The 2nd Annual Sydney Food Bloggers X'Mas Picnic

Our Picnic Table Concrete Slab

It's that festive month of the year and it's time for another christmas picnic for Sydney food bloggers :D

This would be my first one since I've only started blogging late April this year, thankfully I've met a few bloggers prior to this picnic and my cousin, Cleony,  is one of the food blogger attending as well. 

So didn't feel a bit out of place this time round...he...he...he...  ^_*

Food Bloggers Mingling

Finding our picnic spot in the vast Centennial Park is not easy - AT ALL !

Cleony and I were standing on the corner of the park, completely lost and clueless. At the end, we resorted to stalking via Twitter and manage to get hold of Suze and pin point the exact location :)

It's time to tuck in (and take photos of course !)

There were so many foods at the picnic, didn't manage to get to get shot of everything, so here are some I manage to take.

Since we arrived a tad late, I'm not sure who brought some of the foods in this post. If the food is yours, please let me know and I shall amend the captions ^_^

White Chocolate Wontons w/ Pine Nut & Rosemary Praline
by John of  He Needs Food

This sweet wonton was so good !! Love the flavours of the rosemary in the gooey praline, made a mess  but sooooooo worth it :)

Christmas Tree Marshmallow w/ Cocoa Nibs
by _______

The Super Cute Santa Strawberries
by Ayana of Absolutely Ayana

Semolina, Pistachio & Rosewater Slice (Basbousa ?)
by ________

Pecan Pie Tartlets
by _________

Orange, Pistachio & Cardamom Cupcakes
by Angie of Angie Lives to Eat (and Cook!)

Macaron X'Mas Tree
by Cleony of i eat sweet...

The reaction of the others when they see it as we walk towards the gathering crowd was priceless...

There was silence...then excitement....then lots of cameras activities LOL

Earlier that afternoon, when I picked her up from home and saw her wobbling towards the car, this is what I said "ARE YOU CRAZY ?!?! We are going to a picnic in a hot spring afternoon and you got a tower of macarons that would probably fall off (pretty soon) bcoz the filling will melt !!".

Thankfully the macarons survived the picnic and I must say they were a hit with the crowd :D

Well done Ony !! \^o^/

(i eat sweet... makes macarons, cupcakes, cookies and cakes to order and can be personalized, check out her website for more details or join her Facebook page ) 

Simon of The Heart of Food in action

How Food Bloggers Eat @ A Picnic
(just gather round the foods LOL)

After everyone had enough food and began to relax on the picnic rugs, Helen came around and asked us to pick a raffle ticket out of a bag to find out what order we are in for the Kris Kringles.

Those that has a special extra number on their ticket were to participate on the inaugural Sydney Food Bloggers Olympic.

Mine had the extra number and so did Mel who was sitting with us. Panic sets in as I really sucks big time at sports *sweat*, but then again, being food bloggers, there is almost no doubt that the olympic will  be around food *pheww*.

Sydney Food Bloggers Olympic - Rules & Regulation :

• Split into groups of 4 and pick a team name - our Team Asia consists of me, Clarissa (Eat My Shots), Ken (Yummy Food Nom Nom Nom) and Marvin (Eat Marvin)
• The Events are as follows :
1. Chopstick Challenge : transfer 50 perfectly spherical soy bean with chopsticks from one bowl to the other (those slippery little things) - Ken
2. Taste Taste Challenge : blindfolded, we were handed 2 tasting cups with unknown food and we had to guess what it was (cucumber and sun flower seeds) - Me
3. Food Plating : use the foods in the picnic and plate it aesthetically within 3 minutes - Marvin
4. Food Photography : take a shot of the plated food and upload it to Twitter - Clarissa

I left before the results were announced but proud to say that we won the Silver Medal !! \^o^/

Well done Team Asia and congrats to Team Diva who got Gold, and also the other teams who played along, it was fun !

Kris Kringles Time !!

It's now time for some food themed kris kringles \^o^/

This is not your ordinary kris kringles, we can steal others gift that took your fancy if you wish !! 

Which caused a lot of stealing back and forth LOL

I got a Wiltshire Fruit Baller that came in handy because I couldn't find mine ( Thanks Laura !!)

Cleony and I had to leave in the middle of the KK as she had to go to another party :(

A big big big thank you to Helen & Suze for organising the picnic, I think we all had so much fun that day. THANKSSS !!!

It was really great to see the faces behind the blogs that I've been reading on a daily basis, didn't get to meet all of you guys this time round, but hopefully next gathering I'm more social *scout's honour*.

For the list of food bloggers that attended the picnic, check out the listing that Suze has made HERE.

Oh, by the way, this is what I brought to the picnic, a super duper easy cake to make thanks to Béa's recipe ( La Tartine Gourmande). Baked fresh on the day in the early morning :D 

Apple, Walnut, Cinnamon & Olive Oil Cupcakes

The original recipe was for an "Upside Down Apple Cake w/ Olive Oil, Vanilla & Cinnamon", you can check it out here  on her blog and enjoy her amazing photographs as well. 

I made little changes to make it more cupcake friendly :)

Apple, Walnut, Cinnamon & Olive Oil Cupcakes (adapted from La Tartine Gourmande's recipe)

(Makes 16 regular cupcakes)

Ingredients 

• 1/3 cup Walnuts
• 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter, cold
• 3 Pink Lady Apples (or Granny Smith Apples)
• 1/4 tsp Baker's Cinnamon
• 2/3 cup Cane Sugar
• 1/2 cup Natural Yoghurt, unflavoured
• 1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste ( or 1 vanilla bean, cut in halves, seeds scraped out)
• 3 Eggs
• 1/2 cup minus 1 tbs Olive Oil
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp Bi-Carb Soda (Baking Soda_
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 cup Plain Flour
• 1/3 cup Corn Starch
• 4tbs Almond Meal

Methods 

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 C and line 12 cup muffin tins with cupcake papers (the remaining 4 can be baked later or you can prepare another tray and divide the cups equally in each tray)
2. Place the walnuts on a baking sheet and roast them until fragrant, it doesn't take too long so keep an eye out (I burned my first tray of walnuts :P). Remove from the oven and when cooled, chop them coarsely and set aside.
3.  (Optional : If you want to top the cupcakes with a thin slice of apple cross-section like I did, half the apples, pick out the seeds and slice them very thinly on a mandolin. Slice just enough for your cupcakes, then dice the remaining apples) Wash the apples, leave the skin on and dice into small cubes. Keep the diced / sliced apples in a bowl of water with salt or lemon juice to keep it from browning while you go through the rest of the apples.
4. In a non-stick pan, heat the butter on medium heat, toss (only) the diced apple in cinnamon  + 2 tbs of the cane sugar. Add to the pan and cook until they start to caramelized but still crunchy.
5. In a bowl, mix yoghurt and the remaining cane sugar. Add the vanilla bean paste, eggs, and olive oil, mix well.
6. Fold in the other dry ingredients and chopped nuts, do not over mix the batter.
7. Fill the cupcake liner up to 3/4 and top with the thin apple slice (if you made some) and sprinkle with some demerara sugar mixed with cinnamon.
8. Bake until lightly golden and skewer came out clean when tested.