Happy Friday to you. I couldn’t resist posting this picture, taken by my friend Megsy up in Queensland. Megsy was making triple chocolate biscuits yesterday and she took a photo of them before they went into the oven. They look nice and I’m sure they turned out to be delicious. Well, except for one of them, third up from the bottom of this pic…is it just me, or does that look like AN EVIL GREMLIN? Yikes. Have a great weekend!
A couple of years ago, I realised that it was time to expand my food horizons. That’s not to say that I don’t like a wide range of foods, but I had fallen into a bit of a rut and wasn’t trying many new things. So I set a goal that I would try a number of new foods/drinks every month – most of them were things that people laughed at because they were so mainstream and not remotely adventurous, but had somehow never been part of my adult diet: lamb, a Slurpee, sushi, a protein bar, Vegemite, ham, calamari. Stuff like that. Family and friends were very supportive (although they did laugh A LOT at my expense) and made suggestions about what I might like to try next, which helped to keep me honest.
I do remember shocking some of my work mates when, on the last day of a month, I was in a panic to fill the final spot on my new food list and my friend Ams rushed me to a city food court to buy Bubble Tea. Have you ever tried that stuff? Yikes. Make that yikes with giant gelatinous balls of tapioca in it. Their packaging system was very cool though and I was enthralled by their production line, but when it came to actually drinking the beverage, it was a struggle. I could only get about halfway through, which was enough to put it on the list.
Anyways, I have decided that I’m going to try another food expansion program this year, so I can make sure that I’m trying new things and not going for the same old food and drink options. I’m telling you now so that it’s out there and I feel obliged to follow through. I expect some hits and misses as I aim for five new foods/drinks per month. As an aside, if I am dining or drinking with you in the real world, please remind me to look beyond what I would normally choose from the menu…who knows, but I might find my as-yet-undiscovered new favourite thing. Of course, there’s always a chance that I’ll find another bubble tea, but that’s all part of the fun of broadening horizons and finding everyday sparks (and keeping work-mates entertained). Bon appetit!
Last week, I was very lucky to be able to share Thanksgiving with my American family and some of their friends. It was fabulous. Here are some pics of the food highlights (although I didn’t take nearly enough photos – I didn’t want to seem like a tourist snapping anything and everything at the dinner table)…There were three kinds of pies (and a cheesecake) for dessert. I repeat, three kinds of pies. Heaven!
Really, I just like how people say fro-yo: a much cooler way to say frozen yoghurt, making it sound edgier and not at all like the low-fat alternative to ice cream. There are a few competing fro-yo chains here, but my cousin took me to the newest (and, according to most of the locals, the best) addition to the fro-yo scene here in NYC. It’s called 16 Handles, so can only presume they’re Molly Ringwald fans. Either that, or they are just very literal folk – there did appear to be 16 flavours of fro-yo.
I’ll let the creators explain what it’s all about, this “hands-on revolution”: 16 HANDLES is mixing things up and at the center of our frozen playground is you: an uncontainable, independent champion of your own taste. More of this, less of that—you want frozen yogurt your way and we’re all about it. With 16 rockin’ kosher certified flavors on tap daily, we provide you with a twisted canvas, your own fat-free backdrop of calcium, protein and probiotic goodness. At our mammoth toppings bar, you’ll find a world of possibilities, from wholesome berries to decadent sauces, that you handcraft into something uniquely yours. Welcome to the hands-on revolution.
Basically, you get a cup and fill it with whatever flavours you like by pulling the handles. Then, you can go to the topping bars and add whatever toppings you like – healthy things like fruits and nuts; or badder things like candy corn, peanut butter cups and gummi bears. It’s pretty much what I imagine heaven to be like at dessert time, to be honest (although with ice cream handles, rather than fro-yo).
So, the verdict: the consistency was fantastic and I really like the whole self-service concept and especially the topping bars. But the flavours weren’t strong, with the exception of the apple pie – which is maybe why they offer so many different toppings, so you can add flavour to the otherwise fairly tasteless low-fat fro-yo. Although that probably defeats the purpose, I guess. Anyways, I liked it and would definitely return, although the weather is starting to get chillier now so it feels more like time for ho-cho (that’s my cool new word for hot chocolate) rather than fro-yo.
Today was a strange day in Sydney. It started out all grey and cold and rainy, but then the clouds cleared and out came the summer-strength sun. Crazy.
Most Mondays, I pick up some of my nieces from school – we pal around, have a nice afternoon tea, talk about our day, do homework (theirs, not mine) and help to make the family’s dinner. It’s one of the highlights of my week and I’m super lucky to have this time with them – while they’re still young enough to think that I’m relatively cool.
Anyways, these last few Mondays we’ve been on a mission. 7-Eleven is having a 13 week Slurpee promotion leading into summer. We’ve taken this as a 13 week challenge – there’s a different flavour of Slurpee each week. We missed the first week (Sour Watermelon) and last week, the machine was busted (Strawberry Citron, so nobody was too upset) and today was Vanilla Cola. Good times. I asked the man if he could let us in on the secret of next week’s flavour, but he said that he’d have to look it up on the system…and then turned away and smiled vaguely into the middle distance…
‘Til next week, Slurpee fans…
everydaysparks 