Blackberry Pie

When I was in high school my best friend Reanne's, mum made the best pies! Generally, she seemed to cook more pies when her brothers came to visit (they were older and had already left home). So obviously I would go and stay at their place when they were around, also I wanted to hang out with Reanne :) For a while, I think her mum thought I had a crush on one of the brothers, but then quickly realised it was the pie! Last summer I was able to go back to Canada for a visit Reanne, while she was staying with her family, and her mom taught me how to make pie! I made this pie a few weeks after I left, I  even handpicked the blackberries for it!

Vinarterta

small 6 layer Vinarterta after filling added

This year I am going to Australia for Christmas, and am slightly bummed that I will not be able to eat Vinerterta on Christmas day, I actually was thinking of ringing up the Biosecurity people in Australia asking if I could bring it in. (you cannot bring most food into oz) But possibly that's a bit insane, I will just have to enjoy before I go and when I get back!

Gumdrop Cake

Gumdrop cake just out oven and raisin free!

Until recently I could not stand Christmas cake, actually, most people in my family don't like it either. (I can't understand why I sort of like it now) So as an alternative my family makes gumdrop cake every Christmas, which is kinda a kids version of Christmas cake. When I was little I used to make gumdrop cake with my grandmother. There are raisins in the recipe which I do not like, so every time we made it I would hide the raisins somewhere. (usually under a tea cosy) Then just after the cake went in the oven I would miraculously find them, which was way too late to add them :)

Recipe Books

I have a lot of cookbooks! I don't think I realised how many I had until I put them out on the table today 69! They are not all mine (some are my moms) but I think I have bought about 50 of them, and I don't think I am going to stop buying them anytime soon. The photos always look so good and I generally think it's better to buy a cookbook instead of a magazine because they last longer. (well that's my excuse anyway). I even have a double of The Australian Woman's Weekly "Tapas Bar" oops... And truthfully I don't really ever use the cookbooks, I like to look at the pictures... sometimes I get inspiration from the recipes but end up changing a lot of the ingredients so they don't really resemble the original recipe. The reason I got all my cookbooks out is, I am planning on starting to teach cooking lessons to kids and want to get some inspiration for healthy but tasty ideas that kids would enjoy cooking. So keep posted and see what I come up with. Naomi

RHKYC yacht race from Hong Kong to Hainan

Sailing on Ambush from Hong Kong to Hainan, China

I just got back to Hong Kong after racing in the 360nm downhill race from Hong Kong to Sanya which is on the south of Hainan Island in China. I did the race on Ambush a Mills 41, with 10 other sailors. We started the race on Thursday at 12:15 and finished at 5:15 am on Saturday morning. 12 boats competed in the race, all finished except one, which retired. The race was a lot of fun we started just outside of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club in Hong Kong harbour and raced out of the harbour and ended in Sanya at the southern end of Hainan Island.

Thai Quinoa Turkey Laab

Laab is a Thai/Lao dish it is traditionally made with ground chicken, beef, or pork. It is flavoured with fish sauce, lime and fresh herbs. The ground meat is eaten by wrapping it with a lettuce leaf. When I was thinking of what to cook for dinner the other night I decided to make a Thai Quinoa salad, but when I was wandering around the grocery store I decided to make a variation of Laab that would be a complete meal, not just meat in lettuce.

Risotto With Mushrooms, Pork And Zucchini

Risotto with grated aged cheddar on top 

The last few months have been a shuffle, I have been staying at a wide variety of friends places in Hong Kong while they have been away on holiday. I am not complaining but I would love to get my own place soon. However with being back at university funds are tight and finding an affordable place in a very expensive city can be difficult, so until I find a place I will be shuffling around a bit. So enough excuses, but that's the reason for the lack of recipes lately (it can be really difficult cooking in other peoples kitchen without your cooking equipment etc). Anyways I was finally able to put a meal together the other day, photograph it and write it down I hope you enjoy.

Vietnam Trip Post 6 - Saigon

The lunch lady! 

The Lunch Lady I have heard so much about her amazing bowls of soup on No reservations and other blogs. So on the first day in Saigon we decided to see what all the fuss was about and try to find her. First of all she is not that easy to find we had a simple map from gastronomyblog which helped a lot, but still wondered around the block a few times before we found her she is down a side street. While searching for her we ran into the couple who write the blog ricebellies and between us eventually found it.

Vietnam Trip Post 5 - Hoi An

being put to work in the herb garden

It has taken me forever to post this! Really i am working on getting all my posts up from Vietnam, hopefully they will be up by the time I go on my next holiday to Australia in October! Next time will write posts well on the holiday.

Vietnam Trip post 4 - Hoi An

cleaning dishes in the Hoi An market 

Ooooooh I actually thought I had already started this post then I opened this file and nothing... oops... darn... not as easy to post this as I was thinking....

The Chili Soup Challenge!

the first challenge the #8

Me and Gus with #8

Ed with #8

A few weeks ago I got a text from a friend saying "Ed and I are thinking of going to the spicy noodle place in Causeway Bay for a number 9, you keen for a rematch? Also Ed says hiccups are acceptable in a chili eating competition!" It all started the other night after way to many drinks we were at a friends apartment and all he had to eat was saltine crackers, chili paste and wine! So the chili challenges started... how much chili paste can you eat on a cracker? After a large spoonful Gus got the hiccups and I said he lost the competition. So I met Ed and Gus in Causeway bay and we went in to the restaurant. We tried to order a number 9 bowl of soup, there are 9 levels of hottness of soup at this Szechwan restaurant. The waitress actually said NO to us, another patron who translated for us (the waitress only spoke cantonese) said that she was afraid we would waste the food. So after some persuasion we convinced her to give us a number 8! I ordered mine with pork belly and tofu. They don't serve beer so we got 3 Tsing Tao beers at 7-11 to drink with the soup, hopefully making it a little easier to eat. Words cannot describe how hot this soup was! painful frikin hot, numbness, Gus was sweating, Ed turned red!

Vietnam Trip Post 3 - Hue

infront of a Kung Fu centre in Hue 

We arrived in Hue by train and walked with Robyn and Trudy to the taxi stand, and were met by the guys on Harley Davidson who were taking Robyn and Trudy to Hoi An. They organized a taxi to take us to a hotel that they owned. We went up to the room to have a look, looked ok, then manager said actually they have no rooms available. "huuumm Uh why did you show us the room then?..." Went across the road to their sister hotel (Hong Thien Hotel), room available $12 dollars. It was to hot to walk around and look for another hotel so we booked it!." We Said goodbye to Robyn and Trudy and wished them luck on their bike journey.

Vietnam Trip Post 2 - The Train Ride And Halong Bay

me with coconut Halong Bay

The below post is what I wrote on my iPhone while on a very long train ride.....sorry it keeps jumping back and forth.

Vietnam - Hanoi Day 1-2

Hanoi at night

Ok I am terrible I haven't put a post up in ages! So a few weeks ago I went to Vietnam for 13 days with a my friend Erin from Australia we flew into Hanoi and out of Saigon and only booked the first 2 nights before we left. We Flew from Hong Kong to Hanoi Vietnam, arrived at 8 after being delayed in Hong Kong on the plane for an hour boooo and we were suppose to be met by a car, but that didn't happen.

Pomelo Salsa

I am still trying to get my posts together from my trip to Vietnam, I promise to get the first 1 done in the next few days...  This is some salsa I made awhile ago but seem to have forgotten to post for some reason. Hope you enjoy!

Guacamole

A quick post before head off to the Vietnam this afternoon! I am flying into Hanoi and out of Ho Chi Minh, I have the first 2 nights booked and thats about all. I ll look at my guide book while I am on the plane. I am going on the trip with a friend from University, this will be my first trip with a friend, ie not accompanied by a massive group of sailors, my family or a boyfriend! I have been to Vietnam 3 times so far, I love it, the food is amazing I cannot wait. Anyways for this post nothing to do with Vietnam, an easy recipe for Guacamole! Enjoy

Boracay, Philipines

fresh seafood at market

A few weeks ago I went to Philippines  to sail in the Boracay Cup. I left Hong Kong at some crazy hour in the morning, took Cebu Pacific to Manilla. Next I took a plane from Manilla to Caticlan airport in Boracay, I had one of the scariest landings I have ever been in, the runway is so frikin short, and when we came in for the landing the plane was rotating side to side and when we landed I swear the back wheels lifted up a bit, actually people clapped when the plane finally stopped! scary...

Banana Flower Salad

I picked up a banana flower in the market the other day so decided to make banana flower salad. I made a similar salad in a cooking class in Vietnam a few years ago. The problem with this cooking class was that every ingredient was cut and prepared already so you only had to mix the ingredients together.

Gluten - Free Granola

I generally really dislike cereal, granola and museli, and have been avoid eating them most of my life. So I decided to make one that I would actually enjoy eating. The main criteria was no oats and no raisins, I really can't stand them, when I was given them as a child I would gag, so eventually my mom stopped feeding them to me. The granola turned out great, I actually really enjoy eating it! I have been using So Delicious coconut milk instead of milk which is really tasty alternative to milk.

Baked Potato Wedges

These wedges are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside with a fragrant rosemary flavor. I made these wedges for the first time on Monday and have had 3 requests to make them for lunch so far this week. So the 3rd time I was asked to make the wedges, I just gave the bf the recipe and he made them himself. With a few changes of course! He added chilies - big surprise! - and cumin seeds. The wedges turned out really, well, spicy!

Szechwan Chili Chicken

I bought a huge bag of dried Szechwan chilies from the market a few months ago; in honor of Chinese New Year I made a Szechwan chicken dish. I tried a dish like this in a Szechwan restaurant in Hong Kong. The dish from the restaurant had deep fried battered chicken, so I have made a similar but healthier dish. The dried chilies add a smoky, spicy flavor to the chicken.

Beet and Avocado Salad

Yesterday, I decided to make a beet and avocado salad for lunch; I set out everything on the counter and went to check my emails. I was out of the kitchen for about 2 minutes when I heard some rustling... A few minutes later, I went back into the kitchen to find Guinness wandering around, wagging his tail like crazy. Suddenly, I noticed the avocado was missing; I looked at Guinness and he had the avocado in his mouth! Luckily, I had a few extra avocados on hand.       

Sri Lankan Pumpkin Curry

A Sri Lankan friend made this curry for us the other night - it was so tasty I asked for the recipe. Today, I decided to make it to accompany a fish curry that my boyfriend announced he was going to make. Actually, he came up to me this morning and said, “Tonight, I am going to attempt to make one of the most fiery fish curries ever." Knowing his obsession with chilies, I was sure he would put in about 20 chilies, a heap of chili powder, and anything else spicy he could think of. In the event, he used 12 fresh green Thai chilies and 10 teaspoons of his special, home-ground dried red Sichuan chili pepper flakes (see upcoming story about these).  

Raita - Cucumber Dip

I was at the grocery store with a friend recently and she said, "Oh yummy, let's buy some raita!" I said, "WHAT?! Raita is sooo easy to make - I'll show you how!"  So we bought all the ingredients but never got around to making it, even though it only takes 5 minutes. (We ended up drinking wine instead.)

Tacos with fresh mango salsa

I love Mexican food. I have never been to Mexico, but I lived in California when I was little and the one thing I remember is the amazing Mexican food. In general, Hong Kong's Mexican food is pretty average. I cannot understand why restaurants like iCaramba can't manage to make a fresh salsa; there are so many fresh tropical ingredients available in HK but the food tastes like it came out of a can.