Christmas gift ideas

All for under $50 and that you can easily take back home without breaking the rules.

1) Clothes

Most of them are from Sportsgirl and are lightweight so they are easy to carry in luggage

2) Wines

These wines are both from Brown brothers. They are a winery in Victoria. Don't buy a lot of these as you might have to pay duty on these, but a couple of bottles of these are fine

2011 Limited Release Banksdale Chardonnay

This current release has a pale gold colour with subtle green hues and a delicate nose displaying nectarine and grapefruit notes with subtle cashew nut oak. Stonefruit characters follow through to the palate, which is fine and elegant, with an element of complexity from the oak. This wine will gain further depth and complexity with cellaring for up to 3 years.

2008 Cellar Door Pinot Grigio Rose

The 2008 rose is the first rose for Brown Brothers using the Pinot Grigio grape variety.

In the glass the wine is a bright, light strawberry colour. It boasts fresh aromas of watermelon, pear and subtle savoury characters, while the palate is crisp and racy with a delicate lively lift. True to Pinot Grigio style, this is best served well chilled and enjoyed within 1-3 years of vintage.

3) Accessories

For her

Leona Edminson stockings from Myer and online for $24.95. Leona Edminston is an Australian designer who designs lots of vintage things for ladies

And she also designs a lot of accessories for women such as these $40 pair of earrings 

And what about this hippie pink scarf from Australian company Just Jeans for about $20

And there is also this scarf also from the same company for the same price

Belt from Just Jeans for $20

Alannah Hill earrings for $39. You can buy this at Melbourne Central's One day sale on Wednesday as there is an Alannah Hill store in Melbourne Central

  
For him:

Fedora hat from Just Jeans just for guys for $24.95

4) Other things

Eco Keep Cup for $12.95 available in all stores. You can buy this and other designs and that way you'll never have use paper cups ever again. Some cafes give you a discount if you bring one of these in.

Kate Hill coin purse for $14.95. Available at DFO in the city. Good idea for keeping loose change

San Churro's fondue set for 2. You can have heaps of fun with this

Pizza

Your complete guide to pizza
Making pizza is cheap and easy. Outside you'd normally buy a large pizza for $20, but this recipe costs less than $15 depending on what you use as you can use just about anything to make pizza. I got the recipe from the Taste website (see sources).

Photography by Mark O'Meara

Photography by Mark O'Meara

Let's make pizza!

One of Italy's greatest gifts to the world, pizza is the ultimate family food for eating and making – from kneading to stirring, there's a job for everyone. Once you've mastered our classic dough and traditional tomato sauce, get into our tasty toppings, or be inventive and make up your own.

Here's what you need

• A large bowl and a tea towel for proving dough
• Specialty bread and pizza flour to give the dough a lighter texture
• Polenta to keep the pizza crust dry and crisp
• A pizza tray – you can use regular trays or a pizza stone (from kitchenware stores)
• A pizza cutter or a large, sharp knife to slice up your pizza
• A rolling pin for rolling out thin, round bases

Try this basic pizza dough, and classic pizza sauce.

Pizza tips & tricks

Try these knead-to-know tips for pizza perfection.

• Add salt to the dough mixture after the other dry ingredients. If added at the same time, it can make the yeast inactive.
• Prove the dough in a warm, draught-free spot, otherwise it will take too long to rise.
• Position oven shelves so one's in the lowest slot and the other's two slots higher.
• Preheat the trays or pizza stones. This helps crisp the base.
• Roll dough from the centre outwards, lifting and turning slightly as you go so your dough is even thickness.
• Sprinkle polenta over the tray to stop pizza sticking and to make the base crisp and dry.
• Place mozzarella on top of pizza sauce but under other toppings to help secure them.
• Store leftover pizza sauce, topped with olive oil, in a jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Top till you drop!

After you've spread your pizzas with the tomato sauce, try some of our favourite topping combos. Each tops two pizzas.

Eggplant & prosciutto with rocket
Garlic prawn & chorizo
Chicken, pear & rocket
Fresh pineapple & ham
Salami, bocconcini & cherry tomato
Roasted pumpkin & goats cheese

Source

Australian Good Taste - October 2010 , Page 134

Recipe sourced from: http://www.taste.com.au/how+to/articles/4833/your+complete+guide+to+pizza (Accessed on 25/11/2012 at 12:50PM)

Taste of Melbourne 2012 by Katherine

The Taste of Melbourne event is something that happens once a year. It goes for four days. It starts on Thursday night and ends on Sunday.
Unlike previous years when it was inside the Royal Exhibition Building, it was outside. I guess that they really wanted an outdoor dining style event, hence the beautiful Albert park lake.
When it opened at 12pm noon today most of the customers including myself had to take the 112 tram and we walked really far ( there was something which happened on the number 96 tram hence there were no trams going that way). But when I finished all the trams were back to normal.
There were lots of people there and the event was not hard to find. You take the number 96 tram ( you can also take the 112 tram but it is quite a walk to get there) and get off at stop 130 (where Mart 130 is ) and then you just walk on the grass area and across the road and there it is. You can hear the music from afar.
Tickets were $30 on the door, but Friend A and I bought ours online for $25 each. There it included a free copy of gourmet Traveller magazine and the wine magazine as well as heaps of samples, apples and teas.
We also bought some crowns. Crowns are the dining currency used at the Taste festival to buy dishes and wines. 1 crown is equal to $1.

There were free picnic rugs for people who picnic in the Lilydale picnic area. Note: Lilydale is a chicken company.
There were also a few wine bars and cocktail areas. Rekordling was one such fun area.
There was a very big Nespresso area where people like myself got free coffee.
One such place where people could get some tips on cooking was at the Bertoli kitchen stage right at the back. I didn't get much of a chance to visit as it always packed with people.
But I got to try some food though and here's what I thought of it.
The good
* The gundowning's 2 mini cones for two crowns- that was quite enjoyable and I got to try out two different flavours: I think of them was fig and the other was banana. I loved the banana flavour. Not too sure about the other one
* Sake's chirashi salad (I think it was 12 crowns)- it was really fresh and I loved the salmon and the crunchy bit on the top. It gave it the crunch that it needed
* Laksa me's dessert (8 crowns)- it wasn't too sweet but it was overly potatoey hence it gave it a bit of a bland taste. I loved the pearls and the coconut.

The bad
* Mamasita's bean tacos (8 crowns)- it was really bland and cold and I had to wait for ages and ages for this
* Mahjong's trio of dumplings (8 crowns)- it was all squashed and there was too much sauce in it. Perhaps it might be to cover their bland taste? But I loved the chilli in it though.

I also had a mocktail at the Berri stand ($6 for this) and I got to watch them do it. It was a bit of long wait but I didn't mind as the girl told me this beforehand and I went and explored other things whilst waiting.

Can't wait to return next year.