Halloween Horrors

treattrackers had another trip to Brother Espresso which, luckily for us, is just around the corner on Riding Rd, Bulimba. They have the best coffee and are quickly gathering a very loyal following. Fossicker from the Courier Mail, David, ran into Toby, an old acquaintance whom he knows from Fino Foods. Here's a link http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/index/0,23806,5013516,00.html
treattrackers had a great Halloween this year. Danielle, who hails from Maine, carved a beautiful Jack o' Lantern for us and we bought a mountain of lollies. Our neighbours are originally from North America too and their two little girls have a BIG party.

Here's Danielle and Lili with our Jack o' Lantern and our lolly mountain.

It looked so impressive when it got dark.

Sunday Post

Here's a special salt David's friend Natalie Poyhonen brought back from France. It's called Fleur de Sel de Guerande and it's organic flower sea salt hand-harvested in Guerande. It tasted good on our steamed broad beans.

Spunky Spuds at the West End Markets were selling fresh broad beans yesterday. We steamed ours and added butter and salt and pepper. Not just ordinary salt, but French hand harvested sea salt which David's friend Natalie Poyhonen brought back from France for him.

Here's the latest bustling addition to our neighbourhood - Brother cafe at Bulimba. We went there for a quiet coffee on a Sunday morning and it was packed. I had a nice banana patty cake, made by the Mum of the brothers, with my coffee and David had a breakfast sandwich packed with avocado, prosciutto, and a fried egg.

Penny Flies In

We met Penny, Mark's lovely sister who's in town from Townsville. They're off to the races today and Marky's putting some bets on for us in the Cox Plate. I went for Gai's horse Manhattan Rain and David likes Bart's horse So You Think. Both these lovely young things looked gorgeous for their day out.

We like the new statues at Gunshop Cafe at West End. We had an amazing breakfast there this morning - David had smoked haddock which he said was beautiful and I had strawberry brioche with ricotta and raspberry coulis. It was yum!

Hiroshi Farewell

We've just had a fab trip to Melbourne to farewell Hiroshi Oseda, the News Limited correspondent in Tokyo. He's a great guy who's taken us out in Tokyo and enterained our student daughter, Elizabeth, who lived and worked in Tokes for two years. The guys from 'News' treated him to a holiday in Oz and we all went out for a nice dinner to Sartie, a beautiful Italian restaurant in Melbourne.

Cafe Segovia is our favourite breakfast place in Melbourne. Here's David after we just landed. We headed straight to the Block Arcade. I managed to get one of their hyperactive 'touters' in the background of this photo. They say hello to people in the narrow arcade and politely persuade them to eat at their establishment.

The Jersey Boys musical was fabulous for a matinee at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne on Saturday afternoon. At intermission we went out to get some fresh air on the footpath and watch this beautiful wedding party pull up at the steps of Parliament to have their photos taken. The Jersey Boys tells the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons who had their ups and downs. The music and direction was great.

The Grocery Bar cafe was our Sunday morning brekky. It is nice and handy to our the apartment where we stay in East Melbourne and we always enjoy a hot coffee on a cold Melbourne morning.

Daylesford was our destination on Sunday. We hired a car and drove to the town known for its spring baths. We had a swim in a heated bathhouse to work up an appetite and then headed to the Lake House restaurant for lunch. This beautiful starter was a garlicky white bean puree with olives. We polished this off with fresh bread rolls and butter. They are very proud of their artworks and even the dinner plates have artistic prints on them.

I had a beautiful lunch of pan-seared snapper near the huge windows over looking the lake at Daylesford.

David had roasted spring lamb which was delicious and we admired the artworks on the wall. The service was so good. David writes Fossicking in the Courier Mail every Tuesday. Here's some of his latest treats

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/index/0,23806,5013516,00.html

Our walk around the lake at Daylesford after lunch was just what we needed before the drive back to the airport. There were lots of lucky locals who walk their dogs around here on a regular basis by the look of them.

David liked the little wooden jetty on the lake walk.

We recently had a nice night out at St Paul's Tavern to see my friend from work, Jef Caruss, perform as a stand-up comedian. He was so funny and he sounds just like our home grown Jerry Sienfeld. Great work! Jef was so nervous beforehand but he enjoyed the rest of the night when his act was over.

Our lovely friend Robyn is back from both her trips to Japan and New Zealand. We went to breakfast at Sympatico at Paddington and caught up with all her news. She has some great travel stories.

Tracking

Wear a Prayer jewellery is really taking off. Ria made these for me from her very own childhood rosary beads. I'm wearing 20 Hail Marys and 2 Glory Be's. They are beautiful coloured beads which have slight changes in colour when they catch the light. Don't forget to visit Woolloongabba Antiques Centre and ask to see Ria's cupboard.

Pearl Cafe at Woolloongabba have the most amazing pastry chef on staff. She makes treats fresh daily and we sometimes have one for breakfast instead of something 'healthy'! Look at these chocolate tarts.

Lemon Meringue Tarts for one person with your coffee - homemade on the premises at Pearl Cafe. Their pastry chef also makes big cakes for you to have a slice. This morning's display was fabulous.

treatracker Lili makes a great barbie chef after we watched 'Storm' win the grand final. Uncle Laurie supervises. I think we were going for the Eels but it was a good game. As he matures, does he look more like our lovely departed Dad in this photo or not?

treattracker Danielle prepares the salads in the kitchen. She has so many new skills from her wonderful experience at Schlix - where they serve gelato and lunch salads as well.

Deli Visit

Richard Gruber, the proprietor of Thynne Rd Deli at Morningside always has his shelves jammed packed with the latest treats. I love the look of this Saeco coffee machine which takes the little ground Lavazza coffee packs. However, I like going out for coffee so I don't want a machine at home. It would be detrimental to my social life.

treattrackers love visiting Thynne Rd Deli at Morningside especially on a Sunday morning for coffee and breakfast. The diligent teacher in the corner is doing some marking before the start of term tomorrow. We teachers seem to frequent this favourite coffee place and always have a 'hi!' for each other.

Always a great cup of coffee at Thynne Rd Deli.

David gets his newspaper reading done getting ready for one of his rare Sunday shifts at work.

Salt and Pepper

Another visit to Woolloongabba Antiques Centre this time with my friend Maree. Maree bought some beautiful coloured glass and I got some salt and pepper shakers. We had a lovely browse through the centre.

Silverbeet Triangles

What a way to enjoy home grown silverbeet - in spinach triangles made by the home gardener, David Costello (also known as the Fossicker from the Courier Mail in Brisbane)! They were yum served with home grown salad greens and cherry tomatoes. Try this link to read some of his column in the newspaper. http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/index/0,23806,5013516,00.html

Mango

Our first mango of the season bought from Feast on Fruit. Can't wait to tuck into it.

Jacaranda

Jacarandas are flowering all over town - have you noticed? Here's our two treattrackers Amy and Mark, having a cuddle in the park at Norman Park where Amy used to play when she was little.

Silver Day

Gravy boat must have! What a lovely browse around Ulmarra (which used to be a steamship stopover) on one of our holiday afternoons. The little town is known for its second hand shops and this cost $25. We had a beautiful seafood lunch in the old pub near the river. You can imagine how busy it must have been in the days of the paddle steamers.

New Frock

Amy has a lovely 'new' dress from the op shop at Cleveland which cost her $10. Although she has beautiful blue eyes, I have not removed the red eye from my flash. Otherwise, she looks fantastic!