I really should find more time for this

At the moment though time seems to be slipping away awfully fast. It doesn't seem like 11 days since I last posted, and it certainly doesn't seem like 10 weeks until Christmas. This week i have the pleasure of looking forward to putting down the fruit cakes and infusing the oils!!!!

On a lighter note i figured i should continue with the "Ranting and Raving section". Let's start with the good news first, the rave. This weeks rave Award for outstanding achievement in culinary delights goes too.....

OK this is where i realise (and finally understand) the problem the Oscars have. I remember one year sitting down watching the Oscars and Denzel Washington won for a film that was godbloodyawful! I remember sitting there and discussing with my friends that while yes, Denzel is a great actor, he didn't deserve to win for his performance in that piece of trash. When one of my friends pointed out that the problem was that they don't always have years where they can give the Oscar to those who deserved it (allegedly Denzel had lost out to someone else in a previous year), and thus it is more of an accumulation of talent then there performance in just that one movie.

At the time i didn't realise how that could be relevant, but now i do. You see, as I've already explained, my partner and i eat out a lot (hell we eat in a lot too) and thus i have a catalogue of great eats to share. But it's not like there's a weekly winner every time, sometime i have to dig into the past few weeks (especially this week when we only ate out one).

So i think i might make this weeks winner .... George (and Family) of the Hungarian Langos Stands. (I can already hear the ???????). So the best way to start this is with a quick introduction to Langos, so see the following link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A1ngos
(I love wikipedia). Now i remember the first time i met George. We were walking through the West End Markets when my partner spotted something deep fried and covered in cheese, garlic and sour cream and had to have one immediately (to look at him you wouldn't think he had a fascination with all things deep fried, but i like to think i gain all my excess fat from him as "sympathy fat"). I'd just started my healthy eating regime and had been attending the gym at a regular rate again. My partner marched up to George's stall and asked for a Langos. George looked at me and asked if wanted one. I said "No I'm on a diet" at which point he replied "you don't need a diet".

I know it sounds corny but since then i always had a real respect for George, and later his brother and brother's partner as well. I now look forward to going to the markets on the weekend and having a chat with the family, and the Langos and Lepany (my personal favourite) and Hungarian Donuts (mmmm donuts) are all a great incentive too.

So if you'd like to try some of these wondrous food stuffs i highly recommend heading over to any of the following markets this weekend:

Saturday

• Kelvin Grove Village Markets
  

Kelvin Grove Urban Village Precinct
Blamey Street, Kelvin Grove
6am to 1pm

• West End Green Flea Community Markets

Davis Park
Corner of Montague Road and Jane Street, West End

Sunday

• Mt Gravatt Markets
  

Mt Gravatt Showgrounds
Logan Road, Mt Gravatt

Well that's another blog for this week (ish)...

Stay Tuned

T

"Less Than 12 Weeks until Christmas"

... was something touted to me the other day (like I didn't know). I think when it comes to Christmas Countdowns i should be crowned the World Champion. Why i hear you ask? Well as well as being a world class librarian, and writing and cooking in my spare time, every year i do a "Christmas Project". Last year was test cooking for the last cookbook.

And this year, (as those of you who are participating will know) is the "Market Research Project". I decided to focus this years project with the idea of easing peoples stress over Christmas by providing fresh, high quality, pre-made options of in demand items required at this time of year such as salads; dips& pates; sweet & savoury butters; marinades; mustard's & sauces; mayonnaise's; savoury jellies; dessert sauces; finger foods; drinks; sweets and of course the irreplaceable Christmas cake.

Now the reason I made it a "Market Research Project"meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> is because all monies charged are to cover packaging & ingredients costs and are thus at cost prices, which is why it's all so bloody cheap. We are offering these products at a reduced rate in exchange of the assistance of the participants by asking that they fill out the survey that will accompany there orders. This is basically a fun way for me to find out about serving sizes and how appropriate they are in reality.

Meanwhile your sitting there saying "you know this isn't the usual Rant and Rave that she goes on in her blogs". The reason for this is because many of the participants in the program asked me to post details of the project online so they could access it at home. I figured I'd better explain a little before just going and adding links to my blog that make no sense.

So if your curious, have a look (and get a little glimpse of the manicness of my life at this time of year) and for those who asked for it, here it is...

Descriptions can be found at:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dc4gvkgw_12dcg722dp

Allergy information can be found at:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pEPitDA2OwGhGHfb-7lCSFA

And the price list can be found at:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pEPitDA2OwGhrYB9lfhsGJw