Showing posts with label eating out. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eating out. Show all posts

Sunday, 19 November 2023

BrisVenture 2023: Day 4: Cranky's Farm

Hang on a minute, you say, where is day 3? On the Wednesday, after two hectic days and several early mornings before they arrived, my fibro came knocking. So they all caught a bus into the city to explore, and I stayed home and watched Buffy and rested.

I needed my rest because the next day I had arranged a private tour of Cranky's Farm, a farm animal sanctuary that I had been to a few times before. We had an incredible tour, and got to meet so many glorious animals. The goats were off doing their own goaty thing in a far paddock, but we met cows, pigs, equines, and birds.

Jonny is one of two mini horses they have at the farm. Both were rescued at separate times, but both had horrific foot conditions. Happily both were rehabilitated, and now they are silly little jerks together. They also have three donkeys as well.

Cranky's Farm


Marley is a tiny calf, only 39 days old, who they rescued and are hand raising. He was so tiny and gentle and sweet. He has been unwell for the last week, so please keep him in your thoughts. They also have a calf there called Fern, a bit older than Marley, who is partially blind but very sassy.

Cranky's Farm


Their big paddock houses a beautiful herd of cows! They were thankfully up the top of the paddock, not down the bottom of the giant hill where the goats were, so we could easily visit with them.

Cranky's Farm


Cranky's Farm


I also got to meet my favourite cow Freckles. I love him. He is typically a shy cow, so when I have been there before for open days he stayed away from the big group. But this time I was blessed with a little sniff and a tiny pat. Thank you Freckles! Isn't he handsome?

Cranky's Farm


Next up was a visit with Lopez, an ex-racehorse. He is beautiful! I love horses.

Cranky's Farm


Lopez was in a paddock with a beautiful giant Moreton Bay fig tree. The rest of us waited under the shade here while Helen trekked down to the bottom of the property to see if she could find their resident platypus who lives in a pond there. She did not have any sightings, but was definitely in a platypus vicinity.

Cranky's Farm


The final cow on our tour to meet was Peggy, who is a lovely girl. She had a femoral head osteotomy for a broken hip after she first arrived. We do that on cats and dogs, I had no idea it could be done on a large cow! She was chilling and snoozing in the sun, and couldn't be bothered getting up for us but was very happy to receive pats and adoration.

Cranky's Farm


We finished by meeting some of the birds they have there, including Gloria the turkey and (not pictured) Frank the duck.

Cranky's Farm


After our tour, we went to a lookout just a few minutes down the road to admire the view and also use the public bathrooms. It was a pretty view!

Mt Mee Lookout


And then we headed to another little park called Cedar Creek, which claimed to also be home to platypi and other wildlife. It was a pretty place, though my ankles absolutely did not want to stabilise on the rocks so I ended up sitting under a tree doing some reading while the others explored. We only saw birds, but birds are still cool, including a kookaburra.

Cedar Creek


Cedar Creek


Then we headed home. We had eaten a decent breakfast before we left, and I had packed some Clif Bars and dried fruit for snacking on, but we found ourselves close to VeganYumm, a vegan bakery, so stopped in to get some treats for a late lunch when we got home. I had a creamy chicken pie (not pictured), which was OK. But I was able to get a naked cinnamon roll, my favourite! I hate it when people ruing a perfectly good cinnamon roll with glaze or icing.

Cinnamon Roll from VeganYumm'


We had a small dinner after our very late lunch, and ordered in some Pizza Hut vegan pizza and vegan cheese garlic bread.

Pizza Hut


Stay tuned for a much more food heavy post from day 5!

Cute Kitty of the Post

Mirabelle


Close up of Mirabelle's little white chest sprinkle, and her whiskers (which are not white but are just shiny in the light).



Thursday, 16 November 2023

BrisVenture 2023: Day 2: Big Pineapple, Cafe Vie, Birthday Cake

Day two of our adventures happened to coincide with my birthday! I had ordered a ridiculous cake for us all to share (Molly and I shared my birthday celebrations last time she was here, even though her birthday was much earlier in the year, so we made it a four way celebration this time). We had to pick the cake up from a place in northern Brisbane, so it made sense to have a little road trip up to the sunshine coast for lunch.

Helen was also extremely excited to find out that The Big Pineapple was not far away from where we were going, so we headed their first. I haven't been here since I was a kid, and it closed for a while, but now seems to have reopened. The pineapple was not as big as I remembered! We took some photos of the pineapple, and then also did some tourist shopping at the little kiosk there, which randomly happened to have a freezer full of mini vegan ice cream tubs! We did not go to the zoo there, obviously. It looks like, according to the website, they are planning on redeveloping the whole area into an event space as well. But for the moment, it is just a fun little roadside attraction.

The Big Pineapple


After this, we headed to Cafe Vie for lunch. We kept up the fancy latte theme from yesterday. Helen and Sharnette both had the Blue Matcha Latte (not actually matcha at all - butterfly pea powder, coconut blossom, ginger) and I had the Little Cin (cinnamon, cardomom, ginger, cloves, coconut blossom). Both were really nice. And pretty.

Blue Matcha Latte at Cafe Vie


Little Cin Latte at Cafe Vie


For lunch, we got some Japanese Curry Fries to share, which were excellent!

Japanese Curry Fries at Cafe Vie


I had the OG Veggs Benedict Croissant (cheesy tofu scramble, spinach, tomato relish, hollandaise on a croissant with added facon and a rosti. Everything was excellent, except for the rosti. They used to make good rosti, but I guess they changed it and now it is not good. But the rest, so nice.

OG Veggs Benedict Croissant at Cafe Vie


I can't remember exactly who got what, but the others got the Crispy Mushroom Parmy Burger and the Crispy Chick'n Parmy Burger, which also had facon, cheese, tomato relish, and herb aioli.

Mushi Parmi at Cafe Vie


Chicken Parmi at Cafe Vie


Molly also got a croissant with cheese scramble to try.

Croissant with Tofu Scramble at Cafe Vie


Afterwards, we went to a little op shop, and then to a lookout area that had a nice view to the ocean.

View from Buderim


Afterwards it was cake pick up and home. We were pretty full from lunch, so we ordered a lighter dinner from Vietfoods Springwood. I had the Tofu Vermicelli Rice Bowl.

Tofu Bun from VietFoods Springwood


And then it was time for cake! I ordered the cake through Brisbane-based vegan caterer Vegood. I wanted something very ridiculous and pretty and pink, and they delivered with this gorgeous three layer vintage heart pink strawberries and cream cake. IT IS SO PRETTY! I got them to put a cat-themed decoration on top.

Birthday Cake from Vegood


And here is an inside shot! Three layers of pink cake, with buttercream and freshly made strabwrry compote between them, covered in cream buttercream. I am not an icing fan, but apparently cream buttercream is less sweet than traditional buttercream or meringe buttercream. It was a ton of icing, but it was good! The best icing! There was also some leftover compote, so they gave me that in a cute little jar to take home.

Birthday Cake from Vegood


Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Boo


Speaking of birthdays, it was Boo's birthday on Tuesday - exactly one week after mine! She turned seven years old.



Wednesday, 15 November 2023

BrisVenture 2023: Day 1: The Green Edge, Sushi

Hello friends! Last week the magical happened, and I had three friends from the US come and stay with me! My friend Molly had come and stayed with me in 2017, but this time she brought my long time Seattle friend Helen with her, plus new friend Sharnette. Helen and I have known each other for just over ten years, ever since she slid into my DMs on my second visit to Seattle and we had dinner. I have since visited her there twice more, including staying with her during my final visit, but it has been EIGHT YEARS since we have seen each other, and for her to be here in my hometown was incredible! They arrived early Monday morning, and I picked them up from the airport. I also saw these two coming through customs.

Dinos at the airport


After initial pick up, it was home for them to all have a shower (it was a long flight, made longer by delays) and get situated. Then we headed out for some food and vegan shopping at The Green Edge (see my previous posts about The Green Edge here). We ordered a lot of food! And some very fun drinks. Including the Strawberries & Cream Frappe for Sharnette, colourful lattes (turmeric for me, matcha for Molly, beetroot for Helen) and Helen also got a Salted Caramel Milkshake.

Strawberries and Cream Frappe at The Green Edge


Turmeric, Matcha, and Beetroot Lattes at The Green Edge


Salted Caramel Milkshake at The Green Edge


Lunch started with some chips and some Buffalo cauliflower wings.

Fries and Buffalo Cauliflower Wings at The Green Edge


Helen was committed to trying Australian things while she was here, so she got the Origin Burger (it has beetroot, which makes it Australian), where as Molly and Sharnette for the VFC Four Piece Meal and the VFC Burger respectively. I had the Mac & Cheese with a side of turkish bread. Sharnette also got the Truffled Mac & Cheese to try and take home for later.

Origin Burger at The Green Edge


VFC Four Piece Meal at The Green Edge


VFC Burger at The Green Edge


Mac & Cheese at The Green Edge


Truffled Mac & Cheese at The Green Edge


After lunch, some shopping was done at The Green Edge for fun things. Then I took them to our two major supermarkets, Coles and Woolworths, so they could see and buy some of the vegan things we have available here. It was a pretty fun shopping trip!

After that we headed home for a very relaxed evening and early night. For dinner we ordered in some vegan sushi from a place called Sushi Too: Mini Tofu Rolls, Mini Avocado Rolls, Mini Pickle Rolls, Tofu and Vegetable Rolls, Inari, and Seaweed salad.

Vegan Sushi from Sushi Too


I am very excited to share our adventures and food with you from the week. Can't believe it is already over. At least I can relive the magic through blogging!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Eloise


One of the joys was introducing my girls to my friends! Eloise is pretty shy when you first meet her, and it took her a few days to fully warm up, but she was much admired. Obviously.



Sunday, 20 August 2023

Eating Out: Brisbane Vegan Twilight Markets July 2023

Hello everyone, how are you? What have you been up to? I have suddenly become deeply into women's soccer in the last week, thanks to the Matildas being incredible in the FIFA World Cup, which was held in Australia this year. I caught their match against France, and it was so intense. And even though they didn't win their next two games, they still made it to fourth place in the world, and incredible achievement! Anyway, I'm a sports gay now, or something. Yay Matildas!

This post is about another visit to the markets! This was my most recent one, I didn't go this month because work got in the way. The July one was very special, because my brother was visiting from Spain! And we went together. Sadly, he had made the cardinal mistake of having a late lunch, which is not what you do when you are going to go to the markets! But some good food was still had.

This market was the week after Taylor Swift tickets went on sale (and swiftly - heh - sold out) in Australia, and a few days after the release of Speak Now (Taylor's Version), so Pippa's Pantry went all out with a Taylor Swift theme! Pippa's Pantry is a cupcake stall where I often buy something for my mum, as I am not a cupcake person. But I couldn't resist getting a Lavender and Earl Grey Haze cupcake: an earl grey cupcake filled with earl grey custard and topped with sparkling lavender icing. And it was really good, miraculously the icing was not super sweet. I also got a Chocolate Goes All Too Well With Caramel Cupcake for my mum, complete with a little red fondant scarf. All the cupcakes had fun names based on Taylor songs, and were decorated beautifully.

Lavender Haze, All To Well, Iced Vovo from Pippa's Pantry (Taylor's Editon) at Brisbane Vegan Twilight Markets


I also couldn't resist a 'We Hate Jake' sugar cookie, because it made me laugh.

Sugar Cooking from Pippa's Pantry (Taylor's Editon) at Brisbane Vegan Twilight Markets


Cupcakes bought (there was a super long line, so we went there first), next stop was some savouries from Vegetabelle, where we got their new special - potato rosti with smoky beans and cheesy sauce. It was a chilly night, and this was perfect colder weather comfort food. Vegetabelle always hits it out of the park.

Rosti with Smokey Beans and Cheese Sauce from Vegetabelle at Brisbane Vegan Twilight Markets


We also go the Potato Crispy Tacos from Holy Taco, which were three crispy rolled tacos filled with mashed potato and topped with assorted things like guac, salsa, and sour cream. Very good.

Potato Crispy Tacos from Holy Taco at Brisbane Vegan Twilight Markets


Not pictured, we got some steamed BBQ buns from Oh Mien. And then we were going to finish up by sharing a toasted sandwich from Miso Toasty, but they had just had a huge order and it was going to be a 30 minute wait, so we decided to skip that and head on home. Not before stopping by Vegetabelle again though to pick up my favourite market treats - Lemon Meringue Tart, Apple Crumble Cheesecake, and Rosewater Raspberry Blondie.

Apple Crumble Cheesecake, Lemon Meringue Tart, Rosewater Raspberry Blondie from Vegetabelle at Brisbane Vegan Twilight Markets


Tonight I guess I am staying up to watch the finals of the FIFA Womens World Cup between Spain and England. I am going for Spain, not because England beat Australia but because my brother lives in Spain as his partner and her family are Spanish. Have you discovered something new and unexpected that brings you joy recently?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Eloise


I went to say goodnight to Eloise the other night and found her sleeping here... on top of one of my bookshelves. I guess she thought she was a nice addition to the display, which she was. Let's be real, she's be best centerpiece I could think of.



Sunday, 6 August 2023

Eating Out: Brisbane Vegan Twilight Markets (June 2023)

Hello, it is Sunday. I spent the last few days miserable with a stomach bug, but it seems to be slowly improving now. I hope you have all be well. When I am in a normal blogging rhythm, I would do a recipe round-up on a Sunday, but I just didn't feel like it, so I am doing another vegan markets instead. That may not seem like a big deal, but when your brain makes up arbitrary but very rigid rules for life, being able to alter them to what I feel like doing withouth my brain spiraling is pretty major. Hurrah for tiny steps. Anyway, you are not here for brain talk, you are here for food!

Let's jump back in to some of the twilight vegan markets, this time for June. It is nice in winter months because they sun is pretty much gone, though it is nippy! But you get lovely early sunsets.

Sunset at Brisbane Vegan Twilight Markets


I went with my mum, and we shared a bunch of things. First up we split another okinomiyaki from :D Select, this time topped with eggplant, tonkatsu sauce, and miso mustard. So good, but again so filling, so it was nice to share this.

Okonomiyaki with Eggplant, Tonkatsu Sauce, and Mustard Mayo from :D Select at Brisbane Vegan Twilight Markets


We also stopped by Oh Mien and got some BBQ buns and some Fried Chicken with Plum Sauce. The fried chicken was cauliflower, and was really nice. As someone who can only eat a little bit of fried food before feeling sick, it was again lovely to have something to share with!

Fried Chicken with Plum Sauce and BBQ Buns from Oh Mien at Brisbane Vegan Twilight Markets


We finished up with the Duck Tacos from Holy Taco, which were excellent. These has BBQ duck, cucumber, carrot, coriander, salsa, and tomatillo sauce. These were such a great combination of flavours, I do recommend.

Duck Tacos from Holy Taco at Brisbane Vegan Twilight Markets


My mum got some pretty cupcakes from Pippa's Pantry to take home.

Cupcakes from Pippa's Pantry at Brisbane Vegan Twilight Markets


And I got some sweets from Vegetabelle. I was just getting some of my favourite lemon meringue tarts and some smores cookies, but then I saw they had apple crumble cheesecake (which I verified did not have any coconut oil or coconut cream in it) and raspberry rosewater blondies, so I had to get one of each. Everything was incredible, as it always is from Vegetabelle. That make gluten free food taste not gluten free.

Lemon Meringue Tarts, Apple Crumble Cheesecake, Rasperry Rosewater Blondie, Smores Cookies from Vegetabelle at Brisbane Vegan Twilight Markets


Hope you are all hanging in there.

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Eloise


Today is Eloise's one year adoptiversary! One year of the sweetest biggest tenderhearted tiny baby, one year of the bunniest of butts, one year of legs everywhere. I hope the universe is kind and gives us many more years together.