A little while back, I thought it would be fun to do favourite things kind of post. Feature books and products, homewares to skincare—stuff I’ve seen on the interwebs in a roundup style post. But then, from memory, it was Afterpay Day. And the very idea of sending out a post flogging stuff, even if it was for entertainment, was a no thanks.
But, some time has passed, and I’ve found more interesting things. I added an extra book and some sunscreen, an old favourite brand has a new offering, and some new-to-me products popped up. And since I feel a little better about the scale of emails in my inbox, I thought it was time. So, here they are, the many things that caught my eye on the interwebs lately; let’s do this.
12. Mr Consistent Mixers are refreshing, delicious and just as good alone or with soda water. Yum yum.
What have you discovered this month, team? I’d love to hear more about what is landing in your cart. Big or small, silly or serious, I’m sure some retail therapy has been helping us all through these weird and wonderful times. Enjoy the post, and as always, shop responsibly.
While I have smugly advanced past the cheapest of wines, that doesn’t mean I’m not interested in getting value for money. I think maybe I just drank too much of the Accomplice Sav. Blanc back in the day to even stomach anything like it these days. Haha. Recently I shared a post asking for wine suggestions and the hot tip. You delivered, as always, so I went on the hunt to see if I could find the wine that would become my new favourite.
Now, I’m no wine expert by any means.
But, I’ll try anything once and like what I like, whatever the price tag. My taste leans a little drier than your average white wine drinker, but not all the way. As I flicked through the pages of wines, I started wondering how good some of these wines could be for under $20! One was under $7, which is the limit of cheap and cheerful I go these days if I’ve learned my lesson. All can be bought in larger quantities that reduce the price further.
Would they taste okay? Would we enjoy them, and would I be able to share them with family and friends without being exposed as a cheapskate? Not that that should be your primary concern when making purchases, but come on, who doesn’t love to find an excellent drinking wine to bring that has people asking about it?
Lord of the wines, that’s my goal in life.
But also, is it possible to enjoy an inexpensive wine and not suffer the consequences of the preservative hangovers. Precisely what happens to me with some low-cost wines. Does that ever happen to you? One glass or many, it makes no difference. When the preservative hangover comes for you, you’re done for. If you know, you know. Yikes.
With a determination to enjoy another hot girl summer, I went hunting for the best summer wines. They had to be drinkable and perfect for beachside, poolside, picnics and BBQs. I’ve included Uncle Dan links in the list below and the complete product name if you want to find them elsewhere. I figure, who doesn’t (other than us here in Gympie) have access to a Dan Murphey, right? Anyway, who’s thirsty? Let’s dive into that, shall we?
Now, I can be a little partial to a pretty label, which is reflected in most of my choices. If it was a toss-up between two similar wines, I chose the prettiest. I’m a shallow and horrible human being, I know. But they wouldn’t have made this list unless I personally love them or the reviews gave them four or more stars with reviews that said they were highly drinkable. That’s what really matters, right? What’s on the inside.
And one last favourite!
One of my favourites, not under the $20 mark, but well worth the try, is the 6Ft6 Prosecco Nv ($25). I first tasted this at one of the Melbourne Fashion Week events and had to buy more once home. Plus, black and white stripes are so on-brand for me. Haha. Once, I even worked with them to do a giveaway on the blog (I made prosecco cocktails, you’re welcome). While it’s the highest-priced on the list, I find that you can often score an offer or deal that reduces the per bottle price. I’m keen to try their new 6Ft6 Prosecco Rosé, so if you score a bottle, let me know how it is.
How about some wine subscription action?
Something else that I enjoy doing to discover new wines is getting my Good Pair Days box (that’s my referral link, FYI. Sign up, and we both get a free $40 bottle of wine; score). I have a four wine bottle subscription delivered per month and have had the best time discovering new wines via their deliveries. Not to mention their packing rocks and they send all these presents as you order and reviews wines. Things like tea towels, bottle openers, champagne corks and even a thermal cup and bottle; I love that.
Are you interested in such things? I’ve done an entire post featuring some of the best-reviewed Wine Clubs and Box Subscriptions out there. If you’re into trying new things and are okay with other people having a go at picking your wines, check them out. I think it’s fun, and it’s like having a present to me, from me delivered every month. It’s the best use of my adult money I can think of. Haha.
We’re throwing things way back here with a Classic Red Wine Sangria from the #sugerDRINKS eBook. Yes, from 2017 and still available as a free download when you sign up for the Suger News. I received an email this week from a recent subscriber who was excited to get making some cocktails (same, what a week). And it reminded me, I haven’t done an update in a while. A long while.
So, let’s welcome back those dark, moody, slightly off-centre images from 2017, shall we? I love these photos, even now, but boy can I see how far I’ve come in terms of composition and editing since then. How’s that for a little reminder that when you feel stuck somewhere, taking a walk down memory lane to see how far you’ve come doesn’t hurt. Neither will some delicious red wine covered fruit. Let’s jump into this, shall we?
What you’ll need
Berries, mixed
2 Oranges (1 x sliced 1 x juiced)
1/2 Lime juice, freshly squeezed
1 tbsp Sweetener (sugar or honey)
1 cup Ice 1/2 cup Cointreau
2 cups Red wine, dry
What to do
Combine the ingredients; it’s just that simple. Leave it to sit in the jug until ready to serve. How easy is THAT! If it’s warm where you are, freeze the berries and instead of juicing the second orange, cut it into segments and freeze. Or go all out and add a third into the mix. Go nuts. When ready to serve, make sure everything is combined (in the eBook, I said blend, but well, that’s not exactly what I meant, lol) and serve in a large jug with extra fruit if you wish.
…
The ‘recipe’ for this Classic Red Wine Sangria is from the #sugerDRINKS eBook (available as a free download when you sign up for the Suger News). It’s about time that I got off my butt and updated the offer, I think. So, if you have an idea for a download, printable or something that you’d like as a freebie for subscribers, let me know.
Putting together a cheese board doesn’t have to be difficult. How to put together a cheese board quickly will have you whipping up a board for your next drop-by visitor, an easy mid-week meal, afternoon session, or bring a plate occasion. Aside from those with lactose issues who doesn’t love cheese, right?
My love of cheese is a well-known fact about me, so much so even my clients send me cheese in the mail as a gift. It doesn’t have to be difficult; most of what you need to make a killer board can live in your pantry or fridge for you to grab when you need it. That’s my first tip, stock your life in preparation for cheese at any moment.
Start with the basics; take stock.
What do you need to have for a cheese board? Think of your favourite things to eat with cheese; fruits and nuts, cured meats and crackers. All of these things have pretty long shelf lives and can be maintained pretty easily. Start by keeping a well-stocked pantry of crackers, nuts and dried fruits and cheeses, fresh fruits and meats in your fridge. Plus, doing things like growing herbs in your garden can add colour and flavour to your board.
You’d be surprised what you already have in your fridge or pantry to get you started. Take a look, and don’t discount anything as possible ingredients for your board. Some suggestions to keep an eye out for are;
Phew. Once you take a look and start pulling things out to assess, a theme will start to appear. Sometimes we have a heap of tomatoes, so we do an Italian style board with soft cheeses, basil, spinach, olives and bread with olive oil to dip. Other times all we have is a heap of nuts, so we pair that with whatever cured meat and crackers we can find. Got vegetables? Keep it simple with a veggie-heavy crudités platter. Look for the theme and things that work together and crush your charcuterie game.
How to put together a cheeseboard – step by step;
Collect and prepare your supplies
Place your cheeses and larger items.
Prepare, fold and place meats and savoury add ons
Group and place crackers; tuck them around
Fill with fruits or sweet add ons
Dollop or place the dips, spreads or honey
And now it is time to raid the fridge and pantry and see what you can pull together. What do you think? Do you have some ideas for how to put together a cheeseboard quickly? The basics are that you need to keep a good stock of items, use what you have and then pull it all together on a board like an Instagram pro. You might just be surprised at the cheese board level that you can pull off with a few basic supplies and very little planning.
And yes, this isn’t even my first ever post about my love of the cheeseboard. A few years ago, after returning from the Barossa Valley, I shared my tips for cheeseboard signature style. Whatever that is. Haha. Let’s face it, any excuse to have cheese for dinner, take some images and write it all off as a business expense*. What can I say? Sometimes you don’t feel like making dinner; cheese for the win.
Suger’s Summer content has been a light on the ground in the past year or two. It used to be a little more of a thing around here. A function of not being that motivated to create, I suppose. But something about the warm days and long afternoons has inspired me. And what is more inspiring than a cocktail? Something bright and fun, refreshing and light. Something with gin!
I’m not normally a gin drinker. My maternal grandmother apparently was, but from her down we found ourselves to be a wee bit too emotional if we were partaking in gin. Who knows if that’s a real thing, but all the very scientific evidence seems to suggest it is. Anyway, I tend to avoid gin in favour of my favourite child, vodka. But earlier this year, I couldn’t resist (aka was sucked into) an ad campaign for a Bloody Shira Gin.
And it seems, the rest is history. Let’s get into it.
gin and prosecco summer cocktail
you’ll need (per serve)
30ml’ish Gin
1 cup Prosecco
Sorbet
Orange Slices
Glass
do this
add a large scoop of ice-cream to your serving glass
top with gin, followed by prosecco
finish with the slice of orange
some notes
We used a Shiraz gin from Four Pillars. This gives it a darker colour. We may have also been a little more heavy-handed than a single shot… ‘Tis the season and all. Here’s the hot tip, we put the orange in first, layered the gin and prosecco and ended up with a little pocket at the bottom of the drink formed by the orange. It’s way easier to add the orange after.
We had raspberry or lemon sorbet, and both were great. A large scoop with chilled ingredients is enough that you don’t need ice. However, you could easily skip the sorbet and have this over ice with a little added grapefruit juice for a bit of kick. Speaking of which, you could substitute the orange for grapefruit (so good) or blood orange depending on your gin choice. In fact, the gin could be swapped for vodka easily too; so versatile.
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Pantry problems? Try using glass jars to store your dry goods. Which, in a week dominated by Gen-Z owning Millennials for our very millennial traits, it seems a little risky. I mean, what could be more millennial than talking about using glass jars in your pantry? But here I am. This was a plan I’ve had a for a while now. I’ve always hated packaging and half-opened things give me the creeps since I found mouse poo in a flour bag once (gag). Tupperware was good, but now that mine is getting old, I wanted something fresh. A new idea that was still durable and easy to maintain.
Why am I using glass jars?
The final decision was made when I stocked up on winter soup supplies. There were packages and packages of lentils, soup mixes and dried split peas. They made piles on the shelves and something told me they were taking up way more room than they would if I moved them over to glass jars. An entire shelf had been taking over by them and they would never stack up properly. Not to mention that I’d purchased the same items twice because I had no idea what I had. Add those reasons to the ones I mentioned at the beginning, and let’s just say it was time.
Getting the glass jars!
I only had one old coffee jar I could use, after recently transferring the coffee into its own canister. Plus some old glass jars I’ve had since we started preparing juices and smoothies in advance. The lids on some had started to develop rust though, so I’m on the hunt to replace the lids when I can. With the need for jars increasing, I went hunting for more! I found some in Kmart, some at my local Coles but in the end, I purchased them from canning/farmers supply stores on eBay.
With the one coffee jar, six 500ml and twelve 1L (1000ml) wide mouth jars, I started phase one. Along the way, I found that the pasta would have been better off with a 2L jar so I’ve put them on my list. It may seem excessive to buy all these jars, but if you or a friend go through more coffee jars you could collect them. Have I mentioned I’m impatient? Because I am, and so I shop instead.
As you can see, we’re using the jars predominately for pantry staples like lentils, couscous, pasta and dried goods. But we also found them a great way to store the snack items we keep around like nuts, dried apricots and trail mix. This makes it easier for Kel to see what he’s got when packing his lunch and we aren’t dealing with an overstuffed shelf filled with rapidly going stale packages of nuts.
It’s been a great solution for our pantry.
Actually, in general, it’s been very motivating to be able to see all that goodness on the shelf there. Last week it was pea and ham soup. this week I’m pulling out that Italian Soup Blend (the colourful one) and will use it as a base for a minestrone, I think.
When I was putting the foods into the jars, I cut off the label with cooking instructions and use by dates to put them in the jar later. Just make sure you wash and dry them WELL so you’re not introducing germs or damp to your jar. Both I was wanted against on Pinterest. Both sound equally disgusting. Haha. I recently picked up a label maker, so I’m going to put use by dates on the bottom of the jar and ditch the package as we get more used to what’s in them and how we use it. Would highly recommend.
That’s why this post is here, actually.
For no other reason than I thought it might come in handy. Especially for those who shop at bulk bill stores or are looking to reduce waste. We have a health food store locally that will allow you to bring your own (clean! always important) jars for filling with things like honey, peanut butter and all the stock from their bulk food bins. I’m sure you do too, and doesn’t that just sound like a better, more interactive idea then all that plastic packaging?
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For me, weekend dinners can go one of two ways. It’s either something quick and comforting because you’re tired and in desperate need of a beverage. OR they’re slow and soothing, the process and result. So, that’s what you’re going to get. Comforting meals that you can go fast or take slow. Food that eats perfectly on the couch or snuggled in a pillow fort on the floor. Whatever your weekend looks like, there’s dinner here for you.
When I first started stumbling through my Food + Drink Pinterest board for this post, I had opened new tabs with almost entirely pasta dishes. And while I love a good pasta, and it’s a go-to weekend staple around here, I wanted a little more diversity. So there are soups and salads, warm and cold, and even some breakfast for dinner thrown in there too. I’ll save the pasta round-up for another day – Promise.
The recipes in this post are some of the recipes from my board that I have actually tried. That we come back to over and over again. It doesn’t matter if we are eating on the couch, just the two of us, or entertaining the family en masse; they’re good. Would recommend, and that is why we’re here.
Let’s go; your weekend dinner awaits!
{click on the image below to view the full recipe in a new tab}
What’s for dinner at your place? If you’ve got a recipe link, I have allowed links in the comments, so make sure you share them below.
Have I mentioned lately that I’m a little obsessed with pasta? We found it pretty easy to get our hands on store-bought fresh or dry pasta and even handmade speciality dry pasta (lucky us). To say it has been a pasta-fest over here is an understatement.
BUT, and this is the part where it will benefit you, I have been able to perfect some of my recipes. this one in particular. When I think of green pasta usually, I think pesto pasta. Which, we know I’m a fan of because I’ll eat it hot or cold. But this time, it’s a simple butter sauce with a load of veggies and lemon to finish it off.
You’ll Need
Dry Pasta (it’s sturdier) in your favourite sauce grabbing style (serve two)
Asparagus (1 -2 bunches )
Peas (Frozen is fine – 1 cup)
Snow Peas (1 cup)
Anchovies (2 – 3)
Butter (3-5 tablespoons)
Parmesan Cheese
Lemons (2)
Garlic Cloves (2 or minced garlic)
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Do This
Prepare the ingredients, this process goes fast. Trim and chop the snow peas and asparagus, roughly chop or mash the anchovies and get the garlic cloves ready for crushing.
Put a large saucepan of water on to boil; season liberally with salt. When the pasta water boils, cook your pasta, just under the instructions on the packet (we will finish it in the pan). Set aside some of the pasta water for later, you may need it.
In a large frying pan, over high heat quickly fry off the asparagus and snow peas with the garlic and olive oil. When cooked but still bright green, remove from pan and set aside in a large mixing bowl (use this to combine ingredients later). Squeeze the juice of one lemon over the veggies; set aside.
In the veggie pan, combine the butter and smashed anchovies, stirring until melted and combined. Add the pasta and continue to stir until coated. At this stage, add a little pasta water to the sauce/pasta situation and continue to stir if the coverage isn’t great. Don’t if you’ve added heaps of butter and you’re good.
Add the peas to the frying pan with the pasta and sauce, once warmed through, transfer the contents to the large mixing bowl with the vegetables
Season with salt and pepper to taste (try it first, the anchovies and pasta water will add some salt to the dish, you may not need to add any salt).
Prepare to serve, top each bowl with a cheek of lemon and parmesan cheese; you’re good to go.
Also great served with grilled or lemon roasted chicken. Kel was looking for more ‘sauce’ and if that’s you too, I suggest a basic carbonara type sauce (like this Bon Appetit one), then add the veggies at the end when you would add back in the guanciale or pancetta. Enjoy!
We used to pick my nephew up from school on a Friday, and he would stay with us while his Mum was at work. Back at the start of March, with plans for a milk and cookies movie night, I bought the boxed ingredients for chocolate chip biscuit. We were going to make them together, so I thought I would keep it simple. Add stuff and stir – done and done.
But then self-isolation happened.
It was four or so weeks since we’d seen him and the biscuits were calling to me. I’ve been building my portfolio on some stock image websites as a way to earn a little side income from my photography. (Very little at this stage, let me tell you, haha). With the thought of capturing some photos as a “two birds with the one stone” thing, I baked the biscuits.
It turns out, while they would’ve been kid-friendly (super easy) they were more like biscuit cakes than cookies. I get that that is some people’s thing, but not me. I like my biscuits to be a little bit chewy, a little crunchy and a lot bendy rather than crumbly. I’m sure if I was more of a baker, I could have adapted the ingredients. But I’m not. There I was with cake-like chocolate chip cookies.
So, I photographed them anyway.
Why not. The biscuits look alright. Though chunky enough to disclose the cakiness for those of us who know what we want in a cookie. And while I uploaded the main set to stock image sites, I thought YOU might want to use some images during this stay at home period. I mean, people are baking stuff left, right and centre. Get on board. And that’s what I did.
If you click through to the free downloads page, you’ll see a link to the Dropbox folder to download the cookie images and a couple of others, I thought might come in handy. All the terms of use and that jazz are on that page too. It’s pretty basic; don’t worry about that. I hope you enjoy them; whatever you use them for. Now, excuse me while I head to Pinterest to find a decent chocolate chip cookie recipe for when my nephew is allowed to stay for sleepovers.
Download the failed cookie experiment images on the FREE DOWNLOADS page here.
Something that we have started getting back into lately is pasta salads. Pasta salads are so easy to take with you to bring a plate style gatherings. And even if you’re not going anywhere, most of them make well in advance and keep (a caution about avocado and tomatoes though). This week, when I was making a batch for an easy weeknight dinner, I thought it was time to put this simple chicken and pesto pasta salad on the blog. I mean, simple is a mainstay of pasta salads, right? But this one, with the help of a store-bought chicken, is THE easiest.
I made a variation of this one for Christmas Day, with a range of heirloom tomatoes and an Italian style dressing. It was good, but it certainly needed that creaminess that the pesto brings to this one. But it was hot, and I wanted something light, so there’s that. Probably one of my favourite things about pasta salads is that you can start with one idea and it becomes another. Make it once and adapt it from there. Especially when it comes to just using what you have on hand. So, easy.
YOU’LL NEED
Roast Chicken, both breasts, sliced
Pesto (get a good one, this matters for flavour), 3 – 4 tablespoons
Grape and/or cherry tomatoes, 1 punnet, halved or quartered depending on size
Baby spinach, 2 cups
Rocket, 1 cup
Red onion, half, diced
Salt and pepper, to taste
Basil, to serve
Olive oil, to serve
(Quantities reflect serving four as a meal)
DO THIS
Cook pasta until it’s cooked, but just undercooked (not too much crunch though)
Rinse under cold water when done
Add pesto, salt, pepper, and red onion to pasta in a large bowl, stir to combine
Set aside in fridge to cool
Chop other ingredients
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl (Don’t add the tomatoes if storing overnight, keep them separate until you serve, spinach can also be stored separately until needed)
Add more pesto or some olive oil if pasta is not coated
Salt and pepper to taste
Transfer to serving bowl, top with basil and additional olive oil and cracked pepper to taste
You could also add a bunch of other flavour combinations to this, additional cheese and things like avocado if you want a little more fat. I’d love to use olives and a creamy fetta, but Mr Suger continues on his mission to hate them forever, so for now, I’ll have to wait until I make it just for me. Oh, and hot tip, add a squeeze of lemon to take everything to the next level if your pesto is a little meh.
There you go, team! The easiest pasta salad EVER. You cut a few tomatoes and dice half a red onion and you’re good to go. If you’re into it, Pin some of the images in this post (it really helps!) and I’d love to see your pics if you make it.
Remember when I used to post recipes? I did it all the time and cooking was something that made me super happy. Only when I didn’t HAVE to do it, mind you. But happy none the less. I sort of lost my mojo because life came up and stole my beautiful kitchen from me, followed by all my spare time. But now, almost 4 years later I’ve rediscovered a love of food and drink through photographing it.
So, long story longer.
I’ve decided to open an Instagram specifically for my photos of food. Because, despite all attempts otherwise, I cannot and will not give up my desaturated Instagram feed, and food NEEDS that saturation. Right? This is all part of the process of creating stuff. Of doing those things that inspire me and point me in the right direction.
Sure, I want to cook more. Stupid electric stove be damned. And this feels like a step in the right direction. Last week I actually printed two recipes I pinned from Pinterest. Maybe one day soon the urge to cook, to actually eat food that serves me, will come back. Until then, there’s always eating out, right? Haha.
Now, what about you?? Do you have a food or beverage focused account I should be following? Leave me a link (or username) in the comments and we’ll hang out. Regular food content is preferred. But awesome recipes now and then is okay too.
I hadn’t planned to put this recipe on the blog. There’s not much to it, and the photos from my kitchen counter at 8 pm on a weeknight are hardly the stuff of Pinterest dreams.
But, this is a delicious, simple meal that with a few fresh, simple ingredients can make your life so much easier. Dinner, done in the time it takes you to cook a serve or two of fettucini, are you ready for this?
Weeknight Pasta Dinner
YOU’LL NEED
Two serves of fettucini
1 – 2 generous handfuls of baby spinach
2 – 3 large Roma tomatoes (just so much flavour!)
One spring onion, white part, finely chopped
One heaped tablespoon of garlic (or to taste)
1/2 cup of fresh cream
Juice of half a lemon
Olive oil (for pasta water)
Salt and pepper to taste
DO THIS
Get your pasta water boiling with a generous amount of salt and a few glugs of olive oil (stops the pasta sticking together)
Dice your tomatoes, roughly chop the spinach, finely chop the spring onion
Season the prepared vegetables with salt and pepper
Heat a frying pan (I like using my one with high sides for this sort of thing) start on high
Add the tomatoes, spinach and spring onion
As it starts to reduce, add the garlic just before the cream (next) so it doesn’t burn and turn bitter
Reduce heat to medium on the frying pan
When the water is boiling, add your pasta
Add the cream to your frying pan and stir to combine
Allow frying pan to simmer without stirring. You want the cream to reduce without breakdown your other ingredients too much further. That is how you keep the tomatoes red and the spinach bright green. The cream should start to go a brownish shade and thicken. Then it’s go time.
Drain pasta when cooked to your liking (keep a bit of bite, it’s going back in the pan for a second soon), the pasta can be a bit wet, this helps to thin out the sauce in the frying pan
Place pasta in the frying pan on top of the other ingredients
Combine and squeeze with fresh lemon just before serving
Eat immediately!
Serves two, though that’s kind of dependant on the amount of pasta you cooked and how big your tomatoes are.
