The Throw-Together Plate
May 28th, 2005
Label Lust: With A Coconut Haircut!
May 28th, 2005
The first time I had sticky black rice pudding was in Chiang Mai, Thailand. As part of our four week jaunt in Thailand, The Boy and I spent a week up north cooking and eating traditional Thai food. It was a somewhat glorified cooking experience for tourists, but the cooking school did a great job in educating farangs* about Thai produce, spices and cuisine. I usually try the black rice dessert if it is on offer at a Thai restaurant, but have never been as satisfied as I was with the pudding we made at the cooking school. Maybe it was due to the freshness of the final product, but other versions have failed due to the lack of nuttiness of the black rice, the lack of sticky texture, and the plastic taste of the top coconut layer.
So when I was doing the weekly vegetable shop at one my favourite deli-grocer-vegie places, I was pleasantly surprised to see the container of Sweet-Sticky-Black-Rice pudding. The makers; Arlingtons, also had other flavours and varieties. There was a tapioca pudding range, which came in raspberry and mango flavours. I will definitely be heading back to sample the others. Sure, I reached for this one because of my love of rice pudding in general, but the label also said “With a coconut haircut!” which was enough for the container to be placed in my basket. I’m a sucker for punchy labels and marketing.
*The link will take you to a general description of the word. Farang means foreigner in Thai, but is also the name of a type of guava. The cookbook which was provided from the school, describes the guava as white flesh and bland in flavour.
** Do other food bloggers experience this while taking photos of your food in public? My family and some friends are somewhat used to me doing this, but I still get weird looks. Sometimes I feel like I’m part of some secret society. : /
Various: Winter & Plates
May 27th, 2005
Courtesy of Apartment Therapy. Available here.
Isn’t this little plate cute? There was some discussion about the aesthetic qualities of a plate here, and well, coming from a girl who spends much of her lunch hour in the homewares department of Myer or at Wheel & Barrow, I can relate to the last note left in ones wallet and deciding whether or not you should spend it on a plate or two. I don’t know where I could get my hands on this design, but this may be a good thing, for I enjoy a bagel now and then. Perhaps there should be a need for a whole range of breakfast plates, one with a slice shape, baguette shape, bagel, paratha or pancake. But then there is always the second helping dilemma!
Courtesy of Design*Sponge. Available here.
Also being one for quirky in addition to cute, I totally loved this plate when I saw it on Design*Sponge. If it wasn’t for my budget, and the cost of shipping to Australia, I’d be adding this to my list of things to get asap. Apple pie or apple strudel, this would be a nice addition to my platter-tray-plate collection.
Speaking of my very own platter-tray-plate collection, I bought a cake platter a few months ago, and after taking it out of its very cute box and sitting it on the kitchen counter to be photographed and admired for a while, it was packed away and placed upon the high shelf for later use. This weekend will hopefully be the later use, for there is a birthday to celebrate this weekend. And for me, that means cake making on Saturday morning, and frosting on Saturday afternoon. The cake will have to be something chocolate-y no?
Comfort: Crying & Eating
May 26th, 2005
Sometimes we cry and then eat, sometimes we eat and then cry. Here, they do it at the same time.
Courtesy of A Full Belly
Green Hotness
May 23rd, 2005
These little green balls were sitting in the pantry for a while, and in the middle of a snack attack I reached for them, forgetting just how hot and lethal they are. I can take the heat with the best of them, however yesterday at 11:41pm, my nose was flared and my throat itchy with heat.
