Cute Collar Cake

I have an affinity for anything with a peter pan collar. You may call it an addiction. It's my thing! My lovely sister made this adorable cake for me in tribute to my love for collared dresses! It's so cute! The actual cake is a victoria sponge and it's covered in a vanilla buttercream. Clothing has never looked so delicious! Na xo

The Greenhouse

Earlier this month, I found myself on the other side of the country in a little city called Perth. I stumbled upon this fantastic eatery called The Greenhouse. I instantly fell in love with the look, the feel, the food and the concept. It's a wonderful project that is based on the idea of sustainability. They have thought of everything from where their food is sourced to the building materials used, in order to minimise their ecological footprint. The building is made from recyclable materials and the first thing you notice is...it's covered in pot plants! Covered! When you walk inside, you instantly feel like you're in a good place. The service is so warm and welcoming and if you venture upstairs there's a cocktail bar surrounded by a vegetable garden!

Over my time in Perth I frequented the Greenhouse and had delicious fresh pasta, home-made lemonade (I THINK it was made with honey instead of sugar. Genius!) and creative cocktails served in jam jars! Na xo

Sugarcane Prawn Recipe

Photography by B.E. (left) & M.H. (right)

I have fond memories of sitting around the family dining table and constructing our very own Vietnamese rice paper rolls or "wrappies" as we used to call it (and still do). You can pick and choose what you want to put in it, as much or as little as you like and wrap it up into a tasty little morsel! I made sure that my little parcel was wrapped perfectly so the filling wouldn't fall out, my little brother on the other hand would gather it up by the corners, roll it into a big ball and put the entire roll into his mouth :). From a hosting point of view, there's very little preparation time required and our guests have always enjoyed the experience. It's a great meal for summer days because it's fresh and light.

Thai Chicken Larb

Photography by B.E.

I love larb it's so fresh and tasty! Serving it in some wonton cups, makes for a quick and easy entree that can easily be scaled up if you are having friends over. I used the recipe from Blue Ginger: The Flavours of Asia at Home, Les Huynh. Mi xo

Pandan & Coconut Cupcakes

I wanted to make some super-special cupcakes for Na! I love the combination of pandan and coconut as you may have noticed from the recent ice cream post. I found a great recipe for Pandan Coconut Cake originally from Creative Making of Cakes by Alex Goh. Instead of making a cake, I made 24 cupcakes using a standard 12 hole muffin tin. Topped off with a coconut buttercream, using Na's fantastic basic buttercream recipe. If you ask her nicely, she may share it with you. Mi xo

Pandan & Coconut Ice Cream Recipe

Photography by B.E.

This recipe has been adapted from the vanilla ice cream recipe in Iced 180 very cool concoctions, Murdoch books.

Mixed Mushroom Tart

I love mushrooms! I got this recipe from ABC's Delicious magazine. Not only is it packed full of mushy goodness, but the pastry is mainly made up of cheddar cheese and it crumbles in your mouth as you bite into it. YUM! Mi xo