Happy Long Weekend!

I am extremely sleepy right now. It's my fault though! We invited a lady from church to our house for lunch today (we invited a few weeks ago) and I left it to the last minute to prepare food and clean! Yesterday first thing in the morning we went to the city so I could find a dress for Steph's wedding next weekend (also, left to the last minute). I did however, choose and purchase a dress within 20 minutes. Then Paul asked me if he could "quickly look at the Ted Baker shirts". 1.5 hours and about 7 shirts later we had lunch then went home.

I had about 3 hours to start cleaning (house was a huge mess) then it was time to race over to a dinner date with my good friend Anna I did dentistry with. Two pizzas, deep fried seafood, eye fillet, salted caramel and snickers gelato and a bottle of shiraz - I'll be honest, I consumed the bottle minus 2 glasses (boys were driving, Anna didn't want any, I didn't want to waste it!)... basically we had a good ol' time and it was suddenly 11PM!

Lucky for me there's a 24 hour Coles not far from home. I decided to prepare French-Canadian comfort food (mainly for Paul) and attempted two of his favourite dishes - tourtière and sugar pie. So my night (12:30am at this point) was spent massaging shortcrust dough, stirring, vacuuming, stirring, chopping, peeling... I finally got to nap from 4:30-6am (with Teddy curled up against me of course). Then it was time to roll out my rested pastry. And bake my risen bread dough.

Anyhow, lunch was a success! I am proud to say that no gagging occurred at the dining table :)

I almost forgot about my baguette so it's a tad darker than normal

Trying to get creative with excess pastry on the tourtière

I roasted the veggies whole then Paul
chopped them up for me

Sugar pie with walnuts

I felt all warm and fuzzy when Paul took a slow bite and
said he felt like he was back in Tadoussac :)
(the city where we got married - northeast of Montréal)

Cairns

I love Cairns! I wasn't really there for a holiday this time around though... The 6th annual aesthetic dentistry symposium (sponsored by Ivoclar) was on. We arrived just before the first conference began and left immediately following the last lecture! I went to Cairns in March 2011 and did touristy stuff then... perhaps I should make a post about that too! Anyhow, I enjoyed Cairns with early morning walks before the conferences began, and dining out with Paul afterwards! I was happy Paul came along with me. We stayed at the Shangri-La and he continued to work from our hotel room while I was at lectures.

Tamarind Restaurant - at the casino
across the road from the Sebel hotel
where the dental conference was held

Miso & Ginger Japanese Scallops

Fried Chicken with Eight Flavoured Sauce
Szechuan & Rosemary battered lotus root crisps

Early morning walk around the marina

Low tide at sunrise

M Yogo Restaurant - located at the marina

Steamed Mud Crab & Scallop Mousse
Wrapped in Wild Barramundi with Tiger Prawn,
Hollandaise & Cream Sauce

Hot Orange Custard Crepe with Grand Marnier Ice Cream
& Orange Sauce

The Lagoon

Coffee & Dark Chocolate Gelato

C'est bon French Restaurant behind the Sebel Hotel

Creamy Garlic Soup with pastry crust

A tiny macaron!

Cappuccino soufflé

Final Cairns Meal - Breakfast at
Perrotta's at the Gallery Cafe

The best coffee in Cairns

Apple & Cinnamon Crepes with Lemon & Ricotta

French Toast with Pears

Bye Sarah :(

Paul's cousin Sarah (his mother's younger brother's daughter) has finally left Australia. She was actually one of my bridesmaids for our wedding in Canada. She arrived here nearly a year ago to live, explore and enjoy! Time's flown so quickly. In her final days we took her to the Blue Mountains then to Sydney to buy souvenirs to bring home. Teddy came along naturally :)

Steph's Kitchen Tea

Our receptionist is getting married in less than 2 weeks! A very exciting time for her! A few weeks ago she had her kitchen tea. They are of Assyrian background but the theme was Bollywood. A delicious myriad of Indian cuisine, vibrant throw cushions, exquisitely beaded saris and the musical jangling of wrist bangles! Steph hadn't organised any photography so I offered my (AMATEUR) services!

Delicious home-made rosé wine based sangria

Such a great idea to make this tea station!

The beautiful bride-to-be

Naan bread

I was so chuffed when I won this cute teacup set
for answering the most questions about
the bride and groom correctly!
Never won a thing in my life! Ever!

Spring!

September always brings on a happy mood for me. The weather gets warmer and the sun rises earlier! I got myself flowers for the house to celebrate.

Happy Spring everyone!!

Father's Day

I thought I'd share an early childhood memory of my father today.

When I was about 3 we lived in Wetherill Park in south-western Sydney and with my mother at work and my brothers at school, I was often left alone with dad at home. He was in the yard mowing the lawn and so I was left to my own devices.

I used to go to the bathroom, open the vanity cupboard (beneath the sink) and stand on the shelf so that I could see myself in the mirror. This time I decided to mimic my dad by picking up his razor and I proceeded to shave my face! I ran outside, blood and tears streaming down my chin.

He immediately dropped what he was doing and came over to try to calm me down. He gently blew on my wounds until I eventually stopped wailing.

Thank you for always being there for me to cry on Papa...