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welcome to casa de catty! have a goat’s cheese & broccoli soufflé!

catty — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 01:55:18 +0000

I’ve officially been back in Sydney for two whole months. Time flies! Exactly one month after we arrived back, we got an apartment (and I turned 32) and I’ve been meaning to share photos with you guys but life’s been just so hectic and oh yeah, there was that holiday in between.

But now! I have time! Welcome to casa de catty (ok and Panu).

I have to say, after living in a basement apartment (barely any natural light) in London (barely any sunlight), it has been more than a godsend to be in this new apartment in Sydney. I couldn’t have asked for more. Two floors, two balconies, each with floor to ceiling glass doors.

It’s a fricking life sized light box.

LOVE.

Sorry, no bedroom pics. That’s personal space

I tested the oven just last weekend, baking my mum’s banana cake – my go to recipe for anything and everything because everyone always loves it. Well, happy to report, the oven works great!

So I decided to try out this recipe I found in Grazia recently – a quick and easy (and healthy!) goat’s cheese and broccoli soufflé, made in a muffin tray! So cute. And delicious.

I have a friend who used to pay me out for reading trashy magazines – but dude, I LOVE my gossip magazines – because I mean, what? She expected me to be reading Times Magazine for fun? Ok secretly, the nerd in me also loves The Economist. And New Scientist. But my point is that check it out, Grazia actually has some pretty great healthy recipes and there’s another one I’m going try, so stay tuned!

Goat’s cheese and broccoli soufflé (courtesy of Grazia magazine)
3 eggs 50 grams goat’s cheese 1 small onion, finely diced 4 pieces of broccoli florets 1/2 red chilli, finely diced salt and pepper olive oil
Preheat oven to 180°C/355°F. In a small pan, heat olive oil and lightly fry the onions until fragrant, set aside. Place broccoli florets in a small bowl with some water and microwave for 60 seconds until slightly cooked, set aside. In a bowl, beat eggs. Add onions, chilli and goat’s cheese and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Scoop mixture into four cups of a well oiled muffin tray. Drop a broccoli floret into each cup. Bake for 15 minutes.
Makes 4

back from sunny Townsville (and loads of baby cuddling)

catty — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 01:59:41 +0000

Yesterday morning was one of the most difficult mornings I’ve ever had to deal with. I mean, I thought that last year’s post-Santorini holiday blues were bad. The endless blue skies and warm weather… but now, add to the endless blue skies and warm weather the most adorable, cuddly, chubby baby ever and you’ll see why I found it so hard to drag myself away and back to the 9-to-5 humdrum of life.

Sure I’m a city girl and I’d never live in a sleepy town like Townsville, but for a wind-down vacation, there is seriously nothing better than taking a stroll along the wide, sandy beaches (practically a private beach!)…

… and then napping on a wide verandah, cocooned in a hammock…

… or napping on the big cushy outdoor couch (with the dog).

This is the life.

(and doesn’t Panu just take the most flattering photos of me??)

And then there’s the baby. My precious, precious 5 month old niece, Jasmine. This was the first time I met her and you’d better believe that I didn’t sleep in at all the whole time I was there because I wanted to be up when she was up so I could max out my baby-time

Food-wise, we didn’t eat out all that much in the ‘Ville. I mean, come on, my parents were there! They cooked up a storm (steam boats, lamb curries, the works) and I ate up a storm and this week I’m on a self-imposed rabbit food diet and feeling rather sad.

The couple of times we did eat out, we ate in the style of typical Townsville. Once, we had lunch at Jamaica Joe’s, a restaurant overlooking the beach…

crispy battered soft shelled crab with rice & red curry sauce

chicken caesar salad

beer battered barramundi with fries & coleslaw

prawn salad with mango salsa

Jamaican style prawn skewers with spicy honey glaze

… and another time, I had a fresh barramundi fillet sandwich from a classy joint, Keg’s Fish Bar

Tasted awesome though!

And now I’m back in Sydney, which is marginally less painful because I’m still excited to come back to our new apartment. Which reminds me, I need to take some pics of this “blogger crib”. I will get around to it one day!

Jamaica Joe’s
Gregory Street Headland, The Strand
Towsville, QLD, 4810
(07) 4724 1234
website

Keg’s Fish Bar
Eyre Street
North Ward, QLD, 4810
(07) 4771 2554

bite sized: in case y’all are worried… I’m still alive!

catty — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 23:51:54 +0000

I haven’t blogged for A LONG TIME but don’t worry, I’m still alive! Somehow being on the beach / by the pool trumps being online. Sadly we’re packing up and heading back to Sydney tonight so the regular blog program shall recommence shortly.

… and I’m off!

catty — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 12:27:38 +0000

I’ve just set my Out of Office (is that seriously the best feeling or what?) and tomorrow I am off to Brisvegas to see my parents and then on Wednesday next week… I get to cuddle this adorable little creature! I CANNOT WAIT.

I’m sure I’ll find time to blog from the sunshine state, if I’m not too busy sipping cocktails by the pool or eating chubby little babies, but if you miss me a little too much *coughGAG* come visit my twitter stream. I’m never off that thing.

wishes… they do come true. happy birthday to me!

catty — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 12:42:53 +0000

You know there are people out there who believe in the universe… and energy… and ~~all that fluffy stuff~~ the general power of positive thinking. Well, I’m not one of them. I’m as far from being spiritually driven as a vegan is from bacon lard (mmm… bacon lard). I’m practical, I’m scientific, I’m… a non-believer. But you know what? All that might have just changed.

For the past eight weeks, I’ve been living out of a suitcase and am seriously this close to giving myself a lobotomy because honestly? If I’m going to have to have dig around in my toiletry bag one more time just to find that floss that’s fallen down the bottom? Don’t even ask me what I’m going to do. Because it does that. Every single night.

And for the past few weeks, any time anyone asked what I’d like for my birthday I’d respond the same way: All I Want For My Birthday Is a FUCKING APARTMENT pleaseexcusethefrench.

That’s all I want! Really.

So as soon as Panu got back, we started apartment hunting. And despite the ridiculously tough market, we scored one. I kinda told a few people but I didn’t want to go all up and write it in capital letters on my blog or anything because you know the Universe (now that I believe in it, it’s real), it also sometimes screws with you. Because it can. So I kept quiet about it, because we were going to sign the lease and get the keys tomorrow, 6 September, one day after my birthday.

But last Friday the agent called and said hey guess what? You can have the keys Monday, does that work for you?

Does it work? FOR ME?

Monday – today – is my birthday, you guys.

All I wanted for my birthday was an apartment. I screamed it, I prayed it, I visualised it, I’d secretly asked the Universe. Nicely. And look what it delivered. An apartment on my birthday.

So there’s a very real chance that I am now a believer.

ps. best birthday present ever.

pps. Panu’s mum made a gorgeous pavlova for me. And I have one candle because I’m now 1! (+31).

ppps. We did lots of birthday eating. I still need to digest the food, and then the photos.

for the love of matcha and GLEE! and chiffon cake and Azuma

catty — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 06:48:05 +0000

Friday night. What’s on your Friday night wish list, to make it a perfect end to your week? For me, Friday night wish lists have evolved beyond recognition over the last few years. I used to hang out for Friday night, to hit 5pm and start guzzling alcohol with my friends and live by our “eating is cheating rule”. I mean, eating is cheating? Seriously? I chose not to eat? God, I don’t recognise myself.

These days, all I want to do on Friday night is eat. In my pjs. I am old and boring like that.

But last Friday night was pretty awesome as far as Friday nights go. Check out this champion of checklists:

Duck pâté – check!
Matcha latte – check!
Matcha chiffon cake – check!
Awesome company – check!
and… GLEE THE MOVIE, yo!! – check check check!
Oh, and a huge bowl of popcorn and full fat coke. Yeah.

I know the duck pâté sounds a little out of place, but my friend Kate (who needed some glee in her life, and not just the movie type) and I decided to splurge a little and booked Gold Class tickets to Glee. And at Gold Class, they have pâté (!) and lots of other good things.

So. Glee the movie. Just ~~saying~~ blogging that out loud makes me want to squeal!

Along with about half the world’s population, I FUCKING LOVE GLEE. I don’t know what it is but they’ve hit the jackpot and discovered a recipe that appeals to everyone from all walks of life. But really, the genius in the show is that they have somehow made it unprecedentedly cool to be a G(L)EEK! And you know, I’ve always wanted to be cool.

So I loved the movie. I sang along and clapped at the end of songs like a bonafide loser. I got goosebumps. I didn’t want it to end (although, I also did want it to end because I was busting and damned if I’m going to miss a minute of Glee to go to the bathroom. Ok ok, TMI, I know).

To be honest though, I don’t know why Glee needed to be in 3D. I mean, it doesn’t. Unless I could actually reach out and touch Mike’s abs, I don’t see the point. But aside from that, I have to say, the Glee movie brought me glee.

So that’s how my Friday night kicked off. It was already rockin’ so awesomely that whatever we had for dinner, the night couldn’t really go wrong. But imagine the ultimate rightness of it all when Kate and I decided that we’d skip straight to dessert? Hellz yeah, you bet we did!

We went down to Azuma Patisserie & Cafe and indulged in matcha and black sesame goodness. A couple of matcha lattes (they don’t add sugar, I love this) and slices of matcha and black sesame chiffon cake.

Happiness.

black sesame chiffon cake

matcha chiffon cake

matcha latte

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the easy access to matcha here in Sydney.Back in the day, I could only appease my matcha cravings at Starbucks (who still do the best matcha frappucinos anyway) but now matcha is everywhere. It could be that it’s a phase, it’s the trendy thing right now, but I don’t care, as long as I can get my shot of matcha IV’d into my veins every other day, I’m sweet.

Azuma Patisserie & Cafe
Ground Floor Regent Place
501 Greorge Street
Sydney, 2000
(02) 9267 7701
website (though not updated since 2009!)