All posts tagged: to do list

Tofu Tuesday: Sangria

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One of my “To Do” activities this spring was to make white sangria. I first tried it this year at Urbis Design Day and thought it was a lighter, refreshing version of red sangria (which I also love). We had a few friends over in the weekend so I made both red and white. The white was yummy, but the red was even better. I’ve grown out of love with white wine over the last year or so and while I don’t like chardonnay, I picked it because it’s less acidic to me than the other whites. Thanks Mum for this cool blue drink set for my early birthday present! I’ve put it to good use already. I made a simple sugar syrup with 2 cups of sugar dissolved in 2 cups of water. Boiled for 5 minutes (stirring occasionally just for fun) and then cooled and stored in a glass bottle. I used fresh strawberries (sliced) and canned fruit salad with additional canned mixed berries for the red sangria. Tofu the bunny gets the green …

Eat a flower

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What better time to eat a flower than spring time? Lavender has a potent smell that I don’t really equate to savoury food so I was a but apprehensive about this. So I crushed just 1 flower bud, mixed it with honey and coated some deboned chicken thighs. But after cooking, the flavour almost completely disappeared so I wish I’d used a bit more.

The secret to making Vietnamese Spring Rolls

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Vietnamese spring rolls (or summer rolls) are one of my favourite things to eat and I always order this as starter when we visit a Vietnamese restaurant. The light, refreshing roll contrasts with a punchy sauce and I feel like I never get enough of these things. The beauty of making food at home is you can have as many pieces as you like. You can eat as many as you like for a main course without confusing your poor waiter. I’ve made these rolls once before but it was a messy failure. My mistake was to soak the rice paper in hot water and for too long. By the time you roll up, it disintegrates and you can forget about trying to eat them with any ounce of dignity. I have found the secret which I will share with you below. When we were eating in Hanoi, Vietnam at the start of this year, I noticed that the rice paper rolls were a tad under softened. That led me to believe that the rolls …

Hello Spring!

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Woot! It’s that time of year again here in the Southern Hemisphere. Spring runs from now until the end of November so those hearty winter stews make way for lighter, brighter things like salads and BBQ. Raw food is back on the menu. Seafood comes back in full force. Stuff in your garden and in other people’s gardens start to bloom again. You’re happier eating lighter food and you start eating it outdoors. Here is my list of 10 spring inspired tasks to tend to my growing edge: Eat a flower Forage something and cook with it Make Vietnamese Spring Rolls Have a spring themed picnic Make a white sangria Visit a new farmers market Make macadamia and coriander pesto (using garden bounty). Make Oysters Kilpatrick Deal to a freshly caught fish Prepare a raw meal What are you looking forward to this spring?

Buh-bye Winter

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Your growing edge is the part of you that is still learning, trying new things and experimenting. It’s the area of your life that you are improving and working on. To push my growing edge as a foodie, I wrote a list of foodie tasks I wanted to achieve over the cold months. Tomorrow is the first day of spring so let’s look at the “To Do” list I wrote at the start of Autumn. I completed 8 out of 13 tasks I set for myself. Not amazing, but an ok first attempt. I wrote a blog entry on all the tasks I completed and links can be found below. 1. Learn to make Chinese soup. Done! I shared my recipe for this here. 2. Hold a cheese and red wine tasting party. Done! Photos of the event as well as the colourful tasting notes on the cheese and wine. 3. Overeat at a steamboat. Done with pleasure on a cold winter’s night. See here. 4. Get a slow cooker. This didn’t happen. I did …