I seem to have somewhat of a biscuit or cookie obsession at the moment. So much so that I feel the need to declare it and then promptly apologise for it. I’ve always liked the occasional biscuit (and for my lovely American NQN readers, we called cookies biscuits but we call biscuits scones) but lately I’ve been getting into dangerous territory. A bakers version of glue sniffing perhaps - the utterly addictive world of royal icing. I blame Peggy Porschen, the woman that resurrected the iced cookie. That’s not to say I’m any good at decorating iced cookies - far from it in fact, but I do love the whole effect of it.
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My little black book is full. Not full of numbers from various men that I’ve met – I’m married after all, but full with restaurants and shops that I want to visit and notes that I take from visiting these places. There was one place that I was determined to visit and that had stayed asterisked for a while. I saw it on the lovely Ja’s blog Beansprouts cafe and her photos sealed the deal so to speak and that was why I had positioned an asterisk next to it.
I walk past and there’s a man at an outside table with an adorable dog and they’re bringing it a container of water. I walk in to meet Myriam who I’m hoping will love it as it’s said to be decorated in a French apartment Louis XIVth style (although I should have probably forethought that she might be able to spot the difference between the real thing and just an emulation of the style). It’s very dark inside, even though it’s day time and my first thought is “Oh the photos!”. Service is very friendly and they don’t mind that we’re taking ages to order, after all, we have some catching up to do.
No. 9 Decadent Eggs Benedict $15.50
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Trust me Dear Reader in that I have never sought to have a blog where everything is perfectly magical and done with ease and without any frustration. There are some dishes that are so fiddly to prepare and are simply not really worth it. And this thousand layered apple cake is one of them. I lost three hours of my life to this baby and I have to admit I’m slightly resentful of that fact.
It’s really my own fault. I’m one of those people that never reads manuals and a follow on from it is that I rarely pay attention to preparation times or cooking times. I prefer to read the steps and see whether it is achievable. However I should have done so particularly after I spent an hour and half peeling, coring, mandolining and placing these delicate little apple slices just so, and then another hour and a half cooking the cake. I didn’t do myself any favours by using small apples as I thought that the pattern would look prettier. All I could do once I started was dream of large apples and the time saving I’d have achieved with using them.
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When M, her boys and I took a walk after our little stint at Bondi FM Cafe we walked all the way up to Notts Avenue at Bondi Beach. For some this is where you go upstairs to Icebergs, the bar and restaurant or those eager for a swim can go downstairs to the Bondi Icebergs Swimming Pool. Someone had once told me that membership here cost a mint and so being a very incompetent swimmer, I never thought much more about it. Until that day when we go downstairs and have a stickybeak. For just a few dollars you can bathe and play in the famous Icebergs pool along with other Bondi bodies. We make a plan to go back that coming weekend now that we finally have some clement weather.
Somehow we manage upon a miracle park – one on Nott Avenue just outside the entrance and we walk in and pay for entry to the pool ($13 for a family 2 adults and up to 3 kids, $5 adults, $3 seniors and children). There’s so much to see here, from the two pools, one for laps and one for frolicking and then there’s the human scenery. Bronzed gods and goddesses with some refreshingly normal looking people all in a colourful variety of bikinis (and make no mistake, it’s all about the bikini here, no matter what end of the size scale you may sit on). There is a gymnasium, sauna and massage section which appears to be busy.
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I know I scared you there for a moment didn’ t I? Don’t worry Dear Reader, this hasn’t turned into a health and well being blog. Rest assured I followed this brunch up with a slice of bacon and a poached egg. This is more my softly, softly approach to health and fitness although I should divulge my lack of credentials for this task. I’ve never been hired in a professional capacity to offer fitness advice – my inherent laziness prevents me from doing this. Not so much a code of ethics but a code of incompetence.
Case in point: we recently went to Jenolan Caves in the Blue Mountains over the Christmas break and there were three different leves of cave tours from easy tracks to strenuous. I leaned over and whispered at the the woman behind the ticket counter:
“Umm look I’m able bodied but very lazy. Tell me honestly, which level would suit me?”.
She laughed – perhaps she has heard this before, and gestured at the crowd in the line behind me. There were pensioners, the middle aged and small children.
“I think you’ll be fine with the strenuous level dear” she said chuckling.
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