I heart breakfast…

Week 3’s challenge was very strange for me. Fresh off my designing stint, I immediately thought about taking a picture with the CLugg and calling it a day. Or just reproducing one of the pictures that I took in Sydney whilst doing the touristic route. However, after seeing the amazing ideas that came in from ‘my community’ and their relentless excitement, I definately HAD to do something else!

Zona, my resident Sydneysider, told me all about Breakfast on the Bridge, one of the features of the Crave Sydney month which will be held in October. Crave Sydney will feature a Latin Dance Fiesta, food roadshows, art exhibitions and a seven-bridge walk amongst other activicty. I love their tagline – Curb your cravings with 31 days of food, outdoor art and fun. Crave Sydney is about rediscovering the Sydney, with friends, family, fellow Sydneysiders & the people that love Sydney. It opens up the city’s landmarks, unlocking new ways to celebrate well-loved places and spaces.

Most tourists (like myself) choose the summer months to go Down Under – probably influenced by our lovely depressing winters here. But with the advent of this spring festival, it just shows that any season is good in Sydney – there is no need to wait till Feburary to head Down Under!

And when I heard about Breakfast on the Bridge, the eureka moment hit. That was it. I was in love. Imagine the sun rising over the glittering Sydney Harbour, warm rays dancing over your picnic blanket as you (and 5,999 other Sydneysiders) take in the view from the most spectacular picnic point in the country, the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Breakfast on the Bridge, Sydney’s big picnic breakfast, will be held on Sunday 25 October and will give 6,000 lucky people an opportunity to be part of history.

As I am unfortunately not a Sydneysider, (unlike Zona) I have a next to zero chance in being one of the 6,000 lucky souls to be invited to the best picnic breakfast in the world.Sniff…Sniff… So I created my own – in my own backyard. Sourrain.com presents Breakfast on the Bridge:

We love The Coathanger (local affectionate nom de plume for the Harbour Bridge).

Completely made out of breakfast items – criss crossed sausages forms the Harbour Bridge curve, with the infamous Aussie breakfast of Vegemite on toast representing the main throughfare. Thanks to Jim, my Sydneysider ex-colleague who force-fed me Vegemite with cheddar on toast as breakfasts, I have developed an uncanny liking for this very Australian snack. Funny how Vegemite will always remind me of Jim .

The pylons are supposed to be made out of pho noodles, to represent the typical Vietnamese breakfast that is widely available in Sydney, showcasing the diversity that is Sydney. Thanks Moo for reminding me…I love pho!

It was very hard to get the sausages to ‘bend’ over…skewers do not exactly come in a rounded curve!

I love the shadows of the sausage forming the frame of the bridge…you can see the individual links

Not only did I get my neighbour peering outta his window thinking what the…., the cat was very interested as well

…Although for completely different reasons – the cat loved the leftover cut-out bits of the sausages. Yummz

My measurements went askew…had to slice off the crusts before slathering it on with Vegemite

These were very brave beans – doing the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb…:). Definately recommended for the brave hearted…views are amazing from up-there.

I actually ate it for brunch and it was mm mm good…:)

For more pictures (including every step of the process!) , please see here:

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I did say I was extremely motivated this week didn’t I? It was an absolute waste to let the other brilliant idea go unacknowledged, so this week I have decided that we shall go with TWO ideas…yes, TWO! I couldn’t resist it, and HAD to do this other one as well as I felt it really did touch on the soul of Sydney as a city and the lovely people that reside in it…
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Sydney is not all about the Harbour Bridge ,the Opera House or the Blue Mountains…it is much, much more than that. Inspired by Week 3’s challenge, Katie came up trumps again in this week’s ‘Santa’s little Helpers’ challenge! The Sydney ANZAC memorial made from ANZAC biscuit, frosting, jello….. All things yummy and edible! How inspired is that! Think brownie points are due for concentrating on a less-well known but equally intruiging landmarks of Sydney!

The ingredients….and recipe for ANZAC Biscuits. Did you know it’s actually illegal to call them ANZAC cookies?

Holding all the ANZAC biscuits together with frosting…

Buttercream works best with this structure – fondant looked slightly wonky. Intense concentration required

Pouring Jell-O to make the water element…Katie used orange flavoured Jell-O with some blue food coloring. How inspired is that??Love the reflection that the Jell-O made representing the Lake of Reflections.

Proudly presenting – the ANZAC Monument, made out of ANZAC biscuits! How brilliant is that??

A closer look..

For more pix, please click below:

The ANZAC Monument (or War Memorial) was built in 1934 to honor the Australian Imperial Forces’ efforts in WW1. The memorial is located at the southern extremity of Hyde Park on the eastern edge of Sydney’s CBD, and it is the focus of commemoration ceremonies on ANZAC Day, Armistice Day and other important occasions. ANZAC day (24th April) commemorates the 1915 landing of Australian and New Zealand diggers at what is now ANZAC Cove, Gallipoli, Turkey.

From the official website of ANZAC Day:

Situated towards the southern end of Hyde Park and centered upon the main avenue, the ANZAC Memorial stands one hundred feet high and, on its main approach, is the ‘Lake of Reflections’, bordered by poplar trees in memory of the battle areas of France.

The central motif of the design is ‘The Sacrifice’. It comprises a bronze group of sculptures depicting the recumbent figure of a young warrior who has made the supreme sacrifice; his naked body lies upon a shield which is supported by three womenfolk – his best loved Mother, Wife and Sister and in the arms of one is a child, the future generations for whom the sacrifice has been made.

It illustrates the sacrifice engendered by war, self-sacrifice for duty and the beautiful quality of womanhood which, in the war years, with quiet courage and noble resignation, bore its burdens, the loss of sons, husbands and lovers.

The ANZAC Biscuits were as meaningful as the Anzac monument. The official Anzac Day website explains the significance of the ANZAC Biscuits (NEVER cookies – apparently it’s illegal!) so eloquently:

During World War 1, the wives, mothers and girlfriends of the Australian soldiers were concerned for the nutritional value of the food being supplied to their men. Here was a problem. Any food they sent to the fighting men had to be carried in the ships of the Merchant Navy. Most of these were lucky to maintain a speed of ten knots (18.5 kilometers per hour). Most had no refrigerated facilities, so any food sent had to be able to remain edible after periods in excess of two months. A body of women came up with the answer – a biscuit with all the nutritional value possible. The basis was a Scottish recipe using rolled oats. These oats were used extensively in Scotland, especially for a heavy porridge that helped counteract the extremely cold climate.

The ingredients they used were: rolled oats, sugar, plain flour, coconut, butter, golden syrup or treacle, bi-carbonate of soda and boiling water. All these items did not readily spoil. At first the biscuits were called Soldiers’ Biscuits, but after the landing on Gallipoli, they were renamed ANZAC Biscuits.

According to Sydneysider-turned-Londoner-turned-world-traveller Kay, Anzac biscuits are not a staple with the regular urban Sydneysider like herself, and is really only popular during ANZAC days and amongst the older generation whom the ANZAC Biscuits holds special significance – some remembers their mothers baking them for their fathers or actually having a hand in baking these biscuits themselves in the war years. Unfortunately the last soilder of the Australian Imperial Forces had passed away - but their heroism lives on in Australia and the rest of the free world. (Skipps might have something to add on the effect of war to the world ect ect..:))

With such a delicious recipe, even though there is no longer a need to make biscuits that lasts, I personally feel that the world should appreciate this Australian heritage. The ANZAC biscuts pays homage to the great men the fought as part of the Australian Imperial Forces and the brave mothers,wives & girlfriends that stayed home and baked this biscuits to keep their men healthy and strong. All the better to return to them with.

Definately a not-to-be-missed landmark in Sydney when I return….hopefully in time for Crave Sydney

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