Barbecue Brilliance

It’s the Big Sleep. I manage to sleep through Basic Training. So… I may not be killing calories but my batteries are super charged! There’s no better way to spend a lazy Sunday morning than in the kitchen, so today, I have a bit of a bake off with Donna Hay’s Simple Apple and Blueberry Cake.  We’re going to Adam and Leda’s for a barby this arvo and I hate to go empty handed. This is the perfect cake for a summer’s afternoon, and it’s quick to prepare and easy to transport. There’s a cake for every occasion, and today, this is the  cake to make!

We read on the news that the President of Argentina doesn’t have Thyroid Cancer after all! Isn’t that great news? Read all about it here. It turns out all her “nodules” are benign. It’s soooo great to get good news.  That’s what you call a result!However, she is going to miss out on all the fun of being radioactive and the joy of eating iodine free!

After last nights indulgences, a visit to the gym is definitely the order of the day. It’s looking a bit cloudy, so perfect weather for a run, me thinks. I twist David’s arm and he thinks my plan for a road run, is simply grand! We head outside, and it is cloudy but it’s also roasting hot! However, we decide we’ve started, so we’ll finish! I’m not sure whether this is a good or a bad idea but when we finish the 5km route, we’re finished! Running is fun, but it’s twice as nice, when you have a run buddy!

We come home, sweat a lot, stretch like it’s going out of fashion and get ready for the barby. Adam and Leda’s barbecues are the stuff legends are made of and when we arrive at the park outside their house, we soon realise why. First things first, there’s an esky full of cold drinks, and a bowl full of Adam’s Anchovy Swirls which are impossible to resist, even for those afraid of anchovies! This is just a taste of things to come, and there’s a lot to come, believe me! We start with a feast from the sea; seasoned squid and big juicy prawns which we finish off with Adam’s mum’s hot Mango Salsa  which really hits the spot. There then follows a scrumptious salad, and Leda’s Special Tzatziki to accompany chicken breasts which looking at the size of them, must come from the most well endowed chickens! As if that wasn’t enough, Adama also produces some home made burgers, they’re brilliant, but man, we’re bursting! We’re so full we can hardly move, but move, we have to as the sky is looking a bit grey and it’s time to head indoors.

Upstairs I get to hand feed multicoloured Lorikeets who come to feed from Adam and Leda’s window. They’re so beautiful, hungry and, very unlucky, because they don’t get to eat any of Adam’s barbecue beauties, just some regular bird seeds! However, they don’t complain and tuck in!

Adam’s mum, Jane, lives part of the year in Barbados and mixes us a wicked Barbadian Rum and Coke which is strong enough to blow one’s head off! It’s a true taste of the Caribbean! Then it’s time for dessert and Donna’s Simple Apple and Blueberry Cake with some ice cream on the side doesn’t disappoint! We’re not done with sweet treats though, Jane brings out her Chocolate Coconut Fudge which is more than more-ish.

We decide to make a fast exit before we go POP! The mother of all storms is brewing and we better head off before the rain falls. Our timing isn’t the best because by the time we get home, it’s raining kangaroos and koalas, the sky is lit up like a Christmas tree and it’s rumbling like a very hungry stomach. We get proper soaked on the short walk home. I hope the wet look is in this year!