Honey Soy Chicken Wings

Hello :) I just wanted to share a super tasty and super cheap meal I cooked for dinner tonight. Honey soy chicken wings. But before I give you the recipe link, time for another market story. Every Saturday I have my budget for food shopping at the markets, Orange Grove to be precise, and it's fun working out where I shall spend it. When it comes to the meat section though, it gets tricky. I love buying meat here for the week, because it's free range and comes directly from the farmer. Great. But I suppose I went through a period where I'd buy more expensive cuts of meat, which didn't last all that long.

Anyway, last Saturday (yep, the one with non stop rain & wind), I decided to stock up on different, cheaper cuts and have since realised how they can usually be the tastiest & cost effective! I realise this isn't anything new, but I only reintroduced meat back into my diet a little while ago, so I'm slowly learning.

The Thirlmere free range chicken wings were only $5/kg, and fed 4 people.  I also bought free range smoked pork bones for $4/bag (about 1.5 kg), and used about 1/3 of them in a big Chinese soup with lotus nuts, red dates, yam, goji berries etc. Then there's the smoked ham hock, which will be used in a soup with split peas. And not only is it more economical, but it's more sustainable to buy these cuts...using the whole animal, bones included. And there's plenty of health benefits from animal bones (you can read here)...being rich in collagen and minerals.

I could really go on, but instead I shall give you the recipe. Here! 

Although I only used the recipe for the ratio of chicken to honey and soy, I also added minced garlic cloves, and two bunches of small halved carrots, which I tossed in with the marinating chicken. I only marinated it for an hour (instead of overnight, I'm not that organised), so a little different from the original recipe...

The dish! It went rather quickly too!

Hannah x

Kurtosh

 Hello :) This morning I ventured off to Kurtosh, the newly opened Hungarian bakery in Crows Nest. I went there briefly with Adrian a week ago, as he was buying some takeaway cakes, and was eager to go back for coffee & a sweet treat. The coffee is by Mecca, so a latte was in order. I also bought a rugelach, a Jewish chocolate-filled biscuit shaped like a crescent. I've made rugelach before, although mine didn't turn out as perfect, so I wanted to try the real deal.

The coffee was very good & the rugelach was divine...crisp on the outside and chocolate-y and sponge like inside. A lovely bite-sized treat. Adrian on the other hand, ordered a slice of spongecake and a chocolate cookie- both eaten quite quickly!

Oh and the space is really great. It has a cosy/industrial kinda feel, with raw brick finishes, contrasted with pretty blue & white tiles on the wall. There's some wonderful photographs of Kurtosh on Broadsheet Sydney (best website!), you can see (here).

I hope you have a fun weekend! 

Hannah x

Minestrone Soup

Hello :) I made a minestrone soup last night for dinner. You might be wondering where I was inspired to make such a dish, and so I shall elaborate. At the markets on the weekend, I get very curious...everyone carrying around big bunches of beetroot and spinach for example, and I'm always wondering what they'll cook. So at Marrickville markets on Sunday I asked a guy what he planned to do with the kale bunch he had, and he replied that he was going to make a big batch of minestrone. "Nice one", I thought & then proceeded to buy some kale, and the next day stocked up on spiral pasta, tinned tomatoes and white beans. Too easy. Dinner was served.

Minestrone Soup (recipe)

This is definitely going to be a staple! It's nourishing & wholesome :)

Where have you been getting your cooking inspiration from lately? 

Hannah x

Picnic Fun

Hello :) Picnics are fun. Adrian and I had a picnic on our first date...I remember making a sponge cake and he tried to impress me by making cheese puffs (they were weird...). Anyway, a couple years later it was time for another, this time at Blues Point. 

Picnic food! In the morning we made an apple cake (recipe), which we've made before so we knew it was going to be delicious! We also stopped by a few shops in Blues Point to pick up some cider, fancy brie cheese and a prosciutto & salad roll to share. Plenty.

My picnic/market bag from The Horse (here). On another note, I found these Marni flats, at vinnies yesterday & in perfect condition- lucky me!

Reading, relaxing...not a bad way to spend a day.

Have a great weekend! Time for a picnic?

Hannah x

The National Folk Festival

Hello :) So another year, and another Easter spent at The National Folk Festival, in Canberra. And what fun it was! Again this year, I was there volunteering with my friend Tara. You work for 20 hours (5 hours/4 days), and get a season pass with camping complimentary. This year however, we took a break from our usual waste & recycling duties & signed up for the raffle tickets team.

Basically, you walk around the festival selling raffle tickets. Easy! Well, on the first two days it was, but then by the end most people already had purchased them. It was definitely fun though, and hey, we might have sometimes just asked people to buy a raffle ticket because they were in a band and we wanted to talk to them ;) Yes I did ask the members of the band Husky, and yes, they did decline. Moving on. Here's some photos of what I got up to...

1. Corn fritters with haloumi & tomato. So glad there were some healthy food choices! The people actually have a regular stall at Marrickville markets, so it was nice seeing them in Canberra.

2. A band called The Rusty Spring Syncopators busking in the street. 

3. Greek coffee from the chai tent.

4. My sister and I.

5. Husky. They were so great we saw them twice!

6. Watering some flowers of course.

7. Damper

8. Festival style...lots of layers and a strawberry beanie.

9. Hare Krishna.

10. Drums made from plumbing pipes...you play different ones of the same colour and it's in tune. Clever!

11. A very yummy falafel wrap.

12. Sunshine & flags.

Favourite bands of the festival included The April Maze, Castlecomer, Francolins, Fun Machine & Husky. This is the only festival I attend every year, but it would be fun to go to some others! Woodford, Peats Ridge, Port Fairy etc...what festivals do you go to??

Hannah x