Just like a cobble stone street

As I rested on the couch after work, the fruit bowl on the dining table caught my eye. I thought to myself, “Eek! The 8 pears that I bought a few weeks ago are still there and aren’t looking as “fresh” anymore. I need to use them pronto!”. So I grabbed my trusty iPad and found some delicious pear recipes but there was one that I kept going back to – the Pear Cobbler recipe. The picture of the Southern baked dish I found looked yummy so it was a no-brainer that I had a to give it a go.

I modified the recipe that I found and here is my version:

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Pear Cobbler Recipe

Condition of using this recipe: you must leave a comment and let me know how much you enjoyed baking and eating this dish, I’d love to hear about it! ;)

Ingredients
* 4 green pears (peeled, corked and sliced)  Note: I used pears that were a few weeks old so they were soft already.

* 2 cups brown sugar (which you will be using 1 cup at a time)

* 120g unsalted butter

* ¾ cup plain flour

* 2 tsp baking powder

* ½ tsp cinnamon

* ¼ tsp salt  Note: I used sea salt.

* 1 egg

* ¾ cup milk

Preparation

1.      Preheat fan-forced oven to 160° (Celsius).

2.      Mix the sliced pears and 1 cup of the brown sugar so that the pears are completely covered in the sugar and let it stand.

3.      Put all the butter in your baking dish (I used a 20cm wide round baking tin and place in the 160° oven until the butter has melted. Note: remove from oven once the butter is completely melted.

4.      Combine remaining sugar, plain flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt until it is mixed completely together.

5.      Add the egg and mix.

6.      Add half the milk, mix slowly.

7.      Add the remaining milk, mix slowly until it’s mixed through.

8.      Pour your mix over the butter. Do NOT stir together.

9.      Place your sugared pears to cover your mix, placing them in no particular pattern. Do NOT stir together. Note: you will find that the pear will sink – don’t panic, it’s part of the “master plan” ;)

10.   Bake at 160° for 45-55 minutes, or until it’s a lovely brown colour and the pears are soft. Note: if you used soft pears to start off with just bake until it’s a nice brown colour.

11.   Once you have removed from the oven, let it stand for 10-15 minutes. And then grab a plate and place face down on your baked dish and carefully flip over the baked dish onto the plate.

Serve warm or cold on it’s own or with vanilla ice cream and enjoy! 

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As I placed my freshly baked Pear Cobbler on the dining table to get it ready for its photo shoot (for the blog of course), I noticed the pattern that it formed. To my amusement, it looked just like a cobble stone street. I had a light bulb moment, “so that’s why it’s called Pear Cobbler”...and that my friend is the end result of the “master plan”!  

Carnival on any day of the week

What a pleasant surprise to find a good ol’ carnival staple at the local Costco – “Dagwood Dogs” aka Pluto Pup and Corn Dog.

As we walked through the frozen section and saw the 2kg box (waving at us might I add), we had a quick discussion about how many dagwood dogs would be in the box, how long it would it take for 2 people to eat and if it will fit in our average-size top-door freezer - the end result was that we’re buying it! A decision made with smiles on our faces.

After a quick search on the Internet, I found that it originated from the land where many yummy foods are deep-fried, the USA. What a surprise - not! Hehehe. Now there was no particular person or company that can be praised for this food, but apparently it started around the late 1920’s to the 1940’s. So it’s been making many carnival-goers happy for a long time now.

Anyway, I know that this food-on-a-stick is just a hot dog coated in batter and then deep fried in oil but you must admit it brings back good memories of a time you were at the local carnival or Sydney Easter Show. But lucky for us, we have it in our freezer so we can have our very own carnival at home on any day of the week! ;)

Cupcakes

cupcakes

My workmate gave me some cupcakes (for free!) today to help her friend out get some exposure to his cake business. What a great way to start a Monday! The purple one is ube flavour which my daughter absolutely exclaimed, "this is awesome, mum!" I think that translates to very yummy! 10/10 for these cupcakes!

Caesar Salad with Roast Chicken

caesar salad

For dinner tonight, I merely prepared caesar salad with roast chicken for hubby and me. The kids had baked lasagne which I did not get a chance to take a photo of as they were starving (mum!) and to take a photo before serving it would have been pretty much suicide. So back to our light dinner for the adults. To offset the somewhat heavy eating yesterday, we opted for a very light dinner. Okay, I know the recipe for this one: (duh!) 

* baby cos lettuce

* 1/4 roast chicken (already cooked from Woolworths)

* bacon bits (from Woolworths Deli section)

* parmesan shredded cheese

* PRAISE croutons

* PRAISE caesar salad dressing

* a huge bowl and a healthy appetite

Preparation:

* throw everything in a huge bowl and DEVOUR!

Filipino Party Food

spring rolls

fresh lumpia

menudo

kaldereta

fried chicken

green salad

The rest of our party food from yesterday's celebrations: fried spring rolls, fresh lumpia with special sauce, pork menudo, beef kaldereta, the king of heart stoppers deep fried chicken and just for the heck of it I thought I'd throw in green salad just so there is something healthy in a somewhat very heavy table! Sadly, I can't cook any of the dishes, well maybe the green salad but that's about it really so I can't really share any recipes. Lame I know! But if you like the look of the dishes and let me tell you all were so mouth watering-ly yummy, I can hook you up with our Chef extraordinaire Salve! 

breakfast, lunch and dinner with a side of bubba

They say nothing says I love you than sharing your food with another.

The truth of these words became even more apparent when I became a mum.

There are many remarkable things about being a mum but I have to say; there is nothing more basic and more gratifying than feeding your baby. The simple act of watching your baby take their first drink of milk is amazing. The thought that this little creature is dependant on you, looking at you for their most basic need is a powerful, frightening and humbling feeling. They need you for everything. They need you for love, affection, safety and sustenance.

As many parents can attest, feeding time can become a source of obsession and pain for most mum and dads. We're lucky that our little bub is what they call a 'good eater'. He can eat anything - fruit (cut up bananas and apples are a favourite), vegetables (carrots, peas and even cucumber), the Aussie breakfast staple butter and vegemite on toast and even Filipino party favourite the spring roll. I love it and yes it is a bit of an obsession. I love watching my little toddler's face when he tastes a new food for the first time. He scrunches up his little nose, screws up his face then after a breathless moment from his mum and dad he'll chew, swallow, open his eyes and his mouth and ask for more. And if he really doesn't like it? Well, you won't have to wait too long to find that out as our poor, and now badly stained, carpet can vouch for! Food gets tossed over the high chair, flung on your clothes and rubbed into his own hair. But I guess that's part of the adventure. Some foods are a hit and others, not so much.

I jokingly say to people that as a mum, I haven't had my own plate of food since my son started eating solid foods.

When he first started eating proper food we bought all the accoutrements that go with it - his own little spoon and fork, his own bowls even his own little butter knife (it came with the set - maybe in case he ever wanted to cut up his own steak?!) Regardless, we soon learnt that nothing tastes better to our son than when food comes straight from mummy and daddy's plate. So I did away with the separate little bowl and special little spoons and forks (less washing that way anyway) and my plate became OUR plate. Except for when I'm away at work, every plate of food I have is no longer exclusively mine. Every other spoonful of oats, every crust of bread, every juicy sausage, every piece of cake, every slice of orange - all of it - is shared with a tiny little hand and a tiny little mouth.

Nothing says I love you like sharing food with another. Yep, it's true. And you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way.

Starting with noodles

pancit

It all starts with pancit, a Filipino dish that is made of noodles, lots of it! As our inaugural blog I thought we should start with the dish that started the conversation of documenting our food diary. We had a family party to celebrate September-born celebrants. In true Filipino style we must serve a noodle dish to represent long-life i.e. noodles that never end so to speak. Sure it's fried, sure it's oily but is it yummy? You bet it is! Oh there are good bits like veggies and meat too. A true favourite at any birthday party; can I see a two thumbs up for the traditional pancit?