ideas for you to start getting into the christmas mood!))

San Churro… Spanish Doughnuts!

 

Talk about having indulgence, luxury, creamy, heavenly flavours all in one cup … that’s what you get in a sip of San Churro’s Hot Chocolate!   This is not for the faint hearted!

On Friday afternoon, I thought I would make A’s wish come true for a cup of this hot chocolate!  So I asked The Memoir and her husband and our friend G to come along for a night of chocolate adventure.  It has been awhile since we headed into a “happening” spot like Fremantle on a Friday night – JUST for the fun of it!  (Made me realise that we should do this more often!  We are young, we are free, we haven’t got kids yet, we should get out more!!! Haha!)

We had to wait around, despite it being about 9.30pm, and had to hawk around like hungry vultures waiting for a table.  The place was buzzing!  With the deep brown wooden furniture, nicely displaced chocolates lining up the shelves and the energy of a friday night, it felt like a big city cafe!  I really liked the atmosphere!  The service was really quick too!

A ordered the Couverture Dark Hot Chocolate, and oh my, talk about a serious chocolate hit – more like a smash and a bang!!!  It’s like a chocolate bar, melted and sipped!  Even for a chocolate fan like me, I found it too rich – I think shared between two would be perfect! 

I had the Mint Spanish Hot Chocolate – it was nice actually!  It felt a lot less rich than the dark hot chocolate, but if you want a true chocolate hit, go for the pure hot chocolate!!!

We ordered a set for 2 and shared it amongst 5 of us…. it comes with 2 types of melted chocolate and 6 of these spanish doughnuts!  I think it could be more soft and fluffy to be honest!  I still remember having some of these at the Bluewater Grill buffet once, and they were actually better!  These were a little too tough and crunchy!  However, having never actually been to Spain or known a Spanish person, I’m not sure I am a good judge on what it is meant to be, since we have been more exposed to the american type of doughnuts!

Now… Im thinking I should research on how to create these doughnuts!  Yes, just deep fry them – but I’m wondering how do we make them extra tasty!  I expected the doughnut to be more flavoursome – perhaps I should add in some vanilla bean or extract if I ever make it myself!

This says it all…………. !!!  Always enjoy your chocolate!!! 

I shall be back to visit San Churros – if not to have a chocolate feast, but to enjoy a true cafe atmospher (you would struggle to find this type of cafe on a Friday night in a suburban cafe! )

FREMANTLE

91 Market Street,
Fremantle, WA. 6160
p 08 9336 7557

(Thanks to A for these yummy photos!!!)

Sun-Thu 8:30am-10pm
Fri-Sat 8:30am-11pm