Saturday, May 20, 2006

Day 33 - Balmoral Beach, Sydney - "Fionna's Soup" (Butternut Squash & Ginger Soup)

.

Our official "see you soon" to our U. K.-bound friend Fionna.

Before leaving Oz, Fionna organized a potluck picnic lunch at Balmoral Beach, with everyone on her guest list contributing something food-wise to our little get-together. We barely made a dent in the huge amount of food we brought. Fionna's food alone would have fed us, then there were Alex's chicken wings, Naomi's quiche, there were at least three salads on the go, somebody made a couple pies, ... LOADS of food.

We were a little unlucky in the weather department, as it rained down on-and-off all afternoon long. Fortunately there was a quaint gazeebo under which we sought refuge, and the picnic continued until we could eat no longer.

There were some patches of clear sky throughout the day, but these were generally short-lived. (Would you ever guess from the pictures below that we would have dealt with rain later on?)



Funny story: While we were sitting undeneath the gazeebo and having our picnic, two busloads of asian tourists pulled up to Balmoral. As they waddled past us, seeing what we were up to, there was a simultaneous chorus of "Oooooh" 's and "Aaaaaahs" 's, followed by an army of digital cameras snapping pictures furiously in our direction. "Iz deezz wad dee ozzz-zzees doo un wee-kinds?"


Of course, we offered to step in and assist in taking their group picture in front of the gazeebo (and our picnic). "Tank yoo varrey mudge! Ha vah nyzz day!" Bow. Bow. Bow ...

Posted by Picasa

My picnic contribution was a pot of Butternut Square and Ginger Soup. It's AMAZING soup when served with a few a spoonfull or two of fresh cream and fresh-cracked black pepper. I've used the recipe on a few seperate occasions now, but from now on this will be known (perhaps only to me) as "Fionna's Soup".

*** Note: Recipe soon to come ...

No comments: