Symphony in the Domain

After observing and learning from last week's mistakes, this time we came fully prepared for Symphony in the Domain. Much to the bitching and whining by SOME PEOPLE (aka Gus da Bus) about how we over packed etc etc, we had an absolutely fabulous time. The champagne was chilled and the food was packed. We opted to stay closer to the city side of the Domain this time, positioning ourselves about 10m from the road making for an easy exit later.

We laid down the picnic rugs and then the unpacking began. Most important thing of course, was the food!

Clockwise: Quince paste, Hungarian STYLE salami, prosciutto, crisp crackers, Walnut cheese, King Island Camembert, Water crackers, Duck with sherry and peppercorn pate (centre)

Since Gus da Bus couldn't get us any Hungarian Salami, I had to go to a local deli and get some Hungarian STYLE Salami. Whats the difference? According to Gus da Bus, if its not from Hungry, its Hungarian STYLE Salami, NOT Hungarian Salami. So let me say this, Gus da Bus, I like Spanish Salami more. Wait, sorry, I like Spanish STYLE Salami more. You're just going to have to live with it next time we have a picnic, unless you BYO Salami. Wait.....err......you know what? That was just too easy.

Anyway, the quince paste was beautiful! It was sweet and sticky and very jammy. Unlike the jelly type you can get out there where you cut them into cubes, this one was spread onto the cheese. MmmMmm

The Duck pate was pleasantly sweet, which we assumed was the sherry coming through. The taste was a bit more mellow than normal pate, but was soooooo nice! I think I ate over half of the pate! The Walnut cheese was quite nice. The texture really reminded me of a smoked dutch cheese we buy, except that that it was missing the smokiness. The crunch of the walnut was a wonderful contrast. Meanwhile, the Camembert had a thicker skin, but the inside was soft and gooey and went perfectly with the quince paste.

I also made some marinated grilled vegetables so we weren't just eating cheese. I love cheese, but when I eat that much cheese and pate all at once, it feels very unhealthy and fattening. The vegetable was supposed to make me feel less guilty! hehehehe We also got a tub of Chilli cashew and Parmesan dip. A glass of champagne and a nice chunk of vienna bread, smothered with the dip with a slice of salami on top is heavenly!

With that we had rockmelon and prosciutto as well as some grapes to cleanse the palate between the cheeses.

And just incase we weren't full on all the antipasto, I made some roasted Chicken Stegosaurus Drumsticks.

Originally I had planned on making something fruity and something chocolaty for dessert. I was going to make some chocolate dipped apples and some chocolate truffles, but as I was making the truffles, I completely read the recipe wrong. I somehow ended up doubling the cream and only using about half the chocolate. (Note to self, use ingredients from ONE RECIPE ONLY). So instead of having truffles, I ended up with a chocolate ganache. So to keep with my fruity and chocolaty plan, we cut up some fresh and crunchy green apples, and smothered it in my chocolate ganache. There was plain chocolate ganache and coffee ganache. I usually don't eat chocolate, but the ganache wasn't very sweet, and because we kept it chilled, it was wonderfully light. I ended up scooping the ganache out with crackers! Perfect with our Ernest Hill Silver Moon dessert wine.

MmmMmm Chocolaty goodness......

At about 6-7pm, the placed started to get very crowded. Luckily we were sitting near the edge of the domain whilst most of the people tried to squeeze in amongst the crowd as much as they could.

And I am soooooooooo glad we were away from the bats this time!!

The 30 degree day and quickly turned into an 18 degree night. Thinking it was going to hot all night, we started freezing our asses off. Me and P walked back to my office, which was only 10mins away to grab a jumper and some supplies. By the time we got back, we had missed out on the first 30mins of the concert and it was pitch black. This is when we pull out the glow sticks! Yes I bought glow sticks to the Symphony! How classy of me! hehehehe

Are you seeing things?

Yep, we used the glow sticks to surround our platter to give us a bit more light! You know, just in case we ate a bug or something....

Half way through the concert, about 1/5 of the people at the domain suddenly lit their sparklers! The photo doesn't do it justice, but it was a sight to be seen.

And the finale of the concert? Fireworks.



Here's to a great day out. Until next year!