Rocket, caramelised pear and parmesan salad

You may remember in my post about Rigoni's Bistro I mentioned their rocket, caramalised pear and parmesan salad. It is definitely a combination to add to the 'classic combination' list. My list contains such combinations as: chocolate and banana, chocolate and mint, ham and cheese, egg and curry powder, strawberry and cream, chicken avocado and chicken beetroot. Horseradish and mustard!

French chocolate macarons

I did it. I made macarons. I am overjoyed! What an achievement! I feel like I am a true food blogger now. I would say I feel like a great house wife, but I do not own a house or have a husband. Ok, so I am an honorary house wife who has an intention to purchase a house but no intention to acquire a husband. I had wanted to make macarons for a long time, but all the talk about them being so complicated and temperamental scared me away. But you know what? I have a university degree and $23,000 debt as a result. I can speak German, prepare financial reports and tie my own shoe laces. I am a talented weird little girl and there is no way I would let myself be defeated by a BISCUIT!

Hunter's chicken

This is what I had each day for lunch last week. Not bad eh? Though, my lunch was a little different; the stew had been frozen, then defrosted and then warmed up in the microwave in a bowl with a plate over the top. I used to be against microwaves but when you work in an office environment without access to a stove and saucepan, you learn to let them into your life, little by little. Watch out though, as you may become addicted to the office microwave like me. You will then require a hot meal each and every day and multiple cups of hot full cream mik too! The funny thing is, I have never used the microwave at my house.

The Heysen Trail, a picnic and the German Arms Hotel, Hahndorf

The other week my eating and walking companion, Alan and I ate and walked our way around Hahndorf. We arrived in Hahndorf and headed off on the Heysen Trail to Bridgewater. It was through this walk that we would earn ourselves a German feast for tea. The 1,200km Heysen Trail stretches from the coast at Cape Jervis in the south to the Flinders Ranges in the north. It passes through some very picturesque areas including native bushland, gorges, pine forests, vineyards and historic towns. The entire trail would take between 50 and 60 days to complete. The Friends of the Heysen Trail group offer a walking program in which you can complete the whole walk over a series of sixty walks over six years.

Almond parfait

'Nuts about sweets' is this month's Sweet Adventures Blog Hop theme. You may remember how my last few blog hop entries have been disappointing. Well, you will be happy to know that this one was great:) So great that I will be making it again. Even more amazing was the fact that I had to improvise with some of the ingredients. When you live in the 'sticks' like me, some ingredients are simply not available at near by shops. One must instead search the house for substitutes. It is all good for the recipe books to tell me items are available from delicatessens and gourmet shops...well, if you're like me, you have a long way to travel to one of these shops!

Rigoni's Bistro, Adelaide

When people mention Italian food, I always think of pasta, pizza and lasagna. I am such a big fan of these that the last time I consumed all three would have been sometime in 2009. Luckily Italian restaurants have much more to offer than these three items. Last week Alan, my eating companion, visited me here in Adelaide and together we visited Rigoni's Bistro, armed with the ever so wonderful Entertainment Book card.

White chocolate coocnut mud cake - a farewell cake

Some tips to 'become famous' in your work place: be kind, show respect, get to work on time, treat colleagues as you would like to be treated and most importantly, treat colleagues with cake. Colleagues really like cake. I baked the above 'farewell/maternity leave' cake for my manager last week. Everyone enjoyed it immensely and even gave me compliments! Compliments!

Dieter's crustless Quark cheesecake

 

Whilst on exchange in Germany I decided to bake a cheesecake. It was one of those typical cheesecakes made with lots of sugar and Philadelphia cream cheese. At the time, I thought this kind of cheesecake was something pretty fantastic. Something that you would write home about. A friend tasted it and said it was nice but nothing outstanding. What?! I could not believe it! The key here is that this friend had been brought up on Quark cheesecakes, not Philadelphia cheesecakes. In his opinion, I had not tasted a cheesecake until I had tasted a Quark cheesecake.

The Ultimate Apple Cake Mission - June: Old Bavarian apple cake

The Ultimate Apple Cake Mission is not yet over. For June (I know, it is the first day of July but this cake was baked in June), I present to you the Altbayrischer Apfelkuchen or Old Bavarian apple cake in English. This cake allowed me to overcome a fear of mine. No, not chickens, babies or big scary ducks but the GUGELHUPF tin! The gugelhupf tin had been staring at me each time I opened the baking cupboard for the past...years... and I eventually built up the confidence to use it.