October 30, 2014

Sugar-free Honey & Thyme Biscuits

A slightly different post from my usual but something I just wanted to share. As much as I love to eat and enjoy and find new little places to try, especially for brunch, I also realised that I can bake! Yes it's true, when I have the time, I love to get out all my baking tools and bake something yummy; and boy can I bake!


Firstly, I would have to disclose that I'm really not good at decorating or making my baking items look good so from that I've realised that I will never be on the levels of such chefs as Adriano Zumbo. However, as I've been told by my friends (which has to be true), my baked goods are really tasty and delicious - so like they say, "don't judge a book by it's cover".

At the moment, I have a craving for biscuits and can't seem to get enough of them but clearly, they aren't the most healthiest to be consuming everyday and 5 a day isn't good for the waist or my health. So I decided to make a slightly healthier biscuit option and from that I created the "Sugar-free Honey & Thyme Biscuit" - OK, so I know that honey is sweet, but it's a natural sweetener which I believe is OK to use and you can't omit honey from a honey biscuit.

I was inspired by this usual flavour by Bread & Circus Wholefoods Canteen, located in Alexandria. As part of their breakfast menu, they serve a dish called "rainy day toast" which consists of sourdough toast with a heavy drizzle of melted organic honey-thyme-cinnamon butter. All I can say about this is WOW! A simple and very tasty dish and the thyme is serious business with the honey. Worth a try!


So, something I don't normally do, but below is my version of this amazing dish as a biscuit and I think I'll love it so much that you'll want to keep making it and I bet you'll add more thyme each time!

Sugar-free Honey & Thyme Biscuits - Jo's style!

Ingredients  

  • 100g soft butter (I use Pepe Saya
  • 100g rice malt syrup (I use Pure Harvest Organic Rice Malt Syrup) - sugar alternative
  • 1 1/2 large tablespoon of organic honey
  • 1 free range egg yolk 
  • 1 level teaspoon cinnamon
  • 200g self-raising flour
  • 6+ sprigs of fresh thyme

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 175C.
  2. Beat the butter and rice malt syrup in a bowl with a wooden spoon until creamy (I actually use my mixer as it makes life easier).
  3. Next, beat in the honey and the egg yolk.
  4. Add the cinnamon, flour and the leaves of the fresh thyme and mix into a soft dough.
  5. Take a teaspoon of the dough and roll it into a ball.
  6. Then continue with the rest of the dough. You should get about 30 biscuits.
  7. Space out balls on a greased baking tray (or a tray lined with baking paper).
  8. Cook in the oven for 10 minutes or until golden.
  9. Let cook on the tray and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
  10. Clean up, wash up and EAT!
NOTE: if the dough feels a little wet (due to the rice malt syrup) add a little more self-raising flour, but I don't believe you'll need to as I've already tested the quantities.


My notes to great baking: I would suggest finding organic (if you can) local fresh ingredients as much as possible as the flavours are much more real and tastier. Like I said above, my baked items don't look stunning but they clearly standout when eaten!

I hope you enjoy this biscuit! Let me know what you're thoughts are and if you added more thyme. I just loved biting into the biscuit and getting a surprise hit of thyme. 

Happy baking!

Jo xo

October 28, 2014

John Smith Cafe

I received the perfect text message from my girlfriend during the weekend for a brunch catch up and she said she'll come my way. After reading a few reviews of John Smith Specialty Coffee at 1 John Street, Waterloo, it was time for me (I mean us) to go try it out.

Weekend street parking is pretty easy so it's great to know that you don't have to keep driving around in circles trying to find a spot. The cafe is located by many of the clothing factory outlets - perfect location for me! 

We arrived to a lovely waiter (very cute I must say) chalking our name to the side of the wall as their next in line for a seat. We were initially told that it would be a 20-25 mins wait for a seat, however in the space of ordering a coffee while we wait and walking back outside and an offer of water, we were seated within 5 minutes. BOOM! Loved it already!

Walking through the cafe, you walk pass a display cabinet that is smack bang in the middle and completely filled with cronuts! OH.EMMM.GEEE. I've just died and gone to sugar pastry heaven! I think I had salivated all the way to our table. 


Our real ice coffee arrived the moment we sat down in funky mason jars and it was a refreshing welcome from the heat outside. Hands down this would have to be one of the best ice coffee I've had around town and I love my coffee. Just a simple serve of real coffee, milk and ice - no nasties in there! 

Best ice coffee in Sydney!
We both ordered the same brunch item (due to my friend's food envy of seeing mine). Can't remember exactly what it was called but it consisted of two perfectly poached eggs sitting on top of a perfectly square of polenta, zucchini, sweet potato rosti with goats cheese, capers and peperonata salsa verde, and a side of trout! 


Very tasty, I must say! It could have been a little warmer but the flavours, especially the cheese and capers, all danced together and was the perfect amount of saltiness without adding more salt. The portion was decent as well so you don't walk out feeling hungry but I wish I did have room for the cronuts....oh, the cronuts! I guess this means that I'll have to go back. 

Apart from the great coffee options available (and there is plenty to cater for all, even avid tea drinkers) and the out of the box creative menu their customer service was impeccable. This is something that personally rates high for me because even if the coffee or food isn't so great (not the case for JS) I'd go back to somewhere purely because of the service. 

The staff at John Smith went out of their way to ensure what we were OK and comfortable from providing water while we waited outside, offering another table if we didn't like the bench top seating to checking that our coffee and food was to our standard.  Serious thumbs up. 

If you haven't tried John Smith Cafe yet, I seriously recommend that you do. The cafe is small so expect to wait (especially on weekends) but based on my experience the wait wasn't too long and it's well worth the wait. 

To John Smith - great coffee and fabulous food. Keep up the awesome service and you've won my heart (and my taste buds!). I'll be back to try the rest of the menu and have my new fav, ice coffee during summer. 

Jo x

October 22, 2014

Business Chicks & Rachel Zoe

It has been a little while since posting anything to my site; I've been busy in the last week catching up with friends, going to the SoulFest festival last Saturday, catching some sun at the beach, lunching in Surry Hills at Rustic Pearl and trying the amazing food  Centennial Hotel on Sunday! Love weekends!

Today I had the pleasure of hearing the fabulous Rachel Zoe guest speak for Business Chicks. Taking a small step back, I've had a great opportunity to help Business Chicks out with their Sydney events. I've joined their "crew" team that is mostly made up of young girls (and guys) wanting first hand experience in event management so many are either still studying or have just finished and need to gain hands on work experience in the field. I think this is a great opportunity for them.

For me, it's mainly two reasons, given that I do have a full time job in a polar opposite world; 1) I wanted to do something completely different, network and meet new people (OK, maybe that's three reasons into one!) and 2) I love the speakers that Business Chicks has and wanted the opportunity to hear them speak and meet them. So, I figured, I would ask and the lovely Zoe came back to me saying "YES".

Business Chicks runs so smoothly and like clockwork but without the feeling of being rushed or stressed. All the Business Chicks staff are genuinely so lovely, friendly and patient. They are always happy and are able to explain exactly what needs to be done and always with a smile - I would have to say, it would have to be a great team to be working in; very supportive and fun at the same time. 
The "crew" team working together to get the room set up quickly. 
The perks of "crewing" with Business Chicks so far has been meeting different people, seeing and meeting the guest speakers, getting the opportunity to see how things are run in the background and how quickly an event can come together under a small amount of time, and for me, the experience to do something completely different and I'm absolutely enjoying every minute of it.

Back to Rachel Zoe; a stylist, editor and designer in the fashion world and what an amazing life she lives. Originally from New York and now based in LA, Rachel Zoe made a name for herself amongst Hollywood's A list and first hand brought back her love of the vintage era of the 1960's and 1970's. Now a fashion icon to the world, she kindly graced us with her presence on how she handles her love of her career, being a mum to two beautiful boys and a stunning wife to a man she loves and trust with all her heart, Roger. Her and Roger have been together for 23 years (AMAZING! Especially in Hollywood) and being business partners it means that they are together every minute of the day so they had to learn to shut down (from work) and spend quality time together.

Being a mum is something Rachel spoke passionately about and it was clear that it was the best decision she had made. Rachel loves children and it was always clear to her and Roger that she had to be a mother; she was called the "baby whisperer". However, initially, it was difficult for Rachel to get her head around how and when; but since having her children she said "(it) changes everything but for the best possible way".

Rachel's career success comes from being honest and trustworthy and having staff who project these qualities sits high in her world. She loves to nurture people and help them move into something they want to do with their career and she'll provide that support to them as long as they are honest and trustworthy. These two qualities truly resonates with me and it's something that doesn't always happen in the corporate world - corporate politics creep up and people (adults) begin to play games that aren't necessary.
Rachel Zoe on stage.
High Tea menu
The pretty lolly table for the high tea event
Rachel is a down-to-earth person who keeps it real and honest with her friends and family. Listening to her speak today showed the passion she has for her career and really loves what she does but to also listen and hear about the love she has for her family was a side that I respected as it's the real Rachel Zoe.

To Business Chicks, thank you for giving me the opportunity to be involved with you gals. I have an awesome time crewing with you and look forward to many more crewing dates! If you're interested in crewing with Business Chicks, I honestly recommend that you contact them.

Jo x


October 16, 2014

Andrea's Amazing Wish

I was honoured to a special night with my stunning friend, Sharon Melhem, who had invited me to attend a special Make-A-Wish Australia event fittingly held at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA). The event, Andrea's Amazing Wish, was in honour of Andrea Alzened, a beautiful 9 years old girl who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Make-A-Wish grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions to provide hope, inspiration and strength. The power of the wish encourages children to continue fighting and provides them with hope to achieve a dream. Andrea's dream was to be a professional artist where she could have people come and see her work.

Andrea loves art and when she is "doing her artwork it gets her excited and happy and she forgets that she is feeling sick". When Andrea was diagnosed with this horrible disease her mother, Tamar, had enrolled her into art lessons to help her through her treatments. It definitely worked - during her treatments, Andrea would paint, draw and sculpt and loose herself into a pain-free world where she is able to be creative and forget about the reality of what she is going through.

Through the amazing efforts and work of Make-A-Wish, the MCA was truly onboard with this wish and had offered to showcase Andrea's art pieces. Andrea is the youngest person to have her artworks displayed at the MCA, an achievement she and her family would be so proud of and be the envy of many artists, and her artwork is absolutely amazing for someone so young; a natural talent.



Not only did the MCA help Andrea achieve her wish, but Google also heard about Andrea and had commissioned her to create a "Google Doodle" which they will have displayed in their office here in Sydney, Australia. To take it another step further, Sass and Bide has enlarged one of Andrea's painting and is displaying it in their Brisbane office and provided a beautiful treat to Andrea and her sister by custom making dresses for them to wear on the opening night of Andrea's art exhibition. 


On this night, Andrea became an official artist; she kindly offered two of her art pieces to be auctioned off and with the money raised, she donated it to Make-A-Wish so that they can continue providing wishes for other children. This is a beautiful and selfless act I've seen and experience; not only has Andrea gone, and still is, going through so much with her treatments, but she is still willing to give to help others. For a 9 years old girl, she has a very big heart. 

Currently the stats show that approximately 2,000 children around Australia are diagnosed with a life-threatning medical condition and Make-A-Wish have granted 500 wishes, so there is so much more to grant and more funds are needed to help grant these wishes. I encourage you to donate today and help make wishes like Andrea come true.



To help raise awareness and much needed funds to make these wishes come true, Sharon Melhem founded Shine & Dine, an annual fundraiser in support of Make-A-Wish Foundation. Her amazing work and dedication has helped Make-A-Wish provide more wishes to these children and their families, giving them hope, strength and joy. It provides them with a goal to aim for and for a moment, helps them forget about the reality they are currently going through.

The annual Shine & Dine is set for next year and is schedule for 5 June 2015. Mark this special occasion into your calendar and come support an amazing event and have a fabulous night. I'll be there and I hope to see you there!

To Make-A-Wish Foundation - personally, I'd like to say, what an amazing job you do and the power of a wish you provide goes beyond what a child dreams of. Keep up with the great work!

To Sharon - you have a massive heart that goes around the universe. The annual Shine & Dine event you organise, the support you provide and the energy you create is truly amazing. You are a beautiful person both inside and outside and I am so lucky to call you my friend.

Jo x

October 12, 2014

I Love Food!

On Saturday I was volunteering for OzHarvest at Eveleigh Markets, one of my favourite farmer markets here in Sydney and I had a very interesting discussion with one of the other volunteers. Phil and I were the only two on Saturday for the afternoon shift and although we have worked together before, this was the first time we've really had a opportunity to get to know each other outside of volunteering. This is what I love about volunteering, the joy of meeting new people and hearing about their lives.

I found out that by trade, Phil was a professional baker. He now focuses and works with people on food safety but still continues to bake and cook beautiful real food for family and friends (I'm waiting for my invite!). We had an interesting discussion about the current food fads such as the benefits of coconut (milk, cream, water), chia seeds, going dairy free, following the paleo diet and so on. I mean, how did the world survive without coconut previously? Firstly, my disclaimer, I'm not against these food fads and/or diets, I do respect them for what they are and how it has helped many people who are wanting to live a healthier lifestyle. I, myself, have tried and tested some of these fads. 

We did both agree that, although these food fads are encouraging positive health for many people, we both enjoy real food. The real test question, "are you a margarine or butter person?" Butter, butter, butter! Butter all the way for me and the reason is because I know it's real natural food, not something that is man made. Did you know that margarine is black and that food colouring is used to make it similar to butter! Ewwww!

I had recently read an article in the Sydney Morning Herald titled "Is Camel Milk the New Superfood?" It states that it's already popular in North America, the Middle East and Asia and had been known as a health tonic with the health conscious claiming that it can help "a range of disorders including diabetes, autism, digestive problems and food allergies." If this is the new superfood, I guess we'll be seeing, camel milk ice cream, cheese, labnah, yoghurt etc. Something to keep an eye out for in 2015!



For me, food, like most things in life, should be consumed in moderation. Minimise the amount of processed food consumed but don't give up on the things you enjoy. If you're anything like me, I love ice cream and this is the one thing that I cannot (or I should say, will not) give up but obviously, don't eat so much of it. Well, personally, I would if I could! I believe that fresh organic food is best for you but again, don't kick yourself if you can't get organic. Not everything in my cupboard or fridge is organic. There are weeks where I'm not able to get to the farmers markets and the most convenient shop on the way home for me is an IGA.

I am a supporter of fresh and local which is why I do encourage shopping at your local farmers markets and supporting local businesses. Plus, just try it, when you eat fresh and local, the taste is so much more than something that has been frozen and shipped in from another country.



I'm not a food critic but my social life does revolve around food from popular venues, small hole in the wall places, recent pop-ups and street festivals showcasing local talents. Trying new venues and trying different types and styles of food and drinks is a pleasure I enjoy and I'm lucky that many of my friends also enjoy it as well. Sydney has really grown up when it comes to food and I would have to say it's one of the most amazing cities in the world where you'll get a stunning harbour, lushes beaches and fabulous food and drinks. We sure are on the map for amazing local food and drinks.




Summer is here and I encourage you to get out there and try our amazing cafes, restaurants, pop-ups, farmers markets, local street festivals and many more. I'm always on the look out for something new to try and experience; if there is somewhere you love and think I'll love it too (I probably will), let me know and I'll go try it out. I'd love to hear where what your favourite food or drink is and favourite place to eat. I may join you! 

Happy eating!

Jo x

October 06, 2014

The Copper Mill

What a fabulous long weekend we've had here in Sydney. The weather came out and played and it really felt like summer. A great start to what will be an awesome summer to come. 

Starting our long weekend, the girls and I went for brunch at The Copper Mill in Alexandria (Suite B, 338-356 Mitchell Rd). When I got there, there were people waiting outside but it really didn't take long and I was seated quickly, even though the girls hadn't arrived as yet. Personally, I thought that this was a great old school service you don't tend to get at many places as they want you to have everyone there before they'll seat you. 


I sat down and ordered a skim piccolo (my usual if you ever need to buy me a coffee *hint*) and patiently waited for my friends while people watching (something I just love doing and I create stories in my head) and studying the menu to what I was going to order. I was also looking at the meals that we're coming out to see what others had ordered and to see what I wanted to order. Do you do that? 

The menu looked good and I knew that I couldn't order every dish (sometime I wish I could), which meant I had to choose something and plan to go back next time to try something else. Oh, it feels like #FirstWorldProblems when choosing a dish off the menu. Everything on the menu just sounded so delicious and mouth-watering; it was hard but I knew that I wanted to have something a little different - not the usual eggs and bacon on sourdough toast.

I ordered the Tacu Tacu which consisted of: wild rice, spiced re-fried beans, coriander, pork chicharron, salsa criolls and a fried egg ($17) and the girls each ordered the Peruvian Roll ($10 - bargain) and Puffed Galette ($16).  WOW! My meal was delicious and very different for brunch. I've not been anywhere where they've served wild rice for brunch. I totally recommend it if you haven't tried it or haven't been. 

The cafe is small but not overly crowded which is something nice and the wait for a seat isn't long which means you're not waiting for a long time and then you're not being rushed out so that they can seat other people. 


If you haven't been go have a lovely brunch at The Copper Mill and if you have, let me know what I should have next on the menu!

Hope you all had a lovely long weekend and managed to get out and enjoy the sun!

Jo x

October 05, 2014

I'm a Blogger!

From one of my earlier post, Just Write, I mentioned that I would start telling my friends that I have a blog and that I'm now a blogger. When I started my blogging journey I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with it and honestly, I still don't. All I know is that I'm enjoying this journey so I may as well keep going with it and just go with the flow; especially if it makes me happy, positive and feeling good about myself. That's not a bad thing!

I have started telling most of my close friends about this blog and many have been so excited and happy for me that they have even subscribed (if you haven't, I think you should) to receive any new posting that I have written up and even provided me with some amazing feedback and further encouragement. 

One of my beautiful friends mentioned that the blog was "beautifully written & completely honest - very much you! Keep up the great work" and another said "I love the musings and it's really enjoyable to read." It's comments like these that makes me want to keep going and share my experiences, journey and moments (many random ones I must say). It is so heartwarming to know that I'm able to make someone smile and enjoy my blog. I hope to make people smile and happy and if I can do that from my blog, then that makes me happy.

To my friends, thank you for your support and encouragement. Without you all in my life I wouldn't be who I am and I wouldn't haven't learnt so much. You all add something special and amazing into my life and that helps with my blogging!

I'm learning that if you enjoy something, keep doing it. Do something that makes you happy and do it from your heart and do it for love. Everything else will just happen and fall into place. 

Jo x