Peach Picking and Pies at Bilpin

Millions of peaches, peaches for me
Millions of peaches, peaches for free!

Ok, so they're not exactly free but they were for me! I've been wanting to go fruit picking for a long time, so the summer break seemed to be the perfect time to do it since my favourite stonefruit, peaches, were in season. We looked up some fruit picking places on the interwebs and the ones in Bilpin seemed to be the closest to us, so Sir D and I road tripped it out one sunny weekend.

The drive took us about an hour and 15 minutes (via M2 and M7) and by the time we got there, we were feeling peckish. On the way to the orchards, we stopped by this Pie in the Sky roadhouse on Bells Line of Road. I'm not sure if it's affiliated with Pie in the Sky in Cowan but it was a similar set up. You can park your car pretty much anywhere around the little shed that houses the pie shop and head in to select your pies and drinks from the counter.

Steak and mushroom pie - $5

There's a selection of savoury pies that are mainly chicken- or beef-based, and they're all made in-house. We chose a steak and mushroom pie from the warmer which had a delicious flaky, buttery puff pastry on top and a thick gravy with tender beef cubes inside.

Apple pie with ice cream - $4.50

Muse Cafe, Hunter Valley

Muse Cafe

A trip to the Hunter Valley is never complete without some wine tasting. And wine taste we did! It was about 2.30pm when we reached Hungerford Hill Wines and after sampling some fruity whites and robust reds, I couldn't ignore my rumbling stomach any more and we decided to have lunch at the restaurant.

A sneak peek into the Muse Restaurant area

The Muse dining area is split into two, with a cafe area by day and a more formal restaurant setting at night. Both are surrounded by large glass doors and windows, allowing the daylight to stream into the dining room and giving it a bright, open feel.

Pan fried Canadian sea scallop - $23

Bells at Killcare, Killcare

A belated happy new year to everyone out there and I hope you all had a relaxing Christmas and new year break! I wouldn't say that my holiday season was particularly relaxing as such but thankfully Sir D and I took a little break before Christmas and we headed up to Bells at Killcare on the Central Coast.

 Killcare Beach (left); The fireplace in the cottage (right)

We stayed in one of the cottages on the Bells property which were cosy and well-stocked. There was a huge bed, a spa bath and a real fireplace! Yes I was quite excited by the fire - Sir D got it working every night and it did a good job of warming up the place which got quite chilly once the sun set. There was a breakfast hamper provided every morning which we cooked ourselves on the bbq on the deck, and the rest of the days were spent exploring the nearby beaches.

Seashell light on the table (left); Olives and parmesan crisps (right)

On the last night we headed to the restaurant to indulge in a three course dinner. The dining room is spacious and decked out in nautical blue and white tones and seashells. The waitstaff are smiling and pleasant and very attentive to our every need, and after we place our order a small plate of mixed olives and parmesan crisps arrives on our table.

Veal crudo with extra virgin olive oil, lemon and Reggiano - $24

Pie in the Sky, Cowan

On our way back from The Entrance, we stopped at Pie in the Sky in Cowan. I'd read about this place on Not Quite Nigella and Here Comes The Food, and since Sir D is a big pie-lover we decided to grab a couple of pies. 

It is definitely a pie-lovers paradise with so many different pie fillings to choose from. You can either choose to get your pies in a paper bag or put on a plate for you with cutlery. There's also other delicious additions to your pie such as mash, peas and gravy and although they were very tempting it wasn't quite lunchtime yet so we took ours home.

 

Pies galore!

We stood at the two pie cabinets for a good 10 minutes trying to decide which pies to get. Sir D firmly announced that we were getting one savoury pie and one fruit pie each - excellent! I had decided on the peach pie but was tossing up between the chicken and asparagus and the lamb, honey and rosemary. 

More pies!

We got our pies and hopped back in the car before we got too many stares from the many bikies that seem to congregate here, who were probably wondering why this strange Asian girl was taking photos of everything...

DCE Cafe and The Lolly Barn, The Entrance

Recently, Sir D and I went to The Entrance for a little getaway. After taking much longer to get there than anticipated (since it seems like whenever I drive on the F3, I always get stuck in traffic because there's an accident), we were absolutely ravenous and we popped into this little cafe for a late lunch. We ate here the last time we went to The Entrance and fell in love with their crunchy yet fluffy fries, so we ordered burgers since they all came with a generous serving of said fries. 

Beef Burger: with homemade 100% beef pattie, tasty cheese, beetroot, salad greens, tomato and gourmet tomato relish, served with chunky chips - $13.50