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Sarah Cooks: The Unblogged Files: July 2015
Unblogged

The Unblogged Files: July 2015

8/04/2015 09:40:00 PM

Hey Hey! It's time for my July Unblogged Files! Hooray! July wasn't quite as crazy as June, but it was still full of foodie fun!

Let's start with breakfasts. The avocados are back! This month it's the bacon variety - these are small avos with a very thin skin and a lovely creamy texture. You'll also see the subscription has increased from six to twelve per delivery - eep! Luckily my friend Amelia took six off my hands, so there was no wastage! I have no idea how I'm going to cope this summer when it's the giant Reed variety. Guacamole and avocado cake for all! But for now, avocado on toast. Yay.

Avocados!

There were also açaí bowls and smoothies...

Açaí bowls, smoothies

...and one weekend I made madeleines for breakfast. Love these.

Madeleines

Here are some homecooked meals. The focus was clearly on comfort food!

Top left: Pork sirloin, veggies, brown rice & chickpea pilaf
Top right: Taiwanese meat sauce on rice
Bottom left: Lasagne
Bottom right: Vegetable and lentil soup

Top left: Teriyaki steak on rice
Top right: Salmon, rice, veggies
Bottom left: Baked pasta with eggplant and meat
Bottom right: Mashed potato patties, sauerkraut

Lots of lunches out this month...

Top left: Baked pork chop on rice with cheese and curry sauce, Shophouse Kitchen QV
Top right: Kimchi chicken bento with cheese, CJ Lunch Bar (Hardware St, Melbourne VIC 3000)
Bottom left: Beef Pho & sugar cane drink, Pho Nom Emporium
Bottom right: Souvas & feta chips, Jimmy Grants Emporium

Top left: Nando's!
Top right: Half Kay's chicken half curry chicken, Hanaichi QV
Bottom left: Spiral cheese and spinach borek, Borek Bakehouse, (481 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000)
Bottom right: Kimchi pork and rice, By Korea (11/222 La Trobe St, Melbourne, VIC 3000))

Also quite a few breakfasts out this month...

Top left: Smashed Avo and arepas at Hash Coffee Roasters (113 Hardware St, Melbourne VIC 3000)
Top right: Banana pecan muffin at Alice Nivens (13/228-236 Flinders St, Melbourne VIC 3000)
Centre: Pain au raisin & ham and cheese croissant at Plantation (Shop 253, level 2, Melbourne Central)
Bottom: Eggs Benedict & Spiga Special at Spiga (360 Elizabeth St, Melbourne VIC 3000)

And quite a lot of sweet treats! Treat yo self!

Top left: Hot Choccy & Salted caramel tart at Sisko Chocolate (330 Auburn Road, Hawthorn VIC 3122)
Top right: Short Stop Donut!
Middle left: Messina!
Middle right: Vanilla slice from Le Paul (409 Whitehorse Road, Balwyn, VIC 3103)
Bottom: Cupcake Central!  

I attended a few events in July...

There was the launch of Stoke Bar and Kitchen (7 Alfred Place, Melbourne VIC 3000)... this was a fun night hanging out with my friend Jenni, with a few champagnes and more than a few delicious Kilpatrick oysters made with spicy chorizo.

Kilpatrick Oysters, Stoke Bar and Kitchen

There was also the sugar-fuelled launch of Alison Nelson's Chocolate Bar New York in Emporium (Shop 136 / 287 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne VIC 3000). I loved the salted caramel cupcakes, the chocolate fountain, and the peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.

Alison Nelson's Chocolate Bar NYC

And finally, there was the ridiculously indulgent annual oyster night at Rubira's (480 Victoria Street, North Melbourne,Vic, 3051). The night included unlimited drinks and unlimited freshly shucked oysters. Wahey!

Oysters and Champagne!

Clockwise from top left: Oysters mornay, champagne oysters, scallops, tempura oysters

Now, I'm not a huge drinker (well, certainly not a frequent drinker!), but in addition to those events, I made a few sneaky bar visits this month.

Top left: Espresso Martini and free aperitivo at Merchant (495 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000)
Top right: "Me Love Oolong Time" at Monkey King Bar (Melbourne Central)
Middle right: Spiked Apple Marie & a mocktail at Goldilocks Bar (4/264 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000)
Bottom: French 75 and Congac Pate, Romeo Lane (1 Crossley St, Melbourne VIC 3000)

It was my mum's birthday in July! As her gift, we took her for dinner and a show. It was Japanese food at Miyako (Upper Level Southgate, Southgate Melbourne, Southbank VIC 3006), followed by the fantastic fun of Ballet Revolución. I can't recommend Ballet Revolución highly enough - it's a Cuban ballet crew dancing to contemporary Latin pop music. Love it! Miyako was also a good pre-theatre option - their bentos came out quickly and were well-priced and tasty.

Beef Bento - $25.50

We also had a family dinner at The Atlantic in Crown for her birthday, which was excellent, as always. Here's my starter - warm crayfish tail, scented with star anise, citrus marmalade, sweet potato and a salad of seasonal sea vegetables. Lovely!

Warm crayfish tail scented with star anise, citrus marmalade, sweet potato and salad of seasonal sea vegetables - $30

And on the actual day itself, we celebrated with traditional Malaysian Chinese mee swa noodles, and tarts from T by Luxbite. (The red cross on the hardboiled egg is for good luck!)

Mum's Birthday Noodles

I totally love T by LuxBite tarts! I think they're even better than Burch and Purchese.  Now we totes wanna go to their original cafe, LuxBite in South Yarra and do a huge brunch. Who's in?

T by Luxbite Tarts

We had a joint celebration for Sandra and my friend Adri's birthday at Artusi (1/3 Southgate Ave, Southbank VIC 3006). My favourite dish of the night was this incredible deconstructed white chocolate and rhubarb cheesecake.

Deconstructed white chocolate and rhubarb cheesecake

We also had a work team dinner at Teatro (Southbank Promenade, Tenancy A Hamer Hall). This was a great evening, and I loved the pizzas and the jamon and manchego croquettes. Totally want to go back for dinner again!

Teatro

Sandra and I took a little winter weekend getaway to Hepburn Springs. It was a super relaxing weekend - wine, cheese, fireplace and relaxation! Heaven.

Cheese, salami, prosciutto, bread, strawberries

And here's a photo of the ridonculous waffles we had for breakfast at Red Star Cafe (115 Main Road, Hepburn Springs, VIC 3461). They were super crunchy and fluffy waffles, served with real maple syrup and topped with All Of The Bacon!

Waffles and Bacon, Red Star Cafe

One night, we had some friends over for a German food and games night! We made a giant Wurstplatte - Frankfurters, Knackwurst, Weisswurst, Kassler, Bratwurst and Sauerkraut - plus Kartoffelbrei (mashed potato) and Rotkraut (red cabbage). There was also beer. And cheesecake. And Guitar Hero. And Cards Against Humanity. Such fun!

Wurstplatte!

And finally, we took our friend Alaina for dinner at Merricote (81 High Street, Northcote VIC 3070). It was a fantastic dinner! I'll blog the dinner in full, but for now please enjoy this picture of their gorgeous 'Hooiberg' (haystack) dessert - pear, hay-infused ice-cream, oat crumble and ontbijtkoek (Dutch spiced breakfast cake).

Merricote's 'Hooiberg' dessert

Plans for August? We're off to Germany! Looking forward to summer days, beer, and All Of The Bread! YAY!

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1 comments

  1. Love your Unblogged Files - Germany sounds exciting, can't wait to see some blog posts after your trip! I want to visit Alice Nivens Café and Plantation for coffee now, Mister and I have booked a weekend in October in Melb CBD and I'm going to scour your blog for some nice eat inspo for it!

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