Friday, September 21, 2012

Not What I Was Expecting!

 
Dash you Crack Cocaine Pinterest, you've totally burst my bubble this week. You sent me the weekly stats of The Hedge's most pinned image & it's not what I was expecting. Always imagining myself as a  world famous & highly respected design blogger (no need to laugh thanks!!), I naturally assumed the star pin would be some fabulous design image that I'd so lovingly selected & curated especially for my 'dedicated' Followers. Nope, nothing like it. It was this big bowl of Butternut Squash Gnocchi with a Fontina Cheese & Spinach sauce......26 repins, how embarrassing, there goes my carefully cultivated image in a mouthful of pasta. 
 
The only redeeming thing here is that I've actually made gnocchi from scratch in the Kitchen From Hell & guess what, it worked! So I guess there's nothing for it dear Hedgies, here's the link to the gnocchi from the Proud Italian Cook blogspot. Do give it a try & let me know how you go. I certainly don't have one of those fancy schmancy wooden gnocchi rollers, I managed to produce cute little pasta thingies with a quick flick of a fork. The Fontina cheese is worth blowing the budget (& your LDL/HDL levels) on. It's the weekend dear Hedgies, so go enjoy!
 
 

 
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Thursday, September 6, 2012

Small Town Life

 
Although Stirling is not exactly the big smoke, it's not Hicksville either. It has all the charm of small town living - most people know each other & where they live, you're known at the local shops by your first name, the local cop shop keeps 9a.m.-5p.m. business hours so the crims can plan their activities, we know when new people have arrived as we don't recognize the car etc. etc. 
 
We've also had our share of controversy over the years, predominantly around development applications to that august body, the Adelaide Hills Council our local government authority (& there's a whole bloggie post there!!) We are a one pub town and the Stirling sits in all her beauty on the roundabout in the main street.
 
Brett & Sarah Matthews are very savvy local Publicans & have been tarting up the old girl to a level that makes our city cousins drool at the mouth. When we first moved up the hill from the city, the pub had an old 2 tier paddock out the back which was loosely known as the 'Carpark'. A few years ago the Matthews decided that it presented a great opportunity to redevelop. So steeling themselves, they went to Council with their ideas - a small set of ripper shops on the upper level & a big undercroft Carpark to replace the stony gravel dust bowl with it's long history of wrecking a zillion pairs of stilettos as their owners stumbled up to their cars at the end of a very big night out. 
 
Well, it didn't go to plan and all hell broke loose. Some of the locals even took up places on the road into town, waving placards denouncing the proposed progress in Johnson Street. They wanted the old dust bowl to be placed on the World Heritage Register & Stirling to remain in it's cosy time warp. The Matthews persisted, got knocked down, dusted themselves off (no pun intended) and went back to the DAP for another round. Finally, after numerous amendments it was approved and we were on our way. In their wisdom they decided to relocate their pokey little Bottle Shop from the side of the pub into all the new retail space bar one. They also made another brilliant move  - they got Chris & Nancy Broadfoot very clever local foodies involved. The Stirling Hotel Cellars and Patisserie was born. The Bottle Shop is on one side of the space & the Patisserie is on the other - very dangerous let me tell you!!
 
 
First buy your grog......

 
 
Then take a couple of steps to the Patisserie to see what Chris has cooked up for the day, grab a coffee......
 
 
And if it's not too cold, wander outside to sit, eat, drink & people watch, it's sublime.
 
 
So where is this leading to I hear you asking? Well last night, the Stirling Hotel Cellars and Patisserie won the Australian Hotels Association's National Best Retail Liquor Outlet award! So to Brett & Sarah congratulations to you both from all of us at The Hedge. May the pain of battles past be just like the pain of childbirth, forgotten in an instant once a gorgeous trophy is placed in your arms. We love your work (especially the new initiative of after work Tapas and Wine Thursday/Friday). See you very soon. xx
 
 
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Monday, September 3, 2012

He's 64!


MOTH's gone into hiding today as the dreaded Birthday Fairy is after him again! This year's birthday post was a shoe-in as the old boy is 64 today. This past year's not been one of his better ones, but things are on the up and up. His back is sort of OK, but now he's got issues with a rubbish shoulder. But on a positive note he still has the blonde hair that's made the model Agencies clammer after him all these years. No matter the only jobs they want him for these days are for retirement village ads, his phone is still ringing, so he should be grateful. So in 'celebration' of all things elderly I'll let Paul and Ringo remind him that the golden years are here. Just as well he has a young wife!!
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