Dragonfly Sex and High Tea (Intercontinental Hotel, Sydney)

Sydney Cont'd - for post one click here.

We decided to indulge in a spot of High Tea at the Intercontinental Hotel, Sydney. It cost around $50 for a buffet selection of food, a pot of tea and a flute of sparkling wine. It certainly wasn't the nicest high tea I have gone to, and the food was rather average... but it was still very much enjoyed.

I was very excited by the gingerbread men, I loved these as a child... the creme brulee was delicious too:

Finger sandwiches and scones were rather average, but the self serve crepes packed a punch (note the skittles, yes I am like a child):

I just love photos of macaroons. There is something so *food porn* about them. These looked a lot better than they tasted, they were below average as far as taste and texture go unfortunately:

The cute buffet arrangement:

In terms of value for money, quality and taste, I wouldn't rate the Intercontinental's offering of high tea very highly. There are plenty of hotels offering high tea in Sydney - next time I'll try another. Hooray for the economic term known as 'competition'.

There were some very educational elements to the day, experienced immediately before high tea when we took a leisurely stroll through the Botanical Gardens.

Flying foxes - according to one person in our group, "They're like bats, but fuzzier".

Check out this St Andrews Cross Spider in its web. I was wondering what that dark white zig zag / zipper looking part was... the Bear Gryllis of our group informed me that spiders who make very large webs add this feature so that larger animals don't accidentally walk/fly through and destroy the web. Trusty Wikipedia somewhat confirms this: "The white patterns are called stabilimentum and reflect UV light. They have been shown to play a role in attracting prey to the web, and possibly to prevent its destruction by large animals."

 By far the most interesting part of the animal/insect educational series in which we found ourselves involved dragonfly sex. This male red dragonfly procreated with a yellow dragonfly in a typical display of aerial acrobatics. Immediately afterwards, the yellow female hovered over some lily pads and started laying eggs into the water (while the male hovered protectively above her). We could actually see the eggs, and could see little fish eating them. The female was subsequently exhausted, and rested on a leaf while the male continued to dart around energetically, looking for his next victim conquest. As one person in the group exclaimed, "Wow - we just saw the circle of life!". This was all very exciting for our group of childlike adults.

So there you have it - our stroll through Sydney's Botanical Gardens turned out to be more educational than a documentary. High tea was very much deserved after all this intellectual stimulation.

Is it Macaron or Macaroon? (It gets complicated...)

Firstly, I had to share that I came across this enlightening (and hilarious) blog post. This lovely graphic is the perfect guide:

Source: I Do Believe I Came with a Hat

At first, I was ashamed to admit that I was, before reading this, incorrectly pronouncing macaron. But I am not one to accept things at face value - oh no. If you look at Ladurée, the French patisserie that *invented* the macaron/oon, they use the spelling 'macaroon' on their English website. The English translation of the French word macaron is indeed macaroon.

Trusty Wikipedia explains: "Since the English word macaroon can also refer to the coconut macaroon, many have adopted the French spelling of macaron to distinguish the two items in the English language. However, this has caused confusion over the correct spelling of the cookie/biscuit. Some recipes exclude the use of macaroon to refer to this French confection while others think that they are synonyms."

To avoid confusion, and be technically correct, you should be saying 'French Macaroon' or 'Macaron à la française'.

But wait, there's more! Let's not forget the Italians... There are French macaroons, and there are Italian macaroons. According to GastroNOMmy, the difference is in the meringue: they are made differently by the French and Italians, and this results in different MIXING and RESTING. Goodness me, who knew things could get this complicated. Ironically, the chef who explains the difference is of Asian descent, and studied at a French culinary school in Chicago.

Here is a pictorial depiction of the difference, from French Blogger Bec:

Source: Bec sucre Bec sale

It would be more helpful if both were made in the same flavour...

I used google images and searched for macaron and macaroon. Macaron came up with the French/Italian version, whereas macaroon came up with a mix of the French/Italian version and the coconut version your nanna makes. 

In conclusion: the 'macaron' snobs are technically incorrect, but to be understood, it's probably easiest to use said term.

Macaroons et Petits Fours

At work we have a tradition. Whoevers birthday it is, has to bring in a cake or some other source of food to share with the work group for morning tea. It's a little strange having to buy a cake for yourself on your own birthday, but it works. People are too unreliable to buy for someone else!

These delicious macaroons and petit fours were from Croissant D'Or, a French patisserie in Canberra. The best part is, guess how much all of this cost me? A whole $12, with a voucher pre-purchased on Living Social. The macaroons alone are usually $2.40 each, so it was definitely a bargain. We enjoyed them with Quinche (green) tea from T2.

As birthdays are all about eating (and calories don't count), at lunchtime I enjoyed Canberra's best laksa at Asian Noodle House:

Mmmm delicious! Overall a nice day, but I probably would have preferred to take the day off work. I wasn't particularly productive, it doesn't feel right working on your birthday!

In shopping news, I have decided to buy a pair of wedges for summer... only problem is, I can't find the perfect pair. What do you think of these?

Bub didn't have an afternoon sleep at daycare today, and boy did we pay for it this evening. She was in one of those inconsolable, irrational, just totally overtired moods. On the plus side, she's already asleep so I have time to contemplate the stillness of the night...

Every year, on my birthday,
I think about how glad I am
that I was born,
how thankful I am

for all I have in life.