migration....

my life at the moment is one big migration.. Roy and I are moving to Europe and we moved out of our unit and are now living with his parents. Which brings me to the point of my post. I'm sorry blogger... I have converted to 'tumblr'. You can now find me posting at: http://iamtiffa.tumblr.com/
I feel a little like I'm cheating on you blogger.. but tumblr satisfies me more. One day, if tumblr pisses me off I will return, but for now... goodbye!

there's a first for everything

For the first time in my life I tried a "Creme Brulee" at "Freestyle Tout" in West End. For those of you who have never heard of Freestyle Tout, it is a delightful restaurant that serves mainly desserts. Roy took me there for a surprise Birthday dinner. I felt naughty having dessert for dinner but suitably satisfied at the same time. In my haste to eat the tasty pud, I neglected to get a photo of this delight so you will just have to imagine what it looked like. It came served on a long plate with three beautiful elements to it. There was a tangy berry sorbet topped with sweet, white fairy floss. In the middle of the plate was the star.. a bowl of beautifully browned creme brulee and then there was a berry coulis topped with vanilla ice-cream and a macadamia biscotti. The satisfaction of the dessert was the crack that the top of the brulee made when I tapped into it with my spoon. mmmm... I think I will chase up with delight in Paris when we stop through there on our way to Switzerland.

Another French beauty I tried for the first time is a "Macaron". I sampled these tasty babies whilst walking through the streets of Melbourne and happened upon the Lindt Cafe in Collin Street. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to buy a box of them to take home for Roy to sample. I think I am going to take up LOTS of physical activity in Europe to scare off those calories from all the tasty food I'll be trying.

more weekend goodness

We checked out the first bout of the season for the Northern Brisbane Rollers, Roller Derby! I'm not sure they anticipated such a huge crowd because according to a few fellow roller derby spectators, there were thousands turned away at the door because there was no more room. We sat in the suicide section and were fortunate enough to not end up with a derby gal on our laps. We sat down on the hard concrete floor which after a while got rather uncomfortable but we had beer in our belly's and the Derby was very entertaining, so it was worth it.

The teams were "Diner Might Dolls" vs "Love Rockettes". The stand out Derby Gal was "Dead Meat" who was the Captain of the Diner Might Dolls. I would love to try out Roller Derby but my lack of skating skills and the fear of breaking myself is stopping me. I think I might try to learn to skate one day though.

Another weekend adventure we had was checking out the Rugby League. We went into the city for a bit of shopping and food and noticed that there was an abundance of people sporting a Broncos jersey and worked out that there was a game on that afternoon. Roy made a few calls and then we were on our way to the game. Both of us were Rugby League virgins and we felt a little out of our 'league' but after a few try's by Brisbane, we got into it. Brisbane Broncos vs Cronulla Sharks. 44-16 to the Broncos.

Then we decided to go for a walk in the city afterwards. As much as I want a change from our surroundings.. I'm still going to miss Brisbane! But we'll definitely be back!

coffee

I am always amazed at the length human beings go to exploit other animals in their bid to find the best tasting food, or the best feeling clothes. I was sitting and sipping my ritualised morning coffee and pouring through my google reader feeds and came across this.
People pay GOOD money to drink coffee made from beans that have made their way through the intestinal tracts of a Civet which are found in South East Asia. Most of said coffee comes from Sumatra, Indonesia and the Phillipines. People go hunting for the dung of these animals to harvest the beans. It is said that after the beans have been fermented in the animals stomach enzymes, it produces a brew described as "smooth, chocolaty and devoid of any bitter aftertaste."

Like most things that are worth lots of money, people go crazy in the bid to get their hands in part of the growing business. In this particular business, people are starting to buy and sell the animals in cages and are trying to mass produce the beans. But like a lot of things, too much of anything people get bored, so they move onto the next 'new' and 'exciting' exploitation.

choosing the right thing to spend my pocket money on....

I have a really bad habit whilst on my break at work. I get bored... Not that I don't have anyone interesting to talk to, but bored of my eating options. I usually pack myself some kind of lunch, whether it be just a portion of it like my snacks or just a sandwich but I usually want more. I like to not spend my hard earned money on things like chocolates or soft drinks but I can't fight the urge to spend my change on some tasty morsel.

Today I felt like a beverage. I did my usual 'stare at the vending machine for 5 minutes, shaking my change in my hand' and decided to purchase a bottle of orange juice. I mashed a 2 and a 1 dollar coin into the money slot and punch in my selection and the machine did the rest. I removed my bottle and my 'change' and looked at what the machine gave me. The juice price tag said $2.20 and the machine gave me 30 cents! Now I'm pretty bad at maths but I know enough to know that the machine ripped me off 50 cents! and to top it off.. the 20 cent coin it gave me was DISGUSTING! It was covered in sticky green stuff, so I quickly discarded the coin because I was pissed off at the machine for giving me that bad excuse for change.

I sat back down at my table and ranted my experience to my friends and opened my bottle of juice realising that I had packed myself an orange for lunch... So I spent $2.90 on a bottle of orange juice when I had my own orange in my lunch box! I think I must have been sitting on my brain that day, or something was trying to teach me a lesson.

I've gotta say...

...this has got to be one of my favourite things to eat. It's going to be something that I'm going to miss quite a bit when we leave Australia for 2 years but I will do my best to try and find something close to it in Europe. I'm sure there will be plenty of other things to attach myself to though!

I'm talking about non-other than the scrumptiously, comforting Yatala Pie.

It's nowhere near as good without the mushy peas and tomato sauce (although I have never dared to try it without). Oh and the choccie milk makes it even better. And before you ask... "but Tiff, aren't you vegetarian?" - I had a vegetable pie! mmmm... it's making my saliva glands go crazy just thinking about it.

The trip to Yatala Pies was part of my wanting to fit all the fun things in before we leave. Although, Roy wasn't here for this Yatala Pie experience so I will have to definitely make a trip for him again before we leave... but I'm only thinking of him.. ;-)

cool idea but I kind of want to cry!

I'm not even sure how people come up with weird shit like this. I like my food to taste nice.. not weird. I have a feeling this was invented in the US. Link to pic