Fish Cakes

FISH CAKES

Peel washed potatoes and boil. Mash potatoes once ready. I do not add milk

 

Open a tin of tuna in springwater.

 

Mix it together in a large mixing bowl.

 

Add chopped spring onions.

Brown onions in a frying pan.

Add tuna, pepper, crushed garlic and paprika.

Add whole egg. This will help the mixture bind together.

Add onions.

 

Divide the mixyure into medium sized balls

Cook on both sides until golden brown.

Serve on a plate. I love them with tomato sauce.

Upside Down In Paris (as opposed to Downunder)

I had a blog in 2010 when I first moved to Paris. But at that time, everything in Paris was so amazing and beautiful. I started this as I had thought about it before I left Australia and my fellow Australian friend, Stella had one too. Mind you, her's was always beautifully written and regular...

Me, I wrote about 4 posts for the entire year. Then another 2 posts promising to write about a in the very distant past whirlwind Parisien Histoire d'Amour or stereotypical love story falling in love with a Frenchman in France and him moving to Australia for me.

One, I am a perfectionist. Two, I am incredibly hard on myself and Three, I was too lazy to keep up with blogging. I preferred to be out and about enjoying my new French life than recording it and writing it down for me to look at and smile down the track. Plus, I was young and I had graduated from university, made money from a real job as well as all my casual jobs to fund this trip and just wanted to have fun. Blog meant thinking.

Anyway...

In 2012, I returned to France for a few months. And timing would have it that my friend, Catherine who I had been studying French with me for a year in 2009 (after my inspiration to go live there and start studying the language straight away whilst visiting Paris with my dad in 2008). Catherine was spending 3 weeks studying French at the Alliance Francaise de Paris in the intensive classes.

So was I but I was in another class after having already lived in Paris for a year previously and continued back in Australia. We had an awesome time getting tiddly in Le Marais for her birthday and later on in the Bastille quarter at a hip jazz bar turned nightclub called Le China.

My lovely friend, Catherine introduced me to my now dear friend and fellow Australian, Louise who was in the same class. Louise had recently moved to Paris after dating her then French boyfriend in Melbourne while he was working as an engineer.
So we were able to bond about having international relationships, French bureaucracy and just simply adjusting to life in Paris, as it really is not easy. I was there just visiting and going to events, whereas Louise was giving up a lot to be with someone she fell in love with and taking a chance.





I had been talking to Louise for some time about "Oh, wouldn't it be good to have a blog?" and then one day she told me that she had been thinking of making one... Then the next day, I see she has a blog with a really interesting post. So I was so impressed by that, I jumped on the blogging bandwagon and I really owe it to Louise for helping me get the confidence and realise my love of writing :-)


I have added her blog to my blogs that I follow list and be sure to check her out.

She's really getting up a following now and I would love to share her blog with you


UPSIDE DOWN IN PARIS- AUSTRALIAN AND ENGLISH FOOD SHOPS IN PARIS

Orange and Apricot Poppyseed Bundt Cake

It was my mum's birthday earlier this month so I decided to bake her a cake. I asked her what she would like and she said an orange poppyseed cake. 

I am not known for my baking skills. I really did not know what I was doing but I bought a bandt cake tin on the way home from a dance class on the weekend.

I added the flour with 3 whole eggs, the baking powder, baking soda and salt.

 Then I added the sugar

My dad was visiting for my mum's birthday and I had left one nice juicy orange in the fruit bowl especially for making this cake. So naturally, he ate it for that morning's breakfast. And I discovered this at this stage of making the cake. 

 So I added the fresh orange juice that was in the fridge. Add apricot halves and mix them iinto the batter. You will naturally mash them up as you go.
Add poppyseeds.

Add more poppyseeds

 I sprayed non-stick spray onto my non-stick bandt cake tin and then I greased it with butter- just to be sure to be sure.

Fill up tin with mixture.

Stick it in the oven on the top shelf.

Oh dear. Wasn't expecting that. If I wanted bread, I would've put it into a bread tin...

At this point, I was less than impressed. 

I took it out of the oven after 30 minutes at 180 degrees celcius.

Showing some family roots with the four leaf clover teatowel

Then I got the cake rack that I had wrapped in a teatowel and placed on top of the cake tin and flipped it. This is also usually when you pray.



Voila! Somehow it looked alright.

Garnished with a few fresh apricot halves.

 Serve with dollop cream and apricots.