tessutis fabrics and new shanghai

I had a while to wait in Chatswood while J's Mac was at the Mac Dr so I wandered around the corner to Tessuti's fabrics. They stock a large range of fabrics and whilst I didn't need any it was good to have a browse.

I realised it would be quite a wait for the computer so I checked my trusty Good Food Guide app for good food! Chatswood (if you don't know the area) has a high percentage of people living with a South East Asian background so its a great place for food.

I decided not to venture too far from the mall and tried New Shanghai. Ordinarily I'm not a fan of Chinese cuisine but I have probably only ever had the greasy Australian/Chinese dishes.

I had the Peking beef with steamed bread (which had sides of cucumber and shredded spring onions). It was enjoyable. P (almost 2) only needed to watch me fill my steamed bun with beef once before insisting on her doing the same with hers. The only shame was that it was just the two of us and I couldn't justify ordering more dishes. The dumplings looked pretty good and you can watch as they're being made. We had a great waiter, Aussie, who's been her for ten years but is originally from Hong Kong.

* They have high chairs.

heirloom carrot cake

We had an invitation to a friend's house this morning: "for bacon and egg rolls." Well, you should have seen the spread! A fruit platter, mangoes with a slice of lime (try that combo), stacks of BBQ'd bacon, eggs, sausages, warm bread rolls and hash browns. We washed it down with fresh coffee, tea and champas.

All eight children (5 yo down to 1 yo) sat for about 10 minutes on a picnic rug eating. That's got to be a record.

I decided late last night that I'd make a cake and hunted around for ingredients this morning. Here's the recipe for Donna Hay's carrot cake taken from Modern Classics Book 2.

Carrot Cake

1 1/4 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger (I had none soni used nutmeg & it was a generous teaspoon)
2 1/2 cups grated carrot (I used a large purple heirloom carrot and one small orange carrot)
1/2 cup chopped pecan nuts (I didn't have any but I didn't miss them)
1/2 cup sultanas

Preheat the oven to 180°c (350°F). Place the sugar and oil in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs gradually and beat well. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and ginger over the sugar mixture.

Add the carrot, pecans and sultanas and mix until it is just combined. Pour the mixture into a greased 22cm (9 in) round cake tin lined with non-stick baking paper and bake for 55-60 minutes (I only needed 50 mins so keep a close eye on it but it will depend on your oven) or until cooked when tested with a skewer.

Serve the cake warm or cool completely and spread with cream cheese frosting.

Serves 8.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Process 250g (8 oz) softened cream cheese in a food processor until smooth. Add 1/3 cup sifted icing sugar and 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon (I used lime) juice and process until smooth.

Our dear host outdid me with a slab of her mother-in-laws sticky date pudding, ice cream and sauce made from jersey caramels!

little minds

I love how kids' minds work. B came racing out to me this afternoon while I was washing the car.

"Mum. I've put some flowers in a cup for you..... Well they're not actually flowers. They're textas!"

bumper crop: strawberries

Will you just check out our bumper crop of strawberries?!

P (almost 2yo now) decided shed take these plants out of the pots when I was searching for herbs to buy recently. We had to take then home. Needless to say that with strawberries from $2-3 a punnet at the moment we forked out for this lone morsel.

kitchen spy via the Sydney Morning Herald

Adriano Zumbo