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King Street Wharf is an excellent location. I really liked the Medina Grand Harbourside a couple of years ago. I stayed there almost every time I went to Sydney (from Melbourne).

I can tell you about Melbourne...it's highly variable and unpredictable! While I don't think you need a winter coat, do pack layers and an umbrella.

I'm loving your blog! I have a question about the frozen tomatoes you used in the other tagine (the ones from the farmer's market). What do you do to them to freeze them? Peel? Chop? Slice?

oh, thanks! I just had a browse of the website. The first 2 episodes look excellent! I only wish I could see 'em and not just read about 'em.

Well done on the bread! I bet it tasted excellent. For shaping epis I found this King Arthur Flour page helpful.

I know what you mean! In Melbourne I could find big bags (5 kilos?) of bread flour at certain Coles supermarkets. You could ask at your local Coles and see if they can get it in for you even if they don't normally carry it. I wish I could remember the brand name for you so you could ask for it by name. Anyone else know the brand?

Sadly I won't be able to do brioche with you guys. Can't wait to hear about your experience and see your pics, however.

I also was privileged to be able to go to a most fantastic eco-resort here called Al Maha. (Maha means oryx which are extinct in the wild but are being bred on the reserve.) The experience was absolutely wonderful but I should talk about the food there, shouldn't I? All meals are included in the price so it could be average but since you're paying a premium, the food is really quite good. Breakfast and lunch are daily changing buffets. You know, the lunch buffet even had duck, so I recon it was pretty good. The current chef had been there for 2 weeks. His name is James (I sadly cannot remember his surname); originally from Perth Australia and had been working in the UK for a while. Dinners were generous and had reasonable choice considering the small number of people to be served. I enjoyed the food most especially because the whole experience and setting was fantastic. Had oryx walking past our window as we dined. The first night we had this: Menu: *warm tomato basil tart with mozzarella, served with lamb's lettuce salad and balsamic mayonnaise *gazpacho with pesto toast-normally I wouldn't have this because I don't like cucumber but since it was part of the meal I tried it anyway. I actually liked it! What is this world coming to? *lemon sorbet *Samak Salamoon Mashwee: Grilled salmon in pink peppercorn sauce, accompanied by chive mash and wilted spinach-I had this as my main course *Lahm Chanam Bi Salset Khamr-Braised New Zealand lamb shank with tomato & cannelli beans served with red wine and rosemary reduction-Hubby's main (There was also a duck main so it was really hard to decide what to have.) *Dessert was a passion fruit sponge, fresh fruit or a cheese plate. We had the latter 2 and shared. *Followed by coffee and mini Arabic pastries. The second night: *Asparagus salad (Hubby had)-Bocconcini cheese & grilled asparagus salad with date vinaigrette *Eggplant couscous salad (I had-was the vegetarian salad)-it was unusual eggplant since it was actually zucchini! *Veloute De Choux fleur'-cauliflower soup with herb croutons *Mango sorbet *Filet de boeuf au fromage de chevre-beef filled with grilled peppers and courgettes (zucchini), topped with French goats cheese (Hubby had this)*Dajaj Mehshi be fetr-leg of chicken stuffed with wild mushrooms accompanied with tagliatelle of vegetables and thyme jus (I had--there was also a lemon sole dish and a vegetarian main too) *Baileys flavoured cheesecake (Hubby had) *Cheese (I had--chose a little of the cheeses I had particularly liked from last night) *coffee and little Arabic pastries, some different than last night. On the last day we me James and had a tour of the kitchen. He seems really keen to soon put some changes to the menu; once he settles in a bit. I'd love to go back to see the changes but it's unlikely I'll make it anytime soon. The days we had there were some of the most wonderful days we've had on vacation. Highly, highly recommended.

I recently went to Marrakech at the Shangri La. We had an excellent private-ish booth for 2 sorta like in the picture in the restaurant link but we had bench seating along the wall. We were up the end of the restaurant where the live music was originating. The best dish we had was the lamb meatball tagine, which is described in the article above about the restaurant. I also wanted to try couscous here. I always use the instant method of preparing couscous (let it sit for 5 minutes in hot water or broth) but they prepare theirs here using extended steaming periods. I wanted to see if the effort was worth it after reading about it in the Middle East thread. I decided it was good but I'm just has happy with the fast way to cook it at home. It was a wonderful setting and a great evening.

Akiko, thanks so much for posting. Unfortunately I don't have the menu from May at Retro. How cool that you've experienced the chef before and could see how he'd changed. I'm definitely going to go again in August. I was very interested to hear your review of Fatafeet. I haven't read anything bad about it but I haven't talked to anyone who has personally gone; my info has only been from publications. I won't rush there now.

Blooooddddyyy hell, I'm hungry now. Stop it! Just stop it! Naw, go ahead and tease me some more with those excellent pics. I never fry anything because it spatters on me and I get burnt, so if I were to try to do fried chicken (which looks so freakin' good!) what temp should the oil be? You said not too hot but could you give more of an explanation or a guesstimate on the C/F of it?

I'll see what I can do in making the brioche. I realised that I have made the dough before for the caramel roll recipe in BWJ. But I've been wanting to try something else with the dough for ages. Fingers crossed I can fit it in. If not I'll learn from all of you and when I get back, give it a try.

Ruth, I'm very impressed. Well done! Enjoy eating as many as you want.

mmmm, mmmm, good stuff, Varmint. I know only a smidge about southern cookin so I'm looking forward to seeing what you and your family eat this week. I gotta say, that pie of yours looked perfect. Very impressive. The filling of mine always leaks out somewhere making it look more "rustic". Can't wait for more pictures!

I wouldn't mind doing brioche I just don't know if I'll be able to fit it in before I go on vacation. ldubois2, when are you going to start it? I might be able to give it a start on Thursday.

Ruth, I'm really interested to see how your croissants go. I haven't made them but I don't see why you couldn't freeze them and bake them later. Are you going to give it a try? I've spent the last hour looking through the book for some suggestions on what I'd like to do next. I don't have any guests coming to dinner soon and am in fact going to be on vacation for a couple of weeks in a few days. So I need something that's immediately consumable by 2 people or could be frozen! I'm definitely going to do the potato loaves. But for things I haven't done: matzos have intrigued me since Seth first talked about them waay up thread. Gingerbread baby cakes sound interesting. Perhaps Lemon Loaf Cake, Crispy Cocoa Cookies, Mocha Choc Chips, Tourte Milanese (I'd use store bought puff pastry I think, or possibly just make the puff pastry and freeze it until I'm back from vacation), Alsatian Onion Tart. Interested in any of those? Have other suggestions?

Alas, I don't think I'll attempt the croissants. I'm in Dubai and it's 41C at 10am + humidity. If this recipe is finicky then I'd definitely have problems. What's on your agenda after them, Ruth?

Ruth, excellent efforts! I might be up to do something from this book again. What were you thinking of doing next?

Cromedome, how do you stay so focussed for your extra long blog entries? They're enthralling! OK, Saskatoon berries...firstly did they make that name up for a laughs?! Sounds like a character in a kid's Saturday morning TV program. I did a bit of looking on the net and they seem to look like blueberries. Do they taste like them too? My other question is perogies. I have only seen them once (last year). Can you describe them further? Do you ever make them at home or at work? Thanks! Blog on...

I LOVE sparkling Shiraz. I miss it now that I'm not in Oz. It's very festive. Have it with your holiday turkey some time!

In Australia most things are open except Christmas Day. Shouldn't really have too many issues with that sort of thing because it's summer and tourist season.

My goodness, I really don't know how you keep up with that garden! I do love to be able to make things using herbs, fruit or veg that I grow myself but I've mostly been limited to growing herbs and a few chillies and tomatoes. Amazing stuff you're doing!

ecr, sounds like a nice trip! I love Melbourne (lived there for 11 years) so I'd recommend it for the shopping, fantastic food and great sites. Then, there are several areas around Melbourne where you could retreat to a rental house. The closest place perhaps would be the Yarra Valley. It's likely to be more than a half hour away, though. About the same distance in a different direction is a wonderful area around the spa area of Daylesford. Both areas have wineries, though Yarra is more well known (and sometimes more snobby). There's art and spas, particularly around Daylesford. The both have local producers, farmers markets and good restaurants too. South of the Yarra Valley there's the Mornington Peninsula. It is kinda the Yarra Valley's not so fancy cousin. It has beaches, wineries and also good food and food markets. If you want to go to Sydney, I have really enjoyed the Blue Mountains because they have all of the above attractions plus dramatic views and great bushwalking. It also is more than a half hour out of Sydney, however. Let me know if you need further clarification or some websites.

Can I get some of those?!

Marlene, how did you like the food? Did you have to use any cooking techiques you hadn't used before or was it just the ingredient combination that was unusual? How did you find the recipes--internet, browsing your cookbook/recipe collection, talking to friends...?? It all looked so fabulous!