Saturday 27 April 2013

and 112 gone


Days 99-112

112 days have now passed since the start of this year and since I started my Project 365. I am keeping on top of it and my friends are helping me along. Passing the 100 mark made me happy and things in the upcoming months are going to be interesting and exciting. I have a day off planned as well as a mini holiday coming up. But before we get to that, this is what my last two weeks looked like.

Day 99:
My tote I use for my French books. It was my last
lesson for the term and I was feeling happy.

Day 100:
Checking out my garden. It currently looks a little unloved.

Day 101:
Surprise dinner and a play. I love the ceiling of the new theatre.

Day 102:

On the way to my friends birthday dinner with her present on my lap.

Day 103:

Bananarama. Possible the best cocktail around and
my favourite at a cocktail night I went to.

Day 104:
My nephew the birthday boy. He loves his balance bike but you can just
tell by him watching the other riders he can't wait for his first real bike.

Day 105:

A night relaxing at home with a chai latte and some biscuits.

Day 106:

I love bird of paradise flowers. I spotted these on an evening walk.

Day 107:

An abandoned train arrestor near my work.

Day 108:


One of the cutest cars parked outside of the shops.
My mum had one as her first car.

Day 109:

An evening walk with gorgeous clouds.

Day 110:

My favourite photo from my great 100km ride.

Day 111:

My first pages in my scrapbook based on my 20's. 
The subject, my holiday in Sydney.

Day 112:

The warehouse where my kickboxing gym is.

 Well there you have it, another 2 weeks in my life. There was a few days there where I had so many things on that I was fairly warn out. Other days I had nothing but a walk to take a photo of. But still, boring or not, it is a part of my life.

Until next time.
Love, love Elle.

Friday 26 April 2013

and Cranked - Leederville

Cranked - Leederville

Onward we pressed, the total kilometers slowly crept up. Riding down the bike path which followed the freeway south, was the worst part of the trip. The lovely weather which had followed us so far was replaced with wind and drizzle. We stopped once by an underpass to hide from the rain. Luckily it was only light and soon passed. I feel really sorry for the bike riders who commute from the north into the city. The bike path is pretty terrible for most of it and you cross over the freeway several times, one of which you have to stop at a traffic light. At times there isn't even a foot path and you need to ride on back streets. 

After the slowest portion of the ride, we finally left the cycle path and veered into Leederville and towards Cranked. We had been wanting to visit Cranked for a while now and it seemed a perfect opportunity to visit a bike orientated cafe while completing my mega ride. We sat out under an umbrealla and looked through the menu, happy in the fact that we were almost home.

Hot chocolate for me and a chai latte for my plus one.
Hot Chocolate $3.50
Chai latte $4

I ordered the Quesadilla.

Spicy South American marinated chicken breast with sliced tomato, 
spinach, roast peppers, cheddar cheese and tomato jam all wrapped in 
toasted pita with a side of guacamole. $16.50

My plus one ordered the Chicken Club.

Triple layered goodness with free range chicken breast, bacon, tomato, 
mixed leaves and garlic aioli. Served with a side of beer battered fries. $16.50


Umbrellas

Our trusty steeds

Bike parking.

I was very happy with the service at Cranked and all of the food was fantastic. The club sandwich impressed my plus one, but he had never had one before, still he enjoyed it. I gave it a try and also swiped some chips and I was pleased with them both. My quesadilla was very yummy with just enough spice to add punch to the dish without burning my over delicate mouth. I am not a fan of hot and spicy food and nor is the plus one. We are both pretty weak in the heat department.

I was still peckish and saw two plates of dessert head to another table so I headed inside to look at the dessert case. I found it tough to choose between the tart and a chocolate brownie so the waiter recommend the tart. So the tart it was and it was just the right size to share at the end of lunch. It was a delicious dark chocolate tart and the cream was just enough to cut through the richness.





Then for dessert we shared a chocolate tart.

Chocolate tart with cream from the display case.

We relaxed for a bit and then we decided it was time to make the finally ride home. On the way we spotted some old trains in a yard which we had ever seen before, even though we have ridden that road before.



Finally we arrived home with a grand total of 104km behind us. I was so happy that I had achieved a milestone in my riding, although I am in no rush to repeat the feat. So now I have ticked - Ride 100km in a day off of my 30 before 30, which equals three ticks off of the list. The next day I rested and worked on another 30 before 30 - Create a scrap book of my 20's. I know I am a long way off and my next birthday is creeping up on me, but I am pretty happy with what I have done so far towards my challenge.

Until next time.
Love, love Elle.



Tuesday 23 April 2013

and Moore and Moore - Fremantle

Moore and Moore - Fremantle


Saturday was the day that I oh so happily ticked another item off of my 30 before 30 list. The item was -Ride 100km in a day. I started working on this one about the time I came up with the whole list. We slowly increased the time on our bikes and the kilometers we covered, building it up over the months to 80km just a few weeks back. This ride took us all over Perth. We tried a new route this time for something different. It started the same but then we went off on a tangent and circled back home. The first section of the ride was along the river to Fremantle where we stopped at Moore & Moore for breakfast.

The view from my seat.

Cute and quirky interior.

Moore & Moore is located in a narrow street in an old building. The interior is adorable and lovingly arranged. Everywhere you looked there was something up-cycled and artistic to catch your eye.

Berry and mint iced tea.


Refreshing!


Burnt butter, sage and roasted pumpkin with 2 poached eggs,
 roquette and parmesan on crisp toast. -$16 


Delightful!


White chocolate banana bread with berry and maple mascarpone. - $9.50


So good.


Chia latte for him.

I was still hungry so I went back for a little more food for us to share. I was also cold by now, it was a chilly morning, so I also ordered a tea.

Nut slice and English breakfast tea.

Main passage.

Entry of Henry Street.

The food was all delicious. As you can see I didn't have pancakes. They didn't serve pancakes but I thought the banana bread was a worthy alternative, and it was. I still would have preferred pancakes. The service was great and the food came out pretty quick. The place was also quiet busy and buzzing with activity. I didn't realise when I chose the location that there is an art gallery located within the cafe. I took a quick wander through the gallery on my way back to my seat. Out the back there is also a courtyard, which I didn't visit on my walk around.

From Fremantle we rode up the coast, which was my favourite leg of the ride, to Hillarys to stop in for a juice and a walk around.

It was sunny and lovely above us,

But on the horizon there was a storm coming.




From here we headed inland and down the freeway to Leederville and to our lunch stop, and that is where I will pick up next time.

Love, love Elle.

Sunday 21 April 2013

and Raw Strawberry Rose Ice Cream Cake

Raw Strawberry Rose Ice Cream Cake

Last weekend was my nephews 3rd birthday. His whole family is vegan and mostly raw. He loves rice and quinoa and his favourite meal is nori rolls. So I headed into the kitchen to create his birthday cake. This was my first attempt at an ice cream cake and since I don't have an ice cream maker, I improvised.

Raw Strawberry Rose Ice Cream Cakes
Adapted from Mini Raw Strawberry Rose Ice Cream Cakes with Chocolate
Preparation: 4.5 hours
Setting time: 3+ hours and overnight.

Crust Ingredients:
  • 200g hazelnut meal
  • 2 cups desiccated coconut
  • 4 Tbsp. cacao powder
  • 14 dates
  • A pinch sea salt
  • 2 Tbsp. Coconut syrup (or other natural sweetener, refer to notes below)

Crust directions:
  1. Grease a 20cm springform pan with non-stick spray and line the base and sides with baking paper. 
  2. Combine all ingredients in the food processor and process until fine and starting to hold together when squeezed, add more dates if required.
  3. Press the mixture into the bottom of the baking tin. Use the base of a glass cup to flatten the mixture out.
  4. Put in the fridge while you make the ice cream.
Grease and line tin.

Add crust ingredients into processor.

The amount of dates can be changed until mixture is sticky.

Fine crumb.

Tamp down with the base of a glass cup.


Ice Cream Ingredients:
  • 3-4 young coconuts to get 1 cup of coconut water and 2 cups of coconut meat. (Refer to notes below.)
  • 2 Cups organic strawberries + 4-6 extra to be mixed in later
  • 2 Cups soaked raw cashews, drained (soaked at least 4 hours)
  • 1/2 Cup Coconut syrup
  • Seeds of 2 vanilla bean
  • 3 Tsp rosewater
  • A pinch of sea salt
  • 1/2 Cup coconut oil, warmed to liquid

Ice Cream Directions:
  1. First, to get the coconut meat and coconut water, open up 3-4 young coconuts. We needed 4 coconuts to get enough meat and we had plenty of left over water for drinks. Refer to notes below on opening coconuts.
  2. Add coconut water to a food processor, along with strawberries, cashews, coconut, coconut syrup, vanilla, rosewater and sea salt. 
  3. Process until smooth.
  4. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve and add to a freezable container and into your freezer.
  5. Every 45 minutes or until it's starting to freeze, take out and mix with a hand mixer and repeat several times. This Incorporates air to help make it more ice cream like.
  6. Leave over night and break the mixture apart and add to your food processor, and precess briefly until it is broken apart and creamy.
  7. Stir in quartered extra strawberries.
  8. Add the frozen mixture to the prepared base and place back in freezer until required.
  9. Remove from freezer 5-10 minutes before serving.

Guide line for knife.

Break open coconut.

Add water and strawberries.

Nuts and meat.

Vanilla seeds, salt, coconut nectar.

Coconut oil

Blend.

Pass though a sieve then into a container and into the freezer..

Slightly frozen so blend with a hand blender. This incorporates air.

Once frozen break apart with you food processor and mix in extra strawberries.

Add mixture to the prepared base and freeze until needed.

We decorated the cake with fresh cut strawberries.

Serve!

The cake was silky smooth and had a lot of flavour. The base was deliciously fudgy as well. None of the cake was left and I found the biggest complement was from the nannas who went back for seconds. Why? Well our nannas grew up in an age where cakes were made with eggs, butter, sugar, milk and flour etc., and the fact that they love and accept a cake which is completely alternative is a great complement and shows how far raw 'baking' methods have come.

Notes:
This recipe can be made in an ice cream maker. Instead of putting the mixture into a freezable container add it to your ice cream maker and follow its instructions. Then stir through the fresh strawberries and then add to your prepared base. Freeze for 4 hours to overnight.

Tips for opening a young coconut:
There are many instructional videos on the net for opening a young coconut.
http://www.youngcoconuts.com/open.html
http://rawglow.com/youngcoconuts.htm

Once you have opened it, pour out the water though a sieve and then use a spoon to scrape away the meat from the nut. Turning a spoon over is an easy way of doing this. If you still do not have enough coconut meat it can be substituted with more soaked cashews. 1 cup of meat equals 1 cup of cashews.

Agave syrup?:
I found coconut syrup in my local health food shop, where I get most of my ingredients. My sister asked for me not to use agave as she believes that it is not as raw and natural as it claims to be. We have both used this product in the past but currently there is a discussion on it's merits as a sugar substitute. I cite this article; http://realfoodforager.com/why-i-never-use-agave/. I respected my sisters request not to use the product and went with coconut syrup. If you can not find coconut syrup, maple syrup is a great alternative. Check out his website for suitable alternatives :http://www.naturodoc.com/library/nutrition/natsweets_use.htm.

If you choose to use agave, that is completely your decision  You may chose to believe that article or prefer to believe other studies. I am not vegan, but my sister is, and since the cake was to suit her dietary  requirements and ethical believes, I followed her instruction.

Happy cake making!

Until next time.
Love, love Elle.


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