Comfort Food of the East - Beef Pho

The arrival of winter-like weather to Melbourne and the rather stressful week we've had this week (long story short, little miss almost 3 had a severe asthma attack which saw us in the emergency department of our local hospital; she is much better now thankfully) has gotten me thinking about the cold weather and comfort foods my family and I like to eat.  So, today I thought I would share with you a quick and easy recipe for one of our favourites, Vietnamese Beef Pho.

Now, I must add the disclaimer that I am NOT Vietnamese, so the authenticity of my version of this soup noodle dish is probably a little suspect.  But I do promise you that it is very delicious and a great way to warm up on days that make you think you are living in Antarctica (or the Arctic if you're in the Northern hemisphere).

Ingredients:

1kg of stewing beef such as gravy beef or chuck steak, trimmed and diced into 2cm cubes

1-2 stalks of lemongrass, bruised

4 star anise pods

3cm knob of ginger, sliced

12 leaves of wombok/Chinese cabbage

3-4 bunches of baby bok choy

100g bean sprouts (optional)

1 litre of home made beef or chicken stock or 1 cup of store bought beef stock

Fresh flat rice noodles for soup

Condiments:

Fresh coriander

1-2 small red chillies

2 limes

Fish sauce

Method:

1. Combine your stock, lemongrass, star anise and ginger in a large soup pot and heat till simmering gently.  If you are using store bought stock, add enough water to make up to a litre.

2. When the stock is nicely simmering, add the diced beef and cover with the lid.  Top up with boiling water if the meat isn't fully covered by the liquid.  Leave to simmer for 1.5-2 hours.

3. Meanwhile, chop up the Asian greens.  These cook pretty quickly, so I usually add them after 1-2 hours and simmer for another 10-20 minutes, until they are tender.  If you are using the bean sprouts, I recommend tailing them for a more aesthetically pleasing dish.  You might also want to top up the soup with more liquid (boiling water) if it looks a little low and you are wanting more of a "soupy" feel.

4. Finely chop the coriander and the chillies and put them in separate dishes.

5. Put the rice noodles in a metal dish and cover with boiling water for about 5 minutes.  Drain the noodles and then serve up in large soup bowls with the soup.

6. Serve the noodle soup with the condiments in the middle of the table for people to add to taste.

Sew Mama Sew May Giveaway Day - 2010

Today's post has had me very excited for some time.  My birthday is on the 23rd of May and I had been thinking about running a birthday giveaway when I found out that the Sew Mama Sew May giveaway day was happening again!  I have enjoyed discovering new crafty blogs through past Sew Mama Sew Giveaway days, so now that I'm a blogger too, I have decided to take part!  I can't think of a better "bloggy" way to celebrate my birthday.

Since my crafty endeavours primarily focus on jewellery making, I have decided to give away the winner's choice of EITHER the Vintage Red Ring OR the Domestika Blue Ring, neither of which are available in my store yet.  Both rings are made from vintage West German domed cabochons and contemporary adjustable ring bases.  In order to better fit in with the fact that it's a Sew Mama Sew giveaway, I have also sewn a small fabric pouch for the ring.

So, what do you have to do to enter this giveaway?

Firstly: Tell me which ring you would choose if you were the winner, and who it would go to (it's okay to keep it for yourself, he he).

For extra entries (feel free to do all, some or none of these):

1. Visit my store and tell me which piece is your favourite, and why.

2. Follow my blog publicly.  If you are already a follower, just leave a comment telling me you are.

3. Follow me on Twitter and leave me your username. Or remind me that you are already a follower.
4. Tell me what kind of tutorials you would like to see on my blog.

PLEASE put each entry as a SEPARATE comment and leave me your email address so that I can contact you if you are the winner.

This giveaway is open worldwide and will run from today, May 17, until 3pm May 21 Australian time (AEST).

The winner will be chosen using Random.org and has 48 hours to respond to my email before I pick another winner.

EDIT: This giveaway is now closed.  Thanks to everyone for entering my giveaway!

Feature Friday - billy mac clothing

This week's feature Friday artist is Christine of billy mac clothing.  As you will see, she makes cute tees for children, some of which this mum wouldn't mind having for herself!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I live in Sydney with my husband and 2 daughters who are 3 and 18 months old.  I worked in advertising for a very long time but haven’t had a day job since I had my girls. My full time job is looking after them, but I own a graphic design and advertising business which I run from home.  Late last year I started billy mac clothing, so I’m very busy and I certainly work longer hours now than I ever had in the past!

Describe yourself in 5 words. 
Creative, stubborn, ambitious, honest, cuddly

I Heart Louis t-shirt

When and how did you first start crafting/creating?

I’ve always been artistic. I was always drawing, painting or dancing as a child ,but when I reached high school I knew that this was it, Art was my ‘thing’. I went to UNSW, College of Fine Arts for 4 years and when I graduated moved around in a few different jobs within magazines and retail advertising where I was amongst very creative people, but I wasn’t being creative myself.  In the back of my mind I knew that I was still an artist but I had pushed aside the ‘making’. After having my 1st child I started my own graphic design business which meant that I took the lid off my artistic self again.  And after having my 2nd child I started billy mac clothing.  It has been so fantastic to use my creative skills again – with billy mac clothing I am creating my own work and not channeling my artistic side through my clients' work.  It’s an absolute joy and my kids have great t-shirts to wear.

Retro Kombie t-shirt

What do you create and what are your favourite materials with which to work?

I print kids t-shirts for the 0-8 bracket. I found after having my girls that there were fantastic garments for babies, but then for around the 2 years up age group the reasonably priced garments were either printed with Disney or Bratz Dolls licenced images or they were attempting to make girls, in particular, dress much older than they were. I needed to find t-shirts for my toddler to wear to Pre-school one day a week that I wasn’t too precious about if they got paint on them, had her shoulders covered in case of sunburn when she was playing outside, but also made her look like ‘the coolest kid in town’!  I couldn’t find anything within my price range so decided to focus on making my own. I can also customise any t-shirt with a name or an image and I’ve just put together a fundraising program for preschools, playgroups and sporting clubs where 20% of each t-shirt sold to their members or students is donated directly back to the club or group to boost their fundraising.

All my designs are done on a Mac using Adobe Illustrator; the design part is my favourite part of the process.  They are then printed via a couple of different methods, depending on the design, and heat pressed onto the garment. Each new design can take me a day, a week or 10 minutes to get it exactly how I want it – I never know until I start to work how easy or difficult it may be, but I’m a big believer in not looking at any design for a few days and then coming back to it with fresh eyes to get some perspective.  All of my t-shirts are 100% cotton and are printed with sturdy vinyl or digital prints. And then I get to see them!  I like to see ‘stuff’, it somehow makes what you think about and what I play around with on the computer more real to see that final printed product.  I’m experimenting with a few different print methods and weighing up the options between quality but still trying to keep costs reasonable.

Mon Cherie Eiffel Tower t-shirt

When and how did you start selling online?

I have been making t-shirts for friends and family for about 3 years but it wasn’t until late last year that I decided to take it seriously, register the billy mac clothing business name (Billy Mac was my childhood nickname!) and start producing and trying to sell my work.  It’s been very quiet for me online but I have had an enormous amount of attention and positive feedback which makes everything worthwhile and I’m considering selling at markets.

Describe your store in 5 words 
Cool, retro, quirky, bold, fun

Where can we find you online?

Web: http://www.billymac.com.au

Etsy: http://www.billymac.etsy.com 

Madeit: http://www.madeit.com.au/billymac 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/billymac_tshirt 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/billy-mac-clothing/299338344193

Wonderful Wednesday Win!

I just couldn't resist the alliteration in today's title, although the win in question actually occurred last Wednesday.  Each Wednesday, Christie of Christie Cottage hosts a fun giveaway on her blog.  And, as the title suggests, I was the excited winner of the giveaway last week!

So what did I win?  The AMAZING Rose Pink n Blue Classic Loli Innocent Collage Necklace from Kippys So Mature. This beautiful Etsy store is run by the very lovely Jennifer (or Kippy as she is sometimes called) who is a fellow team member of CAST.  Her work is so pretty and so detailed, check out her store some time!

My Northern Territory Holiday - Miscellaneous Photos

Today's post is the last in my series of posts about my recent Northern Territory adventure.  I was hoping to be able to blog about the amazing flora and fauna found in the Northern Territory but I found that most of my pictures weren't that good (and we didn't see huge numbers of animals due to the fact that many of them are nocturnal and we did our sightseeing during the day).
So, instead of my planned flora and fauna post, I thought I would just include a few photos from our holiday which I love.  I can't believe it's been a month since we first set off on our holiday, there are definitely quite a few times when I wish we were still there!

Malcolm getting up close and personal with "Honey" the beautiful Olive python at the Alice Springs Reptile Centre.

Sculpture of a giant caterpillar representing Yeperenye, a dream time character in Aboriginal creation stories, at the Araluen Cultural Precinct.

Cattle class on a train which was used on the original Ghan railway line.  Yes, people used to travel like this for weeks (and sometimes months) with no shelter or seats.  The museum curator told us that travellers on "cattle class" would bring their own pallets and blankets to keep warm at night - yikes.

Feature Friday - DELicious Designz/Get SPOONed

My featured artist for the week is the lovely and talented Del of DELicious Designz and Get SPOONed.  Del makes amazing resin and spoon jewellery and my sister and I are proud owners of some of Del's funky resin bangles.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I am Adelle and I live in Albany, Western Australia, with my 2 girls and hubby, dog, rabbit, guinea pig, budgie,  hermit crabs....and now it seems cat and chicken as well (these are not ours but have dropped by our place recently).  I am a stay-at-home-mum (although I don't seem to stay at home that much) and I am a full-time crafter.  I frequent the markets where you can find me selling my creations and I also sell online.

My creative direction has changed due to an allergy I have been getting from the resin I work with.  So in the best interests of my health, I have stopped creating bangles and rings and have been focussing more on my spoon jewellery.  I have now opened up my second etsy store GetSPOONed .

Fork and Spoon Pendant

Describe yourself in 5 words.

I am really quite awesome!!!!  (Well someone has to think so, might as well be me).  Edit: He he he, love your confidence Del!

When and how did you first start crafting/creating?

I have always been a crafty kind of girl.  My Mum and Gran did markets when I was growing up, selling knitted jumpers, beanies, and knitted barbie clothes!!!  My girls are now using some of those outfits that I handed on to them for their dolls.

I learnt to knit and crochet at a young age and always liked to try new crafts.  I didn't do much for a few years but then, after having children and feeling a need to do something more than just be Mum, I got into beading.  I made lots of earrings and necklaces, more than one girl needed, but thought that if I wanted to sell my jewellery it had to be really different to get noticed.  So I began experimenting, I discovered resin and the rest is history.

Little Darling Spoon Bangle

What do you create and what are your favourite materials with which to work?

Favourite materials!!!  I love using vintage components, cutlery, resin.

When and how did you start selling online?

I was given the courage to take my spoon pendants to market by my good friend Samara (Maddabling).  We shared a table and it was lots of fun.  But afterwards I had lots of stock left and Samara suggested opening an etsy store.  So really, I owe it all to her, otherwise I probably would not have had the courage to take my creations to the world.

Luck of the Dice Spoon Pendant

Describe your store in 5 words.

Fun, Unique, Bold, Quirky, Me

Where can we find you online?

Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/getSPOONED

Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/DELiciousDesignz

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/GetSPOONed

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DELiciousDesignz

Blog: http://deliciousdesignz.blogspot.com/    

Orange and Berry Self-Saucing Pudding Recipe

I have been wanting to share some tutorials with my readers for some time now, but haven't had any good ideas about projects people would like.  So, I thought today I would share with you a simple and delicious recipe instead!  It's not technically a tutorial, but as you will see, I just couldn't help myself and had to tinker a little with the recipe.

My family are big fans of self-saucing puddings (especially my dear husband), so when I found this recipe in the MX paper a few years ago, I kept it in my folder of recipes to try out.  It is a VERY simple recipe and is great for those with egg allergies since it doesn't contain any eggs at all.

Orange and Berry Self-Saucing Pudding

Ingredients

20g flaked almonds

30g butter or margerine

110g (3/4 cup) self-raising flour

80ml (1/3 cup) milk

150g (2/3 cup) firmly packed brown sugar

Finely grated rind of one orange

110g frozen raspberries

60ml (1/4 cup) orange juice

180ml (3/4 cup) boiling water

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180C/356F.  Place the butter or margerine in a 1.5 litre oven- and microwave-proof dish and microwave briefly to melt the butter.

2. Add flour, milk and half the sugar to the melted butter and whisk until smooth.  Stir in rind and berries.

3. Sprinkle remaining sugar over berry mixture.  Carefully pou over combined juice and boiling water.

4. Bake uncovered for 45-60 minutes or until golden and cooked (this will depend on your oven).

5. Meanwhile, toast almond flakes till lightly browned, then sprinkle over the pudding just before serving.

6. Serve pudding with vanilla ice cream!

Variations

As I said earlier, I have tinkered with this recipe a little, so here are my variations (they really are quite minor).

1. Omit the flaked almonds if you cannot eat nuts (or simply cannot be bothered to toast the almonds).

2. The original recipe uses raspberries only.  I find that raspberries can be a little tart for my kids, so I like to use blueberries or a mix of frozen berries.

3. I like to juice the zested orange and use all of the juice instead of just 60ml.  Should you choose to do this, just reduce the boiling water by the same amount you increased the orange juice.

There you are, a very simple dessert you can whip up even with littlies "helping" you!  Enjoy!