Ice cream sandwiches

All pictures (above) are by chasingdelicious

 Black Plum Ice Cream Sandwiches by Chasing Delicious

Instructions:

1. Prepare the ice cream and the cookies according to their instructions.

2. Remove the prepared ice cream from the freezer and let sit out at room temperature for 10 to 20 minutes to soften to a workable consistency. Have the baked oat-graham cracker cookies handy and ready to use. Place an airtight container (open) in the freezer – this way you can place the assembled sandwiches in the freezer as you go.

3. Lay 1 cookie square flat on the counter or a cutting board. Carefully spread a scoop or two of ice cream on top of the cookie. Shape the soft ice cream into a square to match the shape of the cookie – you can use a broad ice cream scoop or an icing spatula to do this.

4. Carefully press a second cookie on top of the ice cream. Take care not to break the cookie or to squish excess ice cream out the sides of the cookies.

5. Wrap the assembled ice cream sandwich in a parchment paper slip. Tie the paper in place with twine or string. Place the wrapped ice cream sandwich into the container already in the freezer – doing this as you go will keep any ice cream sandwiches from melting.

6. Repeat steps 2 through 4 until you assemble all the ice cream sandwiches.

Store in the freezer in an airtight container.
Feel free to mix and match your favorite cookie or ice cream flavors.
Pay attention to the temperature while assembling this recipe.

Found this lovely cooking/baking blog - Chasing Delicious. Beautifully written and fill with wonderful recipes. This simple ice-cream cracker sandwich recipe is just too beautiful not to be shared (more details head over to his blog). Great for small parties and gatherings.

I have to admit I haven't taken much interest in cooking until quite recently. My parents are wonderful cooks. And my sis likes to think she's one too (I can't really vouch for that). Me? I rather have takeaways or instant, microwavable food; mainly because I can't be bothered.

However I have grown particularly interested in food recently especially with the continuing popularity of MasterChef here in Aus.

In the past few months, I have been collecting recipes and browsing food blogs for ideas. I think I have a nice stack of recipes now, so I should finally act on it and start making/cooking something, anything (edible).
Soon.
Ok, maybe not this week.
Possibly next week ...?
Hopefully before I go on holidays.


Before I go on hiatus for the weekend, I would like to wish all fathers a very Happy Father's Day.
For those wondering -"Hey, Father's Day is in June not September", Australia celebrates Father's Day on the 1st Sunday of September, unlike the rest of the world. For once we want to be special :)

Have a great weekend girls and guys alike! Take it easy.

Travel recaps: Smukke Denmark

1. The Little Mermaid statue, the iconic symbol of Denmark 2. Aarhus University dorm buildings 3.Guard march at Amalienborg Palace 4.Media presence due to christening of Princess Mary's twins (I was there!)    5.Attended a Danish Concert 6.Legoland, Billund 7.Streets of Copenhagen 8.Nyhavn, Copenhagen

Had a slow day at work today, so I had the time to reminisce ... mainly on previous travels and dreaming about future trips. Yes, I think about traveling all the time. Every waking minute. My great love. The love of my life. Ok ... will stop now, it's becoming borderline creepy. 

Dug up a few pictures of my Denmark trip 16months ago. If there's only one word to choose to describe Denmark, I would say - Serene. The people over there seemed calm and happy all the time. Mothers leave their prams outside of shops ... with their babies in it! They are just that cool.

Originally Denmark wasn't on my list, Egypt was.  However the rioting was still ongoing, the unrest didn't seem like it was going to die down and the parents were worried. So I relented and swapped countries. Denmark was the obvious choice as sis was over there studying at the time.

Spent approx. 10 peaceful days there in Aarhus, which is the second largest city in Denmark with 300,000+ inhabitants. Did laundry, grocery shopping, had bonding sessions with sis, shopped (3 H&M stores in the tiny CBD - I went bonkers.) and hung out in the kitchen common room with sis's dorm mates watching bad American reality TV shows such as Jersey Shore. Found out that the Danes are big fans of American pop culture and speak a mix of Americanised and Danish-accented English. Most importantly, they possessed similar sarcastic and forthright style of Australian humor. So jokes were understood around the table.

Soon, I found myself boarding the first of many flights (because Australia just had to be far away from the rest of the world) back home.

Thank you Denmark for being the perfect end to my very enriching and fun sojourn around the world.

Current Playlist #2

After work chill out from twosides2jo on 8tracks Radio.

Thought it would easier if I created a playlist, rather than have embedded youtube clips.

1.Solitude is Bliss - Tame Impala
2.New Slang - The Shins
3.Forget About Your Man - Little Red
4.Dance Dance Dance - Lykke Li
5.Rabbit Song - Boy & Bear
6.Unknown Brother - The Black Keys
7.Dust Bowl Dance - Mumford & Sons
8. Come Back Home - Two Door Cinema Club


I feel like a part of me is slowly suffocating because of work. I did try to love it but the feeling is not being reciprocated. Staring at the computer and sitting in a cubicle all day is not something I enjoy. I get ... restless. Hence I'm always moving my legs and twirling my chair. My colleagues comment abt my behaviour all the time and once dared me to stop moving for 10mins. I couldn't. It's hard. I want to be out. Moving. Walking. Jumping.

Maybe it's time to move on?

At the meantime, I will keep traveling - can't wait for upcoming hols :)

18th Sydney Biennale

1. The Rocks, Sydney. 2. Outfit for the day (H&M Rolling Stone tee, thrifted Guess jeans, Chicabooti blazer, mum's belt and thrifted Jane Shilton satchel. 3. Sis's ASOS brogues 4. One of my favourite exhibit - Anything Can Break by Pinaree Sanpitak. 6. Another favourite - Automated colour field, Rebecca Baumann 

"Life is funny isn’t it? Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, just when you finally begin to plan something, get excited about something, and feel like you know what direction you’re heading in, the paths change, the signs change, the wind blows the other way, north is suddenly south, and
east is west, and you’re lost. It is so easy to lose your way, to lose direction. And that’s with following all the signposts" - Cecelia Ahern

Finally managed to find the time to head out to Circular Quay / The Rocks before the Sydney Biennale ends. It's basically a three month contemporary visual arts exhibition held every two years and spread across various locations such as MCA, Cockatoo Island, Art Gallery of NSW etc.
I strongly recommend those in Sydney to check it out. It finishes on the 16th of September and don't worry about cost because it's free!

The focus this time, however, was to bring a dear friend to the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA). It was on his to-do list. A friend who is about to board a one-way flight and leave Sydney to head back home. Someone I have had the pleasure to get to know and hang out for the last 2.5years.
 
The last 2 months, we have been going on little adventures and foodie trips to tick off things on his list. Now, who will I go with to try new things? One person less to bemoan and bitch about work and life in general.

I wish you the very best of luck in your next phase in life. Being away from home, you will realise that you have become a more mature and stronger individual than before. I know, you are not looking forward to go back home, but everything happens for a reason. It's life. So why not look at it positively and be optimistic about your future prospects?

Snapshots via Instagram / Phone

1. Hotel balcony view -Penang, Malaysia 2. Beloved Sydney -Circular Quay train station 3. First time skiing -Perisher 4. Impromptu roadtrip with bestie 5. Amsterdam accommodation - big stylish apartment...next to the Sex Museum :p 6. Local 24hour laundromat, took us awhile to figure out the french instructions to operate them -Paris 7. Wildflowers, near home 8. Albertina,Vienna 9. Favourite macaroons 10. Art Exhibition, Cockatoo Island 11. Farmland near Moesgaard Museum, Denmark 12. 1hour queue and the 6287984++ steep stairs climb up made me miserable but thankfully the view made up for it -Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris

I was in the midst of cleaning up my laptop disk space when I found pictures from my old iPhone (the one I brought with to most of my trips). All 500+ of them. Goofy silly ones. Random poses. Most importantly - my precious memories.

I've also added a few new ones (from my instagram) and have plans to make my phone snapshots into a series, possibly one post a fortnight?

Being creative with hair

Images taken from Pinterest & A Cup of Jo

Looking for inspirations and ways to revamp my hair style for work. Something different than the usual straight hair or ponytail/bun.
But it's harder than the pics make it out to be and I'm envious at those who can make their hair look so effortlessly amazing yet creative.

Another source for inspiration is A Cup of Jo's hair tutorials which I've been religiously checking out.
However I've only succeeded in creating the ponytail twist as seen in the last pic.The rest...utter failures.
I'm just horrible at it - hairstyling is definitely a career I should not pursue when I do decide on a career-change down the track!

Flight of the Frenchies

I Believe I can Fly ( flight of the frenchies) from sebastien montaz-rosset


Stumbled across this amazing vid on Vimeo.
It's about a group of Skyliners who do 'highlining' - a combination of climbing, slackline and tightrope walking.
Amazing footage.
Thrilling yet dangerous but I can see why it can be addictive.

To fly.
What a freeing notion.
Shedding off the weight that's anchoring us firmly on the ground.

I might not be brave enough to 'highline' (the most extreme 'sport' I ever did was bungy jumping at Queenstown, NZ) but wouldn't it be amazing to visit the cliffs and fjords of Norway? 

Travel recaps: I miss you, Italy

I had wonderful spring love affair with Italy last April.
2, blissful but short, weeks around the country.
The pictures I took (above) do no justice to the true colours and charismatic appeal of Italy.

Walking down cobbled stone streets with gorgeous architecture all around, I felt like I was transported to a different period in time. Straight out of books I've read and studied (think HSC Ancient History classes). Everything screamed history and me, being a history fanatic, was constantly hyper throughout the journey.
Sorry travel companion, albeit belated, for my over enthusiasim.

But it wasn't just the history but the vibrancy of the cities: the scenery, food, lifestyle, hospitality, weather and little vespas zooming around that made me fell more deeply in love.
Not even the gypsies that crowded the tourist sites or unexpected train strikes could make me love it any less.

On the last day as the train left Venezia Santa Lucia station, onwards to Switzerland....I looked back and made a promise to be back.

Well I did toss a coin into the Fontana di Trevi so I should be!

Current playlist ...

This is on constant repeat. My head unconsciously keeps bobbing to the chorus beats Very much enjoying Passion Pit's latest album.


Also a current fave, Melbourne musician (home-grown yay!)Nick Murphy aka Chet Faker's I'm into you. Check out his site.




Last but not least. One of my ultimate de-stresser songs from one of my fave bands.
Always on my playlist during train ride home...volume turn up loud enough to drown out the surrounding chatter and temporarily forgetting that you are sitting (squashed) next to a big, heavy chain-smoker who has horrible BO.


Enjoy! Do let me know if you have any good recommendations. Always looking for good music.

Off to stream more on Spotify.

Pause or forward?

(L-R Clockwise: Lozenges; HTC One X phone; Crabtree & Evelyn Rosewater Body Lotion; Ikea Throw; Lonely Planet travel journal; Typo notebook & Laptop)

Lying in bed after work with these items as companions.
Spot the packet of Strepsils amongst other things.
I have been attacked by the winter flu germs - possibly a result of being out and about when wild winds hit Sydney during the weekend. When I say wild, think gusts up to 100km/hr.

Trying to stay comfy and warm while researching for upcoming trip.
Loving this free travel journal that came with my purchase of a lonely planet book.


Inner conflict. Sometimes I wish time would slow down so I can catch my breath. And yet, another part of me wants to press fast-forward to... escape.

Hello

Whitsundays, Early June '12

My second...hmm..might be third take on blogging. 
It has been years. Slowly playing with the fonts and template.

Here is the perfect picture to start off my first entry. Taken at Whitehaven beach, possibly the most beautiful beach in the world. 
Paradise.
Summer, I miss you.