The fog was so thick I could barely see a few meters in front of me as Bear and I drove to Toowoomba in the early hours of yesterday morning. I was heading for a meeting with the Toowoomba Backscratchers, a great group of local businessmen who meet regularly for breakfast, an inspiring speaker, and good chats who invited me to join in. It was so fun to meet them and hear about their work and passions and what they love about this region.
After the meeting, Bear and I had all sorts of errands to run and decided to make a morning of it.
We picked up canvas to make an extension for one of our medieval tents, fabric for a sewing project, and a few other bits and pieces.
Once all the vital stuff was done, we made a beeline for Toni’s Continental Butchery and Smallgoods, a fantastic Slovenian shop our Croatian friends told us we MUST visit.
They were right! My little Europhile heart was fairly bursting with joy as I stepped inside and gazed in delight at ropes of air-dried salamis, loaves of wood-fire baked sourdough bread, and display cases full of things like Danish frikkadellar, something I’ve never seen outside my kitchen andย the kitchens of my Danish relatives.
We visited with the proprietor and stocked up on favorites, pledging to return soon and often.
Then, feeling a bit peckish, we headed next door to Deli Delicious, a combination cafe and gourmet food market.
We ordered coffees – long black for him and flat white for me – and three different cakes to share, just so we could decide which was best. It was hard to choose, I tell ya. Moist Carrot Cake or the multi-layered coffee confection or the utterly luscious Chocolate Hazelnut Torte. They were all marvelous, and just the thing to lift the spirits on a very dark, foggy, and drizzling day.
We had such fun dreaming and planning as we sipped and nibbled. We’d been greatly inspired by the interview and newspaper article I told you about in my last postย (Click Here to see the full article), and it felt so good to sit down and talk about the next phase of our plans: what to build, what to organize, what to look for.
All too soon the cakes were gone, coffees finished, and it was time to head home. I picked up a few special things for us – triple creme brie and a little pot of triple salted black licorice – and drove home inย the rain.
Nary a drop had fallen on our farm, but this morning we’ve got the lightest drizzle misting everything, and we’ll take it. Even a little bit of moisture is cause for rejoicing around here.
Our finds from yesterday have also put big smiles on our faces. Breakfast this morning was pure bliss: toasted sourdough ciabatta topped with triple creme brie and garnet plum paste with a side of garlicky salami and a big cup of strong coffee.
Now it’s time to knuckle down and get to work. I have to build a campfire and make a series of campfire desserts to photograph and write about for an article. This is the kind of work I was born to do.
What little things are putting a smile on your face this week? xo
What delicious fun!!
It sure was, @liz_posmyk:disqus ๐ You would’ve really liked that Croatian deli. So many delicious things from Eastern Europe. ๐
I would love that deli.
It’s so wonderful, Kathy. ๐ I’ll tell you all about it when I see you this weekend. ๐
The thing that is putting a smile on my face at the moment is your newest posts on your blog Krista. I love this one, I can just imagine all the adventures that you had. The food looks absolutely divine ๐
Ohh, that means so much to me, @wanderingsheila:disqus. Thank you, luv. XO
Mmmm…we can sniff your breakfast, plus a cup of coffee! Lovely!!
Julie & Alesah
Gourmet Getaways xx
Marty and I visited Hvar Town market on Hvar Island, Croatia, this morning which made me smile. We purchased all of our fruit and veg from one stall run by a mother and her tween daughter. They were a great team, with the tween collecting bags as we filled them and then taking them to her mother to tally the cost. The carrots had just had their tops twisted off and the spring onions were crunchy fresh and the potatoes so much better than those in the supermarket. I wished we could have purchased some of their home made olive oil, but that would be totally impractical when we are on the move all the time. Then we visited the market butcher shop which had not one but two wooden chopping blocks! I couldn’t help taking a photo of them and the butcher who most likely thought I was nutty. We bought chicken wings (with yellow fat not white like in Australia) and pork chops that the butcher cut from the whole piece for us. I woke up thinking about ฤevapฤiฤi this morning, so we then shared ten for lunch at market cafe and that definitely made me smile. Thanks for the inspiration Krista.
That’s a very good day but I’m really looking forward to the campfire desserts!
I would have bought more than I could carry from Toni’s. Mum’s Polish and I’m a sucker when it comes to the deli counter!
what a lovely time out, and I love the gourmet food market you went to!
What a delightful store, I love stumbling across places like that. Now I want to hunt down an Eastern European deli here. =)
I’m tempted to try to join the Toowoomba Backscratchers solely based on their name ๐ Hooray for community!
Wow, I just love the name of the business group! ๐ However, my eyes did stop more over the photos of the deli you visited. No wonder you got so excited to visit there. I would have wanted to buy all the shop! ๐
Julia