Homemade Big Mac

Vincent: And you know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?
Jules: They don't call it Quarter Pounder with Cheese?
Vincent: No man, they got the metric system. They wouldn't know what the f*** a Quarter Pounder is.
Jules: Then what do they call it?
Vincent: They call it a Royale with Cheese.
Jules: A Royale with Cheese. 
Vincent: That's right.
Jules: What do they call a Big Mac?
Vincent: Well a Big Mac's a Big Mac, but they call it Le Big-Mac.
Jules: Le Big-Mac. *laughs* What do they call a Whopper?
Vincent: I dunno, I didn't go into Burger King.
~ Pulp Fiction

Oh yes my friends, that is two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions – on a sesame seed bun.  A Homemade Big Mac.

I don't know bout you but after a gruelling week of exams/work/life what this girl wants, what this girl needs, is some good honest trash food.  Greasy salty junky awesomeness. Get in my belly.

I'd been meaning to make burgers for dinner for a while now.  And if you're going to make burgers why not tackle THE burger right?

{le big mac}

Ginger Kisses Revisted and Going Hobbit Mad

The Hobbit...was a capitalist - uh, catalyst - for so many other industries. ~ Prime Minister John Key, The Hobbit Premiere. 

I don't think I had ever see as many pointy ears and hobbity attire as I did walking around downtown Wellington yesterday.  To a visitor it would have seemed like New Zealand really was inhabited by Hobbits.  We have all gone Hobbit mad.  And it's been AWESOME.

Now, I'm no die hard Tolkienite but you really couldn't help getting swept up in all the Hobbit hoohar around here.  The lead up events, the gargantuan structures, the shire recreated in the middle of a bustling intersection.  Then there was the 500m red carpet.  Sure I'd watched countless red carpet cams on the E! channel but this was my very first live red carpet experience.  And it was everything one could hope for: a hundred thousand people lining the streets, celebrities in their best threads, boeing 777 fly-overs and cameras everywhere.  Absolute magic.  Yes, I was a total fangirl and I'm proud of it. 

{clockwise from top left: crowds pack out courtenay place; giant gandalf over embassy theatre; within arms reach of john rhys-davies aka gimli; elijah wood walks the red carpet; the hobbit crew on stage; debbie matenopoulos from E! news}

Now this wee recipe is a revision of a bit of a celebrity recipe of mine: the Soft Ginger Kisses.  A soft gingery cookie sandwich that would be perfect for elevensies or even second breakfasts.  The original was the culmination of years of trial and error but while some commenters raved about the recipe, others had trouble with spreading, so I set about testing out different variations and have come up with a new slightly-tweaked revised recipe, cunningly named Soft Ginger Kisses Version 2.

Ginger kisses: a mystery solved

I absolutely LOVE ginger kisses and went through a stage of buying them all the time from the supermarket.  They are a baked treat that are a favourite in New Zealand and Australia and are basically two ginger 'cookies' (although the texture is more like cake) with vanilla buttercream in between.  Kinda like a ginger version of the whoopie pie.