it’s time to move…
So after a few great years of blog.jasonfest.com, the time has come to move this blog along. I have been using wordpress more and more for work websites, and have been slowly getting frustrated with the lack of control on the free hosted wordpress sites, like this one.
Luckily I have an IT genius as a brother, who also has plenty of hosting space – thus jasonnsusan.com was born. All our old content has been moved over (thanks again Gerrod!), and with the greater control hopefully some new features will be added along the way.
If you’ve bookmarked this site, can you please update your settings to now point to the new site, otherwise you will be missing out on all out enthralling updates!!
See you at jasonnsusan.com
Filed under: random | Closed
red robin supper club
Last night Bec, Gus, Susan & I headed on down to Moray Cafe at New Farm to take part in the first Red Robin Supper Club for 2012. What is the supper club you ask? It’s a pop-up restaurant – yes the Moray cafe isn’t, but the event was one night only, and it open slather for Chef Rory Doyle to create his stunning menu of simple American food made fancy.
I only found out about the event by chance, and luckily we were just able to get in for the 6pm sitting. As mentioned the menu was a combination of really simple ideas, at a really reasonable price, but with a delicious twist. Seriously we all agreed it was some of the best food any of us had eaten at any restaurant!
We started the meal off with fried dill pickles with raspberry aioli, pork rinds, thrice cooked fries topped with braised beef short ribs, and a fontina cheese and onion toasted sandwich on fruit bread. Strange combinations, but each dish was superb! I was a massive fan of the pickles!
We then struggled with what to pick next, so we pretty much ordered everything else on the menu!
It was all amazing, but the stand-out for me was the Momofuku Pork Buns – they were simply to die for!
By this stage we were all starting to feel the full, but knowing a dollar from each dish will be donated to the Oxfam Stop Hunger Appeal we just had to order dessert! There was a choice of either home made ice cream sandwiched between two home made cookies, or doughnut balls with raspberry sauce and apple pie filling. Gus went for the doughnuts, the rest of us the cookies – who can pass up white choc & macadamia nut with espresso ice cream!
It was a sensational night of amazing food – I can’t wait for the next one!
Filed under: food, friends | Closed
Tags: brisbane food blog, red robin supper club
it’s that time of year…
Rum ball time!! This year’s batch was no were near as strong as last year’s, mainly due to the fruit only soaking for 4 days.
Can’t wait for the 2014 batch when the 5 year aged fruit will make it’s debut!
Filed under: food | Closed
shabu shabu
If you guessed Japanese you are right – it’s basically Japan’s version of fondue.
On Saturday night after Novemberfest Bec, Gus, Susan and I visited our local Shabu house on Mary street. Bec and I were ready for the challenge of a new dining experience, where as Susan and Gus were a bit sceptical at first – but then got right into it as well.
We started off with some tempura soft shell crab and some california rolls – both were excellent (both Bec and I agreed the best SS Crab we’ve ever had). Then it was down to the Shabu. To start you order your base soup, then pick what type of meat you want to drown. Most of us went for the beef and seafood, where as Susan just stuck with the beef.
The meat comes out raw – super finely sliced rolls of beef, and assorted seafood, as well as some noodles, cardboard chunks tofu, mushrooms and other random green stuff. The concept is easy – the soup sits on your own personal hotplate embedded into the table, and once boiling you add in what you want, and the pull out once cooked. The staff weren’t the friendliest, so it took us a few goes trying to interpret how it is all supposed to work, so instead made up our own style.
It seems our style of just chuck it in and see what happens is a little less than refined than the other, more experienced diners in the restaurant, but still we were the ones that seemed to be having all the fun – and given all the help from the staff what else could you expect!
Overall it was a great night – probably not a first date kind of restaurant, but with good friends a great night is guaranteed!
Filed under: birthdayfest, brisbane, food, friends, out and about | Closed
novemberfest 2011
So the birthdayfest trend has well and truly caught on. Many friends are now having the week long celebration instead of the traditional birth day celebration. This year to add to the mix, novemberfest was created to celebrate the birthday of Aimee, Sarah, Lauren and myself.
With all four of us celebrating birthday’s in November, we collectively came up with the idea of having a join celebration, which from all accounts was a great success. We all gathered at the Northshore Riverside Park for a BBQ lunch and a few beverages. We were lucky enough to secure one of the shelters near the river, complete with it’s own BBQ. The pièce de résistance of the afternoon was Susan’s cake – the triumphant combination of butter and sugar (thanks to the New York Buttercup Bakery for the recipe!)
It was a great afternoon catching up with everyone – looking forward to novemberfest 2012!
More photos in the gallery…
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| Novemberfest 2011 |
Filed under: bbq, birthdayfest, food, friends, jason | Closed
thanks a pot!
Last Christmas Gerrod & Kristy presented us with some awesome Mussel pots to use whenever we whip up a batch of boston bay delights. Turns out we had no idea what the boston bay bit was about, but last night it all came to light!
Turns out Boston Bay is in South Australia – and you can buy their mussels pre-cleaned and pre-packed from your local supermarket. The pots were a great way of serving the mussels – one half for the “to be enjoyed” and one half for the “enjoyed”
Thanks a pot lot guys!
Filed under: food | 2 Comments
stanthorpe
We’ve both been keen for a winter holiday, but sadly that thing called work has limited our ability to travel. To help the situation Susan quit her job, giving us two week days off to get away. Still not having enough time (or wanting to blow that much cash) to fly anywhere, Susan discovered this lovely little B&B at Stanthorpe. Ok I knew it would be cold there so it partly satisfied our winter holiday urge, but B&B….. I started having doilymares!
Thankfully my fears were calmed when I saw images of the Villa – not a doily in sight! It was quite the opposite, ultra-modern, complete with fire place, coffee machine, and the deciding factor… an outdoor hot tub!! Giddy up!
Neither of us had ever really been to Stanthorpe (other than maybe passing through there to get somewhere else, and even then I’m not sure if I’ve ever done that) so it was a great excuse to get away for a few days, explore the Granite Belt, and sample some awesome local produce.
We left Brisbane Thursday morning for the 3 hour drive South West. We’d never really taken the SP25 for a large outing, and it didn’t disappoint! It was quite an easy drive, other than the few bits of roadwork that slowed the trip down. We made a quick splash-n-dash for fuel in Warwick before arriving at our lunch location just North of Stanthorpe, Vincenzos. It’s main attraction was the big apple out the front, which I am sure is there to draw in all the tourists. The steak pies were pretty good too!
I’m glad we didn’t have too much for lunch as our second stop at Sutton’s Farm lured us into a massive slice of apple pie goodness!
The plan was just to stop and buy some local made apple juice and cider, but seeing the massive pies in the glass cabinet certainly sucked me in. And who can forget the apple cider ice cream that accompanied the pie! Being gluttons for punishment we then headed to the Granite Belt Dairy to pick up some cheese. Of course with buying cheese comes cheese tasting! Thank goodness I am not lactose intolerant! Poor Susan struggled with the tasting, but I took one for the team and picked two winners to take with us.
The final stop before reaching the Villa was the local butcher, who as it turns out has shut down so Woolies meat department was the second-best option. Once we arrived at the Villa we were presented with a massive hamper full of more local produce for our breakfast, including yummy home made bread and local jams!
The villa was amazing – rather than me try and explain it, here’s what the owners say:
“Two beautifully appointed boutique villas are set on 50 acres well back from a country road on a hilltop, ensuring privacy, peace and spectacular views. Inside the villas, you can’t help but relax. Sink into a sumptuous leather lounge in front of a crackling fire nursing a fine local drop. The villas boast 74 square metres of contemporary split level design, featuring state of the art appointments, first class furnishings and fittings, and a deluxe kitchen with European stainless steel appliances. Floor to ceiling windows give sensational views of the landscaped native gardens and the wilderness of the nearby ranges. The wide flat screen TV, stereo, MP3, DVD and movie library provide an extensive selection for indoor entertainment. With a heated outdoor spa, king size bed and gourmet breakfast hampers – you’ll never want to leave Alure Stanthorpe.”
It was everything they said and more (and not a doily in sight!). Ever thing you could have wanted was there. We were constantly amazed by all the small touches the villa had to offer. The fire was pre-build ready to light (even though I had to re-build it to get it going, it was still a nice touch) the milk we requested was already in the fridge, the bed came complete with electric blanket, GHD’s in the bathroom for the ladies (or long haired gentlemen), plastic glasses to use in the hot tub, and the list goes on.
Day 2 – the plan was to head out to Bald Rock National Park and check out the rock. I’d seen images of it before and had always wanted to take a visit out there, but a 4+ hour drive from Brisbane to go to a National Park wasn’t high on my agenda. Given we were less than an hour away there was no excuse! Again it was a nice easy drive from Stanthorpe, through Tenterfield (where the Tom & Zoe’s breed got their name) and out to the park. Being a Friday the park was deserted – only one camper van, and no one to be seen. There were a few different walk options, so we elected for the shortest that would take us directly to the base of the rock, with the option to climb directly to the summit. After about 5 minutes of walking it became very obvious this rock was much larger than what I had imagined. The images that I’d seen depicted a largish rock balancing on top of another rock. I can now see where the pictures came from, but what they neglected to show was full size of the rock that the other was balancing on…. it was over 150 metres high!
We decided to ascend part of the rock and see how far we could get.
It was pretty steep going for most parts of the walk, but amazingly we made it all the way to the top – and as much as we knew our legs were going to hurt we were glad that we did! The views were amazing!
The total round trip that was supposed to take 3 hours only took us 1, so we were quite pleased with ourselves.
We were starving though as we’d come a little unprepared for such a trip – we only had about a litre of water between us and not a morsel to eat. It was a quick drive back to Tenterfield where we found a local cafe that happened to serve one of the most delicious hamburgers I’ve ever had!
On our trip back to the villa we stopped off at a few of the more popular local food establishments, in particular The Bramble Patch, where we collected some yummy pasta sauce, fruit liquor and a few other items. We spent the rest of the afternoon soaking in the tub, and enjoying our purchases.
Day 3 – After a lazy, late breakfast we jumped back in the car and headed to Girraween National Park for a look around. I’d seen online they have a few shorter walks that we thought we’d try. Thankfully the information I’d gathered was correct – there was a nice short, flat 1.2km walk to a natural rock arch. While on the walk we did see that they too had their own Bald Rock type mountain that Susan quickly pointed out maybe Gerrod and I could try at a later date… you’re on!
On the way back to the villa we stopped off at Jam Works for some chilli jam, followed by lunch and a vino at Felsbery Winery.
The rest of the afternoon was pretty much spent on the couch relaxing.
Day 4 – Sadly we had to pack and leave the comfort of our villa. We’d had an awesome few days away and will be sure to return in the future.
More photos in the gallery…
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| Stanthorpe |
Filed under: food, out and about | 1 Comment
i finally snapped!!!
We love where we live! Great neighbourhood, close to the city, close enough to work, had great neighbours (then they moved – surly not because of us!), nice quiet street…. except for this one friggin’ annoying dog. This thing barks constantly at all hours of the day and night. The owners are either tone deaf, or really just could not give a rats. At times it’s almost like Chinese water torture with the constant noise.
As a dog owner I understand they bark at things (Tom is very good at barking at the wind) – but as responsible owners we (that’s the collective Family we) try and keep them quite. These people don’t!
So on the Queen’s Birthday public holiday Ass Hat the dog just barked, and barked. And barked. And barked. And guess what… BARKED!
I snapped. Straight on the phone to my friendly City Council representative. During our conversation she commented on “my dog” barking in the background – I gladly informed her that was the culprit, who lives about 200 metres down the road. Let’s just say she understood my frustration.
One week later, as part of the reporting process, I received the below noise assessment form, well actually I got two of the same form. As much as I wish I’d send this one back, I did fill out the real one as accurately and non-smart-arsey as possible!
Let’s hope the noise stops or maybe I will send this one back!
Filed under: random | Closed
You’re standing at the photocopier trying to work out where the coins go to buy a can of coke! Luckily no-one saw me, and I did eventually find the slot in the vending machine (right next to the photocopier) and got my much needed caffine hit.
Filed under: random | Closed
canberra
by susan…
In late May I had to travel to Canberra for work to attend the Australian Trucking Convention (of which Volvo is a Foundation Sponsor). Jason made a holiday out of it and travelled to Canberra too for a short break from work.
Highlights of the trip were:
Watching the maroons get up for a win in the first State of Origin match. We watched it at the bar at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, surrounded by Blues supporters!
The Volvo sponsored Auction Dinner which had an ‘outback’ theme – we gave everyone a cowboy hat as a prop for the evening.
Breakfast at Lonsdale Roastery – a coffee shop that Jason had discovered. Unfortunately it’s a very popular spot and there were no tables available inside, so we braved the weather and sat outside on the footpath – it was very fresh (I couldn’t feel my toes by the time we left!) but the coffee was great so it was worth it!
The Australian Trucking Convention Gala Awards Dinner at Parliament House, where Karl Stevanovic was the MC.
We spent a lovely morning wandering around Canberra before our flight late Saturday afternoon.
More photos in the gallery…
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| Canberra |
Filed under: travel | 1 Comment
jason
blog.jasonfest.com 