Weird News Article

Welcome to Monday! I hope your weekend didnt go too fast. Even if it did, you're halfway through Monday now and its a short weeks so really, you're nearly half way through your week...kinda.

Anyway, as the children were sleeping I decided to look at the news website and came across this article which made me giggle;

A CHEF at a trendy New York bistro is letting diners munch on fig and paprika cheese made from his wife's breast milk.

Daniel Angerer, who runs Klee Brasserie in the city's Chelsea neighbourhood, said customers started demanding his custom-made "human cheese" after he blogged about his efforts to make it, the New York Post reported.

"The phone was ringing off the hook," the chef explained. "So I prepared a little canape of breast milk cheese with figs and Hungarian pepper."

"It tastes like cow's milk cheese, kind of sweet," he added, noting that the flavour depends on what the cheese is served with and "what the mother eats."

The response among those who tried the cheese was described as generally positive, although many customers were too squeamish to attempt it.

"I think a lot of the criticism has to do with the combination of sex and cheese, but ... the breast is there to make food," said Lori Mason, Angerer's wife, who is mother to the couple's 10 week old daughter Arabella.

The restaurant was inundated with creepy queries since it began offering customers a taste, she said.

"Some people who clearly have issues have ... emailed me saying, 'I wasn't breastfed as a child, so can I taste your breast milk?'" she said.

Mason politely declined the offers.

"I'm not here to walk people through their psychological problems," she said.

That said, Mason is now prodding Angerer to make gelato out of her milk.
New York health chiefs said that even though department codes do not explicitly forbid the practice, they advised Angerer to refrain from sharing his wife's milk with the world.

"The restaurant knows that cheese made from breast milk is not for public consumption, whether sold or given away," a spokeswoman for the city Department of Health said.

Now, I'm all for cooking and eating weird and wacky food, but seriously, I dont think I would be game enough for this.

Raya X

Pizza Scrolls

So I was asked to make some Pizza Scrolls for my friends engagement party after I made them for our New Years festivities and as I was making them I thought "Hey, why not post the recipe onto my blog..." and so I am...

It is a pretty simple recipe that started out as a kids recipe in a book that I altered (which I do with nearly all recipes) and then I realized that they were delicious and that most adults are really children and we all love something simple, bite size and delicious!

Ingredients:
Puff Pastry sheets
Tomato paste (go for the stuff with garlic etc so it adds a bit more flavour)
Salami - Chopped into 1cm pieces
Ham - Chopped into 1cm pieces
Pizza Cheese
Parmesan - Shaved (buy a block of parmesan and shave it yourself for the best flavor)
Salt and Pepper (of course)
Egg and milk (for the egg wash)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Lay the defrosted Puff Pastry sheet out on a bench, slop a good spoonful of tomato paste on it and spread to the edges. Don't go overboard on the tomato paste or any other ingredient as its going to be rolled up at the end and you want to be able to taste every flavor and not be bombarded with an overload of cheese etc.

Ok, so now sprinkle the ham, salami and a handful of cheese over the pastry.
Again, DON'T overdo the cheese. If it looks too sparse, thats fine - you're going to get about 4 layers of it once its cooked so don't stress.

Sprinkle a pinch of Parmesan over everything, along with some salt and pepper.

Wet one of your fingers with water and run along one of the edges of the pastry (this will be the edge that gets folded last and sticks the roll together) then start rolling the pastry from the opposite end towards the wet end.

Once rolled up, cut with a sharp knife into 1-1.5cm rolls and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Mix egg and milk together and brush over the rolls with a pastry brush.

Place in oven and bake until golden brown (about 20 mins)

With Parmesan cheese always get a block instead of grated, and preferably buy a european parmesan as they make it right. Parmesan is not supposed to smell like vomit like it does in Australia. It is actually a super creamy cheese with a bite, but not one that leaves your mouth tasting like you've just woken up lying next to an empty bottle of tequila and the only memories of the previous night are the sand inside your pants and the above mentioned taste in your mouth.


Raya X

Adventures to Luna Park

Today I went to Luna Park with the little girl I nanny and we took some photos. Although I'm no photographer like alot of my friends, these are my favorites...

Hello smiley face, what are you so happy about? Perhaps its that you have a prime position on Sydney Harbour? Or that every day you get to see people walking around, holding hands, kissing, playing games and grinning as largely as you?
This is written all through Balmain and I love it.
The only letters I want are Love letters.

Good news people! Its Wednesday evening which means you have come through the first half of the week relatively unscathed (I hope) and now you are on the home stretch to the weekend. Hooray!

Raya X

Pondering Photography

I am venturing into photography and my favorite photos are the ones that show you exactly whats going through someones mind or whats going on around them, in the one shot.

I stumbled across this one and I really enjoy it. It is a woman who has her children hanging off her, relying on her for comfort, food and very obviously - rest.

Then you move to the womans face, and written on it are so many things. "What will I feed my children tonight?" "Where will we sleep tonight?" "How will I protect them for another day?" "How will I heal my heart while I protect theirs?"

Life seems so tough some days and we have to struggle on, rely on the strength God gives and just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Raya X

My Twilight Rant

Everyone knows about the series of "Twilight" and everyone has a different opinion about it so I feel that its my turn to share my thoughts on this topic.
I am a fan of the books and movies but I have spoken to a lot of Christians who are under the impression that its very demonic and leads away from God - which I do agree with.
I'd say I am torn between the two opinions because while I do see that it completly leads away from God and is adding temptation and lust into darker things I also see the love story behind it. So lets talk about both.

Column A is the Christian attitude. We as Christians are designed to glorify God and share the gospel to all. His grace surpasses everything we could ever imagine we deserve.
By His grace, He sent His son to us, to die a hideous death that was unjust and undeserved, all so we could spend eternity with God and not have to go through the torment of never being able to live up to the demands of the law.
We are saved by grace alone and there is NOTHING we could EVER do to earn this. It is a gift and we must treat it as such and not get caught up trying to feel like somehow we deserve it.

So for this amazing grace we are given the positioning to share this gift, in-fact this is what were 'charged' with. Naturally, if something wanted to stop the progression of such a gift it would make the opposite an appealing temptation. The opposite is not a loving and kind option, it is not living your life to glorify the creator of the universe and it does not end in you spending your eternity in a place with no suffering or pain. The opposite of good is evil. God is good, and he wants you to live your life with Him in Heaven. The enemy is evil and he wants you to believe that there is no "eternity" and no repercussions for your sins. He wants you to have "fun" and take the attention away from God.
Twilight, I think, delves into this temptation. In what way, in any place, does it reference God or His morals other than not having sex before marriage - which is still misconstrued because the entire reason they cant have sex is because he would kill her.

Column B - the love story.
Every female desires a man who is strong and loving. Someone who will sweep her off her feet, shower her with love and kindness but be the protective male that God designed him to be.
We want to know we're the only person in their eyes and they would fight for you no matter what happened or who it hurt. We want them to lay their lives down for us as Christ did.
The reality for some people is that this never happens. Sometimes we get the guy who sweeps us off our feet in the beginning but will eventually stop. Sometimes we get a guy who is loving and gentle and everything we ever wanted but they lack the protection side of things and we never feel safe with them. And then some of us even get a man who refuses to fight for us, who says all the right things to make you believe he is fighting for you but in the end, he never has...and never will.
Whatever the man you have or want, this story creates this image of a man who waited 100 years to find her - the woman he has been waiting for. We see this the moment he looks at her and he realises his world is turned upside-down because she is everything he ever wanted...everything he ever NEEDED. Its love at first sight.
He comes at night to watch over her and protect her while she is asleep. He is with her constantly and never fails to shower her with love. He is always willing to give his life for her and proves it on many occasions. He is the strong male in the relationship and he will bear anything to be that. He is the leader and he completely and utterly adores her.
What woman doesn't want that kind of man!
We read these stories and are taken in by the infatuation and the romance but then we stop reading and we realise that this isnt real life. We dont get to be that woman. We have to go back to our jobs and lives and return to being the mum, flatmate, worker and girlfriend/wife and after reading this story we feel dissatisfied with ourselves, our lives and our partners. No one is perfect and even though you search for this perfect person to make your life 'Complete' or 'Whole.' We're given ideas as to how you can make your life 'complete' through tv, ads and of course, books. But theyre not guidelines or DIY kits - they're stories. They will never be real and if you continue to search for the things you find in these sources you will NEVER feel complete or happy.
Its female porn.
What we do get if we step back and look at Column A and Column B, is a chance at looking to God for this relationship. He is the one who was waiting thousands of years for us to get here. He sent His son here to endure what He did so that we could eventually be with Him. He would and did lay down his life for us. He gave up everything for us. He is the strong, protective, loving, gentle and kind man our hearts were designed to fall in love with and search for.

We have to stop looking for a checklist of things to make us feel 'whole' and start looking to God because until we do, we will always be looking for something that isn't there, except in Him.

So thats the end of my rant.
Let me know what you think and if you think differently.


Raya X

I Love Chocolate

Its been a while since I've blogged hasn't it.

So I went to Castle Towers this afternoon to stop my very best friends Mr Baskin and Mrs Robbins' store to get myself a nice waffle cone with 2 scoops of delicious mango flavoured ice cream only to find that it had a sign on the door that said it was closed till 5 due to an emergency. It made me very sad to think that there was an emergency with someone but my tummy also cried because it wasn't filled with yummy ice cream and waffle.
I contemplated waiting till 5 (thats how bad I was craving it) but decided not to so went home.

On my way home I started thinking about Chocolate and the best chocolate I know of is Haighs. Its amazing! If you haven't had some, you must! In my opinion the Chocolate coated Macadamias are the best but following closely behind are the Choc-Berries.

Thinking about Haighs brought me to thinking about the best truffles Ive ever had and they were in this small chocolate shop in Bad Homburg run by a man named Daniel. I made a bit of a tradition of going most mornings and ordering a hot chocolate (I wasn't quite into coffee yet...) and a few chocolate truffles and once a week I'd buy a bag to take home to eat while I was working on the weekend.

So now I'm craving mango ice cream, chocolate coated macadamias and chocolate truffles with no way of getting any. Boo.


The chocolate store in Bad Homburg. On the front under the windows is a ledge that the owner Daniel puts some mats on and turns them into some lovely seats to sit on with your chocolates and coffee.

This is the view towards my apartment from the chocolate store in Bad Homburg.

Raya X

Roast Chicken With Chorizo Stuffing

Hello fellow internet nerds and bloggers!
As most of you know, I LOVE Chorizo! It is the best sausage in the world and goes with everything! Its amazing in omelette's for breakfast, in lunch and its even better in dinners. Which is why the other day I felt like cooking a roast chicken (because honestly, who doesn't love a good home-cooked roast) but I also felt like some Chorizo. So I was pondering how to combine the two loves and then I thought of a Roast Chicken with Chorizo Stuffing! So I then jumped online to get an idea of how people have made this before and got some ideas for myself...

Ingredients:
1 large chicken (cavity cleaned and preferably organic or free range)
2-3 Spicy Chorizo (you can have a less spicy version but I love a little chilli kick) - found in the deli or fridge section of the supermarket
1 red onion - finely diced
Breadcrumbs - about a handful
1 lemon - juiced
2 pieces of roast capsicum (from deli) - diced
1 egg yolk
Parsley - chopped
Shallots - chopped
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 200/180 if fan-forced. Get chicken ready and set aside. Hopefully its cavity should be cleaned out but just get a paper towel and dab the inside of the cavity to remove excess blood and juice.
Chop the Chorizo up into small but rough pieces and place in a bowl. Add the egg yolk, diced onion, breadcrumbs, capsicum, parsley, shallots and salt and pepper to taste and mix together with hands. Make sure its all mixed well.
Grab the chicken and gently stuff with the mixture, packing it tightly but being very careful not to tear any of the chickens skin or you will end up with a dry chicken.
If you have any skewers then fold over the skin of the chicken around the bum and close with skewers. If not, then with some cooking twine gently fold the skin over to close and pull the two legs together and tie the legs together over the boniest part of the leg which is toward the end. This should keep the cavity closed enough to keep the flavor and juices in.
Place the chicken in a greased baking dish and cover in lemon juice (this makes the skin crunchy) along with salt and pepper and a bit of olive oil too.
Place in the oven for anywhere between 1.5 hours to 2 hours. Test the chicken by piercing the thigh and if the juices come out clear, the chicken is cooked.

With any roast I cook veggies too. Sweet potato, potato, carrots and parsnip were my veggies of choice for this roast and it was perfect. Chop them and place them in the oven at the same time as the chicken with some olive oil to stop them from sticking to the base of the pan.
A good redwine gravy would go perfectly with this too but as I am still to perfect my gravy I wont post one up hahaha.

I hope you enjoy!

Raya X