Saturday 11 September 2010

Still Here...

Someone asked me AGES ago for a post on decent seafood eating in Hobart and Bichneo. If that person is reading, please let me know if you still want it!!!
In other news, I have been back in Brisbane visiting my mum (well actually looking after her as she had a bit of surgery) and I ended up staying for her birthday. Also managed to get to the Brisbane Show (aka the Ekka) for the first time in donkeys years. Its changed - ALOT. The craft and food was still there, as were the animals, but alot of the care and pride you used to see in the fruit and vege pavillion just wasnt there. The whole effort felt slightly half hearted for some reason. Am not sure if its the ongoing drought, changing perceptions or I'm getting older - but alot of the displays felt like they were there because they HAD to be, not because they WANTED to be.
The craft displays were as per usual mind blowing, though I was rather pleased with myself to find a pattern mistake on the piece of bobbin lace that got second place!
Food wise I discovered an amazing cupcake shop called Couture Cupcakes. Parking is not so easy, but the cupcakes are made in house with a decadent buttercake recipe. There are different cupcakes each day so you are able to make the excuse to visit regularly. The guy behind the counter is easy on the eyes as well. Cupcakes were about $4.50 each but it was dependent on type. I splurged and bought 8 for mum's b'day - we were supposed to go on a picinic to Redcliffe with her friends from Scrapbooking, but the weather was horrid so we had a Hyacinth Bucket indoor/outdoor picinic. Unfortunately we dont have a Royal Doulton periwinkle tea service so we had to make do with another pattern!
Back in Hobart I am still haunting the farmers markets - last week I got gnocchi, ragu, ravioli, mushrooms, cress and ham. I have yet to need to eat out this week. Tomorrow I'll probably grab some greens and some meat. Tonights dinner is going to be porterhouse with mushrooms - if and when I get hungry.
Sweet Envy has opened in North Hobart - looks good, feels good, still has a few teething problems with regards to drinks etc. Some people are saying its a bit expensive and the quality is not there for the pedigree of the people running it. I'll agree some things do appear to be expensive (the caramel popcorn springs to mind, as do the bar cakes) however the cupcake prices are comparable with the mainland. Quality I think will improve once they are settled into the kitchen and have worked out ovens etc. Even with a kitchen you have specified yourself, learning the idiocincracies of the oven/stove etc takes time.
In other parts of my life I have 81 days before my PhD thesis needs to be handed in....so expect ALOT more blog posts as I procastinate!

6 comments:

Food Review said...

Cupcake Coutre sounds like a blast. I'm a cupcake guy myself and can certainly appreciate a good dessert. Well anytime meal really... Good article as well.

modern canvas print said...

What a wonderful post, thanks so much for sharing this with us!

John said...

What a great article, thank you for this, really enjoyed reading it!

cheap canvas prints said...

Who isn't a cupcake person? You can't beat them can you!

abstract canvas said...

Love this, thanks so much for sharing this with us!

Golden Sun Restaurant said...

Love your blog :) I used to cook a lot at home before I got too busy managing a Chinese Restaurant in Capalaba area. Your blog posts always remind me the pleasures of cooking at home!