For the next five days, I am a lady of leisure! And what better way to celebrate than with a cocktail (or two)! And this Goose in Spring Cocktail fits the bill perfectly!
After three years, I am leaving the amazing team at Protiviti in Melbourne for pastures new. It was so hard to say goodbye; I have made so many friends there and worked for three amazing bosses. But new challenges beckoned and I am moving on.
But not until Monday.
So, in the meantime, while I am unofficially unemployed, I am as free as this little bird.
If being free means:
Cleaning out my pantry
Clearing out my wardrobe
Clearing out my bookshelves
Putting my car in for a service
A visit to the dentist
A visit to the hairdresser
Catching up with a girlfriend for lunch
A visit to the beauty salon for a mani & pedi
Getting the broken strap on my favourite handbag fixed
Trying to cook as many recipes from Persiana as possible
Vintage Shopping with my mum
Writing at least three blog posts to schedule for when I am on holiday next month
Writing that novel I’ve been thinking about for years
Scaling Everest
Yep, totally absolutely free!
The Goose in Spring cocktail was the winner of the May 2012 Vodka Cocktail Contest, where it was created by Elijah Venanzi.
[yumprint-recipe id=’68’]The Goose In Spring combines all the delicious floral flavours I love – lavender and elderflower with some fruity deliciousness from raspberries and lime! The original recipe used lemon instead of lime but I didn’t have any – and you know, when life doesn’t give you lemons, a girl’s gotta improvise! My lavender vodka was also VERY lavendery so I needed to adjust the other ingredients around it. The original ratios are per the link in the recipe.
Have a lovely week! I’ll be thinking of you while I’m doing all that nothing!
“I am the star of screaming headlines and campfire ghost stories.
I am one of the four Black-Eyed Susans.
The lucky one”
Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin is the story of Tessa Cartwright. As a teenager, she was abducted and left for dead in a field of Black-Eyed Susan flowers along with other dead and dying girls. They become collectively known as the Black-Eyed Susans. Tessa is the only survivor.
Now, in her thirties, the man accused of the crime, the man whom Tessa’s testimony helped put away is facing death row. And Tessa is having doubts about his guilt. And if he’s innocent, then the real killer is still out there….
I came to this book in two ways.
It was one of the selections we had for our Crime /Thriller month in bookclub along with Maestra (the one we chose), The Method (which I am currently reading) and The Ex (which I just bought as I noticed it was super cheap as I was getting the link).
Then, the very next day after we had made our choice, Heather who writes the blog Meta’s Meals wrote a very positive review of Black-Eyed Susans on Goodreads and I promptly decided that it was going to the top of my reading list!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Black Eyed Susan’s. It was very suspenseful and the plot was original which is a really hard thing to do in crime fiction. I only hope Maestra which is our book club choice is half as good. Mind you, last year we chose Girl on The Train which…urrggghhhh…I cannot even tell you how much I hated that book.
But this one’s good. And it has a gorgeous cover!
Whilst reading The Black-Eyed Susans, I discovered that there is a cocktail called the Black-Eyed Susan. It is the official drink of the Preakness Stakes Horse race which is run in Baltimore each year as the winning horse is draped in a blanket made of these flowers.
This was delicious. I love pineapple juice and St Germain in cocktails so there was no way I wasn’t going to like this. The lime juice gave it a nice little kick of tanginess too!
The Black-Eyed Susan also got the thumbs up from resident bon vivant F Scott.
Oh, and before anyone complains, I know the flowers I have used in my photos are not Black-Eyed Susans. I am not even sure if they grow here, or, if they did when they would flower. Anyhoo, the gerberas were the closest (only) thing my local florist had that came close!
Here’s the recipe. Why not make one and have a sip whilst reading the book!
+Hello and welcome to a very special history happy hour.
Because today, December 17, not only do we have a super fruity and delicious cocktail to celebrate today’s event but also two yummy recipes courtesy of one of my (and hopefully your) favourite bloggers, Jenny from Silver Screen Suppers. Jenny is also making the same trio of recipes so when you have finished here, please head over there to have a look.
But what, and how are we celebrating?
On The Beach – The Film
December 17, 1959 saw the première of the film On The Beach. And just look at this for a cast list – Ava Gardner, Gregory Peck, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins. There’s galaxies that wish they were that star studded!!!! Oh and just for fun, Frank Sinatra came along too. Not to be in the film, Just to hang out with Ava. On the beach.
And that beach was in my hometown of Melbourne! Or in a place called Frankston on the outskirts thereof. In fact, for many a year, there was a scurrilous rumour that Ms Gardner had made the snarky comment that Melbourne was “the perfect place to make a film about the end of the world.” Not true my friends, not true. Said quote was totally invented by a junior reporter from a Sydney newspaper, obviously miffed that we got Ava, Gregory, Fred, Tony (and Frank) and all they got was a bridge and an Opera House.
On The Beach, based on a novel by Nevil Shute (which I have not read but now really want to) is a post-apocalyptic romance in which Australia is the only country to survive a nuclear war. However, it is only a matter of months before radiation clouds doom the survivors to the same fate as the rest of the world. Unless…Dah dah da dah….
This is a film worth seeking out. A stellar cast, some superlative acting, and an engrossing storyline, which although somewhat dated has much to speak to us about our current situation. And, if you can watch the scene with Tony Perkins and Donna Andrews without welling up? You’re already a little dead inside.
On The Beach – The Drink
What more appropriate way to celebrate the release of On The Beach than with the classic cocktail Sex on The Beach! And it’s so good. Peach schnapps where have you been all my life?
This is fruit, fruit and more fruit – peach from the schnapps, cranberry, orange juice and pineapple juice all playing a role. With a hit of vodka to give it some backbone.
This is the best summer you have ever had, in a glass. And unlike its namesake you don’t have to worry about getting sand in your privates if you have one. And you can have two, maybe three in one night with lots of different people without anyone looking askance at you!
On The Beach – The Food
Jenny (this woman is a marvel!!!) sent me a host of recipes by the stars of On The Beach but there was one that stood out for me above all others.
Gregory Peck’s recipe for Happy Pappy Eggs. Oh my…..it’s not often that words fail me. But….first up how you could you not love something called Happy Pappy eggs and second…the recipe came from Gregory Peck. AKA Atticus Finch (pre Go Set a Watchman). And then I also chose a Gregory Peck recipe for ratatouille.
The Happy Pappy Eggs were scrambled eggs with some slow cooked onions. Simple and delicious!!! But oh man, that rataouille was amazing!!! I have no idea why I don’t make it more often. It went really well with the eggs. And together they would make a super brunch dish after a long night of Sex on The Beach (either way).
I also ate the rataouille for lunch for a few days with some cheese in a toasted turkish roll and OMG…it was a revelation! So good!
On The Beach – The Recipe
There were some rather frightening copyright restrictions on the Gregory Peck recipes so we decided not to print them. However, I’m sure if you asked Jenny very nicely she would send you a copy. For personal use only. Don’t let us find you in a dingy alley handing out illegal copies of the recipe of Happy Pappy Eggs!
There are also a myriad recipes and variations for the Sex On The Beach Cocktail. This is a fairly classic take on it.
Pour peach schnapps, vodka, cranberry juice, orange juice, and pineapple juice into a shaker filled with ice.
Shake until the outside of the shaker gets frosty – about 20 seconds.
Strain the mixture into a glass filled with more ice cubes.
Garnish with an orange slice and a maraschino cherry
This was so much fun, it was great collaborating with Jenny and getting to watch a fabulous movie to boot! Thank you Jenny for the awesome recipes, I can’t wait to see what you have dome with them!
Have a great week you lovely people, happy drinking (and eating)!
A few weeks ago I, was chosen to be one of the brand ambassadors for The Spice Peddlers, a great shop in Sydney selling a fabulous range of herbs and spices!
Each month, they will send me a different spice or spice blend and I can play with it as much as I want.
Happy days people, happy, happy days.
I can’t tell you how excited this made me. Well, I can’t tell you…but I can can show you.
There may have been a bit of spontaneous dancing round the kitchen.
I may have done a little bit of this… Followed by a bit of this…
I drew the line here.
It seemed a little bit too Monty Python Ministry of Silly Walks…
But I was right back into the groove with this…
That’s how excited I was.
Then I got my first blend and…the fear kicked in. What if it was terrible? What if I was totally uninspired? What if what I made turned out awful? What if the sky fell on my head? You know the usual nonsense panicky “I’m not worthy” that plagues the best of us at times….
Smoked Salmon Fritatta, Kale and Onion Pie, Best Bloody Mary Ever!
So first things first. Which for me was to open up the pack, lick my finger, dip it in and have a taste.
Yeah, I know…
I’m classy.
So much for the first unfounded fear. The team at the Spice Peddlers had sent me a container of their Middle Harbour Seasoning. This is a blend of sea salt, lime leaves, lime zest, Tasmanian Pepper, black pepper, green peppercorns, lemon myrtle, dill, chervil and green and white onion.
Otherwise known as delicious! It’s tangy from the lime, zingy from the pepper, punchy from the salt with a very slight herby, aniseedy undertone. So good. So, so good.
This would be perfect just spinkled on pita bread which is then toasted in the oven until crispy to have with dips and a lovely crisp cold glass of white wine on a hot summer day. And you know what? I’ll be doing that very soon.
Cooking With The Spice Peddler’s Middle Harbour Seasoning
However, for the purpose of experimentation I wanted to get a bit more fancy.
We are heading into party season and I wanted to experiment with some new fingerfood dishes…have I ever mentioned how much I love fingerfood? There is something magical for me in a party pie, a mini burger, a bite-sized pizza, a canape….you get my drift.
I was once waxing lyrical to a friend about how if I owned a restaurant it would only serve small bits of food and wasn’t it crazy that no one had ever thought of that before?
She gave me a look. You know. That look. “They’re called tapas bars” she said in a voice that suggested she was speaking to the mentally incompetent.
Yeah but…
No but…
My idea is to have cocktails and fingerfood and it would only be open for the cocktail hour…
Ok…never mind…it’s a tapas bar.
Damn those Spanish and their eerily prescient good food ideas.
Let’s quickly move on and talk about some of my better ideas…like this:
Smoked Salmon and Herb Frittata
Makes 16 mini frittatas
8 eggs 400ml cream
500ml milk
4 spring onions
200g smoked salmon, chopped
2 tsp Middle Harbour Seasoning
1 tsp chopped tarragon
1 tsp chopped chervil
1 tsp chopped chives
1/4 cup grated parmesan
Preheat oven to 150º.
Whisk together the eggs, cream and milk.
Add the spring onions, salmon, spice mix and herbs and parmesan.
If not using the spice blend, season with salt & pepper and increase herbs to 1 tbsp each.
Pour into greased muffin trays and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until base and sides are set. Serve sprinkled with additional chives.
Except again, I subbed in the Spice Peddler Middle Harbour Seasoning for half of the herbs and I also sprinkled a little bit of the mix on the top of the pastry before cooking.
The mixture for this is delicious. However, when I make this next time, instead of the “pastry” mix in the Serious Eats recipe I would use a really light crispy buttery shortcrust pastry or even a filo.
Kale and Onion Pie
As soon as I tasted the Middle Harbour Mix I knew I wanted to make cocktail with it..and what else would go with a lemony, peppery zingy herb mix than a Bloody Mary?
Can i just digress for a moment to talk about how much I love a Bloody Mary? I love a Bloody Mary the way Don Draper loves a Manahattan. To me they are the height of sophistication. In my mind, enjoying a Bloody Mary is like enjoying oysters…when you can do it, you know you’re a grown up. Even more so if you can down one before noon!
I’m also a big fan of drinking my vitamins and all that tomato juice, has to be good for you!
This recipe is probably the best one I have tried. I think it’s the splash of sherry which adds a teeny bit of sweetness into the mix that does it – and I used the Spice Peddler Middle Harbour instead of the celery salt and also to rim the glass.
Bloody Mary
OMG, this was sooooo good, it set off another bout of dancing…
Bloody Mary
200ml tomato juice
1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
1 tsp Spice Peddler Middle Harbour Seasoning or Celery Salt
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
6 drops Tabasco sauce
30ml Vodka
Splash of cream sherry
Stir ingredients in a mixing glass with ice, strain and serve!
Barbie Allen Dance/Exercise
I’m going to be spending my week perfecting my moves from my new favourite possession – the Barbie Allen Dance/Exercise Book.
She has an entire routine for Xanadu which I may share as a special Christmas Present for all of you…hell, if I get full enough of some Christmas spirit (we here at RFFMT are quite fond of a little bit o’ Hendricks for the holidays) I may even dance it for you!
I’ve struggled to write about Hoi An and I only just realised why – I like it just a little bit too much for my normal snarky tone to be used. There’s nothing funny about Hoi An. It’s lovely to look at, a great place to spend time…in fact the only downside is that because everyone else loves it too, it’s in danger of becoming overpublicised and losing everything that made it charming in the first place…Huh…it’s kind of like the Ryan Gosling of Vietnam. (Shut up, I haven’t mentioned him for MONTHS…)
One awesome thing about Hoi An, is that the old town is car free. You still need to beware of crazy bike riders but the old town really is a haven after the hustle and bustle of a city like Saigon. The other lovely thing about Hoi An is that it’s small enough to walk around and see everything on foot. Alternatively most hotels have bikes either, push bikes or motor bikes, either included in the room rate or that you can hire to explore the local countryside (which I recommend – rice paddies, great beaches, it’s really pretty and flat so easy to ride even if, like me you’re not an avid bike rider).
Map of Hoi An
We stayed at the Vinh Hung resort, marked by the number 1 in the above map. This was a great resort and has a boat that takes you into town. Who needs a bike?
Vinh Hung Resort Boat
If you ask nicely they even let you drive…
Vinh Hung Resort Boat2
The town itself is famed for its silk, and gorgeous coloured lanterns are a popular souvenir.
Silk Lantern Shop – Hoi An
And if you think this looks pretty during the day, look at it at night!
Silk Lanterns Hoi AnCafe at Night – Hoi An
By day the mustardy coloured buildings and the purple flowers are a striking combination…
Hoi An Cafe
Hoi An is a great town for tailors. They are everywhere although there is a mass of them along Hoang Dieu, across the road from the cloth market. Also on Hoang Dieu are shoe makers who will hand make shoes for you for fraction of what you would pay for something mass-produced. And you wonder why I love this place!
My favourite tailor and shoe maker below:
Hoi An is also a great place for food and a great way to learn more about Vietnamese food is to do a cooking course. I’ve done two, one at the Park Hyatt in Saigon and also one at the Morning Glory Restaurant in Hoi An. Both were excellent. The format for both was similar, a trip to the market to familiarise yourself with the raw ingredients….
Noodles At Hoi An MarketChicken At Hoi An MarketCrabs At Hoi An MarketTropical Fruit @ Hoi An Market
Then on to the school for some learning and, better yet, some eating. At the Morning Glory class we made a number of standards of Vietnamese food including:
Rice Paper Rolls:
Rice Paper Rolls
Bahn Xeo
Bahn Xeo
My favourite – Green Mango Salad
Green Mango Salad
Turmeric Chicken Skewers
Turmeric Chicken Skewers
And yes, all of this tasted as good as it looks. Maybe even better.
You can find the Yotam Ottolenghi version of Bahn Xeo here.
And Luke Nguyen’s Green Mango Salad with Tiger Prawns here
For the Turmeric Chicken, which was awesome, you’ll need to go to Hoi An.
After some hefty shopping and your cooking class, or just because it’s hot, hot hot, you might be in need of an afternoon libation. And you can do a lot worse than the Q Bar for this..
Q Bar Hoi An
One of the specialties of the Q bar is a Tamarind and Ginger Martini which is awesome!!!
Here is my version:
Tamarind Martini 1
I based my recipe on the Tamarind Ginger Fizz recipe from Food 52 which you can find here.
Spicy Tamarind Ginger Martini (makes 2)
Spicy Ginger Sugar Syrup
1 knob of ginger about as big as your thumb, sliced
2 small birdseye chillies
1 length of lemongrass about 10cm long, chopped
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of water
Combine in a saucepan. Boil until the sugar has dissolved then take off heat and allow to steep. Transfer to a container and refrigerate. Can be kept in the fridge for 3 weeks.
Orange Chilli Salt
Zest of 1 orange
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp dried chilli, ground to same size as the salt (I kept mine a bit chunky)
Mix ingredients together and place on a plate.
Tamarind Ginger Martini
1/4 cup Tamarind pulp
1/4 cup Vodka
1/4 cup lime juice
6 springs of mint, preferably Vietnamese mint, plus more for garnish
Soda / Seltzer water to top up
Strain ginger syrup and reserve the chillies.
Combine tamarind pulp, ginger syrup, vodka, lime mint and vodka in a shaker with some ice.
Shake.
Slide an orange or lime wedge around the rim of the glass and dip in the chilli salt.
Pour the vodka mix into the glasses about 3 /4 of the way, topping with the soda water.
Garnish
Orange & Lime Wedges
Chilli from Syrup mix
Piece of Crystallised Ginger
Mint Sprigs
Garnish the drink with the orange and wine wedges, the chillies, the sprigs of mint and a piece of crystallised ginger.
Enjoy!
Tamarind Martini 2
There’s so much more to say about Hoi An…but you know what? I’m not going to…just go there, you won’t be disappointed.
Actually, I’ve changed my mind, whatever you do, don’t go there. It’s awful. And while you’re at it, leave Gosling alone too. There are some things in this world that should be just for me!
I’ll be spending my week absolutely, definitely, 100% not booking my next trip to Hoi An…have a fab one whatever you get up to.
After three years, I am leaving the amazing team at Protiviti in Melbourne for pastures new. It was so hard to say goodbye; I have made so many friends there and worked for three amazing bosses. But new challenges beckoned and I am moving on. 
If being free means:
The Goose in Spring cocktail was the winner of the May 2012 Vodka Cocktail Contest, where it was created by Elijah Venanzi.
