Please support my Half Marathon attempt and vital cancer research!

Hi everyone,

In a moment of madness a few weeks ago I put my hand up for the half marathon in the Sydney Running Festival which runs on September 20. I've just finished my second week of a 14 week training program with Can Too. I completed 8kms today - I've still got a long way to go but I'm determined to cross the finish line.

Can Too is a fantastic organisation that trains people like me for events to raise vital funds for Cure Cancer Australia so that they can provide grants to local scientists pursuing breakthrough cancer research here in Australia.

I’m asking you to sponsor my Half Marathon attempt to raise funds for this vital cancer research. My goal is to raise $2,000.

It’s easy to donate and it’s tax deductible. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Go to www.cantoo.org.au
2. On the menu bar click on Sponsor a Participant.
3. On the drop down menu click on Online Sponsorship.
4. Enter the surname of the participant you wish to sponsor (HAZELL). Click on Search.
5. Tick the name of the person you wish to sponsor (Georgia Hazell) and enter your sponsorship amount (enter the amount in figures only i.e. 50.00).
6. Click on Add Sponsorship.
7. Enter your details. Click Submit.

After you’ve made your donation, you’ll receive an automatic notification via email that the sponsorship has been received along with a tax deductible receipt.

Thank you so much in advance for your support and generosity! I’ll let you know how I'm progressing and if/how I survive the day of madness!

Georgia

About Can Too

Can Too have trained more than 1,700 people while raising over $3,000,000 for cancer research since its inception in 2005. This has enabled 33 brilliant young researchers to strive for a cure!

www.cantoo.org.au

About Cure Cancer Australia

Since 1967, Cure Cancer Australia have provided an essential link between the community and young Australian research scientists working in all areas of cancer at the start of their careers. Funding more research grants each year enables Australia’s brightest researchers to secure further funding, build on their ideas and continue their vital work in Australia. Thanks to the generosity of the community, Cure Cancer Australia’s mission is possible: to find a cure by supporting young scientists to deliver breakthrough cancer research.

www.curecancer.org.au

Happy Birthday!

My little man turned one recently - I can't believe how quickly the last year has gone! From my little squidgy baby to a walking tornado of blond hair and giggles. We decided to throw a small party for him and my sister and I spent a lovely couple of hours baking a cake.

If you grew up in Australia in the 80's the preparations for your birthday would probably have included several hours poring over the Women's Weekly Children's Birthday Cake book. The agonizing decisions - the beautiful butterfly or the pink number seven! What about the candy castle?

When the little man was born I bought a copy of the original 80's version from Ebay - it's has dated a little but my sister and I had a lovely afternoon deciding which cake to cook. We eventually decided on the classic number one - yellow butter icing and smarties.

The cake itself was simple - an orange scented butter cake, covered with a thick layer of butter icing. The most time consuming part was putting the smarties on - the smarties were distinctly less vividly coloured and glossy than I remembered from my childhood but the effect was still fun

We also made chocolate crackles to complete the nostalgia trip - they were as popular at my office the next day as they were at the birthday party. Happy birthday little man! What cake shall we do next year?

A road trip to Victoria

The family and I have just arrived home from a road trip to Victoria - 2 weeks of exploring, camping (pretty challenging with a 9 month old!) and eating. We caught up with family and friends and generally had a great holiday. Apart from a roast we cooked with my sister in Melbourne we ate pretty standard camping fare although there were some spectacular food highlights when we ate out.

On the Mornington Peninsula we went wine tasting and ate lunch at a couple of the local wineries. We had a lovely Italian meal at the restaurant attached to T'Gallant winery - it was lovely place to sit and overlook the vines with a glass of wine and some food.

We also had a great French meal at La Petanque. No photos due the time spent trying to wrangle a small child into to his highchair and keep him there - it required 2 pairs of hands and G had to relinquish a fairly large portion of his pork belly and parsnip mash to a hungry little mouth!

After a weekend in Melbourne with my sister we drove further south to the Great Ocean Road and stayed in Lorne for a few days. It drizzled pretty much everyday we were there but we braved the weather and took a day trip to the Gentle Annie Berry farm.

This was a great day - the farm is a family run affair and has a cafe and produce store. After paying for a "Gobbler's pass" we were let loose on the berries to pick and eat to our hearts desire.

We picked (read ate) our way through several varieies of strawberries and rasberries, thornless blackberries and nashi - we even managed to pick enough to fill a small punnet and then retired to the cafe to eat pie. Bliss..... if you are down that way I highly reccomend a trip to Gentle Annie farm.

Soba salad with miso dressing

Our New Years resolution this year was to eat 2 vegetarian dinners per week - good for our health, good for the environment. So far it's been great and it's really pushed us to look for recipes outside our usual repertoire.

This recipe came via Kate at Veggie Friendly - it's filling, flexible and the dressing is to die for. On a whim I bought a shiso plant from the Japanese supermarket and then realised I haven't really cooked with shiso before. A quick search brought this recipe up and it's a keeper.

Soba salad with miso dressing
200g soba
mixed salad leaves
steamed green vegetables (broccoli, snow peas, beans etc)

Marinated tofu
300g firm tofu
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup boiling water
1 clove garlic
1 tsp grated ginger
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp Chinese 5 spice
1/2 tsp ground chilli

For the dressing
1 dessert spoon sesame oil
1 dessert spoon rice wine vinegar
2 dessert spoons tamari
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup light miso stock


Make up the marinade and slice the tofu into thick slices. Marinate the tofu for at least 30 mins.
Boil the soba according the packet directions - drain and rinse with cold water.
Steam the green vegetables till cooked but still crisp.
Make up the dressing by mixing all the ingredients - for the light miso stock I used a good teaspoon of miso in a 1/4 cup of hot water with 1/2 a teaspoon of dashi stock powder.
Grill the tofu till heated through and then assemble the salad together and mix the dressing through

.

We are looking forward to more interesting vege meals - is anyone knows any good cookbooks or sites for new recipes all suggestions will be gratefully received!

Christmas Round-up

We had a lovely Christmas this year - a very relaxing 3 days of full on eating, family, gifts and more eating. Here is some of the amazing food we ate over the holidays

Gazpacho with prawns and avocado cream

Roast turkey

The traditional sides - roast vegetables and ham

Bean and asparagus salad with mustard vinaigrette and hazelnuts

Christmas pudding

Maggie - festively attired and stuffed full of ham and turkey

Christmas Gingerbread Cookies

Now G and I have the little one we have been starting our own family traditions for the season like visiting the Christmas windows at David Jones and photos with Santa. We've had a lovely time watching his little face take it all in.

One tradition I'm keen to start is baking and decorating Christmas cookies. As the little man is only 7 months old I had to borrow a friend's daughter S to help this year - we had a great time with brightly coloured icing, sprinkles and silver balls. S was entranced and stood on her little stool for a couple of hours decorating biscuits like a machine, she didn't even stop to lick her fingers! I think you'll agree she did a beautiful job!

Gingerbread Cookies
(adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe)

• 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon finely ground pepper
• 1 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup golden syrup
  

1. Sift together flour, baking soda, and baking powder into a large bowl. Set aside.
2. Put butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until fluffy. Mix in spices and salt, then eggs and syrup. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Divide dough into thirds; wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface and cut with assorted cookie cutters. Space 2 centimeters apart on greased baking sheets.
4. Bake cookies until crisp but not dark, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

Royal Icing
In Australia we seem to be less concerned about raw eggs than in other places hence the recipe below - if raw eggs are a problem where you live Martha Stewart suggests substituting 5 tablespoons meringue powder and 1/3 cup water for raw eggs.

2 egg whites
2 cups of icing sugar
assorted food colours

Beat the egg whites till they form soft peaks - slowly add the icing sugar. Divide the icing up into smaller bowls and colour with a few drops of food colouring.

I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and I wish you all the best for 2009!

Georgia

Solids!

The little one has just started solids - G and I are thoroughly enjoying watching his face as he tries new flavours and textures. What comes out the other end - not so much. Our freezer is now full of little frozen jewels of apple, pumpkin, peas and the like.

Oh little one the fun has only just begun!

Spice Islands

On my recent trip to Indonesia we stayed at a lovely old Dutch house in the mountains near Jakarta. The house has an amazing garden - full of tropical fruits like durian, star fruit, cocoa and spices.

Some of the more interesting things I learned while I was to be careful of falling durians as people have been killed by the falling spiny fruit and that you can eat the flesh of the nutmeg fruit.

A friend of my mothers grew up in Indonesia and grew up eating nutmeg fruit. The fruit looks like an unripe apricot or peach. The nutmeg we were eating were not mature - the 'nut' inside was still soft. The flesh is crisp and tart - it has a very sour citrus flavour with a strong nutmeg aftertaste. We dipped the small slices in salt before eating them.

The flavour is quite pronounced and you can only eat a small amount before it gets a little overwhelming. Totally delicious though.