it’s happened to us all. we stare blankly at the pictorial menu undecided on what to eat, choose the prettily photographed meal and then receive a meal that looks NOTHING like what the picture shows.


oportos big brekkie. sure does look purty


REALITY HITS! lol not so purty now are ya! heh we bought this at parra food court at 10.30am. the butter on the bread was such a lurid yellow i could barely stand to look at it but the boy just shrugs and scrapes away the oil/grease that has pooled on the bacon rashes haha he said it tasted ‘ok’ tho and i give the hashbrown 2 thumbs up. i like hashbrowns.


hungry jacks brekky wrap


aw how sad looking. lol it looks pretty close to the pic if a little thin but the boy deems this as tasting of fail! haha anyone else ordered via photos from a menu and not getting what they wanted? [the ‘before’ photos from respective websites here and here]

instead of a normal piece of paper, W. Neil Berrett gave his two weeks notice resignation ON A CAKE WRITTEN IN FROSTING.

“Dear Mr. Bowers,
During the past three years, my tenure at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard has been nothing short of pure excitement, joy and whim.

However, I have decided to spend more time with my family and attend to health issues that have recently arisen. I am proud to have been part of such an outstanding team and I wish this organization only the finest in future endeavors.

Please accept this cake as notification that I am leaving my position with NWT on March 27.

Sincerely,
W. Neil berrett”

he later adds that he did submit a paper resignation letter lol but that’s so nice right? im assuming naval shipyard workers have mad skills in frosting cakes…
[via serious eats]

theres something about the prospect of baking a cake for someone that freaks me out. usually because it’s the icing bit that stresses the crap outta me. however i love the carving up of cake to fit the shape you have in mind and because this post has been creeping around my mind lately i decided to give it a try for josh and wallys b’days. edit: the bomb on the ‘flag’ is noods’ companys logo =P


originally i was only planning on making 2 cakes- 1 choc and 1 vanilla however my vanilla didnt seem to be very fat and i thought splitting it in 2 for the hamburger bun and base was stretching it so ended up baking a 3rd cake… first off make sure your cakes have cooled down! i killed my last cake and bits fell off cos it was still warm and i was impatient. bah. so anywhos once your cakes are cool cut them into hamburger looking cake pieces with the vanilla cakes- shave off the tops for the base ‘bun’, shave off the bottoms for the top ‘bun’ and for the ‘meat’ make sure you dont cut off too much or you wont be able to see it.


step 1. for the lettuce i used rolled fondant tinted green. crinkle the edges.
step 2. i was worried ppl would just be eating a mouthful of cake with no filling so decided to spread a layer of cream cheese icing on the lettuce
step 3. chuck on your chocolate ‘meat’ layer and add some ‘cheese’. i ran out of fondant and had to be creative with my last bits hehe
step 4. for the ‘tomato sauce’ i tinted the cream cheese icing red


whack on your bun on the top and tadah! im a little buggered now so i couldnt be bothered icing the buns since they were close enough colour to the real thing. and i was worried that i might have made it too sweet with 2 layers of fondant icing and 2 layers of cream cheese icing. maybe next time (hah!) i would use buttercream for the lettuce and use dulce de leche for the buns… mmm the sweetness… and yes i know theres no sesame seeds in the pics but i later used a white icing pen to draw them on… OH and we weighed it! the hamburger cake came in at a whopping 1.6kg! fat baby hehe how i wished i could pick it up with my hands and take a bite out of it…

Taste of Sydney has begun! Sydney’s best chef’s will be preparing their signature dishes for you to customise your own degustation menu. Be prepared and bring your extra stomach and comfy walking shoes!


There is parking available at the Centennial Park but you can also take the bus and walk thru the park passing signs like this which had the exact same distance on all of them…


Helen and i are joined by Billy and Yas and we’ve pooled our ‘resources’ and bought a whole stack of crowns- the currency of the festival which can be bought at the door and inside from the pink hatted ladies. It’s pretty much $1 for 1 crown with books of 10 crowns and food priced around 8-14 crowns. Most stalls selling stuff like biscuits etc you can pay in both crowns and $$$ but not all will accept the crowns. The menu can be found here. We also bump into Lorraine and Christie who have brought their other halves in order to secure tables heh good move =P


We make our way inside the grounds passing a sexy shiny yellow car


As we walked past the restaurant stalls i spot a pannacotta sitting on its lonesome at the Jonah’s stall and as i excitedly point it out to billy, chef George Francisco comes rushing up “are you chocolatesuze? i love your youtube video! i’ve been sending it to all my friends!” lol im laughing but i am immediately mortified at the thought of such an incredible chef seeing this crazy video from the media launch so of course i had to ask for a more ‘normal’ video:


im still debating whether or not i should put crazy music on this video heh altho there is one other video i took later on so scroll down to see!


There were ‘classes’ to watch and learn like the James Squire beer masterclass and the Taste wine tent


Chocolate to taste from Zokoko


Awesome creamy delicious buffalo cheeses from Vanella Cheese Factory


Loved this sign from Aga


hee retro dishwashers!


i somehow managed to forget to take a photo of all the restaurant stalls lined up hmm my bad but onto the food!


Jonah’s at Whale Beach: Tempura ricotta filled zucchini flowers with basil pesto sauce (10 crowns). Yas has been patient with us as we are crazily taking photos of stalls but he spots a lady with a tray of vivid green zucchini flowers and has immediately handed over a wad of crowns.


Restaurant Balzac: Saddle of suckling Pig with Crackling and Baby Garden Peas (12 crowns). Heh somehow this wasn’t what i was expecting presentation-wise but the meat was soft and tender and the crackling thin and crispy


Assiette: Loin & crumbed belly of lamb with basil mayonnaise & a tomato olive jus (12 crowns). Two thumbs up to the crumbed lamb oh boy was it tasty with its golden crunchy outer layer giving way to melty soft lamb- I suffered from food envy aww


Restaurant Balzac: Wagyu Beef Bourguignonne’ with Truffled Cauliflower and Onion Rings (10 crowns). We had tried this previously at the launch but Billy cant resist getting it and we are so very glad when Yas also gets this because it means more to share hehe it’s a thick golden roll filled with shredded juicy wagyu and the combination of the truffle sauce is too awesome for words. Get it. i command you.


Bloggers eat! Even tho we had arrived pretty early at the festival it filled up quickly and tables were scarce so we ended up eating at an empty SMH stall…


Jonah’s at Whale Beach: Vanilla pannacotta with lavender honey and fresh pomegranate (8 crowns). first dessert has got to be the famous jiggly pannacotta! oh how it wobbled! George gave this to me on the house yay but wait want to see a crazy video?


Ahem. Yeah I had a bit too much sugar that night.


Berowa Waters Inn: Dark Chocolate Tart, End of Season Berries, Mascarpone Sabayon (10 crowns). The tart looked so rich but apparently my stomach can conquer all and it was gone in a flash leaving me thinking huh that was a nice chocolate tart was it really dark chocolate tho because the tastebuds arent crying from being fed dark chocolate.


Buon Ricordo: Semifreddo Montegranelli – Semifreddo with crushed torrone and nuts (10 crowns). Presentation wasn’t that pretty but i loved the little nougat-y bits hidden inside. Yeah dividing this into 4 was a fail and we (unhygienically) dipped in heh we’re family now right guys?


Centennial Parklands Dining: Goat Cheese Marshmallow with strawberries and basil (8 crowns). i really liked the texture of this! The marshmallow had been toasted giving it a nice caramelised taste like a smore and the goats cheese flavour wasnt too overpowering unlike the basil granita which i wasnt too fond of. Oh and i reckon if the marshmallow was on a stick i’d prolly like it more…


Flying Fish: Love cake with cinnamon cream (8 crowns). Our last dessert was pretty delish and i love all things cinnamon!


This is how foodbloggers roll share. heh thanks to our awesome planning skills we managed to use up every single crown = win! The festival ends on Sunday so hope you guys managed to make it and make sure you try the wobbly pannacotta!