Penguin says Feed Me in 2011!

Last post for the year guys! Here's a round up of some of my favourite posts of 2011:

Bells at Killcare, Killcare

We kicked off the year with a little trip to Bells at Killcare, with spacious rooms featuring a spa bath and a fireplace. A visit to the restaurant also didn't go astray, with Stefano Manfredi heading up the kitchen there using fresh ingredients straight from the vegetable garden at Bells.

Ribena Marshmallows

My first foray into marshmallow-making was inspired by the awesome marshmallows from Sweetness the Patisserie. A spur of the moment decision to make these led me rummaging through my cupboards in an attempt to find something to flavour these marshmallows - and the result was Ribena! Later on I also made some lemon sherbet marshmallows which were delightfully tangy and fizzy.

Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits

This was a little bit of a random baking adventure but lots of fun because it was for my favourite furry friend, Max. Max definitely loved the peanut butter biscuits that I made and I hope that it was a nice birthday present for him!

The East Village, Darlinghurst

An invitation to dine at The East Village restaurant led me to find a most amazing steak served with roasted bone marrow and fat chips. It's a place where I never would have thought to go to myself so I'm glad I was given the opportunity to because I still dream of that bone marrow!

Penguin Icebox Cookies

To celebrate my humble blog's 2nd birthday, I made these super cute penguin icebox cookies. It also allowed me to make use of my brand new purple KitchenAid which I love love love and I have no idea how I ever lived without one! Thanks again to everyone who contributed to it :)

Sugar Cookies

2011 was the year when I finally got to graduate and I made some special graduation cookies to share with my fellow graduands. That was the first time I ever made my own cookie cutter and though it probably wasn't the sturdiest of cutters (it was looking a little mangled by the end), it did the job and gave me some rather cool trencher hat cookies. This year, I also got a baking gig and baked some corporate cookies for the launch of a new business, Kids at SWiTCH. It was a challenge pushing out lots of cookies on weeknights after work but I got it all done, including the wrapping and attaching of tags. Definitely an experience I will remember and learn from for my next baking gig.

Melbourne Eats

A food-filled trip to Melbourne resulted in some great finds and tasty eats, including a decadent breakfast of fried brioche with banana, Nutella and hazelnuts from The Hardware Societe, some amazing tapas, paella and churros from Movida Aqui, a fancy, three-course lunch at Vue de Monde, and all sorts of other snackage from around Melbourne. I can't wait to go back to Melbourne to eat up a storm again!

Xanthi, Sydney

You know you're in for a good time when there's loads of food and a whole bunch of food bloggers to eat it with you! A multi course meal which stretched my stomach to the limit was cooked up by pork-belly baklava creator, David Tsirekas, at his newest restaurant Xanthi. A Greek feast featuring grilled haloumi, freshly made filo pastry, and meat from the spit had us all going for seconds. I don't know how I managed it but I still had room for the famous caramel baklava ice cream - if you haven't tried it go now! This was definitely one of my most memorable meals of the year.

Jamie's Italian, Sydney

The opening of Jamie's Italian generated much hype and yes I was one of those people who waited for 1.5 hours just for a taste. I've heard mixed reviews but I definitely had a positive experience both with the food and the service (and have already been back a second time - with a booking!).

Christmas Macarons

And what better way to round off the year with possibly the most over-hyped sweet treat of the moment - macarons (not macaroons!). I was quite proud of these Christmas macarons and I can happily say that they went down a treat at my family's Christmas lunch :)

And that's it for the year! I hope you all have a happy new year filled with food, friends and of course some obligatory booze! I can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for this little blog of mine.