From one of my favourite comic artists!

Friday 9th December










Made with Josephine's own salted butter it was very different from the norm! Creamy and salted, with a sweet butterly taste it wasn't very sweet at it! But rather creamy and salty, but not in a bad way, just different. We love the cute paper straws! You don't see those working at the bar. 



Arriving for a late lunch we were drawn to the specials menu, through being quite indecisive and ordered the soup of the day.




I've never had zuchini soup before, and this was delicious! Served hot, as it should always be there was a great balance of flavours that complimented each other. The croutons were baguette slices baked quite hard and painted with olive oil. Perhaps you were meant to soak them in the soup? Super crunchy though almost a bit too hard for me. The serving size was generous for the price and reputation and it was very filling. I love soup, even in summer. 






Everything looks so good... we'll have to save it for next time though, as we're here for the creme brulee. On prices macarons are on the smaller side and $2.70 each, while desserts range from $4 to $7. For the full in-the-glass thing dessert range and descriptions, you can see that here. Isn't it awesome that Josephine delivers? I do hope the office is within range! 


Josephine has a background in floristry and you could see that influence in the macarons with floral flavous like rosewater, orange blossom, and violette. Smoked chocolate sounds great too! So does peppermint dark choc! So many choices, but I can only pick one today.









The brulee is what we're really here for, infusions in creme brulee a twist on a classic french dessert, the one dessert my mother used to make (she's a heath lecturer gone rouge). This is the dessert that we'd served at the wedding, if we weren't already serving wedding cake. 

The rosemary compliments the custard and you could really taste it without being overpowering. Delicious! My only compliant is that it was tiny! Only about 1cm in depth, the least value for money dessert I've ever had. We need more. Please refer to Brulee Cart for the desired serving size. 






To complete the visit to a french cafe we simply must have a macaron! So many flavours... there was a small packet of assorted minis for $10 that I so very much regret not buying. We went for the raspberry pistachio as it was the last one, and a combo I've never had before. 

It was perfect! The texture, the flavours predominately pistachio but with a just a little raspberry jam for tartness. Once again it was small, but oh so delicious! In hindsight we should have taken the picture with a coin for size.





Serve was very friendly, and the bill came to $24-ish for a great lunch, one of the best! We'd love to return occasionally for lunch and dessert! I can see this place being a local favourite, and being packed on the weekend!

They also do high tea, which I look forwards to returning for, for my birthday.

Friday 9th December



Shortly after the was announced that there was relationship between processed meats (think of the meats on your cheese board) including sausages, they all went down except one. We said goodbye to Snag Stand and hello Mr Burger (there's one uphill on Bourke St btw). They've been around for quite some time, as the only food truck in the city till the pop-up food truck park came along. We first had Mr Burger as part of a NAB event, but now we're back!


Open late Mr Burger is perfect for when you want a good burger at a central location, as Royal Stacks in on Collins towards Southern Cross, and Trailer Park is uphill Bourke St (Parliament) and our favourite Huxtaburger lives down in Flinders Lane. That's the league Mr Burger hangs out with, though Hux our king of burgers.





"This is it, the burger that started it all! The classic take on what a burger should be, with freshly ground meat accompanied with cheese, pickles, the perfect combo of sauces and the right amount of greenery."

The classic burger, a soft slightly sweet bun (as most buns are) melts in your mouth with a perfectly cooked patty (though Snaggs Burgers; patty was the best we'e had, up in Geelong) with that melted cheese and the classic combo. Delicious, these are the classic burgers that create the baseline of comparison. 

The mightn't look perfect but they're delicious! This lot comes second to Huxtaburger though they're pretty good when it's 10pm and you don't feel like travelling. We also had chips, at $5 for a regular size they were a bit small. Sauce was extra 50c, which I felt was wrong and should have been free as it wasn't like they had fancy sauces like Grill'd.

Buy till you die, shop till you drop is not only the motto of consumerisum but also the industry I'm in, which depends in spending. In particular buying things you don't need. When it comes to make-up I often find myself wanting spur of the moment things, things I won't use more than once or twice. Like that concealer, it doesn't work unless you actually wear the full face make-up.



While we've always had a running 'want list' to wait till there's a sale, we came across this tip. The three month waiting list. Instead of buying cheap cotton on crap or any modern piece designed for a couple wears we invest in quality pieces. Same with perfume, sleep on it. But not too long, as a perfume I wanted and waited for, well they stopped making it.

Tuesday 5th December


Some days or weeks are harder than others, and this appears to be one of those week. I didn't go dancing yesterday and now regret it. We didn't go as my ankle sometimes aches, when in use. Hence missed the rarely seen morman. We enjoy dancing with morman because he understands personal space and doesn't use a dominating grip. He also wears a lot of perfume, a bit suffocating, but not as bad as BO. It also means that I'm less likely going to have to dance with the iron grip traveler (he has shirts from all the places he's been!), as he's one of the rare guys who comes alone. 

Thursday

Red apple, green apple. Sure they're both apples, but use the wrong one and it'll ruin your dish. We bought tickets for sub but there was a glitch and we got dub!! And so I had that thought on a loop and enjoyed the movie as much as Wicked - I could barely recall it later that very night. 


Your Name. It's magical and amazing. The trailer gives nothing away. You have to see it. 

Also - I don't need to write it down, I'll remember is the biggest lie you're telling yourself. :P

"The New Miyazaki"? "It is currently the fifth highest-grossing film of all time in the country – domestic or imported – behind Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Spirited Away, Titanic and Frozen and the second-biggest domestic film ever, behind the Oscar-winning Spirited Away. It is also the first anime not directed by Hayao Miyazaki to earn more than $100 million (?10 billion) at the Japanese box office."



Friday


By Josephine has been on our to eat list for years! Though located half an hour up north it was a bit travel, until we moved up to North Melbourne. We finally stopped by the week before the move back home. By then they didn't have the lavender creme brulee, as they did back years ago when we heard about them.



Jimmy Grants for a quick dinner, the beetroot salad was a bit basic. Lamb souv as delicious as always though it was really an entree, you'll need two to make a meal.


Tonight we saw 'Your Name' again. I have no idea how time travel works... there characters switch bodies and lives, but her time is 3yrs ago whereas he lives in the present (2016).

We saw both sub and dub. Preferred the dub, though we recommend seeing both sub then sub. There's things you'll only pick up the second time. With translations the American dubbed is much better, the jokes make sense as the words are slightly different. Like in the sub we couldn't tell if her friends were siblings or not. 


A magical story, though one I barely recall (it's just me). But it was good and definitely worth seeing! While the movie isn't online the soundtrack is and Andy has it on repeat!

Saturday Lunch, 3rd December


Another day another party. A lunch out when suburban homes meets the country. Long winding roads, I saw a horse and sheep on the way here! There's buses though being borderline country don't expect them to come often, so do drive.








Alfred Homestead. Country feel, the deco makes the place feel warm with the color theme and farm deco. No pictures because there were too many people, well, we were asked not to include people (not that we were planning to) due to privacy and the likes. Keeping the lens straight down at the food, hence the angles.


We started with soup, vegetable and pumpkin soups with a swirl of cream. We need green stuff for deco. Chives. Stock based with herbs it could have been creamier but still healthy with the use of potatoes. Lightly seasoned it was nice and not too salty, though could have been creamier. The secret to my pumpkin soup is sweet potatoes.



Mains consisted of turkey, beef, pastas, a pasta tasting pastry thing (that was too salty) and roast veggies. Yes this plate is HUGE! The gravy was way too salty, the cranberry sauce watery an hard chewy potato tops not crispy. The meat was good though.

It had a school camp feel (from exactly one experience of school camp where one of the facilitators had a thing for me - I specialize in attracting the wrong sort of attention). Quantity over quality it didn't taste like a restaurant but something else. School camp, in cabins.



We had a huge slice of pavlova for dessert with only a little cream and half a strawberry  (my favorite shop is 60% cream 30% pav and 10% toppings). Served with artificial strawberry sauce and passionfruit that resembled its inspiration more than the strawberry. 



Other options for dessert was fruit salad (no cream) and sticky date pudding with custard.



Soup for entree, massive mains buffet style and an alternative of three desserts. Fruit salad, date pudding and pavlova! You won't leave hungry on this set meal. Over a good meal, that reminded me of school camp. Good for huge family reunions but not so good for those used to good restaurant food.

We had to rush back to the city for the next event so didn't get to explore, though my +1 said this is about it. While it was lovely, I feel like a water feature was missing. Company was fine, though I didn't like conversation. Someone said a wedding here would be nice, what a joke! Though it really does depend on your standards.

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