It’s strange not having our friends here. Last week, Mona and Brendan, who live in San Diego, were staying with us. It was a lot of fun but they’ve since headed off on the next part of their trip, which means back to reality for us.
Mona has two favourite drinks: Amoretto sour and sparkling Shiraz. Thankfully she didn’t get to drink all of the stock we got in, so tonight – in tribute to Mona and Brendan of course – we’re cracking one of these to have with dinner!
And because neither me nor Mrs Romance felt like cooking this evening, this is dinner: a few cheeses (a sharp cheddar, a chevre and Gorgonzola dolce), a capsicum and pine nut dip, and Mrs R’s favourite at the moment, a deconstructed butternut pumpkin salad. The recipe for this is by Beth from Baby Mac and it’s delicious.
We woke up this morning to the saddest news. Robin Williams, the brightest star of the silver screen passed away. We can’t believe it. The film industry and the world as a whole is a gloomier place now. Rest in peace, Mr Williams.
One of my mates has just come back from an amazing three-week trip to Europe. He left me a set of keys just in case something went wrong with his apartment. It didn’t, but as a thank-you-anyway, he very generously brought me back a bottle of 12 year old Canadian Club whisky. It’s surprisingly smooth and makes a pretty much perfect Old Fashioned.
Meanwhile, Mrs Romance is tucking into a martini made with the gin Mona and Brendan brought over for her. It’s called Old Grove and it’s by Ballast Point, a local craft distiller in San Diego. Really lovely stuff!
I’ve been left to my own devices today, so as usual, I haven’t had lunch until now: about 2:30pm. Rather than go out, I’ve decided to knock together an old family dish my mum created when I was young and we were poor. We didn’t have anything in the house apart from eggs, bread, cheese and beans.
She put it together in the form of a French toast cheese sandwich with beans on top. She let me name it too: The Sylvester. I had a dairy allergy when I was a kid, so my mum adapted the Sylvester; instead of cheese, she used ham. We called that the Tweety Pie… yeah, I was kinda into cartoons when I was a kid!
Anyway, it’s delicious and every forkful takes me right back to my childhood. Funny how food can do that, isn’t it?
Here we have our latest blogger cocktail. In fact, we’ve made two variations this time. We’ve dedicated this creation to Steph from Lipstick and Cake – it was partly her idea after all!
These are the Popping Candy Cocktails, and came to Steph in a flash while she was inventing new Wonka chocolate bar toppings with Mrs Romance.
On our site, we’ve got the L.A.C Choc-Nutty Popping Candy Cocktail, while over on LipstickAndCake.com you’ll find the L.A.C Strawberries & Cream Popping Candy Cocktail recipe.
Both are delicious and lots of fun too, with the popping candy crackling on your tongue and down your throat while you enjoy the drinks themselves. They’re a really great alternative to a dinner party dessert.
We’re getting our hot beverage fix today at Two Good Eggs Cafe in Surry Hills. I’m also having my favourite Goats on Toast breakfast while we’re here, but first: coffee. Very important.
This has been a surprisingly constructive productive Saturday for once. And it’s ending looks like being even better. We’re at the Golden Age Cinema and Bar in Surry Hills tonight. We like this place because they’ve got a proper bar here, you can take your drinks to the screen and they show absolute classics too.
Tonight I’m having the rye sour (right) and Mrs R has gone for the negroni (left, with the massive iceberg in it). And we’re both here to watch what turns out to be (unintentionally) one of the funniest James Bond films in the franchise: Goldfinger.
The crowd at the Golden Age is completely different to that of most cinemas. Everyone’s got a drink in their hand, we’re all there for a laugh. It’s the only cinema I’ve ever been to where I don’t start blowing fuses when people talk during the film. Somehow it doesn’t seem to matter here (cocktails helping?). Also, when there’s dialogue, everyone shuts up to listen.
Anyway, stand-out moments in Goldfinger:
- Oddjob Frisbee-ing his hat and cutting off a marble statue’s head
- The nerve gas that knocks out hundreds of soldiers around Fort Knox even before it gets to them
- Goldfinger’s speech about how much he loves gold (easy to see where Goldmember got his lines from)
- And of course, Bond’s terry-toweling onesie.
Great stuff – here’s our review of the Golden Age Cinema and Bar!
Today, we’re using a wintery Sunday for what it’s supposed to be for: rugging up, drinking hot chocolate and getting a bit of blogging done. And watching old faves on the TV. Just finished Bedknobs and Broomsticks and about to start The Princess Bride!
The only way to waste a good weekend!
What food takes you right back to your childhood? Who’s your favourite Bond? What’s your classic movie of choice when you’re tucked up at home? Tell us in the comments… and have a lovely week!
The Queen of Dreaming
Great post! Love the photos 🙂
http://justsem.wordpress.com/
Mr Romance
Thank you, Samantha! So glad you like! 🙂
Bele @ BlahBlah
I love getting the behind the scenes info on your instafeed!
Oh, The Princess Bride, I twuely lub it!
My fave kiddie meals were Dad’s specials. I’m not sure how he did it, but he’d pile anything he could find in the fridge between two bits of bread and make it taste great. It’s the only cooking he was good at x
Mr Romance
Ha ha! It’s such a classic, isn’t it, Bele? My name is Inigo Montoya… Love it!
My dad used to make a corned beef curry in the slow cooker. It sounds gross, it looks gross… but amazingly, it tastes pretty bloody good. I wonder if it’d still stand up since our experience of yours and Flash’s cooking?!
Jxx
Sonia from Sonia Styling
I remember as a kid on a Sunday night, I’d wash my hair, get into fresh PJs and sit in front of the heater chowing down on mum’s tuna mornay and watching a Disney classic before bed. And I used to think getting up on Monday morning for school was hard enough – HA!
Mr Romance
Love those childhood memories, Sonia. I suppose we should remind our parents about them – see if they remember them any differently! My other favourite memories of weekends is – because Mum worked in a hair salon – it was Dad’s turn to take care of ‘that pesky kid’! We’d sit and play cards, watch the football scores come up on the TV or go out fishing… then I’d complain because Dad had made my beans on toast lunch all wrong! Nice kid!
Jxx
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