Lobster lunch *****

The Canberra Day long weekend means it is time for our much anticipated annual lobster lunch at the L. family's beach house at gorgeous Rosedale.

We've been doing this for many years now and love to follow the same customs each year. The first bottle of Majella is opened at midday and we all know the fun is about to begin. Jennie says it is like travelling to a different place on Earth (where the company, environment, food and wine are perfect, and we don't have to do any of the cooking or cleaning up).
 

Chefs Jane and Louise are a class act. If they were based in a city they'd be celebrity chefs by now. They cook with great passion and integrity and are absolutely dedicated to the quality local produce of the South Coast. They are pretty adamant that they want to slow down a bit and so will/may not be able to do our lobster lunch again. We're all aware we need to make the most of this lobster lunch experience this year.

Appetizers this year are: chicken liver pate with lilli pilli jelly, blue cheese tartlets and a fresh corn flavoured amuse bouche (it's a French theme this year).

There must be no better setting for eating fresh lobster anywhere in the world! Despite the trees growing so well over the past decade - you can still see (and hear) the waves breaking on to Rosedale Beach from this deck (as well as all the local bird life).

It's all the small details that count - the beautiful sour dough bread from Bermagui and the hand made cultured butter from Tilba Tilba cows (Australian River Cottage country)..........

 ......the Clyde River oysters (my favourite dressing was the lemon and cracked pepper granita  (thank you Judy for these pics of the oysters and lobster) .....

 ..and of course the magnificent South Coast lobsters (this year with a Pernod dressing!)

 ...and that tangy potato salad too with so many unexpected ingredients....

 and my favourite smoked eggplant and lentil salad - all served with some world

 beating Rieslings.....

It is our tradition to finish off our annual lobster feast with the current Jane & Louise version of  Bombe Alaska..........they are always magnificent......and must be so complex to make!

Jurgen has had the most recent big occasion birthday so he had the fun of cutting the Bombe...

before Jane and Louise did their wonderful magic with the flames, the brandy and the figs - YUM!

As the sun gets lower the local bird population starts to feast too: they're remarkably unafraid of our presence so close to their source of seeds.

After a wonderful long lunch those of us who have to, return to Canberra (the grapes are ripening fast on Bush's lane) while those of us able to stay try to walk off some of our feast around the spectacular rocky headlands and sandy bays of Rosedale Beach.

We are all determined to keep the essence of these lobster lunches alive in the future ...while realising we have all been so lucky to have had this connection with the brilliant Jane and Louise for all these years - long may they bring so much magic to the South Coast foodie scene!

Under the Sea party

We finished off a week of celebrations today with Abi's Under the Sea party. The girls were up early decorating the party table appropriately.

When the party was underway the first activity on the agenda was making Under the Sea snowdomes......a very brave undertaking for a bunch of 4 year olds (with a couple of older siblings in tow)

 Then it was time to eat!! (a recurring activity at this party..........

 ..then a break for play - in the garden on this gorgeous late Summer morning ..

 ..and ending up with Abi's Octonauts cake (Mark 2)....

 ..and party bag fun.....

 ..and there were a few lollies too - thanks to Joshy's last minute plea on behalf of all the four year olds...

 ..and some lovely presents of course.......

 ..and then the inevitable wind down after......utterly wasted......but voted best party ever!!!

Abi is four

Abi's fourth birthday celebration is looking like it might extend over a week or so - so these pics are just an introduction to what might lie ahead.

This bunny rabbit mask (and a unicorn headdress I didn't capture with a pic) seemed to be among her favourite presents on the morning of her actual birthday.

 .... making big sister Ella happy too!

We had a happy birthday meal out last night at Abi's favourite "Happy's" restaurant in Garema Place then a huge double gelato (her favourite lime flavour) from Via Dolce afterwards.

 ..making big sister Ella happy too......

But of course - it's all about the cake....and this year it was the Octonauts special.  Abi has no expectations of her Granny in the cake decorating department. She is always super thrilled with whatever we come up with as long as the icing is thick and the smarties are prolific. Jody and I made the cake a combined effort this year. I thought Jody's honeycomb crumb "sand" was a master stroke!

This is birthday cake mark 1...we'll do a repeat performance - maybe even an improved one for next weekend's little peoples' party.

Saint Valentine

I'm not sure if we are agnostic or atheist about the existence of Saint Valentine, but we are all pretty atheistic in our family about the commercialised cheese that is Valentine's Day.

Betty K...rapidly approaching the final months of her 102nd year (!!) enjoyed the opportunity for some Valentine's Day related craft activity - probably the first time she has ever done anything Valentine's Day related in her long life (thank you Bernadette).

The rest of us did nothing about the Saint's day. We went to the park with the girls...where it took them a while to get out of their weekend, battling sibling mode (it wasn't very lovey-dovey at all actually!).

 Although things had calmed down a lot by the time the ducks appeared.

I made my first pavlova ever - which was a bit Valentine's Day worthy I guess.  I think I nailed the soft (but chewy) inner meringue layer and the light and crispy exterior but my pav lacked structural integrity - the shell collapsed and had to be held together with wallops of cream. I need more practice Saint Valentine!

Back to school

It was back to school week this week for Ella and the start of preschool for Abi. It was also the start of Monday night Gym class and Thursday night swim squad training for Ella and Monday swimming and Tuesday Gym classes for Abi - they're busy girls. 

But very happy about all that too......

Ella started school on Tuesday - in year three (in the senior school now).

Abi started preschool on Wednesday morning: three 6 hour days this week (two next week). We didn't think she would be able to stay the full days this early in the year (she's only 3 after all, and she's never been away from her Mummy or us before!).

But each morning she's left home in very high spirits...

and while there have been a few tears at saying goodbye time each morning she has ended up having three really good (whole) days at preschool this week, which means we can all start to relax about it too. Hopefully this great start means we'll all have a really positive school year ahead.