coasting

This weekend, Malc & I were down in Ulladulla visiting our friends Lynne & Bob. When we were still living in Canberra, we would come down to Lynne & Bob's lakeside hideaway in the South Coast every few months. Their home at the coast is really cozy and comfortable, we always look forward to our visits there.

Just like the previous visits, we basically lazed around most of the time, relaxing on the verandah & reading the newspaper. We also enjoyed the ruckus of colourful birds that, like us, seem to enjoy coming to Lynne & Bob's quite a lot!

We were really spoilt. For dinner, Lynne prepared a delicious and tender roast lamb with roasted vegetables. For dessert, we had strawberries and cream on merangue nests. Next morning, we woke up to the fantastic scent of bacon for breakfast . . . what a life!

We also checked out the local beach, Dolphin Point, which is a few minutes from the house. We strolled on the sand and then explored the rocky parts of the beach. All four of us then did a bit of shell hunting and went home with a handful of dried sea-urchin shells.

But all good things have to come to an end. After lunch, Malc & I packed up and reluctantly headed back to Sydney. On the way home, we stopped at the Old Barrengarry Store (2167 Moss Vale Road, Barrengarry NSW ph 02 4465 1360) in Kangaroo Valley for some of the "Best Pies in the World". And, true to their advertisement, their pies are indeed delicious. The pie crust was crisp and flaky and the inside had huge meat and vegetable chunks. We also shared a malted banana milk shake.

After the brief stop, it was back on the road to Sydney.

warmed up

A couple of Saturdays ago, we finally had our housewarming party. This the first ever party we hosted in Sydney, a far cry from the regular dinner "challenges" we had in Canberra.

Reminiscent of our old Canberra "Nakata Challenges," the menu for the housewarming party was from the club.nakata.net website recipes:

Antipasti
Olives, Artichokes, Sundried Tomatoes

Primi
Penne Alla Boca (all time favourite, penne with creamy tomato sauce)
Pesto Genovese (using the ear-shaped orechiette pasta)
Bevette con gamberri (with a cherry tomatoes, prawns and a dash of curry)

Secondi
Polpettone (aka meatloaf)

Contorno
Mixed leaf salad

Dolci
Torta Di Cioccolata
Vanilla Ice Cream (Lauren's request)

Vino
McGuigan Semillon, St Hubert Chardonnay, Crossings Pinot Noir

Back in Canberra, I normally acted as the sous chef assisting chef de cuisine Dr Shogo. This time around, I had to do all the cooking myself (with Malc washing up). Adding to the scheduling problem was my Iaido grading on the same day. So, after doing my Iaido forms trying to be as calm as a samurai (I fumbled and did not flip my sword scabbard correctly but passed anyway), I ran home to beat the clock a la Iron Chef. Allez Cuisine!

The meatloaf was still in the oven when the first guests arrived, and while the last of the pasta was being boiled, Malc entertained Khariss and Mari. Next to arrive were Susan & Narelle, then came Belinda. Last to arrive, after a cross-city phone tag, were Lauren and Staf.

And then dinner was served, but not before the perfunctionary photo.

After everyone had their fill, interesting conversation started to flow. And, as the night went on, the entertainer in Dr Malc finally emerged after a bit of Soukous music and 'some' wine!

It was nice to get our home all-warmed up, and fantastic to share a fun-filled evening with good friends. Thanks for coming, guys.