Cafe Cre Asion, Surry Hills

The lovely ChocolateSuze and I met up for lunch together yesterday, and it was decided that our meeting point would be Cafe Cre Asion for some sandwiches and macaron goodness.  Cafe Cre Asion is tucked away in Alberta Street, right next to Berta, and it's the perfect spot to meet someone you have never met before, as they won't get lost in any crowds here.  However, that doesn't mean this place doesn't get busy, because it does.

 

Bakery Nights - Bourke Street Bakery, Marrickville

You may be wondering why you are looking at some photos of Bourke Street Bakery taken during the night, but Cheesecake Boy, K and I were here for Bakery Nights a couple of Saturday's ago.  Katrina Hollis is the chef behind the Bakery Nights, who has had stints at Rockpool, Icebergs and Bourke Street Bakery.  Bakery Nights is basically best described as a carefully constructed surprised dinner that utilities the best seasonal produce available.  Dinner started at 6.30pm, and Cheesecake Boy and I were running a bit late due to the traffic, so I was definitely flustered by the time we got there. 

Pan fried dumplings

It's hard not to love a dumpling, but I am biased as I would say that they are one of my favourite foods.  I would feel like an imposter if I was not able to cook dumplings, since I've dubbed myself  'Dumpling Girl', so this post is going to be about whipping up some easy no fuss home style pan fried dumplings that are also known to the Americans as pot stickers and have a similar texture to gyoza.

Please heed this warning, I have my family's terrible habit of cooking enough to feed an army, as this recipe easily yields about 75 dumplings.  When I decide to make these, it's either because we have heaps of people over or Cheesecake Boy and I will be eating these for a few days on end, like last weekend.  If you decide to make the full mixture and get sick of dumplings you can always turn the mince filling into a stir fry with tofu or whatever tickles your fancy as there are so many things you can use this mince mixture for.  This is definitely not a strict recipe as when I cook savoury dishes I work on instinct, but when it comes to sweets I follow the recipe to the tee.  Here comes some dumplings...

Kushiyaki Azuma, Sydney

It was a lunch catch up with Sushi Girl, but I made Cheesecake Boy come and have a big meal as he had been working late that week and needed a big feed to keep him going for the rest of the working day to night.  We had all been super busy that week and needed a huge fix, so that's how we ended up at Kushiyaki Azuma for their very generous obento lunch sets.  Unfortunately, hungry stomachs means impatient and hurried photos, but what can you do when you stomach is growling.  Sometimes you just have to give in.

 

Ormeggio at the Spit, Mosman

In late June, Cheesecake Boy finally went on his sailing experience that he got last Christmas.  However, as I get all sorts of motion sickness I couldn't go along with him, but I was prepared to wait for him for a good three hours as I tried to figure out how to use Cheesecake Boy's new toy to take pictures around Middle Harbour.  Actually, the real reason why I was so willing to wait around was that I have been wanting to go to Ormeggio on the Spit for ages and thought a leisurely lunch after Cheesecake Boy's sailoring adventure would be a great way to ease into the weekend.  Here are some of my shots of Middle Harbour, after it took me an hour to read the manual...

Cafe Sopra, Waterloo

One stunning but lazy Sunday that was quite some time ago now,  Cheesecake Boy and I were out and about with our good friend Noodle Boy for a brunch catch up.  The boys let me choose the venue and since we all love Italian food, Cafe Sopra was an easy choice that Sunday afternoon.  Cafe Sopra wasn't the easiest place to find.  However, by the time we found the little stairway entrance and waited patiently for our table, we were starving.

Gastro parK, Potts Point

Cheesecake Boy has an uncanny way of guessing all my special occasion surprises, be it for his birthday, for Christmas or for any of our anniversaries.  It is majorly frustrating at times, I even playfully threatened I would return his birthday present this year, if he kept guessing where we were going to lunch for his birthday.  I knew that I had to be extra tricky with his birthday lunch and chose a place that Cheesecake Boy had been curious about and didn't want me to try without him first, but at the same time I had not harped on and on about how much I wanted to go.

That's how we ended up at Gastro parK, and to my delight Cheesecake Boy had no idea that this place was going to be my choice this year.  It was definitely the first time that any of my surprises have worked in my favour.  The only problem was that Cheesecake Boy's early birthday breakfast turned into a late birthday breakfast, so we were a bit stuffed for our lunch booking much to my dismay.  However, running late stresses me out a bit, so it burned off a few calories so by the time we got there, I was starting to feel slightly hungry again.  It's hard to miss the stunning building that Gastro parK is in, but the only issue was that it was hard to find parking around there.  Nothing was going to deter me though, as I was totally looking forward to our experience.

Raspberry and white chocolate cheesecake

Happy birthday to you...

Sake Restaurant & Bar- The Rocks, Sydney

The first time Cheesecake Boy and I dined at Sake Restaurant & Bar it was one of our date nights and we ended up being rather tipsy after our meal.  Sometimes good law abiding citizens need to let their hair down too, but the problem was that Cheesecake Boy was the designated driver.  However, Cheesecake Boy came up with one of his ideas when he noticed the police station as we were walking back to his car.  Cheesecake Boy decided to ask the police officer to give him a breath test to determine if he was fine to drive home.  The police officer informed us that we were not the first to ask, but they were not allowed to perform the test under the circumstances.  This is how Cheesecake Boy and I ended up taking a nap in our car before heading home.

We really enjoyed our first visit, but wondered if our tipsiness contributed to heightening the experience that we had.  Since then we have been back to Sake Restaurant numerous times and we can confidently say that our initial experience was no fluke.  Sake Restaurant is home to our favourite sashimi in Sydney, and  as sashimi is one of Cheesecake Boy's favourite foods.  This is how we ended up here last Friday to celebrate  the end of the EOFY, but more importantly to kick start Cheesecake Boy's birthday weekend celebrations.  It was meant to be a surprise visit, but Cheesecake Boy can read me like a book at times.