Gourmet Traveller

What we ate this week…We’ve got Sauce…

~ stephzuniga ~ Leave a comment

Also, week 2 of our new blog format.

So, last week started with Father’s Day dinner and it actually turned out better than I expected.  I believe the phrase, “These are the best potatoes I’ve ever had” was uttered at least once.  Which was a win for me- and everyone to be honest.  Also, I got to have bearnaise sauce which means it was a good day.

What else we ate last week. 

A Char Siu Bun Salad from Every Night of The Week which was delicious and loved by the Team BUT required A LOT of steps for a Monday night.  It was more of a Sunday salad if I’m honest.  It was a pretty easy recipe, but  there was pickling involved- and honestly, who has time for that on a Monday night.

Tuesday was Gourmet Traveller’s Taco Rice and I cannot stress enough how much I love this recipe.  First of all, it’s an Asian/Mexican fusion dish that combines BOTH of my favorite cuisines.  It’s easy, fast and tasty- and involves chips.  What else could you want for a Tuesday night?

Thursday we had Neil Perry’s Taglioni with Crab.   It’s hard to go wrong with pasta, crab, or Neil Perry so it was good.

We had some unexpectedly sad news this week (Sad in a first world problem way).  Our favorite local burger place is closing down, BurgerHead.  It’s a go-to weekend burger staple for us– and I think I saw actual tears leave Thomas’ eyes when we told him the news.   Our neighborhood doesn’t have the best food options (as compared to everywhere else I’ve lived in Sydney) so this could mean more cooking on the weekend or more meals further afield.  

We also visited our one-time favorite Fried Chicken place in Sydney– Butter in Surry Hills.    When I lived in Surry Hills (a lifetime ago), it was right down the street and certainly one of the coolest places for fried chicken I’ve ever been.  Honeymoon Chicken still wears the crown of all time, best, most favorite and amazing Fried Chicken in the world but Butter could have the Sydney crown.    Bowery to Williamsburg’s Chicken and Waffles in Melbourne are pretty good too.

So what’s on for this week?

Soy Glazed Pork Cutlets with Japanese Slaw from Gourmet Traveller on Sunday will get a run before I put the Gourmet Traveller magazine back on the shelf upstairs.

BLT Salad on Monday night from the I Heart Naptime cookbook.  I’ll also make the Chicken Taquitos from there on Tuesday.  I Heart Naptime is actually a great cookbook for time poor parents- everything takes less than an hour and is kid friendly.   I don’t love the name (especially since it’s been ages since anyone in my house took a nap) but there are great baked treats (hello, Chocolate Chip Coconut Banana Bread Muffins) and some pretty good dinners in there as well!

Thursday night we’ll do Steaks with Fries and Bearnaise sauce (because there’s leftover Bearnaise sauce and I love Bearnaise).

Friday night, we’ll probably sneak in a trip to Burgerhead.  We have 6 weeks before they close and I’ve only just discovered their Chicken burgers are pretty good!

So, that’s what we’re eating this week?  What’s on your menu?

Declutterizationing

~ stephzuniga ~ Leave a comment

Yes, I know it’s not a real word but it seems like a better way to express “getting rid of all of your junk before the end of the year”.  Declutter is too simple, too neat to express what it actually is.  It sounds like a simple process of just tossing out a box or emptying a room whereas, I need to actually look before I toss..  Anyway, today I’ve decided to declutterize before The New Year.  Nothing extreme, it won’t be reality TV worthy and there won’t be a big reveal but hopefully the house will feel, well, a bit less cluttered by the end.

It started off with The Back Room aka Junk Room where I uncovered a box of newspaper articles and recipes that I’d been saving- since 2009!  See, I’ve inherited a horrible habit of my Mother’s.

“Hi, my name is Stephanie and I’m a recipe and article clipper.”

It’s a totally innocent habit until it takes over and you find a four year old box of newspaper pages full of recipes you’ll never make and articles that you probably don’t need to read anymore.  I would love to be the girl that makes the recipe or takes on the DIY, Make Your Life Better tip from the Weekend Paper- and occasionally I do make things I see in the Sunday paper- Scallops from Christmas last week were straight out of the Sunday Paper.  But there’s a fine line, and like most lines in my life, I don’t just toe it, I take a running leap across it.

My number one DIY lesson, make a list and write it down, don’t save the whole page for one website or restaurant to try.  And where recipes are concerned, I either have to clip, catalog and organize them using the multiple Kikki K folders I have or just throw them out or not rip them out in the first place.  Easier said than done!  But I need to change…..  I’m not sure if there’s a 12-step program for people like me, but I’m ready to change.  I’m a newspaper-clip aholic and it creates CLUTTER!

Today, it stops. I am declutterizationing the house.  (If, that word catches on in 2013, remember you heard it here first)  Goodbye Time Out magazines from 2009, most of the restaurants have shut down now so why are you still here?!  Goodbye Gourmet Traveller Magazine and your complicated recipes and resorts I don’t have the money for!  Goodbye articles I meant to read but still haven’t, 30 things to do before I turn 30, well, too late now so you’re in the bin!

That’s my mission for today!  My resolution for 2013- try not to clutterize in the first place! Easier said than done, because I might make that Apple Cake Recipe in the paper today, and I might want to go to that trendy bar….(rolling eyes at myself), Wish me luck!