Suze & Noods wedding, and North Coast relaxing

Latter February was so busy and non-stop !

I was given the honour of making Suze and Noods wedding cake which I was totally stoked about. (Congrats Suze & Noods). Knowing Suze, it's gotta be quirky, which was exciting for me as I hadnt ventured into that style before. She had a great idea for the design, and I was very curious about the 4inch gummi bears she told me about .
Here's the outcome.

So sad, the one of the bows got crushed in transit somewhere during the course of the afternoon where I had several people assisting. But I'm glad it at least stayed intact. And it was the first time that I had tried out the choc mud recipe too, which was a bit risky, but I was very happy with it and will definitely use it again. (more cake photos further down post)

The wedding itself was fantastic too. So well organised and flowed well. And the food! Held at an Asian restaurant, there were 13 dishes which came out through the night and of course you have to try each and everyone of them. But the end of the night I was sooo stuffed. Snapshots:

Hands on lobster. What an effort!

Fishy. What a pity Lauren missed the chance to suck out the eyeball :P

What a superly fantastic idea for a bomboniere, self serve lollies!

Such a fantastic night. The following day I meet up with another friend for lunch at Liana's in Parra. Still feeling full from the night and knowing that I didnt really need to eat for the rest of the week I thought I would get something small....

Small I had thought, small it was not. The serving of brushetta was not only huge but tasty. Mmm mm I'm a sucker for smoked salmon and avocado. I did manage to get through the bulk of it, finishing off all the toppings of course.
Other dishes on offer, also for the hungry.

The week prior to the wedding I went away to Foster for the first time. It's such a lovely peaceful and relaxing place! We went fishing (I cast my first line!), canoeing, beaching, lots of walking, spotted a dolphin and lots of enjoyable eating. And where of the pictures of the weeks frivolities you wonder? I left my camera behind at home :( Much sadness. Being desperate to capture the moment, went old school and purchased a disposable with limited 27 shots. How different it was to actually stop, frame the shot and count to three. No food photos were taken!
The weekend prior to Foster I hung out with friends at Terrigal to begin the relax beach mode. How luxurious to have a holiday house with the beach as your backyard, and every morning waking up to this sight

Loved it. Thanks for your hospitality Mia and Elissa.

Additional photos / notes of the cake in progress:
Step 1: Bake cake

Step 2: Ganache cake. (Again the first time I have tried this method properly. Note the whole bowl of icing!)

Step 3: Covering and decorating the cake

Step 4: Assembling the cake

Step 5: Transport the cake (whilst trying not to stress too much about it staying intact)

Coincidentally it was another friends birthday during this preparation time and I managed to squeeze in a bonus mini cake with simple decorations. (giant 2 and 5 candles were to be assembled on top) Happy Birthday Saby!

Parra dining

Last minute bonus outings are fun.
Friday night dinner, off we went to the ever popular Temasek in Parra. 4 people = $65, not bad.

Entree - spring rolls and prawns

As much as i like vegies, consumption was hindered by spicyness. No tears from me at least

Noodles

Nasi Goreng

Stuffed as monkeys, we waddled over to Church St and the somewhat new Chocolateria San Churro instantly appealled. Actually it made me think of Max Brennars but it was worth a go to try a churro for the first time.

Churro = Spanish doughnut = extruded dough-stick of friedness. Mm oil...not my thing really. The chocolate fondue with strawberries, bananas, marshmallow, peanuts and brownies however was a different story. The plate for 2 ($20) was plenty for the four of us who only wanted a light dessert. It's was so tempting to lick the fondue bowl, but Saby and I managed to resist - as much as we could.

Latter half of 2009 continued - part 2

I love attending wedding and got invited to 2 lovely ones. Funny, for both of them I got the fun job of ushering.
Congrats to Lori and Aron! Such a great couple, and a fantastic wedding I must say.
Their reception was held at Le Montage in Lilyfield, it was pity for them about the rain but it is a great location by the water. And the food! Soo much of it, I dont know how anyone could finish the lot!
First there was the shared antipasto starter, and you have your bread roll, followed by an entree of either salad or cheesy tortellini.

All this in itself is quite filling. So when they brought out the mains of either steak with wedges or creamy chicken with risotto, your stomach starts bracing itself. I think I only managed one third of the chicken.

And of course you have to have dessert to top of the meal. This was either a cookies and cream tart or a raspberry cheesecake. Both YUM.

And you cant forget the wedding cake. Pretty. I think it was made by one of Lori's relative.

Congrats to Kim and Cam also!
Another beautiful wedding and joyous display of commitment to each other.
Their reception was held at Mandavilla Function Centre at Horsely Park. Another great location, very spacious and off the main road. I loved how they had an archway on wheels for when the couple entered the room.
Here we were served an entree of either chicken caesar salad or calamari rings and salad.

Followed by chicken or fish with mash. I had got chicken both times so luckily James was kind enough swap with me for the fish.

And this was topped off with either profiteroles or mousse. I was so hoping for the mousse but alas it was not to be. I didnt think there was a dessert I wouldnt enjoy but I have come to a realisation that I dont think I'm a fan of profiteroles in general. Maybe something about the 'tough' texture of the pastry compared to other pastries.

And the pretty cake made by Kim's friend. Lovely.

As part of the Good Food Month, my friends and I caught up over high tea at Radissons in the city one October weekend. Delicious. (Good ole footie final in the background)

Also as part of the October fooding we made a trek to Ashfield for the "Yum Cha" which was street stall all other the main street. Being too crowded we decided to just head in to an actual restaurant. (Another excitement was that I saw Jay from Frenzal Rhomb wandering the streets!)
This was much more worth it than roaming the streets. We got various noodles and meats, you know, asian stuff...Check this one out though. It's like scrambled eggs, and provided much visual amusement. Mm tasty.

Deciding to continue on with the adventuring we tried to find dessert. The guy heartily assured us 'yes they served desserts' and 'yes this is a sweet dish' after we asked several times. We were quite unconvinced but gave these a go anyway. We should have known, the menu didnt even have a dessert page or heading.

Curry puff-ish buns

Coated fried sourish berries topped in a sweet snot textured syrup

Red bean mushy filling in fried pastry (the most somewhat familiar dish for me)

These werent our typical sweets. We needed more sugar! So we were a little disappointed but it was worth the attempt.

More asianing as it was Grandma's 80th birthday celebratory dinner with the extended family coming from overseas. Dinner was had in Parra on Church St, there was that many of us that we had our own room to be rowdy in :P
All kinds of interesting dishes were ordered. Of particular note:
Lobster is a mighty lot of effort to get into, and the reward is so so. I just dont like getting my hands dirty :P

Fishy

Haha, Pink bottoms! (Actually sweet buns with a red bean filling - most fun to squeeze out...of the bottom)

On Grandma's actually birthday, the Aussie troop went out to Parra again, this time at Tingha Palace within Parra Leagues Club.
This asian version of cold meats was also ordered at the other dinner but I hadnt tried it all last time. So you have your usual BBQ pork and gravy beef etc and there in the centre is a clearish sauce coated noodle looking mass - jellyfish. Iiinteresting.

And there was pigeon which I havent had before. It kinda reminded me of the taste of liver. Dirty fingers again. Yes that is the head there. I'm, not sure if anyone attempted to 'eat' it.

Mixed pot of chicken feet, sea cucumber and fish something. They do like their delicacies. I had tried the sea cucumber previously and I dont recommend this at all if you're not a mushy  jellyish 'slimy' texture eating person.

While my cousin was in from the US we had to give her a taste of some local goods. An Angus burger was mentioned so after a random search on the net we settled on the Helm bar in the Darling Harbour. The burger was pretty high but Janet managed to get around it.
Bread and dips

Trunk's salmon

My beef salad with witlof and beetroot

Later on there was also Karina's birthday where we had dinner at Dedee's in Abbotsford till Brett finished his shift there. The restaurant has a fantastic view over the water, a guitarist playing cruisy tunes, so romantic for the 4 of us :P
And the food? MmMm. It was posh nosh for me.
Seafood pasta

My halomi and greens

Dessert tasting plates are a must. Ooh I could so go there again just for dessert. (Creme caramel, Date slice, coffee something and something tart)

I also made Karina a cake, upon Ronald's great suggestions that she liked her drinks I made a sort of wine bottle shaped white mud cake.

I also made an effort to get to Sculpture by the Sea this year. Excellent works of art. I'm impressed every year. On the food side, if this is the sauce for the sushi, I'd like to see the sushi! Funky.

John and I celebrated our 3yr anniversary by combining the 2 things we each love into one - music and food. Perfect!
After watching Where The Wild Things Are at the Dendy we strolled down to The Vanguard for dinner and live music by Steve Balbi. It has such a great atmosphere.
My salmon and tortellinis

John's steak with yummm mash

There was also the numerous Christmas eating at work, at a workmate's place, with our bible study group, with the family, with John's family and for my sister's birthday. All of thorough enjoyment and actually I dont feel of excessive consumption.
But that is enough. I might do the 2009 musings in the next post.