Rabbithole Coffee: Hong Kong...

Whenever we are travelling, there is the search for good coffee.  You get sick of the watery instant coffee that is often provided in the hotel room very quickly.  With so much to see and do in Hong Kong, we needed to keep our caffeine levels up so we were super pleased to find Rabbithole Coffee very close to our hotel in Wan Chai.

These guys are speciality coffee... that is pretty much all they do, coffee and a couple of croissants, which are pretty tasty too.  On our first visit, we had a cold coffee, an ice drip to be exact.  The coffee itself was amazing, we had the choice of 3 different coffee bean blends but it was the presentation was outstanding!

Our coffee arrived in a small carafe with a whiskey type glass and ice ball!  As you all know, I adore ice balls and sampling this coffee cold over an ice ball was perfect.  The ice ball didn't dilute the coffee with extra water!

We have been back a couple of times for cafe lattes and espressos and each time the coffee and service has been outstanding.  A little slice of coffee heaven in Hong Kong.  One of the funniest parts of our visit was chatting to one of the baristas only to learn he had spent a year in Melbourne at a cafe we knew of!  Small world!

I Can Pickle That... & tales of relish making...

I'm a huge fan of Portlandia and the 'I Can Pickle That' skit makes me laugh every time, mostly due to our large output of pickles this year.

However, it is not just pickles that have been happening at Casa MaMa... no!  We've been making all kinds of relish like the Zombie Apocalypse is coming!  We had a huge output of tomatoes this season.  We were so pleased that we got so many kilos of ripe tomatoes this year as we missed out last year due to overseas travel.  With so many tomatoes I made up about three batches of tomato relish, each one a little different to the other.  The great thing with so much relish is that I have been swapping it for other tasty treats from friends - even a 6 pack of beer!

Now that the tomatoes have ended, our capsicums (or peppers for my USA friends) have started to arrive.  We have approximately 30 plants that self-sowed from our compost and are flourishing!  If you know me well, you will know of my weird love for raw capsicum.  I knew eating all of those capsicums would eventually pay off.

With so many capsicums coming in, I have tried my hand at making a green capsicum relish too.  I didn't really have a recipe, I just adapted from my knowledge of relish making to ensure it was sweet, spicy and cured!

I've left the jars to sit and 'age' for a little while so stay tuned for the taste test!

Bread Making...

The amazing Ruth over at Gourmet Girlfriend has been inspiring everyone to jump on board her GG Bread Revolution (look at the tag #ggbreadrevolution on instagram to be inspired!)  Being a lover of cast iron pots and pans, and having a bit of a collection now, I thought that I would give the 'no-knead bread' recipe a go.

I'm loving it!  I'm not making a loaf every day like some others but it is definitely great for the weekends where we tend to need bread.  I have modified the recipe to bake the following loafs:

• wholemeal with pumpkin seeds bread
• rosemary bread
• organic white with sunflower seeds
• raisin, walnut and cinnamon

Raisin, Walnut and Cinnamon bread

Visit Gourmet Girlfriend to check out her original post.  The recipe is based on Jim Lahey's from Sullivan Street Bakery in New York.

Breakfasts and Brunch...

Smoked Salmon bagel.

Weekend breakfast and brunch is such a lovely treat. I thought I would share some of my home favourites.  I adore making breakfast and brunch at home, it is one of my favourite things to do on the weekend.  Even though I do enjoy going out for breakfast, nothing beats a fancy feed at home with a Bloody Mary, in your pjs!

Porridge with cooked apples, maple syrup and chopped pecan nuts.

 

a speedy breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and spinach in a pita!

you will recognize this from a previous post... love a Mexican style baked eggs!

baked eggs in bread with hot sauce!

 

the remains of an English style omelette, with mushrooms and bacon.

What's your favourite thing for breakfast?  Are you a sweet person who goes for pancakes and french toast?  Or do you dig the savoury with eggs, bacon and hot sauce?  OMG, I'm getting hungry right now!