My very first client.

As many of my readers will know, I've been wanting to start a small catering business that will one day grown into a BIG catering business and maybe even a restaurant.

Well, dear friends, the business has officially begun!

My sweet cousin, Kate, went away for a family holiday a few weeks ago and commissioned a meal and some treats to take with her to share with her family.

She immediately thought of the most talented and wonderful caterer she's know (cough, cough) and gave me a call. I accepted the position immediately!

I made her a delectable corn and bacon quiche, some caramelised onion and pumpkin tarts and a pile of scrumptious mini peanut butter cheesecakes (which nearly didn't make it to her....).

She was utterly delighted with the service and quality of food and has told me she will recommend me to all her friends. 

Hopefully she will be the first of many clients in my budding business.

Here's a little snap shot of the goods before they were devoured by the family.

If you are in the Melbourne area and require a caterer please do not hesitate to contact me.

lovebyaliyah@gmail.com 

Til next post,

-the goddess in training.

Birthday time

Hi All,

Here are a few pictures of a delicious cake I made for my housemate's birthday.
It is a triple layered chocolate cake with a salted-caramel frosting (which I wanted to take a bath in!).

I found the recipe on Pinterest but is published on Kimberley Taylor's blog.
This recipe and many other treats can be found at http://kimberlytaylorimages.com/category/in-the-kitchen/.

I am now waiting for her to come home so we can crack it open!!

Til next post,

-the goddess in training.
 

Catering (otherwise known as cooking for friends’ events….)

I am almost embarrassed to post in my blog as it has been so so long since I have written here. In my defence I have completed a teaching qualification, gone on two overseas trips, moved house AND cured cancer (I may or may not have actually cured cancer…..). But I’m back and ready to talk cooking and more specifically catering. 

So….. I had a lovely lunch with a dear friend of mine who is also quite the domestic goddess (Brisbane readers can purchase her tasty delights from http://www.facebook.com/LaurasCakeWonderland) and we were discussing our love of cooking and our foodie hopes and dreams for the future. Laura runs a Cake and Cupcake catering business similar to what I would love to open one day. We were discussing how we often cook the food for friends’ events as well as our own and use the term ‘catering’ to sound a bit more fancy. And then it dawned on me, I do have a catering business, I just don’t get paid for it….yet!

I’m not saying that I’m going to start charging my friends every time I bring a packet of crackers to a BBQ or have a cover charge anytime someone opens my fridge (I would imagine that would be quite frustrating for my housemate) but I realised that I am in fact capable of catering (small) functions!

With this new epiphany fresh in my mind I have decided to stop waiting for 'the right time' (is there ever a right time?) and start my business.

Stay tuned for more information on this burgeoning enterprise.

(especially my Melbourne based readers; I am sure there are millions of you...).

In the meantime, here are a few photos of some events that I have catered.

These delicate delectables were featured at my recent housewarming party.
Other items on the menu that evening were homemade sausage rolls, pear jam and goat's cheese crustini, marinated chicken ribs and vietnamese rice paper rolls.

Below are some treats I made for my Mum's Book Club.
The pear jam and goat's cheese crustini made another appearance (always a favourite of mine) as well as blue cheese, chorizo and olive crustini and a lemon syrup cake. The cake was a recipe from one of the books the ladies were discussing that evening and was served with pouring cream.  

 
Til next post,

-the goddess in training.

The pretties....

One day, hopefully in the not-too-distant future it is my hope and dream to have a little market stall of wonder where I can sell all of the pretty and delicious treats!
Here is a little preview of one of the many things you can expect if you visit.... (chocolate cupcakes with cream-cheese frosting!!)

Til next post,

The dinner parties continue....

I’ve been flying under the radar the last few weeks on account of copious amounts of Uni work and a trip overseas. I am pleased to inform you, my adoring readers, that I have successfully completed my first semester of my Masters and rewarded myself with a trip to Bangladesh (to visit my sister and her new husband) and Singapore (my home of three years when I was younger).

Since my last post I have had another dinner party success!

I have a few great loves in my life. My family, my besties (Carrah and Marc), shoes and ribs.

The love I have for ribs is not unlike the love I have for my friends and family. They are comforting, they are warm, they fill me with life and happiness and they're covered in delicious smokey sauce (the ribs of course, not my friends...).

On many a rib-eating occasion I have announced to my company that if I could take a bath in anything it would be rib sauce. 

A friend of mine once had to tell a newer dining guest to not interrupt or touch me whilst eating ribs of fear that I may mistake their limbs for a piece of rib-y goodness and gnaw the appendage clean off.

Just like the love of my friends and family, this deep love has grown over many years of eating ribs. It may then surprise you that it was only a few weeks ago that I first attempted to create this adored dish in my own kitchen. Sad, but true. 

But that glorious day has come and gone and I live to tell the tale. (the tale follows....)

I had been blessed by my mother with a slow cooker and was given a recipe by a friend for the wonderous meal.

It was interesting to see the "behind-the-scenes" story of how my beloved ribs were prepared.

This includes boiling the raw ribs for over 30 mins (making my kitchen smell less than delicious), preparing the rib sauce (which I nearly flooded my kitchen with....not in a good way) and finally cooking the ribs in the slow cooker for the better part of the afternoon.

After hours of cooking I was disappointed to discover tender-less meat in my slow cooker and feared I would have to serve my guests rib-flavoured leather!

I uncharacteristically (read: I do this far too often) abandoned the recipe and threw my ribs and sauce into a caste iron pot and promptly placed the pot and contents in my oven.

Within a short period of time the meat was falling of the bone and the sauce was becoming the perfect sweet and sticky accompaniment to the resurrected meat.

In addition to the ribs I made duck fat potatoes (you must eat these before you die!), roasted corn cobs and buttered vegetables.

The meal was received with joy by my guests who all wrote lovely feedback on the blackboard place mats on which the food was served.

For dessert I made chocolate fondants with raspberries; the second course was as well-received as the first, one guest even licking his plate clean.

I believe this meal was another great success in my dinner-partying adventure. There are some photos below for you to salivate over....

My next challenge is adding a third course to the mix by trying out some new entrees.

 Til next post.

-the goddess in training.

 Slow-cooked ribs, duck fat potatoes, roasted corn and buttered veges.

Chocolate fondant with icecream and raspberries.

a night of firsts.

Now that I've moved down to Melbourne I don't have housemates (read: parents) to sample the deliciousness I so frequently love to create so I'm going to throw dinner parties for my Victorian family and friends!
The first dinner party was a very beautiful and intimate affair with my best-twin-cousin Beth. I was desperate to try out the new caste-iron pot my mummy dearest bought me during her last visit so I made a classic winter delight, Lamb Shanks!

A recipe I had never tried before but had the opportunity to devourer at a friend's house in the past, I was excited and slightly afraid to take it on.
The cooking process is surprisingly easy and the sauce that the shanks are cooked in was divine; it has a whole jar of cranberry sauce plus other yummies like red wine, rosemary and love (i.e. butter).
I served the shanks with mashed potato, baby honey-carrots and beans. My mashed potato philosophy is that the potato is really just a vehicle for butter to ride on into your mouth and fill you with happiness (and a few extra calories...).
The shanks were well received by my guest. Over dinner I asked Beth if she would be interested in being my new food guinea pig and she was stumped as to why I prefaced the request with "I have a favour to ask you".

My new food critic was then privy to the debut performance of the "Aliyah is trying to master the art of making creme brulee" tour.
The custard was delicious but could have been a bit firmer. I later discovered that the best way to achieve this is to chill the cooked custards overnight and serve them the next day. The dessert is warmed by the blow-torch when creating the toffee top.
The burnt sugar on top was absolutely wonderful! It was the first time I used my blow-torch and I got a little over excited and kept adding layers of sugar after the previous layer was adequately browned. The result was a delectably thick crust of burnt deliciousness which perfectly accompanied the creamy vanilla-dotted custard.

All in all I believe the night was a success and I am already planning my next dinner party.
Below are a few feast photos from the evening.

Til next cooking adventure.

-the goddess in training.

Well this is embarrasing......

Good evening.

Isn't it sad how life passes by and before you know it over a year goes past and you realise you haven't been informing your adoring blogger fans about your life!

Over a year ago I had the desire to start a blog about my journey towards domestic goddess-ness and have epically dropped the ball since then. It ends tonight!

So without further adieu.....

My name is Aliyah Booth and I am a domestic goddess....in training

This title was thrust upon me several years ago by boys at my school when they discovered my passion for cooking and home making.

So what is a domestic goddess? Well, Aliyah's personal dictionary describes a domestic goddess as a women who embraces all things wonderous. That is, cooking, sewing, gardening, decorating whilst wearing fabulous clothes, shoes, gorgeous hair and make up and a string of pearls!

Throughout the years women have fought for the right to hang up their aprons and hire a home make (i.e. nanny, cook, cleaner, decorator) in order to join their male counterparts in the work force.
This is a wonderful development and I thank my fore-mothers for fighting for my right however, I am ever-so-slightly terrified that in this endeavour women may lose the pleasures of the responsibilities they have had for several centuries.

I am in no way saying that women should remain in the kitchen or be stay at home mothers nor am I even hinting that men cannot enjoy the pleasure of creating a lovely meal, decorating a home or working in the garden that I will be discussing.

I am simply saying that I am a women who is striving towards a successful career but I also strive to excel in my home life as well.

Since my last post (a very very long time ago), I have moved to Melbourne to study a Masters so I have my very own (tiny) home to "make".

I have also decided I'm going to start my own domestic-goddess-inspired business in addition to my studies.

I'm also going to figure out how to upload photos of all the deliciousness I create whilst on my food journey.

Looking forward to sharing with you...whoever you are.

Til next post.

-the goddess in training.