distant summer memories...

So I finally got the disposable camera developed from Laneway Festival. What a great day! Sunshine, cider, Laura Marling, Taco Truck, hanging out with the lovely Anna, watching Subtract from the shoulders of a random boy in the crowd...

bits & bobs

ginger, cardamom & pomegranate syrup cake

Pomegranates are in season at the moment (2 for $2.50 at the markets!) and they are a fantastic crunchy addition to savoury or sweet dishes. They are also beautiful to look at! I think they look like little rubies.

Anyway, I saw this recipe in the latest donna hay magazine and knew it would be amazing! Elise and I taste tested it today and this was confirmed :)

ginger, cardamom & pomegranate syrup cake

1 cup (250ml) buttermilk *

2 eggs

1&1/3 cups (235g) dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses **

1/2 cup (175g) treacle (I used golden syrup)

100g butter, melted

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cardomom

3 cups (450g) plain flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of (baking) soda

2 pomegranates, seeds and juice removed and reserved ***

3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar

Preheat oven 160ºC. Place the buttermilk, eggs, brown sugar, molasses, treacle and melted butter in a bowl and whisk to combine. Add the ginger, cardamom, flour and bicarbonate of soda and whisk to combine. Pour into a lightly greased 24cm-round cake tin lined with non-stick baking paper. Bake for 1 hour or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Place the pomegranate juice and caster sugar in a bowl and mix to combine. Pour over the cake and allow to cool completely in the tin. Remove cake from tin and sprinkle with the pomegranate seeds to serve.

* To make buttermilk just add one tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of milk

** I bought this very cheaply from A1 bakery on Sydney Road in Brunswick. Middle Eastern supermarkets stock it, or you could probably getting it from a fancy pants deli for double the price.
*** Pomegrantates are messy, so don't wear good clothes...Roll them on the bench to loosen the seeds from the membrane. Then cut them in half and squeeze them into a bowl to release the seeds and juice.

easter break

Only a few more days till the Easter school holidays are over. I must say I have had a lovely break catching up with friends, reading books, playing with the dogs & swimming at the beach, but I also found enough time to finish crocheting my blanket! Well stage 1 at least...

You may remember that it started off looking like this over a year ago.

And now it looks like this!

It's a little of the small side, but at least I can use it to keep my feet warm while I keep on making granny squares to add to it!

I also got to see the puppies when I went home to Brisbane :) Toby has already doubled in size since I saw him last.

The last couple of days I've been hanging out with Elise and Adele, who was visiting from Brisbane, indulging ourselves in coffee, cocktails, good food and shopping!

We bought matching rings. How very high school of us...

p.s. thanks mum for helping me to finish the blanket!

the old switcheroo

http://sincerelyhana.com/

clothes swap

Sammie and I just hosted an afternoon tea & clothes swap at our place!

It was a great excuse to pull out all our clothes that didn't fit quite right, the necklaces we never wore and the dresses we kept just because...

I had lots of lovely items of clothes sitting in my wardrobe that I've always had trouble giving to lifeline but I was more than happy to see them go to a good home.

It was a big success! We all scored a few new things and I cleaned out three bags of clothing I'd been hoarding for years! All the left over bags of clothing went to charity :)

the pink flamingo

I've been in Brisvegas the last couple of weeks and finally got a chance to visit the flamingo cafe in the valley.

I'd read about this cafe ages ago. What appealed to me was the bold move it made to capture the alleyway vibe of Melbourne cafes but in a bright and colourful Brisbane way!

I also LOVED the retro decor. Where did they find this stuff?? A corn cob stool? Cabbage salt and pepper shakers? Amazing.

big tick for flamingo - 5 winn street fortitude valley QLD 

tamar valley

twenty & six

Melbourne...you are a pretty cool city. How is it that new and awesome cafes keep on popping up everywhere? How can I keep up with you!

The latest cafe I've found has only been open for a couple of weeks. Alexis took me there on Sunday and it is simply gorgeous and a quick 2 minute walk from my front door!

I haven't sampled their menu yet but the coffee is amazing (an offshoot of proud mary in collingwood).

What made me especially weak at the knees though was the gorgeous interior with accents of fluorescent turquoise including cup and saucers, hot pink spray painted twigs and a canary yellow freddie mercury against white washed walls with decals by Able & Game. Exposed light bulbs, great background music and small details like crumpled cup water glasses sealed the deal.

I'll be back to sample the food soon...

twenty & six expresso, 594 queensberry st, north melbourne

update: I've been back for food, the menu is small but it's pretty amazing. I had the hulk smash. Great name.

milkwood

It is dave's last weekend in melbourne :( so we decided that he needed to go out in style! We ended up at milkwood in brunswick east for a final melbourne brunch fling.

Milkwood's interior is simple and lovely with it's white washed walls, high ceilings and hanging plants. I loved the macrame plant hangers which reminded me of my mother for some weird reason but I'm not sure if we had any when I was growing up?

Coffee was good and my ricotta pancakes with coconut, banana & honey yoghurt were amazing!

Big tick for milkwood.

milkwood - 120 nicholson street east brunswick