Saturday 25 April 2009

Easter 2009 round-up

Good Friday hot cross buns

I'll keep this brief as I'm supposed to be meeting best-friend-K at the Nova in an hour. Easter 2009 was delightful, commencing with the traditional Good Friday breakfast of hot cross buns at Mum and Dad's place.

Good Friday hot cross buns

I'd stolen Mamma's scales to weigh out pizza dough ingredients the week before, so she had to guesstimate quantities. They came out fluffier than usual and she was somewhat displeased, but they still tasted fabulous.

Good Friday hot cross buns

Housemate DJ and b-f-K were in attendance, all of us still in recovery mode from the night before. Freshly squeezed orange juice, strong coffee and sparkling wine made the breakfast that much more civilised, and DJ's tales of last night's Epic Cloakroom Fail kept us mightily amused.

Good Friday roses

In the afternoon I went down to Merricks Beach for a spontaneous overnight beach holiday - always the best kind! - at the gorgeous Queenslander beach house our dear family friends P&A have just finished building (we were their first overnight guests). I loved the design of it so much, I felt I had to share photos here on the blog.

MerricksMerricks

One of my favourite features of the Queenslander was the corridor that went around the outer perimeter of the building, with all the rooms nestled in the centre.

MerricksMerricks

It's one storey but there are two pavilions, linked by a stunning circular decking area (with very comfy butterfly chairs).

Merricks

A made mountains of bruschette. A couple of dozen of their friends (they have an extensive social network in Merricks Beach) dropped in late afternoon for a drink, and these were yummed up in no time.

Bruschette

I fell in love with their Sorrentina coffee machine purely for its aesthetic qualities!

Coffee machine

The next morning we went to the Red Hill Bakery and picked up some chicken and chardonnay pies for lunch. On the way back to Merricks we stopped at a roadside stall and picked up a huge bag of fresh juicy cherry tomatoes from a local grower for $3. They made a more than adequate substitute for tomato sauce!

Chicken and chardonnay pie and tomatoes

Then on Easter Sunday we did the big fancy lunch with my Italian grandparents back at Mum and Dad's place. The antipasti included bruschette, soppressa, labne balls, prosciutto and the last of the good figs for the season...

Easter Sunday tableFichi e prosciutto

VERY controversially this year, Mamma announced she'd be making paella instead of the traditional Italian fare, as she and Dad were eager to christen their new paella pan.

Prawns for paella

Nonna inspecting the paella with a hint of distrust. :)

Nonna inspecting the paella

All the paella recipes Mamma had compiled seemed to contradict each other, so she just made up an amalgam recipe that worked an absolute treat. The soccarat (caramelised smoky crust that forms on the bottom of the pan) was soooo yummy!

Paellla

Nonno at ease. After our mains, I was showing my sister Birdie something on my laptop, and Nonno started questioning me about it. He hadn't believed me when I'd told him I could use it to access the internet wirelessly, so I showed Nonna and Nonno YouTube for their first time: Nonno wanted to see the famous speeches of Martin Luther King, JFK and Mussolini, and Nonna wanted to see footage of Domenico Modugno singing 'Volare' at the 1958 Sanremo Song Contest, and Massimo Ranieri singing 'Rose Rosse'. Massimo Ranieri was such a cutie!

Nonno

For dessert Mamma had made a lovely moist chocolate cake with prunes, served with strawberries marinated in Cointreau. Mmmmmm.

Chocolate cake

And to think I sometimes wonder where my overly-dramatic hand gestures come from! :)

Nonno e nonnaNonno e nonna
Nonno e nonnaNonno e nonna

11 comments:

cp said...

OH! Does your mum feel generous with her recipes for chocolate prune cake? Plums in any form are the blomb.

KittyMeow said...

You're so fortunate to have such a gorgeous, food loving family here. :-D I really enjoy the posts of your get togethers with so much yummy, home made food laid out.

Sarah said...

Your grandparents are so cute!

Love the design of that house too - the corridor on the outside reminds me of a cruise ship, hehe.

xox Sarah

claire said...

Hi Cathy - I will get the recipe from Mum tomorrow, and post it here on the blog!

Aw, thanks KittyMeow! I'm never sure whether my readers would be interested in my home-cooked food posts, but glad to hear at least someone is. :)

Sarah: yeah I know, I love them very much. :)

bunchesmcginty said...

So jealous.

JEALOUS!!!

Did you hear?

claire said...

Yes I heard!

Next time I get cake or sugo from my Nonna, I'll try to save you some. :)

Anonymous said...

Your Nonno is adorable. I love his flamboyant hand gestures.

claire said...

Thanks for the comment Anonymous, glad you think he's adorable! From memory these flamboyant hand gestures were something to do with "quel buffone Berlusconi"... :)

Anonymous said...

And he's got good taste too! Permutations of buffoon really aren't used often enough I feel. Especially about Berlusconi!

cp said...

Yo Claire.
I am dead from studying. I don't even care about cake at the moment.
But... may I nag?
Winter will be most deserving of chocolate and prunes together. Dark, soft, warm, I'll make myself drool here. Okay, maybe I do care just a bit.

MikJanvier said...
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