Here are some highlights from the trip:

• Under a Peppercorn Tree - We stayed at this super cute little B&B about 5 minutes out of the centre of town. Totally instagrammable.

Under A Peppercorn Tree

Under a Peppercorn Tree

Under a Peppercorn Tree

• Cafe re-Public & Eating Depot (26 Templeton St, Castlemaine VIC 3450) - We had dinner here on our first night, a casual restaurant in the old fire depot. I enjoyed my chicken schnitzel, mint and radicchio coleslaw and fries. They do breakfasts and lunches too! 

Cafe Re-Public & Eating Depot

Crumbed chicken schnitzel, mint and radicchio ‘slaw, fries - $26

• Johnny Baker (Rear 359 Barker St, Castlemaine VIC 3450) - This bakery churns out coffee, pastries, cakes, pies and more throughout the day, and have a drive-through retail shop. We came here for breakfast and whilst everything we tried was good, I can highly recommend the escargot!

Johnny Baker

Our breakfast at Johnny Baker!

• The Mill (1/9 Walker St, Castlemaine VIC 3450) - The site that was historically the Castlemaine Woollen Mill has been redeveloped into a culinary and vintage precinct, housing a beer brewer, coffee roastery and cafe, ice-creamery and a vintage bazaar. Def worth a visit.

The Mill, Castlemaine

• Das Kaffeehaus - Located within The Mill is the main reason I wanted to visit Castlemaine: Das Kaffeehaus, a Viennese-style coffee shop and cafe, with chandeliers, leather seats, and traditional Kaffeehaus fare. It was proper, taking me back to my youthful travels in Vienna! We loved it and came here twice. It's gonna get its own blogpost!

• Ice Cream Social - Again, located in The Mill (and with an ice-cream truck that visits the local markets, or even your own party if you're a total baller), these guys make delicious artisanal ice-cream and gelato. Special shout out for the gorgeous strawberry and basil! They even do a "tiny" $3 scoop, which just perrrrfect because I'm indecisive and like to try lots of different flavours.

Ice-Cream Social, at The Mill

Left: Peanut Butter Fudge; Right: Mango Coconut

Ice-Cream Social Truck

Strawberry and Basil

• Antiquing - I'm not usually the type of person for whom "antique" is a verb, but there are lots of antique shops in Castlemaine that are well worth a visit. We particularly enjoyed the Castlemaine Vintage Bazaar in The Mill, Restorer's Barn (129-133 Mostyn Street, Castlemaine VIC 3450)and the huge XXXX Antique Complex (1-5 Elizabeth St, Castlemaine VIC 3450).

The Castlemaine Bazaar, The Mill

The Restorer's Barn

The Restorer's Barn

• The Tender Chook (66 Hargraves St, Castlemaine VIC 3450) - Ok, so we had a big list of potential dinner places to visit on our second night, but we were so tired from being out and about all day that we decided to get takeaway and eat it in the B&B with a bottle of wine. The Tender Chook had great online reviews and the chicken and chips were delicious! Good choice - go us!

The Tender Chook

The Glamorous Life

• Farmers Market / Castlemaine Artist's Market - Our trip coincided with the first Sunday of the month, so we got to visit the Castlemaine Farmers Market and Artist's Market (both right next to each other). Lots of great stalls here! We bought heaps of fruits and vegetables to bring home with us. 

Cheryl's Chook Heaven

Coffee!

Coffee and chopped apple and currant donut - my breakfast!

Donut Disturb

Cakes at Peddling Pastry

Marinated Mushrooms

Vegetables

Zucchini

• The Little Red Apple (8795 Midland Hwy, Barkers Creek VIC 3451) - Castlemaine is close to Harcourt Apples (makers of the delicious juices and ciders), and they've got a great little roadside shop selling locally grown fruit and veg, and of course, their cider and apple juices. We stocked up on fresh vegetables and juice to bring home. (I didn't take any photos in the shop itself, but FYI this is what the Harcourt sparkling apple juice bottle looks like). 

Harcourt Sparkling Apple Juice (At Cafe Re-Public and Eating Depot)

Ok, so a big highlight of May was my dad's 70th birthday! The week before his birthday, we hosted a huge party at his house. Sandra and I did all the cooking, and there were over 40 guests! Exhausting, but so much fun!

Birthday cheesecake

FOOOOOOD

And for his birthday present, we shouted him and Mum a staycation in the city - a weekend at the Park Hyatt, with lunches, dinners, drinks and more, all included! They loved it! I'll blog about the party and the weekend in full, but for now enjoy this photo of the Park Hyatt foyer. That hotel has serious foyer game.

Park Hyatt foyer

Let's move onto our usual programming. Breakfasts. One weekday, the pancake craving was strong, so I got up early and made a batch of Megan Gordon's fabulous wholegrain pancakes. Totally worth the early start.

Pancakes!

Most mornings though, it was simpler fare - peanut butter granola with yogurt and fruit or açaí sorbet, oatmeal, and leftover wholegrain pancakes the day after the pancakes.

Yogurt, granola, oatmeal, pancakes

Since the avocado subscription is on a break right now, I don't do savoury breakfasts so often, but sometimes I did feel like something substantial - toast with cottage cheese or smoked salmon (and that romesco sauce!), and a properly filling breakfast of scrambled eggs, spinach and smoked salmon in a wholegrain wrap. (And just quietly - not pictured, sometimes I inhaled leftover cake or a peanut butter wrap at my desk when I had early morning meetings).

Savoury Breakfasts

Seeing as I've been so busy at work, the meal-prepping for lunch took a bit of a back seat, and I ate out a lot more frequently than usual. (Eek, last week I bought lunch every day!) Oh wells, at least I get some pretty pictures to share with you! Definitely back on the meal prep wagon now.

Clockwise from top left: Dainty Sichuan Express, Nando's, Pho Nom x 2, KFC

I also went and tried some new (for me) places! Fat Oma for the most amazing and spicy ayam belado, delicious Thai at Me Dee in the Paramount food court, Soi 38 for truly fabulous Thai boat noodles, Korean Fried Chicken at Nene, and bimbimbap at CJ Lunchbar.

Fat Oma (212 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000) Me Dee (2/108 Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000) Soi 38 (38 McIlwraith Place, Melbourne VIC 3000) Nene's fried chicken CJ Lunch Bar (393 Lt Lonsdale St, Melbourne VIC 3000)

Clockwise from top left: Mexican bean soup; Honey soy & buffalo wings; Lamb backstrap with marinated feta and roast veggies; Roast veggies with pork & roast brussels sprouts

Clockwise from top left: Beef stew with Spätzle; Beef stew with zoodles; Cheese platter; Spaghetti aglio olio

I did some great events / invites in May - let me know if any of these particularly interest you and I'll prioritise writing them up.

First up - a (repeat) visit to the North Melbourne Hotel (480 Victoria St, North Melbourne VIC 3051), to try out their new Autumn menu. I've visited once before, and liked it even more on this visit! Any place that garnishes a delicious salad with half a sliced avocado gets a tick from me.

Avocado and quinoa salad, candied walnuts, persian fetta and blackened corn - $15

There was also Piquancy (123 Auburn Rd, Hawthorn VIC 3122), a new Indian restaurant from the same owners as Babu-Ji in St Kilda. They're a slick-looking, modern restaurant, doing lots of familiar (and not so familiar) Indian dishes. I particularly liked the curries and naan, and would happily go back for dinner again. Hot tip: they've got lots of gluten-free options, including gluten free naan! (Slightly random: they also do a strawberries and Bailey's cocktail which didn't seem like it would be my type of thing, but was actually super delicious).

Piquancy

And speaking of modern Indian, I was also invited to visit Shompen (401 Rathdowne Street, Carlton VIC 3053). Chef Vikram is using traditionally Indian flavours in new and inventive ways. My friend Alaina and I were particularly impressed with the smoked silk chicken, which was incredibly tender, gently smoky, and had wonderful subtle spices throughout.

Smoked silk chicken - marinated in almond paste and spices - $15

And finally, there was "A Day on the Grove", down at the Cobram Estate olive grove in Boundary Bend. This was a special event they organised for a group of food bloggers - we were flown there in a private jet (!), given a personal tour of the olive groves and olive-oil producing facilities, and treated to a fabulous lunch featuring (you guessed it) lots of extra-virgin olive oil. Very educational and so much fun!

EVOO, yo

View of the groves from the top of an Olive Harvester

For my birthday, my friends Jenni and James got me tickets to a Good Beer Week event, The Craft of Lager Dinner at The Tippler & Co (58 Wellington Pde, East Melbourne VIC 3002). This was a six course meal, paired with six matching (full-sized) beers from Napoleone and Trumer Privatbrauerei. My favourite course was the dessert! A ridiculously decadent ginger and date pudding, with salted butter caramel and fried ice-cream. Served with a smoky Napoleone Rauchbier. (I've learned that this is on their normal menu, and not just a one-off for the event, so you can order it anytime!)

Ginger and date pudding, salted butter caramel, fried ice-cream

A few other sweet treats...

Il Melograno (76 High St, Northcote VIC, 3070). We came here to debrief over gelato after watching Get Out at the nearby Westgarth cinema. (OMG, so good, must watch). The coffee gelato was incredible! So rich and strong. Loved it. My friends had pistachio and salted macadamia, both also excellent.

Gelato at Il Melograno

Another day, I treated myself to croissants at LuxBite (38 Toorak Rd, South Yarra VIC 3141). You may remember I went to the launch of their viennoiserie range and loved it, and when I saw on Instagram that they were doing a special limited edition houjicha-cream-filled croissant, I needed it in my life!

Coffees, plain croissant, houjicha-filled croissant

One day, Sandra surprised me by baking an invisible apple cake! I'd seen it on Facebook, shared the link with her, and was planning to make it for her, but she beat me to it! The recipe is here. (It's in Japanese, scroll down to the comments for an English translation). Basically it's lots of apples, just held together with a tiny amount of batter and topped with crunchy almonds. So apple. Such yum.

Invisible Apple Cake

And finally, it was Sandra's birthday at the end of the month! Woohoo! The weekend before her birthday, she had some birthday drinks at Willows & Wine (315 Victoria St, West Melbourne VIC 3003). This is a new-ish wine bar that I love! (I'd visited once earlier in the month, with my friend Alaina, straight after dinner at the North Melbourne Hotel, actually). It's cosy and cute, and the lady who runs the place is excellent at wine recommendations.

Willows & Wine

The next morning, I made some cornflake-crusted French toast! So good - here's the recipe.

Cornflake French Toast

And on her actual (mid-week) birthday, all she wanted was a simple dinner at Hills BBQ (586 Station St, Box Hill VIC 3128), followed by her favourite chocolate cake - Nigella's dense chocolate loaf cake.

Hills BBQ deliciousness

Dense chocolate loaf cake