Ripe for the Harvest

My family (minus one) is up visiting me from Melbourne for the weekend and I thought there'd be no better way to spend our Saturday morning then a little drive to Byron, well not Byron; Newrybar. 

Where the feck is Newrybar, you may ask. 15 kilometres (10 minutes) from Byron Bay, I say. 

The quaint little town is becoming a bit more of a household name since the introduction of Harvest Cafe; situated in one of the towns 1900's historic cottages. Not to mention the refurbished adjoining 99 year old bakery and even more recently the Harvest Deli. 

There is something for every food lover. Homely breakfast, lunch or dinner (Thursday, Friday, Saturday) next to their open fire place or on their enormous balcony over looking the vegetable patches. A bakery that offers freshly baked bread and pastries daily and a selection of meats and cheeses in the deli to fill the yummiest of picnic baskets. 

Unfortunately when it came to breakfast, I had what every eater dreads; orderer's regret! Due to the popularity of the cafe, we had to sit outside, I thought the porridge would be the best way to warm my insides. I was mistaken, the porridge wasn't much hotter than me. 

My company on the other hand were extremely pleased (and I was sure to give a second opinion on every dish). Mum mmm'd her way through the Israeli baked eggs while Dad, Ned and Nick all hoed into the Farmgate Breakfast (pork and fennel sausages, roasted cherry tomatoes, mushrooms and poached eggs on a bed of polanta- take that as a gourmet Big Breaky). 

Beetroot and tumeric juice.
Curry juice? Tastes good but.   

Shimmy's Israeli baked eggs 

The boy's Farmgate Breakfast 

We left sufficiently stuffed, with just enough room for a cheeky pain au chocolat from the bakery of course. 

One happy piggy customer 

Mum and Ned heading for a peruse of the deli 

Spaghetti (Zuchini) Bolognese, just like your Nonna makes

Who am I kidding, I don't have a Nonna. 

I have a 爷爷, that's Chinese for grandpa (I typed that into Google, I can't speak Mandarin). 
We live in an age where everyone is scared of the C-word (carbs) so I thought I'd give zucchini pasta a go, it surprisingly really does put your pasta cravings at bay for a night or so. 

Ingredients:(makes a butt load, 4-6 hungry people, or plenty of leftovers) 
4x zucchinis 
big hunk of lean beef mince
2x red onion 
1/2 a garlic 
2x star anise
handful of swisse brown mushies 
3x pieces of celery
2x carrots 
4x cans of whole peeled tomatoes 
zest of 1 lemon 
a bunch of rosemary 
a bunch of basil 

Finely chop the red onion, garlic, celery, carrot, mushrooms and rosemary and allow it to all sweat in a large saucepan with the star anise on medium heat. After a good ten minute sweat, take out the star anise. 

BEWARE: my "sous-chef" crying while cutting red onions (pussy)

Add the mince until it slightly browns before adding the cans of tomato. Zest the lemon and allow it all to reduce for for at least 30 minutes on low heat. 
While the sauce is reducing it is time to make the 'pasta'. Peel the zucchinis, I threw away the green skin cause its quite a bit tougher than the rest. Try to keep the ribbons quite thin to keep them pasta-like and stop when you get to the seeds. 

When the sauce is nearly ready, add the zucchinis to a fry pan in small portions and allow them to heat with a bit of olive oil and pepper. 

Stir basil through sauce before serving. 

Slurp dat uppp.

Good Days ahead

There's something amazing coming to Tugun and it all begins tomorrow! 

Good Day Coffee will be opening its doors to the public tomorrow morning and will be open 7 days from 5am to 1pm for all the early birds. 

Taking over the old location of IRA Coffee, DJ and his better half Ebony have ditched the orange walls and created a beautifully simplistic and sleek space. 

Serving Marvell St Coffee from Byron Bay, these veterans of Gold Coast hospitality know exactly how to brew-a-brew. 

476 Gold Coast Highway, Tugun

The Legend himself. 

That's how the BSKT crumbles?

Having finished my morning work out, and fortunately not starting uni until 1.30pm this arvo, I thought I'd finally see what all the fuss was about. 

Having opened about a month ago, BSKT Cafe, nestled practically on the sand of Nobby's beach, was getting a lot of hype. 

The cafe prides itself on an ethos of "Delivering Delicious Justice" and is health conscious in its choices for the majority of the menu items (there's even yogalates held there!!) 

I was extremely curious to see whether this place was legit, or just a marketing ploy for today's #cleaneaters (guilty)... I was pleasantly surprised!!

Such a beautiful sunny (but crisp) morning!

I hoed into a "Navajo Native Breakfast" which included free-range poached eggs, smashed beans, tomato salsa, avocado with basil essential oil on native flat bread (I swapped the flat bread for some organic rye). It was truly a delicious start to the morning, filling but not too heavy. 

However, if you are looking for something a bit more hearty, one of the guys I went with got the BSKT Big Breakfast, featuring a piece of Angus sirloin steak, not my cup of tea at 7am but he was more than satisfied.

I'm looking forward to returning and giving their Super Berry Cacao Pancakes a go. I'll keep you posted! 

Sophie x 

 Check them out at www.bskt.com.au or follow them on twitter/instagram @bsktcafe 

Let's give this a whirl

So I thought I would be totally original and give this whole blogging thing a go.

Recently, I got a new couch (it is heaven) and I have found myself spending far too much time watching Law and Order: SVU and CSI, so here's my attempt to procrastinate from my studies in a more 'productive' way. 

I don't really mind if no one reads this. I'm kinda more looking forward to seeing all my photos and various activities(mainly eating) in the same place. 

As the title of this blog suggest, the way to my heart is through my stomach. To be honest I am a complete amateur when it comes to food, but love it, and I am oh so well practised in eating it. 

But not just food, I'm going to be posting about all sorts of things, all the little things that pop up in my life. I guess you could call it a 'Lifestyle' blog, but I'm not ready to admit that just yet!

I hope you (or just me if I'm the only one who reads this) enjoy it! 

Sophie x

Hello... this is me!
(this is a shoot I did for Mine Is Yours Blog,
check them out at: www.mineisyours.net.au)