Sunday food traditions

Do you have a special Sunday food tradition? My Mum use to tell me how her family use to have a big roast for Sunday lunch. The family would all get together and enjoy a big meal each Sunday. My Dad also told stories of how when he came over for dinner my grandfather would stand on the table trying to squat the tiny moths and that no one else at the table would flinch or think it was weird. I like to imagine he even did this at the big Sunday lunches.

We didn't have these kinds of traditions growing up, but we did have food legends. Like my Mum's chicken lasagne, which was so rich that we could only eat it once a year for fear of heart failure. And always having bread with dinner, which I would make a sandwich with using anything on my plate - you bet, I double carbed, bread and potato!!

I would like to think I could start some food traditions with my son. One that I think should be pretty doable is a big meal, possibly even a roast, on Sundays. Tonight I made a roast chicken with potatoes, mustard beans and an Italian bread/curton thing. It was delicious. Then to follow, these lemon and lime tarts. Enjoy!

New job cupcakes

A few months ago I started a new job. After over 5 amazing years working for a performing arts venue, as well as about 3 years before that working with other performing arts companies, it was time for a change.

I was ready to step into a new role. I was ready for more responsibility. I was ready to take on the challenges of a new industry. Well, kind of a new industry, I was only stepping over into visual arts, where I guess you could say the performance occurs on the canvas instead of a stage. Either way, it was new.

In the interview it came up that I could bake… not really sure how, I guess I weaved it in there to “sweeten” the deal. But after starting and focusing all my energy on figuring out what I was doing, I was too drain too try and impress with my bake prowess. Every time we had a morning tea, and there seemed to be one almost every week, I either had a function or something on the night before and couldn’t make anything. A few months went by until I finally showed I could produce the goods. And that came in the form of my fresh strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese icing and (to make things extra special) lime zest AND edible glitter. I think the whole office was taken by the edible glitter, it was all anyone could talk about. And to make things even better, I could tell who had eaten my cupcakes as a few specks of glitter could be seen on their faces. Success!

Using lemons to say thanks

For the past 6 months I have been working on a massive project at work that has pretty much consumed me. It was challenging but so much fun and a fantastic experience. Leading this project meant that I received most of the praise when things went right (and alternatively, most of the criticism when they didn't). 

I wanted to thank the other people in my team who put in just as many hours (possibly even more) and also offered their heart and soul to the project. I thought the best way for me to say thanks was with a cake! I don't make many fruity cakes, but with so many beautiful citrus fruits in season, I thought this would be perfect. Also, the person I'd like to dedicated this cake to (our wonderful graphic designer, who in my opinion saved our ass many times over with her skill and speed) is very healthy, so this cake is probably better suited to her than a crazy chocolate cake. ENJOY.