Planning a gourmet road trip to Victoria’s High Country, including wine tasting, dining in a hatted restaurant and a free RV camp nearby, where to rest your head after a long lunch? Look no further than Brown Brothers Winery and Restaurant in Milawa.
The history of Brown Brothers wines goes back to 1885, when a young John Francis Brown planted 10 acres of Riesling, Muscat and Shiraz grapes on the family property at Milawa in the King River Valley. Thus started one of Australia’s largest and oldest privately owned wine companies.
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I know, I know…we’ve all had plenty of chocolate cakes in our lives. They are possibly our family favourite desserts and a standard celebratory dessert.
We had a family birthday recently and I was asked to make a low key dinner, including the dessert. Apparently birthdays are overrated when you’re a young adult…no need for big parties, cakes, songs or candles. Sigh!
So we had home made burgers that I tasked one of our guest into grilling, hot chips from the local takeaway shop, ready-to-cook buffalo wings, creamy coleslaw brought by another of our guests, all in the spirit of effortless cooking. As the hostess, I provided all the burgers ingredients and toppings as well as a generous help of cut fruits, for good measure.
This left me with plenty of time to bake the cake. I decided on a flourless cake, as we have been experimenting with nut flours lately. Usually, almond flour is my go-to substitute, but lately I have discovered pecan flour and thought I’d add some to the mix for extra nuttiness.
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Come along for a four-day scenic escape to regional NSW, filled with pie tastings, country hospitality, adventurous driving and fascinating history along the way.
Our first road trip of 2023 is a random one.
Triggered by restlessness, after a very quiet COVID affected festive period, Mr T decided to take advantage of a favourable weather window to head out for 3 days in the GX. Where to? No ideas, we’ll decide once on the road. Let’s just follow the sun, as we used to in our cruising days.
So, we’re heading south, on the Princes Highway, along with the holiday traffic. It’s not long before we reach Wollongong and being lunch time, we decide to take the turn off to Robertson for pies. Pie tasting while on the road is a bit of a tradition, and we never miss an opportunity.
Especially when you come across a sign advertising “Welcome to the Famous Robertson Pie shop “. Mr T always orders a curry beef pie, while I play around with chunky beef versions, in this instance, Boeuf Bourguignon. While the pastry is a little dry, the filling is yummy, full of tender beef chunks and a lovely red wine sauce.
It’s a popular spot, with lots of families, biking groups and truckies queuing along.
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So far we have spend most of 2022 on the road. 6 months exactly, on and off, criss crossing all States and Territories of Australia except Western Australia which borders were last to reopen, sadly too late for us.
It has been one of the best road trips in the GX, exploring out of the way places, meeting like minded people and of course, sampling regional produce at local eateries. From low key pie shops to lively pubs, trendy cafes and bustling farmers markets, we have loved tasting regional Australia. Out of the dozens of venues we visited, one restaurants stands out. It is in the Special Occasion category, being on the pricey side, but the quality of the food, the location, and the theatrics are what made me fall in love with it. I might even plan a future road trip back there…
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you…
The Enchanted Fig Tree – Kangaroo Island, SA
The dining highlight of our tour of Kangaroo Island, back in March, has been a long lunch at the Enchanted Fig Tree on the beautiful north coast. More than food, it’s a whole experience : from the stunning drive to Snelling Beach, the magical setting inside the fig tree, the fig cocktail on arrival, attentive service, fig based menu and foraging for fruits afterwards…I didn’t want to leave!!!
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I attended a house party recently, hosted by old friends we hadn’t seen for a while. Thanks to social media we kept in touch, and somehow we all knew what everyone’s was up to. As a result conversations were easy, picking up where we left off. Some of the guests we knew well, others we knew off and funnily many knew off us. One of them approached me and exclaimed “ I hear you’re a good cook! Would love to taste your food…!” Of course I was very flattered, and thanked the lady for the compliment adding that while I love cooking, I love even more eating other’s cooking while “off duty”.
That reminded me of the recent few weeks in Sydney, in-between road trips, spent celebrating the many family birthdays that fall within days of each other. Normally there would be feasts at the house, with a dinner table overflowing with food and guests milling about. However this year, with most people busy mid-week and Mr T and I preparing an impending trip away, we ended up eating out more than we usually do.
We particularly enjoyed trying out one of our local casual haunts and the kids surprised me with an exotic night in the city.
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