I can hardly believe I turned 40 this year- apparently you are only as old as you feel?! A lot of nice people always look shocked when they find out my age or that I have an almost adult son!! I was going to do not much & pretend it wasn’t happening but decided I had to celebrate in style. But what to do?? For my 30th birthday I had a Japanese themed party; I love dressing up & having the food match with the theme 🙂 I was racking my brain as to what the theme could be & then one Sunday morning about a couple of months before my birthday the idea came to my almost to be “old” brain 🙂 I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it sooner!!
After seeing 2 Thermomix costumes at Thermofest Auckland earlier in the year, I knew I had to dress up as a Thermomix. So after being knocked back to “borrow” a Thermomix costume from Thermomix in Australia, I asked my good friend & amazing sewing guru Rosey if it was something that she might be able to do?? She said she loves a challenge & boy did we have fun with it, a trip to spotlight where we were constantly looking at a photo of a Thermomix to see which coloured fabric we needed & we even had a shop assistant helping us find the correct fabrics for my Thermomix costume. Then we measured every part of the Thermomix to get the enlarged Thermomix costume into the correct proportion. Rosey was still finishing it off just before she left to arrive at my party. It is such an awesome costume & I have already got quite a few wears out of it!! Plus she even made it with a detachable bowl so when it came time to dance it was a bit easier without a TM bowl attached to me 🙂
Food!! What does one serve at a foodie party? FOOD Not just any food – amazing favourite, fun & fabulous food!! Every event I plan way too much food & there is always leftovers & half of what I plan to make doesn’t even get made lol!! A good party always needs leftovers for sure!
So birthday cake what to do? I actually love savoury more than sweet, even though one of my favourite ingredients is chocolate along with cheese, fresh herbs, chillies & spices. I wanted something “different & unusual” plus easy too, so I had to do the “cheesecake” again: layers of my favourite cheeses with things I love to eat with cheese quince paste & fruitcake to serve with aged cheddar 🙂
Making dry Ice sorbet 🙂
Dry ice sorbet is a must for a foodie party for sure!! The recipe from In the Mix Cookbook is a Cucumber, Lime, Mint & Yoghurt dry ice sorbet, a definite wow factor for the party 🙂 Watch the first part of the live video here.
It was the 3rd time I’ve made it; the first time I made it I was so excited I forgot to strain the mixture before adding the dry ice, the 2nd time I didn’t have a strainer to use for my TAFE photo shoot. This time because my costume was too large, I enlisted the help of my good friend Sooze, she had never made it before but is up for a challenge. Anyway we were really organised with all the ingredients (after my friend Carol went back home & picked a truckload of mint from her garden -thanks Carol) So part 1 went really well & then we went live for part 2 when you add the dry ice pellets slowly to the strained mixture!! Sooze got a bit excited & added the dry ice a bit too quick (I can understand having made it before & doing a similar thing) So it was lot’s of fun as the vibrant cold green liquid bubbled over through all the clouds of dry ice. Unfortunately Thermomix in Australia asked me to take down my 2nd live video because it may have been manipulated to look like hot liquid (even though we were laughing the whole time!) So if you were lucky enough to see the video it was on my Arwen’s Thermo Pics Facebook page for 4 days 🙂 On the plus side the sorbet tasted absolutely amazing!! Hands down the best one I’ve ever had & I technically didn’t make it myself!!
Chicken Liver Pate
Leftovers from my birthday “Cheese Cake”
Gingerbread
Dry Ice Sorbet
Chilorio Pulled Pork with homemade Roti (thanks for making the Roti Charlie)Sticky Chicken WingsSweets tablePotted Veggies & Dip
I just love organising Thermomix gifts for customers especially when they are a surprise!! Yes I do free gift wrapping too – The most impressive Thermomix I ever gift wrapped was near Christmas & a friend had given me heaps of fresh bayleaves so I was able to use them to help decorate the wrapped Thermomix box.
I’ve had people burst into tears of joy when they open it in front of me as they had no idea what was going to be in the box that their loved one had organised. Birthday’s, Christmas, baby showers & wedding gifts. You can even organise a Thermomix gift registry.
I can not believe it – I made it to Lake Como!! Thanks so much to all my amazing customers & friends you are totally awesome!! I will be continuing my Italian Cooking Adventures until I make it to 50 recipes to celebrate 🙂
Thanks to all my friends & customers for their ongoing support for my Thermomix Business 🙂
I am sooooo excited!! As an Independent Thermomix Consultant we have the opportunity to earn our way to a reward trip to Lake Como in Italy, including a guided foodie tour by WA Chef Nico Moretti!!
Only the top selling 51 consultants from (1st Jan-30th June 2017) in Australia & New Zealand will get to go & I plan to be one of them. (We can sell a Thermomix to anyone in Australia) Just for a bit of fun every time I get another point towards Lake Como, I am going to make an Italian recipe in the Thermomix & share the photo 🙂 Do you have any favourite Italian recipes you think I should try? I will only need to cook 50 plus recipes in the next 6 months!!
And anyone who hosts a Cooking Experience with 2 or more guests between 9th Jan & 30th April will go into the draw to win a Trip for 2 to Lake Como as well! I hope one of my customers wins the prize!
Join me as I cook my way through Italian Recipes using my Thermomix – 1 recipe for each time I make a sale – I need over 50 sales before the end of June to get to the Thermomix Reward Trip in Lake Como. I do love a good challenge.
1. I’m counting this as an Italian Recipe – It is the Inside Out Chicken Parmigiana – Not traditional but very delicious! It’s from the Entertaining with Dani Valent Cookbook.
2. Homemade Pizza Dough
3. I also made Nico’s Ragu Di Pomodoro E Peperoncini – Spiced tomato sauce for the base of the pizza.
4. Homemade pasta dough in the Thermomix made into Spaghetti with Ragu Di Pomodoro E Peperoncini (Spiced Tomato Sauce & Cheese)
5. Dani Valent Cooking Red Wine -Braised Beef with Polenta Cremoso recipe by Joseph Vargetto (I used the truffle polenta I bought at the Essential Ingredient) – The dish tastes better than it looks!
The pasta & truffle polenta I bought at the Essential Ingredient in Newcastle 🙂
6: Tiramisu for 2 (in a jar – one for me & one for my friend & customer who upgraded her Thermomix at the start of March) I used the recipe from the Basic cookbook & added my own homemade vanilla bean paste. I made 1/3 of the recipe so I didn’t have to eat too much 🙂
7: Nico Moretti recipe for Spinach & Ricotta “Gnudi” – “Gnudi” are a classic Tuscan dish, and it’s like ravioli, but without the pasta (just the filling). These light & fluffy gnudi are STEAMED in the VAROMA and served with a fresh Salsa di Pomodoro (Tomato Pasta Sauce)
8. A regular recipe made at our place is homemade pesto, delicious as a quick sauce on pasta or spread on toast with fresh homegrown tomatoes is just heaven.
9. Nico Moretti’s recipe for White Chocolate Pannacotta
10. A family favourite Lasagne – all the elements are cooked in the Thermomix the meat sauce, the béchamel white sauce, the fresh pasta dough & grated cheese. Then into the oven YUM!!
Italian Pantry Shopping – opps someone drank the prosecco 🙂
11. Italian Style Lamb Shank served on Cauli mash with truffle salt. The sauce was made in the Thermomix then poured over the lamb shanks that went into the oven in a casserole dish slow cooked for 2 hours.
12. Puttanesca sauce made in the Thermomix & I cooked the dry pasta I bought at the essential ingredient. (A favourite Italian recipe from one of my customers who just upgraded to a new Thermomix)
13. Potato Sciacciata recipe from In the Mix 2, a Tuscan version of focaccia with potato in it.
14.Spaghetti Carbonara recipe from the Thermomix Basic Cookbook.
16 & 17 (home made) Potato Gnocchi with Pork & Fennel Ragu – A Nico Moretti recipe from his cookbook Delicious Journeys.
18. Osso Bucco – I make the sauce in the Thermomix & seal the floured Osso Bucco meat in a pan & then baked in the oven with the sauce for 2 hours 🙂
19. Orechiette Con Broccoli – another Nico Moretti recipe from his Delicious Journeys cookbook. I cooked the sauce in the Thermomix & the pasta & broccoli in a big pot.
20. Chicken Cacciatore recipe from The Basic Cookbook
21. Meatballs in Tomato sauce with mushrooms. I added mushrooms to the recipe from The Basic Cookbook. We have made it many times at my customers Thermomix Cooking experiences (The meatballs are steamed over a tomato sauce)
22. Italian Hot Chocolate
22. Ciabatta
23. Torte Pasqualina – I accidentally didn’t get the recipe right lol!! I cracked all my egg into the mixture & then realised I was supposed to keep some whole lol!!
24. Ricotta & Spinach Cannelloni
25. (Recipe from one of my Italian Customers) Sylvia’s Almond Bocconcini.
26. Minestone Soup
27. Tajarin with truffle butter & truffled egg yolk 🙂 Recipe from the truffle cookbook by Rodney Dunn – I just thermofied the recipe where I could 🙂 I used the truffle I bought from Duncan Garvey Perigord Truffles of Tasmania ❤️
28. Gnocco Fritto, deep fried bread. I made the dough in the Thermomix 🙂
29. Roman-Style Semolina Gnocchi.
30. Pumpkin & Blue Cheese Arancini
31. Red Wine Risotto (I didn’t like this recipe 🙁 )
32. Hazelnut Chocolate Spread 🙂 (Recipe in the Basic Cookbook)
33. Chocolate Ravioli with Orange & Apricot Sauce – A Joseph Vargetto recipe from Dani Valent Cooking.
34. Sundried Tomato Focaccia
35. Limoncello
Ingredients top up from the Italian Pantry
36. Homemade mozzarella cheese
37. Raviolo with ricotta & truffle infused egg yolk
38. Ricotta filled ravioli with burnt butter truffles & thyme
39.Squid ink pasta
40. Squid ink pasta with prawns in a spicy tomato sauce
41. Quattro formaggi and walnuts (4 cheese pizza)
42. Classic Calzone
43. Napoli Potato Cake
44. Torta Caprese
45. Stracciatella Ice Cream
46. Grissini
47. Chicken Involtini with Sun-dried Tomato Pesto
48. Pizza Bianca, made so many times for Thermomix Cooking Experiences 🙂
49. Homemade Ricotta Gnocchi with Burnt Sage Butter & Spinach
50. Bolognese Sauce – we make this all the time but I kept forgetting to take a photo of it!!
Time to celebrate!! I finished cooking my 50 Italian style recipes just 2 weeks before I will arrive in Lake Como Italy!! This is my new Thermomix model 5 called Bimby (Italian name for Thermomix) I earned this Thermomix while earning my trip to Italy & also sold my 400th Thermomix in that period too! I’m saying Saluti with a glass of Prosecco – Italian sparkling wine 🙂 Thanks everyone so much for all your support for my Thermomixing!!
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