piccolo's @ darling st., rozelle

It's been a little quiet on this blog since I discovered Instagram and it seems like a fair few food bloggers have jumped on the Instagram bandwagon; much easier to post and well, it's addictive! In an effort to stop me from being addicted to my phone and liking pictures at all times of the day, I thought I'd make an effort to come back to this blog and catch up on a serious back log of posts. I've still being snapping away with my nifty Canon of mine and you can only call it ridiculous how many photos of food I have sitting on my computer ready to be shared.

Let me introduce you to a nifty weekend brunch haunt in Rozelle; a place called Piccolo's where coffee is served at all times of the day.

I usually love the idea of an all-day breakfast but the chicken panini was the one that caught my eye this particular morning we were there.  Perfectly toasted and very, very tasty. I've been wanting to buy a sandwich press for awhile now but apartment living has meant we've had little to no bench space - so hopefully when we move to a bigger place, I can finally get one and make a panini of my own at home.

The boy opts for the big breakfast which is generously portioned as any big breakfast should be. I hate it when places serve up a big breakfast and you only have about half of what you see in the photo on the plate.

My regular brunch crew; we're happy eaters!

Don't be turned away when you first come through the doors of Piccolo's; there's actually ample seating tucked at the back which you don't notice when you first come into the cafe. And can I just say that these guys know exactly how to bring customers back; just as we were paying, I noticed the most scrumptious tray of iced cinnamon scrolls by the register which I wish I'd known about earlier. And yep, I'm always thinking about food even when I've eaten :)

adriano zumbo's salted caramel macarons

When Adriano Zumbo launched his bake at home range late last year, I swiftly acquired the entire range thanks to my lovely mum who knows how much I love to bake and how much I love Zumbo. In the past half a year, I've made 3 out of the 4 that were part of the original launch and lo and behold, there's another 2 which have launched in the past month! For those that follow Mashi, you would've read her post here as the two of us had a crack at the salted caramel macarons late last year.

A most pretty array of Adriano Zumbo's bake at home range.

Fun on a Friday evening.

Patiently piping our shells in the hope of some macaron feet.

Look at the determination in Mashi's face in this photo!

First batch that came out of the oven - some came out a little crackly but other's came out with feet. I did my happy dance at this point.

Not so great to start with...

But perfect macarons we have here!

Unfortunately these macarons look better than they taste. Despite leaving them to sit overnight in the fridge, they were airy to the taste and just didn't have the crunch and chewiness you'd expect of a macaron. And for salted caramel macarons, these came out rather orange!

Instructions are definitely easy to follow but you'll need to set aside a good 2-3 hours from start to finish to make this batch of about 20 filled macarons. Makes you appreciate the ones you buy outside; suddenly they don't seem so expensive after all when you consider all the effort that goes into making the two discs and a filling that comprise that one macaron. Anyway, have yet to try the Passionfruit macarons and I hear part of the new launch is one more macaron flavour; hopefully they work out a bit better taste-wise!

the grounds of alexandria @ huntley st., alexandria

There's been much on the grapevine about 'The Grounds of Alexandria' and I've been one of the slower ones to head over to check it out but when a friend came visiting from Melbourne, it was the perfect place to catch up!

Albeit it's a little hard to nab a seat on a Saturday; I hear you need to head there nice and early. For those there at around 11am, you'll find better luck grabbing your food to go and eating in the courtyard. If you ask nicely (which is what we did), a kind lady moved across slightly for us to seat the three of us at the end of a table.

Fruit yoghurt muesli and a Bacon & Egg roll. Coffee a must to start a weekend.

By our table they were serving freshly made donuts and how can one resist? Choice of nutella topping or berry topping.

The awesome K who I call the crazy cat bag lady. The last time I saw her she bought a crazy cat bag.

I felt a little bad about this piggy who was positioned nearby the bacon & egg roll stand.

These two make me laugh so much. They were trying to do a lover's entwined toast with their cups of fresh lemonade which didn't really work - you need to hold with opposite hands!

So much to see as you look around The Grounds of Alexandria.

A cute yellow tricycle.

Hoping we'll have better luck next time getting a table inside! There's much more on offer on the menu and well, I'd be happy just to eat all the things I ate on this visit. Actually, there's a muffin I bought which I ate much later and it was absolutely scrumptious! One of the bonuses of coming here is that there's ample all-day street parking nearby so breakfast can easily extend into lunch. Oh, and all the pots of jams you can buy - it's really quite a foodie's delight!

marion grasby's singapore noodles

So here it is, Singapore Noodles from Marion's Kitchen range. Took me awhile to get to this one as it didn't seem all the supermarkets stocked it but thanks to Woolies and their weekly specials, nabbed this one up and voila - I've now tried out the entire range.

Here it is - signature yellow packaging which the boy remarks is a little hard to read.

Follow the simple steps on the packet and 20 minutes later, you have a wokful of noodles. (FYI: We had chicken thigh, green beans and chinese cabbage in our version of Singapore Noodles)

Noodles ready to serve.

Best eaten fresh. The boy took some for work the next day but ends up being a little soupy.

And my final verdict - to be honest, probably my least favourite from the entire range but for a quick 20 minute meal, you really can't ask for much more.

la cachette @ mitchell rd., erskineville

There's days when I have to admit I'm getting old; and usually I feel it more so when it's yet another younger cousins birthday; gone are the days when they were children and are now actually starting uni and doing all those grown up things; where did the time go? Happy Birthday cousin C!

This birthday called for a brunch celebration at La Cachette in Erskineville. Recently under new management and just happens so to be the auntie and uncle team of my one of my younger cousin's girlfriend. They're serving up Toby Estate coffee which is already a win.

The big breakfast which is a hearty feed and a great way to start the day.

Having had a bite to eat that morning, I opted for a lunch selection and went for the Chicken & Vegetable Pie. Looked good when it was sitting in the cabinet as a whole pie and tasted even better on my plate. Sources tell me that the pies are home mad so well worth a try.

Great place to start the weekend and excited to see what new items they bring to the menu in the coming months. Erskineville is conveniently placed for those who want to head out to Marrickville for one of their famous pork rolls; which is exactly what we did afterwards!