Life back to normal

Was it only a week ago that we entertained guests for Philips birthday?  Seems like forever ago. We finished off on a high note with a drive to Port Douglas with our friends Lynn and Graham to dine at Sassi La Cucina on Macrossan Street in Port.  We had been here some time ago and were disappointed in our meal but we were interested to return with new owners and chef.  

We weren't disappointed.  The menu has retained its Italian influence using fresh Australian seafood. Think Hervey Bay Scallops and Smoky Bay Oysters. My entree choice of grilled fresh prawns on a papaya and watermelon salad with cucumber was perfect for a first course.  Other choices around the table were the Burratta Caprese Salad, Beef Carpaccio and Oysters Natural with finger lime.  Everyone enjoyed their respective choices.

Our waitress was very friendly and Graham had a wonderful time bantering with her.  It just added to the already great atmosphere inside the restaurant.  Our beverages were all chilled to perfection on this very hot and humid day, thank goodness, because even though the restaurant was air-conditioned the humidity was just too high for it to cope successfully.

It took just the right amount of time for our second course to arrive.  Lynn and I chose to share our dish as we knew it was going to be large.  It was called Zupa de Pesce and it was a selection of the best, freshest seafood including fish, prawns, bugs, baby octopus, calamari, mussels and clams cooked in white wine and fish stock with a touch of tomato, herbs and lemon. The seafood was perfectly cooked that we all know is not easy with so many varieties of seafood.  Everything has to be added at just the right time so that nothing is overcooked.

We were tossing up whether to order dessert but the Panacotta was calling Philip and my name.  Lynn declined dessert and Graham ordered the Tiramisu.  Once again, the desserts were spectacular and just as they should be. We all know how much a  little sweetness on the palate completes an enjoyable meal.

So that's a little roundup of our week.  How has your week been?  No covid I hope.

Judi x

Philips 66th Birthday

On the 22nd January 1956 the love of my life was born. His entrance into this world was quite noteworthy as his delivery was by Dr Lady Phyllis Cilento, a pioneering great in the medical world and also the mother of the actress, the late Diane Cilento.

Philip wanted to keep his birthday low key but I had other thoughts on that.  Let's face it, we don't know how many birthdays we will be able to celebrate! I had found a company called Amazing Co who put together Mystery Picnics were you are given a bunch of clues to solve. The solved clues were places where you picked up food to add to your picnic "hamper".  It sounded like a lot of fun.

I invited ten of our bestie friends to join us for this adventure.  Some of our guests drove quite some distance and the first of the couples arrived on Thursday then another couple on Friday.  The other four lived locally. I asked that everybody meet at the Pier Carpark in the centre of Cairns at 10.30 on Saturday to solve our first clue.  The forecast for the day was scattered showers.  I was a little disappointed to wake to this forecast but as it turned it we were very thankful for the overcast conditions.

Our first clue was quickly solved by my very clever friends and we made our way to Mooz Gelato and Juice Bar where we were given a menu to chose our own juices.  They were delicious, healthy and very refreshing.  While drinking our juices we solved our next clue that took us to Pantry 15 on Grafton Street.

Mooz Gelato and Juice Bar

At Pantry 15 the rain really pelted down so we were grateful to sit and wait while the chef prepared our hamper addition that was an Indian Cauliflower and Tofu dish with Pappadum's as a side. This was a hot dish and in hindsight it would have been better to have this clue at the end rather than the beginning as it was difficult to keep hot. 

Our next clue was a little harder to solve. The clue was that it was an anagram and the two words we were given were OVERPAID ROOMER. We had to google what an anagram was 😊. The last word was Italian for "love". The answer was Provodore Amore! I still don't get it.......

It was around a kilometre walk to Provodore Amore and the rain did not let up.  Fortunately we all had umbrellas but our shoes were all soaked as the gutters we crossed at each intersection were flooded!  At our destination we picked up two huge boxes full of antipasto ingredients as well as the wine that I had pre-ordered.  We found a coffee shop next to our stop and all sat down, ordered coffee and set to work on our next clue.  This time it was a wheel of fortune where we had to fill in the missing letters.  It was not too difficult to work it that it was Victors Gourmet Delicatessen.  A quick google search and we were disheartened to see that it was around a 1.5km walk to this destination and also that they were closing in 20 minutes.  I decided that it was easier to leave everyone to enjoy their coffee while I made the dash to this place.  My dear friend Karen decided to join me.  

I rang the establishment and told them that I was on my way and please to hold their closing until I picked up the picnic hamper addition.  Karen and I walked very fast but didn't seem to be getting any closer.  At one of the traffic lights while waiting for the walk sign I spotted a taxi waiting at the red light.  I asked if he was free and he was!  We jumped in and headed to Victors that was only 200 metres from where we were. The taxi waited as I quickly ran inside to collect our goodies - Chocolate Dipped Almond Bread and two varieties of Halva - and then he drove us back to the coffee shop where everyone was waiting.The taxi was the best $10 I had ever spent!

As soon as Karen & I arrived back we solved our final clue that was also our final destination.  This tested everyones spelling ability but the answer was Esplanade BBQ Sea Eagle. So off we set again, still in the pouring rain, to find our picnic table.  When we reached the Esplanade we realised that our designated destination was the opposite direction to where our vehicles were parked so we made the unanimous decision to walk back towards the car and look for an available undercover table.  This was harder than it looked but we eventually found one.  It was still raining but had eased slightly so it was quite comfortable to be finally able to sit after our long walk.

As we laid out all our collected food items we were quite pleased with the quantity and quality.  We were all a little dubious about the Cauliflower/Tofu curry but it turned out to be the crowd favourite. We opened the wine and those that brought beer enjoyed them.  

Our final picnic destination

We all agreed that it was a lot of fun and we were very grateful for the rain because if it had been hot and humid as it had been for the past few days, it would have been very uncomfortable. We probably walked around 4-5 kms but as we chatted all the way it didn't seem far at all.  I will however tell the company that it would have been much better to walk in a circle to solve the clues and return to your original destination.

After lunch we made our way back to our place at Palm Cove for Birthday Cake and of course the "happy birthday" rendition. It was lovely to have our friends join us for this special occasion and I hope that together we can enjoy many more.

Happy New Year

New Year.......New Beginnings.  This is my motto for each and every new year.  I don't make any resolutions anymore as they just seem to slip by the wayside.  I will continue to live a healthy and happy life because I firmly believe that you can't have one without the other.

So, how did we bring in the New Year?  With friends of course.  Friends who have played a big part in our lives for a very long time and we are very lucky to have them in our lives.  We hosted New Years Eve at our apartment where we had the perfect spot for people watching and also a birds eye view of the fireworks at 8.30 pm. Well it would have been a great view if the scaffolding on the new development beside us didn't block our view 😩. Next year it will all be gone!  

Everyone arrived around 5.30 pm and we enjoyed drinks and nibbles until 7.00 pm when we sat down for our main meal.  

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The Menu.
(I didn't end up cooking the sausages as our friends brought along a lovely chicken selection).

I tried to make it as simple as possible but still seemed to spend quite a bit of time in the kitchen. I was trying out the Air Fryer for three of my plates and in hindsight it would have been better to use the bbq for the Rack of Lamb.  The Air Fryer seems to work best of all for vegetables as the hasselback potatoes browned and cooked beautifully.  Jane made the Basque Cheesecake and it was very creamy and delicious served alongside a berry coulis.  The PP treats were sweets that were included in our Pumphouse Point Christmas hamper. They are soooooo sweet!

The rain tumbled down just as the fireworks started and our friends that wandered over to the beach for a vantage point view came back drenched!  We are so lucky that the rain in the tropics is never cold rain and it is what I love most about living in the tropics.  I love those heavy downpours.

Most of our guests were well and truly tucked up in their beds before midnight but Philip and I decided to sit up and see in the new year.  We were very wired after our guests left so sleep would have been impossible.  I didn't have any alcoholic drinks on New Years Eve even though I had given myself permission to do so.  I just didn't feel like it 👊👊👊 

So what are we looking forward to in 2022.  For a start it would be nice to see Covid19 downgraded from pandemic to epidemic.  I think that will happen.  In the meantime we will get all the booster vaccines that our esteemed medical teams recommend and then hopefully by Easter we will be on the road for the rest of 2022.  Fingers crossed.

Take care in whatever you do,

Judi xx

PS

My sister sent me this lovely photo of my mum (aged 84) and her youngest great grandchild - Douglas.