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.

Powlett River

On our way home from Cape Paterson we stopped for one last swim at the Powlett River.

Camp 30

off for a swim / making friends on the beach / birthday presents / sam and phoebe / bbq dinner / salads in the coleman / our tent / relaxing on the beach / keep cape beaches beautiful mural

Cape Paterson

A weekend away at Cape Paterson to celebrate Kate’s 30^th birthday. Despite the weather being somewhat temperamental we made the most of it with windblown walks and invigorating ocean swims.

Picnic in the Park

Last friday after work we had a picnic in the park near my apartment. It was the first chance I had to use the vintage picnic set that I was lucky enough to be given for Christmas. It was the perfect way to start the weekend; delicious food (including our new favourite smoked trout) cider, wine and some of my most favourite people.