Rue Cler Market: food tasting!

My boy and I were treated last week, to an amazing tasting session thanks to Rue Cler Market, a boutique catering company in Melbourne run by very experienced and talented chefs. We had almost locked in with another caterer, but these guys were late entrants into the race. Still yet to make a decision, but we were very impressed with Rue Cler Market.

We felt pretty special as they came to our house to cook for us. I was a little embarrassed about our tiny cluttered kitchen, but they were very professional and seemed to not mind the 'rustic' working conditions.

David and I watched in awe as they made us the following little tasting plates:

1. A single lychee topped with shaved foie gras and a micro herb. This was amazing...the combination of the fresh lychee with the rich foie gras (which I had never had before) was awesome.

Bite number one

2. Cherry tomatoes, peeled and de-seeded on a bed of dehydrated prosciutto and toasted brioche crumbs, with a vinaigrette and baby basil. So simple, but these guys made the flavour burst at the seams. Yum!

Mouthful number two

3. I was a little scared at this one, as it involved oysters. Of which I had never tried and never intended to try before. But I held my breath and went with it. Freshly shucked oyster, quickly seared on the pan, topped with cucumber, celery, nori strands, baby radish, the juices of the oyster and amazing little succulents which tasted peppery and lovely! I even liked the oyster! These guys are miracle workers!

Tasting number three

A formal decision is still to be made on the catering, but these guys have blown us away with what they showed us the other night. It's great being able to have such talented people on hand to create fabulous food for our wedding. I'm so excited! Thanks Rue Cler Market.


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How to make paper flowers


I got the idea to make all the flowers for my wedding after seeing an amazing paper bouquet on the BHLDN website (the website where I bought my wedding dress!).


After finding various tutorials via Martha Stewart's DIY wedding website, I decided it was do-able and proceeded to purchase crazy amounts of crepe paper and started experimenting. However, I found that they were a little too 'faux' looking, and not natural enough for the look I was after.


I dabbled in making flowers out of old maps and fabric which failed miserably, and racked my brains for other ideas on how to make my flowers look a little less naff than what I had come up with already. I knew it was just the colours of the paper that were making them look a bit too fake...not the actual method of the flower making.


Then it hit me over the weekend...TEA STAINING!


So off I went, turning our kitchen into a petal making factory (which I am sure my boy was thrilled about!). 


The result... super gorgeous, natural, vintage looking florals. I was so impressed with my handy work, I just had to share with you. There are lots of tutorials out there on how to make paper flowers, but I think this method is the one that will give you the most natural looking flowers (if I do say so myself!!).

What you will need:

White crepe paper

scissors

black tea or coffee

a wire coat hanger and pegs

black crepe paper (or any colour)

natural green tissue paper (or any colour you like)

florist wire

florist tape (green or brown)

How to:

Follow the above illustration. But here are a few tips: 

1. It's important to leave your crepe paper unfolded. You will be able to make LOTS of petals at the same time, and they will be less likely to rip than if you do them one or a couple at a time.

2. Instead of tea, get creative with watercolours instead. I've used greens and pinks for my flowers and they turned out lovely.

3. Peg your petals onto a wire coat hanger (bottom of petal in contact with the peg). This makes it much easier to put on and take off the clothes line.

4. Because crepe paper is stretchy, you can manipulate your petals to look very realistic by stretching a bit at the top and middle...leaving the base un-stretched.

Here are a few photos of the paper flowers I have done so far!

paper blossom. love how these turned out.

please excuse my un-plastered wall...a work in progress.

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