My recall of events and experiences isn’t particularly great – once I’ve done something I mentally move on and it’s out of my mind. That’s why it’s nice to have a blog where I can look back and go: oh yeah! I did that!
So in that spirit, and since it’s the last day of this year, let’s look back at 2011…
Christmas 2011 in pictures: Pimmsmas, mo-mas, cocktail franks, cucumber sandwiches, vol au vents, prawns, duck rice paper rolls, baked cheese, wings, arancini, cricket, sunshine, yorkshire puds, slot cars, storm, hail, cheeses, devils on horseback, Christmas cake, coconut panna cotta, flaming Christmas pudding, mo camera mo problems, peace and love.
T’was the night before Christmas, and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The cats were asleep, all tucked in their beds.
While visions of mousies danced in their heads.
On Tuesday I had dinner with a small group of colleagues to celebrate the end of the year. After the drama of finding an evening that worked for seven people in December – almost an impossibility but I managed to find one date – the next question was where to go. It couldn’t be too expensive (no Vue de Monde), but not too cheap (no $5 dumplings). No one was fussed on the kind of cuisine, but there was a specific request for no restaurants in the Casino.
I spent AGES racking my brain trying to think of somewhere suitable. Why is that there are so many restaurants in Melbourne, and yet it’s so hard to find somewhere to eat?! So when one of my colleagues suggested The Smith, I just went ahead and booked a table. It was a bit of a risk considering none of us had eaten there before, but it saved me hours of thinking time!
I haven’t really been talking about it here but I’m still eating paleo most of the time (ie avoiding grains, starches, legumes, refined sugars, and dairy). As you can tell by what I’ve been posting, I’m not strict on it, and tend to have one/two meals a week that’s non-paleo. Last week was a blow out because it was birthday week, but I’m back on the train. Choo choo!
This week: Christmas shopping, American food, birthdays, pub food and picnicking.
Also, this donkey has nothing to do with anything, I just really liked it. So cute. Look at it: just look at it! It’s a leather DONKEY.
Bro and I had been speaking about checking out Gasometer for a while. Located in Collingwood, they’re a pub that serves American style diner food. Bro loves American food, and I’m a food enabler, so ever we found out Gasometer serves chicken and waffles, it has been on our “to visit” list.
It was my birthday on Tuesday (thank you thank you) and I wanted to go somewhere casual and not too pricey. So I figured we may as well cross Gasometer off the list.
Summer summer summer is here! Warm days and sunshine always make me happy. 🙂 But rolling on… here’s a bit of my week.
I love a lunch deal. So when I heard that Vue de Monde was doing a $60 1 hour express lunch that ended in November, I hurriedly booked in a lunch date with I-Hua and Maz.
Maz and I cleverly scheduled a day off work, while I-Hua snuck out for a long lunch. We weren’t aware of exactly how long a lunch it was going to be. One hour stretched into two hours… which extended to three hours. (Sorry, I-Hua’s company!)
We were a bit early for our table, so we were directed up to the Lui Bar via the snazzy nightclub style elevator. At the Lui Bar, we spread out on their couches, admired the view, and decided that: nope, 1pm was definitely not too early for a negroni. Not too early at all.
The best kitchen item we’ve bought this year has been a pressure cooker.
It’s fantastic! I can’t believe I resisted one for so long. We purchased an electric one because it also doubles as a slow cooker. It’s a massive beast of a machine, but I keep it out on my kitchen bench because I use it at least once a week. I love being able to throw a stew in there and have it ready in 30 minutes. It is so, so good.