throwback thursday

It's the remix to ignition, hot and fresh out the kitchen...

Yeps, a classic. In my humble opinion, the Ignition remix is much better than the original. I mean, with the original song you knew it was downright dirty. But with the remix, being all hot and fresh out the kitchen, it was a bit of fun.

Come on admit it. With lyrics like sippin on coke and rum, I'm like so what I'm drunk, it's the freakin weekend baby I'm about to have me some fun... You can't help but bounce, just like when R. Kelly tells us to, oh about 10 times. I'm not sure what he means by bouncin on 24's though...

I'd also just like to point out that this song is 10 YEARS OLD. Jeez. But let me just point out that RnB was so much better in the 90's.

Holler. Can I get a toot toot?

hump day afternoon dee-lights

Wednesday. It's the day that is smack bang in the middle of the work week. Good in many ways but the main reason why I love Wednesdays is you've already worked two days of the working week (good for you) and only have two days left after it. It's the midpoint. Neutral, neither agree nor disagree. You can tell I work in market research can't you...

Focus. See? Such an issue by Wednesday...

The Super Bowl was on earlier this week and whilst I haven't watched it, I bet Beyonce's performance was world class, and live. No lip-syncing in this one I assume. Another great thing about her performance (so I'm told) is the Destiny's Child Reunion. Yeah! Bring Michelle and Kelly back! I believe they're also releasing an album this year. I can't wait. They prove that even 10 years on, they've still got it. In spades.

Happy hump day!

cheesy vegetable and bacon polenta muffins

Now, I'm the type of person that loves my meat. I rarely shy away from a juicy slab of steak or a beautifully fragrant roast lamb or a succulent roast pork. Have I turned you off yet? Yet I'm also the type of person that finds extremely fresh looking vegetables enticing. Strange I know, but strictly for cooking and eating purposes only. Who doesn't want to cook with and eat the freshest ingredients they can find? When I visited the friendly grocery store that oddly sells a comprehensive combination of Asian and European products the other weekend, I thought to myself, I need to incorporate more vegetables in to my diet (and I do use the term 'diet' loosely. I'm on by no means, any sort of restrictive diet. Let's just call it 'an attempt at healthy lifestyle choices').

You have to know that while I may appear, at times, hard working and diligent (I can hear my colleagues cough right now), I am actually quite lazy. When I dug through my Women's Weekly recipe book and found a recipe for corn and bacon muffins, I thought, why don't I just add a whole heap of other vegies? I might as well, seeing as really, I don't have the time or energy to peel, chop, dice and slice a whole heap of vegies for one meal.

Here is the outcome: cheesy vegetable and bacon polenta muffins. I think they turned out alright. A bit ugly but tasty. And that's what counts right?

Give it a go - these are super easy to make. They're also like a meal on it's own, on the go. If you're one of those that is time poor, bake some of these and chow one down (or two) for lunch. I like to think of it as a balanced meal. Carbs, vegies and a bit of meat. This muffin (or bruffin, if you eat it between breakfast and lunch) covers pretty much all the food groups. A bonus: if you have kids that don't like vegies, I think this is a good way at "hiding those vegies" I hear so much about in my day job.

Cheesy vegetable and bacon polenta muffins

Adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly: Cheese, corn and bacon muffins

preparation time | maximum 30 minutes (depends how fast you are at peeling, chopping etc)
cooking time | 20 minutes
makes | 24 standard sized muffins or 48 mini muffins (good for lunch boxes!)

1/2 cup of polenta
1/2 cup of milk
3 bacon rashers, rind removed, chopped finely
1 small to medium onion
1 cup of peas
1 cup of chopped capsicum (any colour you like)
1 1/2 cups of self-raising flour
420g can corn kernels, drained
420g can creamed corn
100g butter, melted
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup grated cheese of your choice
extra grated parmesan or pecorino cheese (to sprinkle on top)

1| Preheat oven to 180 degrees (fan-forced) or 200 degrees. Oil or spray with oil your muffin pans.
2| Mix polenta and milk in a small bowl and cover. Leave to stand for 20 minutes or so.
3| Get on with chopping your bacon! And then get on to chopping your capsicum. If you're really time poor, you could buy the frozen stuff but fresh is always better. Cook the onion and bacon in a frypan, stirring until fragrant. Add in your peas and capsicum. Watch the beautiful colours combine. Remove pan from heat and cool mixture for about 5 minutes.
4| Sift the flour into a large bowl, stir in the corn kernels, creamed corn and bacon mixture. Add the melted butter, egg, grated cheese of your choice and polenta mixture. Mix muffin batter only until just combined.
5| Spoon the batter into the muffin pan, dividing as equally as you can. Sprinkle the extra parmesan cheese on top.
6| Bake uncovered for about 20 minutes, or until the muffins are well-risen. Turn the muffins onto a wire rack.
7| Enjoy warm and pat yourself on the back for including so many vegetables in one serve.

You can substitute any of the vegetables (other than corn) so this is also a great way to use up bits and bobs of vegies in the fruit and veg chiller of your fridge.

Hello 2013

Wow. I didn't just go AWOL, I went postal. My last post was August 2012??!! Where did 2012 go?

It's now 2013. February 2013.

I pretty much blinked and there went January.

Though, not without some excitement. Let's recap:

• I visited Launceston and Hobart. Ate my way through the Taste Festival. I'll post up photos soon. Promise. 
• I had a birthday. I am looming closer to the big 3-0 and don't feel any more settled. I'm thinking this is a good thing. 
• My sister came to visit Melbourne and we went to the Tennis. In all truthfulness, it wasn't that exciting (so sue me). It might be because we went on Australia Day. All the hipsters were probably at Big Day Out. 
• I have officially passed my probation period. I've been at my current workplace for 7-odd months. Time flies! 
• I bought my first coffee card. You know, one of those pre-paid ones where you buy 10 coffees in advance. I have well and truly graduated from my mocha to a flat white, no sugar. Huzzah, I'm a Melbournian! 

Seeing it's the beginning of the year, it never goes by without some time (albeit minimal) of reflection, goal setting, etc. While I haven't made any firm new year's resolutions, I have vowed to be a bit healthier - cut down on chocolate, chips and soft drink (says she that is eating M&Ms as she types) and pick up exercising. This I've managed to do in January (I know, surprise surprise!) but I think it's because my sister bullied me into buying new exercise gear. I'm motivated by the ridiculous amount of money I spent. I must see results... I'll give it to the end of the year. 

I have made a personal commitment though to bake and blog more. So watch this space! 

And friends, feel free to hassle me if I haven't posted or baked in a while. I'm supposed to practice my baking weekly. I'm sure my work colleagues will hold me to this. 

Went AWOL, am back

Wow. So the last time I posted something on here was November last year. November?! That's almost a year ago! Ok not quite, but three quarters of a year, at least. I would like to say that a lot has happened since then, but I strive to be honest, so I'll have to say that no, not much has gone on. Well, except life, really.

Here's a rundown of the last 9 months:

• Christmas came and went, as did another birthday (edging closer and closer to 30 seems daunting but I try to forget that on a regular basis)
• I wrote a song. It's not very good. I've probably forgotten how to play it, it's been that long. 
• I signed on for another year-long lease which means I'm in Melbourne for at least another year
• I got a new housemate 
• I joined my choir's committee which means meetings, planning events, designs, input into which songs to sing, fundraising activities, etc
• I changed jobs which means no more dog walking, running around getting cigarettes, standing with others while they're on their smoko, getting lunch for others, answering printer, Excel or Word label questions and general office management tasks
• The two-man band (if you could call us that) has now expanded to five young hip women (me included haha) from choir. We still need a name though
• I replaced my sad Windows laptop and upgraded to a iMac. I don't know I waited so long. It has revolutionised my life. I am not kidding. 
• Most recently (like yesterday!) I bit the bullet and bought myself something I've been lusting over for years - a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer, in green apple. Whee!

Ok, so now you're up to date. Whoever you are. I maintain that I don't have many readers, but I don't blog for the readers, I blog (or try to blog) for myself. 

So, as they say, when you fall off the wagon, jump back on it. Or something like that. 

I'm back. 

where did October go?

Question: what happened to October? Is it just me or did I miss it?

On another note, there are 7 weeks until Christmas!

melbourne + friends

It's not often I get visitors from Brisbane so I was most fortunate to be paid a visit from two of my best friends from Brisbane over the weekend, Lauren and Candy.

The weekend started mighty early for my friends that woke up at 3am to get on an early bird flight from Brisbane. They were real troopers though, meeting me in the City in the early afternoon where we continued to browse shops, wonder at people's choice in fashion and grumble at the poor customer service at supposedly high end department stores (ok, that last one was just me).

An early dinner was called for and I didn't object. Off we went to Mamasitas - we probably couldn't time it any better. When we walked out, the line was so long I felt sorry for the poor people. I must say, it is definitely worth the wait but it might be best to put your name down on the list and then come back... I can't imagine not knowing how long to wait for a table... Anyway, the food was delicious - fast, fresh and simple. Perhaps they took a leaf out of Donna Hay's book...?

The best thing about old friends coming to visit? You can take them out to all the places you've discovered in your new town and also discover new places with them. Lauren and I went to one of my fav breakfast haunts - 3 bags full, where I enjoyed the house scramble and Lauren, a sweet breakfast that looked amazing. I think it was the french toast... Dinner Saturday night was at Cumulus - the dinner was just gorgeous. Great service, food cooked to perfection, wine to match and great conversations were had in the ambient atmosphere. Dessert at Max Brenner was not as delightful. It started raining so we moved the tables a bit and the staff grumbled at us and our response was to grumble back. Talk about shit customer service. Sunday breakfast was at friend of mine on Swan St - a quaint, not-so-little place (don't let what you see on the outside fool you!) but the breakfast is fresh, fast and delicious. I've already made a mental note to go there again. It does get busy so if you're an early bird that wants to catch the worm, best bet is to arrive before 10am.

But what I enjoyed most about my friends spending the weekend with me is you can reminisce, take stupid photos, gossip and eat complete junk without being judged. A bit like a massive sleepover. Just with more alcohol than the sleepovers I remember...