What a beautiful birthday weekend away, I can't think of a more lovely way to start my 25th year. (Whew...that was hard typing that out! Still feels weird being 24 years old now.)

Really though, the Bombah Eco Cottages were just so perfect. Our lovely host Rob was kind enough to show us around the entire sustainable system of water filtration to the beautiful vegetable garden. He was so authentic and passionate about it that it was a real pleasure to wander through the property. Next time we are up there I would really like to just spend more time being there.

The Myall Lakes National Parks is full of juxtapositions; from the stringy barks and gum trees, to rich green ferns, to sand dunes and aqua coloured roaring ocenas. So much natural beauty...but I will just let the photos speak for themselves I think...

Anyway, first things first! My delicious Birthday Cake which was a simple variation on another favourite cake of mine. Since I had to take everything with me to bake, I couldn't do anything too crazy...but really, bananas are my favourite so this was perfect.



Banana Pistachio Cake
Ingredients
2 tbs butter
2 tbs milk
3 very ripe, mashed bananas
160 g brown sugar (soft)
1 egg
1 cup plain wholemeal flour
1/2 cup ground almonds (or almond meal)
3 tsp baking powder

Pistachio Cream
1 cup whipped cream
2 generous tbs soft brown sugar
1/2 cup ground pistachios



Method
Beat the butter with the brown sugar until smooth and creamy. Add the egg and continue to beat until smooth. Then beat through the mashed up banana.

Combine the wholemeal flour, ground pistachios & baking powder. Fold through the banana mixture until smooth. Then fold through the milk until all smooth.

Spoon mixture into a greased cake tin and bake at 170Celsius for around 40-45 minutes. Check it at the 30 minute mark cause you don't want to over cook this. The top should be nice and golden.

To make the Pistachio Cream, simply whip the cream and brown sugar together with an electric beater and then fold through the ground pistachios. Spread between the cake layer and all over if you like! Or just serve warm with a dollop on the side. Delicious!



Now a few photos from the weekend...a few more than a few...but so hard to choose as there was just so much beautiful scenery everywhere.



Bringing the outside environment inside. Beautiful.





Vegetable garden....



Lovely big fat hens! These gals do a fabulous job of turning over the soil for the vegetable garden. Very friendly too.





Did I mention the delicious fresh steak we had? John did a beautiful olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and parsley marinade. I love beautiful, simple flavours. YUM!



A lovely, eccentric cafe called Two Cows Cafe; full of antiques and old objects. Lovely chicken pesto and salad for lunch. Great find on a little country road.