Where were we? Oh yes. My brother, Dad, and I discovered a fabulous new relative on the streets of Canberra and bundled her away to Grazing for Easter lunch, where we joined my mother, grandparents, and great aunt for much feasting, laughter, awesomeness, and drunky-dinobird-mimicking. Let’s continue, shall we?
For his main, Grandpa had the above “Grazing Pie: cod, scallop, mussel and riesling pie with root vegetables, creamed leek and potato mash”. Afterwards, he and I engaged in our ritual pastime of a staring competition*. He who blinks last laughs loudest!
* This is a lie.
My main was the “chickpea battered zucchini blossoms filled with tea soaked dried cherry risotto, apple and hazelnut salad, herbs and parmesan”. I loved how the tart and slightly tannic cherries played off against the tender risotto and zucchini flowers, all encased in a crispy chickpea batter perched on a zingy apple and herb salad.
For his dessert, my brother chose the “baked chocolate fudge terrine with frosted blueberries, espresso marshmallow and pine nut flavoured ice cream”. As averse as I am to chocolate desserts, I dutifully tried this creation (all for you, dear readers) and was pleasantly surprised. The fondant was like a dense brownie and the pine nut ice cream nutty, almost floral. Nicely done.
I may or may not have wriggled on my seat when my “strawberry semifreddo cone with maple and hazelnut crunch, Persian fairy floss and strawberry clouds” appeared. The semifreddo was softly sweet and studded with sugared nuts, the “clouds” were ethereally light, and the fairy floss gladdened my soul. I had only a momentary pang of jealousy over Charlotte’s “fennel pollen scented free standing crème brulee with fresh blackberries, carnation milk sorbet and puff pastry biscuit” and Dad’s cheese plate.
After lunch, the eight of us began our traditional post-feast wander around the town, first divvying up our Easter chocolates and stopping for requisite family photos.
Hurrah for super fun times galore with E.TeacherLord and my newly-found, newly-beloved second cousin Charlotte! Exclamation mark.
Charlotte and I explored Grazing’s vibrantly green kitchen garden, then perked up our ears when my mother announced that there was an old-fashioned lolly shop in Gundaroo, just up the road on the right. (Old-fashioned lolly shops are always on my hit list when visiting country towns.)
Charlotte and I scampered off and, lo and behold!
We found what looked to be the lolly shop Mum had directed us to. We clapped with glee and stepped towards the wooden cottage with its “open” sign, steeling our bellies for a surfeit of Warheads, Fun Dips, and more.
Guess what? I think my mother was trying to kill us.
As Charlotte and I pushed open the door to this alleged lolly shop, we were greeted with a pitch-black room, creaking floorboards, a smell of mustiness, and a wheezing, whimpering sound that could have been the wind but was most likely an axe-murderer hiding behind the wonky doorway across the room.
I took a faltering step into the blackness, my mind still trying to find the candy.
Then someone – I’m not sure whether it was Charlotte or me – shrieked, and a split second later we were outside again in the bright sunlight, the door of Sally Paskins’ Store slammed shut behind us. We laughed the hysterical laughs of two young women who have just seen their lives flash before their eyes, and then we ran away.
Here is what I think the store should have looked like:
I may never trust my mother again.
After a good four hours in Gundaroo, we began the journey back to Canberra. It was on this homewards journey that I truly came to know, deep down, that Charlotte is not just a wayward girl we lured into our car from the street. You see, just a few minutes out of Gundaroo, I mentioned something about being a Disney fan. Charlotte pounced on this offhand comment, and before anyone really knew what was happening we two were excitedly jabbering about and singing our favourite Disney songs.
“Yep,” Evan said from the front seat, looking back at Charlotte and me as we re-enacted Part Of Your World word-for-word complete with fake American accents and hand motions, “you two are definitely related.”
Darn tootin’. And I couldn’t be prouder. (I would’ve loved Charlotte even if she hadn’t baked chocolate cupcakes, but let’s be honest. They helped.)
All in all, attempted murder aside, it was a wonderful Easter Sunday.
And Charlotte? Cakespedition soon, my dear.
Sounds like a fantabulous way to spend Easter!
Oh fun! Except for the axe murderer-candy shop. That is a bit concerning. Exciting to find new family members, though, especially if they’re not creepy!
On the other hand, it’s good to know that if I ever am truly faced with an axe-murdered, I’ll…. freeze and take a step forward looking for candy…
Cripes.
Oooh adventures with long-lost relatives – these can either be extraordinarily fun like you have mentioned or really, really bad. Trust me. We used to get people calling us long-distance (when I lived at home) because we happened to be he only family in Melbourne with that last name. So we’d have all these ‘relatives’ dropping by because they were somehow my aunt’s brother-in-law’s best friend’s son’s wife.
But cakespedition – droooooooling!! (Although with the state of my teeth at the moment, only soft soft cakes pliss)
*laughs* This long-lost relative thing has actually a huge novelty for me, as I actually come from a tiny family with very few extended relatives, at least compared to many people I know who have something like twenty cousins instead of my four
I don’t think I could cope with people dropping by all the time like you experienced! I’d almost never be dressed appropriately, for one.
Soft cakes and peanut butter mousse and melted ice cream… I would (for you) if I could!
Ha, your Mum is a trickster, go Mumsie, go – lure in the kids with the thought of sugary treats!
DON’T ENCOURAGE HER.
happy easter, the food looked incredible! we have never really done easter lunch? good idea!
It’s funny how different everyone’s traditions are! For example, we’d *never* eat out on Christmas Day, but we always do on Easter!
You sound excited to have made friends with your new cousin Hannah. Maybe, as Charlotte seems to enjoy singing, you could invite her to a choir rehearsal one night. Then you could do a duet (as the ‘Cupcake cousins’), singing one of my top 5 Disney songs: Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah; Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo; Chim Chim Cher-ee; Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious or Hakuna Matata. Am I high on chocolate or what?
High on chocolate, perhaps, or simply prone to gobbledegook! Which, I might add, I have no problem with. All dem Disney songs be goooooood!
At the moment, I’m have a Prince of Egypt moment, although I think that it’s actually Dreamworks (shhh, don’t give me away!).
I miss singing!
Well, my mum was a Vandepeer and my Gran was a Vandepeer so I am prone to speaking double dutch sometimes. Less than a week to rehearsal. Yay!
I expect to see you show up wearing clogs.
(P.S. Did my scribe report ever go out for the last rehearsal? I didn’t get it :S )
No it didn’t go out Hannah. I love reading your reports. Are you happy to ask Alison to send the report out this weekend?
Both she and Len got it a week ago; it’s up to them when to send it out
You are ‘averse’ to chocolate desserts?!?!?!
Ms Wayfaring Chocolate, please EXPLAIN!
Teehee, I’ve had to explain this so many times! Everyone always thinks I’m joking
I am completely uninterested in chocolate desserts; whenever I go against my instincts and order them, they invariably disappoint. I like my chocolate straight, not messed about with butter and sugar and other things tempering the deliciousness. I’m a lemon/caramel/chestnut/peanut butter/raspberry dessert girl at heart 
So much delicious food that you rightly had to split it up into two posts!
The stupid thing is I purposely didn’t take photos of everyone’s dishes (8 people x 3 courses = a lot) so that I could keep it at one post. I wasn’t factoring in attempted murder, though, you see.
Oh, what a delightful part two! (Except for the near murder, of course. That wasn’t delightful at all.) Your dessert sounds scrumptious, and your brother’s dessert sounds like a chocolate dessert I would enjoy – possibly because of the accompanying non-chocolate bits. Plus, you have a perfect second cousin! All in all, very good indeed
The attempted murder was a *different* kind of delightful, because it proves I can best my mother in a game of wits. And yes indeed! A very good Easter indeed
That chocolate dessert sounds as good as it looks – would loved to have tasted it – and your mum’s risotto sounds amazing too. I like a dessert with fairy floss and clouds but semi freddo always sounds wrong because it sounds like half a freddo frog but isn’t! And let me share some pain – my mum threw out all our disney records – just as we got a record player again – so there will be no singing of disney songs here (it is all sound of music – so long farewell…)
Oh wow, I got so confused reading your comment! I was thinking “but Mum had duck, I think?!” and then I realised you meant my risotto-stuffed zucchini flowers
Hmm… if the freddo frog was actually a caramello koala, then I’d be in, as long as it was the bottom half with the belly full of caramel
Oh no!!! One must never ever throw out anything Disney! We still have the movies on video cassettes
oops – shouldn’t make comments while putting sylvia to bed
And can you please have a word to my mother about throwing out things!
*laughs* We’ve all been there! Written a comment, and then realised we misconstrued something out of being a bit harried. I’m sure I’ve done that myself on your blog before
Teehee, sometimes it’s good to throw things out. JUST NOT DISNEY.
What the heck is an old-fashioned lolly shop? It sounds like a front for axe murderers if ever their was one. Mmm, warheads.
Who won the ritual* staring contest?
*not ritual
Oh, don’t say that! You’ll make me scared to go into any old-fashioned lolly shop ever again! (Now that was a lie. Nothing will ever decrease the lure of places that sell Warheads and Cobbers and Fun Dips and all the good things from my childhood.)
Hmm. Considering the staring competition never happened, I’d have to say that the most likely result was my grandpa winning. He’s awesome like that.
More like, why did I type ‘their’?? I hate those mistakes more than anything. The grammar axe murderer will be after me, leaving you and your lollies in peace:)
Teehee! I wasn’t going to say anything, because I myself keep typing comments to people too quickly and thereby making horrendous typos, which make my soul hurt.
Oh oh oh! Does that mean we are related too?????!!!!! And that shack (it really is one) is a scary looking place to be!
Rake Sway Fried Naked Unicorn Dancing Party Angle Babe…. was there ever any doubt?
xo
Just checking
What a thing in a box? BUT WHO CARES? NO BIG DEAL! I WANT MOREEEEEEEEEEE
*want* (I so meant to say that wrong twice
)
I know you did. You are very, very clever and witty that way.
PRINCE ALI FABULOUS HE ALI ABABWAAAAA!
P.S. Can I come stay again soon? We have so many more to watch
Wow, what a menu! Those zucchini blossoms look amazing. And… even I love your new cousin for baking those cupcakes… is that healthy? ha
I would say that anyone who doesn’t love Charlotte isn’t right in the head, so you’re safe
Yes you can! I don’t know why I can’t reply to you.. must have scared your website.. You know the house is always open to you! And I watched Aladdin last night! YAYY!!!
Teehee, my blog is trying to keep us apart, but it shall NEVER SUCCEED!!!
I really want to find a time to visit again, but work is crazypants, boo! I watched Dumbo the other night, thanks to you and A 
All of those desserts look incredible!
Your family eats the coolest stuff. Seriously.
hotbrother hotbrother hotbrother (yes, I feel compelled to say something about him EVERY time).
Teehee! I do enjoy all our lovely lunches and dinners out, particularly because it gives me a chance to showcase hotbrother
Oh, why must you both have significant others?! You’re supposed to get married so we can be sisters-in-law as well as soul-sisters! Hmph.
I may be open to polygamy. For the right person.
How important is gender? After all, it’s not the male T-W visiting you this year
Ha! Too true. Gender, schmender. ;P
*laughs and laughs*
Awww… I really like how you share a lot of your family meals together on this blog. Food with loved ones is always a cause for celebration, ain’t it? Simple things, simple things… Your meal sounds fantastic, what a blessed Easter Sunday you had! Woot! =)
Absolutely; I love my family and we always have such fun together, so getting an excuse to talk about them *and* food is a double whammy of awesomeness
It’s my birthday soon, so hopefully I’ll have another fancy dinner to show! 
I would love to graze at Graving. See what I did there? Oh goodness I’m so clever!! That terrine looks ridiculously good. I want a newfound second cousin who bakes. Mine is just obsessed with star wars…decidedly less cool.
Heidi xo
Oh gosh, you are! Straight into Mensa without even taking a test! Go girl, go!
I’ll be your second cousin? I’m sure if we go far enough back, we could find a connection… I have a convict ancestor?
xo
Sounds like you had an enjoyable Easter with your loved ones. And that food looks delicious!
Easter couldn’t have been more of a blast! Seems like the food was fabulous
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Plus, there was Easter chocolate to divvy up at the end. Nothin’ but good!
Sounds marvellous! Lovely to be back reading your blog again! You almost made me miss the country until the lolly shop scare – glad you survived that one. But no I do miss the crackling gum-scented Australian countryside and driving to the lake.
You were missed in London!
Oh Catherine, how I dreamed of somehow magically transporting myself there!! Am planning a big blog-catch-up myself this weekend, so am looking forward to hopefully discovering on yours how your launch went
When I travel, I miss the gold-brown-green colours of the Australian landscape so deeply.
Ummm… chickpea battered zucchini blossoms?? Holy taste sensation, Bat Man! That sounds like food from heaven.
Heaven must be a delicious place then.
Sally Paskins did sell lollies once I promise. Can I help it if she saw you two coming and headed for the hills?
She did a very good job at making the place look utterly abandoned and derelict during the two minutes we were standing outside then!
I love old fashioned lolly shops and there just aren’t enough of them around any more. What a shame it was just a bit of history – I was looking forward to seeing what treasures you took away with you. It does seem like you had a wonderful Easter Sunday with Charlotte xx
Never you fear, I’ll fulfill my old fashioned lolly shops dreams before too long. I’m starting to plan daytrips to the little towns around Canberra for this purpose alone
LOL i love this post
The chocolate cupcake looks wonderful! The “strawberry semifreddo cone with maple and hazelnut crunch, Persian fairy floss and strawberry clouds” is amazing too 
I’d love to try that ~ Thanks for sharing and it’s wonderful that you got to meet up with your new found cousin Charlotte hehe
I would have picked that dessert too. Fruit desserts are way better than chocolate ones. Another gorgeous family occasion.
Mum knows how to pick good restaurants