Corner of Parkes and Hamilton Ave, Centennial Park NSW 2021 http://www.centennialparklands.com.au
For the love of food, let's eat!
Mother nature was thankfully very kind for the Sydney Food Bloggers Picnic organised by Chocolatesuze and Grab Your Fork providing a miraculous break from the wet weather. Having minimum cooking skills I resorted to bringing the one thing I knew I could do — making cocktails. With the kind donation by Steve Stammers (Weber Shandwick) and Cida Wen (William Grant & Sons) for 3 bottles of Hendrick's Gin and Charlotte Ferrand (Burson-Marsteller) for 3 bottles of Maker's Mark I was set to make two of my favourite drinks I discovered in 2011. The Simon Food Favourites Pop Up Bar was created with two small tables and served the Hendrick's Gin & Tonic with fresh cucumber and the Maker's Mark punch known as Samuels Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice (recipe below) which even the non-whisky fans admittedly enjoyed once they tried. I think the most inventive eat of the day goes to the Candy Bug (pictured above) made by Sara and Joshua from Belly Rumbles. Banana lollies, mint chews and jaffas have never looked so cool. It was a fun day to catchup with lots of bloggers and put faces to new ones I haven't met before. I hope everyone had a good time and I look forward to meeting you at the next meetup.
Other events enjoyed with Hendrick's Gin:
Other events enjoyed with Maker's Mark:
Simon Food Favourites Pop Up Bar
Hendrick's Gin & Tonic with fresh cucumber
Maker's Mark Samuels Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice punch
Samuels Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice recipe
1.75L Maker's Mark
300mls Lemon Juice
3L Ginger Beer
300mls Spicer Port Syrup*
3 Oranges - Sliced in thin wheel for garnish
5kg bag of ice
*Spiced Port Syrup
Peel of 6 lemons and 6 oranges
1 kg Castor Sugar
6 cracked cardamon pods, 1 cracked whole nutmeg, 6 colves, 6 star anise, 4 cinnamon quills
700mls Port (Your preferred choice)
Combine citrus peel, sugar & spices in an airtight container for 24 hours, shaking a few times throughout. Add the Port and leave for a further 12 hours, stirring well.
Strain the finished compounded syrup through cheese cloth, bottle and refrigerate.
Service – combine all the ingredients in a large punch bowl, stir well and serve.
Schiacciata was really nice — first thing I tried made by Mel (Crunchy Tiger)
This yummy quiche was my lunch — thanks Shez (One More Bite)
This cupcake was so good — loved it! Christmas Gingerbread Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing by Swah (Love Swah)
A yummy pandan cupcake from Lay's Kitchen Explorations
These were popular
Fresh is best — such a great idea, if I had a blender I could have made a cocktail out of these
So many cakes, so little time
I wanted to try this but missed out
Great childhood memories with fairy bread — so who got the one with the fly on it?
Paella was very popular
I think it's a savoury roll?
I'm suspecting a tiramisu? — Great decoration on top
Most awesome painted fingernails by April (Polkadots & Chopsticks)
Chocolatesuze's multicoloured nails goes well with a Maker's Mark
Gianna's sparkling fingernails offset nicely with a Hendrick's Gin
Two drinks Suze and Dee (Food In Hand) with an old school film camera
Dedication to the blog
Lola (Figs & Brie) and me
Paul and Joseph (Up For A Feed) with me
Laura (StarLoz) and me
Richard (Richard Elliot's Blog) and me
Anyone for a cocktail?
Potential Ambassadors for Maker's Mark and Hendrick's Gin
Food bloggers enjoying the cocktails — Betty (Sugarpuffi), Annie (The Random Foodie), Swah (Love Swah), Felicity (Flick Your Food), Sophie (The Stick and Sweet)
Penny (Jeroxie) and me
Tina (bitemeshowme), Shanshan (Food is our religion) and me
Food bloggers say grace by photographing before they eat
Simon (the heart of food) setting up for a group shot
Group side shot
Group front shot
