Category Archives: Food and Drink

A New Kind Of Chutney — Yum, Yum!

There are other things that I do besides writing and photography and one of them (occasionally!) is cooking something special. What’s wonderful about making chutney is that you can enjoy those brightly coloured jars of goodness all year long.

We have loquat trees in our back garden here in Australia that are simply groaning with fruit right now. I had never even heard of a loquat tree until we moved to this part of Victoria, so I had to do some research into them. They’re a stone fruit, originally from China. And since ours are 65 years old, they are HUGE and full of fruit!

The birds have been circling the trees, so I decided that I’d better get cracking and use some of that gorgeous orange-yellow fruit before they ate all of it. So I spent hours today chopping and prepping what turned out to be a very spicy chutney. It smells and tastes like it will be worth it!

 

Bowl of loquats fresh off the tree.

 

 

Cut up loquats prior to cooking.

 

 

Chutney Simmering

 

 

Completed jars of loquat chutney.

 

Here’s THE RECIPE!

Now — back to work on some photos. More soon.

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Fabulously Fractured Facades in Metro Melbourne, Australia

We had just moved back to Melbourne, Australia in 2002 and this contentious and expensive cluster of buildings and paved courtyards were completed that same year. I remember the first time I saw Federation Square (now generally known by the shortened title of Fed Square) and it seemed raw, unfinished looking, and very windy at the time. But over the years it has grown on me and I now find it ‘interesting’ if not beautiful.

Housing the NGV Ian Potter art museum, ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image), SBS Television and Radio Broadcasting Centre, and a range of cafes, bars, shops, and other cultural offices, Fed Square continues to provoke a love-hate response from both tourists and the citizens of Melbourne. Click on the first link in the article to read about some of the controversial decisions, negative reviews, and blow-out costs that surrounded this project.

 

The fractured and fragmented facades of the modern buildings at Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia are a sharp contrast to the more traditional structures all around it.

The fractured and fragmented facades of the modern buildings at Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia are a sharp contrast to the more traditional structures all around it.


 
The buildings of Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia contain a cluster of arts organisations, a television and radio broadcasting centre, and several cafes and restaurants.

The buildings of Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia contain a cluster of arts organisations, a television and radio broadcasting centre, and several cafes and restaurants..


 
Another corner of Federation Square in the heart of Melbourne, Australia

Another corner of Federation Square in the heart of Melbourne, Australia


 

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4 Things To Do On A Sunday in Melbourne, Australia

We’ve been back in Melbourne, Australia for a week now, so it was definitely time for one of our favourite pursuits — a day out and about in the city for a few hours of food and culture. Seriously, Melbourne is such a vibrant city that even if it is a gray-sky and gloomy day, if you are bored — you just need to get up and get OUT of the house!

 

Glistening even on a gloomy autumn day, a partial skyline view of Melbourne, Australia across the Yarra River from Southgate.

Glistening even on a gloomy autumn day, a partial skyline view of Melbourne, Australia across the Yarra River from Southgate.


 

Here are 4 things to do on a Sunday in Melbourne.

1. Arrive at your destination without the hassle of finding an overpriced parking place if you travel by train for an easy way around the city. The comprehensive train network makes Melbourne such a joy to travel throughout!

 

Turnstiles inside the Flinders Street Station in Melbourne, Australia

Turnstiles inside the Flinders Street Station in Melbourne, Australia


 

2. Eat a reasonably priced lunch in an eclectic food court inside a beautiful building at Southgate. There are also some wonderful luxury stores and full service restaurants in this multi-level building complex.

 

One of the multi-level entries to the Southgate shopping & dining complex alongside the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia

One of the multi-level entries to the Southgate shopping & dining complex alongside the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia


 
Diners at the food court on the lower level of the Southgate shopping and dining complex in Melbourne, Australia

Diners at the food court on the lower level of the Southgate shopping and dining complex in Melbourne, Australia


 

3. Go to the Sunday Market at the Melbourne Arts Centre to see quality handcrafted art, craft, and food items. The row of glass-overhang-covered artists has an enthusiastic audience each weekend.

 

Sunday Market flag indicating the weekend event outside the Melbourne Arts Centre in Australia

Sunday Market flag indicating the weekend event outside the Melbourne Arts Centre in Australia


 
Artists and craft vendors lined up alongside the Melbourne Arts Centre each Sunday

Artists and craft vendors lined up alongside the Melbourne Arts Centre each Sunday


 

4. Spend an inspiring afternoon at a world class museum — the NGV on St. Kilda Road. There were hundreds of people milling around inside this large art museum, but there was a very happy and relaxed vibe. Autumn leaves were swirling around outside of the beautiful bluestone facade and the people strolling by were dressed appropriately for the cooler temperatures.

 

Autumn leaves falling outside the NGV art museum in Melbourne, Australia

Autumn leaves falling outside the NGV art museum in Melbourne, Australia


 
The current winter blockbuster show at the NGB is Monet’s Garden, a travelling exhibit from France. But since we have seen so many of these works at various venues worldwide, we chose to visit several of the permanent exhibit galleries as well as one special exhibit — Dior and Yamamoto: The New Look

 

Dior sketches from the 1940s post-World War II "New Look" collection

Dior sketches from the 1940s post-World War II “New Look” collection


 
Dior black wasp-waisted dress and black hat from the 1940s post-World War II "New Look" collection

Dior black wasp-waisted dress and black hat from the 1940s post-World War II “New Look” collection


 

The other enjoyable exhibit, in part as an observer of the effect of it on the audience as they either walked by or interacted with it, was Clinamen by Céleste Boursier-Mougenot, a sound and motion exhibit with round white ceramic bowls floating in a round pool of deep blue water. The gentle clink as bowl contacted bowl tinkled pleasantly in the atrium space.

 

Floating ceramic bowls in a pool of water at the NGV art museum in Melbourne, Australia create a ringing sound as each one gently bumps into an adjoining bowl

Floating ceramic bowls in a pool of water at the NGV art museum in Melbourne, Australia create a ringing sound as each bowl gently bumps into an adjoining bowl.


 

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Chew On That In Paris

Quick photo of the day because I’m about to jump countries (again!). We’re leaving on the Eurostar tomorrow from Brussels (lots of photo essays from here in the weeks ahead) tomorrow and heading to London for an overnight before flying to the USA for several weeks.

Today’s photo is an example of the ornate bread that is on offer at a boulangerie in Paris, France.

 

View of a boulangerie window in Paris


 

So while I work on some new articles and do photo editing as I travel — chew on that for now!

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Toast The Tax?

Saw this poster in a window here in Newcastle Upon Tyne in the UK and I thought it was worth following up on. What did it mean? Were toasted sandwiches really going to be taxed on top of the cost of the sandwich?

 

Poster in the window of a shop in Newcastle Upon Tyne protesting the government’s application of a 20% tax on toasted sandwiches!


 

That turns out to be exactly what is happening. As this online e-petition explains, the UK government has decided to apply VAT of 20% onto what is charged for toasted sandwiches even though the other countries in the EU have already done away with it.

What an insane and greedy grab for cash by the government in a time of extreme financial hardship!

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On The Road Again to Newcastle Upon Tyne

Departing Norfolk on Monday, we were back in travel mode as we faced a 5-plus hour drive north to Newcastle Upon Tyne. After (finally!) getting past the ultra-slow two-lane A-roads of Norfolk, we began to see large overhead signs on the motorway indicating that we were headed to (seriously!) “The North.”

After three hours, we were drooping by the time we were just outside York, so we stopped in one of those mega-roadside-rest-stations that has multiple restaurants, a chain hotel, petrol stations, a grocery store, and a bookstore inside. There might have been a lot of traffic on the motorway, but the inside of this large building was amazingly quiet as you can see from the photo below.

 

Food court at motorway rest stop


 

And since when is it necessary to have music-playing games machines right outside of the toilets in places like this? Sometimes having an iPhone to document things is quite handy!

 

One machine in a row of fun-fair type games parked outside the toilets in a motorway rest stop


 

I’ll be posting pictures in the days ahead of our short term renovation assignment here in Newcastle and some tourism articles about places to go and things to see in Newcastle.

Stay tuned!

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Free-Range Eggs in France This Time!

The weekend markets here in the South of France are always a visual pleasure and the one in St. Girons never fails to please. Last Saturday this charming little woman in her bright red hat and her black beret-wearing husband sold us our free-range eggs for the week.
 

Free range egg and poultry sellers at a weekly market in the South of France.


 

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