I am the antichrist of parenting

During my very short stint at parenting (a whole four and half months!), I have discovered there are two schools of thought for EVERYTHING amongst mothers. There’s the “acceptable” way of doing things and then there’s the “other way” of doing things which if you do this, expect finger pointing and sniggering behind your back. The methods I use to raise my baby tend to fall in the latter category. Not deliberately, it’s just the way things have worked out.

Firstly, I had a caesarean (gasp!) albeit an emergency one but I rather fancied it. So much so, that I am going to have an elective one next time around (double gasp!). The “acceptable” way of giving birth is the natural way so you can feel like a real woman and feel the sensation of birth, the way mother nature intended. Stick that.

Secondly, I don’t breastfeed my baby (gasp, ahh, clunk- that’s the sound of someone fainting and hitting the ground). Now I really did want to breastfeed and I would still like too however, I had trouble. Putting my baby on formula was the best thing for me at the time and to be honest, I’m glad I did because it has been smooth sailing ever since. Despite this, I still get “the look” from breastfeeding mothers when I announce I use formula.

Thirdly, I use disposable nappies and not the reusable variety. I am aware of the environmental impact and added financial burden however, as a 21st century gal, I figure I have better things to do with my precious time then to wash and soak nappies all day long but understand that other mums don't mind investing the time.

Other noteworthy no-nos which I have adopted include, using a dummy, circumcising my son and starting him on solids at four and half months.

In summary (yes there is a point to this tale),mothers are a funny bunch. When I became a mother I expected to enter this exclusive club where I would be welcomed with open arms. I expected streamers and balloons and a big banner which said “welcome. You’re now one of us!” (a bit over the top?). I imagined chatting with my fellow mothers about the joys of motherhood and how gifted our children are. Instead it’s all about comparing and judging each other.

OK, now here is my point (finally). Mothers, listen up. Pull your heads in. Being a mum is a tough gig so let’s be each other’s number one supporters rather than tough critics. Be open minded and respect the choices other mothers make.

This time I really am back

Phew!

Ok, so I know I promised last November that I would write stuff about our trip to Germany (I can't believe that was now over a year ago!) bu I've been busy. Yes, most of you know that I have been busy have a baby (now that's a damn good excuse for not blogging). Yes, Mark and I welcomed the beautiful Dylan in August 2011.

Before you start rolling your eyes, yes there will be baby posts (in fact my first real post will be baby related) but they will be more about my experiences as a new parent. I am still food obsessed and will still be posting heaps of recipes I've tried out (yes, I am now finding time to cook) and also reviews about places I've eaten recently.

I'm back

Apologises for the hiatus but I've been travelling (to Germany...more on that later) and now that I'm back, I've been busy settling back into work and doing "stuff". Unfortunately, this "stuff" (which hasn't really consisted of anything interesting) has caused me to neglect my blog!

Over the next month I will post some tales about my adventures in the Fatherland as well as some details about what food extravaganzas I have planned for Christmas.

My cupcakes bring all the boys to the yard...

On Sunday, I held a high tea/party lite candle party shindig at my place. For the occassion I made cupcakes and a few people have asked for my recipe. Again it is a Nigella recipe (thank you Nigella, you really are a domestic goddess) and it is easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

Ingredigents (makes 12)
125g SR flour
125g castor sugar
125g room temp butter, diced
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method
Cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add SR and stir until combined. Add eggs one at a time and combine after each addition. Add vanilla extract and mix to combine. Divide batter among 12 cup cake cases. Bake at 180 degrees celcius for 12 minutes or until cupcakes are golden.

Once cooked, allow to cool completely before icing. Here is a great vanilla butter cream icing recipe:

Ingredients
180g room temp butter
2 cups icing sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method
mix all ingredients together until fluffy.

Darwin Delights

Last weekend I ventured up to Darwin. While I was there due to unfortunate circumstances, I still managed to take advantage of some of the local food delights.

The Darwin Festival was on during my visit so one night I made my way over to the park on the Esplanade where they had live music and food stalls. I had a lovely Malaysian chicken curry and a beef massaman from local asian food restaurant, Hanuman.

On Saturday, we treated ourselves to the Parap markets. For lunch I had chicken pad thai. The green paw paw salad is also worth tasting.

Believe it or not, Darwin is a foodie paradise. One of my favourite food memories is eating chicken satay and beef massaman on the beach at sunset at the Mindil Beach markets. Life doesn’t get much better than that really.

Check me out

I am going to digress from my food themes for just one moment to show you a picture of moi holding THE Melbourne Cup. Yes, the very cup that will be presented to this year's race winner.

Yesterday, Borders in the City had a launch of the History of the Melbourne Cup and they had it sitting outside the store! (BTW - I wasn't there for the book launch, I happened to be there because I had a 40% off voucher).

The cup weighs 4kgs and is worth $150,000. It is a shame I am not a fast runner otherwise I would have run off it.

The guy next to me is Mel Schumacher. He was the jockey who won the Cup in 1958.

Very cool indeed.

Anniversary at Anise

Last week, Mark and I celebrated our 4^th wedding anniversary and to honour this occasion, we did what we do best – go out to dinner! We ventured back to our old neck of the woods, New Farm to go to a restaurant which we have never been to before even though it has been there for many years – Anise!

Anise is a small, 21 seat European style wine bar and restaurant. There are no tables and chairs, everyone sits around the bar. I must admit at first I was not too keen on this but it turned out to be heaps of fun and really added to the ambience of the place.

The bar featured an impressive wine, spirit and cocktail menu. The friendly staff were really knowledgeable about the menu and were more than happy to chat with you about the different wines/spirits and even offered a taste of anything you weren’t familiar with.

The food menu is French inspired and it changes seasonally. We were treated with the winter menu which featured a great range of warming comfort food. My dinner consisted of the following.

· Entrée: pan seared scallops with boudin noir, celeriac puree & Caperberry noisette

· Main: grain eye fillet with carrot & Swede dauphinoise, truffle honey glazed carrots

· Dessert: profiteroles with gianduia (choc/hazelnut) ice cream, praline and chocolate ganache.

Each dish was cooked brilliantly and combined a variety of different flavours and textures. Very cool.

Find Anise at 697 Brunswick Street, New Farm