south australia: tanunda, barossa, nurioopta

We were lucky enough to have a somewhat unplanned stay in the Barossa - at Tanunda. Our solid Land Cruiser Workmate needed a service so we stayed in Tanunda so J could take it in to Adelaide city for the day.

The CP was great for the kids with a playground in view of the caravan and a short walk in to the pretty town. We love the original stone buildings in South Australia. 

I fell in love with an antique shop in town (there are a few) and packaged up some amazing green Pyrex dishes and sent them home. 

One morning Miss P and I had a drive, mainly to see Maggie Beer's Kitchen but P insisted I pull over when she spotted these horses feeding by the road. She loves horses. I think someone will be wanting riding lessons soon! 

The samples of Maggie's peaches didn't last long! Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) I left my wallet back in the caravan so when it came time to make a few purchases I had to go through the car to find some coins. 

Dear little P decided she'd like to buy us some peaches by herself. She came back to me on the verge of tears and i could see she was upset. The tears poured down as she said the man wouldn't let her buy any peaches. 

A few weeks later it occurred to me that poor P had taken the sample bowl to the counter, rather than a packet. I assumed she didn't have enough money! 

We made the most of the beautiful weather and rode the rail trail from Anguston to Nurioopta. This is a superb ride through the wineries. There were a few stray grapes (not in the wineries but creeping on to the verge) so we tasted a few grapes along the way. 

What a great way to finish a ride! Local wine and tapas at Home of the Brave, First Drop Wine Bar. The kids loved the Brie and the olives. The prawns were delicious. 

After tapas I took the kids across the road to the local library while J Ross back to fetch the car. 

There are various roads from Nurioopta to Tanunda past big properties so we took the dirt roads back. 

south australia: the easter bunny, adelaide

I was lucky enough to get a leave pass in Adelaide which gave me the opportunity to food-storm (a brainstorm over food) with a fellow foodie and family friend Sue. What better place to meet than the Adelaide Central Market. Being the Saturday before Easter the market was buzzing and good food was in abundance. I rode my bike in, which was a great ride through Adelaide parklands and streets. 

 

Sue and I met at the famous Lucia's and there was a loooong queue that inched towards the counter. It was over breakfast that we food-stormed just what we could do with the Coorong bunny from Shane. 

Sue has the same approach to fresh good food and being able to partner ingredients and flavours. If you've ever cooked rabbit before you'll know it is lean and needs to be cooked slowly over a long time. Sue suggested I buy some speck for fat (and Lucias was the perfect spot to grab some) and serve it with polenta. 

I rode in to town which limited what I could bring home but it didn't stop be stocking up on goodies - think really hippy low-go muesli, salami, Stephanie Alexander's curry paste, spray-free Aussie grapes, the list goes on. Needless to say my backpack was full. 

Sue and I decided that the bunny had to be cooked with the usual - garlic, onions, carrots, capsicum, water, a tin of tomatoes and a generous splash of wine. 

I'd add speck, pepper, salt, sage, native pepperberry (from Diemen Pepper in Tassie), two cinnamon sticks and yummy, yummy quinces from our host's tree right at the end. 

This bunny was cooked on 120°c over six hours. I threw in the quinces in the last forty minutes and cooked creamy polenta in the Thermomix (but you can do it over the stove). 

adelaide for Easter

We've just had the most relaxing few days with friends Christina and Will who we met Elizabeth Bay in Sydney when our oldest children were only a few months old. 

We used to swap babysitting and now we have 5 children between us. It was still enjoyable to just hang out and chat, play cricket, cook and read, while the kids played and played and played. 

We saw little of Adelaide really but sometimes you just have to stop racing around. Considering we've done a lot of sightseeing we appreciated the chance to relax. 

And what's an Easter weekend without a hunt? 

Christina raced down to her local fish monger in preparation for fishy Friday only to discover that people had put in orders and there was little to choose from. She settled on some pippies from Goolwa on the Fleurieu. We weren't sure what they'd be like but Will cooked them on the barbie before dousing them in a garlic, herb (all from the garden) butter and they were so, so tasty! 

This is a shocking photo. I dislike dinner pics as they're always dark and it doesn't do the meal justice.