Chicken Curry Pie

Although the grand tradition of Sunday night as Curry Night (yes, we are all about themed dinners!) generally means 'normal' curry, H and I recently decided to mix it up and make a pie. H has a soft spot for pies and I had been promising to make it for ages and that Sunday night just seemed perfect.

I have to thank my Mum for this recipe, as she gave many, many hints on the process and also gave me the curry recipe from an old school book at home. And also my Dad for sending us through some pie tips from Entice magazine which helped make the pie nice and brown.

Dieci e Mezzo

So a couple of weeks ago my brother and I celebrated our birthday. He can down to Canberra to visit for GTM and it was nice for us to be together on the day (first time in about 5 years I think!)

Of course we had to go out for dinner, and knowing how everyone in my family loves Italian food we decided to go to dieci e mezzo. It's not the cheapest Italian but is super, super delicious and I think worth the price (you pay maybe $6 more for a main than say, at Mama's but the quality is about 60% better I feel!). The food was too delicious to stop to take pictures of but the OYSTERS! They definitely have the best oysters in Canberra- I have had my fair share, being a big seafood fan, but these are extra delicious. I would go just for the oysters.

One thing I did take pictures of were the desserts! The chef very nicely made me a special dessert to fit with my dietary requirements:

Raspberry Souffle!

It was absolutely one of the best things that I have ever eaten! Fluffy, melt in your mouth style and complete with a chocolate birthday message. I mean what more could a girl want?

There were also some other delicious treats including 'lightly poached Eden blueberries, Italian meringue, lemon curd and blueberry ice-cream' and 'maple syrup, polenta and orange cake, marmalade ice cream':

Blueberry dessert

Marmalade dessert

Unfortunately I was not able to get a picture of the other birthday dessert, the 'Amedel Toscano chocolate delice with peanut ice cream and peanut fudge crumble as it went far, far too quickly. I am told the ice cream actually tasted like peanut butter! I think it was the favourites of the desserts. But I liked my souffle best :)

I would definitely recommend this place to anyone who wants a nice fancy dinner that is not ridiculously overpriced. Or, if you are sick of having dessert and being faced with the same cake options at every single restaurant and cafe, I would suggest popping in just for the dessert!

Dieci e Mezzo is on the ground floor of the new ActewAgl Building in Canberra City.
10 and half out of 10! (ha ha just my little joke).

Macaroooonnnsssss!

So H and I recently enjoyed a Melbourne adventure to celebrate the fact that he has become another year older. We basically spent three days eating a ridiculous amount of food, and one of the most delicious items found were from luxbite, a tiny bakery in South Yarra. We walked into the store and went to straight to the display of deliciousness- and what did they have? KAYA TOAST FLAVOURED MACARONS! It was a terribly exciting discovery. It turns out that the recipe used there for kaya came from one of the staff members grandparents, and I must say it was absolutely delicious. Of course H laughed at me for being able to sniff out, without trying, what appears to be the only Malaysian macaron shop in Melbourne. I must have an inner kaya radar!

So I thought I would share with you some pictures of the treats. They were extremely well made, perfectly crisp on the outside with a soft (but not too soft!) centre. And the flavour range was quite wide, mixing traditional flavours with some more modern ones.

From left: Kaya toast, pistachio, peanut butter and jelly, kaffir lime

Poor H had to wait to tuck in while photo after photo was taken with the magical macarons!

The kaya was definitely my favourite. But thats not really a surprise to anyone. They had gone to a lot of effort to make them look as authentic as possible- there was even a 'butter' centre like in real kaya toast!

Ok. So I MAY have eaten most of it before the picture was taken. 

If you are ever in the area and are wanting some deliciousness- I would highly recommended this place! Just as we were leaving the lady at the counter said they were going to start doing breakfasts after Easter. So sad that I will miss it :(

Luxbite, 38 Toorak Road, Melbourne (03) 9867 5888
www.luxbite.com.au