So like, I dare not call this a ‘recipe’ because it’s just so freaking easy! I got home after work and was feeling snackish but couldn’t decide if I wanted something sweet or savoury. Grabbed a bag of pretzels and thought well hey now pretzels coated in chocolate would be sooo good right about now…


And kaboom! Too easy. Seriously guys, world’s easiest snack ever and absolutely love the sweet salty combo! Only problem is waiting for the chocolate to cool before you’re able to grab a handful and munch in front of the teevee.


Heh this is all you need! Bag of pretzels and some chocolate!


Break chocolate into pieces and nuke in microwave on 15 second bursts, stirring until chocolate is nice and melted.


Prep your area bahahaha


Using chopsticks or skewers, dip pretzels into melted chocolate and gently shake off excess chocolate.


Place chocolate covered pretzel on wire rack and repeat!


Tray of deliciousness! Leave the pretzels for a bit so the chocolate can harden before placing in an air tight container. Or… EAT THEM ALL!

That’s right you guys! Exactly 6 months to go before Christmas! Has this year flown by or what?! So anywhos over the weekend I was determined to hit the toy sales for a skateboard preferably in the pink end of the rainbow spectrum and teehee oh hello Optimus Prime! Yes I’m a sucker for people in costumes 😀


Seems like dinosaur toys are making a comeback and I was THIS close to buying this crazy neon orange dino that does absolutely nothing. The boy was barely awake and so was not as impressed as I with the selection of toys.


Why so serious? Haha super tempted to get the Darth Vader mask too but I want a Stormtrooper mask more so will hold off lol


In need of sustenance we hit The Baron (Shop 461, 4-16 Castle St, Castle Hill) where it was packed to the max thanks to the awesome writeup on SMH Cafe Guide but managed to squeeze ourselves onto a free space. Noods has opted for the special of the day, a freaking incredible grilled barramundi with super tender flesh and gloriously crisp skin sitting atop a pile of roasted potatoes and beans. I managed to steal some quick bites before he very sneakily hoovered the whole plate in less than 5minutes.


In case you don’t follow me on the fabulous world of Instagram (stalk me on @chocolatesuze), I had the Autumn salad ($15) which was a freaking ginormous mound of greens & rocket pesto, potato, confit ocean trout aaaaand then I added crispy bacon, fetta and mushrooms ($3 extra each) because I always feel like a salad is never a proper meal and I tend to get hungry soon after. And oh boy was it delicious and filling! Awesome coffee and quirky beers makes The Baron a tops place to hang out on the weekend. And now I must go and buy that dino head, brb kthnxbai!

I heart waffles. Sweet waffles, savoury waffles, I love them all. I was sent a Cuisinart Belgium Waffle Maker by the awesome peeps at Kitchenware Direct and best of all, I get to give one away to one lucky reader! Read on to find out how!


I couldn’t decide what to make first! Would I try chocolate waffles with perhaps a scoop of vanilla ice cream or good ol plain waffles with fried chicken and gravy? In the end the idea of super cheesy waffles won out and a quick search led me to this post where I tweaked the cheese ratio and simplified it ChocolateSuze style haha and it makes about 8 glorious waffles.


Ingredients:
2 ¼ Cups Plain Flour
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Baking Soda
½ Tsp Salt
2 Eggs
1 ½ Cups Milk
3 Tbsp Vegetable or Canola Oil
1 ½ Cup shredded cheese (I used a 4 cheese blend)
¼ Cup shredded romano or parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp ground black pepper


Preheat Cuisinart Belgium Waffle Maker. The 5 setting browning buttons control the degree of doneness- setting 3 is the best bet to get crisp edges but soft fluffy innards. In a large bowl whisk the 2 eggs, 1 ½ Cups milk and 3 Tbsp oil together until combined.


Add in everything else and stir to combine, making sure there are no flour patches in mixture.


Ladle mixture into the waffle maker, spread the mixture evenly and close the lid. It’ll take about 3-5 minutes to cook, the light will turn from red to green and the waffle maker will beep when they’re cooked.


This is totally normal btw! I was eyeing it nervously but it’s all good!


YAYAYAYYAYAYAYAY we haz waffles!!! The waffle machine is super easy to clean thanks to non stick plates which meant a quick wipe with a damp cloth and I was done.


Buuuut then I couldn’t help but think of the blog Waffleizer who asks the all important question of “Will it waffle?” and thought, hmm, let’s give bacon a go! I wasn’t too sure how it would turn out so only chucked on 3 bits of bacon, closed the lid and turned the dial to 5.


The fattier bits of the bacon worked out pretty awesome with perfect crispy bits but the meatier bacon didn’t really get the waffle effect I was hoping for. Also, it’s a bit of a pain to clean the oil outta the machine so I won’t be doing that again haha


But when you have bacon you gotta have eggs! I didn’t close the lid of the waffle maker instead letting it cook via the the residual heat.


One egg looked a little hard to get outta the waffle maker so I cracked in 2 eggs and hoped for the best. Surprisingly it was pretty easy to get it out with the help of 2 spatulas!

Teehee breakfast waffles!


Ahem I made peanut butter cookies the same day and was eying the waffle maker and thought heck why not… Waffling the cookie mixture seemed ok but was impossible to lift out while still warm and crumbly, much like how you’re not meant to move cookies when they’re straight outta the oven so I had to let him cool a bit but I admit it was more for novelty sake than oh that’s so awesome lol


And the moment you’ve been waiting for! With thanks again to Kitchenware Direct, who wants to win the very awesome Cuisinart Belgium Waffle Maker? RRP of $99.95 this is something for the whole family! All you have to do is leave a comment in this blog post answering:

What is your favourite waffle memory AND what would you make first?

The most creative entry will win this incredible prize! You can enter as many
times as you like, but you must be an Australian resident. Please enter a valid
email address, it will not be made public and you will only be contacted if you win. Competition closes Wednesday 4th July 2012, 5pm AEST. Good luck!

Aaaaand big congrats to Sonia! A Cuisinart Belgium Waffle Maker is on your way shortly!

EDIT: CLOSED

EDIT: Closed It’s been 6 years since I was last at Alio (5 Baptist Street, Surry Hills). I refuse to link to the post because I sound exactly the same with only marginally better photos haha oh the shame! So birthday dinner was awhile go and my memory is all kinds of fuzzy thanks to wine, old age general gold fish memory but the stand out of the night was the freaking incredible Antipasti Plate ($30)! That there is a board of awesome! Slices of bresaola, salami, ribbons of prosciutto, gorgeous coppa, salty sweet spanish white anchovy, creamy buffalo mozzarella, wedges of grana padano, marinated mushrooms and olives, truffled dwarfed peaches and cheesy bread sticks with a freaking spicy Nduja salami paste. Why so tasty?!



Thanks to the unbelievable downpour that hit Sydney, I couldn’t resist ordering the Stracciatella, a soul warming Roman chicken broth with cheese ravioli ($22). The brilliant staff knew the boy and I were sharing this and were lovely enough to split it into 2 bowls for us <3 Just as well too because I think I wouldn't have shared because it was so tasty!



I’ve been stalking justlikenonna and colepiper over Twitter and IG and knew I had to get the risotto which changes every coupla weeks. The flavour of the week was the incredible pecorino with a drizzle of 25 year old balsamic vinegar ($30) over perfectly cooked risotto that had the right amount of bite and creaminess in it.



Noods cannot resist the Linguini alle vongole ($30) with garlic, chili and parsley as he has a weak spot for all in the clam kingdom and clears the plate in record time.

Oh how I love sparklers!



Aaaand dessert time! A semi sweet orb that was rich and chocolatey and covered in nuts, with a side of macerated berries. It was the perfect dessert that evening especially in the cosy and warm restaurant and we were extremely reluctant to leave and brave the cold. We’ll definitely be back to try the dego! Or maybe get one antipasti plate each&#8230;