Tuesday, November 9, 2010

A Quick Stop In Adelaide - A Wedding, Pizza & Maggie Beer

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Hi everyone! I know I'm meant to be on my first proper holiday in nearly two years (I haven't been on holiday since I started this blog!), but I was getting so sad looking at my poor, neglected little blog. So I thought I'd share a few pictures from the 3 quick days I spent in Adelaide for the Australian leg of my brother's wedding. I really loved the small amount of time we spent there, all the gorgeous old buildings and so many flowers. It was a welcome change from Sydney, whose crowded streets and overrated restaurants with useless conceited front-of-house staff I had become slightly weary of lately. My brother had his ceremony at Carrick Hill, a heritage estate with the most amazing grounds. It was so unbelievably picturesque, I can understand why the bride always wanted her wedding to be held here. I can't wait to see how the wedding photos turned out, but for now I'll have to do with the ones I took on my old crappy point and shoot.

Carrick Hill, Springfield
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We had been worried about the weather because the entire week before the wedding was cold and threatening to rain, but the morning of the wedding had peeks of sunshine and only a slightly chilly breeze. And the sun was so bright by the end of afternoon the bride was sun burnt after going around Adelaide taking wedding photos!
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The signing table
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The bride's bouquet and bling
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There was even a cute family of duckies! But what you don't see is the other big duck outside of the frame which was giving us the stink eye and then proceeded to charge forward at A as soon as his back was turned.
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The pretty marquee where canapés and drinks were served - none of which I can remember or took any photos of because my heels were killing me. But they were very tasty and disappeared fast!

GoodLife Pizza, North Adelaide
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The night before we stopped by GoodLife in North Adelade, which is this great organic pizza place. It was very relaxed, somewhere you could meet up with friends and spend ages chatting and eating. And the service was fantastic!
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“Taste SA” -- A Starter Plate from SA's Wine Regions ($8.40 per person)
From the Barossa- “Ballycroft Soft Curd Style Cheese”
From McLaren Vale- “Spicy Eggplant Relish”
From the Foothills- “Warm Haloumi Slices”
From the Adelaide Hills- “Olive Tapenade”
From the Barossa- “Smoked Duck Breast and Balsamic Glaze”
From Willunga- “Warm Spicy Chorizo on GoodLife Dukkah”
Please excuse the super shitty photos. It was frustrating getting used to my old small camera again! I insisted on getting the starter plate as soon as I saw the menu, I have a huge obsession with haloumi and olive tapenade. Everyone was pleased with me once we starting tucking into it, everything was absolutely delicious. I especially liked the idea of each of the different dips being sourced from a different region of Adelaide. The warm fresh bread was so great when slathered with the tangy spicy eggplant relish, or the salty, rich olive tapenade. The soft curd cheese was creamy and light while the thin slices of fried haloumi had that beautiful bounce as you bit into it. The smoked duck breast was fragrant and really matched the balsamic glaze, but I swear there was an Asian flavour to the glaze like they had added a bit of hoisin to it. It was fantastic whatever it was. I couldn't eat the dukkah but the chorizo was fried until it was crunchy and so moreish.
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Swiss Brown Mushrooms Pizza (12-inch, $22.90) - Marinated in organic balsamic vinegar with an organic lemon aioli garnish
As a mushroom lover, this pizza was heavenly. The thick slices of mushroom were meaty and juicy, and I loved the huge dollops of creamy lemon aioli. LOVE! We also had a great chicken pizza with roasted potato and a ton of shaved parmesan. The chicken was cooked to perfection but I didn't think it really needed the chunks of potato.

Maggie Beer's Farm Shop
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The day after the wedding, we hopped in the car for a quick drive to the Barossa Valley. I had to visit Maggie Beer's farm while we were there, and I wasn't disappointed. The only thing that would have made it better is if Maggie had been there! But it was still great fun. There are so many free samples available of all her products in the farm shop, I had to try everything. My favourites included all her pâtés, as they have a much wider rage of pâté compared to the ones they sell in regular stores in Sydney, and the kalamata olive biscuits were fantastic too; like a savoury shortbread. The blood orange marmalade was so good that I was super sad that I didn't have any space in my luggage to buy some.
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Wheeeee! I ♥ freebies!
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Chicken and Rosemary Pate Picnic Basket ($15.00) - Chicken and Rosemary Pate with cornichons, freekah salad and wood oven bread + Porcini Mushroom & Verjuice Pate Picnic Basket ($15.00) - Porcini Mushroom and Verjuice Pate with gruth cheese, freekah salad and wood oven bread
We stayed here for an early lunch; it was pretty quiet since we went on a Friday, but apparently it gets really crowded on the weekends and it's not a very large space. All her pâtés are available as part of these adorable picnic baskets that they pack for you, which includes fresh fluffy bread rolls, cheese and salad. The bread was so good with the pâté that we had to buy extra rolls.
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Seasonal Cheese Picnic Basket ($15.00)-Maggie's seasonal cheese choice with quince paste, fresh fruit and walnut bread roll
A demanded that we get a cheese picnic basket to try, which turned out to be a great choice. The cheese wasn't anything special, just a nice cheddar, but it went to well with my favourite quince paste and the little tub of tomato chutney that we got in our basket.
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Homemade Pheasant Terrine ($18.00) - Pheasant and porcini mushroom terrine wrapped in sour cream pastry with salad greens, Vino Cotto vinaigrette and Maggie's Cabernet Sauce
The only warm savoury food available was her famous Pheasant Terrine pastries. OMFG. That was pretty much all I was saying as I was stuffing my face with this. They were freshly out of the oven and the pastry was golden, butter and super crisp. The pheasant terrine was rich with flavour and the cabernet sauce cut through the richness so well. Most of the stuff they sell on the menu is available to buy in bottles from the store, including that lovely cabernet sauce, which is very smart of them. After all that food I was a bit bummed that I was too full to have some of her awesome ice cream flavours, but instead we had a stroll around her land which had all sorts of birds, including peacocks and chickens which were running around loose. I loved the relaxed, rustic feel of the entire area.
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It's not everyday that you see a peacock patrolling a carpark
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A pheasant with particularly impressive plumage
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This guy was roaming around freely
After this we stopped by a few wineries for some tastings (of course), and spent a good amount of time admiring the scenery, but the farm was still my favourite part of the whole day. I wish I had a couple more days to spend in Adelaide as we didn't get to eat out at many places and I had only the shortest visit to the Central Markets, which seemed AWESOME and made me wish we had that kind of produce available in Sydney. Now I'm all the way in Malaysia, which is pretty much the exact opposite of Adelaide. Stay tuned for updates on my KL trip!
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14 comments:

  1. Wow! The wedding looked so beautiful! Congratulations to your brother and his wife.

    Your photos are great, I love Adelaide, can't wait to go back! Definitely have to go to the Barossa next time :) hope you're having an amazing trip xx

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  2. The location for the wedding looks so beautiful! Looks like you had a fab time in Adelaide and no doubt you'll have heaps of fun in Malaysia too!

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  3. These are lovely pictures! I wish I could fly to Australia some day.Did you have fun!? WIsh you a lovely week!

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  4. The marquee looked amazing with the fairy lights and the wine barrels.

    I am so pleased you blogged South Australia. It is such a great place to visit for foodies. I stopped in at the Maggie Beer shop about ten years ago!! I would love to go back. I never noticed the photo of the young Maggie Beer!

    I am so glad you went with you natural instincts and blogged even though you were on holidays! Thank you for a great read. I need to get back to SA.

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  5. what a beautiful wedding at a gorgeous location. I am so envious of you, I'd love to travel to Adelaide just for Maggie Beer's shop. The pie, the pastry OMFG indeed.

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  6. The mushroom pizza looks utterly delicious! Could easily see myself demolish that :)

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  7. Adelaide looks sooo beautiful its been a while since I've been there! LOVE LOVE LOVE that marque @ the wedding.. sooo pretty!

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  8. carrick hill looks like a beautiful location! lol i really like that little girls hat and love the pretty marquee. and man now i really want to go have a picnic. hope you're having an awesome holiday!

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  9. Hope you're enjoying yourself! (Though by the sounds of things, you most certainly are). Adelaide looks absolutely idyllic & the wedding weather looks like it was perfect.

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  10. Awesome post :) You could insist on that tasting plate with me any day, LOVE the look of that mushroom pizza - no faffing about trying to actually find the mushroom on it! - and the idea of wrapping terrine in pastry is so good.

    Also, I'm not at all a clucky woman but the photo of that little girl with ear hat might possibly have just turned me into one.

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  11. The wedding looks absolutely picture perfect ;) Glad that the skies cleared up for the wedding!

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  12. We miss you! But glad that it was a beautiful wedding. Zomg Maggi Beer and Barossa. JEALOUS!

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  13. What a wonderful, sun-filled, beautiful getaway! I adore Maggie Beer's pates and the Burnt Fig Jam (and the Burnt Fig and Honeycomb ice cream, of course :P) and can't imagine anything lovelier than a Maggie Beer lunch to follow up a gorgeous wedding :)

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  14. Lisa - It was very pretty! Thanks babe :)

    Jacq - It was really lovely!

    colores - It was so much fun! Thanks!

    Gourmet Getaway - Thanks :) SA was really gorgeous, so glad I finally got to visit it! Thanks!

    linda - Yes the pie was AMAZING. I wish I could have stocked up on pate and jams!

    Simon @ the heart of food - It was sooo good! I love anything with good mushrooms

    the dainty baker - Isn't it pretty! I want a marquee!!

    chocolatesuze - it really was, wish it was in sydney! haha i had a feeling you'd like the hat

    shez - It was such a good trip, I wish i was still on holiday!

    Conor @ Hold the Beef - Thanks! Hahaha :)

    Angie Lives to Eat (and Cook)! - It was! We were very lucky :)

    Karen @ Citrus and Candy - :D HUGS!

    Hannah - It really was! Omg yes the jams were amazing

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