Tag Archives: Ice cream

Food experimentation | #ManFlu | #bestblogs13

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The last weekend in Sydney was amazing My Easter | #ManFlu | #bestblogs13  We ate so well. This week albeit a short one I was back to the run of the mill. On Monday evening I considered a Meatless Monday but reconsidered and cooked a chicken schnitzel.

Meatless Monday

#dinner I thought about #MeatlessMonday

A nice green salad

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Chicken Schnitzel

#dinner Chicken schnitzel and salad #yummy

I love chicken thigh schnitzel

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Of course after dinner I needed to try a couple of Zumbarons®

Zumbarons®

Zumbarons for #supper #yummy

I have no idea of the flavours. They were delicious.

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Breakfast Smoothie

#breakfast Back to the routine. Iced coffee banana smoothie with spinach #yummy

Back to the routine. Iced coffee banana smoothie with spinach.

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Morning office coffee and Zumbarons®

#lunch Coffee and Zumbarons #yummy

It’s so nice to enjoy a morning coffee with macarons

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On Tuesday evening I was going to make chicken schnitzel and salad again. For some reason I wanted to try something different. I thought about chicken and potato gems but after a weekend of really rich food I wanted salad but I also didn’t want salad. I think I’ve been watching too many cooking competitions on television, I thought about a salad in a different form. I love my blender so why not liquefy my salad. It contained the usual elements, viz., salad leaves, spring onions, red onion, tomato, coriander, plus some lemon juice and zest and olive oil. I added some chilli flakes and coarsely ground black pepper. I then liquefied it in my blender.

Experimental food

#dinner Chicken schnitty and my liquid salad. #yummy The salad had leaves, spring onion, coriander, red onion, tomatoes, lemon juice and zest, olive oil, sherry, Chilli flakes and black pepper.

Honestly it looks like I vomited my salad. It tasted good though.

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Zumbarons®

The last of the Zumbarons #yummy

My last Zumbarons®

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My morning office coffee felt empty just like the box without Zumbarons®

Adriano Zumbo Zumbarons® Box

I wish this box wasn't empty 😞 Office #coffee

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There were still Easter eggs at work. I was told I needed to help out and eat chocolate.

Chocolate

I've been told I must take the biggest piece 😃

Who am I to object

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Wednesday night Bron came over to help put together my Ikea bookcase from the weekend.

Laying out the fasteners

Yes I've been to Ikea

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We took a break for dinner

Lamb Cutlets

#dinner lamb cutlets and green salad #yummy

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Bron made homemade non-church ice cream. There was violet crumble and Queensland nut ice cream.

Ice Cream

#dessert Bron made these ice creams. Violet crumble and macadamia both in caramel #yummy

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The finished product

Bookshelf

With Bron's help I have #Ikea shelving

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Thursday morning office coffee

Bertie Beetle

Hello Bertie Beetle 😃 Morning office #coffee

Bertie Beetle is having its fiftieth anniversary this year. Check out the wikipedia entry.

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Lunch was a veal stroganoff pie

Veal Stroganoff Meat Pie

#lunch veal strog pie #yummy

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After lunch I had a passionfruit whoopie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whoopie_pie

Passionfruit whoopie

Passionfruit whoopie

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Thursday was a pretty long day, we’re ramping up at work to monitor the situation with Influenzavirus A H7N9 so when I left work I felt like takeaway

Fish and chips

#dinner #cholesterolcrisis fish, chips and potato scallops. No I didn't finish it all #yummy

Nothing better than freshly cooked battered fish, potato scallops and chips. I love potato scallops. I have friends from Victoria who call them potato cakes which cracks me up. A good potato scallop is hand cut, not too thick and not to thin. The best I’ve ever had came from a cafe in Brookside Shopping Centre in Brisbane.

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After the fish and chips I ate the rest of Bron’s ice cream straight from the plastic container

Ice Cream

Bron's homemade Queensland nut and caramel ice cream #yummy

This was Queensland nut caramel. It was delicious. 

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Breakfast on Friday was a Mavi Breakfast Wrap

Breakfast wrap

A Mavi breakfast wrap isn't as good without Bron

These are so good. Sadly I ate this without Bron. I had an early start and needed to work through.

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Coffee

Office #coffee

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On Friday evening after work I went to the local club with Bron to have dinner

Reef and beef

#dinner Reef and beef #yummy

This is a scotch fillet and prawn cutlets with chips.

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So how is my ManFlu? It’s okay. I’m still coughing and spluttering. I should be fine by the end of this weekend.

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I’m still hoping friends will vote for me :-)

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Brookside shopping centre http://www.brookside.com.au/

Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/b99pU


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Canberra Southern Cross Club at Jamison http://www.cscc.com.au/location/jamison/
Google maps https://www.google.com/maps?q=Cnr+Catchpole+%26+Bowman+Streets++Macquarie+ACT+2614&hl=en&ll=-35.252059,149.069892&spn=0.002585,0.005845&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=58.858685,135.263672&hnear=Bowman+St+%26+Catchpole+St,+Macquarie+Australian+Capital+Territory+2614,+Australia&t=m&z=19&iwloc=A


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Thai to die for | The best Canberra restaurant experience in some time | Morks of Florey

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On Wednesday evening Bron and I ate dinner at Morks in Florey. When Bron mentioned Morks and said it was Thai I wondered why it was named Morks. It didn’t sound Thai but what would I know. Bron had found Morks on-line (TripAdvisor.com) when searching for a good place to eat locally. She’d also heard recommendations from work friends.

Florey is in the northern suburbs of Canberra in the town of Belconnen. I didn’t realise until speaking with a friend at work that the rent at the Florey shops is pretty high and the move of Morks to the Kingston Foreshore in August this year will be economically wise.

Morks

Dinner last night was here

It will be interesting to see the new shop front presentation in Kingston. As you walk out of the restaurant you are confronted by a Dominos pizza sign which immediately makes you feel happy you’ve had a fantastic meal in Morks :-)

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Tasting menu

The tasting menu from last night at Morks. Best restaurant I've been to in a long time. Follow them at @morksrestaurant

Sorry about this poorly focused shot, it gives you an idea of the tasting menu. As soon as I saw this I wanted it. Then I looked at the rest of the menu and wanted that as well. Bron and I have agreed we will return to eat through the menu.  Tasting menus are fantastic to get an idea of the style and tastes of a restaurant. This tasting menu had us wanting to try everything. We’ve had degustation meals before which we’ve always enjoyed but this one just looked so balanced.

Mork’s menu PDF

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Scallop and pig

Scallop and pig's ear terrine. #yummy #dinner

Okay, so it doesn’t sound that great unless you’re an offal lover like me and @DrOffal http://droffal.wordpress.com/ The scallop and the pig’s ear were beautifully cooked. The chilli relish and grilled spring onion gave the flesh amazing heat and taste. The taste is amazing. I loved everything about this dish. The scallops were soft with a beautifully caramelised surface.

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Eggplant

Eggplant #yummy #dinner

I love the way the tasting menu alternates between a meat-based dish and a vegetarian offering. This eggplant was delightful. I loved the fried shallot. It had a wonderful smoky flavour and the coriander sauce was a great accompaniment.

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John Dory

John Dory #yummy #dinner

For both Bron and I this was the surprise dish of the night. I’ve been a long time fan of John Dory. I don’t think Bron has tried it before. It was cooked with a crispy crusty coating and the flesh was delicate and tender. The Kaffir lime curry was superb. Words cannot describe the sauce and the lovely wombok surprise hidden in the fish. I wanted a spoon and had to make do by applying the back of my fork to the sauce and quickly licking the sauce from it and repeating the process. I seriously was wanting to lick the plate and mentioned this to Bron. I asked her to distract the other customers somehow while I applied my tongue to the plate. She declined :-( When Benn took our plates we mentioned how much we loved the sauce and he jokingly offered to get us more.

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Lychee sorbet

Lychee sorbet. #yummy #dinner

This sorbet did exactly as it was meant to. It refreshed our palates. On putting a spoonful in my mouth I was transported to my childhood in Brisbane. My grandparents and my grandfather’s brothers all lived together and raised me when I was very young. There was a farm just outside of Brisbane and the owners grew lychees with small seeds. I remember going there once a year and getting large wooden boxes of lychees and spending days eating lychees. We also grew a tree in our back yard and it was right up to when my parents sold the house a few years ago that we were still enjoying lychees from that tree. Thank you Morks for reviving olfactory memories.

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Cauliflower

Amazing cauliflower. #yummy #dinner

Bron mentioned she needs to do more with cauliflower after tasting this dish. The cauliflower was coated in a crumb and cooked just right. All too often we over or undercook cauliflower. I want to know how these fritters were cooked. I could eat this all day. It’s a vegetable right? It must be good for me and more must be better for me.

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Prawn

Prawn #yummy #dinner

I’ve been watching MasterChef Australia the Professionals and admiring Marco Pierre White. His common refrain when served one of something is why wasn’t there two. This prawn and pea open wonton dish (it says prawns [plural] on the menu Mork) was delightful and I wanted a second prawn :-) http://www.marcopierrewhite.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Pierre_White

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Pork rib

Pork ribs. #yummy #dinner

I assumed when we sat down and decided on the tasting Menu that this would be the dish of the night. It almost made it. The John Dory pipped it for me. That said, this was a great dish. The flesh fell from the bones and melted in my mouth. We got some rice to soak up the sauce which was so nice. The sauce was a perfect consistency, not too thick not too thin. It was soy salty and soy sweet.

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Coconut

Coconut and Passionfruit #yummy #dinner

This dainty dessert was just right. Coconut and passionfruit together. A party time of happiness in my mouth. The ice cream was complemented nicely with the warm sticky sweet rice it was served on.

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We got home to my place and I still had macarons that Bron had given me.

#dessert Look what Bron came and gave me today. Homemade macarons #superyummy

Rose water and vanilla macarons

Bron's rose water and vanilla macarons. #amazing #yummy

These were lovely with a cup of peppermint tea.

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The Tasting Menu cost $130 for both of us. The restaurant is BYO and doesn’t sell alcohol. This suited us well. I cannot say in words just how much we both enjoyed this dining experience. We’ve both eaten well in Canberra and have had many dining experiences, but this rates amongst the top of any resturant we’ve eaten in in Canberra. The service was perfectly paced. We were never ignored and plates weren’t removed in haste. The team were friendly and they all looked like they worked well together. There was a familiarity amongst them that was clear to the entire restaurant. It was nice to see Adul out and about from the kitchen. Benn was friendly and helpful when he could see I was posting images to Instagram he told us the Instagram handle for the restaurant and the blog address.

Morks is so worthwhile, I’d say if you live in Canberra and if you like food, you should eat here. I know we will be going back again (and again and again).

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Morks on Urbanspoon

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Morks http://morks.com.au/
Google map http://goo.gl/maps/AO0WX


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Morks Dining Menu http://morks.com.au/index.php/menus/main
http://morks.com.au/templates/wa_theme/images/mork_menu.pdf

Meet the team at http://morks.com.au/index.php/team I am assuming Benn maintains the social accounts.
You can follow Morks on instagram at morksrestaurant facebook and Tumblr

Honey soy salmon and a chocolate honeycomb dessert

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I just posted some images on Instagram and my friend Laura asked on Twitter if I’d blog the recipe. If asked, I’ll blog anything :-)

So I had a fillet of Atlantic salmon which I bought from Coles. It was about $30 per kilogram.
I made the salad out of salad leaves from a packet from Coles. This is a really convenient way to get various types of lettuce leaf plus Rocket. The leaves keep for about four days in an airtight container.
In the salad I had grated fresh beetroot as an alternative to sliced pickle beetroot, freshly grated parmesan cheese, crumbled Australian feta cheese, chunky diced cucumber, sliced celery, sliced spring onions, quartered cherry tomatoes, ground pepper, and chilli flakes.

My method of cooking the salmon is dead simple and always works. I heat up a fry pan with some vegetable oil until it gets to smoking hot. I then add the salmon and add a lid. I time this for five minutes. I leave the fry pan for five minutes and don’t touch it. When the time is up I turn off the heat and move the pan and leave the lid on for another one minute. After the minute the lid goes into the sink of hot soapy water and the salmon is put on a plate to rest. The fry pan then hits the hot soapy water.

The salad is basically leaves in a bowl with everything except the beetroot added. The colour of the beetroot will bleed into everything so I add it at the very end.

Tonight I flaked the salmon and added it to the salad.

Normally I might use a salad type dressing for the salad but tonight instead of putting the fry pan into the soapy water I heated it up again and added a little white wine then soy sauce and then honey. I stirred that quickly and let it reduce a little. I drizzled the honey soy over the salmon and the salad. It was sweet but not too sweet.

Honey soy salmon with lettuce, grated fresh beetroot, Parmesan cheese, feta cheese, cucumber, celery, spring onion, tomato, ground pepper and chilli flakes. #Dinner #Yummy

For dessert I took inspiration from Rachael and Laura again with their advice on menz chocolates from Adelaide.

I had some menz Chocolate Honeycomb which I crushed a little with a meat tenderiser and added with Connoisseur Classic Vanilla ice cream. It was so yummy.

#Dessert menz Choc Honeycomb with Connoisseur classic vanilla ice cream. Ping @scifi_or_bust and @laurakdare #Yummy

Wanton Wonton Wonderfulness

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The last week and a bit has been huge. On Thursday and Friday 25 and 26 October I was at Mt Macedon at a Disaster Intelligence Master Class run by the Australian Emergency Management Institute (AEMI). This was an excellent two days meeting new colleagues and networking.

On Sunday 28 October I flew back to Melbourne for another three nights stay. For the last few months I’ve been involved in the preparation for a week of meetings with international colleagues covering a week of meetings in Melbourne and Canberra. On Thursday I hosted a full day meeting with international visitors. I am so grateful to a small cadre of work mates who behind the scenes got all the logistics sorted out in quick time.

So my week has been full on and my eating has been atrocious. The only day when it approached okay was Thursday when I had some control over the food at the breaks and lunch. We served fruit platters and sandwiches with “healthful” fillings. On the other days when other agencies were in charge we enjoyed cream filled biscuits, cream filled pastries, doughnuts, cakes and slices. The lunches were also very filling.

To top off a very full and mentally stressful week I had arranged to visit my kids in Brisbane this weekend. That has meant a lot of fun and really very little time for rest and sleep. The other benefit has been a rebalance of my twitter statistics. Last week saw very little social media activity so I’ve made up for it over the weekend, especially on Twitter and Instagram.

Anyway, so here I am in Brisbane this weekend. What I had not realised was that my two younger brothers would also be in town. They were sorting some things out for my parents. To give you some context. I’m the eldest of three sons. Brother 2 is two years younger than me and Brother 3 is six years younger than me. Brother 2 is a medical practitioner based in Cairns and Brother 3 is in Brisbane’s building and construction industry.

At lunch Brother 2 sent me an iMessage asking if I wanted wonton for dinner. Earlier in the day we had discussed having dinner at Eatons Hill Hotel where Miss17 was doing work experience. They didn’t have a table so we elected to go to our tried and true Kedron-Wavell RSL. My guess is that Brother 2 and Brother 3 had a chat between themselves and cooked up a scheme, a scheme that would suit me just fine.

Brother 3 has become a master of wonton making. He has friends who ask him to make wonton for them. Brother 3 essentially follows Mum’s recipe. Brother 2 however, prefers a variation on Mum’s recipe. Brother 2 like me enjoys adding texture to our food. We’re also fans of coriander (cilantro) while Mum isn’t. Brother 2 tends to add raw finely sliced ginger and bamboo shoots to augment the crunch of the water chestnuts.

In the end we stayed with Mum’s recipe given we were eating with Mum and Dad.

While we were out Miss 17 needed to my a birthday card. I saw one that caught my eye.

Card shopping with Miss17

(Instagram)

We also enjoyed a high carbohydrate lunch from a local Japanese Bakery.

Japanese bacon wrap

Lunch. Japanese bacon wrap.

(Instagram)

Custard platypus

Custard platypus

(Instagram)

After lunch we were in need of Ice Cream so we went to Cold Rock Ice Creamery at Chermside.

Queensland nut (macadamia) and mint Freddo frog

(Instagram)

I asked Miss15 to capture an image of me buying ice cream.

Buying ice cream with the kids

When we arrived back at my parent’s place you could smell the food preparation from the corridor.

As we entered we were confronted with a tower of wonton wrapper.

I wondered if they had bought enough. Eight packets of fifty wrappers.

I wonder if my brothers bought enough wonton wrappers? Eight packets of fifty.

(Instagram)

Brother 2 had bought some pork mince but it was too lean so he got some pork belly and hand minced it in the traditional family way. With two meat cleavers. This is the BEST way to mince meat. It also builds muscles and annoys neighbours and tests the sturdiness of kitchen tables.

Meat cleavers used to mince the pork belly.

The final filling. Go to my Mum’s recipe for the details.

As the team were getting into making the wonton Miss11 and Miss15 wanted to have a go.

Then the experts showed them how.

We had tray upon tray and made about 400 wonton

We have tray upon tray upon tray of wonton

(Instagram)

The masters at work

The masters at work. #wonton

(Instagram)

Before I drove Miss17 to work experienced she and I were given a tasting bowl at about 1500 AEST.

Miss17 is having another lunch before work experience.

(Instagram)

When I got back dinner was ready and this is my first serving. So much better than restaurant portions.

Amazing wonton soup.

(Instagram)

I also needed a second serve at about 1900 AEST.

Seconds. Yes please.

(Instagram)

Did I mention the pork bones? They were fall off the bone tasty.

There were some wonton left over and my brothers and daughters have a liking for cold freshly made and cooked wonton from the refrigerator. Whenever I do it I get visions of Nigella Lawson going back to her refrigerator late at night.

Needless to say we slept well and still feel full. Mum and Dad though thought I needed a big breakfast.

Mum had been planning this for a little while. She grinned as she brought food from the refrigerator and was pretty happy when she saw my smile. She’d been to the butcher and got some lamb’s fry. As many readers know I like my offal and nice lamb’s fry is hard to come by. Mum has seasoned some flour with salt and pepper and coated the liver and then kept it in the refrigerator overnight. This morning she gently pan fried it and served it with bacon, sausages, scrambled eggs and a grilled tomato. It was delicious.

Awesome lambs fry breakfast. @DrOffal was in his element. 😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃

(Instagram)

Needless to say my daughters are not great fans of offal. I pondered whether Dr Offal should post this on his blog, but figured it was better suited to this post.

A note about this post. I’ve used a new WordPress.com feature. WordPress.com users can now embed Instagram images into their blog posts. This seems to work well. If you want to comment on an image in Instagram click on the image and if it’s been inserted through instagram you’ll soon see :-)

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Super Sweet Award!

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Barb Beacham, a wonderful blogger friend whose site is called, “Life in the Foothills,” included me this week for the Super Sweet Award! Thank you Barb. Barb and I started following each other soon after I started blogging. Barb is the wonderful person who sent me a bottle of Spike to try. Barb blogs about food and her marvellous life in the Sierra Foothills.

Please visit her site at: Life in the Foothills http://salmonfishingqueen.wordpress.com/

Now the rules of this award are:

1 – That I give credit to the person who nominated me. Again thank you Barb!

2 – That I answer the super sweet questions. Here are the questions and answers:

Q1: Cookies or cake? I’m a cake person. Although I do like white chocolate and Queensland nut (Macadamia nuts) biscuits (cookies) best. In terms of cake I like a nice Queensland nut (Macadamia but) carrot cake made with crushed pineapple and vanilla icing (fristing).

Q2: Chocolate or vanilla? I am a real fan of vanilla. Vanilla icing on anything really. Vanilla ice cream. Vanilla slice is my favourite sweet.

Q3: What is my favourite sweet treat? Vanilla slice is my favourite. I’ve blogged about vanilla slice before. Check out 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Q4: When do I crave sweet things the most? After a long day at work especially if it’s been tedious and there have been lots of people issues.

Q5: If you had a sweet nickname what would it be? Easy, Yummy Lummy.

3 – The last part of this award is that I nominate a Baker’s Dozen of super sweet bloggers:

Wayfaring Chocolate
Jude the Foodie
Live2EatEat2Live Blog
petit4chocolatier
Back Road Journal
Sybaritica
she cooks, he eats
Putney Farm
BunnyandPorkBelly
Rantings of an Amateur Chef
Texana’s Kitchen
Susartandfood’s Blog
Spoon Fest

These are in no particular order, and each one of them is special to me in one way or another! My very best to those listed.

Thank you again Barb!

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Flight food

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On today’s flight from Canberra to Darwin Qantas served lunch.

I enjoyed crumbed beef and a vegetable stack plus some fruit followed by ice cream.

 

I composed this blog post on my iPhone while in flight.

Steak, crabs, flowers and sweets, lots of sweets

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Okay where to start? This last week has been pretty good for food. Too much really but who can say no. I mean when it’s good it’s good.

On Monday night crusted some salmon with herbs. I’m still doing towers with my food tube.

Tuesday morning late in September, you know Spring, it was still –2 °C. Yikes. Canberra weather sucks.

On my morning walk I came across a possum. This tree is right in front of a shopping mall. He/she was fat. I bet he/she had been plundering rubbish bins.

Halfway through the walk I pass the Owl Statue and say hello. You can see it has started to warm up.

On Tuesday night Bron made three different sorts of pizza. they were delicious. I haven’t eaten pizza for so long. These were mouth watering. Each type of pizza, even the vegetarian versions were delicious.

You may recall from my Daydream Island post I had my first dessert pizza there. Bron has broken me now for dessert pizzas. This is the uncooked stage. Notice the milk and white chocolate, the banana and the marshmallows.

This is the cooked stage. This was unbelievably good. the marshmallows were perfectly cooked and not too hot. I had marshmallow all over my lips and cheeks and chin. It was so good.

This was a weird weather week. On Wednesday morning, it was a much warmer 9.2 °C. The Owl was happier.

On Thursday night Bron made her David Lebovitz inspired meatball hoagie or grinder or sandwich. It was fantastic. So tasty and so full of flavour. Much better than my effort from Saturday night.

On Friday morning it felt tropical. Do you see the temperature? It’s 17.2 °C. I was in heaven. If it had rained it would have been perfect. Mr Owl was very happy.

On Friday we said goodbye to a friend who was going on maternity leave. One of my work mates made this vanilla slice with sweet lattice biscuits. My Mum used to make vanilla slices like this. The custard was so light and smooth and just the right amount of sweetness.

On Friday night Bron and I went to a Hog’s Breath cafe and we enjoyed a prime rib steak. Mine had curly fries and mushroom sauce. I like mine rare.

I had dessert with Bron at her place and we had a chocolate self saucing Gü

For breakfast on Saturday Bron made me a poached egg. As always, perfect! :-) The parsley was the only vegetable matter I had all weekend (not something I’m proud of).

On Saturday night we went to Kingley’s steak and crab house for a friend’s birthday. Bron and I wanted Alaskan King Crab. Here are the tools which I didn’t really use.

We planned to make crab sandwiches. This is a sourdough cob with lots of butter.

We also added thick cut hot chips to our sandwiches.

I asked for 400 grams of crab.

This is me eating a crab and hot chip sandwich. Notice the bib I made for myself from the serviette. Yes I wear reading glasses sometimes when I eat so I can see the food better.

This is my first ever Affogato. It was nice.

I’ve had this dessert before and it’s always good. Cheesecake with peanut brittle.

For breakfast on Sunday Bron made her scrumptious scrambled eggs. As always they were gorgeous. We were still a little full from the crab dinner, but there was no way I wasn’t eating this delightful dish.

On Sunday afternoon we went to Ricardo’s and I chose a chocolate raspberry meringue. It was very good.

Today is a public holiday in Canberra. We went to Floriade. This is a black swan. They’re common in Australia. I have been told they are a rare sight in the northern hemisphere.

For breakfast this morning we had a bacon and egg roll with barbecue sauce.

Floriade is great. A sea of bulbs. I liked the composition of this image.

At Floriade there is always a gnome contest.

Beautiful flowers.

Walking through the crane forest at Floriade.

This is the route we took this morning. http://runkeeper.com/user/garydlum/activity/121791194

For lunch today we went to Grazing at Gundaroo. For a main we had the beef (rare). It was accompanied by crumbed bubble and squeak. It was pretty good. I would happily go back for more.


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For dessert I had the poached pear with honeycomb and ice cream. It was okay but afterwards I thought I should have chosen the cheese platter.

It’s been a good week in food.

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Chong Co Thai Bar and Restaurant | Sanur’s Balinese Restaurant | @Bron99 ‘s amazing birthday cake

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After being away last week in Ottawa it was good to see and catch up with Bron. On Thursday night we had a night out at Chong Co Thai Bar and Restaurant and then to Max Brenner for some chocolate. Yesterday was Bron’s birthday and a few of us went to dinner and then had dessert at a friend’s place.

On Thursday night we didn’t really need to scan the menu. We knew what we wanted and shared some Thai fish cakes for an entrée. These were nice and full of flavour but a little rubbery. For a main course Bron chose the barbecue chicken (marinated skin on chicken with served with sweet chilli sauce) and I chose the barbecue lamb which Bron had the last time we were here.

Chong Co Thai fish cakes (iPhone)

Chong Co Barbecue chicken (iPhone) Served with sweet chilli sauce

Chong Co Barbecue lamb cutlets (iPhone)

The chicken and lamb were delicious. I would highly recommend these two dishes for a main course meal.

After the main course we walked to Max Brenner for a little chocolate.

I had a white chocolat and an exploding chocolate shot. The hot chocolate drinks are served in hug mugs which look like toilet bowls.

Max Brenner white chocolat in a hug mug (iPhone)

Exploding chocolate shot is popping candy over melted chocolate served with gummy bears (iPhone)

The popping candy is fun. It’s a pity the venue is very noisy, it would be good to eat this in a quiet room.

Friday was a pretty full on day but our Friday’s are always made better with a Mavi Breakfast wrap and coffee. This is a deal done at Mavi.

Mavi Breakfast wrap contains a hash brown, egg, bacon, mushrooms and barbecue sauce. (iPhone)

On Friday evening I didn’t get to Bron’s until late (don’t ask, it was a long day at work). Bron prepared a lovely Chicken thigh roasted with lemon, garlic and shallots served with lemon risotto and broccoli. This was accompanied later with a Flourless toffee date hazelnut chocolate muffin with cream. The meal was delicious.

Chicken thigh roasted with lemon, garlic and shallots served with lemon risotto and broccoli (iPhone).

Flourless toffee date hazelnut chocolate muffin with cream (iPhone)

Saturday was Bron’s birthday. We went to the EPIC markets at Exhibition Park early in the morning. Bron bought a heap of produce including some truffles and cultured butter. I bought a vanilla slice.

Do you think it’s big enough? (iPhone)

After the markets we had breakfast at Ricardo’s Cafe in Jamison. This is an amazing place for pastries. Just click on the link to see. I had a coffee and big breakfast.

This was very filling (iPhone) You can see Bron’s Eggs Benedict in the background.

On Saturday night we went to dinner with some friends to Sanur’s Balinese Restaurant in Belconnen. We’d been there before but that was years ago. The menu is full of delicious choices and I’m reminded of a review from T1 of In The Taratory fame. Bron and I shared a couple of entrées, viz., the Bakwan Jagung ($9.9 buys you Sweetcorn patties with prawns and shallots served with sweet chili dipping (3 pieces)) and the Udang Goreng Tepung ($10.9 buys you King prawns in spiced, crispy coconut batter served with cucumber relish (4 pieces)). For a main I had a whole deep fried fish (a little fish) Ikan Balado ($28.90 buys you deep fried of whole fish or prawns or calamari served with padangnese style mild chili sauce). I like fish like this and was happy to head the eyes.

Bakwan Jagung Sweetcorn patties with prawns & shallots served with sweet chili dipping (iPhone)

Udang Goreng King prawns in spiced, crispy coconut batter served with cucumber relish (iPhone)

Ikan Balado Deep fried of whole fish or prawns or calamari served with padangnese style mild chili sauce (iPhone)

Ikan Balado Deep fried of whole fish or prawns or calamari served with padangnese style mild chili sauce sans flesh and eyes (iPhone)

After dinner we went to Tanya’s place for dessert. Meredith had given Bron a Dutch pancake maker for her birthday and we needed to try it out. In addition Tanya had been busy making a cake or awesome proportions.

Dutch pancakes with maple syrup and ice cream. (iPhone)

The balls are cake encased in white chocolate. The balls are decorated with icing and the green grass is also green dyed chocolate. This was amazing and tasted so good (iPhone).

I was so relaxed after dessert I fell asleep and put a show with my snoring :-)

This morning Bron prepared scrambled eggs with the cultured buttered infused with the truffles she bought at the markets.

Truffled scrambled eggs (iPhone)

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Kedron-Wavell Services Club in Brisbane

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It’s been a lovely day in Brisbane. We’ve been shopping and gymnastics training and other stuff as well. My parents have been in Yamba this last week and were not in the mood to cook dinner. We went to the HQ Café at the Kedron-Wavell Services Club.

We were all pretty hungry after a day of mild physical activity.

Fish, calamari, prawns and chips (iPhone) My dinner

Chicken and bacon burger (iPhone) Miss11 and Miss17 had one each

HQ Café beef burger (iPhone) Miss 15′s meal

Prawn sambo (Panasonic DMC-TZ10) Dad had this

Vanilla slice with ice cream and caramel topping (iPhone) My dessert

White chocolate and berry cheesecake (iPhone) Miss15 had this for dessert

Caramel sundae (iPhone) Miss11 had this for dessert

The Kedron-Wavell Services Club has three restaurants all of which are good for club food. I am always happy to eat there. They also cater for my Mum’s food allergies which is a big plus. The meals are not too expensive. They are always a good size. Like most clubs membership is required and very reasonable. At 1900 every evening everyone is expected to stand in silence while we remember those who have sacrificed their lives for our safety and security in Australia. This is something good for a family venue.

Black Friday

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I’m not a superstitious person. Today was just another day. I went for a walk at 0445 AEST and as usual was listening to 2UE via 2CC on my 2CC iPhone app. Tim Shaw does the overnight program. He’s okay, he’s certainly not my favourite radio host. He was banging on about Black Friday like most radio presenters would be today. It got me thinking, will today be a bad day or a good day. Each day is what you make it. Sometimes things happen that we don’t like, it’s how we react that determines how we feel.

I got to work and on my walk to the post office the view of the sky was magnificent. Anyone who knows me knows how often I bang on about how much I dislike the weather in Canberra. It is too cold and dry in Autumn, Winter and Spring and too hot and dry in Summer. I much prefer tropical and sub-equatorial weather like in Darwin. The only glorious thing about Canberra though is the bright blue clear sky on most mornings.

From the Woden Wind Tunnel Check out my instagram post http://instagr.am/p/JVbX5ERNMP/

This morning at work was busy but profitable. By profitable, I mean it was a good morning. More importantly I had lunch with Bron at Thai Spice. The menu is pretty good. we started with (#10) coconut and almond prawns (Deep-fried King Prawns coated with shredded Coconut and Almond flakes served with Sweet Chilli Sauce). You get two of each, that is four per serve. These were delicious.

Coconut and almond prawns

One of the great things about this restaurant is the quirky attitude they have to serving drinks. We simply had diet coca cola, yet each time we have a drink they are served in different styled glasses. Sometimes wine glasses, sometimes dessert bowls, and often with odd fruit. Today our cokes came with apple wedges. We’re assuming is deliberate and not cluelessness.

My diet coke served in a wine glass with an apple wedge.

For mains we each selected a curry. Bron chose a delicious (#19) Gaeng Mussa Mun Nuea/Gai (Beef or Chicken Curry with Peanuts & Potato in Coconut Milk). I chose a reasonably nice (#18) Gaeng Phed Nuea/Gai (Red Curry with Beef or Chicken in Coconut Milk). I say reasonable because the beef was a little tough. The sauce though was heavenly. It was rich a spicy and went well with steamed rice.

Gaeng Mussa Mun Nuea

Gaeng Phed Nuea

I like the Thai Spice in Woden and happily recommend it for anyone who wants a lunch time meal near a big shopping mall.

This afternoon was really good at work. There were some last minute urgent things, but mostly a good afternoon.

I have wanted to try the take away place in Jamison for a while. There is also a foursquare entry.

I wanted battered fish and potato scallops. They serve them in a cardboard box that gets wrapped in fish and chip paper.

Fish and potato scallops in the box

When I got to my place I ate from a plate. The meal was pretty good and I’ll happily go back. As one twitter friend says though, this is nothing like the Stokes Hill Wharf in Darwin.

Fish and potato scallops on a plate

For dessert I had ice cream.

Ice cream with cream

So my Black Friday has been a good day.

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