Sydney

Guten Tag my blogger friends. It has been a while since I posted. My life has been very busy for the last three months, and I took a little break from blogging. There were some sad things I did not want to share with the world, but there were also some happy times. My niece and her family came in January, and we had a great time together. It was such a treat to be with my little grandniece. In February, we embarked on an adventurous trip to Australia and New Zealand. When March came around, I had some health problems, but I am fine now and ready to rejoin the blogging world.

Sydney Harbor

I finally had two dear friends convince me to go on a cruise with them. I have always wanted to go on a cruise, but not my husband. Earlier, we had signed up for a cruise to the Scandinavian Fjords, but when my husband found out he had to wear formal attire, he canceled, which was good because the pandemic hit one month later.

We signed up for our cruise in November. It would take us from Sydney to Auckland in February on a 12-day journey. Since neither my husband nor I had been in Australia or New Zealand, we decided to stay in Sydney for 4 days before sailing. It was a good decision. We loved Sydney with its brilliant beaches, unusual vegetation, exotic animals, and urban comfort. February means summertime in Australia, and it brings everybody out. The locals were friendly and courteous, they seemed to be content and well taken care of from what I saw. I think it would be a great place to live. It is ranked the 5th most livable city in the world, with so much to offer.

Manly Beach

Sydney has an array of beautiful beaches. Our favorite was Manly Beach. You can reach Manly by taking a public ferry. I talked to a scuba diver who said this was his favorite beach for diving, and he had been all over the world.

Bondi Beach

The other beach we saw was Bondi Beach which we visited when when we were on the Hop On Hop Off bus.

Sydney Harbor

And then, of course, there is the iconic Opera House that dominates the beautiful Sydney harbor with its towering sail structure. The Opera House is across from the Sydney Harbor Bridge, another iconic landmark of Sydney.

My favorite place to eat was the Harbourfront Seafood Restaurant, where we had the seafood tower. This was a great introduction to local seafood. My husband’s favorite food was a pig knuckle in a German restaurant. 

One afternoon, we explored the Royal Botanical Garden. I was fascinated by the different species of plants and trees. I wish I could have stayed in Sydney longer because there is so much more to see and do.

Sydney Harbor

Once I returned to Santa Cruz, I was happy to be back in my kitchen. The first thing I made was a loaded chicken broth that I used for my chicken fricassee. We had so much rain and bad weather that I cooked warming dishes like short ribs and lamb shanks. The recipe for the short ribs is from the NYT, and the lamb shanks from Bon Appetite. I will post the recipe for lamb shanks one of these days.
Asparagus arrived in the grocery stores, and I made my Asparagus soup and my salmon crepes.  I am working on a recipe for asparagus quiche. For dessert, I chose this simple but oh so tasty Italian shortbread tart called Fregolotta.

Chicken Fricassee

Asparagus soup

Flammkuchen

Fregolotta, a tasty Italian tart