Sydney Beaches

Sydney Harbour provides the city of Sydney and the surrounding suburbs with a wide variety of beaches.

Palm Beach is about an hour drive from Sydney and the most northern suburb.  This is the beach of the rich and famous.  Nicole Kidman vacations here.

Balmoral is a harbour beach with small waves, great for families.  This structure used to be the Surf Club but is now The Bathers' Pavilion, a wonderful spot for coffee or a meal.

internet photo

Manly Beach, a 20 minute ferry ride from The Opera House, is considered to be the jewel of the north shore beaches.   Manly is located on a narrow peninsula, surrounded on three sides by water, it offers both harbour and ocean beaches.  Manly has both a trendy vibe and family atmosphere.  

Eat your heart out Snooki and The Situation.  The Jersey Shore does not begin to compare with the beaches of Sydney.

Melbourne

My weekend in Melbourne has come to a close.  Some highlights of the city...

...the City Circle Tram is free and a great way to acquaint yourself with the city.  The Flinders Street Station is behind the tram.  

Melbourne was one of the world's greatest Victorian cities and examples of this architecture still abound.

Know as the world's greatest sporting city, this complex is home to the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Rod Laver Tennis Arena, Olympic Park Stadium and Hisense Arena.  Footy or Aussie Rule Football is extremely popular here.   

One of my favorite customs in Melbourne is taking an afternoon break for coffee and cake!

Melbourne: The Bay and Mornington Peninsula

I was in Melbourne for the weekend and met up with dear friends I hadn't seen for years.  As it was my first trip to their city, I was given a fabulous tour, acquainting me with history, neighborhoods, foods and particularly the coastline.  

As we were driving, I had to stop and take this photo with the sun illuminating just these boats. The Melbourne skyline is in the dusky background.  

Sunday we drove down the Monrnington Peninsula, to the east and south of Melbourne.  The views were breathtaking.

Jump in, swim south, and you'll wind up in Tasmania.  

Lunch at Merricks General Wine Store Bistro helped me get over the fact that I didn't see any kangaroos or koalas!  

Shopping Sydney

Shopping in Sydney does not need to involve purchases.  It is fun to just stroll through the  glorious edifices.

The Victorian Strand Arcade

This colonnaded building on Martin Place used to house the General Post office but now accommodates high-end shopping and dining venues.

The Romanesque style Queen Victoria Building

It's not Target!  

Dome ceiling in the Queen Victoria Building

The Food Hall in the basement of David Jones department store is much like Harrods in London.  This is a great place to stop for lunch or pick up something for dinner.

Once in a while you've gotta stop for a coffee.  Max Brenner makes a great "cap" and lots of temping chocolate treats.  Click here for the Max Brenner locations in the US.

Many thanks to Amanda Lalique and Steve Braveman for their guest posts this week.

I'm off to Melbourne and I'll be back on Monday to share what I see.

Have a great weekend.

Guest Post: Steve Bakes a Polenta Cake

Hello everyone!  I am very excited to be pinch hitting while Debbie is in Oz (as in 'The Boy from Oz', not the HBO series about a brutal prison).  
My name is Steve Braverman and I currently live in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  My wife and I moved here almost 5 years ago after spending our entire adult life in the Philadelphia area.  We have two grown (more  or less) children (24 year old twins actually) who still live on the East Coast.
My two avocations are fitness and cooking.  Almost every day they battle to a standstill.  I am currently training for a yet-to-be-determined triathlon.  That alone should get me a year of desserts!
One of the great joys about moving to Ann Arbor is to have inherited a wonderful kitchen garden.  The garden has added a new dimension to my cooking.  It makes me appreciate how difficult it is to produce quality food.  
I guess I have always cooked.  My mother was a great cook who never used a recipe and would never explain how anything was actually made.  I was pretty much on my own to figure it out.  My step-sister is a top food professional in the Los Angeles area.  She owns the Westlake Culinary Institute and Let's Get Cookin' in Westlake Village.http://letsgetcookin.com/

I use most recipes for inspiration rather than  step-by-step directions.  Typically I use a recipe to get an idea about ingredients --  what works well together and what cooking techniques work well with the key ingredients.  The sole exception to this casual approach is baking.  I have found that baking does not encourage that sort of freelancing. Not unless you want to produce either a gooey mess or a tooth-chipping, rock hard pastry (Believe me, I have done both!).  If a recipe says 7/8 of a cup, it means 7/8 of a cup!  If it says a "level" 1/4 cup, get the laser out!  If a recipe says a pinch of salt, use it!  Omit nothing, add nothing.  There is an alchemy to baking that defies experimentation.  Errors while baking are punished much more than errors, in say, making stews.  Also, unless your oven has been calibrated by NASA or some scientific governmental agency, use a good oven thermometer.  350 degrees in a test kitchen oven can be 325 degrees in your oven.  It can make a huge difference. 
It is between seasons in the garden. 

 Mostly all the spring plantings have been consumed or have gone to seed.  Strawberries are a pleasant memory for the chipmunks, rabbits and squirrels that ate 75% - 95% of them.   Tomatoes are still several weeks away.  That pretty much leaves herbs and trips to the Farmers' Market.  
When Debbie asked me to guest blog, I had in mind a summer dessert recipe that uses olive oil and a savory herb as a main ingredient.  My "discovery" of olive oil as a main ingredient in a dessert came last year when my wife and I had an olive oil and cucumber sorbet with fresh strawberries at Pramil, a small bistro in Paris.  It was very simple but perhaps one of the most  perfect and memorable dishes I have ever had.
I  have made a polenta cake with olive oil and rosemary.  

The rosemary is from the garden.  I used a course ground cornmeal that gave the cake a lot of texture.  The recipe is by David Lebovitz, one of my favorite authors and food bloggers.  David is the author of many fine dessert books and the davidlebovitz.com blog.  David is a former pastry chef at Chez Panisse.  After a personal tragedy, he relocated to Paris and writes almost daily on cooking and life as an expat in Paris.  I highly recommend his blog especially if you plan a trip to France soon.

I hope you try David's creation.  I made it this Fourth of July weekend and served it with raspberry sorbet.  The raspberry sorbet recipe is from Claudia Fleming's The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern, which is a terrific book by the former head pastry chef at Gramercy Tavern in New York City.  Unfortunately, the book is out-of-print, but may be available at your library.  The raspberries are from the Ann Arbor Farmers' Market.  
We thought  the cake was terrific.  It was not very difficult to make.  It goes well with sorbet, fresh berries or whipped cream.

Polenta Cake with Olive Oil and Rosemary  from David Lebovitz's Ready for Dessert (Ten Speed Press, 2010)
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 cup of unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature
2 teaspoons plus 4 teaspoons of finely minced fresh rosemary leaves
2 tablespoons plus 3/4 cup of polenta or stone-ground yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup olive oil
5 large eggs at room temperature
2 large egg  yolks
1/2 teaspoon almond extract or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups sugar


1. Preheat oven to 350o F.
2. Grease 1 tablespoon of the butter inside a 10 cup Bundt cake or tube pan.   Sprinkle the buttered pan with 2 teaspoons of the minced rosemary and then dust with 2 tablespoons of the polenta or cornmeal, tilting the pan, shaking out the excess.
3. In a small bowl sift together the flour, 3/4 cup of the polenta, the baking powder and salt.  Put the bowl aside.
4. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs, egg yolks, olive oil and almond or vanilla extract.
5. In an electric mixer cream 1/2 cup of butter and the sugar at a moderately high speed until it is entirely mixed and light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure that the sugar and butter are completely combined.
6. With the mixer running at its slowest speed, slowly pour the egg-olive oil mixture , a small amount at a time , until it is completely incorporated.  Stir in the flour-polenta mixture along with the remaining 4 teaspoons of minced rosemary.  Do not over mix.
7. Pour into the prepared pan and bake in the middle of the preheated oven about 40 minutes.  A toothpick or cake tester should come out clean.
8.  After removing from the oven let it sit for about 30 minutes to cool.  Turn out onto a serving plate.

Down Under

I'm having a fabulous time on my vacation to Australia.

My first impression of Sydney is that the city is BIG and the harbour is BUSY.  

Ferries are a fast, efficient way to travel.  The harbour is filled with them.  

Circular Quay is the hub of Sydney Harbour with ferries arriving and departing every few minutes.  It is also the stepping off point for many attractions.  This is a view from the bridge.  

The Sydney Harbour Bridge, a great tourist icon,  links the city of Sydney with North Sydney.  It supports 8 lanes of traffic and 2 rail tracks.  There is also a pedestrian lane and bike lane.  I ran across the bridge and back this morning.  

More from Sydney later in the week. 

 Tomorrow is a great, guest blogger post.  

 

Guest Post: 5 Easy Pieces

Yesterday I introduced you to blogger/stylist Amanda Lalique.  She has graciously written a guest post for today. 
5 Easy Pieces:  Packing for Vacation


LESS is MORE... especially when packing for a vacay.  Personally, I like to be prepared and have options, but I don't want to bring my whole closet.  There's nothing worse than a messy, over packed bag that you can't find what you need.  Here are some of my suggestions for packing light on a trip.

JERSEY MAXI DRESSES that can be worn during the day with flats or flip flops, sunnies and a big floppy hat and at night with wedges and bangles.   These lightweight dresses are my go to for trips.  Throw on a scarf or stack a couple bangles and it's easy chic.
Photo InStyle.com

The Savvy Stylist

TOTE or CROSSBODY BAG... A simple daytime tote that fits all your travel needs or a convenient crossbody purse that can be worn while on the go, is always a good option.

LLBean Tote

Cole Haan Tote

DKNY COZY... Excellent for traveling.  This sweater can be worn in twelve ways.  (there's even a booklet on how to tie it and an IPhone application) Cozies are great on the plane as a blanket or worn as a shawl over your maxi dress at night.  Either way, it will look new and fresh.

DKNY Long Sleeve Cozy

1 Cotton Embroidered Tunic $49.99 Gap  2 Tiny Tucks Tunic $78 Anthropologie  3 Slub Tank Tunic $54 Piperlime  

4 Wave Print Tunic $77 Piperlime  5 Striated Tunic $49.95 Anthropologie

Easy, loose TUNICS and T's.  I love wearing loose tunics over leggings, skinny jeans, or shorts.  They are really comfortable and come in so many thin fabrics that they are perfect for travel.
At night, T's can be dressed up with a cardi and necklace.  You can always pack a few extra because they don't take up much room. 

1 Photo InStyle  2  Photo InStyle  3 Cardigan $49.50 JCrew

1 Wedge Aldo $80  2 Wishbone Sandals KORS Michael Kors $136.50  3 Gladiator Juicy Couture $156  Thong Sandal Guess $34.50

Pretty SANDALS.  Whether you prefer metallics, gladiator, or studded sandals, these are fashionable, comfortable, and easy to pack.  Sandals look great with anything.

MAKEUP.  Less is more when traveling as well.  A golden glow (from a bottle of course.. I prefer Loreal Sublime Bronze gel), a cheekstain (for lips/cheeks), mascara, and gloss is all you need.