Weekend sunshine

Nat here, spreading the weekend sunshine!  We managed to fit a lot in.  Saturday we had fresh crab sandwiches and scones with husband's parents at Carnivale at Ascot - despite the seriously strange decor it was delicious!

On Saturday night husband and I pulled all the wedding china out and treated ourselves to a three-course meal at home - perfect for the rainy weather!

Entree was potato and leek soup with cripsy bacon..

Main was Jamie Oliver's Cypriot Chicken on a bed of sweet potato mash and vine tomatoes...it really shows off the Vera...

Dessert was sticky date pudding - is there anything better on a coldy rainy night I ask?

This here provided a lot of inspiration for the dinner party for two...ingenious! They were downright clever in the 80s...

Husband was a great help...a tea towel exudes domestication doesn't it? I think I may have just made up a word - Nerd (aka English teacher to the stars) is domestication a word?

Sunday was brilliant, a lovely breakfast with the lovely P at Comfort at My Table at Milton - a must try for all you Brisbanites.  Sunday afternoon was a hit of tennis at UQ which would have been a great calorie burner on a weekend if we didn't wash it down with Sangria Sunday at Cafe St Lucy afterwards...must do it all again soon Mr and Mrs B! There will be no avoiding it next time G & T - we'll fly to Sydney to catch you if we have to!

Looking forward to next weekend - A Day on the Green with Noiseworks, Choir Boys and Daryl Braithwaite..this little 80s kid is going to be like a pig in mud! 

Garden sunshine

Nat here.  I'm doing some research on cottage gardens for the upcoming reno.  We shouldn't really call it a reno as it's really more of a "tidy-up".  I think I'm getting carried away..

Loving this..

And this...

I love seats in a garden..

In the end our budget won't allow any of that!  We are going to need to stick with the cheapest, hardiest plants - lavender and maybe some gardenia most likely.  We do have a chair though!

Thinking of home


Gem here. I couldn't resist whipping up a batch of Anzac bicys in preparation to celebrate ANZAC day from afar on the 25th. Nothing beats sitting down to a cuppa and a warm tasty memory of home!

Breakfast and Reno beginnings

Nat here.  We had breakfast with M&M at Gillians Garden Cafe at East Brisbane this morning.  It was such a great setting attached to a garden nursery, florist and antique shop.  If you're over that way I'd recommend it!

Husband and I had a look at the nursery afterwards for inspiration for the cottage at Windsor we'll be doing a mini reno on to prepare it for sale.  Here's a pic...

It's the blue one.  It's currently a little worse for wear but husband and I and his parents think a lick of paint inside and out and with a little bit of styling (at very minimal cost) we should be able to make it look quite cute and appeal to our target market of newly married Gen Y's (ie the girls have to fall in love with it and convince their husbands that they HAVE to have it).  I'm going to take everyone on the styling ride which begins in a couple of months...however planning is beginning now, any suggestions will be gladly taken! What are your thoughts on outside colours? I like this...

With white trim, including the little picket fence.  Thoughts??

Art sunshine

Nat here.  I've had a lovely start to the weekend with a visit to the Modern Woman exhibition showing at the Queensland Art Gallery with cousin nerd and my wonderful Grandma

I just love our cultural precinct....

We followed up our viewing with high tea, a must...

Happy Weekend all!

Article Sunshine

Nat here.  I just loved reading Katrina's post on the Urban List (I hope you are all signed up)  on the subject of "posh-ness" at farmer's markets.  Read it here.  I was once a weekly "farm" shopper at West End however it was becoming far too early on a Saturday morning to beat the hordes and I'm much happier in my "shopping" shorts outside of the eyes of the posh! 

Read more of Katrina's great articles at her blog The Little Crumb. 

When I find time...

Nat here.  I can't wait to soak this right up, thanks for my subscription C!

Sunshine!

Hunter and things

Nat here.  Well we're back from our road trip, we had a ball! I just loved stopping at the little towns for a cup of tea - Tenterfield, Tamworth on the way down and Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie and Byron on the way home.  Tenterfield was the smallest town and had to be my favourite.  We saw some lovely autumn trees on our drive...

The Hunter itself was amazing, you could spend weeks exploring all 150 wineries.  We tried to stick to the boutique wineries and can highly recommend Pokolbin Brothers (next time we are going to hire some bikes from here as well!), Gundog Estate, Small Wine Company (which houses 7 boutique brands, with over 20 wines to sample)  and Peterson House for bubbles.   We stayed at the Chateau Elan at the Vintage Golf Course (which kept husband very happy!).  Although quite commercial Tyrell's had a brilliant wine makers tour which was well worth it and great cellar door prices on their special vats.

We ate like Kings, and would start every morning with the most delicious champagne breakfast at Peterson's..

On our last night we dined at Muse, and I can honestly say it would have to be in my Top 5 meal's EVA list...just amazing.  If you are anywhere near the Hunter you must stop in!  Here is my main course of duck...

If you're not hooked on wines there is also a boutique brewery which the husband gave the thumbs up to..

We can't wait to get back to the Hunter!

So it's back to work tomorrow...sigh but it has been a lovely holiday.  We hosted an Easter morning tea this morning at home:

SUNSHINE!

Had my little baking fix for the weekend and I just love using my teacups!  We're off to Harajuku Gyoza tonight, I've heard great things, will let you know whether it stacks up to all the reviews!

New York, New York

Gem here. We have just got back from a holiday in the US. We kicked off our time in New York City before hitting the road north. But first things first- NY baby...you really can't beat this place, definitely our fave in the US! We love staying in and experiencing a different neighbourhood each visit. Coming from a small island we relish the big lights and hustle and bustle, catching a Broadway show (this time we saw the moving play "War Horse" at the Lincoln Centre) and shopping up a storm. We have now seen it in all its glory throughout each season completing the cycle this trip with the beautiful blooms of early spring.

Upper East Side Spring Tulips

 

Central Park Summer Sunbathers




Fall Foliage of Central Park




Downtown Winter Snow (Trinity Church)

 
Like every big city NY has A-mazing food and we have certainly had some memorable meals over the years. This time we dined on incredible Italian at Mario Batali's "Babbo", tasted phenomenal seafood at Eric Ripert's "Le Bernadin", had delicious Asian cuisine at the uber trendy "Buddakan" and a yummy French bistro brunch at bustling "Balthazar".
Two places always on the list each visit are "Magnolia Bakery" (for a famous cupcake) and the foodie paradise of "Eataly". Mario Batali created this Italian mecca of "Eataly" in 2010 and it is the largest artisanal Italian food and wine marketplace in the world. I can't even begin to do it justice by describing this place- if in NY it is an absolute must for a snack, meal or to pick up some gorgeous produce. This time we popped in for a cheeky cheese platter.

www.eatalyny.com

Sunshine

And as if we hadn't eaten enough, husband twisted my arm and took me to the NY institution "Carnegie Deli" for a whopper pastrami and rye sandwich with all the trimmings (and to see if it was any better then its rival "Katz's Deli" from our last visit). Don't worry, we shared the sambo (and declared a tie)!

Hope we left room for the rest of the holiday!!.............

Driving holiday

Nat here. Husband and I are having a great time on our driving holiday to the Hunter Valley.

Can't wait to share our finds on our return!

Relaxing Easter

Nat here.  I don't know about you but I'm loving the relaxation that comes along with the Easter long-weekend.

I made a carrot cake yesterday....

To be honest, it wasn't as good as the carrot cake husband makes me on my birthday every year, too much orange zest I think.

This morning we tried the St Lucy cafe which has recently opened at the UQ Tennis Courts, the same people own 100 acre bar at the St Lucia Golf Club...

It was delicious, I score it 10/10 and I'm not saying that because I'm a local and it finally provides us with a good coffee within walking distance...

They have Sangria Sunday's from 3pm-5pm, can't wait to try that.  Also coming soon is Pimms O'Clock..now that's my type of timing.

We had our annual Good Friday fish 'n' chips at A Salt and Battery last night...which was worth every second of the 40 minute wait....

Easter is upon us...

I fear I may have already overdone the chocolate, although, you really can't ever have too much can you? Same goes for hot cross buns!

Happy Easter!

Gem here. The eggs are one thing but this is my idea of heaven!!

SUNSHINE!

Happy Easter everyone.



Chocolate!

Nat here.  Is anyone else getting excited about the copious amounts of chocolate soon to be consumed?

Me too!

Manu!

Nat here.  After a fab wedding at SB squared on Saturday (and a few too many red wines) we enjoyed a magnificent six course degustation prepared by none other than Manu Feildel, George Calombaris, Janelle Bloom, Gary Mehigan, Damian Heads and Alastair McLeod.  P and I met Manu...and he was lovely enough to have a photo with us:

He was also lovely enough to repeat his famous quip for us "I do not like it, I love it!"

Here's the menu:

My favourite was the ocean trout which is (always my luck!) the only course I didn't get a picture of!  Husband loved the duck:

The greek salad was the most surprising with so many different flavours and textures:

It was a great night for a great cause.  There are other ongoing events which you can read about here

Just returning from another feast at Cafe Kuma with "Nerd" (cousin's name remember!) which was delicious although it's impossible not to eat too much Indian isn't it?  Kuma's Thai restaurant opened up last Friday, will have to try it next time!