We’ve had some amazing wines lately.
I’ve been opening carefully cellared bottles to share with my sons, both of whom love the older vintages. Ever since the boys were little, I’ve put bottles aside in the hope that we could drink them together one day. So this is, quite literally, a dream come true…
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Anita, Alison, Jenny, Helen and I are new-old friends.
We reconnected at our 40 year class reunion in May and have eagerly sought out opportunities to spend time together since. We met up at Central Park last week, ate yum cha at Din Tai Fung and then spent an hour charging around Daiso like the crazy old women we are.
After buying everything from fillable tea bags to battery-powered erasers to microfibre polishing slippers (and face massagers and detox foot pads, each item costing just $2.80)…
…we dropped into the Koi Dessert Bar for cake and coffee…
Apart from being delicious, this funky new cafe offers some of the prettiest treats Sydney has ever seen…
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My brilliant friend, the Spice Girl, took me to this little Taiwanese restaurant in Chatswood. It specialises in street food…
The menu made me laugh out loud…not sure stewed pork trotters need to be labelled as a “non veganism meal”…
Speaking of the trotters though, they were ridiculously good…
I took Pete back to try these steamed pork belly buns (3 for $10) and he loved them…
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I’ve had trouble all year sourcing chestnut flour, so I was pretty excited to find it at a deli in Five Dock last week. I bought the last two bags they had and made up a batch of my favourite brownies (plus a tinned peach cake for my mum)…
These are the most expensive brownies I make, and every time I put a batch together, I feel incredibly grateful that we can afford such luxuries. Each tray uses 750g (!!) of Callebaut Belgian chocolate, and that’s before the imported chestnut flour, butter and eggs. They’re decadent, rich and wickedly delicious. We make a point of sharing them around…
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The sun is shining in Sydney today and life is grand.
I hope you’re all eating and drinking and making merry too!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Which Italian deli did you go to? Ranieri’s?
Yep!
My family have been going there for time immemorial! Going this weekend to load up on panettone!
Peter’s deli also sells the best Italian olive oil I’ve found locally – the Novello on the counter – and he always gives the kids a ham sandwich. Love it there!!
From the wine to the decadent chocolate brownie to the Taiwanese food… I am in awe and suffering from a touch of avarice :) Another great post Celia! Thank you.
Crikey, your brownies look amazing. I really need to find some chestnut flour.
Oh Lordy those brownies look waaaaaaayyyy to good to be sharing! I’d be hoovering them up all by myself. Which just goes to show you’re a better woman than I!!!!!
Life IS grand. How wonderful to see such amazing snippets of yours x
Yummers! And I’m a sucker for Daiso too, especially their brush pens and paper goods. And their cat dishes. And their bento box things. :-)
I was about to comment on the lovely bottles of wine, but then we got to those brownies! They look decadent and extravagant…delightful, Celia!
Oh, my mouth is watering!
The brownies look delicious!
Oh Celia, I’m always hungry after reading your blog – although you are safe with those trotters as they really don’t appeal!
So now you’ve got me thinking about storing away a few bottles of wine for when our boys are grown. The brownies look divine, I’ve been seeing chestnut flour in a few recipes. I may have to try to find some.
Celia, it’s posts like this that make me think you’re on the right path. Family, friends, food, fun finds… and appreciation for anything and everything. I’m forging ahead on a similar path! Blessings… xo.