Edit: CLOSED

Everyone has their fav thai local. Ours is Spice Gourmet Thai (1/71 George St, Parramatta) near Temasek and the Roxy. Normally we order takeaway thanks to their 10% off deal but tonight we are in need of urgent sustenance and honestly sometimes it’s just nice to eat beautifully presented food on a plate rather than squished in a takeaway container. Prices are a bit on the exxy side but the servings are freaking huge when dining in.


The tables are filled with hundreds of dried chillies under a glass top. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do at home but uh with m&ms…


The Soft Shell Crab Salad ($19.90) always wins me over, whole crabs are deep fried to crispy perfection. The batter is always fresh, the slivers of green apple are refreshing and have I ever told you how much I love cashews? They are super generous with the crabs- we scored a whopping 4 crabs!


The Salmon Salad ($19.90) is a must order, the fat slices of fresh salmon aren’t just draped teasingly over the top of a pile of salad nay, for every bite that you take of the salad there WILL be a piece of salmon in it. It’s more like hi, have a whole plate of salmon oh afterthought here, have a bit of salad. Best salmon to salad ratio ever!


The Green Curry ($14.90) was a bit of a letdown mainly because I was expecting a huge bowl of soupy curry and instead there was a pile of chicken breast meat with a mere puddle of curry. The eggplant was tasty though!


lol the boy with our heart shaped rice ($2) which he promptly stabbed to pieces ♥


Sweet Roti with banana, sugar and condensed milk ($9). ZOMG the roti was so buttery and fluffy! Initially I was a tad disappointed cos I was hoping for a giant paper thin cone of roti ala Mamak but 1 spoon of the flaky pastry and banana with condensed milk was freaking bliss. It didn’t need the chocolate topping and oddly the sugar reminded me of how I used to spread peanut butter on toast and sprinkle with sugar… Why I do not have diabetes is beyond me.

It’s baaaaack! Earlier this month, 7-Eleven stores held a $1 day where certain stuff was available for awesome bargain prices and 2moro (thurs 16th sept) they’re doing it again! Note: on the first $1 day there was Cadbury chocolates, Cornettos and Kettle chips but 2moro it’s Nestle chocolate, Drumstick ice cream, Twisties, Cheetos and Burger Rings. Full range of $1 products is on their official facebook page here. VIC, NSW & QLD stores only.


Sometimes when things are on sale you tend to not think about whether or not you’re actually saving any money. That’s kinda what happened when I went nuts in the candy aisle and grabbed everything. It’s not like they’re gonna be wasted but the chocolate is prolly around the same price at supermarkets.


I had an 8 item limit at the parra store but other stores don’t really care and I scored this lot on a random driveby. The Kettle chips were worth it tho but it was a shame all the good flavours had sold out so was left with honey chicken and honey ham.


Trip #3 and the mothership has come along for the ride and as I was waiting to pay for my stash of energy drinks, I nodded in the direction of the fridge and said ‘there’ so she could get more Mother but she thought I meant Dare milk! Luckily it was $1!


After trip #3 we were driving to work and passed another 7-Eleven where people were carrying boxes out of the store so we stopped and hee look at all the Mother!


I ♥ energy drinks! And yes kids I know drinking too much energy drinks is bad for you but moderation is the key! That and drinking water. And not drinking any other sugary beverages the same day. But anywhos 2moro will be fun I am totes stocking up on Twisties and Cheetos cos I do love my artificial cheese flavoured products!

There’s just something magical about the idea of browned butter. It’s like butter. BUT MORE AWESOME. To make this magical substance you melt the butter and cook it slowly until it is a rich, golden colour otherwise known as beurre noisette. Nutty, rich and oh so fabulous I knew I had to try baking something but what? A google search led me to a recipe for brown butter brown sugar blondies which I’ve adapted from here. And was it worth it? Dude totally! The first batch was demolished within a day and every time I open the fridge and see a block of butter I’m so tempted to just cover everything in sight with browned butter! But hey don’t take my word for it go forth and spread the brown butter ♥


Ingredients:
200g unsalted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup white flour
Optional: stuff to add in eg choc chips, nuts, cinnamon bits


Preheat oven to 175C. Cube the butter and melt in a large saucepan. See my cubes? Chop em smaller than that! Melt over medium heat and occasionally give the pan a swirl. Warning: the mixture will bubble and double in size so make sure your saucepan is high enough and keep swirling once the bubbling starts. Watch carefully as lightly browned specks begin to form at the bottom of the pan. Smell the butter; it should have a nutty aroma, spoon some of the liquid out if you can’t tell if the colour has changed.


Ok not the best pic to show you the change of colour but once it has turned a beautiful golden colour take it off the heat.


Beat the 1cup brown sugar with the brown butter. It’s best to put the sugar in the bowl first before pouring the butter. Trust me. Or you will splatter yourself with hot butter and not be a happy chappy!


Add the egg and 1tsp vanilla extract and beat until well combined.


Sift in the 1cup flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix until just combined.


Now is the time to add in any extras to your batter ie choc chips, nuts etc. A while ago I did a candy swap with the awesome Roboppy (Psst anyone want to do a candy swap with me?) and scored some Hershey’s Cinnamon bits. These are nubbins of cinnamon concentrated tastiness! As they are super cinnamon-y I only used a handful for half the mixture and white chocolate bits for the other half.


Pour mixture into an 8×8 pan and spread evenly. I prefer a higher edge to innard ratio and used a rectangle brownie pan which meant my blondies weren’t very high.


NOM NOM NOM

Sponsored by Nuffnang and Cadbury


I love chocolate. Milk, dark, white, I love them all! It’s impossible for me to eat just once piece and my house is never without a coupla bars of chocolate stashed away for emergencies when I get the munchies or feel the urge to bake something uber chocolatey. Seriously there is so much you can do with chocolate like bake a brownie, dip fruit, create decorative masterpieces or…


Have a chocolate facial! BAHAHAHHAHA! Watch out it’s the chocolate monster! You know that scene in Willy Wonka where Augustus Gloop fell into the chocolate river? I always used to wish that was me! It has always been a dream of mine to submerge myself in chocolate. So I did the next best thing and gave myself a facial. I know you’re supposed to use cocoa but after baking a brownie yesterday I was all out but found a spare block of Cadbury Old Gold 70% Cocoa. I added some oil, honey and yoghurt, nuked it in the microwave and waited for it to cool before slathering it on. I tell you the scent of chocolate is so freaking irresistible! No wonder people use chocolate for certain night time activities nudgenudgewinkwink 😀

Thanks to the people at Nuffnang I was sent some blocks from the new Bar of Plenty range- Roast Hazelnut & Honey Roast Cashews and Berry Fruit & Vanilla Shortcake and are available in local Coles, Woolworths, IGA and other select outlets. I loved the whimsy font and couldn’t wait to dig in! Seriously chocolate makes me so happy! How about you guys? Do you love chocolate as much as me? Keep on reading for your chance to win chocolate products to the value of $50!


Ripping off the foil from the Roast Hazelnut & Honey Roast Cashews to reveal a block of milk chocolate with huge chunks of nuts


Heh heh oh how I love stacking my candy! Check out that ratio of nuts to chocolate yo! Impressive.


Unveiling the Berry Fruit & Vanilla Shortcake to show a crazy scattering of shortcake nubbins!


I liked the crunch of the shortcake pieces but wished there was a bit more of the fruit because I am a sucker for fruit in chocolate. But it was still tasty and I could easily finish the whole block in one sitting mmm


And now the moment you’ve been waiting for. Who wants to win $50 worth of chocolate! All you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me:

Why you are in love with chocolate?

I’ll be judging the winner and there’s only one entry per person so make it count! The winner will be judged on most creative comment entered. Please leave a valid email address! Sorry peeps but entry is only open to Australian residents over 14. Competition closes 20th September 5pm EST. For full terms and conditions click here