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Home Made with Love - Part 2 - Its a rainy day!

Rainy days aren't always good for business, but I find that they are good for me. It gives me a bit of time to take a big deep breath and just slow down for a day. When I get the opportunity to do this I tend to spend the day reflecting on what I am doing in my little cafe. The passion that is so strong a the beginning of a project can sometimes get a little lost when you are in the middle of it all. 

A rainy day gives me that time to remember why I do what I do! It is all about the food and challenge myself to try new and different things I would never had the confidence to do!

A rainy day at the cafe revives my passion!

Fresh From the Markets

Passion! It is so important when starting any project, and there is one person I know who has so much passion for her food she prepares. Her name is Sally. Having tasted many of sally's preserves I finally convinced her to let me use them in the cafe. That is where Fresh From the Markets has come from.

Before the sun rises on a Saturday morning Sally is up before the rest of us and out at the markets picking up the freshest produce available before she spends he rest of the day making jams and preserves with such unique flavors that you won't find elsewhere.

So popular these flavors have been, they are now available to buy and take home in collectible Ball Mason Preserving jars.

Aromatic Spiced Beetroot in Vinegar

Strawberry, Clove & Cinnamon Jam - $7.50 delicious on toast, scones and anything else you like you jam on.

Aromatic Spiced Beetroot in Vinegar - $7.50 bursting with flavor, you don't need much to spice up your salad.

Sweet Cherry Tomato & Eggplant chutney with mixed peppers -  $7.00 for those who like their chutney with a bit of a kick! you wont be disappointed by the many layers of flavors you will taste!

And because I didn't feel Sally had enough to do, I had her make me her Burnt Fig & Hazelnut Muesli! Served with Greek Yogurt and mixed berries, this Low GI breakfast treats you to the unique flavor of burnt figs amoungst all the crunch of a quality muesli.

This Muesli is also available to buy and take home

Sally's Fresh from the Markets Burnt Fig & Hazelnut Muesli -$8.50

I am so happy to be using and stocking Sally's Fresh from the markets products in the cafe I hope you will enjoy it Just as much as I do.

Hope to see you all soon. 

Damien

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Cake is happiness! If you know the way of the cake, you know the way of happieness! If you have a cake in front of you, you should not look any further for joy!

C. Joy Bell

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Home Made with Love! Part 1

We now live in a manufactured world, especially when it comes to our food! There is no doubt that some manufactured foods can taste delicious, however at what cost? do we know what is in these products? what are all those numbers on the ingredient panel?

This is not a blog on the evils of manufactured over processed foods. it is actually (as the title suggests) my new found appreciation of home made foods that are made with love and passion. 

What I truly love about my little cafe it that i can tell you what is in the majority of the products I sell. That is because I make it myself! Sometimes things don't work and sometimes they do! But I am proud to put my hand up and say 'I Made That!'. What actually surprises me is the look of surprise on their face when I tell them! Is it really such a surprising thing to learn that you are eating something made with someones 2 hands! 

As I am writing this i currently have simmering on the stove another batch of my Home Made Lemonade... To my surprise, a little idea I picked up on my trip to New York has become one of my biggest sellers in our cafe! Some weekends i have trouble keeping up with the demand that I have to quickly make more to keep the customers happy.

Now, traditional lemonade has been around long enough to be given the name 'Traditional Lemonade'. But how many of us have actually taken the time to make it and keep it in the fridge? I am guessing not many

But if you knew how simple it and quick it was to make would you give it a go?

if you answered yes, then here you go!

Ingredients

* 1 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice

* 1 Cup of water

* 1 cup of sugar (adjust to taste)

Method

Place the Fresh lemon juice, water and sugar in a saucepan and heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Allow to gently simmer for another 10 minuets and then remove from heat and allow to cool. Then simply pour the cooled cordial in a bottle and refrigerate. dilute with ice cold water and serve with a slice of fresh lemon or mint! 

So please give this a go  and leave us a comment on how it turned out for you.  I am sure you wont be disappointed! But for those of you how are happy for me to do it for you, it is available in the cafe all summer along with our Ice Cold Brew Coffee..

Stay tuned... There is more home made with love to come! 

Stay Cool

Damien

[eastcafekingsford]

I could easily wake up to this each morning!

Chocolate granola

Mr T. gets up really early during the weekdays and the first thing he has is a bowl of granola with yogurt and fruits. Everything I make for breakfast is usually a second breakfast for him. As a loving wife (yes, I am one) and a big fan of chocolate I made a nice chocolate granola for him. I usually make this one and add some extras. But chocolate granola is something you want to have in your kitchen for a cold morning. Chocolate makes us happy, so why not to start being happy in the morning? I found this recipe on a beautiful Yummy mummy kitchen blog.

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NYC - What is this Cold Brew I keep seeing??

WOW!!!! That is the only way I can describe my time in New York! I was lucky enough to spend 11 beautiful days in this amazing city during the Summer with my best friend and experiene a lot of what this city has to offer.

I like to think of myself as a bit of a foodie, considering I run a cafe you would hope that I do have an interest in food I guess. So whenever I came across something new or a little bit different I had to give it a go! and of course photograph it! this is something my best friend Sam got a little sick of, so I didn’t get to capture everything, but I have enough to share with you for now! 

Coffee is a great place to start! having been in in LA for 3 days and an over night flight in to New York i was really in need of a real coffee. Now everything you hear about coffee in the US is true, it is not good! I hate to say it but we would end up in Starbucks most of the time for our coffee only because at least we know what to expect and if we ended up with a really nice coffee it would be a pleasant surprise! 

I was  surprised however when I came across a little coffee house at the South St Sea Port. It wasn't the way I would normally have my coffee but it looked a little fancy so i thought I’s give it a go! However I was unaware that this coffee was to be served Ice cold! 

I wasn't having a bar of that, so I made the poor girl heat up the water so I could have my hot coffee!! Cold Brew coffee??  What I didn't know was that cold brew was something I would grow to love during my time in New York. 

So, what is this cold brew coffee?? Isn't it just brewed coffee chilled to use in Iced coffee?? NO... it is not! 

This is what I discovered!! Cold brew refers to the process of steeping coffee grounds in room temperature water for an extended period. cold brew seems naturally sweeter due to its lower acidity. Because the coffee beans never come into contact with heated water, the process of leaching flavor from the beans produces a different chemical profile from conventional brewing methods.

Now that all sounds very scientific... probably because i copied it directly off Wikipedia. But what i can tell you about cold brew is that it is different, but once you get used to it, it is a really good alternative to a hot coffee on a hot summers day! not only is it thirst quenching, but it doesn't leave you feeling bloated from a large amount of milk. because the coffee is slightly sweet rather bitter I found myself drinking it black rather than adding milk. Best of all, it still gives you the coffee kick that will get you through the afternoon!

So, of course i have returned from this wonderful trip determined to give this cold brew a go as we are about to head into our summer here in Australia. what I did find was that there are many different methods that you can use to create your own cold brew as well as especially developed drip filters. But My favorite method was the most simple of them all. The only down side to this method I'm using was the amount of time that it takes to filter the coffee down to the concentrate... To create 4 liters it would take approximately 5 hours of filtering on top of the 20-24 hours of brewing time. Is it all worth it?

Well, you will have to tell me!!!

This is it! The east cafe cold brew! and I am so happy to say that the customers feed back has been very positive!  I have even had people come back to the cafe asking for my special brew! 

This brew really is a great find. Not only does it taste great on its own, I have started using the the concentrate to make my iced coffee's. I even like mine with just a dash of soy milk.

So next time it is just too bloody hot for your regular coffee fix, come down and try our Cold Brew Coffee over ice... If you are a coffee lover, you will be glad you did!

Damo

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I Have no doubt this tastes just as good as it looks!

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THIS IS FROM ONE OF MY FAVORITE BLOGS. i WOULD LOVE TO TRY THIS ONE DAY! IS IS BERRY SEASON AFTER ALL... 

Enjoy

D.

Have I mentioned that in Berlin there are many organic and vege stores? Whenever I go to one, I spot ingredients with existence of which I was not familiar. Like a soy flour, did you know that there is something like it? It always makes me curious and of course I wanted to bake something as...

[eastcafekingsford]

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this will be perfect for the summer

I love to relax during a hot day, especially when it’s a weekend. It’s sooo good to have a nice chat, feel sun on your skin and just do nothing. It could be even better to lie down on a comfy blanket, on a green grass and drink something refreshing. The only problem with a perfect weather is that it makes you lazy. The best solution will be to have a cup of delicious iced coffee. It helps and makes you happy :)

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This is not diet food!

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looks delicious!

At Wimbly Lu 3 by greenseablue on Flickr.

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Soup anyone?

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First we eat, then we do everything else

someone else

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