What did you cook or eat today (December 2022)?

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We tried to eat out, but failed. Everywhere said to come back at 9pm and they'd fit us in but I'm in bed at 9pm and need to eat at 6pm ideally, so we went to the hotel restaurant and they squeezed us in at the bar.





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And today lunch was taken overlooking the harbour and Sydney Opera house.




After it was 34°C yesterday right until it went dark, I was very grateful it was overcast today. It was so warm, just at the comfortable level.

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The Cafe pretty much overlooked the harbour Bridge but not the opera house thankfully.

We're obviously eating out again this evening as well.

I'll add photos of the hotel, room and today's 5 hour walk through the botanical gardens in a more suitable thread.
 
And today lunch was taken overlooking the harbour and Sydney Opera house.




After it was 34°C yesterday right until it went dark, I was very grateful it was overcast today. It was so warm, just at the comfortable level.

View attachment 94320View attachment 94321
The Cafe pretty much overlooked the harbour Bridge but not the opera house thankfully.

We're obviously eating out again this evening as well.

I'll add photos of the hotel, room and today's 5 hour walk through the botanical gardens in a more suitable thread.
Sitting at the Opera bar watching the sunset over the harbour is one of the best evenings I've ever had. Hope there are plenty of bat pictures from the Botanical Gardens.
 
And today lunch was taken overlooking the harbour and Sydney Opera house.




After it was 34°C yesterday right until it went dark, I was very grateful it was overcast today. It was so warm, just at the comfortable level.

View attachment 94320View attachment 94321
The Cafe pretty much overlooked the harbour Bridge but not the opera house thankfully.

We're obviously eating out again this evening as well.

I'll add photos of the hotel, room and today's 5 hour walk through the botanical gardens in a more suitable thread.
Looks fabulous !
 
And the birthday meal itself. We had already decided on the tasting menu and it was great. We added a little something extra to it and some drinks were thrown in as well (part of the room service 1 free drink each, each night from the bar). We had some mocktails at the suggestion of our 2 waitresses for the evening and they were lovely. Really nice combinations and not alcoholic which is what we wanted.

The meal started off with the house baked sourdough bread, served with a plant based butter (possibly oat & macadamia nut) flavoured with lemon myrtle and wattleseed. I've always been a bit 'suspect' of lemon myrtle. I don't know why and can't explain it, other than possibly the smell in natural moth repellent (?) but this surprised me and I enjoyed it. I totally forgot to photo the bread but it's sourdough and butter with sea salt to the side.

Next came the 2 starters. The idea is that you have half each to taste and I guess if one person doesn't like a particular ingredient you can not split it, but that's not an issue here.



I really liked the pumpkin arancini. The outside was lovely and crisp, the inside very tasty. The saffron aioli (vegan) was really light and delicate. The potato part of the beetroot dish was surprisingly crunchy which contrasted nicely with the smooth beetroot emulsion.




Next came the 2 mains and a salad. It was a close run thing as to which I liked best. Hubby was definite he preferred the courgette flowers which were stuffed, but I really liked the polpette. They were nicely spiced and full of flavour and texture. The mushroom added to the dish superbly.

The salad caught me off guard but worked really well to cleanse the palette and prepare you for the desert. It was light and refreshing and the macadamia ricotta was delightful.



The petit fours were a nice treat and the fruit jelly wasn't too sweet either.

I wasn't as sure about the mango & coconut desert. The mango sorbet and the mango tuille were excellent. The coconut cream was light and refreshing and not too sweet, but I found the coconut cake a little too dry for my liking. Hubby enjoyed it though.

And because of a recommendation from one of the waitresses, we ordered an extra desert and wow, it was beautiful. It was chocolatey, it was light it wasn't too sweet it was totally smooth. The cherry gel and cherry sorbet were fantastic. The vanilla and macadamia crunch compliment the smoothness of the milk chocolate mousse and the fresh cherries on the top just added to the wonderful dish. I could easily have eaten a full helping by myself.


So thank you, Hubby. You know who you are. I know you were worried about taking me to a city for a birthday meal knowing I'd rather be sitting up a mountain, but I really enjoyed that meal and it is great to be able to eat anything I want off a menu and it be so good as well.

(PS, new phone just means new predictive text errors, so apologies now. If it needs correcting please just report me to myself and let me know what needs changing.... I'm struggling with Android 13 learning my texting... lol)
 
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And the birthday meal itself. We had already decided on the tasting menu and it was great. We added a little something extra to it and some drinks were thrown in as well (part of the room service 1 free drink each, each night from the bar). We had some mocktails at the suggestion of our 2 waitresses for the evening and they were lovely. Really nice combinations and not alcoholic which is what we wanted.

The meal started off with the house baked sourdough bread, served with a plant based butter (possibly oat & macadamia nut) flavoured with lemon myrtle and wattleseed. I've always been a bit 'suspect' of lemon myrtle. I don't know why and can't explain it, other than possibly the smell in natural moth repellent (?) but this surprised me and I enjoyed it. I totally forgot to photo the bread but it's sourdough and butter with sea salt to the side.

Next came the 2 starters. The idea is that you have half each to taste and I guess if one person doesn't like a particular ingredient you can not split it, but that's not an issue here.



I really liked the pumpkin arancini. The outside was lovely and crisp, the inside very tasty. The saffron aioli (vegan) was really light and delicate. The potato part of the beetroot dish was surprisingly crunchy which contrasted nicely with the smooth beetroot emulsion.




Next came the 2 mains and a salad. It was a close run thing as to which I liked best. Hubby was definite he preferred the courgette flowers which were stuffed, but I really liked the polpette. They were nicely spiced and full of flavour and texture. The mushroom added to the dish superbly.

The salad caught me off guard but worked really well to cleanse the palette and prepare you for the desert. It was light and refreshing and the macadamia ricotta was delightful.



The petit fours were a nice treat and the fruit jelly wasn't too sweet either.

I wasn't as sure about the mango & coconut desert. The mango sorbet and the mango tuille were excellent. The coconut cream was light and refreshing and not too sweet, but I found the coconut cake a little too dry for my liking. Hubby enjoyed it though.

And because of a recommendation from one of the waitresses, we ordered an extra desert and wow, it was beautiful. It was chocolatey, it was light it wasn't too sweet it was totally smooth. The cherry gel and cherry sorbet were fantastic. The vanilla and macadamia crunch compliment the smoothness of the milk chocolate mousse and the fresh cherries on the top just added to the wonderful dish. I void easily have eaten a full helping by myself.


So thank you, Hubby. You know who you are. I know you were worried about taking me to a city for a birthday meal knowing I'd rather be sitting up a mountain, but I really enjoyed that meal and it is great to be able to eat anything I want off a menu and it be so good as well.
Happy birthday to you too ofcourse! 🥳❤️ Wishing you many Happy years ahead!
 
Hope there are plenty of bat pictures from the Botanical Gardens.
No bats. Wrong time of day. Absolutely staggering numbers of ibis though. The trees are what got me, some of them really have been there for centuries. They are stunning.

Workers are in the middle of removing the Christmas celebration stuff to get ready for NYE which is a big event.... and why we're escaping tomorrow.
 
No bats. Wrong time of day. Absolutely staggering numbers of ibis though. The trees are what got me, some of them really have been there for centuries. They are stunning.

Workers are in the middle of removing the Christmas celebration stuff to get ready for NYE which is a big event.... and why we're escaping tomorrow.
When we were there the bats were roosting in the trees around the cafe in tge centre of the gardens. I loved them, like cats in drag.
 
When we were there the bats were roosting in the trees around the cafe in tge centre of the gardens. I loved them, like cats in drag.
We've seen flying foxes on mass before, by chance as we were driving some where. We'd witnessed a road accident, stopped to help stuff and were delayed many hours after a chook subsequently escaped! The result was being somewhere total at dusk as they all went to roost. Everyone driving just stopped in the road (typical Aussie approach) and we all watched, then got back in our vehicle and carried on. It was a great experience.
 
That one was as easy as it gets - top it, wash it, wrap it in foil, bake at 400F for around an hour, then let it cool and peel it. That was it.
Or - cook in boiling salted water for about an hour - leaves, skin, roots and all. Allow to cool , then peel - the skin will rub off in your hands. Ready to eat in salads, in sandwiches, with goat´s cheese, balsamic reduction, lentils, etc.
 
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