Tag Archives: mothers day

Rose and Pistachio Biscuits (and knowing when to outsource)

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rose and pistachio biscuits || cityhippyfarmgirlrose and pistachio biscuits || cityhippyfarmgirl I’ve always felt a little guilty at out sourcing my mum’s Mothers Day gift when I was 9 years old. As she unwrapped the very special puffy coat hanger I’d selected for her, she asked with impressed (and clearly overwhelmed with love for her talented daughter) eyes.

Did you make it?!

Er no… I said a little awkwardly, (visibly watching my mothers overwhelmed with love feeling quickly deflate) Ginny did.

You see, I’d spent my hard earned silver coins on a puffy coat hanger that my friend had made. Which I had then bought for my mum on Mother’s Day. Sure I could have made it, but I didn’t. I’d outsourced.

Now while my puffy coat hanger buying days are probably behind me, the odd bit of outsourcing isn’t, (especially if it’s someones lovely recipe to be made.)

I’d had been thinking about the combination of rose and pistachio for a little while but it hadn’t gone any further than that. Just the thinking.

Reaching for my trusty friend google and lo and behold, He Needs Food has a Rose and Pistachio Biscuit Recipe and it looks precisely to my baking liking.* The pictures are gorgeous, the recipe is easy and on baking, they present beautifully. Just the thing for Mothers Day, (that’s if you weren’t already giving puffy coat hangers.)

Thanks John, cracker of a recipe.

rose and pistachio biscuits || cityhippyfarmgirl

* Except for cooking with rose water, I really am not friends with the stuff. Recipe is still great with this omission though.

 

thankful for being a mama

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 cityhippyfarmgirl

cityhippyfarmgirl

cityhippyfarmgirl Today is Mother’s Day.

A day I’m incredibly grateful to be able to celebrate. Not only as a mother but also celebrating my own mother.

Years ago I wondered whether I would ever get the chance to be a mother. I hoped and wished. Shed tears when I wasn’t, shed tears when I was. An incredibly journey, that has brought every known emotion along with it.

Today I’m thankful for my children for allowing me to experience every single one of those emotions. As without it, I’d be a completely different person, and certainly not for the better.

I’m thankful for my other mama friends who are always such a wonderful source of support. Friendships that are so rarely properly acknowledged, and yet those tiny moments, those meet ups, those conversations, those coffees… have the ability to completely change a day. Hours of tantrums, tears, lost shoes, and late school times- forgotten in the space of a minute with a softly placed hand on your arm, a knowing smile and a ready laugh.

A few days before, I was asked what I wanted to do on Mother’s Day. I wanted nothing flashy, nothing fluffy. No arguments, and yelling. I wanted a slow morning, filled with pancakes and biscuits. Hand drawn cards, sitting next to deep pots of chai, surrounded by the ones I loved the very most.

I wanted to take them all in, count their little toes and fingers as I had done on the day they were born. I wanted to read stories, play games, dance in the lounge room. I wanted snuggles on the couch and kisses at the table. I wanted a slow day, to enjoy everything I truly loved about being a mother. That’s what I really wanted to do.

(And after all that. I wanted to sneak off, to go sit in a café, nurse a luke warm coffee…. while they all cooked dinner.)

Happy Mother’s Day Mama’s, you do a truly amazing job.

**************

Biscuit recipe is from SBS Food Safari- Plum Jam Biscuits and they were delicious!

so High Tea

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High Tea. Just the words bring lovely images to mind. Those cute little sandwiches, those fluffy scones, and sweet little cakes up the top.

What to do when a good friend is returning back to her home country. How do you say goodbye?…. Well saying goodbye in style is a good start, and high tea at The Observatory Hotel, Sydney just might be the place to do it.

Its Mothers Day and a few other people have thought it might be a nice idea to have high tea at the hotel as well. So they have upped the price and moved people around their two rooms used for dining. Now they were a little cheeky in that it is advertised as $49 for high tea, a booking was made at this price. Then my friend who had made the booking was contacted and told that seeing as though it was a special occasion there would be a price increase to $79 would we still like to keep the booking? Yes, yes, we will still be there. Then on arrival, right down the bottom of the menu is $89 for high Tea. A little cheeky yes, were we going to do anything about it?..No. A girly afternoon with out kids, this doesn’t happen often…. no indeedy not often at all.

The room we are in is lovely with murals on the walls, and tables not squashed together. A glass of sparkling wine starts us off, and a selection of 6 different teas is offered. The 3 tiered high tea comes out and it does look really inviting.

The sandwiches are small and daintily cut, the mini quiche lorraine buttery and melt in your mouth. The scones I thought a little on the small side but they were light and tasted good. The strawberry jam chunky, and the cream… well the cream has a couple of long fibres in it. I say fibres in the hope they weren’t hairs. Because I sure as hell don’t want hair in my $89 high tea cream!

The cakes were daintily presented, with the creme brulee being a stand out. The pannacotta was a lost cause- insipid tasting, with a watery strawberry sauce on top. Overall the presentation was elegant and restrained as I would expect a five star hotel high tea. I didn’t expect a big chip in my teapot, and I have to say it did detract… just a little.

The Observatory Hotel
89-113 Kent Street
Sydney
02 9256 2222
www.observatoryhotel.com.au