Tropfest 2009

The Sydney weather is really confusing me lately. I don't know if its summer or winter, wet or dry. I had already booked Will in for Tropfest about 6 months ago, but with the way the weather was, we were just going to have to play it by ear. If it rained, we would just go out for coffee regardless. By about midday on Sunday, the weather looked stable enough to brave a trip to tropfest.

It gets packed very quickly

I then spent an hour running around trying to pack things to bring to Tropfest and quickly whipped up some tuna puff pastries and chocolate crossiants. The plan was to park at my work and pop into Coles to grab the rest of the food. I say we did pretty well considering the lack of preparation.


Besides the tuna puff pastries and chocolate crossiants I made, we grabbed:

- Brie
- Fetta
- Olives
- Sundried Tomato and French Onion dip
- Pitta bread/doritos/water crackers/grissini
- BBQ Chicken
- Lindt hot chocolate

And because we're having a Will and Grace day out, 4 bottles of wine!

Oh yeahhhhh!!

Brown brothers + Tropfest = Win!

Somewhere along the line, Matt showed up with spring rolls?


I really enjoyed the movies this year. Some were fun and light hearted, some were deep and meaningful (without being too arty farty so that no one understands what was going on). During the intermission, we got a little extra.....entertainment.

Some crowds celebrating...

Closer look.....

Oh god.....this is what happens when we cancel a trip to the Gold Coast. The last time we went to the Gold Coast, someone pulled out his errrrrr.........doodle and sack and waved it around my face. So instead of one person waving their doodle and sack infront of me, I've got 2 people this year to make up for the fact that we cancelled GC. Understanding why this was happening, we decided to go up close and personal to get a photo with them.



I won't show the photos of me with them, as I'm trying to keep this blog R-rated instead of X-rated. Which is exactly why the cops showed up and spoiled the fun. We did a quick runner with our camera!


Looks like the nudity pushed Matt over the edge who decided to drain the last of our wine.....



I had to physically shove him off my mat so I could pack up to go home!

Lets just say, most interesting Tropfest EVER.

Jazz in the Domain

One of our favourite events during the Sydney Festival is Jazz in the Domain. Since I won't be able to make it to the Symphony in the Domain this year, we went all out preparing for Jazz.

We got there nice and early and picked our usual spot away from the crowds so we can make an easy exit.

The spread!

Would you believe that this was intended to feed 2 people only???? We ended up feeding about 5-8 people with this!!

Our antipasto plate

Dried apricots, grapes, pesto, anchovie stuffed olives, semi sundried tomatoes, duck pate and Gus's first Hungarian contribution in 8 years, salami! hehe

Cheese and bacon puffs

I know they don't look puffy, but they did in the oven! This is basically a super concentrated cheese and bacon roll, without the bread! An absolute favourite of the kids!

Mediterranean puff

This tastes like all the best toppings on a pizza without the base! Heaven! The adults generally like my vegetarian version than the bacon version. Me? I love both, which is why I always make both!

Havarti, double cream brie and quince paste

Honey almonds and salted cashews

S's lovely choc orange cupcakes!

Choc dipped apples and strawberries

I have not made these in years! They certainly don't look anywhere as good as my previous batch since I made these under the influence of alcohol..... *cough* I love choc dipped strawberries, but I think I like the choc dipped green apples more. I love the contrast of the crunchy sour apples with the soft sweet chocolate. I just can't believe how much I made!

Rum Balls

I don't usually eat rum balls, but these were really nice and mild. Good work Cherry!

Tropfest 2008

Despite the weather, we decide to brave it and attend Tropfest 2008. I made a quick dash to the shops and raid my cupboards to see what I could whip up. Not too bad of an effort even if I do say so myself.

Dark chocolate and almond crossiants

Innards of my great work!

Our picnic spread

Semi sun-dried tomatoes, grapes and grape tomatoes

Clockwise: Blue Brie, double brie, water crackers, dutch smoked cheese, champagne ham, pepper pate, hot spanish salami, gruyere cheese and caramelized onion pita crisps.

The crowd

One of the Tropfest sponsors was eclipse mints. We ended up scoring 14 packs between just me and Gus. Alan didn't end up getting ANY mints at all. Gus also won himself a brand new beach chair and free alcohol!

We actually had a really great time at Tropfest, and the movies this year was probably the best since I've been going. I really really enjoyed it. Too bad it started raining just before the intermission so we packed up and left. I definitely will be going again next year!

Jazz in the Domain

Its finally the Sydney Festival. I've been waiting since Tropfest to have an excuse to pull out the picnic rug and enjoy some wine whilst relaxing in the great outdoors. After the success of last year, I decided to cook most of the food, just to make it a bit special. So I went grocery shopping after work to pick up a few things, and spotted the loveliest strawberries and suddenly became consumed with the thought of making strawberry jam. So when I should've been making things for the Jazz, I ended up making Jam.

Once I got that out of my system, I finally got onto making the dishes for the Jazz. This included:

I finally forked out for a microplane zester!!! BEST investment ever!

The next morning, I got up a bit earlier to finish the last of my baking before the guys rocked up to my place to pick me up. We parked at work to make it easier to move everything to the Domain. (Although we did have to stop at a cafe to beg for cups for our wine!). Here's the spread for the day:

Christine's antipasto platter

Homemade puffy pinwheel pizzas

Homemade parmesan crisps

Sweet chilli stuffed mushrooms

Blueberry and strawberry friands

I also bought along 2 bottles of imported Chianti red wine and Christine bought along 2 bottles of dessert. By the 2nd bottle I was about to pass out.

Gus helping with my alcoholism

God I'm weak after my detoxing. The good thing was, we were in the perfect setting to lie down and relax (whilst I sobered up).

Me having a perve at Gus running around

And to make up for me perving on Gus

GIO marketing people

The crowds building up

The posing Alan

The crowds building up

The smart ones who brought chairs

I didn't end up taking any photos when it got later in the night. And unfortunately, thats when everyone else rocked up. However, we had a blast of the time where we sat and chatted whilst the music played in the background. The highlight of the night would've been Christine's friend Priscille helping a lost lady and then grabbing a random stranger guy to dance the salsa with her! I can't wait for next week. I don't know how we're going to get the food to top this spread!