While the weather’s been gloomy this weekend, I managed to have a great one anyway hanging out with Michelle and going to a few different places.

Saturday morning I popped into Photo Continental to have a 20×24 print made of Dove Lake and Cradle Peak, and investigate their range of pre-made frames.  I then caught up with Michelle at Garden City and we had some lunch, before heading into the city to take some photos at St. Andrew’s Uniting Church.  On the way, we popped into an alley in the CBD, where I shot the following 360 degree stiched panorama, which I call “Factory Fresh Coffee”!

We then made our way to St. Andrew’s, where a wedding had taken place and guests were clearing out.  We met Rev. Ray Hermann and got the okay to start photographing, but our time was a bit limited.  I managed to get 5 of the stained glass windows, and hope to head back for some more expressive architectural shots at a later point.

The following is a combined image portraying the 5 stained glass windows I shot.  Each of the stained glass windows was combined from 3 images, and each image was combined from 3 bracketed exposures.

After a bit of window shopping we were famished so made our way out to Underwood and had a steamboat dinner at Antarctic Circle. The service was fast, and the food was great.

Sunday we met up for lunch again, and went to Treacle, a favourite of mine.  One of the daily specials was Zucchini Flowers stuffed with seafood mousse, which I went for without hesitation.  We then went to Newstead House which neither of us had been to before.   It was quite interesting, especially the “Rum Warmer modeled after an early steam train”.  To cap off the day we had a quick browse at Wray Organic at Newmarket, where I picked up some chai tea, cacao powder and a Mangosteen, as I had never tried one!  I totally recommend them.

After I got home I managed to formulate a spiced chai mocha but combining 1.5 tsp of chai tea with my normal measure of ground coffee and pouring an espresso shot from that mix.  I combined that with 2 tsp cacao powder, 2 tsp demerara sugar and the stretched milk.  Awesome!

All in all, a really great weekend

This is based on a recipe I snatched for Spinach and Mushroom Frittata, but modified a little to add extra vegetables.

Ingredients

• 4 Eggs
• 250g Ricotta Cheese
• 100g Frozen Spinach, thawed and broken up
• 125g grated Parmesan Cheese
• 70g chopped Portabella Mushrooms
• 50g finely chopped Shallots
• 1 sliced Zucchini
• 1 sliced Carrot
• 50g Pecans
• 1tsp Italian Herbs
• 1tsp Salt
• Spray Oil

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190° celsius
2. Microwave roast the pecans for about a minute
3. In a mixing bowl combine beaten eggs, ricotta, 1/2 of the parmesan cheese, herbs and salt
4. Combine spinach with the mix
5. Combine the rest of the vegetables and the pecans, folding in so that the egg / ricotta mix is mixed thoroughly
6. Spray oil a casserole dish or baking dish and carefully pour the mixture in
7. Scatter the remaining parmesan over the mix
8. Place in oven for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the frittata is set and the parmesan topping has browned
9. Cool for approximately 15 minutes