Tag Archives: best australian blogs 2013

Another year is almost over and I’m feeling sentimental. So if you’ll indulge me, here’s a look at some of the highlights of the year.

Better pinch myself, yes, it’s really happening…

The year’s biggest surprise was winning the Outstanding Use of Photography award at the Best Australian Blogs 2013 competition for my post Exploring Dubai: Spices, Diamonds, Gold, Fruit & Vegetables. The shock of winning this award — with so many brilliant photographers/bloggers out there — had me pinching my arms until I was black and blue. Big love to the Australian Writers’ Centre.

Coming a close second was being one of only five finalists in the Lifestyle category of the Best Australian Blogs 2013 competition. I started this blog because I was a writer who had lost her confidence and couldn’t finish anything so this nomination that was especially dear to my heart. Thanks again to the Australian Writers’ Centre for this honour.

Pick of the posts

These were my favourite posts on The Hungry Australian in 2013. I wouldn’t mind re-doing some of the photographs but these are the ones that most meaningful to me.

1. Messy Pavlova or Eton Mess Down Under Style – nationality, Twitter and baking
2. Anne of Green Gables and an Upside Down Plum Cake – my beloved childhood heroine
3. Bloggers and brands: why we’re (mostly) doing it wrong – the blogger/brand relationship
4. Penang Assam Laksa for Father’s Day – I finally re-blog my grandmother’s beloved recipe
5. Top 5 Meals I Wish I’d Never Eaten – pretty self-explanatory, no?
6. Prawn Lettuce Cups with Thai Dressing – a memorable argument with my ex husband
7. Cockling at Goolwa Beach + 4 cockle (pippi) recipes – a beloved family ritual
8. Moscato Stewed Quinces – a funeral and a gathering of friends
9. Steak with Asian Dressing – documents my one gym visit of the year
10. Thai Prawn Salad – the photo of my dad always makes me smile

Cool stuff

I worked on a lot of great projects this year for my amazing clients. Highlights include the Custard Apples 2013 media campaign, working with the Almond Board of Australia on an ongoing basis, and the Go Behind the Scenery campaign for Tourism Tasmania. I also did the food styling for two Wok in a Box shoots, one of which was a TV commercial that is due to air soon.

I took quite a few trips this year, which made me really happy because I love travelling and exploring new places. I visited Tasmania, Brisbane, Hamilton Island, Sydney and Perth for this blog, went on a family cruise and to a family wedding, and did numerous day trips around South Australia.

In early 2013 I  joined the Servved advertising network, home to some of my favourite Australian food bloggers. I have also just signed on with StockFood, the premier food image agency.

Thank you for reading The Hungry Australian and being part of this delicious adventure. Looking forward to sharing lots more recipes and travel experiences with you in 2014!

Christina xx

PS new recipe up on Friday :-)

The Hungry Australian recently celebrated its second birthday. So here are some of my favourite photographs I’ve blogged over the last year.

It’s hard to explain everything The Hungry Australian means to me and how it’s changed my life. But I’m going to give it a go.

I began this blog in mid 2011 with a post about my dad’s Chinese sausage omelette after my dear friend Kerina suggested it. At the time I had recently moved back to my home town of Adelaide, following a stint in Melbourne as a SAHM which in turn followed a successful overseas career.

I was also a freelance writer — I had my first piece published in 1994 — but back in 2011 I wasn’t finishing anything because I had lost my confidence. So I saw blogging as a way of dipping my toes back into my writing again – it would be an outlet where I could safely practise my craft until I was brave enough to jump back into the deep end.

I didn’t realise that a blog can be a deep end in itself.

Fast-forward to two years later and my blog has helped create a new career for me as a consultant, freelance writer, recipe developer, food photographer and stylist. Just try fitting that onto a business card! What began organically through my blog with companies contacting me to do work for them is now my full-time gig.

Blogging has meant that I can work flexibly from home while my kids are small, which is basically my ideal setup. It’s meant that when my husband and I separated last year and I had to get a job after being a SAHM for so many years, the tools and skills to do so were already at my fingertips.

The Hungry Australian has taken me to places I never dreamed I’d go. It’s meant I’ve been invited to be part of some incredible food experiences in Adelaide, interstate and overseas. Last year, it led me to start up the Adelaide Food Bloggers Group and to co-chair Eat Drink Blog 3, the third Australian Food Bloggers Conference. Earlier this year, I was also invited to join the Servved network, sitting alongside some extraordinary bloggers who I’ve admired for years.

Blogging has also brought all sorts of amazing people into my life. People I used to only read about or cyber-stalk (in a non-creepy way) are now friends and colleagues. Some I chat to online but I’ve never met in person, some I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy meals and experiences with, and some have become close and treasured friends. If you’re one of these people — and you know who you are — I am so glad to have you in my life.

Along the way The Hungry Australian has been honoured with all kinds of recognition. I was especially thrilled to be a finalist in the Best Australian Blogs 2013 competition earlier this year and to win the Outstanding Use of Photography award for my post Exploring Dubai: Spices, Diamonds, Gold, Fruit & Vegetables – see photograph below.

The Hungry Australian is a work in progress – I’m still finding my feet and working out what kind of blogger I want to be and what kind of things I like to blog about. And I’m not always as regular as I’d like to be with posting content and engaging with readers because of my work and family commitments.

However I do read every comment left and I do feel a warm glow inside every time you share my work. I really love hearing from you, too – I especially enjoy it when you respond with your own stories and experiences because it’s like a little window back into your world.

I am just so grateful for everything that has happened because of this blog. I could never have predicted any of this and I guess that’s what makes it all so exciting.

As to what the future holds, well, I have a few ideas. Which idea I’ll eventually decide on is still up for debate. But I can promise you it’s going to be fun. And there will definitely be food – lots of food. So I do hope you’ll continue to come along for the ride.

Thanks for reading.

Christina xx

Posts from top to bottom:

• A Fathers’ Day Brunch
• Fleurieu Peninsula: Willunga Farmers’ Market, Coriole and The Elbow Room
• Bellini Sorbet
• Chocolate Bundt Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce
• Cockling at Goolwa Beach + 4 Cockle Recipes
• Grilled Figs
• A Lovely Afternoon Tea
• The Breakfast Rave, Barossa Valley
• 8 Favourite Things (Delicious Power Crackles)
• J’s Chocolate Banana Cake
• Exploring Dubai: spices, diamonds, gold, fruit & vegetables
• Bruschetta with Quail Eggs, Truffle Paste & Asparagus
• Blood Orange and Pomegranate Salad

A few weeks ago I decided to throw an afternoon tea. Between work and family commitments I’ve been a neglectful friend lately so I thought it was a good way to catch up with a whole lot of girlfriends at once.

In the week leading up to my afternoon tea I was chuffed to learn that I was a finalist in the Best Australian Blogs 2013 competition. Later, I was amazed to hear that I’d won the Outstanding Use of Photography award for my post on Dubai’s markets and souks. Thank you Australian Writers’ Centre – I’m really feeling the love.

So the afternoon tea today felt like an impromptu celebration.

Let’s have a look at all the dishes one by one, shall we? We’ll start with savoury.

Cheese Board

A Cheese Platter with Tasmanian Heritage Double Brie, King Island Cheddar, Gorgonzola Dolce, wafers and a fig and almond paste.  Click here for tips on putting together a cheese board.

Cold Meat Platter

Here I’ve chosen four different cold meats — Hamwurst, Mortadella, Paprika Lyoner and Bierschinken with Pistachio Nuts — from Standom.

Beetroot Hummus

This gorgeous looking dip was made by Nicola who blended chickpeas, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, beetroot and salt together. The beetroot gives the hummus a sweet flavour while the cucumber adds some refreshing crunch.

Vietnamese King Prawn Cold Rolls

My mum and our friend Ruta came over a bit earlier to help out and ending up making my plate of rolls for me – thank you! I’ll blog Vietnamese Cold Rolls properly at some point but for this dish you need King prawns split length-wise, cold vermicelli rice noodles, cucumber, carrot, mint, coriander, basil and rice paper wrappers. I made the sauce with a mixture of satay sauce, hoisin sauce, sweet chilli sauce, rice wine vinegar and lime juice.

Vietnamese Pork Rolls

I’ve blogged a Vietnamese Pork Bun recipe before so head over there if you want to know how to make my cocktail party version of Vietnamese Pork Rolls.

Smoked Salmon Dip & Corn Relish Dip

This Smoked Salmon Dip is super easy and so much better than the stuff you buy in tubs. Simply blend 100 grams smoked salmon, 200 grams softened cream cheese, juice of half a lemon, 2 tablespoons water and 1/2 teaspoon drained capers. The Corn Relish Dip is even simpler than the salmon. Simply blend a jar of corn relish with a block of softened cream cheese. Easy, right?

Sweet & Salty Popcorn

This stuff is like crack. Once you start eating it you don’t ever want to stop.

Cherry Cake

This Cherry Cake was made by Ruta. Sadly I didn’t get to try it but I’ve eaten Ruta’s food countless times over the years and she’s an excellent cook so I’m sure it was delicious.

Cream Puffs

When my mum asked me what she should make for today I said, “cream puffs. Make a tower of cream puffs with toffee like you did for my birthday when I was little.”

My mother laughed. “I bought that cake. Oh Christina, you’re so naive.”

Thanks mum – another childhood illusion shattered. These cream puffs she did make were awfully nice though.

Friands

My lovely sister in law made these delicious friands. They were such a great size – perfect for an afternoon tea party.

Lemon Slice

This gluten-free, no-bake lemon slice was made by Kate. It was so good that I have told Kate she has to blog it soon or there will be trouble.

UPATED: Kate has blogged the lemon slice recipe. Thanks Kate!

Mini Pavlovas

Celeste made these pink and white beauties. Well, technically, she assembled them but she’s put them together very nicely. Hey, I’ve just realised that the garnish is parsley not mint – Celeste, what kind of crazy fusion food game are you playing?

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes & Raspberry Cupcakes

Tash is a fantastic baker who is currently studying patisserie at Tafe and food studies at University. She brought along these fantastic Chocolate Guinness cupcakes, Raspberry Cupcakes and Gluten Free Orange Cupcakes. Thanks Tash!

All three cupcakes were topped with a celestial vanilla bean cream cheese icing.

To accompany the food, we drank delicious Strawberry Champagne Cocktails made by Megan, sangria and champagne. Megan’s cocktail was so good I’m going to blog it separately.

There was so much food left at the end of the day that I sent everyone home with a plate of food.

Life usually rushes by at a frantic pace so it was a lovely to spend a few hours eating, drinking and talking with friends. I need to do this more often.

Thanks for a lovely afternoon, chums xx

Hello! Sorry it’s been so quiet here this past week – I was working on a few different client projects and then I developed some kind of low-grade virus that made me want to sleep all day. Anyway, it’s been a while since I did these monthly favourite posts but I’m re-introducing them as of now. So here’s the list of things making me happy this month.

1) Custard apples

I shot four dessert recipes for the 2013 Australian Custards Apples campaign last week (two of my recipes plus two recipes by MasterChef winner and all-round nice guy Adam Liaw) so my house was full of this gorgeous tropical fruit (see above). If you’ve never eaten custard apples before now is the time to get your hands on some.

2) Heated hair rollers

I went out to dinner the other night with Shai and Celeste and when I walked into the restaurant they said I looked very “va va voom.” Admittedly, I had a rather nice dress on but it was actually my new sexy curls that were attracting all the attention. Ladies, if you have mid-long hair and don’t have a set of heated rollers, run to the shops and buy some now. You won’t regret it.

3) Kale

I have this weird aversion to trendy things. I read the first Harry Potter two years after it came out and it took me even longer to read the Twilight novels (I think you need to be under 17 to really appreciate them). I still haven’t read Fifty Shades of Grey but I’ve heard the writing is fairly atrocious so I’m in no rush. Anyway, to get to the point of this paragraph, I cooked kale for the first time a few weekends ago and I loved it’s strong, slightly bitter taste and thickly layered texture. I feel like Thelma in Thelma and Louise when she says, “now I understand what all the fuss is about!” after spending a night with J. D. (Brad Pitt). I cooked a warm purple kale salad with chorizo and almonds for Amazing Almonds the other day and a chorizo, chicken, white bean and green kale soup for our dinner.

4) Fantastic Mr Fox

The other night I watched a film about a fox (George Clooney) who wants to pull off one last robbery behind the back of his trusting wife (Meryl Streep). Based on the book by Roald Dahl, it’s so beautifully animated and so clever – I laughed out loud several times. It’s not really a movie for small kids as there are some scary bits but older kids will love its black humour. Check it out.

5) Divine Vegan Desserts

If you read my recent J’s Chocolate Banana Cake post you’d know that my son was recently diagnosed with an intolerance to dairy and egg. Well, it turns out my daughter also has this problem, too, which means a massive re-think of our diet. Luckily, Wakefield Press recently sent me Lisa Fabry’s Divine Vegan Desserts and it’s full of helpful hints and interesting recipes to try.

6) Denim shirt

I haven’t worn denim on my upper body since the mid 90s but I freaking love this slim-cut shirt and have been living in it lately. I wear it with my black J Brand skinny jeans and ballet flats for running around or my hot pink Diane Von Furstenberg skirt and heels when I’m going out.

7) Crepe pan by Profiline

I make pancakes at least once a week in my regular frypan so when Profiline offered to send me a crepe pan I was keen to see if it made any difference. The Profiline crepe pan is very well-made and incredibly light and thin. It produced beautiful crepes for me so it’s well worth a look if you make crepes or pancakes regularly.

8) Manfretto Tripod

I’ve used tripods in the past when shooting but they were flimsy, awkward devices and I soon gave up, reverting to only hand-held photography. Then a few weeks ago I bought a Manfretto 190X ProB, an incredibly well made and rock-solid tripod. Now I set up a complete scene and use the viewfinder on my tripod mounted camera to check that everything is in the best position before I start shooting. I then use the tripod to take both portrait and landscape shots of the scene before unclipping my camera (a Nikon D600) and shooting the rest hand-held. It’s like having an extra pair of hands in the studio and I can’t imagine shooting without it now.

9) Family

It’s been a challenging month on the personal front but my family have humbled me once again by the way they’ve pulled together and gone above and beyond to help out. You guys are my heroes and I love you to bits.

EDIT:

A Most Unexpected Surprise

My original post ended there. But yesterday I found out that The Hungry Australian is one of 25 finalists in the Best Australian Blogs 2013 competition run by the Australian Writers’ Centre. Yep, this humble little blog is one of five finalists in the lifestyle/hobby section, which covers travel, food and beverages, health, fashion, craft and interior design.

Wow. *pinches self*

Of all the amazing things that have happened since I started this blog this would have to be the most unbelievable. THANK YOU! *happy dance*

According to the Random House website, 1,122 blogs entered in this year’s competition and five finalists were announced in each of the competition categories: Lifestyle (408 entries), Personal/Parenting (350 entries), Business (84 entries), Commentary (119 entries) and Words/Writing (161 entries). Head over to the Australian Writers’ Centre website to learn more about the judging process.

When I began blogging in mid 2011 I saw it as a way of flexing my writing muscle, which had gotten stiff and clumsy out of disuse. Since then I’ve spent countless hours writing and blogging, all the time wondering if my words will have any impact at all. Now I still have a long way to go with The Hungry Australian but this nomination feel like recognition that I’m heading in the right direction at least. So I’m off to celebrate with a large bowl of noodles now!

Thank you for reading. You guys inspire me every day.

Christina xx