Japanese cheesecake with strawberry compote *
Happy New Year!
To ring in 2016, I’m presenting the cheesecake I made for Christmas lunch – a Japanese cheesecake with strawberry compote.
About Agnes
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Argentina: Buenos Aires – The Argentine Experience
After spending the day walking around Buenos Aires, that night we headed to Palermo Hollywood for a three course “interactive dinner”.
Now if you’re anything like me, the words “interactive dinner” are a bit off putting (and weird and maybe scary – hey I just want to be served dinner, I don’t want to have to work for it) but! the evening was a lot of fun and *exactly* what we needed to take our minds off the fact that – 8 hours before we were due to fly to Ushuaia – the flights website we’d used *still* hadn’t confirmed that the Ushuaia leg was indeed cancelled (and therefore didn’t affect our flight back to Australia if we didn’t show up). No stress indeed.
Lume
It’s been a while since I’ve had a meal like the one at Lume.
They opened in South Melbourne a few months ago, bucking the trend for casual, shared dish restaurants, instead serving a long (LONG) degustation filled with adventurous and unique dishes.
Alastair and I went to lunch at Lume with Haz and Gaz at the beginning of November. At the time of our visit, it was $140 for a 15 course meal (I believe it’s now $165). Upon arrival we were seated in the (covered) courtyard out the back, which was filled with natural light and had a wall of greenery.
Argentina: Buenos Aires
Our latest holiday was meant to be the Grand Antarctic Adventure.
Unfortunately we were hit with a string of back luck, with not just one but two cancelled cruises (on different companies and for different reasons).
The first one was cancelled a week before we were due to leave, but we were able to book on a different one with a rather expensive deviation to our flight plans.
The second one, hilariously (I can laugh about it now, it’s been three weeks), was cancelled while we were in transit to Buenos Aires and we received notification after checking into our hotel.
With all other voyages full, and the fact that we were already in Argentina and had limited choices to make regarding flights, the Grand Antarctic Adventure was over before it had even begun.
Hash Specialty Coffee & Roasters
Disclosure: We attended and had breakfast courtesy of Hash Speciality Coffee & Roasters and Zilla & Brook.
There’s nothing quite like a Melbourne brunch, and although I no longer keep up with the latest Melbourne cafe openings (who has time? money? energy?!?) it’s still nice to experience a new cafe every now and again.
A couple of months ago, Alastair and I were invited to breakfast at Hash, located in Hardware Street in the city.
Alaska: Ketchikan
Alastair and I are going on holiday tonight, yay! It’s great but it reminds me that I never got around to blogging the rest of our Alaskan / Rockies trip from last year.
But you know what! It’s never too late! Because, beyond anything, this blog is a good, self-indulgent, memory bank for me of food we’ve eaten and holidays we’ve taken over the past eight years.
Dainty Sichuan Hotpot
I think we’ve been to Dainty Sichuan Hotpot three times in the past month.
No, what, we’re not obsessed.
Okay, maybe a bit.
Asparagus Experience
Disclosure: We attended courtesy of Australian Asparagus Council and Prahran Market.
Hello!
In case you haven’t noticed, the days are getting longer, it’s getting warmer (FINALLY), and asparagus is back in season. And back when the season just opened, Alastair and I went to an asparagus farm to see how they’re grown and processed.
We all know that I love stuff like this, so despite the fact that it was an even earlier start than the mushroom farm visit, I was all enthusiasm.
Estelle Bistro: Sunday roast lunch
I haven’t visited Estelle in a while, and since our last visit it has had a make over and become Estelle Bistro. The bistro is more casual than the original and the fine dining has been moved next door to ESP.
I noticed on their website recently (long story as to why I was on their website, but it involved a not very good truffle dinner at a completely different and unrelated restaurant) that Estelle Bistro were holding Sunday roast lunches (3 courses for $50 with a glass of wine). Well. I like Sundays and I like roasts, and I like them even more when someone else is cooking, so roped our friends Maz and Daz for a catch up lunch, deliberately selecting the pork themed lunch.
We were seated in their outdoor dining area, which is completely enclosed and has a wall of edible plants in pots. It was also a sunny day and very pleasant out there.
Prahran Market + Mushroom Mania
Disclosure: We attended courtesy of Australian Mushroom Growers and Prahran Market.
On one Saturday recently, Alastair and I trotted up to Prahran Market at 7.30am.
Now, I like markets and all, but I don’t like them so much that I’d be there that early on a weekend. But I like mushrooms, so the reason for the early start on this particular day was a visit to a mushroom farm – Bulla Mushrooms.