September
I’ve been a bit slow writing blogs in the last couple of weeks. Between Pasta Workshops, Markets, Orders, Work, Life, Functions and Celebrating my 26th Birthday it’s been pretty crazy! The way I like to do my blogs is just write about what I am feeling on the day- lately I haven’t had too many ideas. I feel like I’ve just been consistently working overtime so what I want to write just hasn’t come to me. So I have decided to share today on what the rest of September has looked like! And it has been a busy one.
Two weeks ago, I had a fantastic Pasta Workshop where I changed things up a bit! We made an Egg and Flour dough to make filled Pasta with Spinach and Ricotta (Agnolotti and Tortelli) this went with a basic Tomato Sugo (sauce). We also made a Semolina and Water dough (a few different shapes), which went with a basil pesto. I made a Semolina and Lemon cake which we enjoyed with a cup of tea during our little break. Using the best lemons from my Nonno’s garden. The whole class was so much fun. I feel very grateful when I get to teach and share my knowledge and stories with people. I received really positive feedback after the class and I am very much looking forward to next Saturday 7th Workshop!
In the last week, I celebrated my 26th Birthday. For the first time in a long time I didn’t really want to do anything, but I knew deep down that wasn’t a very me thing to do. Usually I get very excited and tell people a month before that my birthdays coming up, but I kept things pretty quiet and simple this year. I guess I felt or thought things would have looked a bit different for me this year but I guess this is where I am meant to be right now. The day before I hosted a small afternoon tea with some friends and family. I had organised a whole table worth of food for about 12 of us. Pretty standard of me to have too much food, but I know no one went away feeling hungry! I made a big Cheese platter, some Dips, Corn Chips with Guacamole, Frittata and then Brownies and some Cookies. I also made my all-time favourite drink Aperol Spritz! It was a really beautiful afternoon of yummy food, sunshine, chats and all of us watching Ruby enjoying all the attention! She was one happy (and very tired) pup! My heart was so full by the end of the day.
My birthday this year fell on a Monday which is never ideal! But it was still a special day filled with love and delicious food. I got up early for a walk, opened my gifts from my friends and then had breaky. My housemates organised flowers and a card (and a gift which came later in the week), which was incredibly lovely of them. Very grateful for them making my morning special. I spent the day working at Osteria Renata re-filing the pasta shelf after a busy weekend (Mondays are always a big day there!). Afterwards I met up with my cousin at Morning Market for a coffee and then it was time to get home and get ready to go out for family dinner. Dinner was at New Quarter in Richmond. Dinner was incredible. Highlights where the Kaffir Lime Margarita, the Mushroom Buns, the Roasted Turmeric Chicken and the butterflied Tiger Prawn Noodles. I will definitely be back! Now that I have moved out of home, family dinners like this feel even more special!
The night after, I went to Poodle in Fitzroy with two of my Chef Buddies. I have known both of them for six years now and met both of them at my first job! I hadn’t seen one of them in over 12 months so it was really great to catch up. We ordered lots of food- which is pretty standard for us when we go out for dinner, I tried Duck Heart for the first time- which I was surprised how much I liked it. Some of my favorites were the Pork and Bacon Croquettes and the Hanger Steak. It was another fantastic dinner with good food and good company.
Over the weekend I’ve got one more family dinner at Made in Casa in Malvern with my Dad and my sisters. First time for all of us eating there and we are so excited!
On top of a big birthday week, I catered for my first event within in the business. It was a huge success. A breakfast event for around 20 people. The biggest challenge was creating an almost full Gluten Free menu- which in the end was surprisingly easy. The menu was Yoghurt and Granola with Roasted Rhubarb, Gluten Free White Chocolate and Raspberry muffins, Mini Apple Cinnamon Muffins, Mini Pumpkin, Spinach and Fetta Muffins, Hash Browns, Egg and Bacon Rolls (GF ones too) and a Fruit Platter. The feedback was super positive, and I am looking forward to doing more events in the future! Please reach out if you are interested!
I also have started a little vegetable and herb patch at home. Mum and I got to work one morning to pull out all the weeds, turn the soil and plant the vegetables and herbs. Everday I water my little garden and it’s really cool seeing them all slowly starting to grow. It will be so nice to have fresh vegetables available straight from the garden.
October is going to be another big month, Pasta Workshop next week (7th), usual orders and the week after on the 14th I will be back at the Heide Markets in Bulleen. I am hoping to do some new additions that I haven’t done before too. Looking forward to getting out there again, meeting new people and seeing some regular faces!