Tag Archives: food blogger events

  • Sweets for Santa (bloghop kicks off 17th December)

    I love feeding people.

    Maybe it’s the Chinese mother in me but I often express my affections through food. So if you’re in my good books, I’m going to want to feed you.

    So every year when Christmas rolls around, my daughter and I make an edible Christmas present for our special friends.

    Last year we made this Sweet & Salty Chocolate Bark and the two years before that we made snickerdoodles, those sugar and cinnamon-crusted biscuits. She was only three years old the first time so she just dipped the cookie dough into the sugar and cinnamon mixture and then licked her fingers all over.

    This year we haven’t decided what to cook yet. I have a gorgeous new KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer thanks to the lovely people at Filtered Media and KitchenAid so I’m definitely going to be making something with it.

    Maybe we should make a few different batches of home-made ice cream and serve it like this delightful dish at Press Food & Wine that I enjoyed a little while ago. Christmas Day is bound to be hot here in Australia so ice cream could be just the thing.

    Alternatively, I have some cute Christmas-themed cookie cutters so we could make festive biscuits with a marshmallow fondant. My daughter and my toddler son should be able to manage helping with the cut outs and pressing on the fondant. They’ll be extremely good at helping to eat them, too.

    There’s also Christmas Day lunch to consider, and this year I think I’m going to make some kind of show-stopping cake. Christmas is a great excuse to whip up something rather special, isn’t it?

    So why all this talk about Christmas, I hear you ask?

    Well, this month it’s my honour to be hosting Sweet Adventures’ Sweets for Santa Blog Hop.

    For those new readers, Sweet Adventures is a group of Aussie foodbloggers – 84th & 3rdThe Capers of the Kitchen CrusaderDelicieuxDining With a Stud, and I, The Hungry Australian, who host a monthly, dessert-themed blog hop.

    Previously, we have hosted:

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  • 8 Favourite Things: May 2012

    I’m a Virgo – as if you couldn’t tell – so I love making lists. Here’s my (inaugural) monthly list of things, foods, events and experiences that I’m loving this month.

    1) Tasting Australia

    The recent Tasting Australia 2012 drew some 50,000 international and Australian chefs, food media, food producers and food lovers to Adelaide, South Australia, for an 8-day festival featuring 80+ events. I’ve already posted a recipe – Red Quinces, Haloumi & Rye – inspired by my Tasting Australia media trip and will be posting many other write-ups over the next few weeks.

    2) Cooking with inspirational pros

    I’ll never forget chopping pears for a pear tart with bubbly Australian food legend Maggie Beer – see photo above – and learning how to bake bread with the charming Mark McNamara, outgoing Head Chef of Appellation at The Louise. Two extraordinary and inspiring food lovers, they’re also two of the most professional and hard-working people you’ll ever meet.

    3) My new gig as Australian and New Zealand Food Expert at About.com

    My Australian & New Zealand Food site on About.com went live last week. Check out some of my articles and recipes including 72 Hours in Adelaide for Foodies8 Edible Souvenirs, Grilled Seafood Salad with Persimmons and Mini Pavlovas with Pomegranates.

    4) What’s Your Cup of Tea? blog hop

    Sweet Adventures’ What’s your Cup of Tea? blog hop has just been announced by the lovely JJ from 84th and 3rd, hostess of this month’s dessert blog hop. So pull on your thinking cap, get cooking with tea and join in the fun. What’s Your Cup of Tea? kicks off on May 21st and entries can be linked up all week. This blog hop is open to all food bloggers – check out details at 84th and 3rd.

    5) Skinny jeans

    My love affair with all jeans skinny continues with my new J Brand jeans and Ksubi jeans bought on sale at David Jones. Guys, I’ve been waiting for you my whole life.

    6) MAC ladybug lipstick

    If there is a more genius red lipstick than MAC’s Ladybug lipstick on the market I’ve yet to meet it.

    7) Coffee

    After a week of drinking coffee twice a day on the Tasting Australia media trip I am now addicted to the little brown bean again. The jury is still out on whether this is a good thing or not…

    7+1) New foodie friends

    I’ve made so many new food-loving friends this month via Tasting Australia, this blog, the Adelaide Food Bloggers Group and my new About.com gig. A shared love of food is such a great way to start a friendship, don’t you think?

    So what are you loving this month? Hit me with your tips and suggestions!

    Photo credits: Duck Two Ways at Appellation at The LouiseKay and I making cheese at Producers (thanks to Billy from A Table for Two)salt and pepper squid by the Star of Greece,  fruit and nut porridge at Rockford, Maggie and I cooking at the Pheasant Farm, tea (thanks to JJ from 84th and 3rd), pomegranates at Willunga Farmers Market, making bread at Appellation at The Louise and Thai Lamb Salad at No 58 Cellar Door and GalleryAll photos (c) Christina Soong-Kroeger except where indicated.

  • Calling all food bloggers: join us for the Festive Favourites Blog Hop on 19th December

    ‘Tis the season to be jolly, tra la la la la, la la la la.

    Regular readers will know that we had a rather spectacular Great Australian Pavlova Blog Hop last month, featuring 36 amazing pavlovas made by food bloggers from all over the world. Click here to see my deconstructed pavlova entry and all the other amazing pavlovas.

    Well, I’m thrilled to let you know that Sweet Adventures (aka myself, DelicieuxDining With a StudThe Capers of the Kitchen Crusader and 84th & 3rd ) have decided to run a monthly blog hop event focusing on different themed desserts each month.

    This month, being the festive season, we have decided to throw the doors open to any kind of festive dessert.

    That’s right – you can make a gingerbread house, Christmas tree cookies, yuletide log, festive Bombe Alaska, steamed pudding, Christmas trifle, egg nog or whatever you like really. The only criteria is that it has to be some kind of festive, celebratory dessert.

    So what are you waiting for? Crack out the recipe books and your favourite food sites and start thinking about what to bake.

    And we look forward to seeing your amazing creation, along with all the others, on Monday December 19th – Australian Eastern Standard Time [AEST]. 

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