June 2011

Grill’d Photoshop Tutorial

by Sab on June 30, 2011

Over the last two weeks I have been going on a mini Photoshop tutorial spree and was excited to do things a little differently and test out some new techniques (as well as old ones) on the photos from the Claremont Grill’d visit I posted about last week. I’ve tried to put a little tutorial together, let me know what you think, things may not be explained at a beginner level, but with screenshots and some ingenuity, I hope beginners will be able to follow along too.

I posted up my lightroom process for a photo last week and you’ll see the massive difference between how I edit in lightroom (quick and dirty) versus photoshop (longer, more complicated – and this one is a quick edit).

Click below to read the whole tutorial…

[click to read the rest …]

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Lauren before the ball

by Sab on June 27, 2011

She looks so pretty!

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Lunch at Grill’d – Claremont Quarter

by Sab on June 23, 2011

There are a few options for lunch at Claremont Quarter but so far, I think Grill’d is the best! They have so many delicious “healthy” burgers to choose from and the store itself is relaxing to sit in, with plenty of natural light spilling through the large glass wall and wooden tables.

Tom ordered the Wild Wild West which was described on the menu as “grilled 100% lean beef, tasty cheese, cripsy trim bacon, free range egg, a couple of slices of beetroot with salad, relish and herbed mayo”. I’ve had this myself before and it is delicious! How can you go wrong with three different types of meat in one burger!? Not sure about how healthy this particular choice is, purely due to the burger contents, but it’s well worth the calories. The burgers are relatively healthy compared to fast food – they are made from good quality, fresh produce and it tastes a lot cleaner and less oily than a burger usually does.

Here are some more shots of the Wild Wild West burger as it is devoured:

I ordered the Caesar’s Palace: “grilled chicken breast, cripsy trim bacon, free range egg, shaved parmesan, baby coss & caesar dressing”. Not healthier at all but I really enjoyed this burger conversion of caesar salad. It had the taste of caesar salad without the salad issue of boring endless mouthfuls of lettuce.

Looking at the layers of my burger:

By the way, the burgers are large but may appear small in my man-hands. The burger size is more than adequate – I could only eat half of it :D

If you want to know how I edited these images see my Grill’d photoshop tutorial with screenshots!

Here’s a shot of the store to finish up; it’s usually packed on Saturdays but we were here mid-Friday afternoon so there were plenty of places to sit as most had finished their lunches.

I really enjoy Claremont Quarter. It feels expensive and luxurious, and it’s fun to wander around and look at things. I enjoy the clean lines of Kikki K, watching the chefs make chocolate treats through the viewing window at Koko Black, the free tea samples in T2 and the luxurious pink carpet and over-the-top girly stylings of Alannah Hill. Sass and Bide is particularly funny – not the clothes, but the store decorations. The last time I visited, they had a creepy looking, ratty-haired barbie dressed in rags complete with a jewel-encrusted face in the jewellery cabinet.

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Little Miss Cupcakes – Kalamunda

by Sab on June 21, 2011

On our adventure to Kalamunda after visiting the Last Drop Tavern, Tom and I meandered across Haynes Street to Little Miss Cupcakes. We went in there intending to buy one cupcake each and somehow ended up getting five because they all looked so good.

From left to right: 1. chocolate butterfly cupcake, 2. chocolate sprinkle heart cupcake, 3. carrot and walnut cupcake (at the back) and 4. snickers choc mud cupcake.

Tom thought it would be a good idea to get vanilla butterfly cupcake (pictured bottom right) because there was a lot of chocolate in our box. I can assure you that a sweet vanilla cupcake smothered in luscious buttercream does not really provide much of a palate cleanser between mouthfuls of chocolate cupcake ;)

Vanilla butterfly cupcake (below): Very light and fluffy cupcake with airy buttercream that was sugary, but thankfully not too sweet. There was restraint with the sugar put into both the cake mixture and icing – as a result, the cupcake was much easier to eat.

The snickers choc mud cupcake (below): It was very rich, as you’d expect from looking at this vertically sculpted chocoholic’s dream. The cupcake was very rich and sweet and the icing (chocolate ganache?) was also very rich and sweet. Combined, it was too much for my tastes but I suspect that was the point of the cupcake and many others would enjoy this creation. It’s definitely worth a try, it was the most eye-catching cupcake in the store.

Carrot and walnut cupcake (below): Carrot cake base topped with sweet cream cheese frosting topped with a sprinkling of walnuts. I am a huge fan of carrot cake (and walnuts) but often find that carrot cakes from stores are too dense, almost fruit-cake in consistency. However, this cupcake was pleasantly light in consistency. The cream cheese frosting, albeit extremely sweet, was a delicious counterpoint to the cake.

Chocolate sprinkle heart cupcake (below): A light chocolate cake topped with a chocolate sprinkle heart, nestled in a swirl of buttercream. I did not eat this cupcake, Tom consumed it while I wasn’t looking. Tom said that the cupcake was a lighter version compared with the choc mud, which was a welcome change.

The chocolate butterfly cake (not pictured below because we got impatient with photographing and moved onto eating) has the same cake base and buttercream as the chocolate sprinkle heart cupcake. It tasted quite similar to the vanilla butterfly cupcake, the chocolate flavour was obvious but nice and light.

I took a few snaps of the beautiful store while I was there:

And some from the outside, of the front display!

This stand packed with pretty white cupcakes looked like they were waiting to be picked up for a wedding.

I’d eat here again if I wanted cupcakes and I was around Kalamunda. Particularly, I’d be keen to have more of the vanilla butterfly cupcake and carrot cupcake :)

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Genie in the Park – Lightroom Settings

by Sab on June 20, 2011

Anthony asked me how I post processed the photo below, taken on the same day as Genie in the Park. So, instead of typing out some quick vague instructions, I decided to quickly put together some screenshots of my settings in lightroom and put it on my blog for the curious. This is not really a fully fledged tutorial, just a step-by-step insight into what I was thinking – to be honest I’m probably not well qualified to write a tutorial!

I’ll go through my thought process as well as screenshots of the actual lightroom settings. I’ve only used lightroom, no photoshop except to add the watermarks.

To start with, here’s the finished photo:

[click to read the rest …]

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Lunch at Last Drop Tavern – Kalamunda

by Sab on June 20, 2011

Tom and I went on a little adventure to Kalamunda to try Little Miss Cupcakes, however, we required lunch before the cupcake feast could begin. After walking around to some of the local cafes we settled on the prominent Last Drop Tavern. As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by a friendly face. She explained that we could take a seat anywhere we liked as menus were on the tables and ordering could be done at the food counter or bar for food and drinks respectively.

Tom ordered the barramundi with potatoes, broccolini and some sort of butter. I really need to start making notes on the menu items we order at the restaurant instead of assuming I will be able to find them online later ^^;

Tom enjoyed the barramundi, he said it was well cooked, succulent and tasted fresh. I tried a little of it and I would agree :D

I ordered the chicken salad with pumpkin, spinach, fetta and cherry tomatoes and vinaigrette on the side. I always order salad dressing on the side, there’s nothing more pointless than ordering a salad to be healthy when it is drenched in oil/fat and not only that, but the flavour of vegetables are obliterated by dressing.

The chicken was delicious, exactly how I like it – breast pieces that were pan seared so they had great flavour and were still tender and warm. The pumpkin was a good consistency, not too mushy or hard. All the flavours went together great, I barely touched the vinaigrette.

I only ate half the salad, but that wasn’t because it wasn’t good – I needed to leave space for the cupcakes! I put it into a plastic container (very classy) and ate it later :)

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Tacos and pasta

by Sab on June 17, 2011

Here’s proof that we didn’t eat out for every meal while we were in the south west. We made so much home cooked food that we had enough for 2-3 meals!

Crunchy jumbo shell tacos are the best:

I prepared way too many vegetables for the taco mix, only used about 30% of the carrot I grated :S

Another night we made pasta with beef mince, crushed tomatoes, italian herbs and HEAPS of diced vegetables:

Not sure how appetising some of this looks but I enjoyed them!! By the way – pasta for breakfast is excellent.

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Lunch at Top Deck – Walpole

by Sab on June 16, 2011

Grilled snapper with garden salad and tartare sauce. The fish was a great portion size and meaty, however I was puzzled at why a grilled fish dish was so mysteriously oily and had batter on it…

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Morning Tea – Lavender and Berry Farm, Pemberton

by Sab on June 16, 2011

I went to the Lavender and Berry Farm for morning tea and thoroughly enjoyed the peaceful surrounds that were rich in flora and fauna: there were ducks wandering about the cafe and squeaking when we arrived as well as many little birds eyeing our food.

Tom and I ordered tea and two different scones – the scone with berry jam as well as the lavender scone with honey, both of which came with a large helping of whipped cream. Both scones came out warm and were obviously baked that day. There was only one scone on each plate but they were of a large size so we didn’t have to fight over the scones.

The berry jam had a tart, very concentrated berry flavour so we did not need to use much of it atop of our mouthfuls of scone. I thought that the scone was nice but unfortunately I don’t know enough about scones to describe them!

The lavender scone had a subtle flavour of lavender – perhaps too subtle for my palate as I could not really taste it. However, that could be a failing on the part of my taste buds rather than the scone. The honey it came with was rich and smooth – it all went down nicely with whipped cream!

The tea was a nice counterpoint to the meal, providing extra warmth on a winter day and it did not compete with the flavour of the scones. I had chamomile tea, I used it as a sort of palate cleanser between the different types of scones.

The family at the table across the room from us ordered three plates of the signature dish – pancakes with icecream and hot berry sauce. The pancakes were huge and looked more like cakes than pancakes! A dish that is best shared between a few people, as it looked very tasty but quite rich – the family ordered one each and only ate half of what they ordered.

The little birds really enjoyed it, a swarm of about thirty of the cutest tiny birds descended upon the pancake leftovers after the family left the cafe. The birds were skittish around me and my camera, quickly flitting in and out of the plates. It was hard to capture more than a few at a time!

The birds are quite bold – one fat little bird came up and ate plain whipped cream out of my saucer while I was sitting right in front of it! Sadly he was in and out too quick for me to snap a picture.

Here’s a little shot of the store where they sell their jams and a variety of other things.

I really enjoyed this visit, the atmosphere in the cafe was really nice – especially with the cute little birds, rich plant life and decorations that gave the place a comfortable, country cottage feel. I would recommend this place to anyone who wanted a relaxing morning tea near Pemberton! Have a look at the Lavender and Berry Farm website if you want to find out more :)

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Lakeside Restaurant – Karri Valley Resort

by Sab on June 16, 2011

After a long drive down from Perth to Pemberton, we didn’t feel like cooking our own dinner. We were staying at the Karri Valley Chalets so we wandered next door to the resort next door for dinner at Lakeside Restaurant.

To start, we ordered the warm house loaf which was a dukkah encrusted loaf, served with balsamic essence and sea salt butter.

The bread was perfect – warm throughout, soft on the inside, crunchy and flaky on the outside.

Tom ordered the fish of the day, which was an oven baked snapper with parsnip mash and a spinach, beetroot and fetta salad. I was told that the mash was delicious and tasted like potato :)

I ordered the moroccan style calamari, which came with wild spinach and a chilli plum glaze. I also ordered a side of roasted pumpkin, sweet potato and beetroot with shaved pecorino. I couldn’t finish it all, but my favourite part of my order was the squid. I wasn’t too sure about the batter, but it was light and flaked off easily.