Monday, July 25, 2011

The Beautiful Produce of Rural Australia Comes To The Beach House


I know this a coastal blog about lifestyle and design on the Northern Beaches of Sydney Australia, but Sydney has just gone through it's wettest July since 1959.....so the thought of getting out amongst it on the coast just didn't wash with me this week past.  So on the back of your lovely responses to my story about our trip to the country last week,  I wanted to tell you what we did with all the produce we bought there.


But I need to back ground you first........Mr Beach House has now finished installing our new driveway and roof.....which I can tell you came in real handy in last week's down pour.  Mr Beach House seems to be lucky like that.  We have more rain in one week than we've had since 1959 and we just happened to replace our leaky roof last month.  Yeah!!!!  And the driveway replacement could have been scheduled for that rainy week but no, it was scheduled to start two weeks before, which it did and to say it was completed the day before the down pour began, is no under statement.  But as usual I digress,  lets just say that Mr BH has been hanging out to show off his drive way and new roof to anyone who is interested.  And for some reason, that is completely beyond me, lots of men are!!!!!  I mean it all looks better yes, but to me it looks like it has always been there so I don't see the big deal really.



Anyway, he has been suggesting we invite our good mates Darrin and Suzi over for some weeks now to see the new roof.  I love seeing these guys as well, but this is usually how the preparation for any entertaining we do at the Beach House goes.  Whilst I spend the whole day preparing the food, cleaning the house and looking after the Beach House Brats, he goes sailing. Now that's not a great deal is it?  He bids me adieu with a peck on the cheek and with promises of his early return in time to help.  Yeah right!!.....The reality is that he waltzes in five minutes before the guests are due and messes up the bathroom, I have spent loads of time, cleaning to within an inch of it's life.  The one job I can always rely on him to do though, is to sweep the deck....even if it is as the guests are walking through the gate.


So last Saturday it was situation normal.......My baby gal and I made some bread....so that was simple and the idea was, we were going to load this up with produce from River Flats Estate in Broke.

As for Mr Beach House,  at least I was prepared for what was coming I thought, so I didn't touch the bathroom and asked him to clean it as he walked through the door, but he got me again. He had showered at the yacht club, so he never went near it and I ended up giving it a quick swizzle before our guests arrived. He's so naughty!!!!


 As for River Flats Estate, they have a wonderful olive grove and all the produce is made locally so food miles are not an issue here.  And it was very good.  We had dukkah, tapenade and olives marinated in thyme.  Yummo.


The olive oil was just a lemon infused one I had in the pantry.  It's one of my secret salad ingredients which you can read about here if you like.  We also had some brie, but by the time I took this photo that was all gone.



Our friends came bearing gifts


Some lovely shell art which was incredibly generous.  This will be hanging on the deck by Spring, as I need to do some serious styling out there before the weather warms up.


The wine was superb.  I mentioned Krinklewood Vineyard in a post here and I have to say the wines we picked were fabulous.  The Krinklewood late pick Semillon is labelled as a desert wine, but we had it as an aperitif and it was delightful.  It was truly sun kissed and as I swallowed, I could just about taste every ray.....boy it was good.   I am not really a white drinker but the Verdelho was also superb I am reliably informed.  Our friends had another engagement so we didn't open the Champagne......but I can say it wont last long.


As for the vineyard at Krinklewood, if you are ever in the Hunter you have to go.  This one is in a class of its own.  The buildings have to be seen to be believed.  The owners are actually builders and nothing has been spared to give this place a beautiful rural, colonial and French inspired feel!!!!  I never miss a chance to go there and am always blown away when I do.  There are no crowds and you can drink your wine in the court yard with a cheese platter available for purchase at the cellar door. 




I just adore walking around this place drinking it all in.


The homestead is wonderful and you can see a better shot of it here


Even the peacocks have great taste. They were not purchased by the owners, but just decided to nest on the property. The organic and bio dynamic nature of the farming practises here, may have had something to do with their arrival.










So our week started out well, drinkies with good mates who spilled the beans about their latest trip to Italy, all washed down with some brilliant wine and a few laughs.  I also hope you  have a fabulous start to the week dear reader.  The Beach House has been very sleepy for the last three weeks and I can gladly say that Cadel Evans winning the Tour de France, means we can all get some sleep around here.  I will miss the passing French scenery though.  I do believe, the Tour de France beaming into our living room each night, from my beloved France is the best thing about July in Sydney.
Today I am linked up with

23 comments :

  1. I feel like a glass of wine....

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  2. Looked fun! My favorite - your bread kneader photo!
    xo Cathy

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  3. Hi, I hopped over from BNOTP. Love all of your photos. So fun to have friends visit. I can really relate to your hubby story. Your little bread making helper is a doll. The food sounds yummy, not sure what the first two were. I love green olives and Brie. Gotta tell you, I love that tin rooster. I'm dying to make one. Glad I came by!

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  4. What wonderful photos. The winery is gorgeous. Love the peacocks. That huge round basket hanging on the wall is fantastic. I wonder if they sell that wine here. I will have to look.

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  5. Gorgeous place! Great photos!

    I love your blog and your sidebar home photos are lovely!

    Am your newest follower, too! I've got to get to bed!~
    Thanks for visiting - and - I don't know what they do for hurricane/cyclone season --- lots of prayers and evacuations and rebuilding thru the years...

    Best Wishes,

    Linda
    beachside cottage

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  6. I adore the photos of the bull and the pumpkins, the vineyard looks spectacular and the car reminds me of Bonnie and Clyde! :D Great post as always!

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  7. Great photos! I am stopping by from HomeSavvyAtoZ.com and returning the blog love! I am your newest follower! Thank you for the plant stand kudos and I look forward to blogging with you!

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  8. Wow, what great photos and such a beautiful place. Love it. Wish I was there. Thanks so much for linking to TTT. Hugs, Marty

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  9. I LOVE your photos! Stunning! They make me feel as if I were there ... thanks for the brief getaway! Visiting from Kirsty Girl. Deb @ RaisingFigureSkaters.com

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  10. Aw thanks Deb! hehe...

    So I clicked on the link to say thank you for linking up and found myself rereading this post because I love it so much! :D Never done that before!

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  11. What wonderful photos!! I LOVE the cow! I had to make sure it was not a painting!

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  12. Loved this post, you have a nice writing style and can take a good picture too!

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  13. Awesome tour, fabulous photographs. I love the sidebar with your home photos. Thanks for sharing, I'm visiting over from NMH open house party.

    ~Emily
    The French Hutch

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  14. Carolyn, The winery is beautiful! What a wonderful place to sit outside and enjoy a glass of wine and a cheese tray. Than you for linking to the Open House party.
    xo,
    Sherry

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  15. Well, thank you so much for posting those gorgeous pictures of the winery. I am getting old...I don't think I will get to make it to Australia in person (although it is on my "bucket list") so seeing your pictures is a real treat.

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  16. I really enjoyed the visit! And I'm longing for a great glass of wine! *winks* Some good drinkies and great mates make for a perfect day! Vanna

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  17. Hi Carolyn, Nice to meet you. Your blog was a real treat to visit. Loved reading about your company and the winery trip. ~

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  18. I am visiting via Romantic Homes.

    What wonderful images!

    Have a happy weekend!

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  19. What a beautiful place, love those peacocks!
    New follower!
    XXX Ido

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  20. So beautiful~ a very inspiring and lovely post! Thanks for sharing at FNF :)

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  21. Carolyn,
    What a beautiful vineyard. Thanks for giving us a tour! Thanks for linking it with Home Sweet Home!
    Sherry

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  22. WEll I might not be able to actually visit Australia but looking at your pics sure helped. I love to travel and would so love to be able to see Australia. I've read books about when it was first being discovered and occupied by the British and some Americans. I'm part gypsy so traveling is one of my loves. Have never gotten to go off this continent but would sure love to. Getting to look at your pics makes we daydream. Ah to be rich, yeah right. It's fun to wish and dream tho.
    Your little girl is so cute and so busy kneading that bread. I'd love to be able to print out the pic of that cow. It was great.
    Thaks so much for sharing your life.

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