Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Manly

Ever since I found out that Ben & Jerry's was coming to Sydney, I've been wanting to visit.

I remember browsing a job website looking for a new job when I saw that they were looking for scoopers for their scoop shop. I got incredibly excited, and then realised that it's all the way in Manly and it was near impossible for me to actually work there. Because it would have been several hours on public transport.

Several months after they opened, I finally made it there after our dinner at Pho Sam.

The drive to Manly was worth it.

Oooh yum look at those flavours. So many to choose from!! The flavours include:

• Berry Berry Extraordinary
• Cherry Garcia
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
• Chocolate Fudge Brownie
• Chocolate Macadamia
• Chocolate Therapy
• Chunky Monkey
• Coffee, Coffee BuzzBuzzBuzz!
• Lemonade Stand Sorbet
• Mint Chocolate Chunk
• New York Super Fudge Supreme
• Peanut Cookie-burra Dough (they held a compeition in Australia to name this flavour!!)
• Phish Food
• Strawberry
• Strawberry Cheesecake
• Sweet Cream & Cookies
• Triple Caramel Chunk
• Vanilla

I chose Phish Food & Mint Chocolate Chunk in a waffle cone, dipped with chocolate and crusted with biscuit crumbs ($7.70 I think?). OMG. Yum.

I liked the fact that the mint wasn't an overly bright green. Infact, it was almost white. But it packed a minty punch and was generously laced with huge chunks of chocolate. The Phish Food was delicious - I was very much looking forward to it, I used to buy tubs of it for 1 pound when I lived in England.....no wonder I got so fat haha. Now that I think about it though, I don't remember getting an actual Phish in it. Unlucky!! But the serving was HUUUUGE, worth the $7 odd dollars that I spent!!

Because I'm a shite food blogger, I can't remember what Liz got - but she said it was good. She looks pretty happy too so I'd say it was a success.

I think Laura got Phish Food too, and a scoop of Lemonade Stand Sorbet in the same kind of cone as I got.

I shall be going back to get more in the near future - perhaps I'll take boyfriend with me. They have merchandise too - I really wanted an ice cream scoop but I was too lazy to ask how much they were......I hate asking how much things are and then when deciding I don't have enough money saying oh ok thanks bye.....it makes me feel awkward!!

Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop
Shops 5 & 6
25 - 27 South Steyne
Manly 2100
Store Cone Phone: 02 8966 9219

Congratulations to my beautiful friends!!

Last week, on Monday, I got the best call ever.

Two of my closest friends had got engaged the night before. I got the call while I was at the shops and promptly started crying and I think the words oh my god escaped my mouth a few thousand times.

Let me tell you their story.

I worked with Nadia a few years ago and I knew that my friend Josh was quite interested in her. Our work christmas party was coming up, and as Nadia wasn't taking anyone with her, I decided to take two dates - my boyfriend at the time, and Josh so he could conveniently slot in next to Nadia :)

After that night, I kept pestering Nadia......asking her if she liked him.......if she was interested.......if she luuuuuurrrrrved him and wanted to maaaarrrrryyyyy him (being the ever mature 19 year old at the time). She brushed my comments aside and it wasn't until about 4 months later at my 20th birthday when Nadia sat up and took notice of Josh.

They went on a date not long after it.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

So their engagement has been brought about pretty much because of me, I'll never let them forget it, I'll be around for the rest of their lives reminding them and taking the credit for it (being the ever mature 23 year old that I am!!).

So I went to their house on Sunday to have lunch with them and took some cupcakes along:

A BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO MY BEAUTIFUL FRIENDS JOSH & NADIA!!

Pho Sam Vietnamese Noodle House at Epping

On Friday night I caught up with 2 good friends of mine - the decision for dinner was left up to me so I threw out some suggestions and amongst them was Pho Sam at Epping. It's a little hole in the wall Vietnamese noodle bar in Epping and I walk past it every Wednesday afternoon to work (which is right next door to Sweetness the Patisserie.....fabulous marshmallows......more on that in another post though!!). Funnily enough I only noticed Pho Sam a few weeks ago even though it's been there for years.

Laura, Liz & I headed to the noodle bar and it was pretty packed, so that's always a good sign. It's nothing flash on the inside, but sometimes, those are the best kind of places!!

We sat down and the waitress handed us menus which has a large selection of noodles in soup, laksas, meat dishes and rice dishes and also gave us a warm jug of tea. A different waitress comes back to us, quite quickly I might add (we hadn't even really opened the menus at this point), to take our order and we asked for a few more minutes. Her reply?? I want this table back in an hour. Umm. Ok. If they needed the table back in an hour, that's fine, but there's certainly more polite ways to state it!! And we'd made a booking too.....anyway.

We ordered Spring Rolls with Vermicelli to share $8.00. These came out with a sweet & spicy dipping sauce and were packed full of meat and vegetables along with a bowl of vermicelli, carrot, cucumber, lettuce, bean sprouts and mint. 

Laura ordered Combination Stir Fried Noodles (with rice noodles if I remember correctly) $12.80. It came out steaming hot and it was an absolutely HUGE serve. There were plump, juicy prawns and plenty of good quality chicken breast in the dish too. Very generous on the vegetables and noodles too.

Liz ordered the Crispy Chicken with Tomato Rice $9.00. I had read good things about this dish on eatability and it didn't disappoint. The skin was crisped to perfection and the chicken underneath was deliciously juicy. Sometimes cripy skin chicken can be reaaaaally dry, but this was perfect!! The rice was really nice too, the tomato added a zing to it which plain steamed rice lacks.

I ordered Ginger & Shallot with Chicken $12.00. Again, the serving was huge with crisp snow peas, carrots, baby corn and chicken breast in a sauce laced with ginger and shallot. Check out the amount of chicken in that baby!!

It was a delicious dinner and even though the waitress told us we had to be out in an hour, I think we were there longer, and there were tables that were available anyway so maybe we had just walked in at a peak time for them. I think we will definitely be going back for dinner - and I will certainly keep them in mind for dinners on a Wednesday night when I'm at work!!

After dinner we went on a bit of a drive for dessert - I'll tell you about that next time!!

Pho Sam Vietnamese Noodle House
14 Oxford Street, Epping 2121 (opposite Post Office)
Ph: 9869 0499

Winter Magic Festival & the Priests Cottage at Leura

This weekend just gone, boyfriend and I went for a weekend away to the Winter Magic Festival in Katoomba.

We stayed at the priests cottage in Leura which was a nice little self contained granny flat type of place:

That is the main residence at the front and up the driveway on the left hand side is priests cottage.

Lounge room/bedroom - the bed was ULTRA comfortable, nice and firm with soft velvety blankets and marshmallow pillows!! (not literally)

Kitchenette - no oven :( I was going to make cookies :(

The bathroom - heated towel racks and the best shower ever......it was like showering under a waterfall!!

After eat a sustaining breakfast of pancakes (delicious I might add) we headed off to Katoomba and got the BEST PARKING SPOT EVERR!! I'm always really lucky with parking spots and the luck continued :)

The whole of Katoomba Street is closed off for the festival and lined with stalls selling everything from fresh home made fudge to ugg boots to dog collars and fairy skirts. It's an ecclectic mixture of hippie, punk, rockstar, teen and goth.

We got there just in time for the parade:

Look!! It's the read hat society just like in that episode of the simpsons!!

Mad Hatter!! I love it!!

Bellydancers!!

The view of the crowds alllll the way up Katoomba Street - packed!!

The lady in the spotted coat is Zoe, my brother and his fiancee's doggie. She's so cute, I love her jacket.

Everyone wanted to stop and pat Zoe all day. The other little dog in this photo is Aussie (Ozzie?) and he is the most adorable little dog ever. He belongs to my brothers fiancee's parents and he shakes non stop (whether it's winter or summer).

This is Murphy. He is my brother and his fiancee's other furry child. He's a very gentle dog and alot of people get scared of him because he is a Staffy and people think they're mean dogs - but he is seriously the best dog ever. He loves getting pats and cuddles and loves giving people kisses (which can get a little gross).

And this is Honey, who also belongs to my brothers fiancee's parents. I love the hoodie - very adorable.

First item of food for the day - boyfriend bought a chicken kebab roll. So, a chicken skewer on a roll with tomato sauce. $3.50. He said it was delicious - piping hot, delicious barbequed skewer and the bread roll was really fresh, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

This is my brother mid sentance.

HOW COOL IS THIS DOG??! It's name is Penny and I think she's the best thing since sliced bread. Very steam punkesque is you ask me.

We wandered all the way up the street, checking out the stalls as we went (I didn't buy anythinge except food all day......whoops!!) and I purchased a brownie for everyone and it was delicious. Crisp on top, fudgy in the middle and a rich chocolate flavour - can't go wrong for $1.50 and when I teamed it with a chai latte, I was in food heaven.

Mel bought some Gozleme - spinach and cheese I think. I forgot to ask how it was, but you can't really go wrong with Gozleme, it's always pretty good!! I'd also like to point out how cool Mel's skirt is. It's made of TIES and she made it herself. Awesome!!

Tee hee. Cameron got a hotdog from the Saurkraut Sisters. Just plain. Bread. Hotdog. No sauce. No cheese. No onion. BORING!! He said it tasted good though!!

I came across this stall selling honey, sauces and butters. I purchased some lemon and lime butter and I am very excited to try it.

CUUUUUUTE!! Lady beetle!! There were heaps of kids dressed up - I saw an adorable child dressed like the boy in Where The Wild Things Are. Unfortunately I didn't snap a pic :(

What's that in the distance?? Chips on a stick?! YES!!

Mmmm hot, salty, greasy, potatoey goodness.

On a stick to boot!!

Yum you can choose what flavour salt you want on it - $5 for a stick.

Worth every dollar. Crispy on the ouside, fluffy and hot on the inside, perfectly salted with chicken salt. Yum yum yum.

You'd think I would have been full after that feast. And I was. Until I spotted churros.

Check out that cinnamon sugar.

Hot, freshy, cripsy churros - $5. Worth it. Totally worth it. Sugary, sweet, spicy from the cinnamon and sooooo fresh it's not funny. My mouth's watering just remembering it.

Check out this crazy guy!! He's on an ultra tall unicycle. Awesome!!

After the churros, we meandered back to our respective cars and headed back to our houses to rest for a bit, and then boyfriend and I went to my brother and his fiancees for the best dinner ever. I forgot to take photos, but it was damn tasty. Mel's a fabulous cook. Here's some pics of the doggies though!!

Yes, Murphy is a boy, and Murphy is wearing a pink jacket. He's cool enough to do that and not care.

Weeeee wrestling!! They bite each other all the time.....it doesn't seem to hurt them though!!

Aaaand me and the boyfriend - how cool is that light in the corner?!

So the weekend was delightful and fun as always - can't wait for next year!!

http://www.wintermagic.com.au/
Also, this is a link to the place we stayed:
http://www.stayz.com.au/14683