On Sydney Harbour Bridge

Sculpture by the Sea 2015

Hey guys! We're back with another instalment of things to do in Sydney! If you're into art and scenery, then you'll love Sculpture by the Sea, an annual sculpture exhibition that takes place along the Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk. The exhibition generally runs from late October to early November for around three weeks. This event is the largest sculpture exhibition worldwide, and features artists from all over the globe. What makes this experience so unique is that you get the chance to view the artworks within a gorgeous environmental landscape, which really adds a new dimension as opposed to visiting a traditional art gallery.

One of the most exciting parts of the event was the pop-up cafe by the Grounds of Alexandria, aptly named Grounds by the Sea. This year it was hobbit-themed, inspired by JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. The decor was reminiscent of the hobbit hole, and it even had a sign-post pointing down to Middle Earth! Annette opted for the ham and cheese toastie with pickles, which was tasty but definitely a bit too salty for her liking. Lillian decided to go with the beef burger, which was classic but slightly oily, however the sauce was tangy and balanced well with the cheese and beef. The smoothies were really pleasant and refreshing; Annette had the mango mulch, which was very fruity and not too sweet, while Lillian had the berried treasure which was similarly enjoyable. It was pretty expensive, but yunno, #YOLO. 

P.S. If you do decide to go to Sculpture by the Sea in the future, try to be a little better prepared than us, and don't leave it too late! We went on the last day, when the coastal walk was super packed and it was really hard to take good photos and enjoy the sculptures fully. But despite all of that, it was still a great experience and you should definitely consider it if you haven't been there already.

Bondi Beach

The Grounds of Alexandria

This week it was my mother's birthday, so we really wanted to go somewhere special. Tucked away in Alexandria, among tall industrial buildings and traffic-packed city streets, there is a surprisingly large paradise filled with food, flowers, and farmyard animals. The Grounds of Alexandria are ideal for a family day out, especially if you're after some gorgeous photo ops, a gourmet brunch, and some great deli supplies to take home. When I arrived with my family, we were all completely in awe of the beautiful gardens and the idyllic village atmosphere. If you're keen on Instagram, you'll love this hipster haven - everywhere you turn, there are a million heavenly pictures waiting to be taken. No filter required.

The Grounds of Alexandria features a beautiful florist shop, pastry carts, a cafe, a bar, a restaurant, a large deli by the name of Salt Meats Cheese (pretty self-explanatory), sustainable gardens, an atrium, and even, occasionally, markets that sell specialty arts and crafts, handmade jewellery and home wares. You could spend an entire day exploring the Grounds, and still have plenty left to do and see for the next visit.

If that's not enough for you, the Grounds experience comes complete with a petting zoo enclosure, where you can view some delightful animals such as fluffy chickens, goats, a pony, and a large pig who goes by the name 'Kevin Bacon'. Amazing, right? Personally, my favourite animal encounter was with a brown and white goat (pictured below, bottom left) who came right up to the wooden fence and rubbed up against my hand like an affectionate puppy. As you wander around the Grounds, you'll also meet Fluffy the parrot, who will regale you with a song if you're lucky.

Let's get onto the food. There were quite a few venue options available within the Grounds, including the Garden BBQ (which featured a limited menu with some affordable lunch options), the Potting Shed (which served some hearty mains for lunch and dinner), and the popular Cafe (which focused on brunch-style food, desserts, and a vast array of bread). We decided to go to the Cafe, which had a very enticing menu and very reasonable prices. After much deliberation over the menu, we decided to share three mains and a side: the grilled squid fattoush, the Grounds reuben, the crab bruschetta, and some polenta chips. 

Overall, the food was tasty and reliable, however it did not strike me as spectacular in its flavour or creativity. The squid was nicely grilled, and the toasted flatbread sticks added an interesting dimension to the fresh, tangy fattoush salad. The Grounds reuben was enjoyably saucy, however the flavour lacked complexity, and the chips were not as crunchy as I've had elsewhere. I quite liked the crab bruschetta; the crab meat was sweet and nicely seasoned, and paired perfectly with the creaminess of the smashed avocado on top of the crisp bruschetta. For me, the winner of the day was the polenta chips; they were fluffy, hot and flavoursome on the inside and perfectly crunchy and golden on the outside. 

We also took home a selection of six desserts from the Patisserie, as well as two loaves of crusty bread (Himalayan red rice & pigeon seed... delicious!). All of these were of a high standard, and we are definitely excited to go back and try more someday. On a final note, the Salt Meats Cheese deli is really worth exploring if you get the chance - there were so many things in there that I'd never seen before, including a large selection of flavoured salts, gorgeous flavoured pasta, a cheese room (my literal heaven), luxurious cured meats, and obscure brands of drinks and ice cream that look absolutely divine. If you're in Sydney, you should totally check out the Grounds of Alexandria, if not just for the food, then for the sheer joy of seeing something new and different. 

Balls Head Reserve

Easy Homemade Banana Ice Cream

Such easy. Much peasy.
This week was the beginning of my summer break, meaning that I've had a lot of time on my hands to try new things. One of my current crazes is looking at online recipes that are super simple and don't involve long shopping lists. You'd be surprised at how many delicious dishes you can create using less than five ingredients! Cakes, pies, pasta, and even- you guessed it- ice cream!! At the risk of making this whole blog about ice cream, I just had to share this with you. You can make a creamy, delicious banana ice cream using only one ingredient in its most basic form. All you really need are a few large, ripe bananas. 

Method 
(5 large bananas = 6-8 servings)

1. Cut the ripe bananas into thick slices.
2. Wrap the banana slices in cling-wrap, and place into the freezer for over 2 hours.
3. Take the banana slices out of the freezer and blend them in a food processor until smooth. Optional extra step: Add a couple tablespoons of another flavour according to your preference. For instance, I decided to add some coconut cream to enrich the creamy taste of the bananas. Other alternatives could include cocoa powder, coffee powder, peanut butter, salted caramel, berries, or Nutella (keeping in mind that the ripe bananas are already very sweet).
4. Blend on high speed for 30 more seconds to aerate and thicken the mixture.
5. Pour the mixture into a large container. Optional extra step: At this point, you may want to add some texture with crushed nuts, chocolate chips, or even small chunks of fruit and berries. I opted for walnuts. Stir through so that the texture is fairly even throughout.
6. Freeze the mixture overnight, then serve with optional toppings as desired. I chose to serve my banana ice cream with toasted desiccated coconut and hot chocolate sauce. 

What's great about this recipe is that even though it doesn't contain any fattening, unhealthy ingredients such as thick cream or even full-cream milk, the end result is still creamy and tasty. Although the texture is a bit icier than that of ordinary dairy-based ice cream, it is actually very enjoyable as a sorbet. The taste doesn't suffer from the lack of dairy products, and it's a great vegan alternative. I seriously recommend you to try it at home - it's such an easy, great dessert and you really can't go wrong! You can also experiment with your own flavours and give it a unique twist. Maybe try choc-nut banana popsicles, or blueberry-banana ice cream on waffles, or perhaps even peanut-butter-and-banana ice cream toasties! Don't be afraid to be daring, either - if veganism isn't your schtick, then I've heard bacon and banana are a weirdly wonderful combination. Let your creativity run wild, because the possibilities are endless. Hopefully you'll get as much fun and satisfaction from this recipe as I did this summer. :3 Enjoy!