Welcome to truffle!
Tasmanian, black, winter, fragrant, beautiful goodness!
Blog
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Reine’s winter wonderfuls
So first time living alone, I am left utterly to my own devices for everything! And considering I don’t like the word budget, instead preferring terms like “marginal propensity to spend” and “I allocate and redirect resources,” I have done a fair few bits of experimental cooking.
Hence, my Adelaidean winter wonderfuls. Winter here has actually been nice so far – I hated Sydney winters and everyone told me Adelaide was cold, super cold. But I’ve been loving it – apart from having a fit with the sporadic rain – the chill is so pleasant!
Mushrooms, goat curd on rosemary and potato sourdough, egg
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Apothecary 1878
So I’ve been looking for a replacement for Rockpool Bar and Grill, thinking I’d never find one, but lo and behold, after strolling down a dodgy-looking part of the city on a Sunday afternoon, I ran across a little treasure-looking-like place. That’s when I found out that it was a cute little wine bar that has all Victorian decor, and does high tea on Saturdays!
So I did a little research on it, and apparently it won best wine list in South Australia (cause Rockpool wins for Australia!). Plus they don’t advertise their list online, so I had to visit. My expectations were: giant wine list, and servings by the half glass, and was secretly hoping for varietal specific Riedels.
Of course, when I got there, they do indeed have a noteworthy wine list! Plenty of quotes throughout, as well as a Provenance to read through. Except… the list was much much smaller than I expected. Maybe 20 pages? I’m sorry, but I wanted a Rockpool-thick encyclopedia! They did have a great range of 75mL “tasters”, served in baby Riedels, which made me happy. Plus they were incredibly cheap at $5 – $5.50 per serving, considering at Rockpool I’m paying $16 for 75mL for their reserve stuff.
And while they don’t serve burgers, they do have a highly respectable bar menu much like Rockpool Bar and Grill, with excellent presentation and great range.
Goat curd, pink peppercorns and honey toast
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Sestina – “Tides”
Sestina – “Tides”
Stumbling awkwardly, reacting at reality,
Fumbling in the stark darkness
where the only guide is: the chime of time
the pain of flight through life
the held breath of the gamble as we chance that dance
Through all that is eternal.
Walk slowly, gain certainty through senses in the eternal
Realms that render such resplendent reality.
Walk slowly, with poise, confidence, then gracefully dance
and dash with daring through the darkness,
Weave, weft, warp in the loom that is life
and ties into the threads of time.
Rise high and fly – it is time
For elation and euphoria of the experience in the eternal
Flight of fleeting life.
From lofty levels, look what is left in all reality,
The harshness of darkness
Entrances, one glance and the dance-
What dance?
Freeze the time
In frigid darkness
Unchanging eternal.
This is the cold reality,
Fragility of life.
What is life,
But a dance
through reality
and time:
A journey of light through eternal
Darkness.
Embrace the darkness,
Melt the soft snow, and let it breathe life.
Embrace the ebb and flow of the eternal,
Quick, slow – quick quick slow- and dance
The dance of time
Entwined with reality.
Define the darkness to your dance,
Tune your life to the tick of time
And eternal bliss becomes reality.
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Timeless Reality
aka Ristrel goes power tripping after seeing Timeless Chaos
What happens in this moment, only happens in this moment. I see it as it is, even as a plethora of possibilities lay eager to be invoked at my whim, yet I wait, and the future feels right. I am the maelstrom, and the world is the eye; I see the whirlwind of “if only,” “but,” “what if” while these mortals plod along their linear path, unburdened by the impossible that only eternity provides.
I am the beholder, and they travel in my “now.” With a thought, their past is no longer theirs, and their future is mine. All that is real, what was, what is, what will be, and what never was, are part of my consciousness as I exist in every time stream. I see, I play, I pull, and what you are is what I want you to be as I give you your memories, your dreams and aspirations, and your sorrows and fears.
You do not live as time passes; you live as I give you everything around you, piece by piece. There is no time – you are fed through the threads of reality, and I am the Reality Weaver.
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Black and white magic + deconstruction
So today I was coffeeing it up and decided to try and see if I could order a “magic” and see if it would work. But of course, being the coffee nub that I am, it managed to backfire.
I thought I was cool by asking, “if I ordered a magic, what would you give me?”
And was uncooled by the barista’s response of, “black or white?”
MIND BLOWN!
Now that I know, it sounds twice as awesome as before, but who would ever want to walk up to the counter and say, “I’d like a white magic please.” I mean, black magic is just so much cooler, though I don’t think I could handle one of them. Not unless it was the most amazing beans mmmmmmm.
In any case, it’s just as cool to say “double ris three quarter flat white” very quickly because it makes you sound amazing PLUS the barista will understand it just fine.
And one day I might make the following:
Deconstructed Apple Pie
Elderflower jelly, cinnamon apple sauce, fresh apple mince, dehydrated raspberry bits and shortbread crumbs, sugar crystal topped shortbread, fresh elderflowers.
I really need to do a deconstruction one day.
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The Trippy Trollolol
Apparently my theories are so crazy that making a visual narrative sounded like fun. Unfinished, will never be finished. But so ominoussssssss.
The art is only complete once experienced by the audience.
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Raymond E Feist is a scary man
Because it’s so freakish that my ideas and his are pretty much IDENTICAL. I get the idea, and in a few months time, I see them in his most recently published book. It’s like we both thought the exact same thing at the exact same time.
HOW
And he’s just finished the most epic series ever and I’ve got a few thousand words of random ramblings.
AAH.
Infinity this, incomprehensible that, everything eternal, godly, immortal and being and void. His (*cough* my *cough*) stuff is amazing. Can’t wait to finish the book.
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Adelaidean Rain
Turns out rain in Adelaide is quite the troll. It’s not like Sydney rain, which is a torrential downpour for a very long time, and it’s not like Melbourne rain, which apparently is a constant light shower.
Adelaide rain, is a semi-downpour, for like, 2 minutes, with too many commas, all intermittent so that this morning I was walking under a bit of shelter, when it started raining. As I needed to cross to the other side of the street, the rain wasn’t so bad anymore. By the time I reached the cafe I frequent (I love that phrase), Please Say Please, and consumed my espresso and walked out, the rain had stopped. All in the span of approximately 15 minutes. And this happened constantly at work and after work too. It’d randomly start raining incredibly loudly, and then stop as I was staring at it wondering what I’d done to Ra that’s made him troll me in a non-sunny manner. It also started raining as I got home from work and stopped after I changed and went back out. WHICH WAS THE SAME AS YESTERDAY WHEN I GOT BACK FROM DRAGGING A VACUUM CLEANER AND MINI GRILL BACK HOME, ALMOST DIDN’T WANT TO GO OUT AGAIN TO BUY INGREDIENTS FOR A CHEAP DINNER BOTH CAUSE MY ARMS WERE THE SLAVE OF ULTRA GRAVITY AND CAUSE IT WAS RAINING. But then I convinced myself to save money I should go buy raw ingredients rather than spend money on a burger. And by that time, there was no more rain.
That’s what I get for all sorts of insults and puns about the rain. “A curse on you, rain!” I say. “I melt in the rain!” I say. I’d rather be set alight.
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Cafe Sydney + a lifetime worth of coins
Went to Cafe Sydney last night because I love the food there. I was hoping to spend a lot but we ended up spending not a lot at all, however everything they cook is amazing – plus it’s one of my favourite vantage points of the harbour. As I’m tired, I’m just going to picture spam.
