Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Family Feasting!
This weekend we are going away with family for a mini-getaway down to the country side. Ever since we were children, our 4 families used to take the opportunity to go away on a big group holiday so that the adults could catch up and enjoy each others company and the kids could play together and wreak havoc!
With my Aunty visting from overseas, we thought it would be the perfect chance to all get together for a weekend of fun again. Circumstances have changed, families have moved overseas, children have grown up and gone interstate, and various partners have been added to the mix. Still, sixteen of us (plus my little elderly pup) will be heading down to inland Lorne for the weekend, and I cannot wait!
There is sure to be lots of fun, laughter, and copious amounts of food - these are the prerequisites every time we get together!
If there is one thing that my family is all about, it is definitely food!
We love nothing more than to sit around the table with those that we love and indulge in a fabulous meal, cooked with love. My childhood reminiscence is highlighted with memories of my grandmother's extravagant meals... the whole family crowding around a long dining table, overflowing and groaning under the weight of the delicious dishes which she had spent days in the kitchen preparing. Literally days! My grandfather would often spend his Wednesday mornings at the markets buying the ingredients that were neede, and my grandma would spend the next few days preparing for Friday night dinner.
On this more recent occasion, some of my family met up at my Aunt's house for a family catch up and to say goodbye to my cousin before she moved to Canberra. Of course where my family is concerned, at any catch up you can be sure there is a feast to be had!
Homemade tangy tomato salsa, a colourful roast vegetable & couscous salad, sweet corn on the cob, crispy potatoes, meaty mushrooms, and a beautiful (there's that Masterchef catch word again!) rare roast beef.
Can anyone say YUM?! This meal was perfection. But it didn't end there...
Of course there's dessert! A lovely fresh fruit platted for the more health conscious. And for the rest of us (and nobody could resist a piece!) a gorgeous baked ricotta cheesecake. My cousin made this, and served it up with double cream. It was SO good - really fluffy and light tasting. Not so light on the hips though, I'm sure!
I love catching up with my family. Not only for the food, although it is one very big bonus! But spending an evening surrounded by the people that you care about, and consuming mass amounts of tasty morsels! What could be better?
I can't wait for this weekend! :)
With my Aunty visting from overseas, we thought it would be the perfect chance to all get together for a weekend of fun again. Circumstances have changed, families have moved overseas, children have grown up and gone interstate, and various partners have been added to the mix. Still, sixteen of us (plus my little elderly pup) will be heading down to inland Lorne for the weekend, and I cannot wait!
There is sure to be lots of fun, laughter, and copious amounts of food - these are the prerequisites every time we get together!
If there is one thing that my family is all about, it is definitely food!
We love nothing more than to sit around the table with those that we love and indulge in a fabulous meal, cooked with love. My childhood reminiscence is highlighted with memories of my grandmother's extravagant meals... the whole family crowding around a long dining table, overflowing and groaning under the weight of the delicious dishes which she had spent days in the kitchen preparing. Literally days! My grandfather would often spend his Wednesday mornings at the markets buying the ingredients that were neede, and my grandma would spend the next few days preparing for Friday night dinner.
On this more recent occasion, some of my family met up at my Aunt's house for a family catch up and to say goodbye to my cousin before she moved to Canberra. Of course where my family is concerned, at any catch up you can be sure there is a feast to be had!
Homemade tangy tomato salsa, a colourful roast vegetable & couscous salad, sweet corn on the cob, crispy potatoes, meaty mushrooms, and a beautiful (there's that Masterchef catch word again!) rare roast beef.
Can anyone say YUM?! This meal was perfection. But it didn't end there...
Of course there's dessert! A lovely fresh fruit platted for the more health conscious. And for the rest of us (and nobody could resist a piece!) a gorgeous baked ricotta cheesecake. My cousin made this, and served it up with double cream. It was SO good - really fluffy and light tasting. Not so light on the hips though, I'm sure!
I love catching up with my family. Not only for the food, although it is one very big bonus! But spending an evening surrounded by the people that you care about, and consuming mass amounts of tasty morsels! What could be better?
I can't wait for this weekend! :)
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Friday, July 13, 2012
Food Diaries : Mornin' Gorgeous (we return)
You may (or you may not!) remember a while back, when I was introduced to this little cafe which has been showering Bridge Road with blessings in the form of scrumptious bagels, sandwiches and the like. Since gracing Richmond with its presence, it has been gaining a growing amount of loyal customers who will often stop in for a lunch time bite to eat. One of those loyal patrons is none other than my very own Liam, who (on the days I dare forget to send packed meals to work with him!) will often stop by for a bite to eat. Whether it be their breakfast wraps, tuna sandwiches, homemade sausage rolls or tasty bagels, Mornin' Gorgeous keeps my darling man (a little too) well-fed.
Aside from serving delicious tasty treats, one of the things which Mornin' Gorgeous prides itself on is listening to their customers and striving their best to keep their patrons happy. This includes trawling the web and keeping an eye on their Urbanspoon reviews for feedback, which is how they stumbled across my past review on ye olde humble blog. (Hi!)
Knowing my obvious enjoyment of their luscious smoked salmon bagel, and with the introduction of their weekend breakfast menu and newly hired breakfast chef, they encouraged Liam and I to come in on a weekend to try some of the breakfast goodies on offer. This weekend happened to be the perfect opportunity!
We were heading into Richmond to watch Buddy kick his 500th goal, and brunch at Mornin' Gorgeous beforehand sounded like a perfect way to start the day.
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I started the meal with a Spiced Chai Latte which, I kid you not, has to be the most delicious chai latte I have ever tried! Each mouthful was a sweet delight, perfectly fragranced with wonderful chai flavours and was beautifully rich without being too heavy at the same time. It was a shattering moment when I took my last sip and realised that my glass was empty!
I always have the same dilemma each and every time I go to choose off the menu when I dine out. There are just so many options, and I can never choose! The menu at Mornin' Gorgeous did not disappoint, and I was faced with my usual dilemma once again. Being the gorgeous boy that he is, Liam let me pick two choices from the range so that we could share.
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First up was the Salmon Stack [$16.00], which consisted of two crunchy potato cakes, topped with smoked salmon, gooey poached eggs, thick hollandaise sauce, a generous handful of spinach and rocket leaves, and little slivers of carrot to garnish. Although the main purpose of the carrot was aesthetic, it tasted lovely coated in the creamy hollandaise and I stole all the little slivers from Liam's plate! The potato cakes were fluffy on the inside, but wonderfully crunchy on the outside without being too greasy.
But the real star of the show was that lovely chunky smoked salmon! Or perhaps I should be describing everything as "beautiful" instead, which seems to be all the rage if you watch Masterchef these days. Anyway, I digress... back to the luscious smoked salmon, which definitely deserves a special mention! And mention it before I have -
This is not your ordinary supermarket-bought smoked salmon, no ma'am! The pieces were about three times as thick as the oily slices you'll usually find vacuum-packed in the shops. They were lovely and flaky, unlike any other that I have had before.
I still stand by all of the above... except for it being unlike any other that I have had before. It was just like I have had once before... only better!
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The next choice off the menu was the Gorgeous Big Breakfast [$16.50], which as you can see contained all the important elements of a perfect Sunday treat! Crunchy potato hashbrown, salty rathers of bacon, lightly grilled sweet cherry tomatoes (and I am not usually a fan of the cooked tomato!), chipolatas, juicy mushrooms, and two beautifully poached eggs served on toast and smothered in a rich hollandaise sauce. The side of avocado which I had ordered was ripe and creamy - a perfect accompaniement to my meal!
Although I'd initially ordered scrambled eggs with my big breakfast, I was almost thankful for the mistake when the dish was placed in front of me. Piercing my knife into the perfectly poached eggs, I squealed with glee as the beautiful yolks flowed out onto my plate providing a yummy yellow goo that I could mop up with my toast. I'm not even exaggerating, I get that excited by my food!
I really have no complaints whatsoever about our breakfast experience at Mornin' Gorgeous. The drinks were divine, the food is spectacular, the mood is relaxed and informal, and the service is friendly. Before our food was served to us, water was placed on the table. Knowing about my blog, the owner smartly quipped "I'd hate for you to have to ask where your water is!"... get it, get it?!
I have nothing but good things to say about dining at Mornin' Gorgeous, and can't recommend it enough!
![]()
Aside from serving delicious tasty treats, one of the things which Mornin' Gorgeous prides itself on is listening to their customers and striving their best to keep their patrons happy. This includes trawling the web and keeping an eye on their Urbanspoon reviews for feedback, which is how they stumbled across my past review on ye olde humble blog. (Hi!)
Knowing my obvious enjoyment of their luscious smoked salmon bagel, and with the introduction of their weekend breakfast menu and newly hired breakfast chef, they encouraged Liam and I to come in on a weekend to try some of the breakfast goodies on offer. This weekend happened to be the perfect opportunity!
We were heading into Richmond to watch Buddy kick his 500th goal, and brunch at Mornin' Gorgeous beforehand sounded like a perfect way to start the day.
I started the meal with a Spiced Chai Latte which, I kid you not, has to be the most delicious chai latte I have ever tried! Each mouthful was a sweet delight, perfectly fragranced with wonderful chai flavours and was beautifully rich without being too heavy at the same time. It was a shattering moment when I took my last sip and realised that my glass was empty!
I always have the same dilemma each and every time I go to choose off the menu when I dine out. There are just so many options, and I can never choose! The menu at Mornin' Gorgeous did not disappoint, and I was faced with my usual dilemma once again. Being the gorgeous boy that he is, Liam let me pick two choices from the range so that we could share.
First up was the Salmon Stack [$16.00], which consisted of two crunchy potato cakes, topped with smoked salmon, gooey poached eggs, thick hollandaise sauce, a generous handful of spinach and rocket leaves, and little slivers of carrot to garnish. Although the main purpose of the carrot was aesthetic, it tasted lovely coated in the creamy hollandaise and I stole all the little slivers from Liam's plate! The potato cakes were fluffy on the inside, but wonderfully crunchy on the outside without being too greasy.
But the real star of the show was that lovely chunky smoked salmon! Or perhaps I should be describing everything as "beautiful" instead, which seems to be all the rage if you watch Masterchef these days. Anyway, I digress... back to the luscious smoked salmon, which definitely deserves a special mention! And mention it before I have -
This is not your ordinary supermarket-bought smoked salmon, no ma'am! The pieces were about three times as thick as the oily slices you'll usually find vacuum-packed in the shops. They were lovely and flaky, unlike any other that I have had before.
I still stand by all of the above... except for it being unlike any other that I have had before. It was just like I have had once before... only better!
The next choice off the menu was the Gorgeous Big Breakfast [$16.50], which as you can see contained all the important elements of a perfect Sunday treat! Crunchy potato hashbrown, salty rathers of bacon, lightly grilled sweet cherry tomatoes (and I am not usually a fan of the cooked tomato!), chipolatas, juicy mushrooms, and two beautifully poached eggs served on toast and smothered in a rich hollandaise sauce. The side of avocado which I had ordered was ripe and creamy - a perfect accompaniement to my meal!
Although I'd initially ordered scrambled eggs with my big breakfast, I was almost thankful for the mistake when the dish was placed in front of me. Piercing my knife into the perfectly poached eggs, I squealed with glee as the beautiful yolks flowed out onto my plate providing a yummy yellow goo that I could mop up with my toast. I'm not even exaggerating, I get that excited by my food!
I really have no complaints whatsoever about our breakfast experience at Mornin' Gorgeous. The drinks were divine, the food is spectacular, the mood is relaxed and informal, and the service is friendly. Before our food was served to us, water was placed on the table. Knowing about my blog, the owner smartly quipped "I'd hate for you to have to ask where your water is!"... get it, get it?!
I have nothing but good things to say about dining at Mornin' Gorgeous, and can't recommend it enough!
Oh, and yes...
Buddy did kick his 500th!
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Friday, July 6, 2012
Yellow on Yellow!
This post is for the lovely Ling, over at Pork Chop's Nest.
A while back, Ling wrote this post about all things neon yellow. One of her concerns was house yellow nail polish would suit yellow skin. Whilst I'm no expert in all things neon, I did conveniently have a little bottle of NYC glow worm tucked away, which is one of the brightest yellows you ever did see! I had never tried it before, and thought it was time to break it open to try and assist.
I couldn't quite capture the true colour via photos, so took a couple of snaps in different lighting to try and give a proper idea!
The shade was an extremely bright yellow, much more neon that Ling had posted on her blog, but I thought this might help give an idea. I've applied two coats of colour and no base coat as I was not planning on keeping this colour on.
Looking at the photos, I actually don't think it looks too bad. However, when I looked at my actual nails in real life it didn't seem to work. Do you remember in primary school when you used to draw on your nails with highlighters and pretend you were wearing nail polish? No? Maybe it's just me... but this is vaguely what it reminded me of! I suppose the fact that I was doing it in the office rather than for a night out or whatever might have been part of the issue too. I'm sure if it was for a night out and I was wearing an outfit that might match or complement might have made a huge difference.
Anyway, Ling, sorry I couldn't be more helpful but I hope that gives you somewhat of an idea! :) xx
A while back, Ling wrote this post about all things neon yellow. One of her concerns was house yellow nail polish would suit yellow skin. Whilst I'm no expert in all things neon, I did conveniently have a little bottle of NYC glow worm tucked away, which is one of the brightest yellows you ever did see! I had never tried it before, and thought it was time to break it open to try and assist.
I couldn't quite capture the true colour via photos, so took a couple of snaps in different lighting to try and give a proper idea!
The shade was an extremely bright yellow, much more neon that Ling had posted on her blog, but I thought this might help give an idea. I've applied two coats of colour and no base coat as I was not planning on keeping this colour on.
Looking at the photos, I actually don't think it looks too bad. However, when I looked at my actual nails in real life it didn't seem to work. Do you remember in primary school when you used to draw on your nails with highlighters and pretend you were wearing nail polish? No? Maybe it's just me... but this is vaguely what it reminded me of! I suppose the fact that I was doing it in the office rather than for a night out or whatever might have been part of the issue too. I'm sure if it was for a night out and I was wearing an outfit that might match or complement might have made a huge difference.
Anyway, Ling, sorry I couldn't be more helpful but I hope that gives you somewhat of an idea! :) xx
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Wordless Wednesday : Super Saturday!
Maybe I'm getting old, but this hearty meal by an open fire, a mango cider in my hand and the footy on the TV (not to mention a fantastic win!) equalled a pretty perfect night to me... what a Super Saturday!
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