we like to eat. a lot.

with the warmer weather finally making its comeback, the flatmate and i decided, on a whim, to have a cookout (the original idea for dinner was a healthy but boring ol' mee sua with mincemeat and veg). just the 2 of us. walking down the supermarket aisles, we headed for the barbie needs. they don't sell the usual odd, hard-to-handle charcoal we're used to back in singas. instead, we forked out about AUD5 for 4kg of bbq-grade charcoal beads. and now, we're recent but fervent converted users of charcoal beads. they provide a more gradual, all-rounded heat that's ideal for yummy food that doesn't turn out charred on one side. and they last longer too: no need for re-fuelling at all throughout the span of our 3-hour cookout!

and it helps to use the solid fuel for fire-starters as well. have now realised this makes a fair amount of difference. back in singas, we used to buy the cheap chicken-brand fire starters that took forever to start burning well. in less than 1/2 an hour, the pit was ready for grilling.

2 hungry girls had: 8 jumbo sausages, 500 grams of honey soy chicken wings, 450 grams of oyster blade steak, 1 grilled capsicum, and 1 grilled apple. all for under AUD10. warm weather is here! and that makes us very happy campers!

that was last night.

and tonight, with a few friends over, 4 girls polished off 1 kilogram of char siew (thanks, fat fingers for the recipe!), rice, a pot of vegetable soup (our biggest pot available, too), and the flatmate made her famously rich chocolate souffle with a soft coffee centre.

my protruding belly begs me to seriously consider booking an extra seat on the flight home for it.