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Noods is borderline fanatical about his new soccer team the Western Sydney Wanderers FC (WHO DO WE SING FOR?) and usually he and the boys will go and watch the game if it’s in Parramatta and then grab a bite to eat afterwards.

The Super Bowl in America is coming up soon and a few of my fav U.S food blogs are posting awesome snacks they’re preparing for the game and a quick Google search led us to the idea of a snack food stadium! There’s just something about building a ridiculously large structure using food and then sharing the craziness of it with your best mates. So with a Wanderers game set for the Australia Day weekend we decided to build a stadium of food and as luck would seem I was invited to try out the ING DIRECT Wave & Save promotion and it sure came at a great time lol

First, getting ready our junk food needs. The time I’d get home from work is usually around the time that most supermarkets start to close so I hit Coles, Woolworths, IGA and Harris Farm for snacks.

Ready to build? Step 1, enlist a minion who fancies himself a builder using foam art boards and cardboard boxes lying around the house.

Step 2, make sure structure is relatively stable to hold weight of snacks.

It took Noods about a week of slowly designing the stadium and a lot of trial and error pieces but here we go! All taped up! We also lined the insides with cling wrap and the top deck and hot food section were covered with foil.

Step 3, slowly fill up your stadium and arrange order of snack foods. I went the sweet and savoury side route and colour co-ordinated my foods.

Of course it’s always good to make sure your structure is sturdy otherwise you turn away for one second and the sounds of Jaffas falling everywhere will make your heart skip a beat! Nuuuuu Jaffas EVERYWHERE!

AAAAAAND TADAH!!!!!! One sexy food stadium ready and waiting for all your pre game needs with the Red and Black Bloc supporters!

My ‘healthy’ side of the stadium starting with the lower decks: smoked trout dip, carrot and cucumber sticks, good ol 80’s cubed cheese, twiggy sticks, a wheel of double brie, crackers, olives, Kettle Chilli Chips, Cheezels, corn chips & salsa aaaand pork crackles. Top deck had babaganouj, pistachio & blue cheese dip, shaved honey ham and prosciutto.

Other side of the stadium contained our hot food section with mini pies, sausage rolls and potato gems tee hee it’s been too long since I’ve had potato gems! The stands were filled with mini Oreo’s, Tiny Teddies, rainbow popcorn, Pods, Cheese and Bacon Balls, Chicken Twisties, pretzels and the top stand was layered with pepperoni and slices of Jarlsberg cheese.

Fields of green! Originally we were going to use guacamole for the grass but we were worried it would discolour so I whipped up a kilo of buttercream with a crapload of green colouring. Looking back we should have used gummy men for the players but eh. Wafers line the stadium as ‘advertising’, held to the sides with toothpicks.

Enough with the photos! ATTTTTAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCK!

With no end in sight we chuck the perishables in the fridge and glad wrap the whole shebang while we take a break for a poker game or two.

Breaking down the stadium we pack the leftovers into party bags to take to work. It will probably last us for the next month or so. Diabetes here we come!

Aaaand I leave you guys with a less junk food overloaded photo. We had leftover funds on the card so one last trip for groceries for the animals at the RSPCA Yagoona shelter of fruit and veg for the bunnies, dog food, kitty litter, treats and toys.

Westies! Youeni Foodstore of Surry Hills and Darlinghurst fame is now open at Castle Hill! Thanks to a tipoff from Everybody Loves Ramen on the wonderful world of Instagram, the boy and I managed to roll out of bed and arrive just in time at Youeni (250 Old Northern Rd, Castle Hill) for the tail end of breakfast. I chose the Pate Brisse Quiche Tart ($5), which is gloriously eggy with bits of caramelised onion providing the occasional sweetness and relief against the incredibly buttery base. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the side salad ($3 extra), the radicchio and watercress leaves are lightly dressed with a citrus-y dressing and ground pepper and I feel virtuous and healthy heh.


Noods has of course chosen The Breakfast ($16)- creamy scrambled eggs on toast, sausage, ginormous field mushroom and a fat vine ripened tomato. The pot of cottage cheese felt a little out of place and adding a side of bacon ($4.50) makes it a tad on the exxy side for a breakfast out west but everything on that plate tastes so fresh that we know we’ll return.


The following weekend and we’re back to try out the lunch menu. We overhear the waitress describing the Roast Lamb Sambo ($13) as bloody awesome so I give it a whirl. While delicious it just didn’t quite blow my mind away- the slow roasted lamb chunks were tender but were unfortunately a little on the cold side and with the torrential rain that day I was hoping for piping hot innards. And argh I hate to be a nit picker but I couldn’t discern any potato that the menu said the sandwich came with nor any of the sweet chilli in the sweet chilli mayo. The bread was awesome though, soft and pillowy in the middle and studded with grains.


Noods has chosen the Angus certified Beef Rump ($26) which looks and tastes glorious though he mourns the absence of the roast potatoes which was swapped with cannellini beans. The beans are forgiven though because there are ribbons of lyonnaise onions aka caramelised deliciousness which just makes everything incredible.


How could we resist the desserts on display at the front counter! A Lemon Meringue Tart ($4) and a Salted Caramel Chocolate Tart ($4) are the lucky winners of the day. The cloud of meringue is light and fluffy and biting through it reveals a layer of lemon which is just sour enough to be tangy but still refreshing.

But it is the salted caramel chocolate tart that holds my heart, the oozy top layer of caramel has me swooning- I want a bucket of the stuff and to be left alone with a spoon. There’s a rich dark chocolate layer on the bottom which balances out the sweetness and of course the shells for both the tarts are buttery perfection.


Other delicious desserts on the day were brownies, an intriguing looking caramelised banana muffin and a chai and chocolate eclair. Next time my pretties!

Glance upwards and you will spy staff hard at work baking.

So, I love summer because of all the beautiful stone fruits finally in season and something I’ve always wanted to make is fruit pies! I’ve always been a bit put off making the pastry because I don’t have a food processor to make simple pastry but thanks to the awesome people at Bosch I was sent a Bosch Food Processor Styline and I’ve got one to giveaway to my readers! So keep on reading for your chance to win!


It’s pretty darn sexy I can tell you right now! Everything is ridiculously easy to clean and weighing at 5kg it’s light enough that I can move it without swearing but heavy enough that I won’t worry about it toppling over if I’m mixing a heavy dough.


It even has a drawer to store the blades and attachments! Love not having to dig around trying to find the parts for an appliance!


Ready for a super easy recipe for a peach pie? This recipe is adapted from Foodie Crush. Note, if you want to make it even more simpler you can use a tin of sliced peaches instead of going to the effort of peeling and slicing the fresh fruit 😛

Ingredients:
2 cups plain flour
170g cold salted butter, cut into cubes
1 Tbsp caster sugar
1/2 to 3/4 cup ice cold water
1.5kg peaches (or 825g tinned sliced peaches)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
zest and juice of one orange
1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp milk
2 Tbsp caster sugar


First, zest an orange and set aside. Attach juicer to processor and juice orange and set aside for filling. Add 2 cups plain flour, 170g butter, 1 Tbsp caster sugar, orange zest and pulse 4-5 times until butter is the sized of small peas but do not over mix. Add 1/4 cup iced water and pulse on and off until pastry is just combined. Add more water 1 tablespoon at a time until dough comes together when pressed.


1. Roll out dough between sheets of baking paper. Knead a few times and divide into two discs approx 20cm in diameter and chill in fridge in cling wrap for 15 mins or until able to be handled.
2. For the filling, peel and pit the peaches and slice 1/2 inch thick. In the processor bowl, combine peaches with brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and orange juice.
3. Place one crust in pie pan, saving the second circle of dough for top of pie. Scoop the peaches but draining the liquid and pile high in the center.
4. Top with second prepared pie crust and cut four slits in the dough and brush top of pie crust with egg wash and top with sugar. Place pie on a baking sheet and bake for 50-55 minutes at 190 degrees. Allow pie to rest for about 30 minutes before serving.


TADAH!!!! YOU BEAUTY!!!!


Buttery crust! Sweet peach innards!


And left over pastry means mini peach pie! Yep that’s my ideal ratio of ice cream to pie 😀

So are you ready to win this awesome Bosch Food Processor Styline with RRP of $199? All you gotta do is leave a comment on this blog post answering:

What would be the first thing you make with the Bosch Food Processor Styline AND why?

The most delicious sounding 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 Monday 4th February 2013, 9am AEST. Good luck!

Aaaand part 2 of my eats in Melbourne! Absolutely GOTTA have the half pound chocolate eclair from Walker’s Doughnuts (26/2 Elizabeth St, Melbourne) which is all kinds of amazing with rich chocolate icing, fluffy cream innards and light choux pastry.


Word on the street is that Lord of the Fries will be finally coming to Sydney soon but meanwhile I will grab a regular fries with French Canadian sauce every time I see it! I mean, what’s not to love? Golden fries, pile of cheese and a river of gravy? BEST!


We hit Degraves Street for awesome coffee and people watched all the hipsters amble by.