Photography

Happy New Year!

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WOW! Dreams do come true!!  What an epic year 2017 has been for me, filled with delicious food & wonderful friends both new & old from all over the world! This year has been brought to me by the number 4 (sometimes with added 0/s)

4 Blades – This year I started working for The 4 Blades Magazine doing some of their food photography every month & even had 3 issues in a row where my photo made it to the front cover!! To be paid to do what you love is just so awesome, I’m so happy!

4 trips – I went to Auckland for Thermofest, a sneaky girls trip to Melbourne to Dani Valent’s Thermomix Restaurant Club at Vue De Monde (including a VIP tour of their kitchen), to Italy for the Thermomix Emerald Class trip & a whirlwind trip of Australia working for Sophia the Thermomix Baking Blogger – 10 classes in 6 cities in 2 weeks!! (Including behind the scenes at the Dani Valent set watching the filming!!)

40 is fabulous!! I turned the big 40 in June this year & celebrated by throwing a dress up Foodie 40th Birthday Party. My friend Rosey made me a Thermomix costume for the party & it has now been worn by myself, Dani Valent & Sophia (Thermomix Baking Blogger) not to mention taking the costume on the baking cooking class tour around Australia too!!

400 – This year I have now clocked over to having more than 400 Thermomix customers. I can hardly believe it & I’m so grateful to have met so many awesome people through Thermomix over the 6 years I have been a consultant. It’s been so amazing seeing people that have been wanting a Thermomix for ages finally getting one in their kitchen or lucky people getting a Thermomix as a gift. I love seeing families cooking with their Thermomix making things they never thought they could or would make. Some customers even have 2 Thermomix on their bench too!!

Food 4 thought – it’s always about the food tasting & trying new recipes. This year I cooked over 50 Italian recipes, I finished cooking & photographing every recipe from the Entertaining with Dani Valent Cookbook – my favourite Thermomix Cookbook!! And I got my model 5 Thermomix signed by Dani Valent herself (pictured above). I have learnt how to make some of the best bread this year from Sophia’s 7 day 7 breads challenge & by reading & cooking from her Real Bread Cookbook. I’ve met some amazing Chefs & dined at some delicious restaurants while ticking off my foodie bucket list. I’ve been to lots of awesome cooking classes. The best times I’ve had, have been cooking with friends, sharing tips, recipes, ideas, learning new cooking skills together, chatting, laughing & tasting homemade flavoursome food made from scratch with good quality ingredients. You really can taste the love in the food. (Yes I’m getting all soppy!)

Cheers to you all, I wish everyone a very Happy 2018 with lots more delicious Thermomix cooking with family & friends.

Sally Ives Hot & Sour Soup

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Thanks so much to Sally for letting me share her soup recipe & I have converted it to the Thermomix of course. Sally does Chinese cooking classes from her gorgeous home in Lymington, (just past Cygnet) Tasmania. They are great value & so much delicious fun! To find out about Sally’s classes you can email her sallypixies@hotmail.com.

Sally’s Hot & Sour Soup recipe -in the foreground you can see the the ingredients used in the soup- sichuan pepper, dried wood ear mushrooms & dried shitake mushrooms & Chinese style knife all purchased at our local Asian grocers.

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Sally Ives Hot & Sour Soup
Author: 
Recipe type: Soup
Cuisine: Chinese
Serves: 4
 
Sally's original recipe is made using a wok not a Thermomix 🙂
Ingredients
  • Cooking Oil
  • 20 schichuan peppercorns
  • 1 - 2 Spring onions finely chopped
  • A few slices of ginger
  • a few dried shitake mushrooms soaked, strained, stems removed (keep the soaking water)
  • optional - a few dried black fungus/wood ears, soaked, strained & thinly sliced
  • 400g fresh, frozen or bottled tomatoes roughly chopped
  • 2- 3 tbs soy sauce
  • 1 litre of stock/water include the mushroom straining water into this (you can use 1 tbs of stock paste & water)
  • ground white pepper to taste
  • Chinese black vinegar to taste
  • Salt to taste
  • 400g medium firm tofu sliced
  • 2 eggs
  • sesame oil
  • fresh coriander & extra sliced spring onions to serve
Instructions
  1. Add Sichuan pepper to a dry wok & roast till it starts to smoke, add about 1 tablespoon of oil (Sally uses rice bran oil) allow the pepper to turn black. Turn off the heat.
  2. Add the ginger to the TM bowl & chop 3 secs, speed 7.
  3. Add Shitake mushrooms & chop 3 secs, speed 7, scrape down the TM bowl.
  4. Add the oil & Sichuan pepper along with the spring onions, shitake mushrooms & wood ear mushrooms & cook for 3 mins, varoma temperature, reverse, speed 1.
  5. Add the tomatoes & soy sauce & cook for 5 mins, 100 degrees, reverse, speed 1.
  6. Add the liquid/stock & black vinegar & white pepper to taste keep adding & then tasting until you are happy with the flavour.
  7. Mix cornflour with a little water & add to the soup, bring it up to the boil again, 2 mins 100 degrees, reverse speed 1.
  8. Add simmering basket & place tofu into the basket & cook for 2 mins, 100 degrees, speed soft reverse. Remove tofu & basket & keep warm in a Thermoserver.
  9. Whisk the 2 eggs together in a bowl. Set the TM for 1 min, 100 degrees, reverse speed 2 & slowly pour in the egg mixture.
  10. Serve with the warm tofu placed into each bowl & pour hot soup on top & garnish with spring onion & or fresh coriander.

 

 

Vanilla Chia Puddings

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Vanilla Chia Puddings
Author: 
Recipe type: Breakfast or Snack
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6 serves
 
A filling & delicious, dairy free & sugar free breakfast or snack.
Ingredients
  • 150g of chosen nuts (my favourite are macadamia or cashews) almonds are popular too.
  • 1 vanilla bean (or 2 - 4 tsp of homemade vanilla bean paste)
  • 1000g filtered water
  • good pinch of salt
  • 2 Tbs coconut oil
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
  • 50g cacao nibs (optional)
  • 100g chia seeds
  • Fresh berries to serve
Instructions
  1. Soak nuts over night or for 6 hours, in filtered water drain & rinse the nuts.
  2. Place the nuts & vanilla bean into the TM bowl & chop for 30 secs on speed 10 (if you want a chocolate version you have the option to add your cacao nibs now too)
  3. Add the filtered water, coconut oil, salt, cinnamon & nutmeg, blitz for 1 - 1.30 on speed 9 (turning the dial up slowly from speed 1 - 9)
  4. Add the chia seeds & mix for 5 mins, 37 degrees, reverse, speed 3.5.
  5. The mixture will still be quite liquid, transfer into serving containers & place into the fridge to set for approx 1.5 - 2 hrs.
  6. To serve, sprinkle over fresh berries.
Notes
You might like to mix the cacao nibs in at the end instead to add a nice texture to the puddings.
You might like to add a few dates, if you prefer a sweeter pudding.

 

So many variations to try with your own favourite flavours

 

Thermi Ergoslide Review

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Sophia from Thermomix Baking Blogger sent me her thermi ergoslide to review – here is the review I left on her shop after only having my slider for a couple of days “I just LOVE my new Thermi Ergoslide – not only does it look gorgeous but it is such a great design & so easy to use!! I think I need to order 2 more for my other Thermomix too 🙂 Well done Sophia!”

See my thermi ergoslide unboxing facebook live video here 🙂

I have used my Thermomix for about 4 years without them sitting on something & then my friend Kyle made me some tiles with felt underneath them to sit my Thermomix on. I have customers that sit their Thermomix on a chopping board so they can slide it around. Like having an extra thermomix bowl I can’t imagine not having a slider for my Thermomix now 🙂

Why slide? Some of my customers can’t lift their Thermomix up due to many reasons or some of them can’t trust themselves because they know they are used to sliding other appliances. The 3 feet underneath your Thermomix are the feet of the scales & if you continually drag your Thermomix on the bench you can affect the reading of the scales.

Thermi Ergoslide – Sophia developed this amazing product & has thought of everything including how good it looks, check out how many different colours are available, suitable for any kitchen. I really am going to get 2 more so each of my Thermomix has one, I haven’t decided on the colours yet. Sophia has thought of everything even the packaging!

I borrowed my friend Kelly’s thermi ergoslide & love the speckled grey colour – also you will notice it is perfect for either model Thermomix.

 

Notice the 2 sets of feet -the sliding ones at the back & the sturdy ones at the front. Also note the indent at the front which makes it easy to grasp & then slide.


So it all comes down to the all important price, as usual you do pay for good quality. The full retail price is around $134 – $150 depending on the colour you choose & if you are attending one of Sophia’s Australian classes you can pre order thermi ergoslides & skip the postage fee. This is my first product review but I give it 5 stars (highest rating) & I am happy to recommend it to anyone. Happy Thermomixing!!

 

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