How to make white chocolate mini pavlovas

Now we've finally moved into our new house and have a dining room table that seats more than two people comfortably it's been fun to have friends around for dinner.  The way it usually goes is that I'm in charge of cooking and Meat-and-Three-Veg is in charge of washing up.  Every time before dinner he complains about the amount of dishes that I have managed to use in preparation but once he's eaten everything he's usually pretty happy.  Friends came over the other night and after following tradition by using every dish in the kitchen for the main meal I made a pretty simple dessert - mini versions of a white chocolate pavlova.

48 hours in Bright: Gourmet Chick in the High Country

At the foot of Victoria's mountains and with a river winding its way through the town, Bright has been a holiday destination for years.  After visiting some of the region's wineries last year, attending the High Country World's Longest Lunch just outside Bright was a great excuse for Meat-and-Three-Veg and me to spend a bit more time in Bright itself.   Our accommodation and some meals were provided by Tourism North East and the rest of the meals we paid for ourselves.

The Rail Trail Cafe just outside of Bright

Huxtaburger opens in the city

I didn't ever think I would miss the feeling of being hungover.  That queasy sensation and the pounding headache is no fun at all but it does give you a great excuse for a burger, fries and a coke.  My current state of non-hungover existence meant I had no good reason to rush into Huxtaburger as soon as it opened its doors in the city. But it's testament to Huxtaburger's burgers that I did.  They are still brilliant even when you are fresh as a daisy.

Huxtaburger has opened in the CBD

How to make lemon cheese cake filled easter eggs

Easter is such a great excuse for baking and eating generally.  I find the few days off work give a bit of time to get in the kitchen and after all this is a holiday where you are given licence to eat as much chocolate as you want.  One of my favourite guilty eating pleasures over Easter is Cadbury Creme Eggs.  I love that they look like a normal easter egg and then you bite in and there's more... a delicious and super sweet filling inside.

The finished filled cheese cake eggs

Melbourne's best ice-cream

It's a little known fact that I once worked in an ice-cream shop for all of about three hours.  That's as long as I lasted in what was back breaking work bending over the ice-cream tubs and using every arm muscle I had to scoop out the ice-cream.  So lets just say respect for people who work in ice-cream stores.  As for those who actually make the ice-cream, my adventures in ice-cream making at home have already taught me there's a high level of skill that goes into it.

How to make tomato passata

Patrizia Simone is a genuine food legend and after making her name through establishing and running Simone's Restaurant in Bright and writing a cook book she has now set up her own cooking school.  I was invited to attend a class there which was being run as part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival program 'Pomodoro in all their glory'.  Yes a whole class devoted to tomatoes, bliss.  Patrizia has the most lovely, warm personality and attending the cooking class which is held in a purpose built kitchen in her home, feels like being invited into the Simone family for the day.

High Country World's Longest Lunch: Gourmet Chick in the High Country

Take five chefs, 150 diners, 500 plates and a whopping 1,300 wine glasses and you've got the High Country's World's Longest Lunch.  I'm a big fan of the region after exploring Beechworth and the King Valley last year so jumped at an invitation to to head to the North East of Victoria again for the regional weekend of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.  The lunch was held at the spectacular setting of Boynton's Feathertop Winery just outside of Bright.  The winery has a long terrace that runs along one side, shaded with vine leaves and with sweeping views over the vines and to Mount Buffalo.  Meat-and-Three-Veg and I turned up and grabbed a glass of Dal Zotto prosecco to start before sitting down at the long table that ran under the vines.

Sitting down to lunch