If you like that...I tried this stuff yesterday, it was water extracted from the Birch tree.
Quite similar, but with a slightly punchier/more citrus vibe.
Apparently holds much of the same properties.


I went to the Sydney Good Food and Wine show yesterday with my two girls and our niece. It happens once a year, it's HUGE. There's...
*Local and international celebrity chefs that perform/cook live, and do signings.
*Existing foods on the market to sample and buy.
*New and upcoming/yet to be marketed foods and drinks from companies looking to get picked up and marketed.
*Kitchen/Cookwear, both existing and newly launched.
*Demonstrations and seminars of things like new coffee machines.
*Alcohol, even if only by sample...one can get SO wasted here if so inclined.
*Produce from all corners of the country, and some from NZ as well.
*Many "deals" done so you get things much cheaper than they'd usually be.

It's like a $20 entry fee to basically get free shit all day.
It's a great day out. Yesterday we spend 6 hours there with ease...got our apron signed by another few celebrity chefs, met a couple of former contestants on some of the shows we've watched that are running their own businesses now, and got my kid her first cook-book, and filmed her meeting and signing with the chef that wrote it.

As for what I ate?
You name it. I didn't drink too much, but tried some nice peach vodka?
SO many food samples.
There was a lot...really, a huge amount of things...I felt so damn stuffed afterwards, and we've brought home a ridiculous amount of food.

It's about the only time of the year I'll actually tolerate a crowd, and we make it a point to go every year. This was our first time in 2 years though on account of the pregnancy and infancy...this one was Rivers first...and we'll be keeping it as a family tradition.
It's good to have been back.

I've never been to a food and wine show. And they have plenty of them around here. No real reason why, just don't think about it. My twice-a-year fun is Monster Mania.

If I said what I last ate I will get banned! ::wink::

A baby? ::big grin::

Not quite. I bet you'd be gagging yourself silly if I told you that you were indeed right. Its a strange world, anything can happen.

Having some strong tea with ginger...the wife is a bit sick so I added it to hers to settle her stomach, and thought, yep, I like this. I am having.

This morning I ate something like a mini organic granola bad with cranberries and dark chocolate, and had a couple of chocolate coated coffee beans I picked up fromthe aforementioned occasion.

What'd I eat and drink...
 

Home made General Tso's Chicken with brown rice. And I drank a Redd's Hard Apple Cider with it. Now just drinking water...lots of water.

Chocolate coated coffee beans!I wish we had those here.Are the hard?stupid question,i know..but are they?

I just ate caramel apple milky way minis..so good.I love these lil suckers but they only sell them this time of year.Its a fall candy i guess..:p

You probably do, or can get access to them someplace.
They're not as hard as coffee beans usually are inside, I'm fairly sure they've been roasted and perhaps sugared a little, they seem more brittle inside.

They don't sell those here, ever.
We have milky way, but it's different from your standard ones too, no caramel.


I've just thrown some various meats that were in the freezer in a closed pan, with a little water, cherry tomatoes, some oregano, ginger, garlic, spanish onion, himalayan rock salt, white pepper, and some "woodfire pizza" inspired seasoning that I've yet to try. It's mainly minced meats, so when it's all done I'll probably throw it onto a bread roll with some salad.
Smells great right now.

I had some of those during my internship in college once. I was hesitant to try them, but they're surprisingly addictive. ::smile::

And dammit Cheebs you done it again. I sure envy your wife and child.

I haven't heard of the Birch water, but I may stay away from it if it's citrusy. I down quite a bit of O.J. and I'm not sure I need more citrus!

I've been experimenting with some fruits and coconut water in an attempt at some fusion but I haven't found anything that really strikes my fancy. Tomorrow I'm trying blueberries, so my hopes are high for something delicious to develop.

It's crap.::mad::::big grin::

Eating a bacon, egg, and cheese Sizzli from Wawa ::stick out tongue::

Flatbread with tuna and tomatoes from the garden. I eat them just like apples...messy but delish.

I ate a scrambled egg and a piece of toast. I did this because when I looked in the fridge this morning, all I saw was one egg, one piece of wheat bread and a bit of milk. So, after that amazing breakfast treat, I think a trip to the grocer is in order.

Strong cup of tea and 3 mini powdered sugar donuts.

Afghan bread pizza.
Put on some cream cheese, and some passata.
Steak, onion, a chopped up (frozen) burger I made a while back, chilli pepperoni, and grilled mushrooms. Splash of bbq sauce when it was done.

That sounds like some fine dining, Cheebs.

I have a delmonico steak thats marinating in a really tasty garlic and herb mix. That, along with some roasted dill potatoes and steamed green beans with a tiny bit of apple butter, will be my dinner. Cooking for one tonight, but I'm still going to spoil myself.

A bowl of wheat chex and milk and am now enjoying my first of many cups of coffee.

Breakfast of champions.

Cheeb, do you mind if I ask....are you a chef? You are very creative with food.

::cool::



Sorry for the back-to-back posts. Couldn't get the "multi" button to work.

Uh, not really? Kinda?

I mean myself and the wife both had an interest in cooking, borne from pretty much both of our collective sets of parents being pretty shit at it.
So we started cooking more, and I taught the wife (then gf) a few of the things I knew and likewise.
Watched a fair few shows together, started our collection of cook books (now at about 84 of them I think).

Then, we both enrolled in culinary college. Now, to be a chef you need a certain amount of "industry hours" and to complete absolutely everything, including the management side of things, staff training, stock and order control, nutrition, handling, storage, and a bunch of other HR type stuff.
Not to mention the hands-on actual learning how to cook and prepare/present recipes.

We did all the hands on stuff, all the cooking, prep, and presentation modules.
We did Proper hygeine/handling/refrigeration and storage.
We did a little bit of nutrition and "working in an ethnically diverse workplace" type stuff, conflict resolution and all that.

In terms of the theory/bookwork beyond the attached modules to the hands on stuff, we did about half, and I cooked a little bit for work.
Didn't really like it though, killed my passion/interest in cooking and sharing with friends and family, so I decided it wasn't for me career wise.

In terms of qualification, we both have certs 3&4 in commercial cookery - which I'd say realistically would qualify you to run your own catering operation, or to cook, but the actual "chef" title is not something either of us completed.
There's still an interest in cooking and creating though.
Bit harder now with the kid, though we're focussing on making healthy food that's actually good, and not too time consuming.
Of course, we still 6-8 hour slow cook and bake sometimes, that will never be gone.

We've visited the good food and wine show and local organic markets many times, trying what new things/foods/equipment we can find...and that's about it.

Apologies for the overly wordy answer.

Not overly wordy at all. I think a lot of us suspected you had more than just a passing interest when it came to food.

I had quite a nice salad today.

I didn't make it, but I ?created/wrote? it?

Mixed green leaves including kale.

Steamed chicken.

Grilled Capsicum (red)

Artichoke hearts

Fetta cheese.

Pumpkin.

I had it dressed with a little olive oil, lemon juice, cracked black pepper and some dried chilli flakes.

Took some walnuts for crunch as a free of charge suggestion of my salad guy.

Really, REALLY excellent salad right there, folks - I'd recommend throwing one together for yourselves.

Just one of those things that I thought about for a bit, got my mind set on (it's weird...does anybody else here do recipes in their mind to perfection before ever making them/having them made?) and it turned out exactly how I wanted it.
Gaddamn perfect lunch, with enough left for an afternoon snack to boot.

I skipped breakfast, but my dog ate a bunch of cat shit out of the litter pans. She eats shit and I actually worry about what FOOD I'm buying for her???

Dogs LOVE cat poop! Weird!

I had oatmeal for breakfast.

It's disgusting, but...dammit, I love that dog.

Been awake since 2:30.....having a cup of coffee

celery stick with almond butter
black olives
feta cheese

Just had some pizza

roast chicken, mixed veg, stuffing(stovetop) and gravy.

Chicken Caesar Salad on fresh baked bread

Just had a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios

Whole wheat bagel, plain. Boring???? Not to me. I love grains and these bagels are soooo freakin hearty! Can bread be meat? Cuz this bagel shurr is beefy!

Bacon and Guacamole sandwich

Cheeseburger and fries

Mellowcreme pumpkins.