So it wasn’t until very recently that I discovered (through the photos of my fellow facebook friends) a place called KiwiYo; described by its website as “a frozen yoghurt store where you serve your own ‘FroYo’ and add your choice of toppings and sauces”. With over 54 different toppings you really are spoiled for choice, (which ultimately is where it could go oh-so-right, or terribly wrong…).

I’ll explain by telling you that I felt like a kid again. I went crazy over the nostalgic toppings of Wonka’s Nerds, hundreds and thousands, sour worms, coke bottles, nuts, lychees and so on… which led to an awesome colour combination, but not a flavoursome one. Rob on the other hand went with a combination of berries, white chocolate and raspberry sauce for more complimentary flavours, which you can see below. 

Anyway, rewinding back about an hour, we had Mexican food at Dos Amigos for dinner. Their quesadillas are good and their margaritas even better. This place is always busy so I suggest you book a table in advance before heading out otherwise you’ll be waiting at the bar for a (short) while - which isn’t necessarily a bad thing! ;)

(Source: worldsaplayground)

Toasted sesame ginger salmon, green beans and kumura mash

Source of recipe here.

What you need:

• 1 1/2 pounds raw salmon
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• 1 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
• 1-2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• 4 green onions, sliced

• Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a wire rack over top. Spray the rack with nonstick spray.
• In a large bowl or baking dish, combine olive oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, vinegar, brown sugar and whisk well until combined. Add salmon to the dish or place everything in a ziplock bag, then refrigerate and marinate for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the broiler in your oven. (Or preheat your grill, etc if you prefer to use something else.)
• Remove salmon with kitchen tongs and place directly on the wire rack. Sprinkle with a little bit of salt and pepper, then place directly under the broiler. Cook for 10-12 minutes, depending on the salmon’s thickness (our’s was just about an inch thick), until opaque and easily flakable with a fork. You can flip the salmon halfway through cooking if desired.
• Remove and serve immediately, with a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds, green onions and the glaze below.

Sesame Ginger Honey Glaze

• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Pour over salmon.

Caramelized chicken thighs on rice

Original recipe source here.

What you need:

• ½ cup long-grain rice
• ½ tspn salt
• 2 tspn oil
• 1 cup hot water
• ¾ cup frozen baby peas
• 2-3 tspn canola or other oil
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 2-3 tbsp flour
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 medium-sized onion
• 1 or 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tspn grated root ginger
• ¼ cup hot water
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• ¼ cup chopped coriander leaves(if available)

What to do:

• Put the rice, salt, first measure of oil and hot water in a microwave dish. Cover loosely and microwave on High for 6 minutes, then stir in the frozen peas, cook for 3 minutes longer, and leave to stand for 5 minutes.
• Heat a pan large enough to hold the 4 chicken thighs. Add the oil, then add the lightly floured chicken thighs and brown them lightly on both sides.
• Heat the second pan on low to moderate heat and sprinkle the sugar over it. Let it melt and turn golden brown, but don’t let it darken and burn, tilting the pan at intervals, without stirring the caramel.
• While the chicken browns and the sugar melts, chop the onion and garlic finely, and grate the ginger. Put the browned chicken on a board and put the onion, garlic and ginger in the now empty pan, with a little extra oil. Cook on medium heat until the onion is lightly browned. Meantime, cut each browned thigh into 4 slices, then put the chicken back in the pan with the onions etc and let everything brown a little longer.
• When the sugar has caramelised evenly, add the hot water and the fish sauce to it, and heat gently until a syrup forms, then pour all the syrup over the chicken mixture in the other pan and simmer for a few minutes longer, until the chicken is coated with the sauce.
• Serve on the rice and peas, and sprinkle with chopped coriander leaves if you have them.

I get on a roll with the blogging and then all of a sudden I get so busy that this part of my life is put on hold. But here I am today, taking my online/blogger-self off the dusty shelf, brushing myself off and doing a quick re-cap of the month of March!

It started off with a terrible throat infection but my man surprised me with things that made it less awful; a bouquet of flowers and two cartons of Ribena, he sure knows the way to a sick girls heart ;)

We went bowling with Ben, Alex and Yin… and for once, I didn’t come last! :D

We paid a visit to Motat 2 and wandered beneath, around and between some awesome war planes; Rob even quizzed me on the B-52 in which I almost passed with flying colours.

(Sorry not the most decent photo)

Zoey got photographed by our friend, James :)

Excuse the scruff :)

Had a few boyish date days, one of which was watching the motorcycle races in Hampton Downs - forgot what the actual event was called though.

Went to the 1981 bar a few times, chowed down on muscles, Isaacs ciders in milk bottles and even went to a quiz night there (where we won a bottle of wine for coming second to last :P)

I had some pretty rewarding work days, came in one morning with these on my desk…

…and then had this as my view one lunch time as well :)

AND to make it even better, as rough as it is getting up so early to get to work, who can complain about beautiful morning skies like this?

We rounded the month off in Devonport with a scrumptious brunch at Manuka Cafe, an obligatory stop at Devonport Chocolates and a family stroll along the seaside :)

Thank you March for being so full of kindness (bar the throat infection), here’s hoping that April will bring just as much fun, if not more :)

(Source: worldsaplayground)