While we were up in the Blue Mountains we stopped off at Teas and Tisanes in Wentworth Falls on the way home.
Well... I went a little bit crazy in there I swear I was only going to buy one tea for Mum!
I got mum some Macadamia tea (black flavoured tea) which smells wonderful. As a Queenslander who loves her macadamias I'm sure she'll love it. A blend of China-Ceylon black teas, mixed with teh sweet nutty flavour of macadamia nuts. Superb with a drop of milk.
And for me... well... I limited myself to just 3 teas....
Saucey Fruit (I like things a bit Saucey!) - A fruity blend of papaw, mango, rosehip, hibiscus and blue cornflower. Delicious as an iced tea. (I haven't tried this one yet)
Japanese Evening Mist - Sencha green tea flavored with cornflower blossom, rose flowers and calendula. Very light and very yum. Just perfect for when you want a drink, but not anything strong.
And of course I couldn’t go home without some Blue Mountains tea – A subtle fruity flavour sprinkled with blue cornflowers, blended with black tea of China and Ceylon. This is a lovely change to the regular black tea that we usually drink, although I like quite a strong black tea, this is a little weaker than I'm used to.
Then on Saturday I went a little crazy at T2 buying canisters and spoons (we drink a lot of tea and coffee and go through about 12 teaspoons a day. I thought that if I have ones that stay in the canisters we wont need to use one each time we make a cup!).
I got 4 lovely canisters that look like they've been covered in a Japanese style print/paper. 4 different colours.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Silk's Brasserie - Leura
After Emma's glowing recommendation of this restuarant we decided to eat at Silk's Brasserie - Leura for our 5th Anniversary - and I couldn't recommend it highly enough.
From start to finish it was possibly the best meal we have ever eaten.
I had good feelings about the place as soon as we walked in. It was warm with a mordern yet Art Deco feel. We were greated by staff who were so nice, and they were 'grown ups' too - not young kids who didn't know which wine to recommend or anything like that.
When the bread came out as we ummed and ahhed over the menu I said to Murray that I had a good feeling about that place - I'd never had good bread and a bad meal.
Murray couldn't decide on a main he liked, so he actually ordered three entres!
For his first entre he had...
Provençale fish soup with baby squid, prawns, aioli & toasted brioche - which he said was the best soup he'd ever had.
And for his second entre it was Sautéed scallops, shiitake mushrooms & pumpkin, served with a cucumber, daikon & coriander salad - which he said was also fantastic. I tried some of the pumpkin, and I wasn't overly impressed by it, but it just wasn't 'my flavors'.
I had the Shortcrust tartlet of Jannei goat curd, pickled pear, confit tomato, cress salad & hazelnut dressing . It was like I had died and gone to heaven. The creaminess of the goats cheese, the sweetness of hte pear, the tartness of the tomato, the hazelnuts sprinkled on top - all of it was magnificent. Orgasmic.
For Murrays third entre he had Home-made gnocchi with sage, asparagus tips, Roaring Forties blue cheese cream & a parmesan straw - which again, he said was magnificent! I'm not a gnocchi person, but even I thought it was pretty good.
I had Roast breast of corn-fed chicken on braised red cabbage with black pudding, pine nuts, muscatels & jus. I was a little concerned about the combination of foods - but I was in heaven again.
I never wanted to leave this place and so continued on with desert. I could only manage a Bailey's Afforgato, but Murray-the-bottomless-pit managed some of a cheese platter as well.
Just when we thouogh we couldn't possibly eat another thing they brought out some almond truffles. And even the complimentary truffles were the best I'd ever had.
Not a cheap night out, especially after adding the wine - but it was worth every cent - and we would have paid twice that much for it.
We would drive the hour and a half up there just to go out for dinner.
Absolutely amazing.
From start to finish it was possibly the best meal we have ever eaten.
I had good feelings about the place as soon as we walked in. It was warm with a mordern yet Art Deco feel. We were greated by staff who were so nice, and they were 'grown ups' too - not young kids who didn't know which wine to recommend or anything like that.
When the bread came out as we ummed and ahhed over the menu I said to Murray that I had a good feeling about that place - I'd never had good bread and a bad meal.
Murray couldn't decide on a main he liked, so he actually ordered three entres!
For his first entre he had...
Provençale fish soup with baby squid, prawns, aioli & toasted brioche - which he said was the best soup he'd ever had.
And for his second entre it was Sautéed scallops, shiitake mushrooms & pumpkin, served with a cucumber, daikon & coriander salad - which he said was also fantastic. I tried some of the pumpkin, and I wasn't overly impressed by it, but it just wasn't 'my flavors'.
I had the Shortcrust tartlet of Jannei goat curd, pickled pear, confit tomato, cress salad & hazelnut dressing . It was like I had died and gone to heaven. The creaminess of the goats cheese, the sweetness of hte pear, the tartness of the tomato, the hazelnuts sprinkled on top - all of it was magnificent. Orgasmic.
For Murrays third entre he had Home-made gnocchi with sage, asparagus tips, Roaring Forties blue cheese cream & a parmesan straw - which again, he said was magnificent! I'm not a gnocchi person, but even I thought it was pretty good.
I had Roast breast of corn-fed chicken on braised red cabbage with black pudding, pine nuts, muscatels & jus. I was a little concerned about the combination of foods - but I was in heaven again.
I never wanted to leave this place and so continued on with desert. I could only manage a Bailey's Afforgato, but Murray-the-bottomless-pit managed some of a cheese platter as well.
Just when we thouogh we couldn't possibly eat another thing they brought out some almond truffles. And even the complimentary truffles were the best I'd ever had.
Not a cheap night out, especially after adding the wine - but it was worth every cent - and we would have paid twice that much for it.
We would drive the hour and a half up there just to go out for dinner.
Absolutely amazing.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Herb Garden
Had a fantastic weekend this weekend!
Saturday I went to go the Chattswood Organic Growers Market to get some market fresh fruit and veg. (How domestic of me!). It was such a disapointment through. There were only 4 stalls in total - one was a sausage sizzle, one was take away coffee, one was trash and treasure - which leaves just ONE fruit and veg. Its wasn't cheap, there wasn't much of it, and it wasn't great quality. Needless to say I wont be going back there again.
So after that fiddling about had intended to hire bikes and ride around and explore Sydney's Olympic Park - but between getting ready, and deciding which inappropriate outfit I should wear - it was getting late and we ended up at the Longueville Hotel in Lane Cove.
Some of you might remember that we were quite taken by Lane Cove when we first moved to Sydney - so much so we almost moved there! Strangely though - we haven't been back since actually moving! It was a great afternoon sitting outside in the Garden Terrace - I could have sat there all afternoon sipping wine. However Murray (probably wisely) suggested we go home.
On the way home though I reminded him that I wanted to go to Bunnings to get some herbs to make a herb garden! And so we had a very domesticated afternoon planting our little babies!
We now have Spring Onions, 2 different types of Parsley (so send me your parsley ideas - I've hardly ever used it!), Corriander, Chives, Basil and Thyme. I can't wait till they grow - IF they grow - I dont have a great track record with keeping things alive. I figure that Boston is still alive - perhaps I'm ready to move onto something that doesn't meow painfully when its hungry.
Speaking of Boston - here he is on the beanbag helping me with some reading for work.
Had a fantastic day today also - went out to DFO in Sydney for the first time. Its just like all the DFO's in Melbourne. I was very good though and didn't spend up. Though there were lots of very sexy shoes I could have gone crazy with. Will save my pennies and return though!
Saturday I went to go the Chattswood Organic Growers Market to get some market fresh fruit and veg. (How domestic of me!). It was such a disapointment through. There were only 4 stalls in total - one was a sausage sizzle, one was take away coffee, one was trash and treasure - which leaves just ONE fruit and veg. Its wasn't cheap, there wasn't much of it, and it wasn't great quality. Needless to say I wont be going back there again.
So after that fiddling about had intended to hire bikes and ride around and explore Sydney's Olympic Park - but between getting ready, and deciding which inappropriate outfit I should wear - it was getting late and we ended up at the Longueville Hotel in Lane Cove.
Some of you might remember that we were quite taken by Lane Cove when we first moved to Sydney - so much so we almost moved there! Strangely though - we haven't been back since actually moving! It was a great afternoon sitting outside in the Garden Terrace - I could have sat there all afternoon sipping wine. However Murray (probably wisely) suggested we go home.
On the way home though I reminded him that I wanted to go to Bunnings to get some herbs to make a herb garden! And so we had a very domesticated afternoon planting our little babies!
We now have Spring Onions, 2 different types of Parsley (so send me your parsley ideas - I've hardly ever used it!), Corriander, Chives, Basil and Thyme. I can't wait till they grow - IF they grow - I dont have a great track record with keeping things alive. I figure that Boston is still alive - perhaps I'm ready to move onto something that doesn't meow painfully when its hungry.
Speaking of Boston - here he is on the beanbag helping me with some reading for work.
Had a fantastic day today also - went out to DFO in Sydney for the first time. Its just like all the DFO's in Melbourne. I was very good though and didn't spend up. Though there were lots of very sexy shoes I could have gone crazy with. Will save my pennies and return though!
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Kristy's Cakes
Just thought I'd share one of my friends amaaazing cakes with you! (If anyone needs a cake for a special occasion in Melbourne, let me know!)
A couple of different 1st Birthday Cakes... A couple of pretty funky cakes... And my very favorite one - a Thank You cake!
A couple of different 1st Birthday Cakes... A couple of pretty funky cakes... And my very favorite one - a Thank You cake!
Hyde Park, Sydney
These are very belated photos, but on Sat 15th September I finally visited Hyde Park!
It was such a beautiful day to be exploring Sydney, just taking our time, discovering shops and arcades in the city, and wondering up through Hyde Park on our way to Oxford St for lunch.
The Anzac WW1 memorial is also in Hyde Park. We saw the Eternal Flame, and the cieling is painted in thousands of gold stars, which I am told represent fallen soilders.
I also wandered along Oxford St which I've marked as a MUST to return to when I need to do some serious shopping. Had fantastic lunch down there also. Some interesting shop names though...
It was such a beautiful day to be exploring Sydney, just taking our time, discovering shops and arcades in the city, and wondering up through Hyde Park on our way to Oxford St for lunch.
The Anzac WW1 memorial is also in Hyde Park. We saw the Eternal Flame, and the cieling is painted in thousands of gold stars, which I am told represent fallen soilders.
I also wandered along Oxford St which I've marked as a MUST to return to when I need to do some serious shopping. Had fantastic lunch down there also. Some interesting shop names though...
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
They are Geelong, the greatest team this year
I can hardly call them the greatest team of all can I? But they did manage to tick all the boxes this year, and good ol' Bomber Thompson did well.
Murray and I drove down to Echuca for the weekend to meet up with some crazy cats. Thinking it would only be a 6-8hour drive, I finished up work at 3pm and we were on the road by 4pm. We hit horrendous traffic coming out of Sydney - I should have realised that a combination of Friday night, Deny ute Muster, AFL and NRL Grand Finals - that it would be a busy night on the road.
After driving for hours and hours, and starting to think that we'd never get there before the game started, we arrived at the Shammy at 2.15am. After sweet talking the security to let us in - it was worth every minute of the drive.
Check out the weekend shenanigans on the blog at http://geelongcats.blogspot.com/
We had every intention to come home on Sunday, as I wanted to get on top of some work even though Monday was a Public Holiday. But there was no way that Murray and I could drive up the street, let alone to Sydney.
So it was a day of R&R for us before we headed back home on Monday.
On the return trip we headed across to Albry - this was a much better trip. Far easier. Also saw the Dog on the Tucker Box on the way home. He's still there - hasn't moved much.
Murray and I drove down to Echuca for the weekend to meet up with some crazy cats. Thinking it would only be a 6-8hour drive, I finished up work at 3pm and we were on the road by 4pm. We hit horrendous traffic coming out of Sydney - I should have realised that a combination of Friday night, Deny ute Muster, AFL and NRL Grand Finals - that it would be a busy night on the road.
After driving for hours and hours, and starting to think that we'd never get there before the game started, we arrived at the Shammy at 2.15am. After sweet talking the security to let us in - it was worth every minute of the drive.
Check out the weekend shenanigans on the blog at http://geelongcats.blogspot.com/
We had every intention to come home on Sunday, as I wanted to get on top of some work even though Monday was a Public Holiday. But there was no way that Murray and I could drive up the street, let alone to Sydney.
So it was a day of R&R for us before we headed back home on Monday.
On the return trip we headed across to Albry - this was a much better trip. Far easier. Also saw the Dog on the Tucker Box on the way home. He's still there - hasn't moved much.
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