Unblogged

The Unblogged Files: March 2014

4/03/2014 09:51:00 PM

Hi everybody! Time for my March Unblogged Files! You might have noticed it was a bit quiet around the blog in March, with only five posts... and that's because we went on holiday to Malaysia! It was a really relaxing, food-filled couple of weeks in Langkawi and Penang. (Blogposts to come, obviously). Normally here I'd stick a photo from the holiday - a beautiful beach view, for example, or a picture of one of the hotel pools... but seeing as two of my last three posts have been about hotels, I thought I'd mix it up a bit and show you a picture of all the food we brought back! I swear I didn't think it looked like that much in the suitcase!

Treats from Malaysia

If I had been more organised, I could have set up a series of draft posts to automatically publish while I was away, but eh, this is a personal food blog, not a magazine or newspaper with deadlines... and I think one of the nice things about having a blog is that you can post as infrequently (or frequently!) as you like. I also managed to attend a few events this month that I haven't blogged yet - if you see anything that interests you let me know and I'll try to blog it in full! Let's go.

At the start of March, I attended a complimentary bloggers High Tea at the Om Nom dessert bar in the newly revamped Adelphi Hotel (187 Flinders Lane, Melbourne 3000). The offering was a bit different from your traditional high tea (not a scone to be seen!), quite creative and unusual. Surprisingly, the savouries were impressive too - the foie gras macaron topped with chive-flecked cream cheese and figs, as well as the mushroom vol-au-vent, were standouts. (Anyone keen on a full blog post?)

The high tea tier

Sandra bought me a surprise MINION CUPCAKE! It's from The Cupcake Family, and I think was quite expensive, around $8. I'm not a fan of fondant icing, but the strawberry sponge cake underneath was very nice, and the cuteness of Minions is irresistible! (The matching phone cases are, ahem, my own).

Minion cupcake

We celebrated my parents' 37th wedding anniversary with dinner at Di Palma's (684-690 High Street, Kew 3101). Di Palma's is a solid suburban Italian restaurant that's fancy enough to feel a little special (tablecloths and slick interiors), but casual enough to be welcoming. The bruschetta, with a base of freshly baked pizza dough, was divine.

Dinner at Di Palma's

One day, I went on a team lunch (self funded!) with my workmates at an Israeli restaurant: Tavlin (678 Glen Huntly Road, Caulfield South 3162). It was fantastic - amazing dips, great grilled meats, fabulously fluffy baked flat bread, and the best felafels I've ever had. I seriously want to organise another lunch there soon!

Lunch at Tavlin

I met up with the lovely Helen from Grab Your Fork for drinks at Ferdydurke (31 Tattersalls Lane, Melbourne 3000. (And let me tell you, despite her being so nice, I felt a lot of pressure trying to pick a venue for her, haha!)

Drinks at Ferdydurke

Another month, another visit to Beatrix (688 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne 3051). This time we tried a peanut butter whoopie pie...

Peanut Butter Whoopie Pie

... and the smoothest vanilla cheesecake I've ever eaten!

Beatrix Vanilla Cheesecake

My Aunty Rosie from Penang was visiting, so we took her to Burch and Purchese (647 Chapel Street, South Yarra 3141) for some sweet treats.

Burch and Purchese DELICIOUSNESS

And then we made a giant roast rib of beef for dinner. Yum.

Beef Rib (before roasting)

This isn't food-related, but it is blog-related - I finally bought a new laptop! My previous one was really slow and actually losing keys, haha. It's a 13 inch MacBook Air - yup, I'm officially an Apple person now. (And having used PCs all my life, I'm struggling like a total grandma). Oh well, I'll get the hang of it soon! And I love how light and fast it is!

New baby

I attended a complimentary media dinner at Cecconi's (61 Flinders Lane, Melbourne 3000), which I was very excited about as I remember loving Cecconi's back when it was in Crown. (Our last visit to Cecconi's was - eep - nine years ago!) Funnily enough, I had been thinking about going there for my birthday this year so I was doubly thrilled to get the invitation so I could test it out before deciding whether or not to make a booking. (Spoiler alert: it was awesome, so I'll be going for my birthday dinner - yay!) Here's a very generously garnished truffle risotto. Mmm...

Risotto, freshly shaved black truffle, parmesan, truffle oil

I made a roast pork leg for dinner one night. It's been ages since I made a roast! Crackling!!! The whole flat smelled like pork for the next day, but it was totally worth it.

Roast pork leg

Finally, we enjoyed a super-delicious BBQ lunch at Mr and Mrs Food Trail's place, with yummy chilli and cheddar corn...

Chilli and Cheddar Corn

... pork brisket and pulled beef buns...

Pork brisket and pulled beef buns

 .... and a crazy good chocolate buttermilk cake with crushed peanuts. Wow! Thank-you guys so much for the fantastic lunch!

Chocolate Buttermilk Cake with chocolate ganache and crushed peanuts

Oh what the hell, here's a photo from my holiday. (I couldn't help it!) Here's the view from a private beach in Langkawi we hired for the day. (For realsies!)

Private Island in Langkawi

And that was March! April will be a big month... it's my birthday! Can't wait!

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4 comments

  1. I think I'm going to live at Beatrix when I return. No, seriously. It's not like I have a place of my own there anymore, so I'm totally going to blow up an airbed in their kitchen.

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  2. You have the best life, Sarah! Just filled with loads of good food and great people. What else could anyone ask for =)

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  3. Awesome unblogged files - welcome to Apple land as well! I have an Air as well and love it - mine is still going strong 5 years after I bought it so hopefully yours has the same longevity.

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  4. Bahaha was just reading along casually when - wait, she's talking about me!. lolol. Thanks so much for catching up. So glad we finally got to hang out irl! And haha my suitcase looks the same after every trip too - 30% clothes and 70% food souvenirs!

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