Sydney Food Bloggers Spring Picnic 2010

For a long time I had hoped to meet some of my fellow food bloggers. It's great to read one another's posts and leave comments, but I have often wondered who it was sitting behind the other computer, and what would it be like meeting them face to face?!

On Saturday myself and around 40 other Sydney food bloggers converged on a small pocket of Centennial Park for a 'mad hatter' themed Spring picnic. Many of the bloggers knew each other already, and many such as myself did not. But everyone was so friendly and happy to meet fellow bloggers that it didn't matter one bit.

I was grateful that the event was themed because it made the group so much easier to find - I simply had to look out for some mad hatters with awesome food!

Tammi wore a fantastic handmade, Gaga inspired hat (which I can't believe I don't have a photo of!).. needless to say it won hat of the day :)

The picnic was organised by Billy and Karen (thank you!, and was sponsored by a range of generous sponsors including Nuffnang Australia (thank you!). There were some fantastic prizes to be won, including a prize for the best blue dish (yes blue!) and a Kitchen Aid for the best dish overall.

With an unmistakable passion for food in common, it's fair to say that there was a lot of food at the event. There were scrumptious savouries and a very big spread of seductive sweets. I opted for a sweet option for my dish to bring along on the day, and I created this food bloggers picnic cake for the occasion.

 

It was a chocolate mud cake with three layers of chocolate ganache and salted caramel, decorated with fondant. It seemed only appropriate that the top of the cake be a picnic seen fit for food bloggers, complete with a laptop, digital SLR camera (I <3 my Canon :P) and an array of treats including... cake, macarons, grapes, sandwiches, watermelon and a hamburger. The cake was very well received by my new food blogging friends, and I was also awarded Best Sweet Dish of the day for my cake, winning me a beautiful dinner for two at Alio Restaurant! Hurray! :)

We ate, we talked about food and blogging, we ate, we laughed... and then we ate some more! Rather than boring you all to death with a written round up, let me simply tell the story with pictures... Believe it or not - this is only a small selection of the food on the day!

There's plenty more to come from the picnic, so keep reading :)

Breakfast on the Bridge, Sydney

It's 4:30am on a Sunday morning and I'm awake. I may be bleary eyed and fighting my body's desire for sleep, but I am as excited as a 4 year old on Christmas morning as I jump out of bed and declare, "Let's do this!" 'This' refers to 'Mission B.o.B', what Mr Ladybird and I have code named the event Breakfast on the Bridge, and we have planned for this moment with military precision.

Today was the second annual Breakfast on the Bridge as part of Crave Sydney International Food Festival. Normally a very busy freeway connecting the northern and southern parts of Sydney, the Sydney Harbour Bridge is closed for this event and converted into one extraordinary picnic spot! Mr Ladybird and I were two of around 6000 very lucky people fortunate enough to get golden tickets to this event. Tickets were allotted by ballot, thousands entered for a chance to picnic on this great Australian icon.

By 5:20am, we're dressed and ready to go, and we make our way to the train station under the cover of darkness. We arrive at Milson's Point by 6am and are greeted by friendly volunteers. We join the queue awaiting the opening of the bridge at 6:30am. There's entertainment for everyone waiting  including comedic acts, characters on stilts and live music. The mood is upbeat, and in no time at all the queue starts moving forward.

We make our way around the corner of Alfred Street and there she is, the beautiful bridge is in sight!

There are also coffee carts lined up to the left of the freeway for picnic goers to grab a coffee before going through the gates. Never before have I been so glad to have a morning coffee - some call it an addictive substance, I call it the elixir of life!

At this point the weather is a bit overcast but seems to be holding up, and the sun is starting to peak through the clouds as if to greet us all as we make our way onto the bridge. Then suddenly we see green - I can't believe it - they've turfed the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the middle of the night! And yes, it's real grass! I later learn from speaking directly to the NSW Premier that the grass is to be recycled by the Wentworth Council after the event to turf a park - now that's what I call green event management :P

There's plenty more to come - so keep reading :)

Tulip Time 2010

I absolutely love tulips, and until very recently I had never seen them growing in the ground. Ever since Mr Ladybird and I moved to Sydney around 2 years ago, I had heard about Bowarl Tulip Time but we had never got around to visiting the Southern Highlands. This year though, we pencilled the event into our diaries nice and early and we made a weekend of it.

It was absolutely wonderful, and I look forward to sharing some of the highlights with you over the next week or so. But of course, first I must share with you some more pitctures of the beautiful display of tulips at Corbett Gardens in Bowral.

Following our stroll through the gardens, we made our way to the market behind Corbett Gardens where we had some lunch and checked out the stalls showcasing local food and wines.

Some of my favourite food that I sampled came from two prominent berry farms in the Southern Highlands. From Montrose Berry Farm we try their award winning raspberry jam and I'm sold - it intensely flavoursome and not too sweet, so I snap up a jar for home.

At the Cuttaway Creek Raspberry Farm stall I meet Nicki who tells me about their farm and gives me a sample of their multi-award winning raspberry wine vinegar. It absolutely blows me away, and it's no surprise that Justin North speaks highly of this product. I have to have it, and the last tart for sale also looks gorgeous, so I take it too :)

We move onto the wines, and I am very impressed by the Southern Highlands wines on offer. It is as this point we decide we just can't leave the highlands without visiting at least one vineyard, but I'll tell you more about that in posts to come!

We sample some gorgeous white wines from the region, and our favourites of the day are the Eling Forest 2009 Verdhelo and the Tertini 2009 Arneis.

Tulip Time is still on everyone, so there's no better time to head to the Southern Highlands, only 1.5 hours south of Sydney! The weather's perfect for it at the moment, so if you want to get out of Sydney this long weekend I'd definitely recommend checking out the region :)

Tulip Time

21 September - 4 October 2010
Entry $8 for adults, $5 concession

http://www.southern-highlands.com.au/tulip-time

Ladybird x

30 Days of Fashion: a behind the scenes exlcusive

On Wednesday, September 22nd, I had the privilege of being the one and only food blogger selected to attend World Square's exclusive Spring / Summer fashion event, hosted by Shop Til You Drop and MC Nikki Phillips. The event was officially part of 30 Days of Fashion & Beauty.

Guests enjoyed drinks and canapés courtesy of Din Tai Fung, the internationally-renowned restaurant exclusive to World Square. Din Tai Fung catered the event, putting together 6000 canapés in three hours. The restaurant was also open for normal business, leaving the chefs rather busy in the kitchen all night!

But well before all the guests arrived, I was granted access to the Din Tai Fung kitchen to check out the preparations for the night. Here are some photos of the chefs at work, busily preparing hundreds thousands of dumplings to feed the hungry masses. I was amazed to learn that preparation had only commenced 2 hours prior to the event!

After the preparations guests in the VIP area enjoyed drinks and dumplings.

Man, those dumplings went fast! There was frenzied descent on the waitresses bearing the canapes, it was quite a sight to behold! It was quite crazy, so hence the blurry pictures!

Of the one or two dumplings I managed to try, they were very nice. This green vegetable one was delicious, and I especiallly liked it along with the soy sauce with ginger.

There was also live entertainment for the public at World Square from DJ Danny Clayton, followed by two fashion parades featuring both men’s and women’s fashion.

To find out more about 30 Days of Fashion, head to their website.

Ladybird x

Table of Plenty event, July 28

On Wednesday, July 28 I had the fortune of being able to get some time off work to attend a Moroccan feast hosted by Mark Communications at Souk in the City in Surry Hills, a beautiful and fitting venue for such an occasion. The feast was held in honour of Table of Plenty and their dukkha products, with dukkha used in every course (including dessert!).

Table of Plenty are a 100% Australian owned company and their range of creative spices, breads and mueslis are made in Australia. I also had the pleasure of meeting Table of Plenty founder, Kate Weiss, who shared her touching and inspirational story of how she founded the company. To read about her story, click here.

Upon arrival we mingled over pomegranate cocktails, were entertained by a belly dancer, and also received henna tattoos.

Admittedly, I have never really used dukkha in my cooking, so I was keen to learn about how to use it by watching the cooking demonstration by the charming Omar of Souk in the City. The aromas from the demonstration were amazing, and we couldn't wait to tuck into our feast.

And how could I possibly blog about the feast without sharing the menu with you?! Fortunately there were some vegetarian options for me, but I think the other guests left a little more well-fed than I did. Then again, it's hard to cater for everyone.. I would be keen to retun to Souk in the City for dinner some time to try their food again.

Entree

Pistachio Dukkha crusted prawns with sour tomato, mint & preserved lemon mayonnaise.

Almond Dukkha Lamb Brochettes, with smoked eggplant and pistachio & argan oil.

Grilled haloumi, poached sweet and sour figs, sherry, vinegar, rocket & Macadamia Dukkha.

Mains

Corn fed chicken Tajine, cooked with saffron, preserved olives & crispy Dukkha potatoes.

Moorish lamb meat balls with rich tomato chermoula, crispy carrots, coriander & tomato chechouka

Vegetarian cous cous, steamed in a couscoussier with glazed chickpeas & glazed Moroccan spiced vegetables.

On the Table

Saffron rice

Fluffy steamed cous cous with raisins & almonds

Dessert

Moroccan dessert tasting platter with Dukkha ice cream

Some pictures of the food enjoyed at the feast...

After attending such a wonderful feast I realised that dukkha is more than something to serve alongside bread and olive oil at the start of a meal. Its uses are so diverse, and it is a healthy and easy way to add flavour to dishes. As I type this, I am enjoying a piece of toast with avocado, persian fetta and almond dukkha - yum!

For more information about Table of Plenty, their products and stockists, check out their website.

Ladybird x