Canberra visit and busy times!

Wow…busy times! Being dual citizens, we do have to have valid passports for both nationalities, so we figured we would go to Canberra and take care of one, one at the time!

So here we are, in Canberra, and with the passport formalities over and done with, just what is there to do in Canberra, especially if you like me, are here for the first time?

Canberra is the capital of Australia, so museums…..and more museums, and then the governing bodies and Capital Hill. This is all part of ACT, or Australian Capital Territory, Wiki link.

There are plenty of wineries and even microbreweries to visit.

We decided to do two wineries, Affleck was the first, Affleck, where we found a lovely rose made from Pinot noir grapes, 2016. Just lovely strawberry pink flavours, not sweet but still full bodied and lovely. So wonderful!

Tnen we went to a biodynamic winery Lark Hill Winery where we enjoyed a wine tasting and lunch! Wine….we tasted their Riesling (nice!), the Chardonnay 2015, Gruner Veltliner, and blend mr V. I also had the Sangiovese, Dh had the Sangiovese, the Pinot noir, the Cabernet Savignon reserve, and that was it.

Um…the white wines were very good, we were told that Lark hill was the first winery in Australia to have the Gruner Veltliner in 2009, with Hahndorf Hill Winery as no two in 2010. We ended up buying a bottle, just hate not driving and flying home, the Gruener veltliner was that nice. As to the Chardonnay….at 45 dollars, nah…it is good but as you know, Taylors in Auburn SA have the best variety and bang for the buck Chardonnay, and afull ten bucks less. Plus, this is the top of the line Chardy fromTaylors, Jaraman or Taylor’s estate are good as well, and can give this a run anyday. Glad we established that.

The lunch restaurant at Lark Hill…..just lovely. Good food and nice view and another go at the wines. Whites are good when you have some foods to stretch it further,  the reds can’t give the SA reds any competition at all. Bowen estate…your Cab sav is glorious.

Went back to Canberra and decided to give Bentspoke microbrewery a go. link

And they turn 3 on the 4th of June. Just wow on their IPA and double hopped IPA!

 

Food n wine etc in Canberra, the cafe by the visitors centre was pretty good. And we stayed at Peppers hotel with the very nice restaurant Bicicletta nearby. Pizzas and nice ITalian food, oh yum. For breakfast and just a fabulous time, food and fabulous service

this

just caps the globe by being wonderful. Oh ..repetition….because…..NICE. By the same token, just stay away from dinner at A Baker, the diners at the table next to us were grumpy and disappointed but as our cured meat entree was good, we soldered on to our mains, to be greeted by the toughest cooked mushroom ever. When Japnese mushrooms rival meat or rope in consistency…then it is bad. To our astonished eyes, the whole kitchen was in chaos and why would you have so many employees for the #of guests. None of my business, but then the mains must be quicker and better served with so many employees !!

It was so bad after A Baker that we went to Bicicletta and had a pizza to top up and remove the taste.  Yes it is us……it was that strange.

 

Tomorrow….we shall see. Mocan and green grout here we come! Their gravlax and avocado toast was yummy today. Reminds me a bit of Percy and Percy in Bendigo.  So this was mostly about food n wine inCanberra.

More…later.

Found vestiges of my old blog …link

Rssing found old blog

 

Hello again,

Oh gosh it felt weird to read all of that. We have come far since transplanting ourselves. And, it is ok, we are fine, enjoying ourselves here in Adelaide, one day at the time.

Tomorrow, there are plans…..Swedish tax, soap making, and cooking….I am thinking of doing a version of potato skins  and..hmm….fell upon this version of a Swedish dish Cabbage and mince instead of rolls, make it layers. Hmm. Wonder if I have enough home made stock. If not, there is the odd bag of kassler chop bones saved in the freezer plus one oxtail. Plus stock veggies, it is indeed the time of the year that celery root or celeriac makes its appearance again. Wonderful in stocks n gratins. So plenty of options for tomorrow’s cooking. See you then.

River; Stellan you rock!

Greetings,

Must say that it was a serendipitous accident, but we managed to watch the first episode of River with Stellan Skarsgard today. Wow, that was good.

Spoilers!

Seeing dead people is a concept that has been used again and again since a certain movie by Mr Night (Shyamalan), and the chilling whisper…I see dead people, will probably haunt me forever because it was so creepy, so well timed and then so unexpected. Quote by Haley Joel Osment in the movie Sixth Sense (but you knew that).

The dead people in Riverare more like manifests, and…what a quote by River:

I believe that all murderers are punished eventually, unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.

A quick web search says quote comes from Henry Fielding and his book Amelia, 1751. Just blew my mind! Can’t wait to see the next episode.

In other news, it is cold, leaves are turning, grey, rainy, and a bit dismal. And if they ever decide to film more Wallander, Stellan would make a superb Wallander, sorry Kenneth!

Our Japanese gas heater has been dusted off, new gas purchased, and I have been eyeing cowl patterns on Ravelry.  Need to find my Knitting mojo!

On wine…pretty quiet except we got a very nice offer from Rich Burge since we subscribe to his newsletter, his Iberian from 2009 for approx 10 a bottle. Nice light lingering flavour Mediterranean style of wine.  It is a blend with Grenache and Monastrell, Touriga and Souzao. Highly rcommended! Not that we are lacking in any way, but it is too nice an offer to pass up. Goes with almost anything Italian, is NOT a Barossa shout large flavoursome wine, but very nice in its own right. I like Rich Burge’s wines very much, and he is one of the few remaining small independant family growers and winemakers. Let’s support them!

And if anyone ever wondered what happened to photos, a new camera has been purchased and a lot of older cameras are now with new owners. Let us say there is a backlog 😎

Kassler cutlets from Angaston and asparagus plus….

Hey,

 

 

We (Dh and I),  just love visiting the Angaston Market for ..well….anything. Today, we just loved the Kassler cutlets, smoked, and wonderful for any recipe! Just wonderful stuff. Yes, repetitive, but broccoli to chillis, to pineapple will work.

As an accompaniement, we have been lately, very involved in fermented veggies. Which honestly can be a lot of different veggies, but kohlrabi is one of those wonderful veggies that works in most parts of the world, as does any kind of cabbage, onion, and garlic&ginger, +chilipepper. Just wow.

 

How to make you own?

 

link

Having that sip…wine from SA

Hey it is April and almost daylight savings time, (which is Sunday) !

 

But….there is nothing like having sips, or gulps, or even a larger schluuuuurp of the wines at home. Especially recent purchases!

 

Alphabox & Dice.

Wonderful tasting in McLaren Vale. But as with any winery, wouldn’t you be annoyed if the wine you tasted, the wine you bought and then tasted at home, were …….DIFFERENT? Vasty different? Yes, light years!

That beautiful Grenache, called Tarot. Well, we bought four bottles, and as you are a proper winery..sorry serious cellar door,  selling your merchandise, you want the tasting to align with what your customers buy from your cellar door. Spritz????

Sorry Alphabox and Dice, your Grenache called Tarot does not match the taste/tasting offered at your cellar door. Spritz. This says Wild Yeast to me….and I like Wild Yeast ……..BUT…..it is then YOUNG, InSTABLE, and….therefore inconsistent.

WTF? Not what I want in a wine that I paid AUD 30 or thereabouts. Geez!

Nice @cellardoor, inconsistent@purchase.

After this, we opened an Eldridge Malbec 2014. All that you want in a wine. Lee told me onceuponatime that this was often mistaken for a Shiraz, and I can easily see why. No spritz, just good taste. Anything you want in a good consistent full bodied wine, with High Quality, and nice Taste,  even if you are a Shiraz lover. Just do it…OK. 😍 Eldredge

Various eateries in North Adelaide

Greetings Dear People,

 

Hot humid Mad busy March. Nevertheless, we have been visiting a couple of restaurants. Despite living in a restaurant hot spot, we visited the Curious Squire in Nth Adelaide for the first time today.

Let me explain….we have walked past many times, and it is in a shady windy part of O’Connell street, so it was on a hot muggy day like today we felt like taking the plunge.

I had the Buffalo Wings with shoestring fries, Dh had the American pork ribs. Seeing an impressive American smoker on the premises, we had high expectations.

The wings were served with a special variety of Ranch dressing. And I loved them, they        were almost as good as the Buffalo wings and Blue Cheese Dressing at the Lobethal Bierhaus. But the American ribs”…….disappointing. LEt me put it this way, we have been to the US and especially Colorado where they take these kind of things seriously and no. Acceptable only, do not quite melt with tenderness, and please dear people at Curious Squire. membranes must be removed BEFORE grilling. Do not leave membranes on bones please.

Beer.. we had an APA, and then an IPA. Both ok, but not fabulous and too much taste of Brown Boring Beer for me. So, overall, ok, but not outstanding. Lobethal Bierhaus ticks the boxes of good local micro brewery, with good Buffalo wings/food, and nothing much in the way of Boring Brown.

To top it of at the Curious Squire, there was a magpie. Antagonised the boxes with napkins aggressively tryng to attack its reflection, and then it tried to mate with the stacked cutlery on each table, several times, climbing all over the stacked cutlery on the adjacent tables, several times, over and over. Enough to make you wipe down your cutlery several times before eating, and then wonder over the next guests and the hygiene. And when eating messy finger foods, a bowl 🍚 of water or sanitising serviettes are always appreciated and so are toothpicks. None of this was offered or present.

 

So….dinner…we made it to Jolley’s Boathouse. Wonderful food, nice staff, patient staff. They let us try a multitude of wines before we found a good one. Brr..not all can be blamed on a mere difference in opinion!

We had six entrees, no mains. All lovely, except for the pork belly. Intensely sweet (sugar) with various greens and Kim chee, and we were told that this is Korean food, hrm…..I saw lately that one ☝️ in five in Asia are in risk of or has diabetes, so small wonder. Disregard the pork belly and the Vietnamese Corander that tastes like. Burdock on steroids, the rest was lovely. Would go back in a heartbeat. Tomic Hill Chardonnay was lovely. We were told it was ‘oldstyle’ Chardonnay. I excersised a bit of my opinionated self and said that the socalled modern Chardonnays, which are as tongue curdling sour as a Clare valley Riesling, and contained almost as much oak as a peaty whiskey, and with no smoothness at all,well. are plain awful. And if that is called a modern Chardonnay, Rebecca Willson at Bremerton winery in Langhorne creek makes a lovely modern CHardonnay, without all that sour acid nonsense.  And Taylor’s St Andrews is superior, hands down.

Ok, think we made our point. Time for the rest of the weekend!

Merry Christmas!

Hello World!

Been a busy past six months since I posted, but here I am! We are both well, have been to a number of wineries and restaurants, and have really enjoyed Life. We bought a new 4WD vehicle, and have been on some trips exploring the new possibilities.

And this is a good opportunity since we are close to Stressmas to wish everyone Happy Holidays!

 

 

Lovely Deep Creek on a very very windy day!

 

 

 

More photos from SC Pannell

What a beautiful couple!

An ongoing project

 

 

Seaglass, a ‘free’ pattern on Ravelry. Ideal for handspun.

A project that was started to dispel the gloom an doom and horrible feelings created by Friday the 13th, November, 2015.

SwedishIngrid is not on Facebook

And is that a problem? Is that a shame?

 

A lot of people are on Facebook nowadays.

But it feels naked to me. I am a private person and whilst I have chosen to be online and share my Life since the 90s, one way or the other, Facebook does feel funny.

What do you think?