Links Lady Bay Golf Course #Golf #Kangaroos #beaches #normanville #linksladybay

One of our favourite places to get away for a few days is Links Lady Bay with its great golf course, overlooking beautiful Gulf St Vincent and its fantastic beaches. Lady Bay is just over an hours drive from Adelaide, fortutiously passing through the wine region of McLaren Vale.

 The golf course has its own family of kangaroos.  When we first started counting over 10 years ago, there were only about 12, now we stop counting at 40.

Great views of the gulf and the number 1 rated regional golf course in South Australia.

The Normanville, Lady Bay and Carrickalinga beaches are safe, family beaches with gentle swells and no rips.

(NB.. all of the photos above are from stock footage off the internet, next time we get down there (which I hope is soon) I will take some photos of my own. I will also photograph some special places for you.. there are so many.)

We have been holidaying in the region for over 20 years and are lucky enough to have use of a small place overlooking the 9th green at Links lady Bay Golf Course.  There is nothing like barbecuing on the balcony overlooking the ninth green, with vineyards, Norfolk Island pines and the headland in the distance.  The sunsets are spectacular every single night.  It is especially beautiful when the moon shimmers over the sea and the sky is ablaze with stars.

The Cooks Pantry - Vietnamese Beef Salad #Cooking #thecookspantry #Grange #cookingclasses #Vietnamese

Vietnamese Beef Salad

The Cooks Pantry, a fairway wood from the beach.

Last night (along with my daughter Hannah) I attended a Vietnamese Cooking class at The Cooks Pantry, Grange.  We had a great night, ate delicious food and have been inspired to cook more Vietnamese food.  Central Market, here we come!

Gentle James

 James Brodroghy has been a chef for 15 years and before The Cooks Pantry, owned and ran (with wife Jo) Henley on Sea and French bistro Sixty Six on King William Road.

The Cooks Pantry has a relaxed decor.

James is big on organic

The Cooks Pantry philosophy

The table all set, ready for our creations

I won't post all the recipes for the many dishes we helped make and consume last night, in one hit.  Today you will have to be satisfied with the Vietnamese Beef Salad (we were) and I will post other recipes over the coming weeks.

Ingredients for 4:

200 gm sirloin steak

100 gm rice noodles

1/4 cup dried mushrooms (shiitake are good)

1/2 cup coriander leaves

1/2 cup mint leaves

1 small red onion, sliced

2 red chilies julienned

1 Lebanese cucumber, finely sliced

1/2 cup roast peanuts (tastes better to do these fresh rather than buying roasted)

1/2 cup fried shallots (buy these ready made)

Beef marinade ingredients crushed and combined in mortar:

1 clove of garlic

1 tbspn fish sauce

2 tbspn sugar

1 tbspn sesame oil

Method

Marinate beef and refrigerate for an hour or more

Cook noodles in boiling salted water for 2 minutes then drain. Cut into 6cm lengths. (NB. noodles need to be cool for the salad, so run under cold water if still too hot by the time you are putting the salad together)

Soak mushrooms in hot water until soft and then julienne (do an hour before hand)

Blend all of the salad dressing ingredients until smooth in a food processor:

1 clove of garlic

1 tbspn of palm sugar

4 tbspn lime juice

2 tbspn fish sauce

2 tbspn soy sauce

2 tbspn sliced lemon grass (use the ends and take outer husk off first)

1/2 cup coriander leaves

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Grill steak, rest and slice thinly

Combine all the ingredients, except peanuts and shallots

Plate it up and then sprinkle over peanuts and fried shallots. Add a wedge of lime.

Still to come in future posts:

Amok Fish in banana leaf cups

Vietnamese grilled quail

Vietnamese chicken

and a recipe for home made 5 spice

If you are interested in joining James for future cooking classes, he has a few coming up:

Simply Spanish

Moroccan Spice

Fabulously Frenh

Traditional Javanese

Check out his website: here

Stuart Road Dulwich #shopping #Dulwich #corner store

One of the many things I love about Adelaide is that shops in the back streets of suburbs are still thriving in many areas.  One of these is Stuart Road, Dulwich.

I know, most butchers put meat in their windows rather than puddings,
particularly outside of Christmas time. Adelaide is quirky.

The strip of shops has a mini supermarket, butcher, newsagent, hairdresser, bakeries, florist, pizza, takeaway, chemist, the glorious homewares' shop - One Rundle Trading and a stack of doctors, specialists and other health professionals.

Not only is the area popular with locals living in the beautiful tree lined boulevards of Dulwich, Rose Park and Norwood, but people come from kilometres for a leisurely breakfast, or to pick up something from the bakery.

Stuart Road is so popular, it can support two bakeries.

Another beautiful part of Adelaide.

Flagstaff Hill Golf Club #Golf #Adelaide #Australia

On a beautiful late autumn day the North Adelaide ladies 

played Grange at Flagstaff Hill Golf Club in our inter-club competition.

We teed off in pairs and played matchplay.

The course is par 72 and has 2 creeks running through it.  

Having never played Flagstaff Hill before, I found the fairway slopes 

difficult to read.  Even if you hit to one side of the fairway, 

gravity would send the ball to the other side on just about every hole. 

The ladies getting ready for a long day

The greens, a combination of bent and poa grasses, were lightning fast and a
complete contrast to our North Adelaide greens.

I can't remember seeing any other trees but beautiful native gums.

The tees are santa anna couch and the fairways couch.

Flagstaff Hill Club rooms


Unfortunately the North Adelaide ladies went down to Grange 4 to 1.
Next week we play at West Lakes, another course I've never seen,
but am keen to try.

Ensuite bathroom #renovation #design #architecture #bathrooms

I recently decided to do a small renovation to our ensuite bathroom.

I say small because I think the bathroom was already beautiful but it needed

a tiled splash back behind the hand basin, larger mirror and better lighting.

Before the renovation. As you can see there is no splash back (what was I thinking?),
the mirror is small and the wall lighting was falling apart (poor quality).

We installed a large mirror above the vanity and improved lighting

I love these lights - they have a slightly nautical feel

These hand-made tiles look great with soft grey grout. A touch of beloved art deco.

I moved the small art deco mirrors to either side of the window.
I thought the kentia palm added some softness. 

And I just had to have a stool for holding all the knick knacks during bath time.

Just a few changes has really freshened up the bathroom

:)

Jams and Pickles from the #Barossa #Krondorf #jams #pickles #food #Rockford

Our purchases. Although it was hard to stop at six!

You have to love good jams, pickles, sauces, chutneys

 and mustards, especially when they are home made.

We stumbled across Krondorf Trading when we were 

in the Barossa Valley recently.

Bev and Annie have been making these preserves in their home kitchen

in Freeling since 1993. They now make over 40 varieties.

  

They source all their ingredients from either their own garden or nearby

(e.g. over the fence).  Bev and Annie say their preserves contain 

the flavours of the Barossa - and I agree, they are outstanding.

You'll find their shop at Rockford Winery in Krondorf or at Angas Park Fruits
in Angaston

Not only is the Barossa great for growing grapes for fine wines, but fruit trees flourish in the rich soils.

Bev and Annie post their preserves to anywhere in Australia.  

You'll find more information on their website -  http://www.krondorftradingco.com/#!page2/cjg9

We are so lucky that Adelaide is only a scenic hours drive from the beautiful Barossa Valley.