Christmas Eats!

A belated merry christmas to everyone out there! I hope you all had lots of food and stuffed yourselves silly, because that's exactly what I did :)

Christmas isn't complete without a ham, and this year JC and I made one with a honey mustard glaze which turned out great! An extra sprinkling of brown sugar towards the end of the baking period gave us a nicely caramelised crust on the exterior.

Bourke Street Bakery, Surry Hills

 

Pastry has a funny way of cheering you up even on the worst of days. Even though I had to wait 30 mins for a bus from Sydney Uni to Surry Hills, and walk for 40 mins back to the city since I got sick of waiting for another bus, once I sank my teeth into the sweet and savoury pastries from Bourke Street Bakery I quickly forgot all about it.

Beef brisket pie - $5.30

I met up with Sir D in the park for a late lunch break and we set up our own little pastry picnic on the grass. I took a bite out of the beef brisket pie and my mouth was filled with tender beef and a thick, flavoursome gravy. Needless to say, the pastry was oh so buttery and it flaked everywhere - a sign of good pastry!

(L-R) Pork & fennel and Lamb & harissa sausage rolls - $4.50 each

Christmas Tree Meringues and the Sydney Food Bloggers Christmas Picnic

Photo credit: Simon from the heart of food

Oh yes, it's that time of year again - when shopping centres play carols that get stuck in your head for the rest of the day, and reindeer horns and red noses start appearing on cars around Sydney. It's Christmas, which means it's also time for the 2nd annual Sydney Food Bloggers Christmas Picnic!

As usual there were copious amounts of food present which were arranged on the makeshift dining table. As much as I wish I had the stomach space to try everything, I never quite get around to it all but everyone's contributions looked delicious!

Clockwise from top left: Ribs by Billy from A Table for Two; Macaron tower by Cleony from I Eat Sweet; Chocolate Christmas tree by Lisa from Lisa Perkovic; Orange, pistachio and cardamom cupcakes by Angie from Angie Lives to Eat (and Cook)!

There were more sweets than savouries as expected and even though I keep telling myself to make a savoury item for the next food blogger meet-up, I ended up making a sweet item... oops! Luckily there were savoury contributions from other people but you had to be quick otherwise you missed out (case in point: Billy's ribs - gone in 60 seconds!)

Clockwise from top left: Mini pecan pies by Rhonda from The Dainty Baker; Mini Christmas puddings by Vivian from vxdollface; Cheese bread by Tammi from Insatiable Munchies; Strawberry Santas by Ayana from Absolutely Ayana

I ended up making meringues to bring to the picnic. Midway through beating the egg whites I realised that I could Christmas-ify them up by colouring them green and putting little stars on top. And voila - Christmas Tree Meringues!

These were really easy to make, and also relatively quick although they do need to be in the oven for a while. Even though it's only egg whites and sugar beaten together, they do become strangely addictive and I may or may not have munched on a few on the way to the picnic...

A big thank you to Helen from Grab Your Fork and Suze from chocolatesuze for organising the picnic, I had an awesome day! Looking forward to the next one already :)

Manly Pavilion, Manly

With summer well and truly here in Sydney, it's time to hit the beach! And as much as I love the surf and the sand, sometimes I like to just enjoy a nice meal and enjoy the fantastic views of the beach without having to get my legs sandy or my toes wet.

The view from the outdoor dining area at Manly Pavilion is stunning and the perfect way to enjoy a relaxed Sunday lunch by the beach. Though we're not seated outside this time, we're still able to see a gorgeous view of the water and the coastline through the large glass windows and doors around the room. While the restaurant is situated right next to the beach, it's quite an upmarket place with no shorts or thongs in sight.

We start with some complimentary bread with some olive oil while we peruse the menu. While the menu fits on a single page, there are so many dishes that we want to try that we take forever to decide. There is also the option of having a 5 course tasting menu for $98pp, but in the end we settle on selecting our own dishes from the a la carte menu.

Scampi, celery ragu and bagna cauda - $29

Clipper Cafe, Glebe

During my first couple of years at Sydney Uni, a 2 hour break between classes meant a visit  to King St in Newtown for $6 Thai. It was cheap and it was filling, but I found myself going there less and less especially in my third and fourth years at uni. Perhaps my palate became more discerning, or perhaps I just got sick of eating the same pad thai and pad see ew day in and day out, but I ventured away from the Thai places in Newtown and into the cafes on Glebe Point Road.

I stumbled into Clipper Cafe one day with its cool bicycle wall hangings and relaxed vibe. It was no less busy than my usual Thai haunts in Newtown but once seated I felt like I could sit there all day sipping coffee and tapping away on my laptop (as some people were doing).

Berry Smoothie - $5.00