Wow ok guys so it has been a while, has it not? Honestly, I would have posted sooner but as busy as exams were… let’s just say post-exams got a lot busier 😉
I wish I could say I am here to stay but guess what my darlings… I will be on a plane this Friday!
Hahahahahaha… funny is it not that the world ends this Friday too? I can imagine casually trying to find a place to land 😉
Anyway, away from such morbid thoughts, ma famille et moi, we are spending our Christmas and New Year in India surrounded by large masses of relatives all cheek-pinching and question-asking, claiming how grown up we are. Honestly, I have to wonder, is it a relative thing? Whether I was 8 or when I will be 18, I will always have room to appear ‘grown up’ 😉
Anyhow, I just wanted to wish you all a very, very Merry Christmas this year and an awesome New Year!!! Best of luck with all your resolutions (even if they don’t include cooking ;)) and I toast you with classy apple-juice-in-champagne-glass for a fabulous year to come.
On that note, I leave you with some ex-Christmas recipes I would truly recommend to add a bit of extra-fantastic to your holiday. I have been cooking my butt off this past week but I suppose you darlings will just have to wait for those recipes (and they will be worth it :D). Furthermore, in this post to come, for the first time, THERE IS NO RECIPE! Just a review that legitimately will knock your socks off…
- Gingernuts – soft, crumbly and delicious, there is no way Santa is leaving you coal with these cookies waiting for him!
- Christmas Fruit Cake (Fondant Décor) – Beautiful addition to any table, decorate at will and enjoy the ‘ooh’s and ‘aaah’s
- Meringue Christmas Tree – Because normal trees are just so passé… 😉
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So today, CCU met up with a new friend. Also sly, high and totally into food, this sleuth was currently doing a full-scale investigation on the various eats of Sydney. I would like to introduce you to new high school graduate, Tina from Food For Tina!
And her latest project…
Her syndicate was quite full but she managed to squeeze in some time to meet, greet and eat at Australia’s version of the Willy Wonka Factory with me…
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The first time you ever meet someone completely through Internet connection alone, you want to do it in the most fun and frivolous and delicious place possible. Checklist:
a) Kick-ass Atmosphere
b) Food
c) Music
May I just have the audacity to say we picked the perfect location? Haha… yeah I do 😉
I mentioned above that it is the ‘Willy Wonka Factory’ of Australia… while it is a little downsized, that is definitely the only way to describe the general kookiness, brilliance and ultimate deliciousness of this place.
The colours are fabulous, I mean everywhere you look there is a burst of technicolour! On top of that, there is macaron wallpaper. Do you remember Charlie licking Wonka’s edible wallpaper? Yeah… I was this close before I remembered myself 😉
And then on top of the usual blinding brightness and general Fabio-fabulousness of the place, CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS!
It’s not too hard to guess now but the location of our sleuthing was…
Adriano. Zumbo. Dessert. Train.
You know all those delicious little healthy raw fish thingies which are so popularly circulating cutie-pie tracks all over the world.
C’EST FINI!
In it’s place, are plates and plates of exquisite desserts which are deconstructions, reconstructions, traditional and contemporary… anything you desire in the world in terms of dessert (though whatever other terms you could have I do not understand!) is yours for the taking… literally! Sorry sushi, you just got slammed!
Now, I don’t wish to be forward, but I believe Tina and I bonded quite well over the various plates of dessert shared together. Now, as you are all quite sane and stable people, various plates means 3-4 plates of mini desserts which are rich and indulgent beyond your wildest fantasies.
For us… it means… 9 plates. Now do not judge us. After all, one of our catch phrases of the outing was ‘We are doing it for our readers!’ – In fact, thinking about it, YOU SHOULD LOVE US! 😉
So now let’s begin. Take a sip of water from your hot pink cup which has been filled by your rose pink bottle and *breathe in*, relax and let your senses come alive…
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Dessert #1: Corn, Mango, Saffron + Spice Cake
Hmmmmm… the only dessert I have remotely seen with corns is sweet cornbread.
At first glance you see a delicious small morsel of cake resting on a bed of seasoned corn, the saffron crumble and a rich, thick mango puree.
The corn itself works really well with the saffron, a combination purely mind-blowing regarding creativity 😀
The mango was subtly flavoured by honey and was so thick, luscious and creamy without being creamy. God I am so good 😛
The spice cake itself was definitely not sweet-sweet-sweet but the earthy flavour tasted really nice with the sweetness of the other elements!
Rating: 7/10
Dessert #2: Chocolate Coffee Brulee
Tell me that does not sound classy. Oh that’s right, you can’t 😉
This dessert was a mixture of classic desserts twisted and manipulated to be something completely new! Firstly, the ‘brulee’ part was a small shard of golden caramel. Crunchy and sweet, it was a great textural addition to this dessert.
It rested upon a long log of coffee chocolate ganache-mousse. I call it this because its consistency was thicker than mousse yet not quite as stiff as refrigerated ganache. Life is tough but there was a pungent sweet coffee flavour in it so I forgave and forgot 😉
On top of said log, lay a small but significantly fudgy piece of brownie which was thinly cut to not make its richness overbearing! Place a couple of edible bath bubbles all over it and you have one very classy dessert 🙂
Rating: 9/10
Dessert #3: Twisted Annunziata + Pear Gel + Compote
Annunziata: The Italian word for ‘feminine Annunciation’
Annunciation: The Christian celebration of the announcement by the angel, Gabriel to the Virgin Mary that she would conceive and be the mother to Jesus
- I am not religious (not atheist but agnostic)
- I don’t speak Italian
Which is why I will not bother to delve into why this chocolate indulgence is named as it is. Who knows? Adriano knows but not exactly on my speed dial… yet 😉
I would describe this beautiful creation as generous. A thick rectangle of rich moussey goodness covered by a layer of milk chocolate ganache. To counteract the utter indulgent nature, it rested on a bed of slightly chocolatey flakes with a distinct sea salt flavour throughout them mixed, I am pretty sure, with cocoa nibs.
On the sides was the sun and the moon. The sun was a sweet but slightly tart pear jelly (WITH REAL PEAR PIECES WITHIN)which I loved with the chocolate flavour. On the other side, the moon tasted like a pear compote, a more demure option to its jelly counterpart.
As you can see, Tina became a bit fond of this one 🙂
Rating: 8.5/10
Dessert #4: Violet Crumble
Yes, I did indeed read it as violENT crumble… ahahahaha… don’t judge me.
This beautiful dessert actually makes a mockery of the knock-off Crunchie bar, Violet Crumble… suffice to say it takes it a whole new gourmet level.
Firstly, we start of with two generous spoonfuls of honeycomb mousse. They are light, sweet and like a whipped up, melted down honeycomb paradise.
Sticking out of one plump beanbag of mousse is a shard of dark chocolate, just for some texture and extra support. In the other, is a shard of honeycomb but soft and chewy unlike its usual form. Some may not like this unconventional form but I fell for it like a ton of bricks.
In the centre was a soft pillow of white coloured mousse with specks. I was like ‘vanilla?’ and then Tina said, ‘No, violet!’ which is when it dawned on me that the violet is a flower. Oops 😉
Anyhow, it was so fragrant, I felt like I was devouring soft edible perfume. Tell me that is not cool!
Rating: 8.5/10
Dessert #5: Cherry Coconut
This is plainly and simply a deconstructed Cherry Ripe. Who needs portable candy honestly! In the form of a trifle, it is simple and a little weird with its random streaks of red.
However on the first spoon where you taste the thick ‘Bounty-style’ thickness of the coconut with layers of whipped cream and cherry compote all topped with the same chocolate crumble from the Annunziata, you know you will never eat a cherry ripe again.
It is just so mainstream 🙂
Rating: 9/10
Dessert #6: Chocolate Namelaka
Namelaka: A Japanese term meaning ‘creamy texture’
Now, there was definitely no creaminess in the half-fudge-half-cakey brownie but on its side was what I called a ‘melted mousse’ which lay as a covering upon the sea-salt chocolate crumble. It was denser than a sauce and went really well with the texture of the cake, which may have been a little dry without it!
I loved the presentation of it, this dessert actually simply called to all chocolate devotees everywhere! I know how my eyes widened on seeing it 😉
It was simple but tasty
Rating: 7.5/10
Dessert #7: Hazelnut Daquoise
Actually spelt ‘Dacquoise’ but then again, maybe there are variations I do not know of 🙂
Daquoise: Refers to a dessert involving nutty meringue layers
You see the sausage in the photo? Hahahaha it is not a sausage 🙂 – Au contraire, it is a delectably piped hazelnut flavoured cream adorned by two caramelised hazelnuts. It was silky smooth, yes, SILKY smooth and a perfect texture balance to the meringue cake next to it.
The cake itself was very sweet but I like it like that so no complaints! The meringue layer was crunchy perfection and there is really nothing else to say. I am not even the biggest meringue fan but fell in love with this!
Rating: 8/10
Dessert Palate Cleanser #1: Watermelon Yoghurt
Tina and I decided that after our insane indulgence of above, we needed to actually get a fresh wholesome taste in our mouths. Out come the equally delectable but refreshing desserts! 😀
This one was my personal favourite of the two we tried. Cutie-pie diced pieces of watermelon offered the perfect cold hit and then mixed with a gorgeous squiggle of fresh natural yoghurt, it was delicious. I think next time I buy some Chobani, I will be adding in yoghurt sans doute :)!!!
On the side, we had the tiniest meringue, which was a nice textural addition and with that, a little yellow cream-curd which neither Tina nor I could quite work out.
Aaaah well, life’s tough, guess you just have to eat and continue 🙂
Rating: 8.5/10
Dessert Palate Cleanser #2:Pine + Mint Splice
Pine…. Hahahaha that’s funny because this dish has both pine-NUTs and pineAPPLE 😛 – ADRIANO MAKING A FUNNY 😀
Anyway, excuse that… this was really really tasty and the sweetness from the pineapple curd, pineapple pieces went awesome with the delicious slightly bitter pine nut crumble it was on!
We were not quite sure but there is no other explanation so the mint must have been in the freshly whipped cream *drool*
I can still smell that beautiful aroma of mint mingling with pineapple… oh my 🙂
Rating: 8/10
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Did I or did I not tell you it was a crazy hectic dessert meal????
Having tried Zumbo’s famous macarons many times before, we opted out of them (also because our stomachs were in serious need of a break :P)
Do you think perhaps I have convinced you Sydney-siders to drive over or you non-driving-distanced-people to catch a plane over?
I suppose if this was not enough, you have the a la mode option of ordering fresh donuts, having the exotically flavoured ‘soft-serve of the day’ and a smashing hot chocolate. Just a suggestion is all 🙂
General Information: Adriano Zumbo’s Dessert Train
Overall Rating: 8.5/10
Address: Shop 1, Cafe Court
The Star/80 Pyrmont Street,
Pyrmont NSW 2009
Phone Number: (02) 9777 9000
White Plates: $5 each
Pink Plates: $6 each
Macarons: $2.50 each (black plate of each = $10 for 4)
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Now before I bid my final 2012 adieu, I would like to again wish you all a great holiday to come, an awesome celebration of the world not ending tomorrow and a fabulous new years 😀
I will not be commenting for around 3 weeks on any blogs, not because I don’t like you of course :D, but rather to enjoy India to its full potential and have a bit of a break!
- ‘Joyeux Noel’
- ‘Feliz Navidad’
- ‘Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo’
- ‘Nadolig Llawen’
- ‘Buone Feste Natalizie’
- ‘Froehliche Weihnachten und ein glueckliches Neues Jahr’
- God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt Ar
and a Merry Christmas to you all too 🙂
With love mes cheris,
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Pingback: CCU Undercover Diary: Adriano Zumbo Patisserie | Go Bake Yourself
Hope you had a lovely Christmas and holiday season! (And love love love that merangue tree!)
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You two are too funny… and I’m so jealous you went all out to eat all these desserts. I could totally share some of your calories… 😉 Hope you had a wonderful holiday! I love your Christmas Fruit Cake. Gorgeous!!
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Hope you are having a great holiday! You are so cruel to post so many wonderful goodies here! I am literally drooling! Oh, please stop this sweet torture! LOL!
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OMG….that place is amazing!!! All of the chocolatey desserts were just singing to meeee!
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What an amazing post and wonderful pictures! Have a great trip and enjoy the time with your family. Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year! 🙂
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Woah, I’ve heard so many good things about this place. A dessert sushi train is a brilliant idea and good on you two for sampling so many goodies! Very cool!! Hope you had a wonderful 2012 and have a great 2013 🙂
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Beautiful photos! Have a great trip my friend, Merry Christmas to you and your family. Happy holidays!
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Merry Christmas and a happy post-exam time to you!
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How wonderful! Have a safe and happy trip, CCU! Hope your exams went well 🙂 Enjoy your cheek pinching and have a very, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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have a great trip! happy holidays!
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Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year. Enjoy your time spent with your family in India.
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Merry Christmas CCU! What a fun post. Love it. Also, have a great time in India!
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Haha your comment about your relatives is so true! Merry merry Christmas to you and your family! Have a wonderful time in India. And thanks for the inspiration, ginger biscuits are going to be cooked today!
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I wish that your Christmas will be fulfilled with sweet pleasure,
Full with memories that you keep close and treasure.
Happy Holidays x
-The Little Housewife
P.S Totally understands, been a busy bee myself, good look with your exams, have a fabulous trip and bring back loads of interesting recipes. Hope you have a good one! Missed being around here, glad everything is well.
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we survived! hooray! 🙂
i don’t care for macarons, but i have to admit that the color variation is always beautiful!
happy holidays!
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You are making me hungry! You must be in the airplane or at your destination by now. Merry Christmas, sweet Uru.
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Have a most wonderful time with your family in India.
All the very best for the New Year!!!!!
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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Hope you have a lovely time in India.
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A delicious selection of desserts fit for a princess–two of them. Thanks to the both of your for making the sacrifice and testing them all! Have a wonderful vacation, CCU, and maybe (we can only hope!) you’ll bring back some food ideas from India.
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Merry Christmas to you tooooooo! And Happy New Year! Bring back lots of pics from India! 😀
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Safe travels to and back and best wishes to you and your family!
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The Zumbo Dessert Train?! That place looks AMAZING! Now I reaaaaaaally wanna go there 😀 Merry Christmas to you and your family…hope you have a wonderful time in India!
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What a lovely post. Looks like you’re having a great time! Have a lovely Christmas and New Year.
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I have a workmate who is also spending the next few weeks visiting family in India! Have a safe flight, Uru and enjoy your time up there! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! xx
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I have been there! On our last trip to sydney we went to the one near the casino. I am pretty sure I had the Hazelnut Daquoise and it reminded me so much of Ferrer Rochers. It was fairly new from what I remember so it seems they’ve added in many more desserts and an a le carte menu! My bf had the V8 chocolate cake which looked the most rich, decadent thing ever. We also tried there macaroons- we were a bit disappointed with the texture, having had better elsewhere, but loved the flavours. I want to go back now!
Thanks for writing this, I strangely (well not that strange considering I’m a foodie with a wicked sweet tooth) had so much fun reading this!
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omgosh, this food is delectable, amazing, gorgeous. WOW.
is that you in the photo? b e a u t i f u l.
Merry Christmas. Xxx
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That is my type of journey! I love desserts. Travel safely and have a great time in India Uru 🙂
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India is a beautiful place and spending Christmas there is awesome. Have fun and Merry Christmas Ms.
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Wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday and Christmas, CCU! See you next year 🙂
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Merry Christmas to you too and a happy yummy new year to come!
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Merry Christmas my dear and enjoy your holiday!!
This post is amazing! I feel as if I was part of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory!! I love them all; especially Dessert #5. See you in 2013!!
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Merry, merry Christmas!
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And a very merry Christmas and happy new year to you! Please share with us all your adventures in India—especially those “large masses of relatives all cheek-pinching and question-asking”!
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Enjoy your trip/holiday & see you in 2013!
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My dear friend, have a lovely time in India!! I know how you feel.. cheek pinching and all. LOL! It doesn’t get better when you get older… relatives still see changes and talk about them. 🙂 It’s been a great 2012 with all your sweet treats and Undercover CCU! Looking forward to 2013! ~Cheers!!! Ramona
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I love this post!!!! And yay for ZUMBO! Love him (and his creations!). Merry Christmas CCU! It’s been lovely following you in 2012… here’s to 2013! Have a great trip xxx
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God Jul och Gott Nytt År! Vi ses 2013! Thanks for all the sweet and the good .. under 2012.
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Your X’mas fruit cake looks stunning! You and Tina are ‘sweet’ friends ;-))
Have a peaceful and joyful holiday season, CCU!
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Have fun in India, I’d love to move someplace warm from this horrible cold weather 🙂
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See you in 2013!
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Chippy, these sweets are beautes! How could you eat them?
Ok.
I see how.
Muhahaa
And your fruit cake is lovely. The stars and scrolly
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May you have a safe & enjoyable trip – be sure to ask the pilot to take on some extra fuel just in case you need to land someplace else. Enjoy the holidays & your family – no they will always pinch your cheeks & make a comment about how you’ve grown.
Now that is truly an amazing array of good lookin’ food! How you manage to find it I don’t know, but please don’t stop.
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Have a great and safe journey, my beautiful friend! I hope your Holidays are amazing and I can’t wait to see your amazing creations again…LOOOOVE!! =)
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Have a great trip and thank you for leaving us with that sinful dessert extravaganza. I give the whole experience 8 out of 9 because the sweet corn dessert really didn’t appeal to me but the other plates were very tempting.
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Wow! I need a glass of milk after looking at all those deserts! Have a wonderful trip!!
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Happy holidays and have a great trip!
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Happiest of holidays, dear CCU! See you next year!!
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Have a terrific trip! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you, and I hope you don’t have to hear too many times how you’ve grown! Don’t even think about us while you’re gone, but be assured we’ll all be here for you when you return, famished, waiting for our next sugar fix! Have a great holiday.
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Have a wonderful visit and we’ll see you next year. Thanks for all of the eye candy!
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Wow! I am so totally full reading about your dessert plates! They all looked so gorgeous and unique. What a great place. A very nice way to end out 2012 Uru.
Have a great time in India. It’s been years since I went back and had my cheeks pinched and was waited on hand and foot.
Happy New Year to you my friend. See you next year!
Nazneen xx
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Thank you, Uru & Tina, for doing “research.” 😉 Enjoyed your reviews and ratings, too! Have a wonderful vacation, Uru!!!
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Thanks for all the dessert recipes, Uru! Enjoy your time in India!
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Merry Christmas! have a great time in India! I’m so jealous x
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You went ALL OUT for this last years post!!! I am glad your leaving because your tempting me with all these desserts and I’m hungry!!! LOL
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Happy holidays to you my dear CCU and enjoy your time with family. I feel like I have a sugar rush looking at all of your delicious photos. Hopefully that will keep me happy until your return. Safe and happy travel. BAM
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Hi CCU have a wonderful time in India! A good break from blogging is GOOD! I love your funny pictures and your YUMMY pictures!! Ciao
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Happy Holidays and have a wonderful time in India, I expect your cheeks will be nice and rosy from all the pinching. A beautiful post and great way to end 2012. Have so enjoyed reading your blog and I really look forward to more and more from you in 2013!
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Have a safe trip Uru! Happy Holidays to you and your family. Good luck with all the cheek pinching! 😉
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Have fun on your vacation my dear! ANd I think you really ended your 2012 posts with a bang. This is such a smorgasboard of fun!
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Merry Christmas to you too. Have a wonderful time in India. Meantime, I’m dreaming about that cherry trifle!
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those gingernuts, christmas fruitcake and meringue tree look delicious! and so Christmas perfect! 🙂
Have a wonderful holiday in India! 🙂 And a very Merry Christmas! 🙂
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Have the best christmas and new year Uru, full of kissing relatives and sparkling nights!
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Have a safe holiday in India! I wouldn’t worry too much about tomorrow – My daughter majored in Anthropology in college and she’s not worried – I suppose she would be aware of any prediction of a threat to mankind through the Mayans or Aztecs. First, I love the fondant covered fruit cake! More importantly – I want a ZUMBO here!!! You look beautiful in the pictures by the way!
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Have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy India and all of your family!!!!
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Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Have loved reading your blog during the year.
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Have a wonderful vacation and holiday Uru–we will miss you but I am happy you will be in the land of cheek pinching–they used to tell us we were growing like a bad weed when I was young. Awaiting your comeback–I wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year my friend!
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Fantabulous final post CCU. I keep scrolling back to that hazelnut flavoured sausage. Wishing you a fabulous holiday in India and a very merry new year!
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A very Merry Christmas ad Holiday Season to you too! Have a wonderful time with the family!
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ZOMG! I am *so* there! This place looks loco but so much fun. Haven’t yet been to the Star but I think you’ve just convinced me to check it out.
Enjoy India & all the cheek-pinching that entails 🙂
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What a fabulous post for your last of 2012! I love that meringue tree and I hope I will have time to make it! It reminds me of the French pile of choux buns with caramelised sugar that they do, glorious!
All sorts of lovely goodies here to try. It’s been such a busy end of year that I haven’t been in to read much recently but this was a BIG treat this morning! Thank you!
Have a fabulous trip when you leave on your plane to India on Friday (I hope there’ll be some pictures . As you know I LOVE India!) and I’ll see you next year. Happy Christmas and may 2013 bring you all you dream of …..
With love to you my friend
Sally 🙂
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