American and Russian and Pale-o my! {Third Wave Cafe Prahran review}

Melbourne is saturated with cafes, we all know this, and standing out amongst a zillion (yes, that is the official figure) other options is the only way to keep going in our caffeine-enriched city.  So when the team behind 'Third Wave Cafe' in Port Melbourne opened a second venue tucked away behind Chapel Street (in a side street off Commerical Road) in Prahran, they had their work cut out. Chapel Street is a tourist mecca, it is hard work to coerce people away from the main drag with its plethora of offers.

The solution? Call in the bloggers. Greg, the co-owner has been inviting the 'talk about their food' types to try his new joint and I was happy to be included. It seems there is such a thing as a free lunch. It is a bold move (it could be suicidal having a bunch of snap-happy foodies documenting a new business' teething problems) and it speaks of somebody confident enough to stand behind their product from the beginning. Of course these guys have a  tried and tested formula at the successful and well-reviewed Port Melbourne venue and from our experience Prahran will follow suit.

Baking from Blogs on a Budget {Part 1} and Sparkling Rosé

I have been feeling a bit down lately. I work too much and seem to fill my spare time with housework, doing things for other people (which is awesome but not relaxing), wasting time on Facebook and attempting to study for a wine exam I meant to sit 12 months ago. Plus I have had an insane number of bills (Ted broke a glass door to name one) so I am having to live very frugally too, which I hate. I needed a day off that was relaxing but also achieving something so I decided to not plan too much for once and do a spot of baking.

I love reading The Londoner, a fashion, food and lifestyle blog from an impossibly perfect girl with a unbelievably perfect life. It doesn't necessarily make me feel better about my chaotic, overworked, largely unsatisfying (at the moment) life but it is kind of like reading a fairytale and I was always a huge fan of fairytales. And when I swing on back from that tangent, the point of all that was- she cooks up some great stuff. I tried making her Carb-free Carnitas but couldn't get chipotle paste locally and had to do a bit of supplementing. The result was great though, and making pulled pork at home is so cheap (about $10 for around a kg of meat) that I had to give it another go, a higher carb version. Introducing:

Pulled Pork Potato Sliders with Apple Fennel Coleslaw