happiest of new years....

so another year has flown by & its now time for a mini-rest...

wishing you all the most wonderful new year ever!! xx

merry xmas!!

purple haze....

Design Files 'Pop Up' House (fitzroy)

Ever dreamed about living in the perfectly designed pad? In the perfect inner city location? Well, interior stylist, writer, blogger and founder of The Design Files, Lucy Feagins teamed up with fellow lady of the design world, Esther Navarro-Orejon (of The Project Agency) to showcase a house that we all dream of owning; an amazing open plan kitchen overlooking a deck that then overlooks the city, a space kitted out with designer furniture, contemporary art and a sunken bathtub..... yes!! yes!! yes!! a sunken bathtub!!!

 It’s a pop-up space that synthesises all the things that Feagins writes about on The Design Files into one space – a house that makes all the pieces feel just right in their place, from the bedroom to the bathroom, the kitchen and the outdoor deck. Set up in a residential home in Fitzroy, Feagins and Navarro-Orejon have the house on loan from a friend for a month and during the past two weeks have been stockpiling designer products from over 71 suppliers, all designed and made in Melbourne.

 

I would have killed for this divine picture to put up in my little house.... 

but alas i couldnt afford it :(

It's nice to dream every now & again though...  

:)

stevie nicks (myer music bowl 2012)

one of the most amazing voices ever...
i love her!!
these are some shots i took for junior online....

pork & prawn siu mai with black vinegar caramel

i suppose living in footscray makes it super easy 2head down 2barkly street for some yum cha or dumplings but i love making my own @ home... it means you can make up little bundles of flavour explosions that suit your taste buds.... if you love chilli you can add as much as want.... love shitake mushrooms? add a shitload & enjoy the results.... here i have decided to use what i had in the fridge.... pork mince & raw prawns... together they are a match made in asian foodie heaven! :)

pork & prawn siu mai with black vinegar caramel

you will need:

250g of pork mince
200g of medium sized raw prawns, peeled, deveined and finely chopped
8 garlic shoots, finely chopped
4 red shallots, finely chopped
20g fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 red bird's eye chillies, finely chopped
6 spring onions, white part only, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons of pat chun (sweetened chinese vinegar)
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
2 teaspoons of roasted sesame seeds
1 teaspoon of schizuan salt n pepper mix
1x packet of wonton wrappers

black vinegar caramel

you will need:

1/2 a cup of palm sugar
1/3 a cup of chinkiang vinegar (chinese black vinegar)
1 tablespoon of water

method:

1. combine the pork&prawns in a large bowl and knead well for 3mins with the back of your hands. add the garlic shoots, shallots, ginger, chilli, spring onion, pat chun, soy sauce, sesame seeds and the salt n pepper mix and incorporate with your hands. cover with plastic wrap & leave in the fridge for 20minutes to chill.... that will make it easier to work with! :)

2. this is the tricky bit..... but with a little patience and practice it gets easier to make your siu mai look like the real deal.... place the won ton wrapper in the palm of your hand, spoon about 1 heaped tablespoon of the siu mai mixture into the centre and use a crimping motion to fold the edges of the wrapper up around the sides of the meat, leaving the top open... dont fret if you dont get the hang of this 1st time round.... tap the base on a bench to flatten inside slightly so the dumpling can sit upright. repeat this over&over&over till you use up all the siu mai mixture and are a dumpling master!! ;p

3. grab a bamboo steamer, the bigger the better & spray with cooking spray and add dumplings in a single layer, leaving space around each one so they dont stick 2gether. cover and steam over a wok of simmering water for 4-5minutes, or until the base of the dumplings are firm and they are cooked through.

4.  now for the black vinegar caramel. put the sugar, vinegar & water into a saucepan and cook, over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. bring to the boil and simmer for 5minutes, or until syrupy. let cool.....

5. grab a cold beer, white wine or whatever tickles your fancy and enjoy....

yum! yum! siu mai!! :)

white on white.....

there's something so fresh & light about white on white...  it projects purity.... cleanliness..... a white flag signals a peaceful surrender & a white picket fence surrounds a safe and happy home.... here's a few shots that were done a while back shot by my mate, graham parson :)

the yummiest sunday souvlaki's ever!! (with homemade tzatziki)

this recipe is always a winner @ our place cause its not only super quick but unbelievably tasty! the meat can be marinated overnight but if you are a spur-of-the-moment kinda person you can get away with a half an hour marinating while you're slicing & dicing the rest of your ingredients....

the yummiest sunday souvlaki's ever!!! (with homemade tzatziki)

ingredients:

* 500grams of organic grain fed lamb back strap
(you are more than welcome to use whatever cut of lamb you like i just prefer to munch on an organic happy lamb thats had a nice life! :)
* a punnet of organic baby tomatoes
* a quarter of a iceburg lettuce (thats all i had in the fridge! feel free to gourmet it up with the leaves!!)
* 1/2 spanish onion sliced
* 4 cloves of garlic
* lebanese pita bread
* handfuls of oregano, thyme and marjoram (you can use whatever herbs you like best)
* maldon salt
* organic black pepper
* sweet smoked paprika
* 1 lemon
* spanish olive oil
* splash of white wine

for the tzatziki you will need:

* 1 organic lebanese cucumber
* 1/2 clove of garlic
* a pinch of maldon salt
* 500grams of natural greek yogurt
* glug of olive oil
* 2 or 3 fresh mint leaves


method:

1. grab your amazingly delicious lamb out of the fridge & cut it up into cubes of about 2x2cms and pop into a freezer bag.

2. put 4cloves of garlic into your mortar&pestle and roughly smash (you can just smash your garlic on a chopping board if you dont have a mortar&pestle) and then add a handful of all your herbs. i usually just rip the herbs up with my hands & pop them in... add a glug of olive oil & a pinch of salt&pepper along with 1/2 a teaspoon of your paprika... then add this mixture to your lamb.

its a lot easier to marinate the meat in a freezer bag as you can massage the garlic/herb mixture evenly through the lamb (but you could use a plastic container or any other tupperware type thingy if you like!)... i would recommend the meat marinate overnight but like i said before you can just marinate it while you tackle your tzatziki :) pop your marinated lamb into the fridge till you're ready to cook it....

3. now we can start on the homemade tzatziki. grab a bowl and grate your cucumber with the skin left on. when you're finished grating it put the cucumber into a colander & drain as much of the excess liquid from the pulp. put the cucumber back into the bowl & add your natural yogurt. mince 1/2 a clove of garlic (this will be super garlicky with 1/2 a clove so use your taste buds & adjust to your liking!) and then add a pinch of salt, glug of olive oil & a little fresh mint (this is also optional! ;)
pop the tzatziki into the fridge till later...

4. chop all your tomatoes, lettuce & onions and put into little bowls & refridgerate till needed...

5. heat 2 frying pans: 1 for the lamb and 1 for the pita bread...
(i would use a BBQ to cook the lamb if its a nice sunny day!) but if not, turn your stove to high heat and cook your lamb in a skillet or frying pan. once the oil is almost smoking add your lamb and cook for approx 4mins (again, use your taste buds! if you like your lamb over cooked then cook it longer! ;) just before taking off the heat add a splash of white wine to de-glaze the pan and cook off the alcohol.
in the other pan heat a little bit of olive oil in the pan and heat up & slightly brown your pita bread....

6. assemble your souvlaki with heaps of garlickly tzatziki, the lamb, tomatoes, spanish onions, another lashing of tzatziki & a good squeeze of lemon juice to finish! grab a few cold beers out of the fridge & there you have it.... the yummiest summer souvlaki's ever!! (with homemade tzatziki)

still life & all things 'crap'.....

when i moved in2 my new house earlier this year my quasi-father-in-law commented on the fact that i had (& i quote) "so much bloody crap" as he was helping us unload the moving van.... my response was clearly something to the effect of "its NOT crap!! its stuff ive bean collecting for years.. dont knock it!!"  he he he.....  i am one of the biggest hoarders of all things vintage or 'crap' (depending on who's looking at it) & i LOVE it!!... i remember getting up @ the crack of dawn in year7 & waiting patiently for the 1st train on a sunday morning so i could make my way to camberwell market 2go fossicking!! :)

these are the result of all my 'crap' being put 2gether 2make something beautiful....
shot again by the amazing nicky schuch....

they all make me smile......
i love my 'crap' :)

a foodies crate of goodness :)

food styling, food photography, cookbooks, cooking, chefs, fresh ingredients & eating all = yumminess right? i suppose i've spent the last few years or so focusing my styling prowess on all things food related and some of the results have bean pretty spesh. i love working with food as opposed to talent.... @ least food doesnt try 2make small talk with me @ 8am on a monday morning!! ;p
& i usually get to eat all my shots!

the following have all bean shot by the fabulous nicky schuch:

hopefully over the weekend i get some time to cook something amazing & share my recipe with you! im in dire need of a massive shopping trip to little saigon.... but that's a whole blog entry in itself....

:)

test of the week.... 'feeling blue'

so i thought id post my weekly test shoots on here.. .. its a good way of checking out what its like to work in a studio & what we get up to in our free time. im the luckiest stylist in the world because i get to work with my bestie every single day (who also happens 2b the most amazing photographer ever, nicky schuch :)

now, i wont lie.... sometimes shooting for clients gets more than a little ho-hum @ times so cuenca&schuch try to shoot our own stuff as much as possible.... from food to fashion to my trash n treasure :)

here's our latest addition called 'feeling blue'.....

hope you like it :)

kilmore antique & collectable's fair....

ohhhh there's nothing more exciting than waking up early on a saturday morning & heading to a good ol' fashioned antique's fair! i know, i know... i sound like a 70 year old grandma but ive bean fossicking all sorts of beautiful trinket(y) things for years & i get super excited in anticipation of maybe finding something wonderful.... something amazing... something that no1 else has....! yay...!!!

there were so many things i wanted to buy!! i ended up leaving with an old train luggage rack im planning to put on my kitchen wall & fill with all the cookbooks that dont fit anywhere else.... i also bought the most exquisite art noveau tile which im not sure what im going to do with.... maybe a really tight food shot perhaps? or just put it somewhere in the house.... who knows?

i fell in love with this baby little chair & table but i dont have any kidlets yet so couldnt justify buying them *sad face*

on our way back to melbs we managed to stop off & have a little look around some garage sales....
it was really nice 2smell the fresh country air.....
i should do it more often :)

my hipstamatics (some old... some not so old)

i was getting bored with having to wait till next sunday till i had something amazing to cook, shoot & eat 2put in here!! arrghh.... so i thought id add some of my favourite hipstamatic shots & start a new post....

this one is titled: i love pecks! xx

the most beautiful view ever: yamba

 reflective living room....