mango-cherry cocktail-smoothie

A cider-spiked cherry-studded mango smoothie. A delicious seasonal drink for New Year's Eve in Australia!

I am no stranger to making cocktails that masquerade as smoothies. See: this raspberry-cucumber cocktail from 2011, and this lemon-jasmine-banana cocktail that followed in 2012. What can I say? I'm a smoothie fanatic, and I'm a lightweight when it comes to alcohol. So cocktail-smoothies, or smoothie-cocktails, well... they just work, for me. They're my perfect festive holiday drink!

Mangoes and cherries always appear prominently in the shops around Christmas and New Year's in Australia, so this time around, my creation is a fruit-a-licious cherry-studded mango cocktail with a subtle hint of alcoholic effervescence from apple cider (hard cider, for my North American readers). I downed the whole glass, and after the initial refreshing hit of coolness, it gave me just the right amount of warm and fuzzy, with no ill effects. Success!

Mango-cherry cocktail-smoothie.

mango-cherry cocktail-smoothie
(serves 1)

1 cup mango
6 cherries, pitted (more for a stronger cherry flavour)
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 cup hard apple cider or sparkling wine

Blend mango, cherries and lime juice with 1/2 cup water and 2 ice cubes. Pour into a glass, use a nice fancy one if you're feeling sophisticated. Top up with apple cider or sparkling wine. Sip it slowly or quaff it quickly - it's up to you!


Note 1: I used frozen diced mango and fresh cherries. I recommend that at least some of the fruit you use in this smoothie-cocktail be of the frozen variety, to ensure the end result is pleasingly icy-cold.

Note 2: If you prefer a non-alcoholic drink, feel free to use sparkling apple juice instead of apple cider to make this a mocktail!

Note 3: If you require this to be vegan-friendly, make sure that the alcohol you use has not been processed with animal products.

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raspberry goji smoothie

A super-delicious raspberry goji smoothie.

My love for smoothies continue, and this raspberry goji smoothie is my latest favourite creation.

It's funny how goji berries have, in recent years, become a darling in the Western world, lauded for its superfood powers and making endless appearances in smoothie bowls on Instagram. Growing up in our Asian household, goji berries are typically used in savoury soups and herbal teas, and I'll be honest, I was never a big fan, but upon the coaxing of my mum - "they're good for you, good for the eyes" - I'd reluctantly eat them, and at the end of the day, I didn't mind them that much.

Anyway, I purchased a packet of dried goji berries earlier this year - not because I was craving them, not because of their health benefits - but because I wanted to enter some health food competition thing to win a free holiday. Spoiler - I did not win the competition, and all I had afterwards, then, was this bag of goji berries and I had to come up with various ideas for consuming them.

I threw these goji berries into my muesli, added them to my ginger tea. I blended them up in various smoothies, too, but it wasn't until I made THIS smoothie that it felt like everything just fit together. My lost and aimless goji berries have finally found their home.

Dried goji berries for a goji berry smoothie.

raspberry goji smoothie 
(serves 1)

1 small banana
1 cup frozen raspberries
1 tablespoon goji berries
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
2/3 cup water

- Blend all the ingredients together, adding more water if necessary if you would like a thinner consistency.
- Forget about what is a superfood and what isn't, and just enjoy the super-deliciousness of this smoothie.

Intensely red raspberry smoothie with goji berries.

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2-ingredient rockmelon smoothie / cantaloupe smoothie

Rockmelon/cantaloupe smoothie.

Happy Chinese New Year!

I wish I could say that I've been baking some really fabulous Chinese New Year goodies, but to be honest, my attempts have been nothing to write home about, and now that we're going through a heatwave in Perth, I am very much not inclined to continue trying. When I'm not working, you can typically find me hanging out in front of the fan, drinking cold beverages all the livelong day, and wishing I have air-con in my room.

But anyway, today, inspired by the flavours of one of my favourite Asian desserts, melon sago pudding, I whizzed up a delightfully tasty and satisfying two-ingredient smoothie, and it went down a treat. So without further ado, here's the incredibly simple recipe for this slushy, icy smoothie.

2-ingredient rockmelon smoothie / cantaloupe smoothie

2 cups diced and frozen rockmelon/cantaloupe (honeydew melon also works great!)
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup water

Thoroughly blend all the ingredients together, and voila, you have a healthy, refreshing rockmelon smoothie that tastes like Asian melon sago pudding!

Rockmelon + coconut milk = bliss.

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mint-ginger strawberry-peach smoothie-mocktail

The combination of mint, ginger, strawberry and peach makes for a festive summer mocktail-smoothie.

Christmas is part of the deal that comes with summer in Australia, so here's a summer drink recipe that features the festive colours of red and green. Call it a smoothie, call it a mocktail, call it whatever you want. Zingy with ginger and fresh with mint, sweet with peaches and exuberant with strawberries, this is a pretty beverage that will cool you down and invigorate your spirits.

Plus, you can easily convert this into a fancy cocktail by simply adding a complementary spirit or liqueur. Something like gin would be nice, but there are so many possibilities - for example, vodka, rum, Campari or Pimm's No.1, just to name a few. Or top it up with champagne to produce an effervescent delight. Feel free to be creative with it!

mint-ginger strawberry-peach smoothie-mocktail
(serves 1)

2 soft, ripe peaches, peeled and pitted
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 tablespoon roughly chopped ginger
10 mint leaves
1 teaspoon honey (substitute with agave nectar / maple syrup to make it vegan-friendly)

Throw the peaches, strawberries, ginger and mint into the blender. Dissolve honey in 2/3 cup of water, and pour that in. Blend all the ingredients together until smooth, and you're done!

A pretty summer smoothie - lusciously red, with twinkling flecks of green.

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blueberry-chocolate smoothie with mint and celery

Blueberry-chocolate smoothie with mint and celery.

With all the travel posts in the last couple of months, I thought it might be time to get back into recipes for a while. But if you like reading about fun destinations, fret not - I'll come back to them next year. I've still got to tell you all about our trip to Thailand and Taiwan! If you really want your wanderlust fix, then go on and follow the Purring Around the World travel Instagram account or Facebook page that I started up recently - it has photos from Simon and me (mostly Simon, because he's the better photographer) - we're working our way through our photo archives so there is plenty to see!

But for now, hello smoothies! Before we went travelling last year, I had gotten into a happy and diligent habit of having smoothies almost everyday for breakfast. Sometimes I even whiz up smoothies at night! Since I moved interstate, however, I seem to have lost my smoothie mojo. Today's delightful blueberry smoothie is, thus, my attempt to get back on track.

But this is no ordinary blueberry smoothie. I'm not talking about the inclusion of banana, which makes it naturally sweet and creamy - that's par for course. It has the chocolate touch, and it has the slight tingle of mint, but I'm not talking about that, either. What I'm talking about is the gentle, teasing suggestion of celery that I've stealthily nudged into the list of ingredients. However, be assured that, rather than creating dissonance, the celery provides a soothing background note to the proceedings. Try it and you'll see.

Blueberry, chocolate and mint go well together - and surprisingly, a bit of celery doesn't go astray, either!

blueberry-chocolate smoothie with mint and celery
(serves 1)

2/3 cup blueberries
1/3 cup chopped celery stalk
1 ripe banana (medium-sized)
10 mint leaves
1 tablespoon cocoa/cacao powder (unsweetened)
3/4 cup water
4 ice cubes (if you're not using any frozen fruit, but would like a cold smoothie)

TIP: I'd suggest using either frozen blueberries, or chopped-up and frozen banana in this smoothie. I love using frozen fruits in smoothies, as I find that they create a pleasantly thick texture, and I love my smoothies refreshingly cold.

Blend all the ingredients until smooth, adding more water if necessary.
Serve, and enjoy immediately!

A luscious blueberry smoothie with banana, cacao, mint and celery.

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cayenne, mint & bay leaf tea (and it's more than just a tea!)

Cayenne, mint, and bay leaf tea. A herbal drink to enjoy hot or iced.

Hello, everyone! It's been a while. I've been busy with some freelance work, and have thus neglected this blog. The lack of work-life balance is really not cool, though, so I'm going to take a step back, and try to regain some measure of blogging momentum.

Here is a simple cayenne, mint and bay leaf tea that is more than just a tea. More about that in a moment, but as a beverage, this tea possesses a certain intrigue with the use of bay leaves. The distinct fragrance of bay leaf lends a pleasant sense of mystery that fascinates the nose and the taste buds. I originally made this for another purpose, but bay leaf tea is definitely now in my tea-drinking repertoire. Apparently bay leaf tea is good for digestion, so that's a benefit to add to the appeal - but mostly, I'm drinking it because I like it.

cayenne, mint & bay leaf tea

2 cups freshly boiled water
4 fresh mint leaves
4 dried bay leaves, torn up
1 pinch cayenne powder

Pour the hot, freshly boiled water over the mint leaves, bay leaves, and cayenne powder in a mug or jug. Stir, cover, and allow the flavours to steep for at least 10 minutes. Strain and add sweetener of your choice, if desired. I like it with a touch of honey. You may drink it while it's still hot to keep yourself cozy, or chill it and add some ice for an invigorating coolness.

Note: Some people simmer the bay leaves with boiling water in a saucepan for a few minutes instead of steeping them. This will likely draw out more flavour, so if you choose this route you can probably use just 2 bay leaves. I was feeling lazy and I thought it would be more convenient to use the electric kettle.

Some cayenne, mint and bay leaf tea, coming up!

But wait, there's more! As I said, there is more to this bay leaf tea, it goes beyond a mere beverage. In fact, I originally created this as a natural insect repellent. That's right! We have had some issues with ants and cockroaches lately, and apparently a combination of cayenne, mint and bay leaf can work to deter both. For the natural insect repellent, I made the solution more potent, adding extra mint, bay leaves and cayenne powder, as per the following:

cayenne, mint & bay leaf insect repellent

2 cups freshly boiled water
1 sprig mint, or 1 mint tea bag
6 dried bay leaves, torn up
1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder

Almost the same instructions as for the tea recipe above, except I leave the "tea" to sit until it's completely cool, and obviously I don't use any form of sweetener. I then stir the mixture, strain it, and pour the pinkish-orange water into a spray bottle.

I've been using this spicy, aromatic solution in lieu of store-bought detergents to wipe surfaces around the home, so I'm basically using it as a 2-in-1 spray for cleaning surfaces and repelling insects. It works nicely as a cleaner, and while I have not performed any controlled experiments with this, I do observe less insects around. I feel good about using this - it's all natural with edible ingredients, so if I drop some food on the counter and pick it back up, I know that instead of potentially toxic chemicals, it will have traces of mint, bay leaf and cayenne in it. Which is totally fine by me!

Cayenne, mint and bay leaf solution as a natural insect repellent.

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mixed summer smoothie (with a little tomato)

A summer fruit salad smoothie.

British journalist Miles Kington once said, “Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.”

I wonder what he would say about this summer smoothie recipe, which is pretty much a blended-up version of a fruit salad... with just a touch of tomato.

Just a touch, mind. One single cherry tomato. Baby steps. Or kind of a wildcard, if you will. I'm not the biggest fan of the taste of raw tomato, in general, so really, this is me living life on the edge.

I was pleased that I tasted only just the tiniest hint of tomato in the end result - just enough to be discernible if you think about it, but so subtle that you might just completely miss it. I might be more daring next time in an attempt to slowly endear myself to the taste of raw tomato. Maybe.

mixed summer salad smoothie
(serves 1)

1 ripe banana
1 soft ripe nectarine or peach
1 orange (use whole segments with seeds removed)
1 cherry tomato / grape tomato / baby roma tomato
10 mint leaves
2/3 cup water
4 ice cubes

Blitz all ingredients together with a blender until smooth.
Serve and drink immediately while it's cool and fresh!

Mixed summer smoothie, with a little tomato.

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honey rose cucumber limeade

Hello, everyone!

With all the travel that I've been doing, it's been a while since my last recipe post... so here's one, to mix things up a little.

This drink may seem quite unusual, but it is inspired by an Indonesian drink, "es timun", which is, in essence, a cucumber limeade. I made the original version a while ago, but have since played with the concept a little by using honey instead of sugar, and splashed in some rose water as well, just for touch of floral fancy.

Honey rose cucumber limeade.

honey rose cucumber limeade (serves 4)

4 limes, juiced
1 teaspoon rose water
3 tablespoons honey
4 cups water
1 Lebanese cucumber, grated
12 ice cubes

In a big pitcher, stir lime juice, rose water and honey together. Pour water in gradually, continuing to stir as you do, just to make sure all the honey is dissolved. You may chill this solution in the fridge, or use it immediately.
When you are ready to serve the drink, divide freshly grated cucumber and ice into 4 glasses, then pour in the lime-rose-honey solution. Serve immediately.

Honey rosewater cucumber limeade.

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luo han guo tea / monk fruit tea

Luo han guo tea / monk fruit tea.

Here's another beverage that came about while I was clearing out my cupboards for the big move.

When my parents visit me every now and then in Melbourne, they invariably stock up my fridge and my pantry in their efforts to look after me. One of the ingredients they provided one time was dried luo han guo (also known as monk fruit, buddha fruit, or arhat fruit). The luo han guo beverage is something I drank often back in Malaysia, yet it was always prepared by someone else. I never got around to making it myself - so as an ingredient, the monk fruit remained so enigmatic to me.

But I was moving house and I couldn't bear to throw it away. That's as good a time as any to get out of my comfort zone, right? I vaguely remembered my mum's reassurances: "It's really easy to make luo han guo tea, just crack the fruit and simmer it in water until the flavour comes out."

So that was what I did, and it was truly that easy. Like so many things, it's not as scary or as mysterious as it seems, once you actually try it.

Dried luohanguo / dried monk fruit.

luo han guo tea / monk fruit tea

Use approximately 1 litre, or 4 cups of water, for every piece of whole dried monk fruit. Break open the fruit with your hands, so that the dried flesh inside gets some exposure. Bring the fruit and the water to boil in a pot, then cover and allow it to simmer for at least 20 minutes. The longer you cook it, the more intense the flavour is. If it becomes too strong, simply add more water to dilute it.

As monk fruit is naturally very sweet, there should be no need to add any sugar. Strain out any bits and pieces of the broken fruit, and the tea is ready to enjoy immediately if you wish. This is a beverage which is delicious with its sweet herbal quality, at all temperatures. I had it hot on this occasion, but I love it really cold with ice.

Note: I just asked my mum and she generally uses 1.5 - 2 litres (6 - 8 cups) of water for each fruit, and simmers it for around an hour. I guess mine is the shortcut method, haha!

Luo han guo beverage / monk fruit beverage.

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chamomile almond pear smoothie

Chamomile almond pear smoothie.

Big events, or at least the lead-up to them, can be stressful. Moving my belongings interstate, and following that with international travel, is definitely one of those things. I'm getting rid of the items I've accumulated over the years. Cleaning. Tidying. Packing. Dealing with red tape. Wrapping up loose ends. Trying not to freak out, trying to make time for friends and relatives before I go, trying to keep my sanity amidst it all.

Perhaps this is why I was drawn to create something with the gorgeous loose leaf chamomile tea I have in my pantry, an ingredient which I thought might help encourage relaxation. Besides - let's face it - I wanted to finish as much of my food as possible, before I go. Can't let the good stuff go to waste!

So the pretty dried chamomile flowers are put to work, and their soft, mellow perfume infuses this gentle chamomile almond pear smoothie. I drink it quietly, slowly, and I find a little moment of calmness.

Dried camomile flowers / Loose leaf camomile tea.

chamomile almond pear smoothie 
(makes 1)

1/2 teaspoon dried chamomile flowers or 1 chamomile tea bag
1/2 cup freshly boiled hot water
1/8 teaspoon honey (Optional, omit if vegan, or use maple syrup. You may add more, but I like the subtlety of less.)
1 soft, ripe pear
2 tablespoons almond meal
3 ice cubes

Steep chamomile in hot water for a couple of minutes (or you may time it according to instructions on the package, or just wait till the tea reaches your desired strength). Remove the tea bag / Strain out the chamomile flowers.
Allow the tea to cool down to room temperature, or chill in the fridge. Stir in just a tiny bit of honey, if using.
Remove the skin, stem and pips of the pear, chopping up only the flesh to use. Do make sure you use a soft, ripe pear - you want the flesh to be creamy (rather than crisp), for a good smoothie texture.
In a blender, whiz together the chamomile tea, pear, almond meal, and ice cubes.
Serve, sip, and chill out.

Pear, almond, and chamomile smoothie.

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a shimmering golden spiced soymilk, and a vitasoy giveaway *closed*

This post is sponsored by Vitasoy.

A shimmering golden spiced soymilk.

I'll admit it, I'm a bit of a sucker for organic food. So when I was asked if I would be interested in writing about Vitasoy's organic range, it was hard to say no. There are quite a few things to like about these products: they are made from organic whole soybeans which have not been genetically modified, and they are locally grown - sourced from a selection of five Australian farmers.

As those of us who occasionally dabble in vegan and vegetarian recipes know, soymilk is a pretty versatile product. You can drink it straight, mix it, blend it, cook it, just as you would with regular dairy milk. It's also nutritious, protein-rich, and contains all the essential amino acids.

Inspired by the properties of soymilk, I decided to create a wholesome, soothing, nutritious beverage. A spiced, golden, hot soymilk beverage.

I've been big on turmeric lately, and I often pair it with black pepper, as they are known to have a synergistic effect - the piperine compound in black pepper boosts the absorption of the curcumin compound in turmeric. So that's pretty awesome. Those two things go into this spiced tea. I also threw a bunch of other spices in, because the more the merrier. You know you want it: the sweetness of cinnamon and nutmeg, the seductiveness of cardamom and ginger. Plus, I added a slick touch of coconut oil, as well. The result was kind of a shimmering golden spiced soymilk.

If you don't have all the spices listed, do feel free to come up with your own combination!

a shimmering golden spiced soymilk
(serves 1)

1 cup Vitasoy soymilk
1/2 teaspoon honey (or maple syrup, coconut nectar etc. for vegan substitutes)
1/2 teaspoon coconut oil
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cardamom
1/8 teaspoon ginger

Gently warm soymilk in a saucepan over low heat, stirring or swirling it every now and then.
Put the honey, coconut oil and spices in a mug. Stir well so that the spices are combined with the honey and coconut oil.
Pour the warmed soymilk into the mug, stirring as you go, until everything is blended.
Sprinkle with some extra nutmeg or cinnamon.

Hot tip: Mix this spiced soymilk with black tea (ratio/amounts according to personal preference) to create a delicious chai!

Note: Soymilk does form a film when it's heated, but you can just stir it away. You might also want to stir as you drink, as the spices do tend to sink to the bottom. They will still be infused into the milk, but the flavour will be stronger if you get bits of spices suspended in the liquid.

Spiced milk with Vitasoy.

For your chance to win a Vitasoy prize hamper, please leave a comment on this post telling me your favourite soymilk recipe.

The $150 prize pack includes:

3 x 1 litre Vitasoy milk cartons
4 x Vitasoy recipe cards
1 x ‘Healthy Every Day’ cookbook by Pete Evans
1 x T2 coffee mug
1 x KeepCup
1 x 250g Global Cafe Direct organic coffee
1 x $65 Coles gift card

Please observe these terms and conditions. Giveaway will end 5pm AEST Tuesday 13 May 2014.

Brought to you by Vitasoy and Nuffnang.

Results are IN! Congratulations Lily, you are the winner of the giveaway! Thank you, everyone, for participating. x

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rosewater mandarin lassi

Rosewater mandarin lassi.

So... I'm back from my trip to Nepal!

I had a wonderful time and I am looking forward to sharing my pictures and stories, but for now I am overwhelmed as I go through all the photographs I have taken. I think I have nearly 1500 photographs from our 4-week trip, which is tough enough as it is, but spare a thought for Simon, who took about 9000, so he's really got his work cut out for him.

Hence, I will just leave you with a lassi recipe today - a yoghurt-based drink that is popular in many parts of South Asia (including Nepal). This rosewater mandarin version is one that I began making last autumn in Australia, taking advantage of the abundant and cheap mandarins in season, and I think it'll be part of my autumn repertoire for the years to come.

A soft, romantic mandarin and rose lassi to brighten and sooth the day.

rosewater mandarin lassi / smoothie (serves 1)

2 small mandarins (approx. 5cm / 2" diameter) or 1 larger mandarin
2/3 cup yoghurt
1/2 teaspoon rosewater
4 ice cubes

Peel mandarins and remove any seeds.
Blend mandarin segments, yoghurt, rosewater and ice cubes together until smooth.
Serve and feel good.

Mandarin rosewater lassi.

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papaya carob smoothie

Papaya carob smoothie.

Surprisingly, this January hasn't been stupidly busy at work as previous years have indicated, but there are still distractions galore. My parents have been visiting and I've been enjoying their company, the Australian Open is on and I've been enjoying tennis, and, you know... other life stuff.

Which is why I'm giving you this super-simple smoothie recipe. It's really just a two-ingredient affair if you don't count the water and ice cube components. All you gotta do is get yourself some deliciously toasty carob powder, some sweetly smooth papaya, and you're set.

Roasted carob powder.

A quick background on the idea behind this papaya carob smoothie. I visited my sister a few months ago, and was quite intrigued by the latest dietary changes she has made for her son's sake, in accordance to a book called The Eczema Diet by Karen Fischer - with good results, it seems, if his skin's improvement is anything to go by. And for the first time, I had a taste of roasted carob powder, and fell in love. Carob is often used as a substitute to chocolate and therefore compared in unfavourable terms, but that is doing it a disservice. No, it doesn't taste exactly like chocolate, but it's magnificent in its own right - so delightfully malty with a hint of nuttiness and caramel.

This papaya carob smoothie, then, is a recipe I devised, based on the list of eczema-safe ingredients in the book. I have to confess that I don't tend to get excited about papaya, but with carob? Bring it on!

Fresh papaya.

1 cup papaya flesh (approx. 140g)
1.5 tablespoons roasted carob powder
1/2 cup water or soy milk or rice milk
4 ice cubes

Whiz all ingredients together until smooth... and it's ready to pour, drink and enjoy.

Papaya smoothie with the special touch of roasted carob powder.

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lavender green tea plum wine cocktail (serve hot or cold)

A cool lavender green tea plum wine, served on the rocks.

We're closing in on the end of another year and the beginning of a new one, yet again, and this means an alcoholic beverage recipe to mark the occasion, of course! In previous years, I've made ginger-lime-cider shandy, raspberry cucumber cocktail slushy, and spiked lemon-jasmine-banana smoothie.

This year, it's a very light and gentle plum wine cocktail, one that can be served hot or cold, so it doesn't matter whether you're in the Northern or Southern hemisphere - this is a drink for all seasons.

The inspiration for this drink stems from my trips to Japanese restaurants, where I've occasionally seen plum wine and green tea combinations, or ocha-wari, on the menu. For some reason I've never gotten around to ordering it, so I have no idea how my invention compares, but I will certainly treat myself next time I see ocha-wari on a drinks list. In the name of research, you understand.

This is a very flexible recipe, where you should feel free to adjust the amounts to your liking. Would you like tea with a hint of wine, or wine with a hint of tea? It's totally up to you.

Lavender green tea plum wine cocktail, served warm.

lavender green tea plum wine cocktail

First step - make the lavender green tea:

1 cup freshly boiled hot water
1 heaped teaspoon dried lavender buds (x2 if using fresh lavender), or a lavender tea bag
1 heaped teaspoon loose leaf green tea, or a green tea bag (a floral or herb infused one is lovely, e.g. jasmine green tea, or pomegranate green tea)
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Pour the boiling-hot water over lavender, and let it steep, covered, for 5 - 7 minutes. Then add in the green tea, and let it all steep together for 2 - 3 minutes. Strain to remove the buds and leaves. Add lemon juice. Use immediately for a warm cocktail, otherwise let it cool down completely, or chill in the fridge, for a cool cocktail. I would say that this will make up to 4 cocktails, at most, so multiply the recipe if you're planning on plentiful drinks.

Final step - make the lavender green tea plum wine cocktail:

lavender green tea
plum wine
ice cubes (optional)
sake (optional)

For a warm cocktail, combine freshly brewed hot tea, plum wine, and also, optionally, a splash or more of sake.

For a cool cocktail, combine chilled tea, plum wine, a few ice cubes, and also, optionally, a splash or more of sake.

I used a simple ratio of 1 part tea and 1 part wine for a fairly balanced flavour profile - about 1/4 cup of each, to create a small serving. You may use that as a guide, or find your own way!

P.S. I just thought of something. A bit of lychee syrup, or a fresh lychee garnish, would be an amazing addition! I've got to try that next time.

Drink up!

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a christmas pudding received, and a cranberry port spritzer recipe (to use up the stuff you don't want to drink straight)

Christmas comes early with a mini hamper containing Itha's traditional pudding + a brandy butterscotch dessert sauce.

Last week I received a complimentary treat in the mail, a little gift box containing a traditional Christmas plum pudding, and a bottle of brandy butterscotch sauce by Itha's Puddings & Gourmet Foods.

Truth be told, Itha Sanders, founder of Itha's Puddings, is a marketer's dream. An 80-year-old grandmother who has been hand-making her gourmet Christmas puddings for over 50 years (but only started selling them in 2010), using a traditional "cooked in the cloth" recipe inherited from her grandmother. How wonderfully old-school can you get?

This is what the pudding exterior looks like, with a dark, glistening pudding skin.

Itha's pudding, after unwrapping.

And this is how the pudding interior looks like - rich, moist, and heavy with fruit.

Cross-section of Itha's pudding.

In short, this is a quality pudding I could happily eat at home, or bring to a Christmas party. The only main downside has to do with dietary needs or preferences. The pudding and the dessert sauce I received are not preservative-free, and the sauce is also not vegetarian or vegan-friendly due to the presence of gelatine. If you can get past that, though, Itha's products are worth trying. I've tried the pudding both hot and cold, and enjoyed it both ways - it just really depends on the weather, and what I feel like at the time. The brandy butterscotch was beautifully smooth and luxurious, too. Together, they make a decadent combination. It's also a very sweet treat, as expected, so personally I enjoy my slice with a herbal tea to balance things out a bit. Yes, I know the usual pairing is to have Christmas pudding with ports and liqueurs, but I guess I'm a tame one.

A slice of traditional pudding with brandy butterscotch sauce.

---

But, wait, there's more! Here's a wine spritzer recipe which does happen to work nicely with port wines, and also, potentially, other reds, especially in the form of dessert wines or fortified wines. Going the spritzer route means that it's lighter, being diluted with soda; and cooler, with the addition of ice cubes. It's a hot Christmas and New Year's in Australia, so a cold, sparkling drink can be very welcome, indeed.

I created this recipe because a while ago, Simon bought a bottle of tawny port which was, quite frankly, rather unimpressive. I even remember asking him to re-consider the purchase at the time, because I had a feeling it wasn't going to be good, but did he listen? NO. So now we have this wine that neither of us really want to drink, with the choice to either bin it... or re-purpose it.

I chose to take on the challenge of giving it a new lease of life, and this cranberry port spritzer was born. If you, too, have a similarly regrettable purchase, this recipe may just rescue it. No guarantees, but it did make our wine more drinkable, and even enjoyable.

cranberry port wine spritzer
(makes 1 serve)

1/3 cup port wine (or other red wine, especially one that is a fortified wine or dessert wine)
1/3 cup cranberry juice drink
1/3 cup soda water / sparkling mineral water / carbonated water
3 ice cubes

Pour port wine, cranberry juice and then soda water into a glass. Top with ice cubes. You may adjust the ratio of the different liquids according to your taste. If you're feeling fancy, quickly bruise some fresh mint or basil leaves by pressing, rubbing and pinching them between your fingers, then add them to the mix as well.

Note: This can be a vegetarian/vegan recipe, but you'll have to use a vegetarian/vegan wine - many wines are clarified using animal products.

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spring, hayfever, raw honey, bee pollen, and a berry smoothie

A healthy berry smoothie with fruits, greens, raw honey and bee pollen.

It's springtime! We're more than halfway through the season, and this year I have some secrets up my sleeve: raw honey and bee pollen.

I've heard that these two things may be used as natural remedies for hayfever, and as this is an allergy that has given me grief over the recent few years, I figured it was worth a try. This requires some planning - it's not meant to be an instant fix, but is best implemented throughout the year to build up your immunity gradually, so your body is well-prepared by the time spring and summer comes around. Or at least, that's what I've read.

Thus, in autumn this year, I started incorporating raw honey into my diet a few times a week. In winter this year, I added bee pollen to my repertoire. While we're at it, can I heartily recommend the bee pollen from Windarra Honey in Swan Valley? At the time of purchase, it was the first time I had ever tried bee pollen, and I absolutely fell in love with their product, which, according to the label, is gathered by their bees "from the pristine forests from the South West of Western Australia". I've grown to appreciate it even more since sampling another brand of bee pollen that a friend bought from a health food shop, which I didn't particularly care for due to hints of astringency and bitterness. My little jar of Windarra pollen, in contrast, has a wonderfully bright, pure, sweet taste - like honey in tiny golden nugget form. Just gorgeous.

A major word of caution, however. Bee pollen can cause serious, potentially life-threatening allergic reactions for some people. When I got my jar, I was advised to take just two or three granules at first to gauge my response - if all goes well, I can slowly increase my dosage on subsequent days, a few granules at a time. Suffice to say, there were no adverse effects for me, and these days, I usually consume about one teaspoon's worth each time, a few times a week.

With delicious, great quality bee pollen, I love eating it like candy, just by itself! Alternatively, I also throw it into smoothies - if you're not keen on the taste of your bee pollen, this is a good way to enjoy it. Here's a smoothie recipe you can try out - I like the gorgeous juxtaposition of purple and gold, plus it's healthy and tasty, too.

gold-studded purple berry pollen smoothie
(serves 1)

1 teaspoon raw honey
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup mixed frozen berries
10 baby spinach leaves
1 small banana, peeled and broken into chunks, fresh or frozen
1 lime, or small lemon, juiced, approx. 2 tablespoons of juice
1/2 teaspoon bee pollen, plus an extra 1/4 teaspoon to garnish

Stir raw honey together with water until it all dissolves. Blend this honey solution with the rest of the ingredients. Pour and serve with an extra sprinkling of bee pollen.

A pretty purple smoothie with flecks of gold.

Oh, and if you're wondering if my regular use of raw honey and bee pollen has helped ease my hayfever? It's still early days, but I swear I'm feeling a difference. I'm not completely cured, but the frequency, severity and duration of my hayfever attacks have been easier to deal with this spring. I've still had to reach for my nasal spray a couple of times, but the same time last year, it would've been more like a dozen times, plus I was also taking fexofenadine tablets as well, which I haven't yet bothered with this year. It may be a placebo effect, or a coincidence, but I wouldn't be surprised if there really is something to this natural remedy.

Do you enjoy raw honey and bee pollen? Have you tried any natural remedies for hayfever? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments!

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iced carrot milk

A delectable glass of iced carrot milk, made with fresh carrots.

I've mentioned carrot milk on this blog before, but I feel like I cheated my readers by talking about it so merrily and yet not offering up a recipe, especially when it is so easy to make. So here I am today, almost two years later, sharing this delightfully refreshing carrot milk recipe with you. Better late than never!

As discussed in the other post, carrot milk is a popular beverage served in Malaysian street stalls, food courts and cafes. However, as I only started appreciating it when I ventured into making my own carrot milk in Australia, I have no idea how close my version is to the typical carrot milk you can get in Malaysia. Next time I go back for a holiday, I'll try a glass, and make the comparisons. In the meantime, does it really matter? I love my version, and I think you will, too.

iced fresh carrot milk (serves 2)

2 medium to large carrots
3/4 cup water
2 cups cold milk (feel free to use soy milk, nut milk, rice milk, oat milk etc to make it a vegan recipe)
2 teaspoons raw sugar, more or less (or other sweetener of your choice)
ice cubes, to serve

Peel the carrots, then chop 'em up - if your blender isn't super-powerful, finely slice the carrots - that should help ease things along.
Thoroughly blend the chopped carrots together with water.
Filter the blended carrot through a strainer to separate the pulp and obtain carrot juice, pressing to get the most out of it. (By the way, don't throw away the pulp after that's done - save it and use it in cakes, muffins, smoothies, or stews!)
Stir carrot juice and milk together, adding sugar to taste.
Pop in a few ice cubes and serve.

If you have a juicer, feel free to use it to get a pure carrot juice to mix with milk, without having to bother with the steps involved in blending with water. Without the dilution of water, this also means that you can achieve a more intense carrot flavour!

Fresh carrot milk - gentle, sweet and refreshing.

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maple orange yoghurt soda-fizz

maple orange yoghurt soda.

I was recently sent a crate of oranges as an invitation to participate in the Live Well, Go Orange campaign for Citrus Australia, where they're challenging/encouraging Australians to eat an orange everyday for ten days.

I was ever so gleeful when it arrived. Fruits always seem to look extra-wholesome in a wooden crate, don't you think? I'll be keeping the crate, it might work nicely as a mini bench, or as some kind of storage solution.

a dozen oranges in a wooden crate.

So for these past several days I've been eating oranges. I've cut them up and eaten them fresh in all their glory. I've made an orange and olive oil cake, adapted from this recipe. I've also offered one to Simon when he was struck by midnight cravings, and together we concocted a snack by filling up a bowl with a cup of yoghurt, orange segments, a scattering of cacao nibs, and a drizzle of honey and plum coulis.

As you can imagine, we had a lot of fun, and I'm feeling mighty fine. The recipe I'm sharing with you today is that of a pretty healthy soft drink, inspired by oranges and their health benefits. I used not only the flesh of oranges here, which are a juicy source for a variety of nutrients (vitamin A, B, C, as well as fibre, folate, potassium and calcium) but also the zest, which contains an even more concentrated amount of the good stuff. It's all whirled together with yoghurt and maple syrup, then topped with soda water, for something refreshing and a little different.

Are you up for the Go Orange challenge? What's your favourite way to have oranges?

maple orange yoghurt fizz 
(makes 1 big serve or 2 small serves)

1 orange, zested and segmented (peel and seeds removed)
1/4 cup yoghurt
1/2 tablespoon maple syrup
1/2 cup soda water / sparkling mineral water / carbonated water
some ice, or vanilla ice cream

Blend orange zest, orange segments, yoghurt and maple syrup together until smooth.
Pour into a large glass, or divide amongst two glasses, depending on whether you're sharing.
Top up with sparkling water and some ice. Stir gently to incorporate.
If you're feeling indulgent, make it a dessert - throw in a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a delicious float!

Ingredient amounts can be adjusted to suit personal preferences.
I used plain unsweetened natural yoghurt but feel free to use your favourite, and create interesting combinations!

maple orange yoghurt fizz.

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