Gourmets' Delight

Friday, 13 July 2012

Yesterday, summer arrived! With a vengeance! The clouds disappeared, the sun came out and all the moisture from the previous days rose from the ground!

The morning was just the usual grocery shopping and after lunch we headed for the Esplanade for a walk– and an ice cream. We actually tried to walk on the grass as much as possible and keep to the shade from the trees; it has been a long time since we have done that. The backpackers were out in force around the Lagoon pool, with lots of white bodies that probably wont see daylight again for at least a week! By not walking on the boardwalk/path, we actually discovered a walk of remembrance leading up to the war memorial – the flame of remembrance was a very stylised sculpture.

During the past week, some bright spark suggested the eight of us have a formal dinner before Denise and Barry depart tomorrow. Courses were allocated and the venue settled – under our awning would be transformed somehow. I was given the entrée course and after much thought, and suggestions from Denise, settled on bruschetta (using my fresh basil from my own little garden pot) and Tasmanian smoked salmon, served on crunchy bread. Carlene cooked a leg of lamb to accompany Denise’s baked and steamed vegetables; James volunteered his “famous” pancakes to be served with Maureen’s tropical fruit salad. Needless to say, we all went to bed absolutely stuffed!

Today has been overcast by once again, very hot with the temperature about 32 degrees and humidity over 80%. This morning, feeling the need for a walk after last night’s dinner, we settled for a brisk (as fast as we could, anyway, given the atmospheric conditions) walk along the Freshwater Creek pathway for an hour. The humidity felt like 100% among the rain forest vegetation!

Swims have been the order of the day, with some heading for the pool – Cat very quickly changed his mind and decided the air conditioner was a much better option.