So that chilli i ate the other day, it's taken around 2 days to subside. I feel like some of my taste buds are damaged....

So much for an easy gen ed....so much content, even if it's supposed to be 'basic' still so much to remember...

Creme caramael success!

Dessert last night. My first one didn't have enough caramel to coat the bottom, so it was half coated, and I also didn't run a knife all around to the bottom of the ramekin, so when I tipped it, the sides came out, but the middle was still stuck...Ended up half scooping it out and it flopped onto the plate...This one had enough caramel, and made sure to run the knife all the way to the bottom...I was lazy and used a serrated knife so the edges aren't sharp/super circular, but the colour is a lot better than last time...Caramel itself is sweet, but since the custard is close to flavourless, it actually tasted really good with that caramel sweetness. Texture was also like what it was meant to be, not too creamy, slightly milky and smooth. I made sure to sieve the mixture this time, unlike last time where I ceebs and there was some 'skin' form the cream/milk in it...Now time to conquer other desserts...just have to find the time first...

Air Wick x Gelato Messina

Thanks to the Air Wick competition (a while ago), I got invited to a dessert degustation by Gelato Messina! Decided to bring along a friend who told me of the comp. It wasn't really advertised, so I guess there was a higher chance of winning. Air Wick created some scents using food, and Messina has used those scents to showcase the actual dessert dish air wick has based their scents on. Yay for dessert degustation dinner!

Headquarters at Rosebery

Was running late so had a seat at the back, but I wasn't the last...It was inside their cool room, so blankets were provided, but outside was 40+ deg, so i was enjoying the refrigerator temperature inside.

menu

Winter Moments: Pear and vanilla

smashed insides

We had a special chocolate(?), well sweet aroma candle to start us off before eating, and some chocolate chips on the table to set off the dessert mood (didn't have any though). The smoke effect was created using liquid nitrogen. Safety lab goggles were provided but weren't really necessary. This was the only share dish. The consommé tasted like pear without being too sweet, but watery because of the melted nitrogen. You could still see some bits and pieces of it. The ice cream inside was smooth, but wish they put more in and a bit more of the pie crust. The pear was too sweet for my liking, just a super hard, thick piece of caramel. 

Palate cleanser: Cacao nib, coffee and kalamansi sorbet

How fancy-palate cleansers! Kalamansi is a type of citrus, kind of a mix between lime, and mandarin with a bit of sourness. The cacao nib gave it a bit of texture from the super soft sorbet, and coffee powder for some aroma and depth.

Mystical garden: rose, marshmallow, raspberry

more protection gear

blow torch!

toasted marshmallow

Another super fun and hands on dish. I guess I haven't bought a blow torch, since my thumb is too weak to press the button with just one hand...ended up getting ym friend to hold it out and used two hands to blowtorch it...The marshmallows were so soft, with a lovely raspberry sorbet inside. It was quite sour which balanced the sweetness of the chocolate fondant. I'm the weird person who likes edible flowers and fondant, so I ate all the bitter flowers with the fondant, but couldn't finish the fondant since it was too rich after eating half the stick....

Palate Cleanser: 

Inside the lab/kitchen

Lush Hideaway: strawberry, mint, coconut

They had blindfolds for us and handed out the desserts. I kind of cheated beforehand since I saw the promo vid of what desserts there would be...There's a straw in a super long legit test tube. It was a really refreshing dessert with coconut and these little balls which were made by suspending them in liquid nitrogen-kind of like sago but not as heavy/chewy. Loved the strawberry and mint flavours in it as well.

 

Paradise Retreat-chocolte,  cherry sorbet, coconut, almond blossom

edible coconut flowers and fondant leaf

cherry sorbet in an almond

details

Greeted by a chocolate tree in the middle of the room when we came out. The whole trunk is chocolate, with chocolate soil which wasn't as buttery but more dry...I guess it's healthier that way. The almond was amazing with a slightly sweet but some sourness from the cherry sorbet, and a kind of almond shell. The coconut flowers tasted just like plain coconut. The leaf was sweet just like normal fondant. So fun to break off chocolate pieces from the tree to put into our own plant pots, digging in the soil for almonds and picking flowers off the tree.

Everyone took a goodie bag when we left. They had an Air Wick item, my bag originally had wax melts but I swapped it for a reed diffuser, an Air Wick spray, and Messina voucher. Loved this collab by Messina! Hope to win more dessert comps, haha. It's these things which money can't buy....

World's Spiciest Chilli

So today we had our first quiz, and damn, totally regret working the whole weekend. Also got slammed by manager, and how ironic, more refunds yday....could and should have done better in the quiz, got more wrong than i can allow myself in this relatively 'easy' subject.

Back home i felt like splurging on junk food, and came across some samples of beef jerky in different   flavours. i had some the other day, but they were like original, honey soy etc so i knew they weren't spicy. this one i had was called Trinidad scorpion. later did i realise all the flavours listed on the front packaging were in the order of spiciest.

Trinidad Scorpian 

Put it into my mouth and it was indeed spicy, but i managed to swallow it. then the waterworks came, nose runny, eyes crying, fumbling for anything to alleviate the spice. ended up having: almond milk, oreo, yogurt, non-spicy jerky (i had ice cream before so couldn't have it again). it took 45min to reduce the spiciness to bearable levels. typing this almost 6 hours later, and i can still feel the spice in my mouth. during that time the spice could be felt down my throat and even pain in my stomach. world's spiciest chilli back in 2011-2013, now the world's 3rd hottest. found out after suffering through pain. the spiciness actually hurts the inside of you. well at least i can eat other chilli things and know the pain i suffered won't be as bad as today.

ended up using left over cream to make creme caramels. i think i know how to make caramel properly now, you actually have to put a decent amount of sugar in....

caramel

didn't make enough to fill the bottom of the ramekins =/ next time even more, but that means even more sugar....oh wells, it's a once in a while thing...

White Taro

Long time no brunch! This post isn't actually backdated unlike my previous ones (and the ones to come). Had a break during summer school today, so spontaneously went out to eat in Surry Hills at this relatively new place. It's near Reuben Hills, and you don't have to walk up the main hill, so that was a plus. Modern Vietnamese fusion food in a classic Surry Hills cafe setting and decor.

cafe

It was actually smaller than I expected. There is some seating around the back, but the tables are quite squished together. There's some outdoor seating, but being summer and with warmer days, there are quite a few flies around, even on our indoor table. The food took a tad bit longer than expected, but our eyes lit once it arrived =D

drinks (but not my drinks)
Frappes-$7.50
Mango heaven: mango, mint, green apple and pineapple
Pine/Berry Blast: pineapple, blueberry and mint

The mango one wasn't like your typical mango drinks with mango nectar/overly sweet. Nice and refreshing, and I think the green apple helped to make sure the drink wasn't too sweet. The berry one was refreshing like other berry drinks

Waffles: Salted caramel bacon, poached egg and oat ginger crumbs-$14

This dish sounded exciting, but was the most disappointing and least traditional. The waffles were soft and not too buttery, but would have liked a bit more of a crunchy outside bit. There wasn't enough salted caramel though ))): Since the caramel wasn't salted enough, and on top of the super sweet maple syrup, this dish was definitely too sweet. Didn't help that I freely poured the maple syrup over my waffles since it's not normally that sweet, but this one was. The bacon didn't have too much fat on it which is a plus. The poached egg was fried, but it did have a runny yolk. Couldn't taste the oat ginger crumbs because of the sugar already on the bacon plus maple syrup.

Taro's deconstructed 'Banh Mi': crispy pork belly, house made apple and date chutney, crunchy veggie picked, spiced kumquat butter, kimchi, chicken orange pate served w/ baked baguette-$19

pork belly!

Definitely a favourite, it was so cute to make your own little rolls. Yes, a normal pork roll is around $5 or less, and this one is 4 times the price, but there is pork belly! It was tender and soft, but the pieces we got weren't crispy, and did have a lot of fat on it. Loved the cute little pate jar, which was so delicious I ended up eating it by the spoon (but stopped since it's super unhealthy). The jar toppled as the waitress brought over the dish, but she was carrying 2 super long boards I guess. Loved the chutney, gave it some sweet fruitiness. Couldn't eat the kimchi since it was too spicy, but I did fill my roll with the pickled veggies. Wished they gave more bread since dividing the bread up between 3, you don't have much left. Too many toppings left and no bread. The roll was really soft and toasted well on the outside. The butter had a sort of crumb, but couldn't taste any other flavour apart from butter lol.

Grilled watermelon salad: BBQ prawns, two way watermelon, Bulgarian feta cheese, glassy pecan, exotic greens in palm dressing-$18

Ordered a salad because the chicken salad on the table next to us looked very generous, but we ordered the prawn one (recommended by the waiter) and unfortunately it was in a smaller...There were roughly 5 prawns, not massive king prawns, but still cooked and seasoned well. The dressing had a bit of pepper and by the end it was a bit spicy. I think seafood and watermelon salad is a thing now since it's summer. Some watermelon was served slightly warm which tasted a bit different, and could have been sweeter, preferred it just normal. Loved the pecans which gave it so much texture even though it's deceivingly small. Greens were delicious with the dressing, and slightly creaminess from the cheese. Pretty different flavours for a salad (:

foood

   

kitchen 

entrance

They also forgot to charge us for the salad, but mu friend went back to them since it was unusually cheap when she paid...Vietnamese food is generally considered cheap, but modern Viet fusion is really delicious and interesting!

First day of summer school was very wet. Feels a bit weird wearing a jacket in summer, love the cooler weather but hate the cold. Started to watch Downton Abbey and ended up finishing 3 seasons in less than a week in between work and uni...So many things on my to do list, but I should actually study for this since it's a 2.5 week course with 3 exams in that time limit.

Had my first Aqua S this year, although I shouldn't have it as often now. New year means increased prices and smaller serving size.

Small: Match latte and tofu-$4

Unconventional picture of this at Macquarie, so no nice cloudy walls. It used to be $3.80. I guess they used that money to purchase smaller cups with print. The matcha was so good. Lovely hit of green tea and good amount of bitterness. The tofu tasted like a soy bean drink and was way too sweet for my liking, even though I like sweets. Luckily I had the matcha on top or else the tofu would have been too overpowering...

Hasn't really been a great week to start the year, but you can bet it'll pass by very quickly.

Cosmo Coffee

Spontaneous outing to Castle Towers, (had to help Mum with stuff), and wow, how much this place has changed! So many shops have moved around, and all these new apartments everywhere.

This place is one of my Mum's favourites for afternoon tea. It's actually my first time coming here for their Happy Hour, normally I'm too busy to come and she'll bring back takeaway pasta.

Large Mocha-$4.50, Four Seasons Pasta: garlic prawns, spinach, mushrooms, spinach, sundries tomatoes, cheese-$12 (normally $20.90)

The pasta is actually quite oily, but I think it's olive oil, so it's healthy. There were 7 prawns which is pretty generous. Cheap eats in a not-so-cheap suburb for cafe food. The mocha was too sweet, more like hot chocolate with only a hint of coffee. Maybe it's because a lot of school kids come past, so they just make their mocha sweet to suit those kids' taste.

Big breakfast from over a year ago,...

Goodbye 2015

My heart kind of broke when I didn't receive 2 days of double pay, which is about a quarter of a new laptop. Once they miss the pay, feels like impossible to get paid...

chocolate stash from my colleagues. 

i started to gift out stuff, and got chocolate in return. did i mention i hate getting chocolate? never finish it on time, and it expires. probs gift them to relatives...but i guess it's the thought that counts. new year goal is to actually lose weight. eating so much and getting so fat D= working 6 days a week doesn't help in losing weight unfortunately.

Also decided to get the free 3 month trial for apple music. don't really get how to use it, but i did manage to watch Taylor Swift's 1989 concert video. Look how cool the Sydney stadium was!

I feel like each year has gone by faster. Still remember my last holidays just a year ago....See you in 2016!