I'm baaaacckk....

Ok, after desperate entreaties (polite enquiries) from many of my followers (two cousins and a friend from church) I have decided to jump back on the blogging band-wagon. I'm not quite sure how I fell off, because there is plenty to talk/ photograph/ eat/ cook/ write about. I guess I am busy, but no more than pretty much every other person I know. I'm actually surprised that when I went back to my blog, the last post was in December, I feel that I have plenty of things to write about that according to my diary (in my head only...and trolling through old emails) actually happened in November.

And I think that is the crux of the matter - that there is just SO much to write about. And where to begin. Do I start from now and keep going? Or do I look back at my list and try and re-hash (get it? the foodie reference??) the events/ dinners/ circumstances.

I think I will try a combination of the two, and to keep me honest I will put a list here of blog topics that I want to write about (from the recent past).

Events:

Cooking for 20+ for a weekend at craft camp - not just the cooking, but the fun of talking it over with my co-conspirator Michelle, the planning and the shopping.

GingerBread House Decorating - too much fun...and also a little too serious....

Austi Women's Night Out: Food for body and soul - recent cooking demonstration at my church.

Christmas - Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Week before Christmas family Christmas celebration - you get the drift.

An amazing Champagne Hour Champagne Tasting - 4 bottles of top notch champagne, 5 thirsty girls...

Reviews:

So many new restaurants/ cafes opened in the northern suburbs of Wollongong towards the end of last year! All are still open! And there is not really anyone else writing (good) restaurant reviews. Some of the places we've been to:

The Point - new cafe on Point St Bulli - rough review: good

Sea Salt - where Ruby's used to be - rr: not good

Flanagan's - at Thirroul. Have blogged a work lunch but have since been there for dinner and lunch again - rr: great

New sushi place in Woonona (the name escapes me right now...aahh thank you google - it's Sushi Moon) - rr: good with reservations

Gone Burgers - hip & funky beer and burger place in a Woonona laneway (who would have thought Woonona was NSW's answer to Melbourne?) - rr: good

The Bar Next Door to Samuels - aka TBNDS. Where the cool kids go - rr:great

Chedo's - at Coledale. An oldie, but a goodie. rr: good

One on Park at Woonona. Dan's workplace, but it would be good anyway. rr: good

Bon Aroma - had a lovely Christmas get-together with "the girls" with an absolutely hilarious meal. rr: interesting

Berry Sourdough Bakery - on the way to camping - rr: great

The Gelati Clinic, Bermagui - holiday time - rr: fantastic

Mimosa Winery, near Bermagui - luxury lunch - rr: good

Cream, Bermagui - great cakes, great coffee, always the first place we head to - rr:great

Montague Cafe, Bermagui - and I wonder why my nephew-in-law calls us "cafe campers" - rr: good

Cookbook and books about cooks reviews:

I gave, received, read and even compiled some great cookbooks since Christmas, mainly:

The Songs of Sapa- Luke Nguyen

Food Safari - Maeve O'Mara

Meals:

Camping - we had some fantastic meals while we were camping. Including:

Paella

A seafood extravaganza for Nick's birthday

Yum Cha - yes, whilst camping, then repeated a fortnight later...

A birthday breakfast extravaganza

The cooking roster also continues, pretty much without fuss (from me that is). Everyone is starting to get their specialities, which I will let you know about.

Miscellaneous:

Onions vs Shallots vs Spring onions - I think this is what did my head in and made me stop blogging - way too much research...

New Year's Eve on Cockatoo Island- the food was good, but the experience was fantastic

And if you've read this far, my most ambitious idea for the year ahead is a Cookbook Swap. I'm still working on the logistics and the fine print, but I hope to go ahead with it soon. I'm thinking along the same lines as a clothes swap, but am still working on it. Any suggestions gratefully received...

So, sorry there's no photos this time around, I'm on the wrong computer. Please let me know what you would like to hear about first, plus I'll be keeping current - the aim is to blog at least twice a week.

Review: Sugarloaf Patisserie

I generally end up driving to the airport about once a month. It’s just less than an hour on a good run, up to an hour and a half if the traffic’s bad. I usually drive roughly the same route from Wollongong, which sees me turning down President Ave at Kogarah from the Princes Highway.

I started noticing an intriguing looking café over a year ago. Seeing that most of my trips to the airport are for work, I try not to waste too much time getting there and back. But this café on the corner, opposite a service station and next to a delicatessen and dive equipment shop (obviously no relation) kept catching my eye. Was it the restrained, newly painted exterior? The funky pale green chairs around tables out the front? Whatever it was, I decided next time I returned from the airport, I "really needed" a coffee and would stop and check it out.

Isn’t it exciting when you spy a new (for you) restaurant or café, and then when you go in there it meets all the criteria for a “good find”? After that initial visit, the Sugarloaf Patisserie then became a regular stop-off, usually returning from the airport, but also used as a welcome alternative to parking for an extra half an hour at the airport and indulging in some insipid brown liquid from Starbucks.

By the way, [START RANT] what the hell is it with the Macquarie Bank Fun Park also known as Sydney Airport? When picking up Jono and Maddie from the airport last week, I realised that private cars are not allowed to pick up people standing OUTSIDE the airport, waiting WITH their luggage, and in every way READY to jump in a car. There are signs there saying “NO PUBLIC PICK-UP”. What’s the legal alternative? Drive into the carpark, get charged the minimum fee of $7 for the privilege of stopping for 30 seconds? I ended up stopping at the entrance of the taxi rank, feeling very conspicuous and waiting for the travellers as they jogged down the walkway risking (others) life and limbs to reach the car as I frantically waved them over. I would have almost welcomed a security guard or (pseudo) parking officer to come and challenge my right to stop there (not obstructing anyone I must point out) just so I could have given them a “piece of my mind”- an ANGRY piece! [END RANT]

So, obviously needing a calming caffeine fix (is that an oxymoron? Or a sad indictment of my caffeine habit?), we stopped off at the Sugarloaf Patisserie last week.

From the inside, looking out onto the pavement and the cool kids

The interior of the café seats around 15 or so at tables. There’s some decorative coffee bags behind one end of the counter, but it’s the pastries behind the counter and the larger cakes in their own display case that take centre stage.
Sugarloaf Patisserie is owned by an Argentinian couple, who have transplanted the South American delicacies to Sydney. Apart from the sweet treats (I’ll get to them in a minute) they also have pies and sausage rolls plus a variety of empanadas – South American savoury pastries, pastry covering a range of fillings – chicken, meat and spinach & cheese. My favourite is the spinach and cheese – the short pastry enveloping a firm mix of spinach, cheese, garlic and other subtle spices. Very tasty indeed. We haven’t tried the other types of empanadas, but both the meat pies and sausage rolls get a thumbs up from the crew.

Well I had to show you the inside...?

Aaahh, the sweet treats. Let me start with the croissants. They have plain and sugar glazed. Then they have filled – with chocolate, quince, jam or dulce de leche (soft, gooey caramel). Nick had the sugar glazed, I had a quince filled one and took home some more for later – and they were good. Beautifully buttery croissant pastry surrounding the not too sweet quince jam – a great combination.

Sugar glazed croissant

Quince filled croissant

Other treats I have tried are the alfajores – sort of a Wagon Wheel type, chocolate coated biscuit, or a coconut covered alternative. The millefueille and French vanilla slices are a great blend of smooth, vanilla custard and again with the great pastry. Everything in and behind the counter looks amazing – and I nearly forgot about the churros!
I must admit to getting a little bit addicted to churros when I was in Spain a year or so ago. What’s not to like about chewy, yet soft fried doughnuts with liquid chocolate or caramel to dip them into? Yep, I didn’t think you would disagree. No disappointments at the Sugarloaf Patisserie in the churros department.

The coffee is excellent – strong and not too hot. The service has always been quick and cheerful and I can imagine this would be a busy place on weekends, it’s just too good to drive past. One point – they don’t have EFTPOS, but there is an ATM at the service station across the road.
¡Buen apetito!

Sugarloaf Patisserie is located at 37 President Ave, Kogarah. I'm not sure of opening hours, but it was open on the way to the airport (7.00am on a weekday).

Just popping down to the local

Is it me, my teenage and young adult kids, or is it society in general that is embracing café culture as an alternative to the pub culture from the “olden days”(ie anytime before 1990).

The meeting place of choice in our house is The BeansTalk (capitals intended), a local café in Thirroul. We eschew the two pubs in Thirroul and the one in Bulli, to get together to chew the fat (and the delicious caramel kisses) at The Bean – as it’s affectionately abbreviated amongst those in the know.

It has a laid-back coolness about it, veering between nondescript and arty, with regularly changing exhibitions of mostly local artists hanging on the walls. The interior is cool and reasonably spacious, but it’s outside where the cool kids sit – a prime vantage point on the corner of the main road, so that you can see who is walking or driving past and be seen.

The tables out the front used to enjoy a beautiful large shady fig tree that was recently cut down in on-going council work in the area. Now, there are still two smaller trees remaining, the large umbrellas and personal parasols on offer to provide the rest of the shade. Further external decoration is provided by one (or more) Vespas owned by one of the café owners and giving a certain European feel to the café.

Imagine the sexy Vespa, just out of shot, to the right

Café going in our home has moved on from the occasional coffee with friends, or celebratory breakfast, to a place where, if they might not know your name, they certainly know your face and coffee order. The BeansTalk is now the place of choice for a quick takeaway, or a leisurely Saturday morning, as enjoyed by Dan who will start with coffee with a friend before work, join Rick, Allira and I after we visit the library for second breakfast, have a juice with a group of mates and then join Nick & Lauren for lunch when they make their way down.

And so, to the food. They keep it simple for breakfast, with bacon & egg Turkish rolls or scrambled eggs, ham & cheese or plain croissants. For the sweet tooth, there’s French toast dripping with maple syrup, blueberry bagels with cream cheese, banana and honey or fresh fruit salad with yoghurt.

Lunch favourites are deliciously flaky pastry spinach & cheese quiche (pictured), samosas, vege rolls, French “gottas” – open sandwiches with a variety of toppings, mainly vegetable & feta and toasted sandwiches, all served with or without salad.

There are also the ubiquitous banana, pear & raspberry or fruit & nut bread; as well as friands, cookies and caramel kisses (really just old-school caramel slice, cut in rounds).

Mmmm...tasty treats

Freshly squeezed fruit juices are always good, and at the BeansTalk, they keep the glasses in the freezer so that half the glass isn’t filled up with ice-cubes. My favourite juice is apple, orange and carrot. Nick has apple, pineapple and ginger.

The coffee at the Bean is usually pretty good. The mochas are chocolately without being sickly sweet. The temperature is drinkable without burning your tongue. And the service is equally speedy, whether grabbing a takeaway or having it there.

Back to shooting down to your local. I am being tempted by a newly opened café in Woonona – Jaffa, though it is a little further afield. (I mean, I could walk to BeansTalk, just because I don’t, doesn’t mean I can’t…) Cucina in Thirroul is also good – and has amazing salads, which I will talk about in a later post. One on Park down near the beach in Woonona is also great (and also a subject for a later post) – and being on the bike track is very convenient.

BeansTalk is open seven days a week, from early (in time for a commuter coffee during the week) till around 4’ish. It’s on the corner of Lawrence Hargrave Drive & Railway Parade.

So where’s your local? Is it the local pub or a café? Do they know your name or just your coffee order – which is all they need to know!