30 June - Attica

The celebration!
3 birthdays
2 end of semesters
1 resignation
1 end of financial year
1 special housemates' dinner (+ honoured guest)

We ladies know how to spoil ourselves with ah-may-zing delectable delights!

Walnut cream with pine mushrooms, served in this cute way in their own walnut shells

Crumbed mussels with sea vegetable. I wish there was more than 1 per person! So good I eat a tonne of these and I don't even like mussels!

Simple shitake mushroom broth with "greens from the garden"
The bitter leaves provided a great contrast to the delicious soup

First course: Crab & artichoke leaves

Second course: Marron, leek and native pepper with a prosciutto broth

Third course: A simple dish of potato cooked in the earth it was grown.
a potato that was melting in the mouth because it was cooked for 3 hours (I think that's what they said...), served on a bed of goats cheese cream and coffee

Fourth course: Meat from the Pearl Oyster, served with black salt and walnut cream

Fifth course: kumara, almond and pyengana
Sweet potato cooked in salt crust for 2 hours, served with pyengana aged cheddar soup and almond crispy bits and a slow cooked egg yolk.
If ever a dish can make you float to heaven, this would be it! I could sing its praises forever.

For our vegetarian friend, the 6th course: slow roasted jerusalem artichoke with pine mushrooms

For us carnivores, the 6th course: Flinders Island Wallaby, Bunya pine and Ground berries

Native fruits of Australia, with granita and custard

What's in the box?

hmmmm????

Honeycomb?

Well, it's called Plight of the Bees and it's all things "honey" themed...
I can't remember all the layers... but it had thyme flavoured meringue, honeydew granita, honeycomb icecream, sliver of pumpkin on top with dried powdered apple on top... something like that.

Let's just call it yum and get it over and done with, ok?
It was double yum, triple yum and I could have more if I could. Yes sirree!

oh, surprise course! It's a pukeko's egg!
a white chocolate egg with salted caramel on the inside... so good I could gobble 2 dozen of these easily.

Thanks for the memories ladies, it was an awesome amazingly fun night to celebrate all these accomplishments, and some non-accomplishments :Þ