An ode to good mates, junk food and Trash Tuesdays

 

 

In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed. ~ Kahlil Gibran

 

From extreme highs and to another crushing low - life is definitely a roller coaster all right!  Just days after our amazing wedding, we got a bombshell: my uncle is very ill.  Terminally ill.  A few months they said.  

 

Devastating, heart-crushing news.

Not sure what it is about this year but I seem to be blogging about sad news rather often, our dear family friend, grandma and now this.  What a topsy turvy year.  So sorry about being such an Eeyore folks!  

 

What has been amazing though is the thoughtfulness of friends.  Mere days after sobbing it out to my mates, two massive parcels arrive on my doorstep chock-a-block full of chocolates, cookies and candies.  Ahhhh Junk Food: The Magic Cure All.  My gorgeous friends from my old team at work sent me down some of my fav sweet things to me to cheer me up.  Honestly, nothing beats sugary goodness when you are feeling low.  Absolute angels.  Love you, Lis, Alex and Pip.

The group of us used to go out for lunch on Tuesdays and get something gloriously greasy and trashy: McDonalds, KFC, butter chicken, pies - the trashier the better.  We called it: Trash Tuesdays.  So, as an ode to the good old days and as an homage to team GQ/DOH I'm starting a new post series by the same name to rant and rave about so-bad-but-so-good foods.  It might not be every Tuesday, but if it's trashy, you'll hear about it on Trash Tuesday.

 

Immediately upon receiving the parcels I attacked my two of favs: the Licorice Choc Logs and Pineapple Lumps.  I had every intention of photographing and blogging about them but they disappeared into my greedy tummy before my self control kicked in to make me stop and take photos.  I did get a couple shots of the licorice logs, but the pineapple lumps weren't so lucky.  The price they pay for being too addictive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Licorice Choc Logs, as the name suggests, are long logs of soft black licorice with a stick of dark chocolate inside.  I love licorice and kid myself that since it's "natural" (made from licorice root) it's healthy.  Come to think of it, I also like to tell myself that dark chocolate has antioxidants so therefore is also healthy.  Making this chocolate licorice log practically a salad. 

 

 

Salad or not, the aniseedy licorice is soft, yielding and not too sweet and a perfect contrast to the bite of dark chocolate in the centre. 

 

{via shopnewzealand}

 

 

Pineapple Lumps are an iconic kiwi sweet.  Unique to New Zealand, these pineapple flavoured marshmallows covered in a thin layer chocolate may sound like an odd combination but it just works.  They are soft and chewy and dangerously addictive.  Every kiwi kid grew up eating pineapple lumps in their goodie bags at birthday parties.  Some people like to freeze them and enjoy them crunchy, I prefer them unadulterated, straight from the packet.  The whole packet.  Maybe it's the reminder of my childhood that makes me childishly anti-sharing around these lollies.   These are definitely a stranded-on-a-desert-island-sweet for me.

 

{the original recipe for pineapple lumps by Charles Driver from the 1950's via wikipedia}

 

I ended up sharing the Toffee Pops and Eskimos with my tutorial but still have stacks of yumminess sitting temptingly on my shelves.  Most notably the honey roasted peanuts and squiggles.  They are burning a hole in the pantry so watch this space for more Trash Tuesdays to come!

Bring on the trash.

 

***UPDATE***

 

I just couldn't bear leaving this post without some photos of my beloved pineapple lumps.  So I just HAD to go out and buy a dollar bag from the dairy just so I could photograph them and then I HAD to eat them.  How I suffer for my art.

 

{introducing the delicious pineapple lump}

{wafer-thin chocolate coating covering a soft chewy pineapple marshmallow centre - oh it is a beautiful thing}

{you know it's good n chewy when its stretchy}