In the last week I have really eaten quite a lot. I won’t go through every meal but just the ones that I have photographs for.
Last Sunday I turned 51 and I bought a cake to celebrate.
This is from Ricardo’s Cafe and Patisserie in the Jamison Plaza shops. This is known as the Big Boy. It’s slightly larger than a softball but the crispy nutty chocolate shell contains a rich chocolate mousse. It was delicious.
Readers who follow me on other social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter will have noticed that my lunch photographs have taken on an artistic background in the last week. I found an old 2008 calendar and thought it would make a nice backdrop. It’s quite large and it has some interesting subject matter.
Because my leftover meals tend to look ‘beige’ as some friends say (meaning bland and unappealing) I’ve been experimenting with black and white.
Monday lunch was leftover lamb forequarter chops
Monday dinner was baked salmon
Tuesday breakfast was fried eggs and cheese
Tuesday morning coffee from Urban Bean Espresso Bar
Tuesday lunch was leftover chicken giblet congee
Tuesday afternoon tea
Tuesday dinner was baked salmon and crunchy rice
Wednesday lunch was leftover forequarter lamb chops
Wednesday dinner was Chicken Maryland and crunchy rice
Thursday breakfast was a Snickers bar. I had a 6 am teleconference.
Thursday lunch was leftover slow cooker beef
Thursday afternoon tea was charity chocolate
Thursday dinner was Chicken Maryland with crunchy noodles
Friday breakfast was a cheese and spring onion omelet
Friday lunch wasn’t leftovers. Normally on Fridays I work in ACT Pathology at The Canberra Hospital. This Friday though we had senate budget estimates so I had to be at my regular job. I ended up driving to Parliament House twice and didn’t get asked anything which I’m not unhappy about. I’ve had a bit to say over the last couple of estimates hearings and gave evidence at a senate inquiry hearing towards the end of April. So for Friday lunch I splurged a bit and enjoyed a Pork belly cheeseburger with a really nice jalapeño aioli from Urban Bean Espresso Bar.
Friday dinner was a simple affair. The Australian Kangaroos were playing a rugby league test match against the New Zealand Kiwis so I needed some footy food. In the end I went to Coles and bought a couple of beef and mushroom meat pies for dinner. I used Adobe Photoshop to create the Green and Gold background in support of the Australian team which contained most of what I hope are the Queensland team for this year’s State of Origin series.
Saturday breakfast was in the QANTAS club at the Canberra International Airport. I went with a slice of rain toast, a glass of tomato juice and a small latte.
The flight to Brisbane was pretty smooth. I ended up in an armrest battle. Have you had one of those?
I ended up eating second breakfast!
I flew to Brisbane for my eldest daughter’s twenty-first birthday. Ms21 is a qualified event planner/manager so we had a really nice party with family and her friends.
Mum and Dad took me out to lunch to Portabella Restaurant to celebrate my birthday from last week. We also had Ms18 and Miss15 with us too. Ms18 is now Ms19 so it was a celebration for her too. Yes, my two eldest daughters were born on the same day.
I was going to asked for the pork belly or the lamb shank but the fish of the day was a wild caught fresh north Queensland barramundi. My mouth started to salivate.
It wasn’t what I was hoping for. The skin was crispy. The duck fat sautéed potatoes were nice. It looked nice but the barra wasn’t pleasant to eat. It wasn’t moist and flaky. It was spongy and bits clung to the teeth. Barramundi can be difficult to cook, it is bad undercooked and easy to overcook. I suppose having lived in the Top End for nearly 12 years I was spoilt. I’ll know next time to ask for something else like the pork or the lamb.
For afternoon tea I had a vanilla slice
For Saturday evening we celebrated Ms20’s 21st birthday. No food photographs sorry but here are some photographs from the evening.
Sunday Mother’s day breakfast at Groove Train Chermside
The hearty vegetarian always a good choice and better when Mum gave me some bacon from her Eggs Benedict.
I hope you had a good week!
This post is making me hungry!
I ate a lot 😃😋👍🖖
Happy birthday, Gary. My goodness you eat a lot!
Thanks Liz. I certainly enjoy my food.
Congratulations on your 51st birthday.
That vanilla slice looks similar to a napoleon filled with pastry cream from my local bakery. Is it made with puff pastry?
Thanks. I wonder when I’ll start going backwards in age 😃
That vanilla slice wasn’t traditional but it was very nice. Yes it was a puff pastry.