Archive for the ‘advertorial’ Category

You’d never believe it looking at me these days, but I was once a temporary citizen of the land of the beautifully primped, posied and fashioned.

Hair styled, face primed, I stomped around in tendonitis-inducing heels and attended soirees. (To be fair, they were more often than not soirees that I’d helped to organise, complete with carting boxes of samples up and down stairs and stuffing gift bags in said heels).

Oh, and I lunched at Toko.

Not tokonoma, mind you, for it wasn’t around then, but a sister-restaurante no less, and the promise of takeaway from it made the chalkboard stains on my far-too-expensive outfit all the less worrisome.

…continue reading tokonoma

This post is sponsored by Nuffnang (cos a girl’s gotta pay hosting fees somehow).

I’m a bit of a faux-foodie. Actually, scratch that. I’m a lot of a faux-foodie. I smile animatedly when told about developments in the preservation of cheeses I’ve never heard of and throw “insightful” comments into conversations about tomato varietals. I love a robustly flavoured, home cooked meal – but often don’t know how to balance herbs and spices so that it tastes the way I imagine it should.

But (and here’s my little bit of authority when it comes to writing this blog of mine) I love food. I love eating it. I love learning about it. And I love creating new (and sometimes exciting) things for people to eat.

…continue reading don’s smoked salami meatballs

…continue reading angus beef burgers

Studying and working in the advertising / marketing industries has turned me into a somewhat cynical consumer. Will that face cream really reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles in only eight hours? I don’t know, but I’d highly doubt it. So when I opened my inbox to see the words “Make an Italian Beef Casserole to feed two people in under 15 minutes with Leggo’s”, I almost (almost!) laughed. But I didn’t. And, because I’m try to be as fair as I am cynical, I decided to give it a shot. (And, as a sidenote, I’ll be giving some of it away too, so you can have a shot at it yourself…)

…continue reading italian beef casserole – a Leggo’s challenge

It seems everyone today has the same complaints. “I’m so busy” one will say, as you catch up with them on a quick stroll between work and the gym, to be followed later by a dinner and a quick list of things to do before bed. “Everything costs so much these days” another will sigh, whilst paying for their $3.50 coffee, $9.00 salad and $6.00 polystyrene bowl of soup with money from their $120.00 purse. And I can’t but feel the pain, because oh-so-often, I find myself skipping breakfast on the dash to the bus and rapidly crossing dinner choices off in my head because, hey, I gotta eat tomorrow as well.

Which would explain why I was quietly pleased at being enlightened about the enliven sydney card and carman’s muesli rounds.

It’s no secret that Sydney offers a melee of better-than-great places to eat and drink, but the fact that money is a little tighter and the promise of continued income is a little less secure means that many of us aren’t so willing to go great guns when selecting a place to eat at. Two solutions for that: firstly, stock up on beans and legumes. They’re delicious when cooked just so and have a wonderfully high satiety value so you won’t go hungry. And secondly? Check this little baby out.

the enliven card

The enliven card, among other things, allows you to take a guest for free to a selection of Sydney eateries. Oh really? Well yes! So if you want to pop by Cafe Mix, harbourbar or any of the wide selection of restaurants covered by the card, you’ll be able to do so without the added concern of a giant end-bill.

The enliven sydney card can be downloaded for free at the visitnsw website. It also provide discounts on a variety of spa treatments, attractions and events.

carman’s muesli rounds

If you follow me on twitter, you’ll know at least one thing about my breakfast habits (or general lack thereof). We’re always told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but what to do when the bus is coming, you have nothing that’s wrinkle-free to wear and there’s meeting starting at 9am? (Apart from waking up a touch earlier and ironing on the weekend that is).

Now I love Carman’s muesli, but it’s a weekend consumption deal for me – the time taken to pour a bowl of muesli, then some milk, and then to shovel it down (chewing each mouthful thoroughly so as not to choke) doesn’t quite fit into my weekday morning schedule. So I ws very (very) pleased to receive these in the mail last week.

Carman’s muesli rounds are 35% muesli mixed in with a smattering of fruit, tasty butter, flour & brown sugar to make a not-quite-biscuit-and-not-quite-cake-like mound of tasty goodness.

I’m personally quite a big fan of the apricot and almond variety, and at $5 for a box of 5 (they were on sale for $4 at Coles the last time I looked too) they cost a significant amount less than my usual butter-and-honey-on-turkish at the cafe for brekkie.

I’ve also found them great for sticking in my bag in case of a very hungry Bean, or for a quick snack in between all that dashing around we busy people do. Speaking of which… I’ve gotta run!