The Art of the Picnic

For our latest Book Club we read The Tigers Wife by Tea Obreht and had a picnic in the gardens of the National Gallery of Victoria. The gallery runs a summer event called The Art of the Picnic and do all the hard work and preparation for you. A delicious hamper, blankets and cushions are all provided in the beautiful green sculpture gardens hidden behind the gallery. Thanks to Phoebe for my delicious chocolate birthday cake too!

The Many Emotions of Badminton

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Tomato Butter Beans with Feta and Mint

After visiting one of my favourite Melbourne cafes MilkWood I was inspired to make these tomato butter beans. They are so yummy and I just cant seem to get enough of them. I'm not sure what is in the cafe's recipe but I think I made a pretty good tribute to the original.

    Tomato, Feta and Mint Butter Beans
                                                                                                                     

Ingredients:

• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 1 can of butter beans washed
• 1 white onion finely chopped
• olive oil for cooking
• 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
• 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 1 small block of danish feta
• 1 loaf of sourdough bread
• 1 bunch of mint

Method:

Fry the onion and garlic in olive oil.  Add the canned tomatoes and butter beans and bring to a simmer. Add the brown sugar to help neutralize the acidity of the tomatoes. Cook for approximately 5 minutes. Serve on toasted sourdough with crumbled feta and chopped mint leaves.

Docklands Dinner Date

As part of our celebrations for Sam's 30th birthday we headed to Watermark at the Docklands for dinner. Watermark is a cosy restaurant bar with live jazz and a view of the waterfront. Much of our fascination with the Docklands is based on the planning potential for the waterfront suburb. We love to walk around imagining the possibilties for the area and planning our very own utopia. The reality for now however, is an obvious failure of urban design resulting in a grey concrete landscape and poor use of public space. On the upside, the newly planted Norfolk Pines add some much needed greenery to the area and remind me of my childhood in the Sydney beachside suburb of Manly. 

Pimm's Punch

For Sam's birthday I made a Pimm's Punch in my new punch bowl. I love this punch as it is such a delicious and refreshing drink for hot summer days.

Pimm's Punch

Ingredients:

• 2 cucumbers thinly sliced into cubes
• 2 oranges thinly sliced into cubes
• 1 punnet of strawberries quartered 
• 1 can of pineapple pieces
• 1 bunch of fresh mint  
• 1 bottle of Pimm's No. 1
• 2 bottles of chilled lemonade

Method:

Place the cucumber, orange, pineapple and strawberries into a large jug or punch bowl. Depending on the size of your serving dish the amount of Pimm’s and lemonade used will vary. Add 125ml (1/2 cup) of Pimm's for every 500ml (2 cups) of lemonade. Cover the fruit in Pimm’s and leave it in the freezer for 30 minutes. Remove from the freezer and add the lemonade and fresh mint leaves. Serve immediately.