Spudfest

So apparently Melbourne this year has decided to skip Autumn all together and go straight to winter. Or did we skip summer and have autumn instead?? Either way it's freezing! I am trying to embrace the cold this year rather than slump into a complete state of winter blues. Get out there even if by the end of the day my fingers and toes are numb!

So Saturday morning I rugged up and we set off early to head to Trentham for Spudfest. This festival is held annually in the small town of Trentham and celebrates the humble spud. Stall holders include people selling hot potatoes, clothing and hats, mineral water, beer, and of course fresh potatoes. 

Trentham is a quaint little village with some little gems including the Red Beard Bakery and the Coliban Foodstore. The bakery has an old Scotch oven of which there is only a handful left in Australia. The coffee was great and the sourdough pretty good too.

After wandering through Trentham I took off for Daylesford. On the way I made a stop at Istra small goods, located in the town of Musk, which is a European small goods provedore that supplies many Melbourne cafes and restaurants. I tried not to go over the top but decided to take home some fennel sausages, pancetta, chorizo and duck and mushroom ravioli.

Also about 10 minutes out of Trentham is an old shipping container on the side of the road selling organic vegetables. The produce looked amazing so I stocked up there as well. The lovely lady working there was heating up her pumpkin soup and sourdough over a huge open fire - nice and simple but looked delicious.

Daylesford as usual was lovely to wander around. Some of my favourite spots there food wise include the Himalaya Bakery, Cliffy’s, A Perfect Drop and the place with a name my husband loves of course , Breakfast and Beer.

Suburban Treasure - Chesterfield Farm

Many people are aware of the Collingwood Children’s Farm, a gorgeous spot located right next to the Abbotsford Convent.  However just off Eastlink, tucked away in suburban Melbourne hide’s the Chesterfield Farm. Not sure who like it more, ,myself or my nephew - but it has a great set up for kid's. There is a baby animal nursery where children (big and little)can go in a pat the baby animals. While we were there they had cows, a very noisy goat, piglets, chicks and rabbits. They also run shows that teach children about farm tasks such as milking the cows. Children can take tractor rides and most importantly (especially on the freezing Melbourne day we were there) a cafe. It has great wide open paddocks where you can hand feed the animals. You can also hire undercover picnic areas and in case you fancy a BBQ on the farm, they have portable BBQ’s so you can sidle them up to your picnic area and get cooking. It’s absolutely stunning farm land (just ignore the garish Eastlink statues nearby)and it's right in the middle of Scoresby.

 

Adelaide

Although the purpose of our trip to South Australia was a visit to the Barossa Valley, we wanted to use our time spent in Adelaide to discover what it’s food and wine scene has to offer. Long gone are the days of the ‘pie floater’ whereby pie stall holders had booming businesses selling such delights on Adelaide street corners.

We started off at the Adelaide Central market. What amazing organic produce which is really affordable too. They had fantastic fruit and vegetables, Barossa Valley meats and cheeses, beans, eggs nuts and wine.

We enjoyed some local wines and also ate at a fantastic wine bar called the Wine Underground on Pirie Street. I highly recommend the sliders and ‘JFC’ Japanese Fried Chicken! The hot wings were pretty good too!The sliders have inspired a Sliders and Ciders night with our fiends - coming soon!

Another gem was The Good Life Modern Organic Pizza on Hutt Street. Like many restaurants these days their philosophy is about locally sourced and organic ingredients, with a focus on all components being made from scratch. They had an amazing courtyard and private dining room situated under a mass of vines with old rustic tables and chairs, all lit by candlelight. A great spot for a private function

Our last morning found us on Melbourne Street at a café called The Store. Service was fast and attentive, coffee was pretty good and I had a fantastic breakfast of poached eggs with dukkah, smashed beetroot and feta on sourdough.

Our time in the Barossa was spent visiting some of it's smaller boutique wineries. We especially loved the Te Aro cellar door. This is a family run winery and all of their wines are named after a family member or  a part of the family history so they all have a story behind them. They have cute postcards that allow you to make notes on the wines you like whilst giving you the history behind the name.

Lunch was a produce platter at Artisan's of Barossa- a place where they feature a changing group of winemakers, all sharing the cellar door.

Being a fan of The Cook and the Chef we couldn't resit a visit to Maggie Beer’s farm shop café. 

A 60th Birthday Brunch

For my Mum’s 60th we held champagne Sunday brunch in Mum and Dad’s courtyard. I wanted to make a photo display and I loved how the black and white photos from Mum’s albums looked just on their own. So I decided to string them on jute using mini wooden pegs to hold them. I reused my collection of jars to make arrangements of flowers for the tables. Mum had used birds on the invites so continue that theme I added some extra decoration to the jars by tying on wooden birdcage embellishments. The menu templates were from Download and Print

There were several courses for the food. First up was the cereals and bircher muesli. We then served bruschetta before following up with the main hot breakfast. This included a buffet of items such as scrambled eggs, home-made baked beans, garlic spinach and mushrooms, buckwheat fritters and bacon.

We had sparkling wine, orange juice tea and coffee, and a punch (I am loving these punches at the moment!) As I did with my 30^th I used my most favourite possession at the moment - my drinks urn! However since this was a breakfast we left the alcohol outL. We put the delicious pomegranate and blood orange punch in this. Perfect for brunches, breakfasts and baby showers.