Just Off The Topic...iiNet's Freezone

I do hope the end of the year finds everyone well. I myself cannot believe this year is coming to an end...where does the time go???

But I just wanted to write a quick post on well, a little of everything. And believe it or not, nothing culinary related.

First up, internet connection.

If you are reading this on your laptop, then you most certainly already have internet connection in your abode (unless you have managed to figure out your neighbours Wi Fi password!). But a super, duper quick, easy-to-read-bill coupled with fabulous customer service is what I am looking for in my internet connection company and I must say, iiNet provides all 3 and more!

When I was searching for a new internet company earlier this year (I have never researched this before this as I was always privileged enough to have male housemates that did it for me!), I knew iiNet was the way to go because that was what the house was using before. Despite it's pricier menu when compared to it's competitors, what attracted me most was it's contract-less nature and ease of setting it up. Additionally, the package came with VoiP.

If you don't know what the latter is, well, shame on you. It's basically a phone line (yes, you get an actual phone home number, often beginning with an 8 here in Victoria) whereby all you do is purchase the cheapest cordless handset (I got a Uniden for a mere $25 and gosh, they are 100% better than those Panasonics!!!!) and literally plug it into the phone socket.

VoiP uses your internet data and allows you to make calls to national landline numbers for virtually nothing. Think Skype. So why would you need VoiP you ask? Well, it permits you to own a "landline" phone number as a means of contact, lest you did not want to give out your private mobile number.

But what I really wanted to shout out from the mountain tops is that iiNet also has this thing called Freezone and I will literally cut and paste what it is: "The iiNet Freezone is a selection of sites and servers on the internet that you can download from, without it counting towards your monthly quota. Better still, if you do max out your quota, downloads from anywhere in the Freezone can still be accessed at full speed".

If there is a reason why I am watching less telly, it's because I am glued instead to ABC iView and You Tube. Better still, my laptop is portable which means I get to watch Nigella's Feasts whilst hanging the laundry outside, sitting on the throne inside, cooking in the kitchen plus the all-fabulous whilst lying in bed before I go to sleep (and yes, my laptop has accidentally fallen from the bed because of the latter!).

If you are a fan of Grand Designs and it's catchy opening tune plus Restoration Home and Country House Rescue, you might want to check this out. You can also catch Alan Kohler with all his witty latest financial news on Inside Business (remember when he wore glasses???). The fabulous thing about it is that is not only free fiscally, but also advertisement free and you can fast forward, pause and re-play!!!

I cannot believe I have written an entire post about this but I think it is something worth sharing. Watching Nigella whip up her Strawberry Cloud Cake whilst I am washing my hair in the shower is definitely worth raving about :):)

NB: Goodness, no, I was not paid by iiNet for penning this post. I wish I was though...:)

Piri Piri Chicken & Dressed Potatoes (JO's 30 Minute Meals)

With salsa music playing the background, Leng and I whipped up a weekday night dinner of Jamie's Piri Piri chicken and dressed sweet potatoes. It was decided on a whim and before you could say "let me take out the chook from the freezer" we had already made the piri piri sauce in the Magimix!

VERDICT: 8.5/10 The sauce tasted just like what you get from Nando's!!! Amazing! Because we grilled it on the Weber and then continued to bake it in there instead of the oven, we also got the fabulous grilled/bbq flavour.

The only thing I would change next time would be to perhaps add a bit of sugar as the sauce was beautifully sour. This would probably aid in the chicken getting a sticky, glazed appearance too.

Recipe here

Leng made the potatoes and it was really easy! Jamie uses the microwave for the first time in his career on his cooking shows to make this rustic mash.

Sewing Tute: How to Make Easy Burpees

Now, let me first start by saying that no...there is no bun in the oven please. I am not even married (yet!).

Before I purchased my sewing machine, of course I did the right thing and researched on the Internet the things I could make with it. And one finds very quickly that baby/children things are in abundance. They are not only easy to make but can be very forgiving which is handy for beginners like myself.

I am slowly being surrounded by procreating women and these *burpees not only make wonderful, personalised baby shower gifts but also serves as an excellent first project for the beginner sewer.

So here is my step-by-step of how to make a burpee. I just combed the Internet for tutes and combined it all to make it my version.

*burpees aka burp coths: just like other humans, babies love watching the world go by and enjoy being propped up against the shoulder. But like every other baby, they do drool and have the occasional spit up. These are just prettier versions of the terry towel or whatever mothers use nowadays to protect their shoulders!

1)Start out by cutting your cloth into 30cm x 45 cm pieces.

As you can see from my picture, I cut the flannel a little larger than the muslin. I find that easier for me for some reason. The excess I will trim off later.

I had planned to use muslin for the top and flannel for the bottom as I've read that real life mothers have claimed that flannel seems to adhere better to a clothed shoulder and doesn't tend to slip off.

Just bear in mind that you want something soft for the top fabric (think of those chubby cheeks!) but also absorbent enough.

*Do invest in a pair of specialised cloth cutting scissors. I was reluctant at first but Leng talked me out of it and this $20 dollar pair cuts through cloth like butter! Definitely a must buy for all beginner sewers!

2) Iron your fabric out. This step is essential for beginners. It just makes life simpler!

*My ironing board cover says, "IRONING BORED" :):)

3) Place your fabric correct sides together (as you will be turning these inside out later on).

4) Pin the 2 pieces of fabric together, making sure you leave a gap of 7-8 cm on one side. This is the gap where you will be putting your hand in to turn the burpee inside out.

Picture of my pinned gap. The pins are essential for the beginner as you will find out!

Just be sure to remove the pins as you sew! Some machines come with a presser foot that allows you to sew directly on top of pins but I don't think my little machine can.

5) Sew right round with a simple, straight stitch (I used the Number 2 on my machine), but remember to NOT sew the gap which we pinned out earlier.

I normally start at one end of the gap and go right round to the other end of the gap. Remember to BACKSTICH (You Tube this) on starting and ending. I think this is so your entire burpee doesn't end up unravelling at the seams!

6) Cut away any excess cloth.

7) Clip all 4 corners. Just don't clip them too close to the seam. This is before...

And this is afters....

And why do we clip them you ask? To get a lovely looking corner! :)

You can aid your corners further by using the blunt end of a chopstick or eraser on the end of a pencil to gently push the corners out. It really does make a difference!

9) The final step is to iron out your burpee and tuck the excess fabric in at the gap and then topstitch all round the burpee, remembering again to backstitch at the start and end (sorry but I didn't take any pictures here!)

Tadaa!! And you have a burpee! This is my first ever burpee and I made it under 20 minutes!

Here is my complete set! I had originally wanted to give them out as Xmas presents but babies grow up so quickly that there might not be any use for them when I gift them!

Review: Brother Sewing Machine XL 2220

I thought I'd do a quick review seeing there is more than one woman out there on the brink of wanting to experiment with a sewing machine. Please however take this review with a pinch of salt because I have only used the machine to sew ONE thing (a burpee!!! Tutorial on that coming up real soon!).

There are MILLIONS of sewing machines out there and I was told by a fashion designer friend that Singers and Janomes were the way to go. Also, she advised that I wouldn't be needing one with an overlocker function (whatever that was!).

But when I saw Spotlight having a sale on this particular Brother machine, I knew it was the one. I read up a couple of reviews and it was nothing but good. Please bear in mind that I was after a Beginner's Sewing Machine and I knew that I wasn't going to venture into the sewing-my-own-dresses realm. More like sewing-small-projects-as-a-hobby kinda thing.

I've decided to dot point out why I have fallen in love with my sewing machine. Hope this helps you ladies out there trying to search for The One of your own :)

1) It's lightweight and compact.

Some reviews say plasticky machines are not great but for I love it that I can just plop it wherever I like. Think iMac versus Macbook Pro....you get the picture :)

It's small enough to just sit in the corner of your table underneath it's cover and lightweight enough to move around the table without it being a hassle.

2) It's so easy to use.

This may apply to any machine you get but the manual it came with combined with a little bit of You Tubing prior and you are literally ready to go.

3) The price was right

This was the biggest factor.

I have to be honest here and say that I could as quickly fall OFF of the sewing bandwagon just as quickly as I fell ON it. In this current fiscal climate of ours, I am trying very hard not to waste not, want not (oddly contradicted by me purchasing this machine in the first place!).

But I was really eager to learn something new. I figured if I could sew up womens' perineums, I could just easily teach myself how to use a sewing machine!

So when I saw this machine on sale with a saving of $140 dollars, it was in the bag so to speak :)

I dragged Leng back to Spotlight for a second time and he not only carried around rolls of fabric for me but also scouted out these accessories: extra bobbins, pins and a dedicated cloth only pair of scissors which is essential!

I suggest buying fabric on special for your first few projects as invariably, the first few things you sew will be in lack for better words...kinda crappy. I found flannel on special for $1.30 a metre and Leng requested I make him a pair of pyjama pants so we also got elastic waist bands and the cream coloured velcro are for potential baby bibs :)

My machine comes with 3 buttonhole sewing thingys and 10 different kind of stitches which I thought was sufficient for me. Just make sure you can sew buttonholes on yours too.

I love the little focused light!

It comes with a very lightweight, non-cumbersome pedal which can be easily stored away when not in use.

That little triangular piece you see next to the on/off button is the backstitch button. The sewing world has an entire new language and after awhile you will figure out what words like "bobbins, foot press and backstitch" are!

You can see how much thread you have left on your bobbin through the clear plastic.

The machine has a little accessories drawer which contained all of these in that white pouch. I have NO idea what they are meant for besides the extra 3 bobbins.

I Bought A Sewing Machine!

I think the title says everything but I've been perusing a lot of DIY blogs lately due to a certain looming "project" and suddenly had a huge urge to learn how to sew!

Let me first say that I have absolutely NO IDEA how to use sewing machines. The only sewing I did was when I was 12 and back in primary school. And that was basically just sewing little x's on to this checked cloth to make patterns. Mine was a bright sunflower yellow and cream cloth and I was terrible at it! I believe I got a "C" for it!

But I figured half of China was sewing just fine so honestly, how hard could it be right? I've got the fabulous Internet as my teacher and my love for Spotlight rekindled...Sewing 101 here I come!

NB: Spotlight is currently having a fabulous sale on the sewing machine I got. It's the Brother XL 2220 which retailed at $299. You get $100 off plus you get another $40 off with the VIP voucher (you just have to sign up as a VIP Spotlight member which costs nothing) so all up it will cost you a whopping $160 which I thought was a pretty good deal for a beginner sewing machine.

My dear Grand Aunty was a seamstress and to this day, her vintage Singer sewing machine is still at my parent's house. I remember her doing things like having to oil it, moving the lever of the presser foot up and down, and of course that fabulous movement of her feet on the vintage pedals below. I wonder if her heavy, black sewing scissors are still at my parent's house (I remember her telling me it could only be used to cut cloth and nothing else) as I would love to have them with me, to serve as a fond memory of her whilst I attempt to sew...

These pictures were taken at 11pm at night. We got home and I unboxed my new toy immediately! The instructions in the accompanying manual is actually pretty clear although, you missed the bit where Leng threaded and filled my bobbin for me! I threw a little fit because I wanted to do it myself (his mother was a seamstress and apparently he picked a few tips when he was a little boy!).

Monday Night DinDin

Well, whaddaya know...the Weber has done it again.

A simple dinner of fresh garden salad with grilled corn on the cob and asparagus and sticky chicken wings.

Cat's Sticky Chicken Wings

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Ingredients:

---------------

Marinade chicken wings overnight in:

- minced garlic

- Kikkoman soya sauce

- tomato sauce

- HP sauce/Worcestershire sauce

- white wine

- sugar

(I don't measure anything here. There is something about just strewing everything together till it looks good!)

Method:

----------

1) Grill for 15- 20 minutes in the Weber or roast in oven.

The chicken wings were so moist and juicy! I really think it is due to the Weber's ability to BBQ and roast at the same time (remember, it cooks with it's lid down) that makes it such a keeper.

Simon Hopkinson's Out-Of-This-World's Capsicum Stuffed With Tomatoes

There is a new British cook lurking on ABC 1 this month. He may not be as debonair as Jamie Oliver but his TV series The Good Cook is straightforward, good home cooking.

Most of his recipes are good ol' favourites which I've already picked up (and perfected) from Mr Oliver and Ms Lawson but here is one that Leng said we absolutely MUST try and OMG...it's as the Brits would say, gobsmackingly delicious!!

VERDICT: 11/10 You know Summer is here when the sweet roma tomatoes are in abundance and capsicums are on special at the markets. When paired together in this dish and enhanced further by the garlic and basil, their flavours literally blow your palate away! I beg of you to try this at home. This certainly has to be our favourite dish this year!

Simon Hopkinson's Roasted Red Capsicum

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Ingredients:

--------------

Red capsicum (1/2 per person)

Tomatoes (any sort)

Garlic - sliced

Anchovies - out of a jar. I use amazing Aranoa Spanish anchovies from Essential Ingredient. They are on the pricey side but so worth it!

Fresh basil leaves, torn

Method:

----------

1) Half and deseed the capsicum and lay it in a roasting tray

2) Put sliced garlic ( as much as you like) in each capsicum cup and sprinkle a little salt and ground black pepper in each capsicum cup.

3) Using the tip of the knife, prick the tomatoes randomly (this will aid peeling their skins off later) and put them in a pot. Pour boiling water over them and cover. Leave for a few minutes.

4) Peel tomato skins off and stuff into capsicum cups.

5) Drizzle extra virgin olive oil over stuffed capsicum and roast in oven/Weber BBQ for 15-20 minutes

6) Before serving, criss cross anchovy fillets over the capsicum and torn basil leaves on top.

We had an impromptu dinner for 4 guests last night and whipped this up for them for which they all loved! So easy to make yet such amazing flavours.

Review: Weber Q 200 (gas)

You know when you have become truly Aussie-fied when you go out and purchase a BBQ!

Oddly, despite the all-year-round warm weather back in Malaysia, the locals there don't view toiling over heated coals outdoors as anything particularly pleasant. Leave it to the hawkers and to my local satay man they will say.

Perhaps it is the cooler weather in Australia or just mere fact that in true Caucasian style, they prefer the outdoors but owning a BBQ in the backyard is a very Aussie thing indeed. Throw in a man complete with tongs in one hand and stubby in another and you've got yourself the typical Aussie weekend.

I cannot remember how or why Leng and I decided to go looking for a BBQ but search we did. We searched all the internet BBQ forums and found that there was an Aussie fan base of the very American brand of barbecues (or as the Yankees call it "grills") i.e. Weber, in particular their very portable Q range.

If you are a BBQ novice like me, you will probably not know that the Webers cook with their LID DOWN. That's right. Dismiss all the pictures of yourself marsh mellowing away because one has to close the lid and simply walk away and allow the food to cook itself.

You may think this as odd and not for you (which Leng and I initially thought too) but we took the plunge and really, this entire cooking with the lid down is really rather liberating!

Firstly, there is much less smoke. Perfect for smoke-less hairs and clothes and small balconies.

Secondly, the BBQ is somewhat like a semi-grill, semi-oven so your food comes out cooked at a fraction of time.

Thirdly, our Weber uses a gas tank (you can easily get little 9kg gas tanks from your local petrol station) or you can purchase ones that use natural gas. If you have an electric oven like myself, you may just save that little bit by roasting chickens in the Weber as gas is much cheaper than electricity here in Oz. And yes, you can do an actual roast in it!

Finally, the Weber Q range is highly portable and smallish in size unlike those monstrous machines you see out in the suburbs. Handy for those of you that camp or have a holiday/beach house and perfect for balconies.

We are still getting to know our Weber but Leng who has owned a Weber BBQ that used coals previously, simply loves his new boy toy.

VERDICT: 10/10 Some people may not be able to comprehend barbecuing with the lid down on a gas BBQ but honestly, if you are after taste, efficiency and most importantly, something easy to clean up afters, this is what you are looking for.

Will I get the yummy, charcoal taste? Well, it is a gas BBQ with no coals in sight but you still get the smokey, BBQ flavour.

Will it be a hassle to clean up? Not at all. Be sure to purchase the Weber steel cleaning brush and all you have to do is use some elbow grease whilst the grill is hot and that's it. No water/soap needed!

Will the Weber get dirty out in the open/on my balcony? Not if you purchase the cover that comes with it. We also got the accompanying stand for it which has wheels attached to it so you could easily wheel the entire contraption in and out of say, your garage/storage area.

I am sold! Where do I get one? Leng and I highly suggest you wait till DJs has their 15% off BBQs and accessories because the savings you will get are pretty good and beat all other competitors (yes, we did our research!). Apparently Weber control their RRP so most retailers don't generally lessen their prices.

So what are you BBQing this weekend? :)

One just has to get used to cooking with lid down which really, isn't a hard thing to do. You just plonk all your food in, close the lid and literally walk away!

We baptised our new Weber with an impromptu dinner party for 4. Entrees consisted of a Rossini (Italian drink made up of champagne and pureed strawberries) and honeydew and prosciutto.

We had gorgeous grilled vegetables and sirloin steak from Prahran Market. I opted for the porterhouse cut just for comparison and the verdict is that the sirloin cut tastes much better.

The next night, we had grilled spatchcocked chicken and it only took about 20 minutes to cook. It got flipped once and that was it!

Sides (which we also cooked in the Weber) were roasted mushrooms, asparagus and this fabulous stuffed capsicum recipe which we saw Simon Hopkinson on ABC1 whip up and OMG! It was FABULOUS!!!! I will have to post a separate blog post just for that recipe because it was soooooo delish!

Finally, a picture of the boy with his new toy. He loves it, needless to say! I just don't get the entire Aussie boys and their BBQs but hey...at least I'm not doing the cooking this time!!! :):):)

Review: Sonic Wave's Ultrasonic Cleaner

So now I know why the boy was so eager in wanting to see if the post office was opened on Melbourne Cup Day (a public holiday here in the state of Victoria).

After my insistence that it wasn't, he STILL wanted to pull a drive past and well, whaddaya know - I was right. It was closed and we left clutching the little card notifying us to collect our parcel.

I meandered to the PO the next day and came home with this - an ultrasonic cleaner that the boy had purchased for me to clean my jewellery with (in particular, a certain shiny rock!) and boy, does this thing work!

VERDICT: 10/10 I was AMAZED that this product worked!!! I also loved the fact that it was compact and doesn't take up much room plus it looked like a cute little space shuttle. Bonus points also given for it's 3 minute timer.

For those of you without any bling to clean, let me just say that this little space shuttle also cleans eye glasses, dentures (???!!), electric shaver heads (and ladies, let's not forget our little shaver heads too!), ancient coins, badges, pen heads...the list goes on!

For those interested, I am guessing the boy purchased this little gem from the Internet. He did do a little research in it prior and the brand Sonic Wave got pretty good reviews plus it comes with a 1 year warranty.

I took this picture for size comparison purposes. And also to show off my latest purchase: a Samurai Wedgewood Sugarbox to your left which had a RRP A$69 which I got for A$14 at Harbourtown's Royal Doulton shop!!!

The cleaner emits this cute blue light whilst on standby and cleaning.

In goes my 12 year old watch...

and out comes all this dirt after 3 minutes!!!

I was so amazed that I left the watch in for another 2 cycles and just look at the amount of gunk that came out! Eeeew!

Fish Goujons with Dill Mayonnaise

goujon [ˈguːʒɒn]

n

(Cookery) a small strip of fish or chicken, coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried

[French, literally: gudgeon]

If you are anything like me, the kitchen activity you detest most is frying. Of any kind.

But like all boys of the XY sort, they all love fried food. Why? I have absolutely no idea because I don't. I think I was born lacking the "fried food gene". I even dislike tempura and everyone knows how much I adore Japanese food.

Leng and I are attempting to stick to Fish Fridays. The only problem is that the boy doesn't like seafood. Say what? Yes, you read right, he actually dislikes seafood - I can't believe it either!

Until he met Nigella and her fish goujons!

This simple recipe from her Nigella Express is pure genius. I can whip this is up in under 20 minutes and a Fish Friday supper is served.

I beg you to try this because Leng and I were simply bowled over by it. The only pointer I will say is to use the freshest fish as possible. I only purchase my fish from my favourite fishmonger from Prahran Market and I would never attempt this dish with Woolies bought fish.

Also, Japanese panko is muct finer and somewhat tastier than the Korean brands so go for those instead too. And finally, don't overfry your fish. Despite the goujon being crumbed and crunchy on the outside, the inside is moist, juicy and very sweet! You will get a hang of it after a few strips and know when to take them out of the oil.

Fish Goujons with Dill Mayonnnaise

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Ingredients:

--------------

Nigella states 2 lemon sole fillets but I've never seen them in Melbourne so I used flathead instead which worked a treat

70g cornflour

100g panko

2 eggs

canola oil for shallow frying

salt & pepper, to taste

200g mayonanaise/salad cream

small bunch of dill

1 lemon

optional side: cornichons

Method:

---------

1) Cut your fresh fish of choice into small fillets

2) Put cornflour into a shallow bowl and season with salt and pepper. Put the panko into another shallow bowl and beat eggs in additional bowl

3) Dip each goujon into the seasoned cornflour, coating it well and then the beaten egg and finally the breadcrumbs

4) Fry goujons for about 2 minutes in the hot oil/until crisp and golden.

5) To make the dill dressing, you can use mayo but I prefer Krafts Lite Salad Cream

6) Put mayo/salad cream into a bowl with finely chopped dill and lemon and seasoning to taste

7) Serve dressing cold

Cornichons are just baby cucumbers, pickled and you can get them from Woolies in jars. They give an element of sweet and sour crunch and really tie the entire dish together. Do try it!


The dill dressing is simply out of this world! Dill is a herb I don't normally use in my kitchen but Leng and I really love it's aniseedy flavours. It's a very Swedish herb and I suggest making gravlax using the leftover dill.

What To Do With Leftover Roasted Chicken

So I promised a small recipe on what to do with your leftover roasted chicken.

The little picnic cum day trip to regional Victoria to eat your leftover chicken is of course, optional :)

Leftover Roasted Chicken Filling

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Ingredients:

-------------

salad cream/mayo - japanese or otherwise, to taste

ABC sambal, to taste

juice from a lemon, to taste

freshly ground pepper, to taste

Method:

--------

1) Mix everything together till consistency and taste to your liking. Just remember that this will be your sandwich filling so you might want to make it a tad saltier than normal.

2) Sandwich this delicious filling between 2 pieces of bread or do what we did, go on a lovely mini road trip on a gorgeous, sunny, spring day and buy freshly baked baguettes and have a picnic outside!

After each roasted chicken meal, I get as much chicken off the bone as possible, including all the leftover watercress/salad that went with it. You can even take things a step further by freezing your leftover roasted chicken bones to use to make stock in the future!

Here, I used the Japanese Kewpie mayo but Kraft's Lite Salad Cream works a treat too.

Mix everything till is looks something like this. I know, not really appetising right not but just wait...

I basically just clingwrapped the bowl I made the filling in, wrapped that in aluminium foil and then wrapped the entire thing in a tea towel to keep it nice and cool.

We drove north to Gisbourne and found this lovely spot under a tree.

Hungarian and white loaf baguettes from Bakers Delight and takeaway coffee - yummo!

We also managed to check out some local sights. This is the Memorial Cross at Mount Macedon.

We even managed to get ourselves to Daylesford and Hepburn Springs in the evening (isn't daylight savings phenomenal??)

So I was wondering why Leng took the water bottle out of the car and realised so that it was for us to try the spring water. Urm, it was really carbonated and tasted like unrefined fizzy mineral water - I didn't like it!