bourke st bakery sausage rolls

Hi everyone, hope everyone is well. Holidays have been great, my life has consisted of friends, gossip girl and baking. Having said that christmas shopping has sent me broke and a japan trip is fast approaching. So after trying the bourke st bakery in marrickville (i think it's quite new, it opened on mitchell st) i decided to attempt this recipe from the bourke st bakery baking bible. This cookbook has changed my life, i love everything about it from the delicious recipes to the handy hints, even the pics are mouthwatering. This recipe is for pork and fennel sausage rolls and the first time i ever had them was at danielle's kitchen tea (my partner in crime Tors made them). They were amazing so i then went to the actual bakery and the rest is history (ie i made them). Here is the recipe i used (i am ashamed to say i did not make the puff pastry- i know, i feel guilty but pampas is good and puff pastry is a nightmare).

Pork and fennel sausage rolls

Ingredients

6 garlic cloves through a garlic crusher

40g fennel seeds chopped

4 thyme sprigs

150g onion chopped finely

150g celery chopped finely (boiled till soft)

150g carrots chopped finely (boiled till soft)

1.2kg pork mince

40g bread crumbs

20g salt

15g white pepper

puff pastry

egg wash for brushing- 1 egg and milk

Method

Heat some oil in a frying pan and brown the garlic, onion, thyme and fennel seeds. Add the cooked celery and carrots to the frying pan. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

In a large bowl add the mince, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and cooled vegetables.

Cut the pastry in half and put the meat into a log in the middle, fold the pastry over and secure tightly (you can use some egg wash to secure it). Cut the log into smaller pieces and egg wash the top (this ensure it will turn a lovely brown colour). Line a baking tray with foil (or baking paper) and bake in a 190 degree oven for 20 mins (or until the tops are brown and "oozing with goodness")

The dress i am wearing is by Florent. I bought this dress in kyoto japan last year and i still love it. I know every dress i write about is "my favourite" and "i love it" but this one has been my favourite for the longest time and i really do love it! There is a Florent store in tokyo, we tried to go last time but they were closed over new years, so this trip will definitely involve a post about florent.

Other things that have happened this week include a wedding- my friend danielle's. It was the first time i was a bridesmaid and i had such a lovely day- tiring but lovely. Danielle looked amazing and Ian was so proud. Danielle's dress was by Steven Khalil in Paddington sydney. The dress was made of fine tulle with polka dots. The cake was made by sweet art and was amazing- i hope to be that good one day. The bridesmaid dresses were created by Leonie Grace. It was a perfect day for danielle and i think the wedding was completely her- elegant and contemporary.

Congratulations danielle and ian, xoxo

Halfway to an Alannah Hill catalogue

Hi everyone sorry it's been so long since my last post, silly exams took over my life but now they are over and i am ready for a summer of blogging, shopping and baking. To finish stage 2 there was a halfway dinner which i helped organise with my trusty friend Sam. The night was a complete success with 170 guests at the tea room QVB.

We celebrated the end of an era since we've all split up now into our allocated clinical schools. The best thing about stage 2 for me was my study group (which are the girls featured in these photo's). I really couldn't have passed osce (and hopefully barrier) without them. My biggest piece of advice to anyone starting med at sydney university is to find a good study group, they will become your best friends and remind you, you're not alone even when you feel like you're the only one who has given up life for med. So here are the pictures, i hope you enjoy them, all 3 girls are dressed in Alannah Hill and i am dressed in my 500 days of summer dress.

The 500 days of summer dress was in the wedding scene when summer attend's Millie's wedding. In the movie it was made by western costume, but i had it made by Ophelia Belle in Enmore. She did and amazing job i was so happy with it, it's my own perfect summer dress!

My 3 greatest friends are wearing Alannah Hill dresses, Bek and Jac also have on alannah hill shoes while Lauren is wearing mollini. We all got our hair done at elevation hair in Glebe, on Glebe point road.

Picture of the high ceiling in the tea room QVB. They are such a wonderful company, so professional and everything ran so smoothly. The food was also amazing, would be a great venue for a wedding.

So the plan for this summer is to bake and shop, bake and shop! I have the Bourke St bakery cookbook at hand and i will be attempting croissants next week, so make sure you stay turned to see how they turn out! Furthermore japan and china is coming up (we leave on the 1/1/10) so i will be sure to post all my purchases (modeled hopefully like liebemarlene).

I would also like to thanks Topshop and Incu since i won 2 tickets to london for shopping at Topshop about Incu on oxford st sydney. Topshop is a UK brand which has finally reached our shores thanks to Incu (my other favourite shop). So i'll have alot of fashion to talk about in the coming year!

Yay i feel so free, it's finally hit me that exams are over and i have just under 2 months to do other things i really enjoy- like blog, bake and shop.

merry christmas, i love it when they start putting up trees and christmas lights

xoxo

Me and Matty