My Birthday - Day 2

I decided to break my normal tradition of having breakfast at Pancakes on the Rocks when I stay overnight in town. So we took a (burning hot) stroll to The Fine Food Store in the Rocks. Yes, it was the hottest ever recorded Sydney day. Something like 46 degrees. The car dash displayed 50 degrees at one point!

Yes, I know this is naughty for breakfast - Brioche French Toast
with Vanilla Gelato, Macadamias and Dulce de Leche Sauce

Reuben Sandwich

Campos Coffee - the most important part

It was so wrong for there to be butter
served on the side of this croissant
.... yet so right ;)

Thank goodness for air conditioning in cars - we spent the good part of that stinking hot afternoon driving up to the Hunter Valley. We stayed at the Leisure Inn Resort - my parents have a Wyndham vacation time-share thing and gave us accommodation for the weekend. After checking in and battling with trying to turn the aircon up as high as possible, we had dinner at Muse restaurant. We come here again, and again, and again, and again.......

Amuse Bouche: Salmon Mousse

Pork Belly with Crab & Apple Salad
The green sauce was a wasabi from New Zealand

Pan-seared Canadian Sea Scallop with Squid Ink Gnocchi,
Fennel and Orange

Nukalba Chicken Breast with Liver Parfait,
Egg Yolk and a "Truffle"
(an Arancini ball coated in black truffle)

Slow cooked Milly Hill lamb with Jerusalem Artichoke,
Watercress, Broadbean, Almond, Jus

Palate Cleanser: Ginger Sorbet and Basil

Dessert: Vanilla bean crème brûlée with banana, date,
malfroy's honeycomb and brown butter

This dessert won a competition (judges were 3:1)
between the Muse head chef Troy Rhoades-Brown
and a chef from Sydney

My birthday - Day 1

This post is overdue but I have only just now had a chance to sit down and recount my birthday weekend! (From January 17-20th) Thanks to my wonderful hubby, turning 28 didn't have to be so ordinary!

I had enjoyed Galileo Restaurant at the Langham Hotel (previously Observatory Hotel) before and so thought we were due to return! Again, they did not disappoint! Because it was a Thursday night, it was a pleasant, quiet evening in the restaurant. A pianist entertained with many jazz favourites (many Gershwin classics, a real birthday treat for me!).

We stayed the night at the Four Seasons Hotel - we got upgraded to a full harbour view room thanks to Paul's work colleague's sister who works there!

This Crustacean salad with King crab and Balmain Bug
was presented so attractively on the plate!

Seared yellow fin tuna with tamarillo chutney,
crispy shallot and lemon oil jus

Tajima Beef Tenderloin with heirloom tomato, olive
tapenade and natural jus - the beef melted in your mouth

Dates Clafoutis with Pistachio Ice Cream
& Campari Syrup

My birthday petit fours - macarons, delicious chocolate
mousse pyramid and a brownie!
(Did someone mention I like chocolate?)

The Beach

After having such a beautiful Summer's day for high tea on Friday, I decided I wanted to go to the beach the next day! I hadn't been since October 2011 - mainly because of the rainy "Summer" Sydney experienced in 2011-12.

It was just what we needed because it was 37 degrees! We went down to our usual spot - Bombo beach right near Kiama. It's worth the drive to get away from the crowded beaches of Sydney, and I really hate crowds. The best part was that Teddy enjoyed it :)

Teddy knew that sand was really hot so he dug a hole to lie in the cooler sand. Smart doggie!

Our yummy snacks

One of the rockpools

Teddy made some friends

This small pool of disgusting, stagnant water was so
smelly and Teddy accidentally fell in it!

Teddy loves his mummy

Teddy enjoying some swimming

Afternoon Tea

I had a lovely day today! I spent it with my dear cousin. Last month she said "I've never been to high tea before" - my ears pricked up as soon as I heard those words. Naturally I jumped to the opportunity and organised afternoon tea at The Tea Room in Queen Victoria Building. I've been many times and never get sick of it!

Except it wasn't in the afternoon but at 10AM - we needed fuel for shopping! I was glad to see that the Swarovski Christmas decorations were still up in QVB :)

I learned from my previous mistakes at afternoon tea - I left the scones until last! Normally I dive into them first because they are so warm and delicious, but it makes me too full to finish the other treats! I ended up only eating half of 1 scone as a result :) Oh, and I never NEVER get sick of the cheesy/oniony tart, whatever it is. The macarons were strange because they were blue! Blueberry flavoured apparently.

I'm a claaaaaaaaassy laaaaady :D

Love my cousin xx

Midnight Snack

Last night I fell asleep in front of the TV and woke up at 1:30AM with the itchiest feet and ankles! I am extremely prone to mozzie bites and do not know how the little turds got in the house. Sneaky devils.

Naturally I couldn't sleep so the obvious solution Roxanne-style was to bake something! As absurd as this sounds, this is typical behaviour of me. Funny how I could never get up in the middle of the night after a "power-nap" to study for exams yet I can stay up for hours cooking!

So it was time to expand my baking repertoire a little. I had bought some brioche moulds that were on sale at an obscure little Indian catering supplies/haberdashery store ($3 for 12 - and they came with 12 tartlet tins too, how awesome is that?!) and I wanted to finally use them!

I was disappointed in the result :( They paled in comparison to the buttery clouds that I had sampled in Paris. They tasted like really dry, stale, flavourless sponge cake. Paul had no negative feedback to give me after breakfast this morning though, so I suppose they can't have been THAT bad!

Anyway, here they are. You be the judge!

Not the deep brown I was expecting.
I used a fair amount of egg/milk wash before baking too!

Spread with truffle butter

The excess was made into a loaf

Happy New Year!

2012 was a great year. I kicked it off with my brother and sister-in-law in Ottawa, Canada. It was about -20 degrees celcius outside and we stayed in watching an ice hockey game on TV (yes there was a hockey game on new year's eve!) followed by watching that weird glowing ball drop in New York City.

There were many ups and downs in 2012. A couple of close friends got married and many girls I went to school with either gave birth or announced pregnancies - no not me yet!! Unfortunately I experienced yet another unexpected death, of a friend who was very close and dear to our family. He was only 49.

I did have a number of highlights however! Standing up with my childhood friend Judy for her wedding day in May... Seeing Europe for the first time - with lunch at The Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire UK on the day of my 27th birthday in January. Purchasing my first business - a dental practice in October and of course seeing Radiohead live and experiencing Thom Yorke's hauntingly delicious voice in November.

Last year I was far too indulgent with little self-control... As much as I adore the lavish lifestyle of melt-in-your-mouth chocolate, the audible crunch of golden flakes of pastry, the tantalizing sensation of champagne bubbles popping on your tongue... It is time to stop throwing caution to the wind and to reign in my hedonistic ways.

The fruits of my sin are evident on my waistline, butt and thighs. Call it cliché but my new year's resolution is to get into shape. So to all ye new-year-dieters out there, I wish you all the best for 2013 - a bumpy road to hot and smokin'... Here's to a sexy year.

Happy Holidays!

So it's been ages since my last post, I apologise. I've generally been just burnt out from working so much. There was the great rush toward the end of the year. I was so glad to see the last day - we did a half day; people were still ringing to come see us that afternoon! For lunch that day my 2 staff members and I went to try the new buffet at Penrith RSL.

The buffet was quite nice! There was a chocolate fountain, a sushi train and lots of seafood - which the girls and I went straight for! We had to be quick - what I disliked about the buffet was their closing time of 1:30!!!! We finished work at 12:30, exchanged gifts then rushed over to the RSL and got there at 1:05. Oh, and their soft serve is fantastic! I was quite satisfied. I gave the girls some spa pamper days at Hopewood Health Retreat in Wallacia.

For Christmas Paul told me to open one of my presents early because I "might want to use it before Christmas". He was right, because I was baking lots of treats for my relatives. He got me a pink KitchenAid mixer!!! I was so over the moon! I've always wanted one but didn't see the point of spending the money - especially knowing that it's only $150 (YES $150) in Canada!

I baked my heart out on Christmas Eve - and it was a 40 degree day in Western Sydney :S I was home alone with just my Teddy and I noticed he was missing - I found him lying on the floor in front of the toilet! I was sweating so much but my labours paid off.

Wanted it to look like an assorted chocolate box menu hehehe

They were a big hit with the family and I didn't make TOO much of a mess! But you start to run out of bench space pretty quickly! I thank the person who invented disposable piping bags!!!! Paul also got me some cast-iron cookware... I kinda get the feeling he wanted to benefit from the gifts he got me...???

So I ate, drank (including Tasmanian sheep's whey liqueur - what the???) and was merry! I have a few cleaning out days planned before we bring on the New Year!!

So from our family to all of yours, we wish you have the happiest holidays and a prosperous 2013!