Good morning and welcome again to Monday Giggles. :D
This one reminds me of my own dogs that seek out any sliver of sunlight to sleep in, especially when it gets cold. LOL
*hugs*
Monday, 18 April 2011
Monday Giggles
Good morning and welcome again to Monday Giggles. :D
This one reminds me of my own dogs that seek out any sliver of sunlight to sleep in, especially when it gets cold. LOL
*hugs*
Sunday, 17 April 2011
Orange FOOD Week Finale!
I mentioned in my last post on Orange FOOD Week that we'd be heading off to the final event, the FOOD Affair, on 17th April. We were a tad undecided at first, wondering whether it was worth travelling 2 hours to Orange just for a market style lunch, but upon seeing that the forecast for the Orange district was going to be sunny and 18C, compared to raining and 14C in the Mountains, I think you can guess what we decided to do!
Arriving just after midday, everything seemed to be in full swing already and the grounds were quite full of people enjoying the sunshine and fine food and wine.
You'll also be pleased to know that we made a conscious effort to take more photos of the yummy food this time!! So just a bit of a warning that this is going to be a very heavy photo post!
For starters, we had a mixed entree of sweet potato balls, vege balls, a spring roll and a curry puff:
Then an absolutely scrumptious Thai Lamb sausage with satay sauce:
An extremely tender and tasty sun-dried tomato pesto chicken kebab stick:
Followed by my favourite dish of the day, lamb casserole on potato mash:
A mini lamb burger with caramelised onion came next:
Then a really tasty pork and fennel roll:
All this was washed down with a fresh raspberry smoothie (since I couldn't have any of the wine *cry*):
We were pretty stuffed by this stage (despite sharing each "course"), and we hadn't even started on dessert!! Unfortunately, we couldn't fit much more in, so it was a toss up between gelato and a lovely looking poached fruit and pannacotta. The pannacotta won out:
After all that, we couldn't really move, so we sat in the shade and just took in the atmosphere. Here are more photos of the event.
A menu at one of the stalls:
Some of the fresh produce that was for sale:
Delicious looking cupcakes:
Wendy Harmer (comedian and media personality) made a surprise appearance to promote her new book and to entertain us with the funniest stories. She had us all cracking up and snorting whatever beverage of choice through our noses. LOL
And to finish off the event, the organisers had some apple and pear cake to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Orange FOOD Week:
All in all it was a fantastic day - great food, great weather, great entertainment and a great atmosphere. Being on my feet for two hours straight tired me out, but the exhaustion plus the really achy tummy (from eating waaaaay too much!) was all worth it. :D
If you're in the area, come join us for FOOD Week next year. We'll definitely be going again!
*hugs*
Arriving just after midday, everything seemed to be in full swing already and the grounds were quite full of people enjoying the sunshine and fine food and wine.
You'll also be pleased to know that we made a conscious effort to take more photos of the yummy food this time!! So just a bit of a warning that this is going to be a very heavy photo post!
For starters, we had a mixed entree of sweet potato balls, vege balls, a spring roll and a curry puff:
Then an absolutely scrumptious Thai Lamb sausage with satay sauce:
An extremely tender and tasty sun-dried tomato pesto chicken kebab stick:
Followed by my favourite dish of the day, lamb casserole on potato mash:
A mini lamb burger with caramelised onion came next:
Then a really tasty pork and fennel roll:
All this was washed down with a fresh raspberry smoothie (since I couldn't have any of the wine *cry*):
We were pretty stuffed by this stage (despite sharing each "course"), and we hadn't even started on dessert!! Unfortunately, we couldn't fit much more in, so it was a toss up between gelato and a lovely looking poached fruit and pannacotta. The pannacotta won out:
After all that, we couldn't really move, so we sat in the shade and just took in the atmosphere. Here are more photos of the event.
A menu at one of the stalls:
Some of the fresh produce that was for sale:
Delicious looking cupcakes:
Wendy Harmer (comedian and media personality) made a surprise appearance to promote her new book and to entertain us with the funniest stories. She had us all cracking up and snorting whatever beverage of choice through our noses. LOL
And to finish off the event, the organisers had some apple and pear cake to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Orange FOOD Week:
All in all it was a fantastic day - great food, great weather, great entertainment and a great atmosphere. Being on my feet for two hours straight tired me out, but the exhaustion plus the really achy tummy (from eating waaaaay too much!) was all worth it. :D
If you're in the area, come join us for FOOD Week next year. We'll definitely be going again!
*hugs*
Friday, 15 April 2011
You say tomay-to, I say tomaa-to!
Thanks to all those who commented on my post yesterday about Woolies. Apparently there seems to be some difference between the Woolworths stores in Australia and the rest of the world. In the back of my mind, I did know this, but should have realised that perhaps the rest of the world didn't and made it a bit clearer in my post.
Woolworths in Australia is a supermarket, where I get all my groceries (ie. foodstuffs), not a variety store as it appears to be in the UK and US. The variety store arm of Woolworths (as Alannah kindly pointed out) is called Big W here. Both are doing extremely well and there isn't much chance of either closing down all stores. In fact, I wish they would open a Big W around here, but that's a whole other issue!
So there you have it! It's cool that we all have our different country-specific stores, as well as the more well-known global chains. It keeps us all unique! :D
*hugs*
Woolworths in Australia is a supermarket, where I get all my groceries (ie. foodstuffs), not a variety store as it appears to be in the UK and US. The variety store arm of Woolworths (as Alannah kindly pointed out) is called Big W here. Both are doing extremely well and there isn't much chance of either closing down all stores. In fact, I wish they would open a Big W around here, but that's a whole other issue!
So there you have it! It's cool that we all have our different country-specific stores, as well as the more well-known global chains. It keeps us all unique! :D
*hugs*
Thursday, 14 April 2011
Thankful Thursdays
So without further ado, here's what I'm thankful for this week:
Okay, this may look a little strange - I'm thankful for Woolies?!? Well, yes! You see, today was the Grand Opening for Woolworths in my village and it has been long awaited. There is a Coles up the road in the next village (along with Aldi), but I've always preferred shopping at Woolies. Why? Well, I find the prices are (somewhat) cheaper than Coles and the store layout/experience is much nicer. Besides, they have self-checkout and I love that! LOL
It's not the biggest of Woolies, but it carries most of what I usually buy so I can't complain. Besides, it's all new and shiny and who doesn't like new and shiny?!? LOL
I'm also thankful for the freebies I got today, being Grand Opening day. A lovely single pink rose, a reuseable shopping bag and best of all, a pack of fresh hot cross buns! Mmmm...
So thanks (heh heh) for putting up with my waffle about Woolies, and yes, I probably do need to get a life! LOL
*hugs*
Credits: Just wanted to add a credit line for the Thankful Thursdays graphic. I adapted a label from Summertime digi kit by Crystal Wilkerson. Fonts are Wendy Medium and Heineken.
Monday, 11 April 2011
Sunday, 10 April 2011
FOOD Week in Orange
This weekend, we spent a night in Orange (about 2 hours west from home, 4 hours from Sydney) for the start of the Orange FOOD week.
It's a week of all things fine food and wine, celebrating the produce and food establishments of the local area, which is known as "The Food Basket" of NSW. There are lots of events organised by the local farms and wineries, restaurants and catering businesses. We missed it last year as we were still trying to settle in to our new home, but this year we were determined to go!
(Disclaimer: First and foremost, I am a foodie. This means that photography and subsequent scrapping of such foodie events is the last thing on my mind. So unfortunately, there won't be too many great photos or layouts resulting from this gastronomically delightful weekend away.
)
On Friday night, the celebrations kicked off with the Night Market. About 30 wineries, restaurants and other food suppliers and producers set up stalls in a park in the middle of Orange selling wine and fine foods. The atmosphere was awesome as there were heaps of people around all enjoying good food and wine.
A band was playing some great jazz music and songs which added to the fantastic atmosphere.
Naturally due to being pregnant I couldn't sample any of the wonderful wines on offer, so had to stick to just the food. :D We tried sweet potato balls, pork and cyder sausages with apple chutney, marinated lamb kebab, chicken & ginger pastry and for dessert, pear & apple pudding with hazelnut & caramel sauce (the only dish we actually remembered to photograph! LOL):
Just to whet your appetite, here's some pork pie and salad that we passed on, but it did look delicious!
The queues in front of each stall were pretty long, so we did miss out on a lot of dishes that had already sold out by the time we made our way around. Note for next year - split up and take on two queues instead of lining up together!!
We finished off the night with a coffee and a much needed sit-down before staggering back to the hotel with very full stomaches!
The next morning we got up early and headed off to the monthly farmers market, which just so happened to coincide with the FOOD week. :D Apologies, but we were so caught up with admiring (and purchasing!) all the lovely produce and goodies for sale that we completely forgot about taking photos! You'll just have to imagine the stalls selling such wonderful things as pure olive oils, homemade jams and chutneys, fresh fruits and vegetables and breads and local cheeses, honeys and hazelnuts. Mmmm...
On our way home, we stopped in Bathurst to have a leisurely lunch by the river with some of the goodies we bought. We then decided to take a walk along the river to try and burn off even a smidgen of what we had eaten, but that ended up being one of our "not very good ideas" as I walked further than I should have and ended up completely exhausted for the rest of the trip home and most of today!
In light of the enjoyable time I had though, I think it was worth it. :D
(We're hoping to attend the final picnic/market on the 17th too, so stay tuned! Hopefully we'll remember to take some decent photos! LOL)
*hugs*
It's a week of all things fine food and wine, celebrating the produce and food establishments of the local area, which is known as "The Food Basket" of NSW. There are lots of events organised by the local farms and wineries, restaurants and catering businesses. We missed it last year as we were still trying to settle in to our new home, but this year we were determined to go!
(Disclaimer: First and foremost, I am a foodie. This means that photography and subsequent scrapping of such foodie events is the last thing on my mind. So unfortunately, there won't be too many great photos or layouts resulting from this gastronomically delightful weekend away.
)On Friday night, the celebrations kicked off with the Night Market. About 30 wineries, restaurants and other food suppliers and producers set up stalls in a park in the middle of Orange selling wine and fine foods. The atmosphere was awesome as there were heaps of people around all enjoying good food and wine.
A band was playing some great jazz music and songs which added to the fantastic atmosphere.
Naturally due to being pregnant I couldn't sample any of the wonderful wines on offer, so had to stick to just the food. :D We tried sweet potato balls, pork and cyder sausages with apple chutney, marinated lamb kebab, chicken & ginger pastry and for dessert, pear & apple pudding with hazelnut & caramel sauce (the only dish we actually remembered to photograph! LOL):
Just to whet your appetite, here's some pork pie and salad that we passed on, but it did look delicious!
The queues in front of each stall were pretty long, so we did miss out on a lot of dishes that had already sold out by the time we made our way around. Note for next year - split up and take on two queues instead of lining up together!!
We finished off the night with a coffee and a much needed sit-down before staggering back to the hotel with very full stomaches!
The next morning we got up early and headed off to the monthly farmers market, which just so happened to coincide with the FOOD week. :D Apologies, but we were so caught up with admiring (and purchasing!) all the lovely produce and goodies for sale that we completely forgot about taking photos! You'll just have to imagine the stalls selling such wonderful things as pure olive oils, homemade jams and chutneys, fresh fruits and vegetables and breads and local cheeses, honeys and hazelnuts. Mmmm...
On our way home, we stopped in Bathurst to have a leisurely lunch by the river with some of the goodies we bought. We then decided to take a walk along the river to try and burn off even a smidgen of what we had eaten, but that ended up being one of our "not very good ideas" as I walked further than I should have and ended up completely exhausted for the rest of the trip home and most of today!
In light of the enjoyable time I had though, I think it was worth it. :D
(We're hoping to attend the final picnic/market on the 17th too, so stay tuned! Hopefully we'll remember to take some decent photos! LOL)
*hugs*
Saturday, 9 April 2011
Blogaversary Winner!
Whoops! This was supposed to have "gone live" yesterday at 9am!! Sorry everyone. I didn't realise Blogger hadn't done anything with the post until I got back today from being away.
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Just a quick post to let you know who won the goodies from my Blogaversary celebration.
Yay! Congratulations Fi! Please email me (click on the little red envelope icon on the side-bar --->) or send me a PM through UKS with your address and I'll get your goodies sent out pronto!
Thanks everyone for celebrating with me. :D
*hugs*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just a quick post to let you know who won the goodies from my Blogaversary celebration.
Yay! Congratulations Fi! Please email me (click on the little red envelope icon on the side-bar --->) or send me a PM through UKS with your address and I'll get your goodies sent out pronto!
Thanks everyone for celebrating with me. :D
*hugs*
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