Let’s do Brunch

Being new to Melbourne – and new to the area our house is in of course, a lot of people have been asking me how I like it here.

My answer usually goes something like this:

“It’s GREAT, we’re so happy with how it has all worked out and we LOVE this area, there are THREE awesome cafes within a 5 minute walk, a bakery, an amazing Deli and Gourmet produce store, we’ve been to the Thai restaurant on the main road and it was excellent and apparently Laksa King and the Malaysian restaurant are good too, and there’s this East African restaurant that’s meant to be excellent – oh and there’s a Farmer’s Market 5 minutes away every Sunday morning and it’s a quick stroll to the supermarket and ......................” 

It’s usually at about this point that I realise the person asking the question was probably NOT looking for a run-down of all the eating spots within a 5km radius.

 And then I mumble something about

"being close to transport and tree-lined streets and how quiet it is ..... "

all the while wishing I was really telling them about the sensational Irish Pub that’s 10 minutes away that serves these incredible Irish Stews in home-made loaves of bread.

I guess not everyone is as food obsessed as moi.


Although, having said that – Melbournites by-and-large seem to be a pretty foodie bunch.

This is nowhere more obviously reflected than in the tradition of Sunday Brunch.

Not confined to inner-city urbanites, the quest for creamy organic coffee, perfectly poached eggs and a comfy chair to repose in while reading the paper is a serious business. And one that seems to affect people from all walks of life and every neighbourhood. EVERYBODY goes out for bunch on the weekend it seems. There is a genuine buzz around the streets as people walk their prams and dogs to trendy little cafes and the best places will have lines out the door of people waiting for a take-away double-shot latte or a table to become free.

There are dozens of blogs devoted to finding the “best” spot in Melbourne to have brunch but I have to tell you – from my un-scientific research thus far, there is no shortage of great places. I’m willing to do the leg-work (belly-work?) to qualify this though! And read blogs to help feed the obsession!

All photos from Brunchalot Brunch Blog - which is well worth a read; great reviews and beautiful photos. 

As mentioned in my neighbourhood run down, we are blessed with three rather excellent eateries near-by. And we have “brunched” every weekend thus far. Actually – we have brunched both Saturday AND Sunday the last two weeks – how devilishly decadent is that?!?!

I’ve already explained my deep affection for bacon at the moment, so it’s probably not surprising that I’m so taken with brunch, but I think it will be a long-lasting affection, as the ritual of a slow meander down the street for a cup of coffee and some quality, freshly produced food is hard to beat. I’m also counting down the days til I can eat poached eggs and hollandaise sauce again. Due date is 9 days away and my first meal after baby and when I’m up to the walk down the street will Eggs Benedict. Oh yes.


 So, as little Orphan Annie said – I think I’m gonna like it here!




B
xxx

Pigging Out

Hi all.

No baby news.

Still cooking that bun and getting heavier and more cumbersome every day. I now have a whole repertoire of noises that seem to accompany everyday tasks and activities - like grunting when standing up, sighing when sitting down and an odd kind of groan/squawk that bursts out if I squat for too long and then need to stand up. Getting in and out of the car is also a 3-step process and I'm wondering if a little old lady somewhere has a Zimmer frame I can borrow to make getting around easier.

But other than that - and the fact that baby likes to use my insides to practice her high kicks - all is going smoothly still and we just have to sit back and wait for the big day.

Oh - except that "sit back and wait" isn't really what's been going down.

Our shipping container arrived! Whoo hoo! So we have furniture which is GREAT but also a whole lot of stuff to find homes for and between M and I two VERY different approaches to putting things away.

I like to get everything out, figure out where it's going to go and put it there or leave it in a box until we've decided/found the right spot.

M - who hates clutter, just wants to put everything away NOW even if that means his hiking backpacks are where I think our clothes should be and there are bags of electrical cords/computer equipment etc in the baby's room ...... Luckily he has to work during the day so I can plod about putting things where I want them. As it should be.

But we'll get there.

In other news:
I think I've discovered my "craving" food. 
I'm not actually sure if it counts as a craving because (a) it isn't weird and (b) I don't want it at weird times of the day and (c) I liked this food item a lot before getting preggers.
But I'm obsessed with bacon at the moment. 

I cannot get enough of it. I'm not QUITE eating it every day ..... just every other day.
I don't want it with eggs though. Not being able to eat my favourite forms of eggy goodness: poached or in an egg cup with soldiers - until after baby is born, means that eggs are off my menu for now.

So how am I consuming all this glorious bacon I hear you ask?
Mainly in two forms:
With French Toast and Maple Syrup at the great cafe down the road from us for brunch. (Washed down with a hot chocolate just in case there wasn't enough sugar or calories already!)
OR - most often, as part of a B.L.A.T. 
A what?
B.L.A.T. It's a B.L.T (Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato - or as I like to call it, the Holy Trinity) with Avocado added served on thick wholegrain bread. I make this for myself and it's DELICIOUS.

I could eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
But I don't because I know my growing baby probably needs a few other essential vitamins and minerals.
But I wanna.

SO does that count as a craving or am I just a bacon obsessed loony??


And finally - in the spirit of Valentine's Day yesterday:
M and I didn't do anything special - he cooked meat on the BBQ, I made a salad and we sat and talked to each other, which was perfect. He also brought home special ice creams AND a Cadbury Creme Egg for me because he is lovely.


I give you this e-card which my sister sent to me:

Hope you all had a great day!! hehehehe.

B
xxx

Learning to relax

Well, we are in the new house.

Our shipping container with furniture and household goods still hasn’t arrived, so it’s a rather empty house and it feels rather like we are camping out (or squatting??) rather than living but it’s lots of fun and so nice to have our own space. And 2 bathrooms. M keeps telling me we can "tandem poop". I'm yet to take him up on that offer but I'll keep you posted .....

We've got the essentials too: bed, TV, Internet, camp chairs, bar fridge, BBQ and then a random assortment of goods we left boxed up in Australia which mostly consists of fancy wedding gifts we never unpacked and extra crockery we didn't ship to France. So I have one (borrowed) frying pan, one saucepan about 13 platters, a whole lotta crystal stemware and kickarse wine and beer glasses. It makes me giggle. I can’t microwave anything, nor produce toast but I can offer you cheese and crackers off a rather expensive Villeroy and Boch platter if you’d like??

What didn't make me giggle was my foolish attempt to make a Sticky Date Cake with Caramel Sauce for our friends coming over for dinner with such limited kitchen resources.

I went out and bought a new cake tin, as my old one is cactus anyway, and I happily bought some new measuring cups and spoons as I have been missing the ½ a cup and ¼ a cup for some time .... which are kind of necessary when baking - unlike good ol' 1/3 of a cup which I still have kicking around the place, mostly unused.  So that was fine. I was also happy to start stocking the pantry with brown sugar (real true blue brown sugar! Huzzah!) flour and vanilla extract, so ingredient shopping was fun. And even though the instructions clearly said to “beat butter and sugar together with electric beaters till thick and creamy” and I was decidedly without electric beaters I was still full of confidence in my ability to do it by hand.

Well bollocks to that.
BOLLOCKS I SAY. 

Hand beating butter and sugar is for idiots and masochists.
I think I may have strained my wrist.

It probably didn't help that we had accidentally turned our little bar fridge up to Maximum so everything on the top 2 shelves (including the butter) were pretty much frozen.

Side note – frozen milk on cereal is gross. Why is that?? 

Anyway, after much swearing and carrying on and splattering the nice, new, clean kitchen with frozen butter chunks, I did eventually manage to cream the butter and sugar together, add the eggs and other ingredients and make the cake. In the fancy Miele oven that I think is smarter than me.

But by the time M got home – and after I’d made the 2 salads and the cake and raced about town buying meat and things and waddling around supermarket aisles and shopping centres. I was done. Pooped. In fact when he came in the door I was leaning on the kitchen bench breathing deeply which prompted his voice to raise about 3 octaves as he questioned whether I was about to have our baby on the kitchen floor. No – Silly mummy just needed a bit of a lie down.

So that’s one thing I'm slowly learning; that little things, simple things are much harder when you’re practically 9 months pregnant.

And that perhaps buying a cake would have sufficed.

It’s hard though – I'm not saying I’m not naturally predisposed towards laziness, that’s a given, but it is surprisingly difficult to do nothing, or to do very little. I guess I should enjoy this quiet time while I can.


Oh – and finally – if you’re interested: The cake was delicious.


xxx
B