Royal Melbourne Show 2024

We had a brilliant day at the Royal Melbourne Show last weekend.  The glorious sunshine.  The nostalgia of showbags.  The creativity in the craft and cakes pavilion.  The cute animals.  The views from the ferris wheel.  We even stayed for the fireworks.  It was the day of the AFL Grand Final public holiday and school holidays so the crowds were there too.,  You will see the crowds in many of the photos that I share here.  They were hard to avoid but it was hard to resent others wanting to share the fun.

 We got there for a late lunch so we could stay for the fireworks.  It was our first time at The Show since 2018.  Last time the main place to find a meal was the fresh food pavilion which had both meals and products.  This year the "eat street" was in the same pavilion as the showbags rather than with the Gourmet Pantry and Cellar.  It made it harder to avoid the temptation of showbags which we usually visit later in the day.  So we bought a couple early: Old Style Liquorice and Smiths Crisps.

As an aside, in previous posts when I have mentioned Showbags, I have found that they are quite particular to Australia.  These are like promotional bags with samples of food and branded merchandise.  They often are packed with chocolate bars, crisps and plastic toys for kids.  There are also more and more showbags such as tv shows, sports and beauty products aimed at tweens, teens and adults.  Examples I saw included such as Bluey, Perfume, AFL footy teams, Brooklyn 99, Slime, Gudetama, Minecraft, Barbie and Tools.  Something for everyone!  The amount of showbags in the pavilion is sickening but the nostalgia of showbags make them hard to resist.  Yet the showbags today seem more miserly, more expensive, more junky and lacking the excitement of my childhood.
 

I wanted something quick and easy so I bought a cheese pretzel.  It was nice.  Not as nice as the corn, jalapeno and haloumi muffins that Sylvia had made (which I had brought along to snack on) but it was not the place for innovative food.

Sylvia was more wowed by the food.  She could not resist the burrata on gnocchi and napoli sauce.  She loved it.  She was exited to see foods she had read about but never seen in real life.  The Chimnuts looks fun but really indulgent.  She was also tempted by the watermelon juice with mint iced tea.  And most exciting for her was the tanghulu in the Gourmet Pantry and Cellar.

We also had a really nice fresh lemonade with our lunch.  It was really nice to get a cold drink that was not sickly sweet.  We saw a little of the horsejumping.  I really wanted to see the woodchopping but by the time I remembered it was on, it was too much hassle to navigate to the Rural Pavilion.  We were sad there seemed to be no cats at the show this year; we had enjoyed the cat judging so much at our last visit.

One reason for a small lunch was that we were planing to go to the Gourmet Pantry and Cellar next.  It is more fun than the showbags because although the products are more expensive, there are often tastings and quality food on offer.  We tasted chocolate, smoked olives, truffle mayo, blueberry juice, cheese, nougat, spice mixes, etc etc.  Lots of good food. 

Sylvia was tempted by the "Fluritto (a fairy floss ice cream buritto) but what she could not resist trying was the Taghulu.  These are a traditional Chinese snack where mostly fruits (but there were also chicken nuggets tanghulu on offer) which are coated in melted sugar that hardens once it cools.  You can see a photo of her mixed fruit tanghulu (the "fruity ninja") on a stick in the middle of the above collage.

I am not usually a macaron fan but was wooed by the Milo macrons. Bright green with a malty chocolate centre called my name!  They were nice but more chewy meringue macaron than malty chocolate flavour.  Sylvia loved the sound of the biscoff and the creme brulee macarons.

Next was the "Spotlight Makers Pavilion".  We started in the craft area.  I loved this knitted Bluey.  So cute and that smile was the Bluey smile that makes me want to smile back.

This ceramic cup of noodles was really cute.  The way the chopsticks are stuck into the noodles looks cute and is acceptable in Western nations but I have read that it is considered disrespectful in Asia.

Lots more impressive knitting included a nun, a platypus and a sheep jumper.

Some of the categories were unexpected.  This crocheted rug with covers of Taylor Swifts "Eras" or albums, was in the Pop Culture Craft categories.

I loved this dress sewn out of crisp packets.  Surely nobody would want to wear it but it is such a fun novelty item.  By now, Sylvia needed a break.  The craft section was busy and she was itching to go.  Little kids in the crowds with toy machine guns (yes they sold them at the Show) that had a very annoying "ack-ack-ack" shooting sounds made the throng even more irritating. 

We had good chance to de-stress at the dodgems.  Nothing like a chance to get out your frustrations in a little car with the safety of well-cushioned shock absorbers.  This is the sort of cautious thrill-seeking that I can handle on the fairground rides.

After a refresher, we headed back into the Makers pavilion to check out the decorated chocolate and have a brief tutorial from the CWA on how to do Japanese braiding with a notched disc of cardboard and strands of wool.  The we started to view the entries to the baking and preserving competitions.

One of the most impressive piece of competitive cake decorating was this depiction of Miro's The Kiss in cake form.

This Baby Grinch cake was so cute.

The detail on the Corpse Bride cade decorations was wonderful.

More noodles!  This ramen noodles decorated cake was getting into "is it cake?" territory.  It also evoke the plastic noodles on display in the windows of some Japanese cafes.  The suspended chopsticks seem to be held up by magic.

This possum riding on the back of a emu decked out in native flowers was just amazing.  The detail, the creativity, the humour, the majesty, the wonderful ode to the Australian bush!

And more noodles.  These fondant decoration depicting Asian meals were my favourites among numerous impressive displays of decorated cupcakes that were too gorgeous to eat.

I love the bread baking.  So many wonderful loaves but the cut section, where the judges do their taste testing, gets dry so quickly that it makes them look less inviting.  The decorated focaccias were fantastic because they looked like something I wanted to eat rather than food that has been destroyed by testing.

The amount of ANZAC biscuits to be judged was impressive.  Like many of the bakes, there were quite a few categories for younger bakers as well as gluten free versions.

I enjoyed looking at the art, mostly by school kids, around the walls by the baking.  That avocado drawing is so lifelike and green.

We came by an old Clydesdale that was by a fence so that the public could pat her.  But as we arrived, the lovely Princess Peaches was ready to go.  It is a tiring day for the animals at the Show!  We saw more Clydesdale horses and some sheep and goats.

Sylvia gave up an dreams of taking a lamb home and turned to the Barnyard Buddies game.  It was a game of chance where she used a net to pick up toy ducks and cows from a pond.  The numbers on the bottom of each catch were added up to tell her what groups of prizes she could choose from.  She had two goes before she got enough to walk away with a little toy stuffed sheep.  

(Note: within a day of getting him home, he had a hole in his seam that needed to sew up.  At the least the stuffing is more robust these days.  I remember my mum winning me a little toy dog in a fairground attraction that leaked lots of polystyrene beads when he got a hole in him.)

Sylvia was determined to stay for the fireworks and thought it would be nice to go on the ferris wheel just before sunset.  It wasn't easy to take photos with the annoying branding plastered across the pods but I liked this one of a ride in front of the Melbourne city skyline.  

We always go on the ferris wheel at the Show but this time was the first one that it was almost totally enclosed by perspex with a small gap at the top of the pod for airflow.  (See the top photo of the ferris wheel)

Sylvia was not keen on the animal nursery but we ducked into the exit and she was delighted to see a llama and an alpaca.  This alpaca seemed quite pleased to see us too!

We had a walk down Neon Alley as we were thinking about dinner.  It was entertaining to see all the weird meals on offer but they were either too meaty or sweet for us.  Unusual food included Dagwood Dogs with neon sauce, the Elvis burger with fried chicken between two sweet glazed doughnuts, Flaming Hot Cheetos on corn on the cob, gummy bear loaded fries and Tim Tam churros.  It was a series of crazy adventures in junk food!

En route to dinner we also found ourselves by the crowds whoopping in disbelief at the BMX Stunt Show.  There were too many people to see what was happening on the ground but we could hear the banter of the MC and every now and again a bike would fly high about the crowd.  This was a different sort of thrill seeking to Neon Alley and even more scary but amazing to watch.  

The above photo looks like the bike is on the pavilion but it is just an illusion where a rider has actually flown so high off the ramp that he can be seen soaring higher than it.

We could not find much other than gourmet fairground food for dinner.  There was lots on offer in the Eat Street: Greek, Italian, Indian, Gozleme, Dumplings, Cheese Toasties.  They all had limited menus that could be put together quickly so the queues moved quickly.  I had a Beyond hotdog at the Kaisers Grilled German Sausages stall.  It had a vegan Beyond Meat Bratwurst in a bread roll with lettuce, tomato, red onion and sauerkraut.  Sylvia had a falafel in pita bread with lettuce, tomato, red onion and tahini sauce.  She got some chips on the side to share.

Then Sylvia wanted coffee and I was going to get a hot chocolate but I got lost and found myself by the Cheeky Crumbles stall.  I could easily walk past the apple crumble but can't resist a peach crumble.  The stewed peaches were in one pot, the crumble in another and when they were together in a tub it was drowned in custard.  The peaches were wonderful but crumble is so much better when it is baked with the fruit and crispy on top than baked separately and put together just before serving. 

After dinner it was getting dark and we made our way to the Arena which by now was packed with crowds.  It took a bit of effort to get past the people standing around the edge to be able to even spot the few unoccupied seats and then make our way past more people to sit down.  

The main event was the fireworks.  While we waited, country singer Sarah Cantania was wheeled on a stage attached to a tractor.  Occasionally the Show feels like an old fashioned agricultural fair.  She entertained the audience with classic hits by well known country singers such as Johnny Cash (Ring of Fire), Dolly Parten (Joelene) and Taylor Swift.  This was followed by an upbeat modern show of lasers accompanied by Indigenous musician EmDee on a yidaki (the word for digeridoo in East Arnhem Land).

The fireworks finally lit up the sky.  They were loud and bright.  They went for a satisfyingly long time.  Finally the sky was dark again and the crowds flowed past the neon fairground rides, out of the gates and onto the trains that took us home. We were so tired when we got home 9 hours after leaving that the next day was a very quiet one.  It gave me time to sort out the photos.  There were so many that it was difficult to narrow them down to a selection to include here on the this post.  It is fun to go to the Show but I don't expect to go again for a few years because it is so expensive and exhausting.

Previous posts on our trips to the Show:

• The Royal Melbourne Show 2013
• The Royal Melbourne Show 2016  
• The Royal Melbourne Show 2018

My Monthly Chronicles, September 2024

September was such a whirlwind that I can't believe it is suddenly over.  Work keeps getting busier. I have had some fun outings with Sylvia to some of the icons of Melbourne: the Zoo, the Tea Rooms in the Block Arcade and the Royal Melbourne Show.  I also found myself at some of the city's hidden gems: a cat cafe in Box Hill, Paddock bakery in Geelong and the Albrecht Durer exhibition at the University of Melbourne (above).  And I never seem to have enough energy, especially after a wonderful Clare Bowditch gig or the fireworks at the Show.  There was less time for lunching in cafes but I had an outstanding meals at Just Loved in Blackburn and had quite a few opportunities for innovative food.  You can also see more on our food at home on my In My Kitchen post.

I am told by my teenage daughter that I read too much of the information signs in museums and that is why she enjoyed going to the Hellenic Museum in the city with her dad and grandfather this month.  I say never too much!  So I really enjoyed a couple of visits to the University of Melbourne's Albrecht Dürer's Material Renaissance exhibition (above photo), most recently between a chicken pox vaccination and lunch with a friend.  I love the Arts West building where it is located and have enjoyed immersing myself in the worldview of Medieval prints.  One of the most fascinating prints was the Witch Riding Backwards on a Goat (c1500).  Indeed, the past is a foreign country!

Assembly Ground, Essendon

Sylvia had wanted to go to Assembly Ground (104 Fletcher Street) for some time so she was delighted when we finally got there.  Sylvia had a great meal of zucchini, spinach and halloumi fritters with
tzatziki, pita, crispy kale, pomegranates and a poached egg.  I was envious because my Nourish bowl had a lot of spicy rice and chickpeas.  It was too spicy for me and I felt it needed some creamy sauce.  I was more keen on my Boost juice with beetroot, carrot, pineapple and orang.  Sylvia was also very keen on her Pink juice with watermelon, pineapple, mint.

RIP Dame Maggie Smith.  She sparkled with wit that was not without compassion.  Her death is mourned for all that will never happen but we are all the richer for her legacy of memorable characters she brought to life on the screen, notably Professor McGonagall, the Dowager Countess of Grantham and Miss Jean Brodie.

Paddock Bakery, North Geelong

On Father's Day I went to Geelong to visit my parents.  My dad was out at lunch so I stopped off at Paddock Bakery (Federal Mills: Tenancy W4, 33 Mackey St,got some Mexican corn with avo and salsa fresca on a seeded bagel that I shared with my mum.  It was lovely.  I bought some Jam doughnuts for my dad.  He can never resist one.  And I bought myself a Pesto and cheese scroll and a Brulee doughnut for Sylvia.

Father's Day Afternoon tea

We had a lovely afternoon tea for my dad.  My mum baked lamingtons, profiteroles and scones.  It was delicious.  My dad also got some chocolate for Father's Day.  The Violet Crumble bar and Polly Waffle bites remind me of Christmas time when my older sister and I took it in turns each year to buy dad Violet Crumbles and Polly Waffles.  He is not as busy with work as he used to be.  It means he has more time to help out the kids and grandkids.  Last week he was in our backyard putting up a new shelf for Sylvia's ever growing pot plant collection and fixed the flywire screen on her window so she can open her window without bugs flying in.

The Tea Rooms 1892, CBD

We had a lovely time at The Tea Rooms 1892 in the Block Arcade (282 Collins Street) having our deconstructed high tea of scones, sandwiches, and cake.  I've written about our visit in my post about Tea Rooms 1892, Block Arcade, Spellbox, Melbourne. 

Memories: The legendary Punters Club reopens after 22 years.  20 August 2024 in The Age.  I went to this iconic pub in Fitzroy to see great local indie bands as a twentysomething, and visited when it became Bimbos and then Kewpie.  I hope to get back to the "Pun'ers" once of these days.

Croix croissant, Flemington

Croix croissant (185 Mt Alexander Rd) came to my attention when it was mentioned to me by someone I met in Yogyakarta in Indonesia last year.  She was a friend of the owners.  I heard that it had vegan croissants but was still amazed at the good quality of the baking.  It is a bijou small cafe with lots to offer.  For those who want classic flavours, there are cheese croissants, almond croissants and pain au chocolat.  For people like us there are many fascinating new bakes to try.  I was tempted by the  tempted to get Oreo milk tea croll or Nut black sesame croll.  Sylvia was disappointed that there were no Biscoff croissants available.

Croix croissant, Flemington 2

Sylvia had the Korean garlic cheese croissant which had quite sweet garlic cream cheese in a cute cross on a croissant.  She also had a Tiramisu Croll (or croissant wheel) that had a lot of cream inside it.  I had a Vegan bacon and cheese croissant.  It was nice but the cheese wasn't heated enough to make it melty.  Vegan cheese is better when melted so I enjoyed the leftovers I took home to grill more than the warmed portion I had in the cafe.  

As I was aware that the owners of Croix Croissant were from Yogyakarta last year so it was no surprise to find an Indonesian influence in this bakery.  I could not resist the novelty of the Indonesian inspired vegan "martabak".  It was a round pastry with a lot of vegan cheese filling topped with chocolate chips, peanuts, sesame seeds and condensed oat milk. As with my croissant it suffered from not being heated enough to melt the cheese.  Even so I really liked the sweet and savoury flavours.  I would have had more chocolate but can you ever have enough!

Lazy Cat Cafe, Box Hill

On Sylvia's bucket list is a desire to visit every cat cafe possible.  So when we discovered the Lazy Cat Cafe (g03/830 Whitehorse Rd) in Box Hill it was only a matter of time until we visited.  The cats were cute and friendly, especially when being fed the food that was available for purchase  In fact most cafe cafes give food to humans but this one was really all about feeding the cats.  Sylvia wanted to purchase another hour at the cafe but I was quite ready to leave after an hour.

Just Loved, Blackburn South

After the cat cafe, we drove to Just Loved (8 Hunter Drive). How cute is my Japanese curry with the Miffy shaped rice!  And the crispy potato croquette was really good.  Sylva loved her creamy curry udon noodles and we both loved our drinks.  I hope to write more about it soon, so stay tuned.

Podcasts - The strange life of Ingrid von Oelhafen Parts 1 and 2, ABC was a fascinating story of how the Nazi love for blond haired, blue eyed "Aryan" children went as far as arranging adoptions into German families.  As we now know, adoptions are never straightforward and it is fascinating and often sad following this life of this woman as she looks to find out who she is.

Melbourne Zoo, Parkville

It has been years since we have been to the Melbourne Zoo (Elliott Ave).  I took Sylvia along because her school had an excursion there just before the school holidays.  We had sushi for lunch and a Ben and Jerry's ice cream.  Highlights were the giraffes (as always), feeding time at the seals, cheeky penguins, the active red panda, the big yawn on the Tasmanian devil and the peace of the Japanese garden.

Finding joy.  Nick Cave asked his readers on The Red Hand Files to let him know "when or how do you find joy?"  He has compiled the answers on a page simply called Joy and they are indeed a joy to read.

 

Clare Bowditch at Howler, Brunswick

I went along with a couple of friends to Howler (7-11 Dawson Street) to have dinner and see a Clare Bowditch gig.  I had fried cauliflower in a leafy salad with crispy kale, a small plate of pumpkin arancini and shared some hot chips.  It was good but even better to catch up with Andrea and Jo.  The gig was far far better than I expected.  I like Clare Bowditch's music but it is so much more entertaining live.  She loves chatting to the audience ("my darlings), gets the audience singing along and encourages us to call out "where's marty" when her husband is about to play drums or keyboard on a song.  Mostly it is just Clare Bowditch with her guitar telling stories that along the way get accompanied by guitar and then morph into the song but it is so seamless that the music is just part of the all the fun.

Carlton Farmers Market, North Carlton

It has been a long time since I have been to the Carlton Farmers Market - so long that the location has changed from Carlton Gardens Primary School to the Carlton North Primary School on Lee Street. I was there recently to see my sister at her peanut butter stall but also enjoyed browsing the stalls.  I enjoyed a vegan nachos pie from Pie Thief for my lunch and took some delicious food home (see what I bought at In My Kitchen post.) 

On the telly: The Unforgotten crime show and I have started watching Series 5.  It is also so interesting to see the stories of people who have been affected by cold cases.  Even so I don't think it would reflect real life according to this article - Why forensic science is nothing like the popular TV investigation shows when it comes to solving crimes By Fiona Pepper and Claire Slattery for Big Ideas on ABC RN, 26 September 2024.

Melbourne Coffee Culture adverts

I have noticed a few billboard advertisements making capital of Melbourne's Coffee Culture lately.  The Support Your Local Oat Milk Dealer with Oatly adverts have been eye catching.  I laughed when I saw this Stay Fussy Melbourne advert The Alternative Dairy Co's almond milk in Moonee Ponds.  We all make fun of Melbourne's coffee culture but according to coffee drinkers, Melbourne is the best place for having your coffee made just right.  Having never drunk a cup of coffee, I can neither support nor deny this. But even I know that a good barista and a range of non-dairy milks is important to our coffee scene!  And I can always appreciate the coffee art!

Royal Melbourne Show, Flemington

It is quite a while since we have been to the Royal Melbourne Show at the Showgrounds in Flemington.  We had lots of fun with rides, craft, decorated cakes, llamas, horses, and came home with showbags.  The meals on offer were ok but nothing fancy.  We enjoyed trying some fun food in the Gourmet Pantry and Cellar.  I enjoyed my milo macaron and Sylvia was excited to try a skewer or fruit tanghulu.  I prefer my fruit without hardened sugar.  (See what we bought home at In My Kitchen post.)

In the News:

Come to your census: data, Dutton and ducking for cover by Jo Dyer in The Shot, 6 September 2024. 

Ban the socials! But keep the gambling ads and urinating contests that ‘traditional’ media serves kids, by Angela Priestley in The Women's Agenda, 12 September 2024

Kamala Harris effectively baited Donald Trump during the debate, drawing out his insecure white masculinity, The Conversation, by Karrin Vasby Anderson on September 13, 2024.

The Easey Street killings haunted Melbourne for five decades and an arrest in Italy is just the latest development, by Melissa Brown, ABC News, 22 September 2024.

The US cannot allow Israel to turn Lebanon into a second Gaza: This crisis is a humanitarian disaster that may destabilize the whole region, by Mohamad Bazzi, The Guardian, Fri 27 September 2024

Gisele Pelicot: The New French Feminist Icon In Landmark Rape Trial, by Anushka De in NDTV World on Sep 28, 2024

In My Kitchen: September 2024

September has brought us longer days, gentle sunshine and spring rains.  It is hard to believe iwe are already well into spring.  Not so long ago it I was admiring autumn leaves glowing in the light of the early setting sun.  Now my bike rides pass trees sprouting lots of new green leaves, rabbits bounding with cute little bobtails and the evocative smell of spring flowers.  It has been a busy month with lots of delicious meals and interesting food shopping trips!  I will share more meals and outings in My Monthly Chronicles post (coming soon).

Above is a photo of what is our favourite salad of the moment: Lemon Cucumber Couscous Feta Salad.  I have renamed it from the Hungry Happens blog where we found it.  It is as simple as she says, though we are still unsure about the salad dressing.  It feels really healthy with all the greens (cucumber, rocket and we add edamame), substantial with pearl couscous and so tasty with feta stirred through.  We have already made it a few times and plan to make it often over summer.

 

I tried Serious Eat's Scallion Sourdough Pancakes and loved how simple and delicious they were.  They are not as robust as some crunchy pancakes I have had in Asian restaurants but are a great way to use up sourdough discard.  I ate mine with pumpkin soup.

The pumpkin soup was not great but when I added tahini and salt it made a it taste so much better.  Tahini is such a transforming ingredient!  I made the soup more substantial when I served it with Tomato orzo with chickpeas and mushrooms, leftover wholemeal spaghetti and green leaves.

Cauliflowers have been cheap so I made a cauliflower soup with potato and celery.  It was quite thin when blended but Sylvia is a big fan of cauliflower and enjoyed the soup with leftover vodka pasta.  I enjoyed mine with tofu bacon, peas and vodka pasta.

Sylvia has been adapting a favourite vegan banana and coconut cake recipe into a banana and choc chip cake.  I find it hard to believe she omits the desiccated coconut but somehow she is convinced this is better.  The chop chips are an excellent addition.

If the banana cake recipe is Sylvia's current favourite sweet recipe, her favourite savoury recipe is cheese and parsley muffins.  She made a variation with fresh corn (3 cobs), jalapeno (about 1/4 cup) and haloumi (sprinkled on top of the muffins.  She was not so keen on the texture when she added uncooked tofu bacon and plans to fry it next time.  These muffins were a big hit with me and excellent as a portable snack when we went to the Royal Melbourne Show.

The muffins were also great with grilled sausages an a chickpea salad.  Sylvia used 3 tins of chickpeas in her salad and winged it with the other ingredients but decided more tomato and more cucumber would be good next time.  I was really pleased to have leftovers to take into work for lunch.  We still had plenty of salad leftover to serve with tofu nuggets the next night.

We made a batch of oven baked tacos with refried beans from a can.   While I liked them, I prefer more texture than pureed beans, even with some spring onion and corn added.  When we made them a second time I made these with rapid refried beans which I have made often.  The beans are a rough mash with vegies rather than a puree.  The ingredients didn't hold together quite as well.  We love the idea and want to experiment more.   Sylvia made an avocado crema both times that went well with them.

We had leftovers to use up after the oven baked tacos.  I made quesadillas for lunch out of some remaining tortillas.  The filling was refried beans, rocket, cheese, tofu bacon, tomato slices.  They were excellent.  Crispier on the stovetop with my cast iron fry pan, but more demanding than arranging 6 in a roasting tin and turning once or twice.

Another easy leftover lunch were muffins topped with zucchini slice, grated cheese and fried tofu bacon.  I put them under the grill until the cheese was melty and then tried to wait long enough to eat so it wasn't so steaming hot that I burnt my tongue!

My sister had a peanut butter stall at the Carlton Farmers Market (which is in the North Carlton Primary School on Canning Street these days - the last time I went it was in the Rathdowne Street opposite the museum).  I enjoyed riding my bike there, catching up with my sister and wandering around the stalls.  I was delighted to buy some Good Brew kombucha, purple sprouting broccoli, Frankly Raw peanut butter, and bakes from Back Alley Bakes (capsicum stuffed muff and a kimchi and cheese scroll).  I loved having a vegan nacho pie for lunch from the Pie Thief.

We had a gardening afternoon where we cut back a lot of the rosemary and salvia out the front.  Sylvia also had taken out the woody old thyme that a friend planted for me in 2007 and planted supple young thyme.  So we have had lots of thyme and rosemary about the house and a few extra bay leaves from the garden.  Sylvia has previously dried some rosemary and catnip and has brought these to the kitchen.  We also have rhubarb and lime from my mum's garden.  Not seen is also blood oranges from Yav and lemons from Kerin.  Friends and family's citrus are appreciated while my lemon and lime trees have not yielded much fruit lately in our back yard.

These are some purchase from the supermarket that have sparked joy: Charcoal and sesame crackers, Parmesan, truffle and pepper crackers, red leicester cheese, goats cheese with dill, non alcoholic Peach bellinis and Passionfruit martinis.  Isn't it odd that kids are expected to drink sugary sweet drinks and adults expect to drink less sweet alcoholic drinks (with alcopops the bridging drink).  I like that there is more non-alcoholic drinks now that have less sugariness about them in the style of alcoholic drinks.

I tried making this Cheesey tex mex rice from the Kitchn.  It is fried for a while and mine had the smoky caramelised flavour but did not have as many crispy bits as I expected.  I used black beans instead of olives.  Sylvia did not like it much so I had a lot of it.  I had it at work lunches and for leftovers.  I made a pizza with some of it as well as tomato sauce, mushrooms and cheese.  It was really good.  On th same night I had my first go of thinly mandolinned zucchini and seasoned cream cheese with cheese on top.  It was excellent.

I used my favourite fast track sourdough pizza dough again a week later and had another go at the zucchini pizza.  After it was mandolinned thinly (with a bleeding finger tip as collateral damage), Sylvia suggested salting the zucchini which helped it be well seasoned and soften slightly.  After it stood for about 15 minutes I squeezed out the liquid and arranged it on the pizza in alternating rows with lightly steamed and chopped purple sprouting broccoli.  It was delicious hot out of the oven but also great for a cold work lunch the next day.

When Sylvia told me about the weird pairing of coke and Oreos in both the fizzy coke drink and the Oreo biscuits (cookies).  So we bought both and found that the coke didn't taste very like oreos, perhaps a bit of a vanilla scent.  The Oreos had an unnervingly accurate but chemical aroma of coke.  Sylvia could not stand the smell. I quite liked it in a weird way that was ok for a packet of biscuits but left me with no desire to buy again.

We went to the Royal Melbourne Show last week.  We came home with four showbags.  The one above is from the Craft and Cookery building.  I really loved the tote bag it came in. 

This is the contents of the showbag were a mixed bag.  I am most impressed with the hazelnut chocolate spread.  Sylvia will have a go at the Caffe Frother and is very pleased to be able to try the green tea with mango and lychee.  The dinosaur pasta will be used and so will the tapioca flour.  The cookbooks has too many photos of the hunter with his guns for me to be comfortable with it.  I cannot see us using the cream stabiliser but maybe I can give it away.  The craft supplies are something I hope we will have some fun with: wool, envelopes, invitations, glue, modelling clay, cupcake cutouts and collage pieces.

Sylvia bought a Chupa Chups showbag and a Smiths Showbag.  They were quite small and cheap (about $6-10 each).  Too many lolly pops for my liking but I am sure she will make them last.  And there was fairy floss too.  I am told that the combination of fairyfloss and salt and vinegar chips is wonderful but was not too interested in trying it!

My preference was the Old Style Liquorice showbag.  IT has a good selection of liquorice and bullets  (I took the photo after I used the liquorice allsorts in the footy platter below).  Unfortunately I bought it before I saw the Uncle John's showbag.  They do such good liquorice.  If I had waited I might have bought this one instead.

I made some cottage cheese fritters based on this recipe.  I had one for dinner with tomato relish, roast pumpkin and green leaves in a sandwich.  Since then I have enjoyed the fritters with salads and with roast pumpkin for lunches and dinners.

Last weekend was the AFL Grand Final.  We made some purchases for a platter.  I checked the ingredients of the Thins Sausage Sangas crisps and happy to find no meat  products.  .  It smelled and tasted uncannily like when we eat vegetarian sausages with sauce.  The Truffle arancini is a favourite of Sylvia's.  I loved the cheesey cauliflower pies,  My mum gave me the Chickpea Crackers which were alright but a bit stale.  The popcorn is the one that rated best in this rather amusing Guardian taste test.  And who doesn't love some berries on a platter! 

Our Grand Final platter was fairly straightforward to put together.  I had planned making our fave vegetarian sausage rolls but was too tired from the previous day's visit to the Show.  So I headed up some arancini and cauliflower cheese pies.  I chopped up some celery, carrot, capsicum.  Everything else was just a matter of arranging the charcoal crackers, chickpea crackers, Oreos, sausage sanga chps: sweet and salty popcorn, hummus, tomato sauce, sliced green apple, blood orange wedges, coke coke oreos, liquorice allsorts

I am sending this post to Sherry of Sherry's Pickings for the In My Kitchen event. If you would like to join in, send your post to Sherry by 13th of the month.  Or just head over to her blog to visit more kitchens and her gorgeous hand drawn header.