mosaic road

Sugar Cookie Bar Addiction

This was sugar cookie success, true heaven in every way. I often get too frustrated making cookies as it is slow and would way prefer to dump all the mix into a pan, flatten and smooth it with a spatula and get it in the oven. So this worked for me !! Food processor, dump, cook, frost !!! I even made the icing in the food processor. I have had a long history of icing failures - too runny, too gooey, too ghastly to eat ! This time I actually followed the recipe "with care", two important words that a gungho type like me tends to avoid. But I did get gungho with the colouring and the icing is green, purely because it was the first little bottle I came across when rummaging through my tin of odd bottles of things. So the final result is green and almondy as I cannot stop myself from using almond essence in everything. And so eating this slice was a glorious experience but an unstoppable one, a self control out the window type of experience. If you are a sugar cookie lover then this recipe is for you !!

How to Make Sugar Cookie Bars | recipegirl.com

via www.recipegirl.com

Don't these look to die for ! I had a go yesterday at creating my own version - pics will come if it is not all gone !

Eureka - I have found my sort of gold !!!

I found it in the supermarket in Vanuatu and I may never find it or have it again. It is a jar containing vanilla seeds. A whole jar of them !!! It was an unbelievable find and I would have emptied the store of its entire stock except for my total fear of Australian customs. I declared openly and honestly all my food products and still I was just waved through. Obviously no Border Security was being filmed that day or I did not look like the type to have dehydrated guinea pig or such like stashed in my suitcase.This jar is full of the tiny black vanilla seeds that I would normally scrape from a vanilla pod. The pods are very pricey here so real and true vanilla is an expensive culinary commodity. My only hope of getting hold of more of this "gold" is to email the company and see if they can send more and in large quantities too !!

Great Presentation.

Here are photos of vegetables that I am familiar with from the Vanuatu market. What sets them aside from those I purchase here is how they are so neatly bunched together. If I buy lettuce here , it comes either in a bag of leaves or I just pick up a whole lettuce whereas these are strung together so beautifully. Carrots here are in a plastic bag mainly. If you see a bunch tied together it will be only of Dutch baby carrots. The ones in the photo looks so decorative. The bunches of peanuts in shells are unbelievable. I had never seen peanuts for sale in this manner. Yes, we can buy a paper bag of unshelled peanuts and all manner of shelled peanuts but never on stems. They would make fabulous table decorations at Xmas sprayed gold and silver. Lastly the limes are strung together somehow and looked so glossy and marvellous. Do limes come by the bunch or pack or flock or herd and what happens if you just need one ?? I did not see any scales at the market. The baskets holding yam/kumara/taro/manioc are made from banana leaves. It was impressive to see that plastic bags are not as widely used as they are here in Australia. I would love to pop into the supermarket with my banana leaf basket.

Name the Vegetable.

 
I had the most wonderful time wandering amongst the market stalls in Vanuatu. The market is open 24 hours a day but shuts at lunchtime on a Saturday then reopens on Monday morning. Sunday is set aside for going to church. The stall owners sleep beside their produce overnight ready for dawn sales. I presume they must travel some distance so come to the market with their harvested goods and spend the week there. I would imagine various family members take shifts too. I did see lots of mothers with children sitting behind market tables waiting for customers. I am sure it is a very hard way to earn a living. The photos I took were mainly of vegetables that I could not identify. So maybe someone could help me out with information like name and use !!

Where the Sea Meets the Sky .

Well, that's what it looked like to me. Daughter18 went parasailing in Vanuatu. The day was inclement but the boat still went out. This activity is not affected by rain, just by wind so they do keep a close eye on any change in weather conditions. We watched the boat become a dot in the distance and then vanish but from time to time we saw the parachute as a tiny coloured smudge right on the horizon. My daughter is so much braver than I am and loved every minute. Expensive hobby, though !!

Water, Water Everywhere !

We headed off to see Vanuatu's wonderful waterfalls. Amidst drizzle and slippery mud, we trekked up as far as we safely could . Because of so much rain the water was flowing very fast, crashing and gushing. A local bus took us to the entrance of the National Park, we paid the necessary vatu and headed onward and upward. Many handrails and ropes are provided but the track was slushy and the weather was not ideal. Nonetheless we continued, noticing that there were many intrepid types who climbed much further than we did and were swimming in the pools of water and diving from high precipices. A outdoor company even offers the chance of abseiling down the waterfalls - not for the fainthearted or the likes of me !!!!

Beach Baby

The beach in front of Breakas Resort in Vanuatu is about a 2 kilometer sweep of sand and rocky bits. The water is incredibly clear and warm. Reef shoes really need to be worn even walking in the shallows as it is 
shelly, pebbly and sharp and you may step on a sea creature. Starfish and sea cucumbers are in abundance. At Hideaway Island the whole beach is coral, no sand at all, so shoes are obligatory. There is a sign there asking that you wear shoes in the water so as not to harm sea life by stepping on it !!
 

French Influence

There is definitely a French flavour to Vanuatu. Lots of French conversation is overheard, the supermarket chain is called Au Bon Marche, many shopkeepers seemed French, baguettes are carried home for lunch, signs are seen written in French and menus are influenced by French cuisine. The photos that follow are from a pretty cafe on the water and you will easily see what I mean by French influence. I am a bit of a francophile so I find all this madly appealing.

Local Colour

All aspects of Vanuatu are colourful. The people are bright and happy and full of smiles and wear bright, patterned clothing.The landscape is lush and green, so green, with a rainbow of tropical flowers dotted throughout. The beach even has bright blue starfish, easily seen through the crystal clear waters. The markets are full of psychadelic sarongs, muumuus and leis for tourists to purchase. An amazing array of fruits and vegetables  in every colour are sold, many that I cannot identify but they look exciting and would certainly provide me with a culinary challenge. Wintry Melbourne  certainly looks dreary and blah after the kaleidescope of Vanuatu.