Auction Rooms Again

We really love the Auction Rooms! We might end up going there every week. Wolf had a huge

serving of toast with strawberry jam. Hardly jam really, it was more like a compote full of whole

cooked strawberries; tart and not too sweet. You can see he loved it. 

This is just such an awesome destination for parents. It's our favourite new place!

Mysterious

It's very strange but my boobs appear to have gone back to pre-pregnancy size. Is that normal? I still breast feed Wolf three times a day, and yet they don't look terribly big anymore. It's quite sudden. My bras did used to fit. Weird.

On a funnier note the other day I was walking past Footscray City High School with Wolf in the stroller after a lovely mothers group picnic. It was end of school and I walked past a large group of teenage girls sitting in the shade of an outbuilding. It was a very hot day. One girl turned around and said 'Do you have any water?', I said no (I drank it all) and kept walking. I was a few metres down the street when she called out 'How about milk? Do you have any milk?'.

Cheeky girl. I cracked up so much and was laughing all the way back to our building.

They sure make teenagers very cheeky these days. I was impressed with her guts.

Grigons and Orr

More dining out success! On Friday we attempted it with our new Totseat from Bebe Online, which arrived just in time the day before (note to self: attempt to stop spending money here. At least try a little. Please). But as you can see from the picture way down below, Wolfgang was not enamoured of the idea of sitting around all day.

Grigons and Orr had to be one of the loveliest breakfast destinations in Melbourne. Situated on a quiet corner away from the noise of Errol street, locals must feel very lucky to call this one their own. Inside there are just three small tables nestled together amongst shelves and cabinets of interesting goods. There you have a great view of the towering shelves behind the counter, made from wooden shipping pallets and stocked with a random assortment of goods you would expect to find in a milk bar. A beautiful old fashioned glass counter houses lollies but also cakes and filled baguettes. You can even buy organic milk in glass bottles.

Outside the generous corrugated iron awning provides shade from all angles over the many large formica tables large enough to fit many people and prams. Cute factor was heightened by water served in vintage milk bottles with strawberries and their leaves inside.

For once we ventured out with no back-up lunch for Wolf, just hoping we'd find something on the menu that he'd like (trying to treat him like a proper little person). He had house-made crumpets with butter, half the toast from my Shakshuka (eggs baked in a spicy tomato sauce pictured above) and bits of bacon, capsicum and cornbread from his dad's breakfast.

Despite there being only two service staff manning the counter and indoor and outdoor tables, service was efficient, attentive and very generous (considering the kind of mess and noise Wolf tends to make).

If you live in North Melbourne, you are very lucky! This place is a gem.

Grigons and Orr

Corner Queensberry Street and Chetwynd Street

North Melbourne

9663 5192

Wontons

I feel as though...if one makes too many wontons, one might go blind. Or at least get some sort of repetitive stress injury. That was how I felt then anyway. This is only half the the wontons I made.

Then at work on Monday I had to make 45 filled baguettes. Sandwich making seems like no big deal, until you spend so many hours cracking crusty baguettes open and stuffing things inside. Baguette crust in sharp! I'm covered with cuts from BREAD! Gah. I won't show you photos of my hands. They're not for delicate eyes.

Auction Rooms, North Melbourne

Finally! Josh, Wolf and I made the effort to actually eat somewhere new. We were getting very bored always having our market day lunch at Coffea, nice as it is. The wonderful Errol Street strip is not terribly far from Queen Victoria Market, and on recommendation from Little Eats, Hey Bambini and my always in-the-know bosses, we visited the Auction Rooms. 

Really lovely, airy space making the most of the existing architectural features. Clever layout divides the large room into smaller areas that still feel cosy and lessen the noise. We sat at a communal table with two other families with babies. Crowds of business people came in afterwards and I reckon they were hoping for that large table. Probably get it all the time though, the Auction Rooms having a pretty great reputation amongst parents. Ample stroller parking! You won't get any staff glaring you off here. 

In fact the staff were pretty amazing. When the food arrived I was holding Wolf on my lap, feeding him grapes. But the very handsome, swarthy waitperson offered us a high chair, which I didn't even know they had. It was just the cheap IKEA one, but that's the one we have anyway. 

Here's Wolf enjoying titbits from out plate without being stifled in our arms or stuffed under the table in his stroller. Very happy! Though very busy, staff were generally helpful and attentive, refilling water bottles before we even noticed they were empty, and even apologising for how hectic it was, though we didn't mind in the slightest.

According to Josh, family coffee expert, the brew was mild but flavoursome and not too hot (hot coffee is for geriatrics). The breakfast menu is more interesting than average, with offerings like Nasi Goreng, bubble-and-squeak and a delicious sort of stew made from pork belly, cannellini beans and carrot with toast and poached eggs. I ordered the 'opening bid', a basic sort of big breakfast spread with perfectly poached eggs, sauteed spinach, mushrooms, tomato, bacon and toast. Wolf actually chewed on a bit of bacon and accepted many pieces of carrot and pork from his dad's breakfast. 

I love watching other open kitchens where you can see the chef on the pass staring out into the front-of-house, trying to will waitstaff towards him with Jedi mind powers. Of course it never works. Muttering rude insults about various servers doesn't work either, which has always been my preferred method. I see why customers like staring into the kitchen at that moment though (it's usually something that pisses me off a lot because I could not be more stressed), as it gives you a good chance to observe the other dishes on the menu while they slowly congeal on the pass.

There is a very decent sized disabled toilet/baby change room, quite surprisingly. We didn't need to use it but we certainly appreciated its existence. How many cool new cafes do you know that have change rooms AND high chairs? Impressive. I wish my own workplace had such facilities. I'd even volunteer to wipe down the high chairs and replenish supplies in the change room. But I know that's not going to happen. 

Go to the Auction Rooms parents. It will make you feel human again and like you might have your mojo back. 

Auction Rooms

103-107 Errol Street

North Melbourne 3051

Phone: 9326 7749

Maternity Fashion! Too Late

I so wish I had found this site when I was pregnant. Especially with the Aussie dollar totally murdering Asian currencies, cute Asian maternity fashion would be too good to pass up. Yes Style stock various Asian fashion brands, but also have a pretty great maternity section. They're a division of Yes Asia, where you can buy Asian music and dvds. Look at this dress. It's gorgeous! Locally you'd pay about $200 for something as nice. It's only $72!

They do free express shipping to Australia. Seriously check this out if you are with child. Almost worth having another one now. Should I stock up now?

Clearly I am very retail therapy starved if I am considering that. My most recent fashion achievement was being able to purchase a pair of skinny jeans that fit and I look all right in them.  I think I'll just console myself with a stockpile of beanies. I can't believe how many beanies they have in stock. It's kind of creepy.

With Easter came some good things...

An indoor picnic of mussels in cider and bacon on Saturday. Despite cooking off all the alcohol from the cider, I still manage to feel drunk after eating a serve. My alcohol tolerance has gone from 1 to about

minus 10.

An outdoor picnic at Carlton Gardens with friends we rarely get to see on Sunday. Beautiful park, great food, lovely company.

Later Sunday night Wolf deigns to put pieces of marinated chicken in his mouth, swallows them and enjoys them. Miracle! First meat I've managed to get in that belly for weeks.

However Easter Monday has brought some other interesting complications. Wolf has some incredibly bad naps. Stupid neighbours still putting plastic bags in rubbish bin despite letters being sent out and council distributing pamphlet on correct disposal of rubbish and recycling. Josh breaks a bone in his hand. Wolf is the only one to eat lunch. I discover yet another mouse nibbling noisily on something under the fridge.

Happy Easter?

No it was. I concede, even with the bad things it was pretty good. Happy Easter!