Impressions of Sydney

Most of these are from our walking tour of Balmain last weekend.

Zumbo Magic

We spent last weekend in Sydney, and took the opportunity to make tracks to the patisserie(s) of Adriano Zumbo, he of Masterchef fame. After catching the ferry to Balmain and walking the 1.5km to the patisserie we were greeted with a lineup of about 40 people - a line that hardly moved at all...
Not ones to stand in line for hours, we decided to push on to his newer cafe/patisserie in Rozelle, a further 1.5km walk. No one can say we didn't earn our sweeties that day! There was still a bit of a line out the door, but we probably only waited about 15 minutes, so we were ok with that.
We chose a passion fruit tart, a pear & almond tart, and "one of each" of the available flavours (10) of macaroons. I can't say that macaroons look terribly enticing to me, but Adriano is well-known for them, and we were there, so we thought "why not".
My skepticism was entirely unfounded - the macaroons were delicious and the texture of the pastry was such that it felt like it melted on the tongue. The downside of this is that I may never be able to enjoy macaroons made by anyone else. (Sidenote: I love strawberries and hate anything 'strawberry-flavoured', but the strawberry & cream macaroon was delightful!)
The tarts were also completely out of this world. Beautiful buttery pastry with a hint of cinnamon (oh, how I love thee). The creamy texture of the passion fruit tart was offset by the slightest bit of tartness which also beautifully complemented the subtle passion fruit taste. On the other tart, again the pear taste was subtle and only slightly sweet, with the toasted almonds adding a really nice crunch to the mix.
I am so sold on this guy! :) Definitely worth the walk.

Sorting out the binary..

I am currently sorting out my files on the work server, and came across this beautiful reference shot of Charlotte Gainsborough. I can't remember where I found it or who shot it or whatever, but I really love this image, so wanted to share it with all of you.

Sunday Brekkie

Work's been crazy this week, so haven't had time to post. We had our Summer shoot on Thursday, but it was so full-on that I unfortunately didn't get to take any behind-the-scenes shots. I'll post the finished images once they're in stores, around middle of August.
Anyhoo, just wanted to share a few pics of breakfast one of my school friends cooked us last Sunday. Also his impressive collection of Johnnie Walker, and Asahi and Tiger beer glasses.

Quick Saturday DIY

I couldn't bear to throw out 2 cute little cardboard boxes that were in the goody-bags at Pia's book launch, so today I decided to decorate them using the large letterpress letters I bought in Sydney. I'm still not quite sure what I'll do with the boxes, but I like that it's not a his and hers set. Process below:

The Maiden Cook-in

I used my cast iron skillet for the first time last night. It was just a fairly boring meal: steak, veg, potatoes - I thought I should keep it simple for my first try. I pre-boiled the potatoes before putting them into the skillet; seared the steaks on the stove, then put the whole thing in the oven. I over-cooked the meat a little for our personal taste (usually medium-rare, this was more medium-done), but it was nice and tender. I'm keen to use the skillet again soon!

The Pasta Master

My brother and his wife had us around for a very yummy home-made pasta dinner on Sunday night. He is really getting good at this:

Riverside lunch at Aqua Linea, Teneriffe

I haven't done one of these in a while, but I couldn't let this lunch pass without comment. I've eaten at Aqua Linea a bunch of times before and we celebrated my dad's 60th there a few years ago, but this was my favourite meal I've ever had there, I think.

For entree I had the beautiful pork belly - I would walk over broken glass for this! Ton had the pan-fried bug tails which he finished before I had a chance to try them, so be assured that they were also delicious. For the mains we shared this Aussie take on the paella with Moreton Bay bugs and soft shell crab. It was so yummy that it deserves two photos for this post. Absolutely delicious, if you eat at Aqua Linea I definitely recommend this dish!

My new favourite blog

Heather Nette King: Melbourne-based stylist and interiors writer. LOVE LOVE LOVE. Check it out!
Who knew blinds could look so amazing:

The rest of this gorgeous shoot is here.

Image credits: Agency: Tank
Concept and art direction by Chris Evans at Tank
Photography by Mike Baker
Photographer's assistant: Stewart Dunn
Styling: Heather Nette King
Client: Viewscape Blinds / Contract Blinds

Karaoke Madness

Preferring not to torture other people with my wailing I usually keep away from the microphone at karaoke bars (although I didn't quite accomplish that feat this particular time), I spent most of the night being tambourine bitch which was pretty awesome anyway due to the tambourines lighting up when moved vigorously. I had a bit of a play with long exposure, but without a tripod and speed light photography in this dark little room was pretty hard. Hence the black & white, and (tiny) size of the colour photos. The colour images certainly convey the madness of mood in the room that night.

Harajuku Finery

Not content with birthday celebrations karaoke-style, our friend Sal also decreed that we must dress up Harajuku style to adequately honour her entry into this world a quarter of a century ago. As if I needed an excuse to break out my gloves and crazy dress up gear. Also the first time ever I wore fake eyelashes, and possibly the last...
Photo by Ton, who also blogged about this event
I seem to be singing in some of his photos - I apologise profusely for any burst ear drums.