Gee it's been busy....

Self inflicted busy of course. We just can't seem to stay home for too long.  But having said that, it's been a great time to catch up with friends that we haven't seen in quite awhile. But before I get into that I want to tell you about the Paint Pouring Class that myself and three friends went to in Port Douglas a couple of weeks ago.  I had read quite a bit about this form of art and my friend Roz posts a lot of photos on her blog of her fantastic artwork.  It is right up my alley.
The class goes for about two hours and was hosted by Cheryl.  I have to say that when I first saw Cheryl with her long dreadlocks and her very 70's style I did wonder what we would be in for, in a good way. I knew straight away that it was going to be fun and fun it was!
Paint Pouring is simply mixing five different colour paints into plastic cups and then turning them upside down onto a canvas.  After leaving your cups upside down for a little while you then remove the cups and watch the magic happen.  The paint oozes around your canvas into amazing patterns.  You can manipulate the paint by moving your canvas around but to be honest I did very little of that because I liked the immediate result.
All four paint pouring masterpieces were so very different with each of us using different colour palettes but all four were amazing.  We all loved it and hopefully we will get together again to create more magic.

A few days after the class, Philip and I jumped in the car and made our way to Townsville to catch up with forever friends Kevin and Karen and Alvie and Ronwyn. We arrived at K & K's house on the Strand and straight away settled into conversation that just seemed to pick up where we last left off.  Isn't it great to have friends who you don't see for months and still have that great rapport.  We stayed the night at K & K's place and the next morning we drove to Annandale to see A & R.  Here is another couple who's company we enjoy immensely.  Unfortunately we didn't have nearly enough time with them but we are looking forward to a visit from them in the very near future.

Last weekend we went to this years last Chefs in Paradise dinner with our PNG friends.  We think it was probably the best dinner from the series but really they were all truly great meals. I really hope Chef Spencer Patrick has them again next year but I guess it is a lot to organise.

For this last dinner we were served amazing food by Chefs Massimo Mele and Andrea Ravezzani.  As both chefs are Italian that was definitely the theme for the dinner.  The degustation menu was complemented with wines from Fraser Gallop Estate.  I'm not really a lover of Margaret River wines (nor New Zealand) with their distinctive flavour but I think that I may have to change my mind as these wines complemented the meal perfectly and I will now look for the Fraser Gallop Estate wines when I make my next purchase.

We were once again treated to four different appetisers served with bubbles followed by four courses.  Every single morsel of every single course was a taste sensation.  I heard some people mildly say that the Tortellini was not cooked enough.  Personally I love pasta that is cooked al dente (to the bite) and found it sensational but I think Aussies like pasta to be cooked slightly longer.

We stayed the night at the Sheraton and enjoyed breakfast with our friends the next morning before heading our separate ways.  I just want to give a shout out to the Sheraton for the wonderful way they treat return clients. We have stayed there four times this year for the Chefs in Paradise dinners and each time we have been given a special "locals" rate that includes breakfast.  On this last stay we were given an upgraded room and a bottle of bubbles was delivered to our room with a note saying how much they appreciated our return visit.  How good is that!

Well folks, that's a wrap for this week.  Take care.

xx Judi

October already.....

Where does the time go?  Too fast for my liking!  I really do try hard to blog once a week but so much seems to get in the way lately.  I really must set my priorities.
So what have we been up to in the past couple of weeks.
Last Friday we joined our friends for Reef Feast Longest Lunch at the very picturesque Palm Cove.  Chefs Justine Schofield from Everyday Gourmet and Nick Hollaway, owner of Nu Nu Restaurant treated us to a menu packed with delicious and diverse courses all encompassing local produce of which we in the tropics are so lucky to have a great variety of.

The lunch is usually set up outside on the beachfront but unfortunately the wind and rain meant that the tables had to be quickly moved inside Nu Nu Restaurant.  It didn't make any difference to the atmosphere though. It was very cheerful made more so by the numerous glasses of bubbles that were consumed. I was looking forward to seeing Justine and how amazing was it that she talked to every single person at the lunch and didn't mind having her photo taken hundreds of times.  What a bright and bubbly lady she is!  What you see on TV is what you get with Justine.

We stayed the night in Palm Cove with our friends.  I can't wait for the day when we are living in Port Douglas and we can have them stay with us for various functions in Port.  We will all have the best of both worlds!
I have been busy preserving the copious amount of tomatoes that we have grown this year.  We ended up pulling out three cherry tomato plants but still have three more producing. So far I have made big batches of Tomato Relish, Pickled Tomatoes, Sun Dried Tomatoes and Pasatta.  Every morning we have been throwing cherry tomatoes in the frypan with our bacon and eggs that are just so delicious!  And still they grow!

The spinach is almost finished but I have come up with some ingenious ways of using it.  This "Gozleme Lasagne" was enhanced with the addition of spinach...

I have harvested all the carrots and some of the daikon radish so I have been thinking of ways to use them.  I made a Japanese Coleslaw for lunch through the week that was simply grated carrot, Daikon and sliced cabbage dressed with a mixture of Rice Wine Vinegar and sugar.  I then added sliced capsicum and toasted sesame seeds and tossed lightly.  I served this alongside some crumbed steak and it was both delicious and healthy.

I have just finished reading the book "You'd better put some Ice on that", which is what Bill Clinton said to Juanita Broaddrick after he raped her.

The book is Juanita's autobiography and as she says she didn't want to make it all about the rape because she also had a very interesting life until the Clinton's - both Bill and Hilary- changed her life forever.  In her book, Juanita briefly touches on Whitewater....the scandal that surrounded the Clintons in a real estate deal.  It's worth having a look at this timeline written by the Washington Post.  All I can say is thank goodness the world was spared from having Hilary Clinton as President.

Well folks, that's a wrap for this week.  After all the climate change alarmists taking front and centre stage this past few weeks this is what I say...