Cee’s Which Way Challenge #4

My ‘path’ to Williamstown.

Cruise from Melbourne to Williamstown

For my birthday I decided I wanted to do the cruise to Williamstown. It’s something I’d wanted to do all Summer and thought my birthday was the perfect opportunity. It’s a one-hour cruise along the Yarra and Port Phillip Bay.

So Mum, Dad and I set off to the city in the pouring rain. However, this being Melbourne, soon after arriving in the city, the sun came out and it got hot very quickly. We bought our tickets and boarded the boat. Soon after we set off to pick up more passengers. I heard a bit of a commotion at the back and turned around to see some very concerned-looking people. I soon saw acrid smoke filling the cabin. There was a small fire at the back which was quickly put out with a fire extinguisher. We had to dock and abandon the cruise instead of picking up passengers.

An hour later, after getting a refund from that company and buying tickets for another, we were on our way. We sat in the open air part at the back so I was able to take photos. When we arrived in Williamstown we looked for somewhere for lunch before settling on a fish and chip cafe. They have an eating area in the courtyard at the back of the shop. It’s really nice area and we sat back and relaxed while eating our lunch. After that we went across to an art gallery on the other side of the road. It was really warm by then and we had a quick walk around before going back to the dock and waiting for the boat to take us back to the CBD.

Wordless Wednesday…view of Melbourne from Williamstown

Dining in famous company

In yesterdays post I wrote about the food we ate at Rosetta Ristorante.  Today I’m writing about our small brush with fame.

I had my back to a lot of the restaurant and after a while my friend pointed out that Jimmy Barnes (legendary Aussie rock singer) and his wife were eating at a nearby table.  I’m a massive fan of Jimmy Barnes but am so reserved around people I don’t know that I would never approach him.  He was in town for A Day on the Green concert in the Yarra Valley the next day.

The funnier story (well not so much for my friend) is that her favourite comedian, Judith Lucy, walked into the restaurant while my friend was telling me about Jimmy Barnes.  We had a laugh about the fact that she was eating at the same restaurant we were eating at.  Next minute we found Judith sitting at the table next to us.  The gap in between each table is quite small; just enough to squeeze through side-on to the seats.  In other words, very close to us.  We couldn’t help laughing that someone that famous was sitting just centimetres away.  In the end we decided not to disturb her lunch.  We felt bad disturbing her when I’m sure all she wanted to do was go and enjoy lunch with a friend. 

Rosetta Ristorante….my birthday lunch

After having dessert only at Rosetta last year for my friend’s birthday I decided I wanted to enjoy a full meal there for my birthday yesterday. Once again I walked in and fell in love with the elegant atmosphere, plush couches and chairs and wall decorations.

I’d had a look at the menu online a few weeks ago to help me choose some dishes so I had an idea of what I wanted to eat. There are a lot of courses to choose from. A lot of people have described the prices of the meals as being very expensive. While that is true of some dishes on the menu, there are a lot of reasonably-priced dishes. We had 3 courses with 2 glasses of wine each for $100 each. I love it when the waiters know who ordered each dish and don’t come to the table and ask you. And when you order a glass of wine they look up what you ordered and don’t need to ask you. Fantastic service by everyone there.

For my entree I chose Beef carpaccio, spring garlic, parmesan and baby cos lettuce. This was perfect, melt-in-your-mouth carpaccio. There was a lot of beef too which surprised. Very generous serve.

Yellowfin tuna with roast tomato, garlic and lemon. My friend’s entree. She loved it. We both had a hard time deciding which entree to try but were both really happy with our choices.

Tagliatelle with roasted tomatoes, anchovies, black olives and basil. This was perfectly cooked al dente pasta with just the right amount of tomato and olives. The anchovies were very subtle and added a nice touch to the dish.

Gnocci with braised rabbit, green olives and sage. My friend’s gnocchi. She loved it. Especially the size of the gnocchi because it wasn’t too big.

Panna cotta with fresh raspberries. My friend really liked this. Fresh raspberries go with so well with a lot of desserts.

My tiramisu. Very boozy but quite nice. Not what I would normally eat.

Wordless Wednesday: Chinese Gardens, Sydney

Roasted Capsicum and Feta Quiche

A few weekends ago I had a friend coming over for scrapbooking and lunch. I decided to cook a quiche but wanted to make something a little different. I couldn’t find a recipe that included the ingredients I wanted to use so I decided to make my own version.

Ingredients:

Roasted capsicum (either roast 2 large red and/or green capsicums or buy them from the supermarket)
200g feta cheese, crumbled
150g bacon, chopped into pieces roughly 2cm squared
6 eggs, lightly beaten
milk (for mixing with eggs)
salt and pepper (to taste)
6 spring onions, chopped
Pastry flan (or you can make your own pastry)
cheddar cheese (shredded)

Method:

Lightly fry the bacon, allow to cool.
If you are roasting your capsicum, allow to cool before placing in the pastry flan.
Place all other ingredients in your flan. Pour the egg mix over and add salt and pepper to suit your taste.
Spread the cheddar cheese over the top.

Bake for 30-40 mins at 180 degrees celsius (350 degrees fahrenheit)

More sandsculpting photos

Sandsculpting – Storyland

Angry Birds

Sandsculpting is a big thing in Melbourne in Summer. Every year, Australian and international sand-sculptors come to Frankston beach in Melbourne and construct these magnificent sculptures. More than 3,500 tonnes of sand is carved into these sculptures. This years theme is Storyland. Characters from old and modern favourite children’s stories have been re-created.

Harry Potter – these characters and Hogwerts are so real looking

Pippy Longstocking

Wordless Wednesday: Cottonball clouds at sunset