Food Discoveries

 We did it! We made our own PAVLOVA.

Oh my. Am I in trouble now. 

It was divine and I'm already itching to make another. The crisp, light, chewy nest filled with fresh, fluffy whipped cream and sliced fruit (w/ passionfruit drizzle of course) I COULD BARELY STOP shoveling it into my face. Recipe here.

Lamingtons are another famed dessert down under. And they are gooood. Super light, tasty "sponge" with or without cream/fruit filling, dunked in chocolate and rolled in coconut. Yessss.

And what to my wondering eyes did appear but "Choco-late Babies" (please tell me someone else has seen that classic SNL gameshow skit - I couldn't find a clip!) I absolutely had to buy them. Chocolate gummies? Weird. And good.

We've been busy in the kitchen. Did you know you can cook just about anything in the crock pot? We're now making our own yogurt in it - suuuuper simple (recipe here). And I even did creme brulee (here). Double yum.

Favorite new try though is homemade bagels. This was not done in the crock pot, but who ever thought of boiling bread? Now that was a stroke of genius. Used this recipe from the blogosphere. Of course the kids are strictly judging and rating each creation like the good old MasterChefs they are. No surprise they gave the cinnamon-sugar ones a 10.
 

And if you're looking for a pumpkin fix and have a soft spot for sweet potato pancakes like me, this might be your ticket to the perfect breakfast: pumpkin pancakes. Yeah, baby. Melt in your mouth.