warming on up

Our place was alive with the sounds of merriment the other night as friends gathered to help us officially warm it up. I made guacamole and ginger punch and friends surprised us with gifts and drinks, and, in the case of our Melburnian friends Emma and Sam, with their unexpected presence from across the border - wholly unanticipated and wonderful! A mojito station was quickly established and all I had to do was drink in the deliciousness and crank the oven for hot food, which was consumed at lightning speed, in amongst sparkler displays, nerf gun wars and even a pregnancy announcement from a friend. What a night!

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happy happy

A very happy belated Christmas to you and now here's to a spectacular New Years!

We just got back from spending Christmas on Lord Howe Island and I have far too many photos to share and some good food stories too...

But first have a very happy, relaxing, safe, joyous New Years celebration, wherever you are and whatever you're doing! I've got some bubbly and cheese in the fridge, ready to rock n roll!

Wishing you every good thing for the new year!
2012 here we come...

putting on the spritz

We're having some confusing weather here in Sydney of late - it feels almost like we're going back into Autumn, in keeping with our northern neighbours. Still after the 34 degree day we had last Monday it's almost a bit of a relief. But it made for a strange week. Monday felt like Friday, Tuesday felt like Friday... there was a bit of a pattern going on.

So you can imagine my relief when Friday did arrive and I had the day off to boot! The night before we had gotten dressed up to attend the Bombay Sapphire Design Awards and enjoyed several quite delicious gin variations, along with some pretty nice sliders, salt and pepper chicken shots and a few other tasty morsels. Amazing as those gin cocktails were, I couldn't get another drink out of my head. Just the week before I had been introduced by Deborah, a lovely colleague at work, to the Aperol spritz - the promise of summer in a glass.

The Aperol Spritz is popular in the Veneto region of Italy and is made with Prosecco (Italian sparkling wine), Aperol (an orange liquer) and a splash of soda water.  As an aperitivo, it's a great way to start a meal because the Aperol has a reasonably low alcohol content and the drink tastes light and refreshing - spritz is the word. Here's how you go about making it:

Aperol Spritz

3 ounces Prosecco (or any sparkling wine)
2 ounces Aperol
a splash of soda water
garnish of orange or lemon

Pour the aperol into a glass of ice cubes.  Add a splash of sparkling water then top with the Prosecco. Garnish with lemon or orange slices. Sip whilst leaning back in your chair, pretending you're looking out over the rooftops of Venice, the sounds of evening church bells ringing gently in the background.
Wonderfully refreshing! With Melbourne Cup just around the corner, I may have already found a winner...

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