A dinner party splashed in red and green jewels

It was wonderful to shake off some dust and leap into the role of hosting a small dinner party for my parents and partner. Nor is an excuse needed, after all it's a good chance to try a few recipes I hadn't tried before without the pressure of a 'special event'. First up a nice slow cooked lamb. Unfortunately I didn't have time to photograph the final dish as I was too busy chatting away and satisfying peoples stomachs but I have a shot of it half way through. I can tell you that after some further slow cooking I tore up the lamb into shreds and chunks, scattered pomegranate seeds, toasted pinenuts and mint leaves. The colours were lovely but my guests were well and truly ready to tuck in. 

The previous week I had bought a lovely long tart dish, perfect for a recipe that I had been eyeing off for some time and it was good to make it before the raspberries and figs disappeared until next season. It is a burnt butter tart with pistachio meal and with figs and raspberries embedded in it. After cooking, added is a raspberry caramel drizzle and some more pistachio nuts to bring out a lovely array of colours. My only disappointment is realising I don't actually have a suitable long plate for serving such a tart upon.

A sort of Spring Cleaning

The painters are in a definite dispute with building management so work is suspended till further notice... so time to move some stuff  back onto the balcony and try and make the most of the remnants of sunshine around... It was also the first weekend in May which to my mind is always a good time for a spot of 'spring cleaning' though technically for me its Autumn, but it's one of those anomalies you still feel despite the differing hemispheres... bit like the whole snow thing at Christmas... I really enjoyed sitting out there in the morning despite the cold with a cup of tea. 

Bushwalk

Wollombi Photos are still to come... I didn't really take a lot up there, too busy relaxing and painting instead... but for the moment instead I have some photos from the bushwalk last Saturday. We walked around the Duck Tolling Ponds nestled between McCarrs Creek Road and West Head Road in Ku-Ring-Gai National Park. It was a short walk but quite  thrilling... at the start there is a lot of nice cool pools to stroll amongst and dip your toes in the water. Further along you track along the top of the ridge whilst the creek falls into lower terrain. There are some amazingly dizzy views which were difficult to capture via camera, the perspective gets flattened out in the mere two dimensions of pixels. One not so pleasant part though was along a muddy track where three leeches decided to hitch a ride on my feet... guess thats what happens for bushwalking in strappy sandals...