Dinner at Little Creatures Dining Hall

Saturday I had promised to go to the footy at the 'G with the boyfriend, afterwards we met up with a group of friends to say good-bye to my boyfriend who is going on an extended holiday to Europe next week. The footy was good, my boyfriends club won. Happy boyfriend, happy me. But I can tell you, it was freezing out there and with the prospect of going out directly afterwards I didn't really want to wear the usual long sleeve shirt, jumper, jumper, jeans, warm socks, boots and down jacket. So by the time the footy was finished I had frozen to a Popsicle.

We went out for dinner, the others had all been to Little Creatures on Brunswick St before, but for me it was the first time.

I'm not much of a beer drinker, but I loved the feel and atmosphere of the whole place.

We arrived fairly early at 6pm as they don't take bookings and we were a group of seven, but we were lucky enough to get a table straight away.

The service was ok, it took us a while to place our orders, but the place was pretty busy. My friends drank their way through the extensive list of beers on tap, I chose a glass of sauvignon blanc, hat went quite well with my pizza.

The pizzas were AMAZING. I know it's just pizza, really, just a bit of dough with sauce and some toppings on top. But I can get pretty excited about really good pizza. (Has anyone ever tried the pizza from Earth 'n' Sea in Byron Bay?? OMG!)

Anyway, I opted for the Potato, rosemary and buffalo mozarella pizza and it was good! The other half went with the spicy meatball pizza, and you know how it is, I always have to reach and pinch one of his slices. I have to say, both pizzas were pretty great.

Unfortunately we decided to move on to the next watering hole, but next time I will definitely have the cinnamon doughnuts for dessert!

The Perfect Cupcake

I have tried many cupcakes, have bought plenty and baked even more. There was five of us in the office, four girls and one male colleague. He had to go out for a meeting and asked if we needed anything. Sure, afternoon tea!

And he came back with the most amazing little cupcakes. They were moist, soft and had the softest, tastiest icing on top. I tried a raspberry white chocolate one and a lemon cupcake. And now I'm licking my fingers to get more...

They came from Little Cupcakes in Melbourne and I can't wait to check them out myself!

Those cupcakes have inspired me to bake something on the weekend, I'm thinking raspberry macaroons...

The addiction of cooking

I don't know how you feel, but every time I stand in my kitchen and cook, I feel relaxed. Cooking is no longer a chore, it's more like a treat.

I spend my days sitting behind a desk, typing away on my computer and doing what I do. But around lunchtime I start thinking about what I could make for dinner.

I live in an apartment and as it happens, I sometimes run a hostel there. Or at least so it seems.

One of my "guests", who came over from Germany and stayed with me for a couple of months, never really enjoyed cooking.

We had sort of an agreement: I cook, she cleans (pretty cool, he?). So she knew of my love of cooking. But back then, I was more of a person who would throw some pasta in boiling water and stir up a sauce. Anyway, before she left, she gave me a voucher for a cooking class.

I loved the idea of a cooking class, but for some reason never really got around to it.

Just a few weeks before the voucher was going to expire I signed up, but had to wait for another 6 weeks before I could actually go to the class.

It was a french cooking class, run by a cookbook author and I have to say, it was absolutely amazing. I loved it (and have since been back several times...)!

I started buying even more cookbooks than I already had, started reading cookbooks at night and planning what I could cook up on the weekend.

I wouldn't say I'm a great cook, not at all, but I think I'm good enough to learn more.

I was born in Germany, comfort food for me are mostly German dishes, that remind me of my childhood. When I eat Milchreis (rice pudding with cinnamon sugar and cherries) I can exactly picture us all sitting around the big table, a big bowl of Milchreis in the middle and us kids eating as fast as we can to get a second serving. Ahh, memories.

I don't have a favourite cuisine, but love Italian, French, Indian, Modern Australian, Thai, Moroccan, and many more.

So, food for me is not only the essential thing, that keeps you going through the day, but also a celebration of memories and different cultures. Let's see where it can take us!