Jonah and the Whale

Ok ... time for a poetry slam!

"There's a new man in town
Jonah and the Whale
He's going to love Smog, he just doesn't know it yet
He's going to love Pasta and home made tomato sauce
He just doesn't know it yet
Jonah and the Whale

There's a shiny new penny in the del mastro bag
Jonah and the Whale
They're going to love that he sings "dress sexy at my funeral, my good wife" at the top of his lungs
They just don't know it yet
They're going to love that it kills the speakers on the babycom
Jonah ... they just don't know it yet ... and the Whale

There's a new snag on our circle of friends
Jonah and the Whale
He's jacksuited ready for a spar with his mother's flash and a father's proud heart
He just doesn't know it yet
We're going to love him as much as whats gone before and the ever after
We just don't really know it yet
Jonah ... and the Whale."

DC - Dec 2012

(on clearing up old photos and lisening to a random Smog mixtape)

Kimono my House!! - Yuichi & Mari's wedding

Ok ... I was in Kimono heaven on the weekend! We trundled off to Monbaulk on the pictureque Orlinda-Monbaulk road to Nathania Springs to witness our friends Yuichi and Mari tie the knot.

 Theirs was not the only knot being tied ...

There were Obi Sashes being tied ...

There was even a rope knotting parlour trick thrown into the bargain ...

And at one point a balloon popped and out came a bottle of champers ... bless.

Mari looked AH-Maazing! (oh and so did Yuichi ... but really its all about the bride!)

Congratulations Mari and Yuichi!

Oh and here is that seminal Sparks track from Kimono my House!!

Gong Xi Fa Cai 2012 - Part 1

Ok ... my paternal grandfather had 2 chinese wives ... erm ... at the same time. And although my father grew up speaking both Bahasa and Cantonese, with a soupcon of Oriental traditions and customs thrown in, the later intrusion of Christianity put paid to any hope of ushering the lunar new year in with due festivity.

So its only since I have arrived on antipodean shores that I have had the opportunity to celebrate CNY, and that is mainly due to our good friend CC.

So this year was no different, although we marked the occasion slightly earlier than convention dictates, still its always fascinating to see what changes have been made to their Bulleen monolith, and what other wondrous produce their garden extrudes with annoying ease.

This time round it was what has been affectionately termed a wall of Nursing Home art (sadly I did not coin this phrase but have appropriated it in the spirit of convivial joshing):

And some lovely variegated roses (they have this is in the garden, but these particular specimens were store bought):

Our evening's repast began with a mandatory serve of Lo-Bak-Go (Chinese Radish Cake). You can find these in all good Asian shops throughout the year, but supplies increase in the lead up to Chinese New Year. Its basically a rectangular slab of cooked radish cake dotted with dried shrimp and chinese mushroom. You cut these into squarish pieces and pan fry them to form a golden brown crust all round. Serve with a garlic, soy and chilli dip. This is absolutely scrumptious and a great starter whatever the time of year. But be warned, the tendency is to guts yourself on this and end up not having room for much else.

CC had these gorgeous long sweet green capsicums that he picked from his garden and decided to stuff these with a mixture of minced pork and beef and prawn. The leftover mixture was used to stuff some chinese mushrooms that he had handy. These were served as entree along with the Lo-Bak-Go. They were to die for. And the green peppers had a bit of a scoville punch.

To help wash down a bit of all this fired goodness, there was slow cooked chicken broth, using the standard Chinese dried herb mix and not much else. Perfect digestive preparation for the mains to come.

I'm not sure about the significance of the various numbers and ingredients, but for mains we had a piece of fried swordfish with a spring onion and sesame sauce;

Slow cooked sweet pork which had to be cut into Squares theoretically;

And DV rustled up a quick dish of Tofu which again was amazingly simple and delicious (bastard!).

Unfortunately my photo seems to have gone walkabout, but we also had stir fried asparagus with scallops.

All in all, CC outdid himself yet again in the culinary stakes and served a memorable meal to usher in the pending prosperity that we are sure to all enjoy this year.

And of course we ended the night with some Nian Gao (sticky cake), which CC friend with egg and served with Passionfruit Gelato (which I politely declined even as he tried his forceful best to convince me otherwise). Although I am partial to a bit of sticky sugary yumminess, I must admit and agree with H that when it arrived a-table, under the dim dining room lights, it did look like raw steak ready for the bbq.

So in the end, although DV was unable to purchase his roast duck, CC got his 10 dishes:

(i) a selection of fruit with cocktails served poolside
(ii) M's pineapple tarts (this will be another post)
(iii) Lo-Bak-Go
(4) Stuffed Long chillies
(5) Chicken Soup
(6) Slow cooked pork
(7) Stir fried swordfish
(8) DV's Tofu extravaganza
(9) Stir fried asparagus and scallop
(10) Nian Gao

So to you and yours, Xin Nian Quia Le!!!

Wade in the Water ... 2012

Ok ... its 2012 and the warm weather continues. Some people love it, others struggle. I'm in the latter camp I'm afraid. I do like slumming it in shorts and T-shirts, but I hate the fact that I turn up to parties in them. I love the fact that a quick towel wipe leaves you clean and dry after a shower, but I hate that 5 mins later, you're sweating like a pig. I love the longer languid days, but I hate the hell of a hangover on a muggy and still day after.

So while the bro and bf had a thousand glamorous balloons, we decamped to the burbs to soak in a warm salt-cleansed pool ...

Indulging in some truly delicious food and cocktails ...

Hello New Year and hello hangover!!

DOC - A Girls Night Out

Ok ... I think its getting to the point (in the same vein as Melbourne is synonymous with fussy coffee) that you can get great pizza anywhere you go in this lovely city of ours. I'm so glad we're moving farther away from cheesy thick crusts to the more refined, and infinitely superior thin crust varieties. And I love that we're exploring bianchi options, although the true mark of a good Pizza restaurant is ultimately how well they serve their Margherita!

DV, CC and myself recently had a girls night out ... i.e. no stifling partners in tow. We started with drinks over at Von Haus on a lovely Friday evening, clouding the quaint little outdoor backyard (the size of a dunny lane) with cigarette smoke and twilight conversation. CC trailed behind with a story of an arsehole bus driver and doe-eyed persistance that we could walk an evening stroll to Carlton Espresso, which had no room for us.

So we ended up at DOC, where the beautiful people hang out ... including Dan from Cut Copy sat at the table next to us. (And No Licio, I couldn't get up the courage to say Hi and my efforts to sneak a pic were a dismal failure). Be prepared to wait for a table, and that Italian exuberance could come across as abrasive to some, but really you're pretty much here to eat or takeaway Pizza.

It was a trully pleasant evening as we chatted and munched on delicious pizza, amongst an endless parade of boys we could have fallen in love with, giddy from the heavy scent of truffle that emanates from the open kitchen.

Lets do this all over again ... very shortly.

I'm 5

Ok ... 5 years old!

I'm five, I'm five
I am a big (boy) now, I'm five
My mother doesn't spank me just
For going without a hat
She knows darn well I'd run away
'Cause I'm too old for that
What does she think I'm three? Not me
What does she think I'm four?
I'm more than four
I'm even more than four and a half...
I'm five!
(On November the 1st)

PS ... I want shares in Lego ... thats all I'm saying

Stop the world I want to get off ... chillling at Von Haus

Ok ... sometimes you just need to tell the world to fuck off and just chill!

I caught up with good friend CC for a quiet coffee sat by the window overlooking Crossley Street at Von Haus.

I rang work and told them I was taking an extended lunch. The chocolate tart was too scumptious and the company too good, they needed to be savoured leisurely.

CC lets do this again soon. I love our little chats.

The House of Usher ... ok no that is a bit mean

Ok ... look away if you do not have a strong constituition either for scat or pap!!

I love M so much for putting up with 10 days of pee, shit and blood!! With the parentals here and a scratch happy cat, our house has been turned into a veritable charnel house of bodily fluids.

So bless MN for cooking his own birthday dinner at the start of this Septimana Horribilus. Our loins were well and trully girded by:

(a) A Kick Arse Vietnamese Salad



(b) A FatFried smosgaboard of Chicken Wings (watch me disgrace myself!!!) and fish cakes

(c) Just for some light relief, a heavenly dish of sticky sweet pork (my fav of the night):

And a new and brilliant recommendation in the liquid refreshment portion of the evening:



And again, we weren't fishing for an invite MN!!!

A Celebration of Friendship

Ok ... happy birthday KH!!! Hope you enjoy your new wooley hat and that your little angel does not hijack it into a mishapen mess. As standard, vittles were expertly embarrassed and scared by the man of the house.

We had a beautiful rib eye that was perfectly flagellated and flayed:

Served with a playful salad of freshly broken artichoke hearts, virginal tomatoes and finnicky peas:

Some cheeky pomme noisettes:

And finished with a cunning layered cake presented in these pointedly japanese ceramic bowls:

I will let the pictures simply speak for themselves.

Thank you to the N household for their hospitality and their generosity.

And yes I have been watching Posh Nosh ... in case you were wondering.

Wine and Pizza - a pleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon at Train Trak

Ok ... newsflash readers, conversation does not come easy to me. I am for all intents and purposes socially inept. Most of the things I am passionate about are quite insular in nature, so being stuck at the end of a table makes things slightly more awkward for me ... but ... in a setting like the Yarra Valley, and with amazing food, wine and company, it doesn't really matter.

Now I am not going to name drop but we do have "connections" with Train Trak in the beautiful Yarra Valley. So a bunch of us, said connection included, decided to go on a road trip (well not quite as we set off from Bulleen) for lunch at Zonzo.

If you have never been to the Yarra Valley, make amends very soon. It is a beautiful spot and not that far out of the city with so much to enjoy. I can thoroughly recommend the Train Trak winery, not just for Zonzo, but also for their exquisite wines. Our picks if you can get them - Pinot Noir 2004, Cab Sav 2004, Shiraz 2006 and their champagne equivalent, which I think is a little hard to track down.

We decided to opt for a few starters, followed by 4 pizzas to share. As we had a vego in tow, we needed to ensure an even split. D's recommendation was for the chilli and garlic prawns, which were citrusy and fresh and with just a hint of spice (and not enough to M - surprise surprise).

 Gamberi piccanti - chilli and garlic tiger prawns

DV chose the artichoke hearts which were crumbed and drizzled with Vincotto. This was a definite highlight!! And if you're there and its on the menu, get it!!

 Carciofi Fritti - crumbed artichoke hearts drizzled with vincotto

I asked for the Aarrancini balls to cover off the vegetarian component, and these tasted exactly what they should have, crunchy on the outside, and smooth creamy risotto filling on the inside.

Arrancini Balls 

For the pizzas, we went with the Pizza alla Luisella, which had porcini mushroom as its predominant ingredient For the people who had it (I wasn't included) it was by far the best pizza of the day.

 Pizza alla luisella - Pomodoro, buffalo mozzarella, funghi porcini and basil

The other vegetarian offering was the Four Cheese pizza, the four cheeses being pomodoro, mozarella, gorgonzola and mascarpone. The Mascarpone provided a beautiful sweetness that cut the richness of the other cheeses. I didn't find the gorgonzola particularly significant in flavour, although M reckons it was very much to the fore, and wonderfully so.

 Pizza ai quattro formaggi - Pomodoro, mozzarella, gorgonzola, mascarpone and shaved parmesan

For the meatwhores among us, we had the Pizza con carciofi which had prosciutto and artichoke hearts. The prosciutto was not overpowering which allowed all the other flavours to blend in nicely. A pretty good pizza all round.

Pizza con carciofi - Pomodoro, mozzarella, gorgonzola, rocquette, prosciutto crudo and artichoke hearts

And just to conform to the recent trend of having a Bianche based pizza (and also because its delicious!), we had the Bianca con Speck, which was my favourite of the day (and also my pick). Although, I would have liked my speck a little stronger.

 Bianca con speck - X.V olive oil base, mozzarella, gorgonzola, rocquette, speck and shaved parmesan

I should mention that Zonzo's pizza bases are thin ... just the way I like it.

Having gutsed on savoury, we took some time to enjoy the view, then it was back in for dessert.

M had the panna cotta which was orange infused with a hint of cointreau and it was delicious.

 Panna cotta - Orange infused panna cotta served with a cointreau and orange syrup

I had the calzone filled with ricotta, chocolate and hazelnuts served with a bit of ice cream. This was heaven!!

Calzone alla Ricotta

The chocolate filling was spot on and just oozed out of the pastry when I cut into it. I had a sip of M's Machiatto to wash some of the richness down. Good cup of coffee!!

To round off the day we had a tour of the old homestead, where I made a special little friend.

Then it was back to the city lights and sausage with homemade lemon pickles and olive infused chilli at J & CC's ... we have the life!