Homemade pizzas

A week or so ago I had my girlfriends over for an easy dinner before heading to the movies. I decided to make pizzas because I had plenty of time to make the dough and think of some yummy toppings! we had lots of different flavours including pumpkin/pancetta/olive, zuchinni/salami/tomato/fetta/, pesto/garlic prawn, and a cheesy/garlic one. they were all super yummy and we all enjoyed them- there wasnt much leftovers so thats always a good sign! i would have to give them a 9/10- not sure how I would feel about going back to takeaway pizzas now, nothing beats the homemade version. They are so much healthier and really do taste 100% better!

Cupcake practicing 2...

more fun in the kitchen today! half the cakes are vanilla and the other half are choc mud. I ate a chocolate mud one and they were delicious- super moist but not too rich. Still learning how to use the piping bag so its quite rustic but at least i'm improving!

Cupcake practicing...

In a few weeks a friend and I are making a birthday cake for a 3rd birthday, and we are doing cupcakes. I want to get some practice in because its really hard to get them just right! Today I found lots of problems along the way...they rose way too much (I wanted a flat top) so I chopped off the tops so I could ice them the way I wanted. The icing wasnt that good either, I tried piping it but it was just way too moist. Definitely need some further practice to get them just right! Will do some investigating of different recipes and I think il get my hands on a better cookbook, the one im using at the moment is really really vague!

'Cheats ministrone'

This soup is another donna hay recipe from her latest magazine- the third time iv cooked from it this week! Its just an easy throw together soup, hence the 'cheat' in its name. I also made my own pesto for the top using basil, pine nuts, garlic and parmasan which was really yummy and went really nicely with the tomato flavour of the soup. I topped it off with some extra parmasan, and served it with some toasted ciabatta bread- a true winter warmer :)

Pasta with caramalised onion, pancetta and olives

I dont eat much pasta, in fact I think it would have been at least a few months since I last had it. After flicking through the latest donna hay magazine I saw this recipe and instantly wanted to try it out. For the recipe you needed to caramalise onions in brown sugar and red wine vinegar, and they tasted amazing. I had never done this before, it was so quick and easy and was the highlight of the dish. This pasta was different to most pastas i usually eat that are tomato or cream based, and I really enjoyed the lightness of it and all the different flavours. I also made some garlic and chive butter for the bread- which is something I make quite a bit when im not being too health conscious! A very carb-loaded dinner, but also a very yummy dinner that I would definitely make again! 7/10 :)

Pikelets for afternoon tea...

This afternoon after sitting at my laptop studying all day I got very bored (and hungry) and felt like something yummy! So, i whipped up some pikelets. Served them just with some raspberry jam, and also lemon and sugar. Yum yum yum...

Ricotta stuffed chicken wrapped in bacon served with creamy mash

There was success at the dinner table tonight, a very flavoursome dinner!
Chicken filled with ricotta (flavoured with lemon rind and parmasen) then wrapped in bacon. I made a creamy no lump mash by pushing the cooked potatoes through a sieve and then stirring through hot milk and butter- the best mash iv ever made! the extra effort was definitely worth it. I also made a white wine lemon sauce, which also had dijon mustard in it. The sauce really made the dish and brought it all together. Even my boyfriend and fussy Dad enjoyed it! Will definitely make this again, delicious :) 8.5/10

Red Door Store- Northcote

Tried the red door store for lunch on a lazy sunday....
I had a sweet potato and corn cake with a poached egg, free-range bacon, spinach and spicy tomato relish.
It was flavoursome, but didnt really have a wow factor and I wasnt overly impressed with presentation. The bacon was very very oily and the spinach was merely placed on half of my plate smothered in dressing. I also didnt like how the relish was smeared over the whole cake, it was quite spicy and after a while it was all I could taste. On the upside, this place has a nice atmosphere and does really good coffee! the sweet options on their breakfast menu also sound good (fresh toast with ricotta and rhubarb & coconut crumpets- yum!), so will have to try it again and give those ago.
Overall, the dish I had has room for improvement.

APTE- A place to eat

Yesterday myself and a friend felt like something extremely delicious and our favourite place to go is APTE in Heidelberg Road, Alphington. This place has an all day breakfast menu, which we ordered from despite it being 1pm in the afternoon! We both had the 'mixed platter' which is a half serve of their amazing ricotta hotcakes, infused with orange and served with pears and berries on top, and also a half serve of their equally delicious banana and coconut bread, topped with honey labna, pistachios and stewed rhubarb. This is without a doubt my all time favourite café for breakfast, regardless of what time of the day it is. The coffee was really good too. Overall, 10/10!

Crepés with bananas, bluberries and honeycomb butter

Well today is mother days, so I got up and made my mum (and the rest of my family!) crepés filled with honeycomb butter and topped with caramalised bananas and blueberries. The honeycomb butter is divine, so yummy, especially when its all melted and spills out of the sides of the crepes. Nothing really beats pancakes on a sunday morning! 8/10

Steak and mushroom sauce

Hmm...quick and tasty dinner tonight. Porterhouse steak with mushrooms in a creamy chive sauce. It was yummy! I must look up cooking times for cooking steak so I can get perfect medium rare everytime, i never know how long to leave it on for! tonight was definitely a good guess, it was nice and pink in the middle. Not much can beat a juicy steak smothered in creamy sauce- delicious! 8/10

Replete Providore Hawthorn

This morning myself and 4 girlfriends went off to Replete Providore in Barkers Road, Hawthorn for breakfast. It was winner of best breakfast restaurant 2009. I had eaten there a few years ago but was keen to try it again.

We sat in the back part of the cafe which was good because we were away from the hustle and bustle of the main front. We ordered coffees, my friend ordered a 'large' coffee- expecting a mug size- and it came out in a milkshake sized glass! It was huge! Luckily, the coffee was really good.

I chose their award winning dish- ricotta hotcakes with lemon curd and strawberries. It came with 3 hotcakes- but I could only fit in two! The lemon curd was what really made the dish, it had a tangy tart flavour and a beautiful creamy texture. The hotcakes I found were a little a little dry and starchy, and they could have been a bit more generous with the strawberries. I enjoyed them, but next time will try something else! Atmostphere of the cafe was great, definitely book if you plan to try it as there were people queing out the front waiting for a table.

Overall: 6.5/10

Spiced Lentil Soup

As the weather seems to be getting colder and colder I seem to crave soup more and more! So today, I searched for a recipe that would be quick and healthy and have lots of yummy flavours. This soup was spiced with chilli, cumin and coriander, and bulked up with vegies and red lentils. I finished it off with a big dollop of natural yoghurt and it was delish! I think next time I will use a bit more chilli to add some extra heat...

overall 7/10 :)

Katie's Food for Thought

Welcome to my food blog :)
I dont mind how many or how few people check it out, its really just for fun and a place I can express my love for all things food!
its all very new to me so we'll just see how it goes!