Showing posts with label cook books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cook books. Show all posts

Sunday, May 29, 2011

it's time to get thrifty...

For the month of June, I set myself a challenge where I am not to spend any money on shoes or clothes until the next pay day. Well, I wasn't even past day one of the challenge and I failed. I went to a scarf sale in East Malvern and bought some beautiful wool scarves in bright colours. Can I say though, in my defence,I bought one for my mum. Ok, and the rest were for me... but they were 50% off the reduced price, so I got them at bargain-basement prices.

I then headed to a shopping centre, only because I wanted to get some ramekins so I could start experimenting with souffles, individual self-saucing puddings, etc. I came back home with 8 ramekins. Whilst not shoes or clothes, I was still spending money. Whoops. You know what I've done - I've transferred my spending on to something else! How terrible.

Right, that was yesterday. Today is a brand new day. I stayed in bed for as long as I could (it was a cold morning and I figured the longer I stay in bed, the longer I can fight temptation). I couldn't lie in bed all day so I got up and thought right, I still have about $30 on a David Jones gift card, why don't I use that up? It's like I'm spending money but money I already have. Plus, it's a shame and waste to not spend / use it. Off I went to the City in search for something worthy to spend my gift card on. I had already bought ramekins yesterday and was thinking I wouldn't mind some nice servingware. Off I trudged to David Jones. What a mistake. I pretty much fell in love with all things homewares.



There is something whimsical about homewares displayed in large groups, particularly when they are grouped by colour. I instantly fell in love with the Ecoya Metro candle jars and reed diffusers. Not only are the candles natural and made of soy, they smell divine! Unfortunately, I just couldn't justify spending my voucher on something that would melt. I wanted to buy something that I could keep and would last. I decided to head over to the cook books - I've been keeping my eye out on a couple of books (namely Jamie Oliver's 30 minute meals) and wanted to see if they were in stock.


Today, there truly is a plethora of cooking books. I sometimes think to myself and wonder who isn't putting out a cook book these days? Gwenyth Paltrow, Olivia Newton John, Lisa McCune, Sophie Dahl, Masterchef winners, actors, chefs, home cooks - it seems everyone has put out at least one cook book. It's quite inspiring actually. I must admit, quite a few cook books caught my eye - I am very much drawn in by rich vibrant visuals. Not wanting to make a hasty decision giving that I'm pretty much cutting off my right arm by vowing to limit my spending, I wanted to make the right choice. I kept ploughing through book after book.

I continued to wander around the floor and found myself in the servingware / dinnerware section and lo and behold I found a book by Bill Granger - bills sydney food. The book is beautifully presented in hardback and comes in a hardback sleeve. I opened it to the page that contained the recipe for his ricotta hotcakes. It was a sign - I tried the hotcakes not long ago when I went to bills earlier this year. I knew it - I had to get the book. This was the one. I remember coming out of bills thinking how wonderfully fresh and clean the place was. It would be silly of me to not buy the book. Off I went to the register. No cognitive dissonance here! I plan to make everything in the book and I promise to blog about it (eventually!)



So happy with my purchase, I decided to go for a bit of a wander into Myer, mainly I wanted to go through the gorgeous Perfume hall. I love looking at all the different shapes and colours of perfume bottles. On my way I got distracted and decided to have a quick look at the homewares section. Funny isn't it, I don't have a home to furnish with homewares yet I just love browsing through the section. I love how homeware displays have been put together. I always feel the stylist has put so much time and effort into putting different elements together.


I found the different products and colour / shape combinations put together quite inspiring and of course, pretty to look at. Hey, if I can't have the displays in my home, I might as well appreciate the installation display somewhere else.







































After providing a feast for my eyes, I knew it was time to head home (plus, heading home meant that I wouldn't be spending any more money for the rest of the day!). I took a little detour and went through the back of Myer when my eyes caught a glimpse of the flower shop. Wow. Such beautiful flower installations on display! Such a foray of flowers in vibrant colours, shapes and types. It felt like being in an art exhibition of flowers.



And with that I leave you with a feast of flowers.