Tag Archives: pumpkin

Dinner, lunch, pumpkin and a picnic!

Before the quarter-life crisis came about, I actually had quite a nice weekend celebrating my birthday with some of my favourite people. We had big plans of Halloween costumes and Luna park, but things got sidetracked a bit, so we kept it more low key. It turned out to be a very eventful weekend that revolved mostly around food.

On Saturday evening, a bunch of friends went out and semi-celebrated my birthday and Samantha’s. We had dinner and drinks, probably more drinks than dinner, but it was lovely none the less. We dined at the Deck, overlooking the Sydney Harbour.

The next morning went better than expected (hangover-wise) and I put the icing on the cake (literally).

the CAKE!

Yes. I baked my own birthday cake. But this is only because I have eaten this specific cake for 24 years and ONLY on my birthday. There is no way I was not going to make it. Normally it isn’t vegan, but a couple of tweaks made it absolutely perfect. I need to work on my icing skills, but that’s taken care of thanks to the cupcake decorating course that I recieved as a gift from my boyfriend and his mother. 🙂

We went out for lunch that day to an all vegan Yum Cha restaurant that I had read about in a Sydney guide book. It is hidden in-between a cathedral and an aquatic center in a park in the middle of the city.

bodhi! all vegan delicious-ness

I’d never had Yum Cha before so I was very excited and this spot exceeded all my expectations. The food was so delicious and there was plenty of it! I will definitely be heading back there for some dinner in the near future. I can only imagine how pretty it would be at night with all the twinkle lights and the beautiful surroundings.

Post-lunch we enjoyed the carrot-cake which was just as delicious as I remember it. So moist and sweet.
Once Sean’s family left he got to work on carving the pumpkin. Sean was beyond excited about this particular pumpkin since we had decided to carve a Dracula-like Lego man. It turned out pretty good, and I definitely think we would have been in the running to win a prize had we been in Toronto for the Hicks Annual Pumpkin Carving contest. Such is life though.

his first pumpkin...

The pumpkin made my day. It has since gone moldy sitting in our living room on account of the heat, and also on account of us not wanting to throw it away. Eeep.

birthday brekkie

The next day, my actual birthday, I had to work. To my surprise I received two ginormous bouquets of flowers delivered to my office. One from my parents and one from Sean. Upon bringing them home I spent about 40 minutes trying to find enough vases and enough room to display them throughout the apartment. But that is neither here nor there.

As a very sweet end to my day, Sean scooped me up from work at 5.30pm with a picnic basket in hand complete with crackers, dip, fruit and champagne! Oh… and Chocolate. Lots of chocolate. (4 bars) YUM!

We picnic’d harbour side in a park with a picturesque view of Sydney.

xxx

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pumpkin scones in the spring time

How is it the end September already? I mean, really. It’s ridiculous. I’ve been here for almost five months now… no wait. I HAVE been here for five months. Today! Weird. Anyway, time is just flying by.

pumpkin sconesss

My body is confused though. I’m craving the heat. I want that warm sun on my face. I want that feeling of walking out of your house only to realize its warmer outside than it is indoors. I want to not wear a jacket to work. And I want to rock shorts and a tanktop without the fear of afternoon chills.

But again, it’s SEPTEMBER… this is autumn in Canada and for that reason my body wants pumpkin pies and warm tea. Maybe a wood burning fire, delicious treats and halloween.

I haven’t had a proper summer since 2009… It seems I’ve been chasing winter back and forth across the globe, so yes. Summer is what I need, but pumpkin is what feels right.

That, and every other recipe I’ve seen since September 1st has been Pumpkin themed. Honestly, Autumn needs some new flava. But I won’t complain. I love me some pumpkin. Even if I can’t find it canned in Sydney. And even if what Australians call a Pumpkin is ACTUALLY a butternut squash… its delicious none the less.

So what do I do? I make smoothies. With pumpkin. and breads. with pumpkin… and SCONES! with pumpkin.

So today I bring you those Pumpkin Scones. Autumn Pumpkin scones, in Spring. Yum.

delicious

Pumpkin Scones with cinnamon icing

Recipe adapted from here

1 c. spelt flour

1 c. all purpose flour

1/2 tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground allspice

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1 tbsp. granulated sugar

1 tbsp. brown sugar

1/4 c. vegan butter

1/3 c. pumpkin puree

1/3 c. oat milk

Cinnamon Icing

1/4 c. powdered sugar

1/2 tbsp. almond milk

Cinnamon to taste

For the Scones
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Celcius and place the butter and milk in the fridge.

Mix together the flours, the spices, the baking powder and the sugar. Cut in the cold butter and then stir in the milk and pupmkin puree.

Mix the dough until a loose ball forms. lightly flour your surface and mold the dough into a rectangle. Cut into triangles. Mine made eight very small scones.

Bake the scones for 12-13 minutes.

For the Icing
Mix the ingredients together and add cinnamon to taste. Drizzle icing over the scones and allow to set.
make these! I bet they’d taste even better in cool, windy weather.
xxx

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Filed under Adventures in Australia, Breakfast