I say this every year, but I swear, I swear next year is going to be different. Next year I want more balance between life and work. Next year, I don’t want to feel panicked about not having done any Christmas shopping or cooking, because I’m pretty much working right up to Christmas Eve. Next year, I want to find time to write Christmas cards, especially to those friends who always send us one but never get any in return. Next year, I’m going to buy gifts at least one month ahead.

Okay, maybe the last one is a bit of a stretch, but I think the rest of it is pretty achievable.

2008 has been a pretty manic year for me. Thankfully, there have been a few things (and people) to keep me going inbetween the hectic work schedule. In no particular order :

TV shows I’ve loved :

1 Entourage
2 MadMen
3 Damages
4 Match of the Day
5 Dead Set

Favourite albums this year :

1 Boxer by The National (2007)
2 In Rainbows by Radiohead
3 Fleet Foxes by Fleet Foxes
4 Alas I Cannot Swim by Laura Marling
5 Oracular Spectacular by MGMT
6 19 by Adele

(with a special mention to two oldies but goodies, Appetite for Destruction by Guns ‘n’ Roses and Siamese Dream by The Smashing Pumpkins)

Favourite films :

1 There Will be Blood
2 No Country for Old Men
3 The Dark Knight
4 Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead
5 Gone Baby Gone
6 Lust Caution
7 Juno
8 Persepolis
9 Wall-E

This is also the year of :

-The thermometer. Between Katrina and myself, I think we have gone through at least seven in the past six months alone.

Next year, I also want to find the time to attend our apartment building’s annual Block Party, instead of making macarons for them but not actually turning up!

I am thinking it’s a sign
That the freckles in our eyes
Are mirror images and
When we kiss they’re perfectly aligned

And I have to speculate
That God himself did make us into
Corresponding shapes like puzzles pieces
From the clay

True, it may seem like a stretch
But it’s thoughts like this
That catch my troubled head
When you’re away, when I am missing you to death

When you were out there on the road
For several weeks of shows
And when you scan the radio
I hope this song will guide you home

–Such Great Heights, Postal Service (but in my head, I hear the Iron & Wine version!).

I’m finally making it official. I have the world’s ugliest hands. They are wrinkly, dry and quite often, food-stained. I should probably insure them for $millions. Against ever being photographed again. Lucky you can’t see the burns on my arms though. M says I look like someone who self-harms.

Anyway, B returned yesterday from another work trip and I made him these macarons as a surprise gift. He took an impromptu picture while I was sandwiching them together, hence the unprepared hands. The macarons were banana flavoured caramel, with bitter chocolate ganache. I dusted the tops of the macarons with cocoa, to imitate that ‘ripe banana skin’ look.

As this month is shaping up to be a busy one and I might not be posting as frequently, I thought I would take the opportunity to wish everyone an early Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I love Christmas, but have to admit, I can’t wait for January, as we have tickets to see The Swell Season, Cinematic Orchestra and Camille. Also, I’m hoping the new year will bring new things with it, like a bit of travel or more time for me to spend in my kitchen.

Looking back, it’s been a crazy year. I started a new job – my most demanding one to date – and am amazed that I have still managed to squeeze in some blogging time. This blog has always been intended to be a bit of an outlet for me. A place to write down some thoughts, and to help me keep track of the things I have been baking at home. Through it, I have also discovered some inspiring blogs and the people behind them, such as Vera, Duncan, Aran, Lisa, Pete and Matt.

So I want to thank them, and everyone else who has continued to read and be so supportive of all this pixellated junk I’ve thrown in front of their screens over the past year. 🙂

(PS: I have been toying with the idea of making a macaron series, dedicated to some of my favourite blogs. I already have a yogurt one in mind, and a cherry ripe one. What macaron would you make for your favourite blog? Suggestions, please!)

There were two good reasons to make this fudge. Firstly, I really loved reading my copy of Alice B. Toklas’ cookbook from which this well known recipe comes. The book is filled with interesting recipes (a fish cooked for Picasso, for example) interspersed with stories of her time spent in France during the Second World War (Gertrude Stein and Toklas driving in a Model T called “Aunt Pauline”, while volunteering for the American Fund for French Wounded). She writes so evocatively, and with great humour.

I love the way in which she likens killing a carp to a Dashiell Hammett novel :

I let go of my grasp and looked to see what had happened. Horror of horrors. The carp was dead, killed, assassinated, murdered in the first, second and third degree. Limp, I fell into a chair, with my hands still unwashed reached for a cifarette, lighted it, and waited for the police to come and take me into custody. After a second cigarette my courage returned and I went to prepare poor Mr Carp for the table.

Having enjoyed the book, I had every intention of attempting the fudge recipe but for awhile after, both the book and the recipe slipped completely from my mind. Then recently, I came across an article on Allegra McEvedy who features the recipe in her latest release. I don’t know much about her but apparently in the past she ran the kitchen at Robert De Niro’s New York restaurant Tribeca Grill, has been involved in cooking for President Clinton, and is now a founding partner of Leon in London, which won the 2005 Observer food award for Best New Restaurant. When she got married to her partner Susi Smithers, they had a tier of cheeses worth $2500 as a wedding cake. And if that wasn’t enough of a foodie’s dream come true, Heston Blumenthal was also on canape duty that day!

Having been reminded of Alice B. Toklas, I resolved to make this fudge, but sans the hash, which I don’t have any of. Hashless or not, McEvedy recommends the fudge as a figgy, sticky, spicy treat. In her version of the recipe, she substitutes the seeds of a vanilla pod for the 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon because she doesn’t like cinnamon). On tasting, B said that this sweet reminded him of all the components of boiled cake, but in fudge form : most definitely a good thing. My drug of choice while making this was Idlewild’s 100 Broken Windows, which quite coincidentally has that track Roseability in it.

Hashish Fudge :

1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp coriander seeds
a scratch of nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
a handful of stoned dates (ha ha, she says)
a handful of dried figs
a handful of flaked almonds
a bunch of Cannabis sativa leaves (or you can just crumble in some hash or weed)
140g light brown sugar
125g butter

Toast the peppercorns and the coriander seeds in a small frying pan on a high heat until they start to smell wonderful. Put them with some nutmeg scrapings and the cinnamon (if you wish) into a pestle and mortar/coffee grinder and pulverise.

Chop the fruit and nuts and mix them in a bowl. Sprinkle on the spices and add the cannabis in whatever form you have – if it’s leaves they will have to be pounded first (i.e. in the pestle and mortar with the seeds and cinnamon), but hash or weed can be crumbled in with the other spices.

Dissolve the sugar and the butter in a heavy-based sauce pan over a low heat. When the sugar has melted, the mixture will be separated : melted butter floating on top of a slightly bubbling brown sugary goo. SLowly bring to the boil – don’t let it catch on the bottom of the pan -stirring briskly with a wooden spoon until the mixture starts to boil and come together. Keep stirring until it is a thicker, foamier texture. Mix in the fruity bits, take off the heat and beat thoroughly. The fruit will break down and make it even smoother. (If you are left with a little melted butter in the pan, drain it off, and use some kitchen paper to de-grease the fudge mix.)

Line a tray with a piece of buttered greaseproof paper and push the fudge into it, or Alice suggests rolling it into individual walnut-sized pieces. Cool to room temperature in the larder overnight, in the fridge if you’re in a hurry, or in the freezer if you’re desperate.

Shelf life : weeks and weeks.
Best kept: in an airtight box in the larder or fridge.

(On a more savoury note, we just got back from a quick meal at a little hole-in-the-wall called Ryo’s Noodles in Crows Nest. B went here once with Calamari, and it’s only now that he’s taken me to try their ramen – I can’t believe he’s been keeping mum about this place for so long. Ryo’s Noodles is great – it’s tiny, the entire menu is plastered on the wall in Japanese, the piping hot bowls of noodles come to your table quickly and it’s all immensely satisfying. I don’t know how it compares to the more well-known Ichi-ban Boshi, but I reckon it’s definitely up there. If you go, order the Ramen with Spicy Pork Soup – moist slices of pork and bouncy noodles in a deliciously slurpable hot sauce – you’ll love every bite of it.)