Wow, I can not believe how much fun we had in Las Vegas for our Thermomix reward, trip, I did not expect to visit Vegas but if I did get to go I had 2 things on the list to do see the Grand Canyon & see the Cirque du Soleil show O & both of these activities just happened to be included in this amazing trip. We were lucky enough to stay at The Cosmopolitan right next to the famous Bellagio, with magnificent views of the Bellagio fountain. After exploring some of the other hotels I’m sure we stayed at the best one on the strip! Yes it is a long trip over but it was worth it, it was so fantastic to meet up again with fellow Thermomix consultants we met at the Paris reward trip last year & others we have met at previous Thermofest trips. This time there were about 80 of us all together including group leaders & admin staff.
At check in room, we were provided some nibbles & cool drinks. Then up to our amazing room on level 52! What a view & the fountain put on a display straight away, I had a quick look around outside & around the facilities before getting ready for our first event, a cocktail party, complete with a welcome green Thermomix themed cocktail, there were lots of drinks but not too much food just some small bites. A few people went out for dinner & some went to try their luck at winning some money in Vegas.
The famous night club Marquee opened at 10.30pm we had free entry because we were staying at The Cosmopolitan, only a couple of us went up & had a bit of a dance & a looksie, it was very busy & we later found out that in the off season it is only open Friday – Monday night. You could buy a glass of wine for $12 or a bottle of wine for $395, when we asked about this apparently the bottle secured you a poolside table & table service as well. Completely jet lagged we got into bed very late or should I say early on Tues morning.
The buffet breakfast at the wicked spoon provides so many options it was so hard to choose – even sorbet for breakfast! There was an omelette station, with anything & everything you could imagine, then in a room just off the restaurant, we had our first training session on social media with Scott Cramer from Multi Brain. Then it was so exciting to have a chat with Executive Chef at The Cosmopolitan Matt Crane & even better he gave a tour of The Cosmopolitan restaurants & behind the scenes in the kitchens, including the pastry area with Executive Pastry Chef Vincent Pilon. (Check out his awesome instagram account here.)
After lunch at the wicked spoon we had a little bit of free time before meeting our transfer to the helicopters.Â
A flight for 13 helicopters into the Grand Canyon, we were all so excited & I loved that they had music playing in our headsets. (It stopped when someone wanted to talk though)
I had tears of joy streaming down my face as we entered the Canyon.Â
This is one of the first recipes I added to the Thermomix recipe community around 6.5 years ago & it has been extremely popular – of course you can add chicken to it if you prefer, it’s great to grow my own lime leaves too. You can store lime leaves, chillies & coriander roots in the freezer, so you have most of the ingredients ready to go for an easy week night dinner packed full of flavour. It’s delicious served with my coconut rice recipe too – if you are making the coconut rice recipe in the Model 5 you need to add more liquid either coconut cream or water to take it up to the 1200g marker & it’s a bonus you can steam more veggies on top of the rice while it’s steaming! Or if you really want to pack in more veggies why not serve it with my roasted cauliflower “rice” recipe. For more great vegetarian recipe ideas click here.
Could the world possibly need another whole orange cake recipe? I’m sure this popular recipe that has been tweaked many times over so here is my version to join all the others. The original recipes had the oranges being boiled for about 1 hour, I just love how the Thermomix makes this such an easy recipe but whizzing up the almonds into almond meal & whizzing up the whole oranges, plus it’s a great one for all those that love gluten free food.
Weekday family comfort food at it’s best & it’s hubby’s favourite dinner too, so I know how to get into his good books -just make this for dinner & some apple pie with custard for dessert 🙂
Family Favourite Lamb Pie topped with Sweet Potato Mash
Author: Arwen Genge
Recipe type: Family Comfort Food
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6 - 8 serves
Comfort food to keep the whole family happy - try different veggies or a combo of veggies for the topping, cauliflower, potato, parsnip, jerusalem artichoke.
TOPPING- Chop parmasean cheese (and garlic) for 5 secs speed 10.
Set it to one side.
Insert the butterfly whisk & add your sweet potatoes, milk or cream (or a mix of both) salt & pepper, cook for 15 - 20 mins 100 degrees speed 1 until cooked completely.
Add the butter & mash for 20 secs speed 4.
Place to one side while you make the filling (or you can make the filling first & then make the topping, your choice!)
LAMB FILLING -Place garlic & herbs into TM bowl & chop for 5 secs speed 7.
Add onion, carrot & celery & chop for 5 secs speed 4, you may need a couple of seconds longer depending on their size.
Scrape down side of the bowl add the oil & saute' for 3 mins Varoma temp speed 1.
Add remaining filling ingredients except the peas & cook for 20 mins 100 degrees reverse speed 1. Add the peas & cook for another 5 mins 100 degrees reverse speed 1.
Pour mixture into a large baking dish.
Spread with your sweet potato topping & cheese.
Bake in the oven at 180 - 200 degrees for 20 mins or until brown.
What a fun morning we had at TAFE in the studio – I whipped up a batch of fresh pasta dough in the Thermomix (2 eggs & 200g flour, kneaded for 2 mins in the Thermomix) I got out the pasta machine & rolled it out. I wanted to try a different style of food photography – after getting my classmate to be a hand model – I decided I wanted my own “posh lady” hands in the shot instead & was very pleased with quite a few of the photos I got. After a bit of editing I will probably use this first shot for our end of year exhibition.
This recipe is another yummy one from Dani Valent & you just need to sign up to her newsletter to get this recipe for free at www.danivalent.com. Our family loves this recipe so much we have it laminated & on the fridge. We always have to make 2 batches each time we make it!!.
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