Leavin on a jet plane.....

I wont be updating for a possibly a couple of weeks! Love love!

Monday Melbourne Roundup

A few days late, life has been crazy trying to figure out this trip, however everything is booked, everything is paid for, everything is organised and I leave tomorrow and cannot contain my excitement! ARGGGHHH!!! I plan on going to Real Food Daily - fav vegan restaurant eVAR and going to try and go to Millenium when I'm in San Francisco (another fave) I have a vegan sushi joint bookmarked for LA as well but if you have any favourites please send them on! I'm going to pig out on burritos, bagels and raw food!! Woohoo! I also have a new camera so will be able to report with pictures.

Eats/Drinks

Camis Shanghai Dumpling House

Yum yum! Cant beat dumpling house for cheap and cheerful.

Section 8

I love section 8. I hear grumbles and a few people not liking it but I love the vibe, I love the space, I love how more 'lived in' it becomes as each time I go there.

Penny Black

The old 'don’t tell tom' on Sydney rd, I have never been there before but loved the space and the $6 pizzas are MASSIVE and the drinks are very reasonably priced. I believe I have another place on Sydney road that is very decent. Totally check it out.

Bowl of Soul

I keep forgetting to update with these guys, I go there at least once a week. A must try everyone!!

Monday Melbourne Roundup

I tried to slow down as much as possible this week, MIFF and subsequent illness really knocked me for 6.

Eats/Drinks

Idea Food and Wine

I recently purchase the Vegetarian Good Food Guide by Aduki Press, and let me tell you peoples, this thing is GOLD pure GOLD. First cab off the rank was Idea Food and Wine and my GOD was it AWESOME. I'm so sick of calling ahead/being apologetic and grateful that I can get fed places so I've decided to do nothing but really veg friendly (or all veg) establishments for a while, I need a break. Clare and I ate the sizzling sechuan eggplant and the spring rolls. My eyes rolled back in my head and I did that thing Matt Preston does when presented with a mouthful that’s like fireworks orgasms. Amazingly good. The vegetarian section is in the back of the meni, don’t panic!

Madame Brussells

Man I had the week from hell and Friday was one of our first truly summer days. Nothing to do but leave work at 3.30 and soak up the sun on the roof top at Madame Brussells drinking a jug of Mai Tai. Hell. Yeah.

Wabi Sabi

I tried taking Daniel to Trippy Taco on Tuesday night but alas they are closed Monday/Tuesday. Poo. So Wabi Sabi was next stop (another good food guide recommendation), we shared some eggplant slathered in some sauce (I really need to write these things down), it was ok as an appetiser and then I had the sweet potato and chick pea croquettes which were MASSIVE and I wish Daniel and I had shared them. Yummy yummy japanese food made by japanese people. A little pricey but still great!

The Brunswick Green

We had book club at the Brunswick Green. Amazing chips, I really love the Brunswick Green.. The only nice bar on Sydney road and was perfect for a book club couch session.

Tom Phat

Oh Tom Phat.. Oh TOM PHAT… that scrambled tofu was just 20/20 this week, the delicious smokiness and thai oils that are just.. So lightly there. I love you. I love you Tom Phat. No really.

Black forest Cake - Gluten free - Vegan

I've been obsessed with making a black forest cake for some time. That time arrived yesterday! It was ridiculously easy....

Cake: Gluten free chocolate cake mix (there is this one brand that is amazing but I cant remember what it is right now)

Ganache - we used 85% Lindt, break up a block into a microwavable container with a tablespoon of soy milk and microwave for about 30 seconds. If it needs more.. it needs more, only do it in small time increments like 10 seconds it might need a wee bit more soy as well.

Morello Cherries - we got a big jar from Aldi for like $3. We drained them (the juice was very sour) and made a sugar syrup of 1/3 cup of water and 1/3 of sugar. Heat the sugar syrup until the liquid is clear then add the cherries. We went out and stupidly left them on the stove (!!!!) so they had boiled down to nothing and were a bit burned when we got back, but that was ok! (and Clares husband was still alive so, crisis averted) they still tasted really yummy but they were REALLY chewy and made the cake hard to cut hahah. Reserve some cherries for decorating.

Decoration - soyatoo whipped cream and grated dark chocolate

Assemble - Clare and I dont use egg replacer really, and we overestimated how much the cake would rise (meaning it didnt rise at all and meaning I overestimated haha) so we ended up having to put all the trimmings on the top, however if you have a cake thats big enough to cut in halves (or thirds) fill the inside with ganache and morello cherry jam (if you have a 2 layer, one layer ganache and one layer cherry - maybe sprinkle a bit of brandy on the cake as well yum!). For the top I spread the ganache over the top, put the cherry jam in the centre and piped the cream around, decorating with remanding cherries and chocolate shavings.

It was *amazing* and didnt make me feel gross like big cream cakes used to.

Hint for using soyatoo in the can - set the cream out of the fridge for at least 10 minutes before serving. Apparently when its straight out of the fridge it uses way more gas to get the cream out, then the gas runs out and you're left with a can of cream and no way of getting the rest out.

I had an idea whilst doing this, surely if I got thick coconut cream and put it in a whipped cream container it would whip like regular cream? Has anyone tried this?

Enjoy! The next project I'm obsessed with making is vegan tiramisu, but no doubt it will have to to wait till I get back.

Monday Melbourne Roundup

Miff. Full on illness. I know what to do better next year, I wont agree to do anything except MIFF, I will take time off work, and you need to schedule at least 2 free evenings in a row. This was my best MIFF yet, I am currently exhausted but most things I watched were absolutely incredible. Its great, because writers and arts fest have very little for me this year so I'm glad I spent the money on MIFF.

Out

The White Ribbon

I fell asleep 3 times in this movie, a gargantuan 2 hours 20 minutes. Apparently to win at Cannes you have to have a film over 2.5 hours long, feature the abuse/murder of children/women or the retarded. I'm willing to watch it again. I couldn’t embed sorry!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUUuD0oh81o

Guest of Cindy Sherman ***

I feel conflicted about this doco.



Heidi Fleiss - The Would Be Madam of Crystal ****

*love* Heidi Fleiss, I think she is amazing.



The Queen and I ****

Fantastic doco.



Eats/Drinks

Nothing new, it was mainly hand food grabbed from one session to the other and then I was knocked out with a cold so I've been home ever since. I do think, however, that this is possibly my first week ever with NO lord of the fries OR walkers hot dogs. Go me.

Monday Melbourne Roundup

I have possibly had the busiest week of my life, I spent about an hour at home alone this week, I need to not agree to do anything but MIFF when MIFF is on… anyway, instead of film reviews I'm just going to give my rating and the trailer, the trailer will say more than I ever can about the film, suffice it to say I've been having an absolutely jaw dropping MIFF this year. Lets take it away, (ps this has been really rushed so if I've missed anything or there's errors I apologise):

Out

The Birthday Party - Melbourne Theatre Company

God it feels like I saw this a MILLION YEARS AGO. I hated it. We walked out at interval. I think it was some sort of metaphor for the government as a police state but it was just fucking boring and really poorly acted by most people in the play. Definaltey one to avoid.

An Englishman in New York - ***



The Girlfriend Experience ****.5



Van Diemens Land ****.5

Absolutely stunning and sure to become an Australian classic. Incredibly disturbing.



Moon ****



Dogs in Space ****

I had never seen it before and was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it.



We Live in Public

My first 5* film of the festival. Jaw dropping.



Bronson ***

Beautifully shot and stunning performances but ultimately I was very bored by it.



Dogs in Space afterparty at Cherry Bar

I had never been to Cherry hey. A free bar and Carla a bit cranky meant I drank a tonne. Drinking a tonne meant I had no inhibitions and launched myself onto the director of MIFF, squeezing him and kissing him and telling him how much I love the festival blah blah blah blah blah tres embaressmont. The after party was quite quiet so we left and went to Soul a go go.

Soul a go go - Vince Peach 25th Anniversary Party

Dude. I had no idea Vince Peach was so hot. MARRY ME. I had a ball, danced my arse off and left about 2am. It was fun times.

Eats/Drinks

Tom Phat

I had the scrambled tofu again, amazing and I went there a second time for breakfast and had the braised mushrooms with cnadied walnuts, rocket and with a side dish of avocado. Amazing. I love it. The best breakfast in Brunswick.

Gingerlee

We went to Gingerlee for tea and toast on Sunday morning. They serve Dench bread. Nuff said.

3a

I've been meaning to go here for aaaagggeeesssss and I finally got to have a snack there on Saturday. Bean mash with tomato and spinach on a toastie. They're not very vegan friendly/friendly in general and resent having questions even asked about their food. I wont be going back to eat there even though what I had was very nice. Their coffee is the second best I've had in Melbourne. Very disappointing.

Journal

Hands down the best coffee in Melbourne. I've been hanging out here a lot in between MIFF session. The staff can be really fucking obnoxious with their too cool for school attitude and their 'ironic' 'music' playing too loudly (NKOTB anyone?), but you do eventually get served and the food is very nice if not a little pricey. $6 for one small slice of sourdough with avocado on it? Its extremely tasty though and very well done. And out of all the places that are good in that end of town, the one I would probably eat at if I had to chose.

Shinjuku

I had a really super great meal there on Friday night and much better than the other experiences that I'd had there. We ordered the nasu dengaku, agedashi tofu and the pumpkin stir fry and it was all super lovely. Nice one Shinjuku, just upped itself from 'cheap and cheerful' to 'good'.

Von Haus

Again, somewhere I have been hanging out in between sessions, mainly for wine and a sit down. Theres nothing I can eat there so its all coffee and wine. I love the space though and continue to be calmed by it. Its anice place to go and read.

Good handfood suggestions to smuggle in for MIFF/eat in line. Walkers vegie dog, Lord of the Fries (I'm trying to stick to only once a week though) and Tower Sushi make the most awesome sushi (at Flinders st station), their seaweed salad is off the hook.