Masterchef… oh how I will miss thee.

You brought joy and happiness to my life 6 nights a week. SIX nights! You inspired me to perfect my pizza dough and add a pizza peel to our wedding registry. You’ve given me an immense desire to make something…ANYTHING out of spun sugar. You inspired our friend Yorky to go out and buy a food processor for the sole purpose of making this Frangipane tart.  Your macaron tower challenge inspired Sara and I to take a trip to the Lindt cafe so Sara could try (and LOVE) her first ever macaron. I’ve started using fresh garlic rather than the jarred or powdered stuff and I’m very tempted to buy a mortal and pestle so I can grind my own spices.

Some people don’t get the Masterchef craze, but I totally do.  I think you have to like cooking and enjoy food to really appreciate how awesome this show since I love cooking, this show is perfect for me! I actually feel like I learned a lot about cooking and general food knowledge that I can use in my day to day life. That’s not to say I’d actually eat half the stuff they made but at least I feel more educated about it all!

For the most part, I loved all of the contestants. I would have been happy with several different people as winners, but I think the right person won in the end… even if I once thought it should be Marion.

I am so happy that I was able to watch the whole season. Last season I was out of the country for most of it (and I didn’t have tivo so I missed most of the episodes anyways). It really couldn’t have ended at a more perfect time… right before I take off to the States. Speaking of the States, I hear Masterchef is coming to America. Woohoo! Something else to download from itunes, although 6 days a week might get a bit pricey. My only concern is that Gordon Ramsay is evidently hosting and I have a feeling he won’t be quite as nice as the Australian judges. Regardless, check it out. If it’s anything like the Aussie version, it will be an enjoyable show to watch and learn from.

I just have to say… are those judges kidding with their criticism? Alan Joyce actually said something to the effect of “the prawns are not bad but they definitely are not Qantas.” Really? Have you tasted your food? While business class meals definitely are much tastier than economy, I still wouldn’t say they are anything phenomenal. I can probably count about 2-3 meals that I’ve really enjoyed enough to remember them but for the most part, airplane food is airplane food.  No one expects it to be gourmet; I think even business class passengers don’t expect anything overly exquisite.

I did like that the judges were served their meals on black plastic trays by the blue team and had to use those horrible wide handled Qantas spoons to eat their food. Classy.

All in all, I’m pretty sure that the episode was a fancy way for Qantas to promote the A380. Well, I say do whatever you need to do to increase sales Qantas because Andrew would like to be flying one of those giant airplanes soon!

And Masterchef… keep the wonderful episodes coming. I love you and I love that you are on 6 nights each week.

Decor: 7.5- 8:  The atmosphere is great. Blackboards with white chalk, wine bottles on display, marble top tables, romantic mood lighting. It definitely is appealing to the eye. The only reason I gave it a bit lower score is because we had so sit on stools with tiny little seats (ok, fine) but there was no foot rest on the stool or under the high marble bar style table that we sat at. I’m not that tall, so I had to sit on the very edge of the stool to allow my feet to sit flat on the floor. It just made it a tad uncomfortable. If I were any shorter, I would have been suffering. They do have regular tables, so I’d like to get one of those next time.

Value: 6-7:  It was pretty pricy but not too bad when we added it all up. Pizzas range from about 22-28 bucks from memory. Pasta and main dishes were $20+. I think the prices were quite comparable to the Fourth Village place I tried a few months ago. Pizzas were a good size for the price (since they are gourmet), but my pasta was pretty small. Honestly, if I was just eating the pasta (which was about $24 bucks) I would not have been full at all. Luckily I shared some pizza as well. With our meals (including pizza and pasta) and including beers and a bottle of wine, we ended up spending about $35 each.

Service: 8.5-9– The girl who took our order didn’t write the orders down which seemed classy; however, she messed up one of the dishes. She immediately came out and apologized and admitted fault right away. She then asked if we wanted to eat the incorrect pizza that she brought out becuase otherwise it would just go to waste. So we got another pizza for free! Luckily for me, it was the exact pizza I wanted to order if I didn’t get my pasta. Sweet!! The correct order was brought out fairly quickly so we didn’t have to sit waiting for too long.  Things we asked for were brought out promptly and our water was refilled (although probably not as often as I needed with all the chili oil I was eating). Definitely up there holding a spot as a place with some of the best service I’ve seen in Sydney.

Taste: 9- My pasta was great!!! I got gnocchi with a basil and tomato sauce with smoked mozzarella. Smoked mozarella has quickly become a favorite ingredient and I find myself wanting to order a dish simply because of that!  The only problem with the pasta is that there wasn’t nearly enough of it!! I wanted more. The pizza I tried was also really good, it was gourmet but not too funky.

I recommend this as a nice date place or for a great night out with friends. It’s probably not somewhere I’d go for a simple Tuesday night dinner. It’s just a little too nice for that. Oh and just FYI- it’s not BYO but it looks like they have a great selection of wines to choose from.

On our way out we spotted another new place called Blue Plate Bar & Grill. I checked out the menu and became very excited when I realized that this was clearly an American style restaurant. I just did a little search and it turns out that the owners of South have opened a new restaurant in Neutral Bay. We definitely want to check that out next!

Okay Neutral Bay… keep the great new restaurants coming!!!

So now I am happy to share my Peachy Sangria recipe with you all.

• 2 bottles of chilled light white wine (trust me, you’ll need at least 2 bottles – I used a Semillon/Sav. Blanc blend)
• 1/4 cup peach vodka
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup tinned/canned peaches (in juice, not syrup)
• 1/2 cup of the peach juice from the can
• 1 pear, peeled and sliced
• 1 orange, sliced
• 1 kiwi sliced
• Sprite or other lemon lime soda to top up

1. Add the fruit, sugar, juice and vodka to a pitcher, stir well
2. Add the wine and stir
3. Let the Sangria chill for awhile. I let mine sit in the fridge for an hour
4. Pour into glasses over ice, top up with sprite
5. Drink way too quickly and wish you had made more

YUM!

Obviously you can mix up the fruit… but don’t forget the peaches- otherwise it wouldn’t be very peachy would it?  I was really surprised that it turned out so well using vodka. The only reason I used vodka was because I ran out of brandy so I was a bit worried that it might be weird- but the peach vodka definitely added to the flavor!

So here it is… my first “non-dinner” review:

Decor: 10- With all of the cute little details I already mentioned, paired with a beautiful view of the harbour- how could it get any nicer? It’s one of the cutest cafes I’ve seen in Sydney. It was a nice change from the typical modern metal and plastic furniture you see in most casual cafes around here. The ambiance of the location, decor and overall atmosphere was very pleasant.

Value: 8- While I will always preface this with “compared to other places in Sydney” – I have to say, this was quite reasonable. I don’t go out for breakfast much since it’s not one of my favorite meals but when we do go for breakfast, we usually head down to Bottom of the Harbour at Balmoral. While Bottom of the Harbour has great views of the ocean, it also has a lot of traffic and pedestrians passing by constantly; plus, the service there isn’t that great. Anyway… my point is that B.O.T.H. charges more for many of the same items we saw at Burnt Orange and Burnt Orange has a great view as well and it’s more quiet and peaceful. With all that said, I didn’t order much at B.O. and the lunch did look at bit more pricey. I’d have to try more food there to see if it’s really as good of a value as I think it is based on my first experience.

Taste: 7- I only ordered a scone, but it was a delicious sun dried tomato and cheese scone with cream cheese on top. Yum. I ordered that with an Earl Grey tea and Andrew got a fruit salad with yogurt and a flat white coffee. For what we ordered, I don’t have too many complaints. I think my scone had great flavor, but could have been a little moister- it was a tad bit hard and dry on the bottom. Andrew liked his fruit but not his coffee. He has since been back and reported that his eggs and toast were good… so we’re pretty much 2 for 2.

Service: 7- They were really nice and didn’t charge Andrew for adding honey to his fruit salad. When I asked for my scone to be heated, they happily obliged.  I wouldn’t say it was the most fantastic service but I personally think it is WAY better than at Bottom of the Harbour.

I definitely look forward to going back. This place actually makes me want to go out for breakfast and I never want to do that! It also makes me want to shop and buy tons of cute things to decorate my house and give as gifts. Oh how I wish I had millions of dollars just lying around to waste.

Caesar’s Pizza Palace- Lane Cove

Andrew and I ventured out of our comfort zone the other night and ate dinner in Lane Cove. We stopped there on the way home from his dad’s house. We walked up and down the street looking for somewhere to eat. There was a Persian place that looked great but it was a $45 set menu so we quickly passed on that one. We ended up at a little Italian place called Caesar’s. Here’s what I thought about it:

Decor: 3- It was more like a takeaway place, so it wasn’t meant to be fancy- but they could have done a bit more with the place.  I’m not a fan of paper posters put into frames. Just buy some art or paint something.

Value: 7.5- We got a haloumi salad which was a little expensive at $12 but the pasta and pizza we got were a little cheaper than most places we’ve been lately.

Service: 8- I can’t really say anything bad about the service, but it wasn’t phenomenal either.

Taste: 5- My pizza was average. Not good, not horrible, just very average. The base was a bit dry and there was hardly enough sauce or toppings. I definitely make better pizza. The haloumi salad we got was so so. There was some weird lemony gunk on the cheese- it tasted good but we couldn’t figure out what it was. Andrew said his spaghetti and meatballs got better as he ate it.

Da Valentino – Crows Nest

Sunday night we met up with John and Kalee for a nice little dinner catch up. We met in Crows Nest and were debating on a few Italian places until we finally decided to try something new. We ended up at Da Valentino.

Decor: 6- We were outdoors, and the little area we were in was decent, but not the type of place I’d walk by and think “Aww that place is cute, let’s go there.” John so kindly pointed out the fumes from the buses that passed us by and that definitely took away from the ambiance. I didn’t see the inside so I can’t really speak for that decor.

Value: 8.5- Compared to other restaurants we’ve been to lately, I thought the portion sizes were really big for the price we paid.

Service: 6 – I asked if I could add chicken to my pasta and without even hesitating, the waiter said “No!” That’s all, not “I’m sorry, but we can’t do that,” which P.S.- why CAN’T they anyways? So yeah… that was annoying. Also I asked for chili flakes and he brought chili oil and just put it down in front of me with no explanation. I didn’t want oil, but whatever. Then later he came and stated that they don’t have flakes, but that the oil is much better. He then overcharged us for a salad that Andrew ordered, but was quick to fix it when that was pointed out. The waiter wasn’t very good. He was just sort of abrupt and not really friendly- but our food came quickly so it wasn’t too horrible.

Taste: 6 - The garlic bread was crap. Most normal people could make much better garlic bread at home. The 99 cent woolies garlic bread we buy is ten times better than the hard, dry rolls they gave us. My penne arrabiata was really good, the sauce had lots of texture and was very flavorful.  Andrew was impressed with how many prawns came in his chicken and prawn dish. John said his food was good, but he wouldn’t order it again. Honestly, this would have received a higher rating if they had better bread. I think an Italian place should offer decent garlic bread.

Overall… we probably won’t be back to either of these places. They were fine, but there are too many other Italian places around that are much better.

Decor: 2- The tables were fine, but the decor was pretty plain. White walls, sports posters mixed with small art prints. Pretty hideous actually. It was clean though, I’ll give them that much.

Value: 8- Definitely much better value than the last Italian place I reviewed. I think my pasta was about 18 bucks but it was really big- I couldn’t eat it all, which says a lot. The garlic pizza bread was $11 for a large basket but there was plenty for us to each have several pieces. It was a refreshing surprise after usually feeling gypped by most restaurants in the area.

Service: 7.5- While they did forget a few things, they were right on top of it when we asked them again. They checked on us frequently and were very friendly.

Taste: 7- I really liked the food. I got a ricotta ravioli in a pink sauce. The sauce was a LITTLE too creamy for me (I would have liked a little more red and a little less white in the blend) but it was still nice. Andrew got a rocket salad which I had a bite of and it was quite enjoyable as well.

I definitely recommend giving Peter Pan’s a try. It wasn’t my all time favorite Italian in the area (I still think Red Zucchini wins for that one) but it was definitely good value with friendly service.

So here’s what I thought:

Decor: 7- Nothing stood out as exceptionally cute or tacky. I do like the quaint feel of the restaurant matched with the lively atmosphere that the guests bring. It feels like a restaurant in Italy, many of the servers are Italian and  I love that I’m just right out the back of the produce market. Definitely a cute little place.

Value: 7- For Italian, this was definitely more pricey than other places we’ve been; however, it was probably fresher and more authentic. Pizzas were $22-25 which isn’t CRAZY considering the takeaway pizza shop downstairs costs $22. Plus, the pizza was huge by Australian standards. My pasta was $25 though and while it was a decent sized portion, I’m pretty sure I could have gotten a bigger portion at Macaroni Grill for $8.99. Again, this was fresh and authentic and it totally has that homemade feel and quality. Definitely isn’t cheap- but for a special night out- it’s worth it.

Service: 7- For once in my life, I’m going to say the service was a little TOO over the top. I waited about 15 minutes for my friend to get there and while I was waiting they kept coming over to me to ask if I needed anything or wanted to order drinks. I just wanted to say “come back when you see another person sitting here.” Then when Katie was looking at the menu, they must have come over 4-5 times (every 1-2 minutes) to ask if we were ready (and we weren’t). In their defence, it was a different person each time, but it just was a little overbearing. Additionally, I asked for my salad to come out as an entree and then my pasta after that- but all of the food came together. Lastly, the bill came out VERY quickly. Normally I complain that it’s hard to get the staff to bring the bill, but this time we didn’t have to ask. We just felt a bit rushed. Everyone was REALLY nice and overall the service wasn’t bad, it just was a little overbearing. Even with my minor complaints, I’d still pick this service over most service in Australia.

Taste: 7-8- I got a spinach and ricotta ravioli with smoked ricotta on top and it was great! The smoked ricotta was really interesting but really tasty. It was fresh and light I really enjoyed it. I had a bite of Katie’s pizza and it was really good as well. Her pizza had a white base with mozzarella, rocket, fresh tomatoes, parmesan and balsamic. Wow it was yummy. The only reason I’m giving the food a slightly lower score is because of the salad. I got a green salad with a special homemade dressing. Honestly, it just tasted like a$7 bowl full of greens with balsamic vinegar. I didn’t see anything special in the dressing and there was not one vegetable other than the greens. I was not a fan.

I definitely recommend 4th village for a special night out.  It certainly was yummy enough for me to want to go back. I can’t see going there again on a random night though, simply because I typically don’t like spending $35 on dinners for no reason. I’d love to go back one night to see what other options come up on the menu. They do takeaway pizzas as well so maybe one day I’ll just HAVE to get one of those.

Sand dunes.

Let me point out that sand dunes are NOT easy to walk up. For every step you take, you slide back half of a step in the loose sand. Some of these can be REALLY steep as well.  Our first experience with dunes was in Sossusvlei- home of the highest sand dunes in the world. These were amazing. We got up before sunrise (I’d like to point out that we did this 5 out of 7 days in our last week in Africa) and drove to the national park  in Sossusvlei. We had to get there at sunrise in order to experience the amazing shadows and colors that occur in the early morning hours. I’d definitely say this part of the trip (specifically this day) allows me to cross off number 42 on my 101 list… Watch the sunrise.

We headed directly to Dune 45 which is one of the easiest dunes to access from the road. There were tons of people there trying to get a glimpse of this amazing wonder. We all decided to walk up the dune. More hills… I wasn’t thrilled; HOWEVER, this wasn’t a mountain- it was a sand dune. It would be totally different and really amazing at the top. I just knew it. Well, I got about halfway up and thought I was going to die. I’m not afraid of heights by any means but I think the combination of my heart pounding, my breath racing and the 45 degree angle drop to my left sent me into a panic. I pretty much freaked out and couldn’t look anywhere but straight down at my feet. I had to walk back down. I sucked. I did have the chance to get pretty high up, but I didn’t really take the time to enjoy it because I was too busy having a mild panic attack. The rest of the group kept climbing to the very top and once they were up there, they were all brave enough to run down the side of the dune. In my anxious state, I was unable to even contemplate joining them on this adventure but now I am sad I didn’t. I was able to calm down on all other dunes and those were quite fun to run and sandboard down (which I’ll post about later).

Here are some amazing photos of our first day at the Sossusvlei dunes.

What we were about to climb:

See the little tiny person at the tippy top in the photo below? I made it to about there before I freaked out and had to walk down. You can’t really tell, but in the back it curves and gets even higher. That’s where the rest of the group made it to. If you look closely at the top left of the dune, you can see some people running down the side.

These photos give you some perspective of how high up we were (and the slope of the dune):

Here are a few of Andrew running down from the very top of Dune 45. It’s pretty much impossible to fall down the dune. You just sink into the sand so it’s completely safe to run down. I was still too wussy to do it on this big one though.

Up next… sandboarding (down MORE dunes)!

 Here is another kudu, more specifically-  his leg, dead and braised and slathered in sauce and sitting on Mitchell’s plate.

Here Mr. kudu is entering  Mitchell’s belly.

The kudu is famous! EVERYONE wants a neanderthal photo op with the poor butchered animal.

What did I think about the most ginormous leg of meat EVER? Well, take a guess.

 Seriously… GROSSEST THING EVER!

Fat Monk is a Thai/Asian restaurant in Cremorne. We decided to try it out on Monday with our friends Mike and Hayley and tonight when our other friends felt like Asian food, we suggested that we go back there.

I’ll get straight to the point:

Decor: 10 – Super cool decor. A combination of cow hide ottoman cushions, raw wood walls, funky paintings of Buddha and an awesome wrought iron chandelier with red shades somehowall really goes together. It’s super funky and it has total character. You would think a place like this would be totally overpriced and trendy- but that’s not the case at all! Even the servers wear cute little Asian outfits. Super cool!

Value:  7-8-  It’s not the cheapest Thai we’ve had but it’s not the most expensive either. I’d say the rice is a little overpriced at $3 for a little bowl, but other than that, everything is pretty comparable to other Thai in the area.

Service: 10- I’m going to make a bold statement and say it’s the best service I’ve had in Australia. They don’t put jugs of water on the table, they actually come around and refill your glasses. You never have to ask for more water either! When the glass is getting empty, they magically appear to fill it for you. They even came around to refill our wine glasses and  the food comes out really quickly too.

Taste: 9- While I still think Thai Intra might be my all time favorite Thai food, I would go as far as saying that this is probably my second favorite so far. It’s not oily like some other places we’ve had. The dishes had tons of fresh veggies and the chicken is super delish. It’s great!! We’ve been twice now in one week, I think that says a lot right there.

As an added bonus, we can walk there from our house. It’s a bit of an uphill trek, but it’s close enough to walk so we can at least burn off 1/18th of what we are eating.

I definitely recommend giving it a try if you haven’t already.

1. Benefit Pocket Pal – Awhile back I was looking for a reddish lipstick that would just sort of tint my lips red without looking like a $2 hooker. I really struggled to find exactly what I was looking for. I knew I basically just wanted a rosy, natural tint. I even mentioned to the girl that I could use something like Benetint but I didn’t want to carry around that little jar in my purse all the time. So I was super stoked to discover this awesome tint/gloss combo the last time I was in the US. I also just found that there is a Benetint mini as well! Who knew? I think I’ll buy the mini next time because the I don’t really use the gloss part of the pocket pal.

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2. Swiffer Dusters – If you read this blog you will have caught a little glimpse of my hatred for dust. I hate that I have to dust every few days to keep the house looking clean. I hate the fact that when I dust with washcloths, I can actually see little fibers flying around in the air and then settling back onto the surface I just wiped down. When I was in California, my mom gave me one of these little wonders to bring back with me. I love them! They do a really good job of picking up the dust and lint and I love that I can just run around and do a quick touch up job in between my full dusting jobs. I’ve now added a new item to my “stock up while in California” list… Swiffer duster refills. Good thing they can squish easily into my bag.

3. Ferrero Raffaello – I think these are known as Ferrero Garden in the US. These things are seriously little bites of heaven. I could easily become super tubbo if too many of these things are sitting around the house. I’m not one of those girls that likes to receive chocolates as valentines or anniversary gifts, but I don’t think I’d mind getting a few of these delightful morsels from time to time.

Ok so it’s just a few things… but they are all great and worth sharing with the world. If you have any items you can’t live without, please share! I’m still looking for Christmas tradition ideas from my last post as well!

The other night Andrew and I were meeting a couple of his friends for dinner in Glebe. They said they didn’t want Mexican (Baja Cantina) and asked if we had any other ideas. I quickly suggested Al Mustafa. I had been there once before, but never did a review back then. Even though the first time I went, they took about 20 minutes to bring my chicken kabobs… and by 20 minutes, I mean 20 minutes after everyone else already got their food- it was still so yummy that I’ve always wanted to go back.

This time was even better. We went on a Wednesday so it was a little quieter which was nice. I mean, the atmosphere on a weekend is great because they have music and belly dancers and the who shabang… but on a Wednesday, you don’t really need all that. They didn’t offer alcohol so we had to BYO- and they didn’t even charge us corkage! Woohoo

We ordered the Cushion Lounge banquet and it was sooo damn good. There were only a few little things on the huge banquet menu that I didn’t like, and when I asked to exchange them for chicken, they happily met my request. A HUGE plus for any restaurant in Sydney!!

The food was great. Service was pretty prompt. Overall it was a really good night. My only complaint is that I stuffed myself so much that the next morning I was STILL full and could STILL taste garlic  in my mouth. It was gross and I really felt the need to vomit- but I survived!

So here you go… here’s my super official review…

Decor: 6 – Nothing stands out as being really cute or anything… in fact I can’t even remember the decor much at all but I do  remember these hideous flowery glasses that they put on our table and some of the tablecloths were pretty ugly. So yeah, not the nicest thing I’ve ever seen, but they do have some cool hookahs lying around which add to the atmosphere.

Value:  7- Well, while we did spend $45 each- which is  a lot… we got TONS of food. We could have paid less if we wanted to order less! When we ran out of bread for our dips, they brought us more at no charge. They didn’t charge corkage and they give you free baklava and coffee with the banquet meal. I have to say- for a Sydney restaurant- the value to me was quite good.

Service: 8- There were a few times I would have liked more water, but for the most part, everything came out very quickly and we didn’t need to ask for much. Plus, they let me substitute chicken for lamb- substitutions are pretty unheard of when you order the banquet menus, so I was really appreciative of that!

Taste: 9- This food is pretty damn good. The hummus and tzatziki dips are a little too good which usually leads to filling up on those before the “real” food comes out. They had these coriander/cilantro potatoes that I tried for the first time back in CA- and they are wonderful. The chicken kabobs were great, these interesting green beans were pretty good and I even liked the falafel, which I usually am not a huge fan of. The fact that I woke up the next morning and I was STILL full really says something about how appetizing this place is.

I think we are planning to go back in September for a celebratory engagement dinner with Andrew’s family. I can’t wait!

Last week I made some yumlicious homemade pizza and I thought I’d share my tips and tricks with you.

First I made the dough using this recipe:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 (.25 ounce/7g) package active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

If you are in the US, you could just go to Trader Joes and buy some pre-made dough, but I don’t have that luxury here- I only have the option of buying a crapier version of a Boboli or I can make my own. Of course I choose to make my own.

So I mixed  all this up together to form the dough (if you have an electric mixer with a dough hook, that really helps- but it can definitely be done by hand). 

Then I let it sit in a bowl covered with a warm, wet towel for about an hour. You actually don’t have to do this, but I find that it makes the dough much easier to roll out.

While rolling the dough, I had my pizza stone heating up in the oven. Now, everyone raves about amazing pizza stones and how they make your pizza so much tastier. I’m not sold on this. I still have to modify my pizza after it’s cooked (ill discuss that later). If you don’t have a stone, just use a cookie sheet of some sort to make a rectangle pizza.

I rolled the dough out so it was pretty big and thin and it covered the entire stone. I trimmed off the excess around the edge of the stone and saved it to make another mini pizza the next day.

Then I covered it in the following (in this order):

• My favorite pasta sauce that I use for pretty much every recipe
• Chopped garlic
• Chopped fresh basil
• Chopped sun dried tomatoes
• Chopped red and green bell peppers/capsicum
• Chopped onions
• Low-fat mozzarella cheese

I didn’t go light on the toppings… this thing was COVERED. I learned prior to making this that you should add toppings UNDER the cheese so that 1) the toppings don’t burn before the cheese cooks and 2) the cheese will get nice and golden. This trick REALLY made the pizza better! I love golden crispy cheese!!

I baked it on 410f/210c  for about 20 minutes until the cheese was nice and brown on top

**Now here’s my special trick **

When I sliced some pizza, I threw it on our sandwich grill thing (or you could just use a pan on your stove top). I let it sit there for about 2-4 minutes until the bottom of the crust started to brown and get crunchy. I do this because even with the pizza stone, I still find that the dough is a bit too soft and flimsy in the middle of the pizza (this is precisely why I’m not quite sold on the benefits of the stone). I like it the crust a bit crispier so placing the pizza on a grill for a few extra minutes before eating makes it even better!! If you like soft, chewy pizza- then just skip this step

Andrew said it was the best homemade pizza he’s ever had and I actually have to agree with him on that one!!!

I promise to start taking more pictures of my yummy creations now that I have full intentions of blogging about them more frequently! I think next I’ll attempt a Hawaiian BBQ chicken pizza. Mmm can’t wait!

This is the ONLY kind of broken heart I ever want in life…

For edition 3 of my Yumdiddly series I am going to tell you about my sweet little pies.

I made these strawberry pocket pies with great success on the weekend! I didn’t think they were going to be a great success at first because the dough kept sticking to the wonderful Williams-Sonoma Pocket Pie mold. Then I had an “A-ha” moment when I realized I should flour the outside of the dough to prevent it from sticking to the mold but keep the insides clean so they stick to each other… duh.

I even went all out and made my own strawberry filling instead of getting some boring pre-made pie filling in a can (shh… don’t tell… but the only reason I made my own filling is because I couldn’t FIND pie filling in a can)!

I bought layers of shortcrust pastry (pie dough) from the shop and just cut the hearts out with the mold. Then I had all these leftover dough scraps that were too small for hearts. Bummer. But then I had another brilliant idea and I got some cookie cutters and made my very own little flower shaped pocket pies as well. They turned out just lovely. See… 

So if you would like to make these delectable little pies for yourself- here is what you do…

1. Go to Williams Sonoma and buy the mold. Or, if you have cookie cutters that are big enough you could just use those.
2. Buy some dough or make it yourself… I bought mine so I can’t help you if you need to make your own
3. Use the mold or cutter to cut shapes
4. Make your strawberry filling

For the filling, follow this recipe:

• 2 cups finely chopped strawberries
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp white sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp corn starch

1. Mix it all up and it will get kinda goopey.
2. Then put about 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon of filling into the center of the dough depending on the size of your shape.
3. If you have the mold, read the instructions on the box. If you cut your own dough, put a 2nd shape on top of the first and gently press down the edges of the dough so it seals around the filling. If you put too much filling in, this will be difficult.
4. Once it’s sealed, poke a few little holes in the top.
5. Brush some egg yolk over the top of the pies or if you don’t have egg, you could use some milk.
6. Bake for about 15 minutes until the dough is golden brown and the filling is probably starting to ooze out.

I had enough to make about 3 decent heart shaped pies, 1 hideous wonky heart shaped pie (first attempt), 2 flower pies and then I took the leftover dough, smashed it into a small baking dish, filled it with the rest of the strawberries and made a cute little mini pie open faced pie out of that.

Scrumptious!