Tag: phoenix

The Arizona Renaissance Festival, turkey legs + raspberry mead.

For a few years now, David has been talking about the Arizona Renaissance Festival (but mainly about the turkey legs you can buy there). From what I understood, it was like a medieval convention out in the desert where people dressed up in period costume, drank, ate, and watched fire twirling.

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I was half right – out in the middle of the desert there is a small city built for the festival – dozens and dozens of full size buildings, stables, jousting arenas, pavilions, carts, stages – and everything is Renaissance themed.

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There are actors, jugglers, entertainers, food sellers with pretzels on sticks. There were knights on horses, you could buy a flag to support your knight, and then the winners signed autographs afterwards.

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There was raspberry mead, British food, owls, hawks, and musicians. Fire twirlers on stilts, hypnotists, peasants, royalty, and stores filled with everything you would expect of a buzzing Renaissance town centre.

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I tried on dresses, ate turkey legs, and watched all the people in amazing costumes.

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This time in two days I will be in snowy Portland – it’s really amazing that the middle of winter in Phoenix is so full of sun and warmth, when only a few hours north there is snow and sub-zero temperatures.

Lakeside camping in the Arizona desert.

Lakeside camping in the Arizona desert.

About 6 months ago from Australia I was talking to my friend Mike about camping, and how I was too afraid to camp in the US because of the mountain lions, pumas, bears, rattlesnakes…. coming from Australia many people find that strange as we are known for being a country full of animals and insects that can kill you. It spawned the meme ‘Meanwhile in Australia…’ accompanied with an image of another terrifying thing from our country.

But my problem is that in Australia, you can outrun anything that could kill you. Here a mountain lion could pounce on you before you knew what was happening. To be honest, my Mum had a huge influence on this fear, constantly telling me terrible stories about the beasts here in the US.

Mike thought I was a little silly I think, and promised to take me camping when I got to the US. He assured me it was fine.
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A craft beer oasis in the Arizona desert.

A craft beer oasis in the Arizona desert.

Today I set out on a research trip to a number of Arizona’s top breweries for my next article for Taste & Travel on Phoenix’s craft brewing scene.

First up I hit local favourite Four Peaks, makers of the state’s favourite craft beer Kiltlifter, a 6% Scottish-style ale. Owner and head brewmaster Andy Ingram told me about their special strain of yeast that throws a distinct note of apricot into their brews – a guiding influence for the creation of their popular Peach Ale as those fruits complement each other perfectly.
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Lamingtons for Australia Day in the Wild West of the USA.

Lamingtons for Australia Day in the Wild West of the USA.

I was told as soon as I left Australia for my adventure around the world I would have a newfound sense of patriotism. I have always been patriotic about Melbourne (maybe because it is the best place in the world?), but have never really been a flag-toting, sausage eating, Crikey-shouting Aussie.

My friends in Melbourne have always been super organised with our bigger parties – we are huge fans of facebook events. It works for me because now I have gone, they invite me to everything anyway so I can see what is happening back at home. So when I saw the group was heading out for an Australia Day Picnic and rowing a boat to Herring Island, I remembered how my American friends Sam and Nina would always host parties on the American holidays like the 4th July. So, as an Australian, I felt it was my duty to host an Australia Day party here in Phoenix, Arizona.

I got a little excited about the prospect of introducing our friends to a bit of Australian culture. It wouldn’t be Australia day without lamingtons, so I baked a sponge and set to work putting together some Aussie baked deliciousness. For my non-Australian readers, lamingtons are a dense sponge cake filled with raspberry jam, dipped in a chocolate syrupy sauce and rolled in desiccated coconut.

Our friends Erin and Brandon showed up with their super cute son, Liam. He loved to pose for the camera!
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Juniper-crusted bison carpaccio, smoked dark chocolate fudge + coconut green mole.

Juniper-crusted bison carpaccio, smoked dark chocolate fudge + coconut green mole.

Last night we had one of the best meals we have eaten in the USA, right here in Phoenix. A few weeks ago when we visited the Desert Botanical Gardens, mum pointed out the restaurant in the gardens and mentioned it had been recently redone by a well-acclaimed chef. I checked it out when I got home, and Executive Chef Stephen Eldridge is alumni of other well-known Phoenix dining hotspots such as Quiessence (Arizona’s answer to New Yorks farm-to-table dining experience Blue Hill at Stone Barns).

So when my grandparents told me they would take me anywhere I wanted to go for dinner for my Christmas present, I finally settled on Gertrude’s, and boy am I glad I did.

We turned up to the Botanic Gardens after dark, and walked through the open entrance gates towards the restaurant. It was weird walking through the Botanic Gardens after closing time.
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Afternoon Tea at the Ritz.

Afternoon Tea at the Ritz.

My nan and I love afternoon tea. In any situation, if there is tea and scones on offer, we are there at the drop of a hat. There is something about getting dressed up in pretty sundresses and drinking coconut oolong out of fine china, while a dapper young gentleman in coat and tails serves you plate after plate of miniature treats with silver ornate servingware.
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English Tea Rooms, mesquite grilled chicken + smoked brisket in a Frontier Town.

English Tea Rooms, mesquite grilled chicken + smoked brisket in a Frontier Town.

We drove up to the little towns Carefree and Cave Creek in Arizona for the day today. First stop was afternoon tea at the famous English Rose Tea Rooms in Carefree (on Easy Street. Yep. On Easy Street in Carefree).

These tea rooms had popped up in my culinary searches of Arizona – run by a woman from the UK, they are a hotspot for ‘ladies who lunch’ to dress up in fancy hats and dresses and dine on cucumber sandwiches, real British scones with clotted cream and jam, and a huge selection of teas.

I had scones with a pot of black rose tea, and sat underneath a decorative chandelier of teapots and teacups, next to flowers and British flags. I am in training to move to London it seems!

Afterwards, we drove to Bartlett’s Lake, a typical National Lampoons style American family holiday summer lake.
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My new ‘local’, banana bread beer, coconut cocktails + a new hip taco joint.

My new ‘local’, banana bread beer, coconut cocktails + a new hip taco joint.

So my stuff arrived in Arizona from Australia. We picked it up yesterday, running around the airport area getting Customs stamps and paying import fees, and then finally being allowed to load my 400 pounds of cookbooks and a few assorted clothing items into the car.

After unpacking a few boxes and realising how sleep deprived I must have been when I packed the boxes, I gave up and left everything all over my room and went out. It was friday after all! My friends were amused by the stuff I had deemed necessary to bring to America. I was a little confused myself when I found wheat sandwich wraps, seaweed, dried ginger and scrap pieces of paper in one box. My friend Mike sent this picture around, just so everyone knows how crazy I was… thanks.
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A hike up South Mountain.

A hike up South Mountain.

South Mountain Park is the largest municipal park in the United States, and is one of the largest urban parks in North America and in the world. Mike took me for a hike up to one of the tops of the hills to see the lights of the city at night.

The typical desert sunset went through a dozen shades of orange, pink, purple and blue, until settling on a dark blue, the sky illuminated by the lights from Phoenix.
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A New Years Day in Phoenix.

A New Years Day in Phoenix.

What did we do first day of 2014?

I crashed at my friends Chris and Jasmine’s house where we all spent New Years. We watched the New York countdown on TV – and woke up to a cooked breakfast of scrambled eggs. Definitely a good start to the year.

We had lunch at Pita Jungle during happy hour when all plates were $1-2. We got this whole table of food for $20. For three of us.
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Goodbye to one of the most formative, blissful and charmed years of my life.

Goodbye to one of the most formative, blissful and charmed years of my life.

This year we were some of the last people in the world to reach 2014. I watched my friends in the UK, Australia, Sweden, Italy, Thailand (and even in New York) celebrate the end of 2013, and then finally it was my turn to say goodbye to one of the best years of my life so far.

2013 has brought me so much happiness and love. I finished pastry school and got a job as head pastry chef in an awesome restaurant next to my house.
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