We had another productive day in Oz yesterday. Ryan and I had bought several Tuscan style planters, soil, drainage rocks, and compost over the past week. However, we were only able to find live herb plants online. That is, until yesterday. On the way home from our beach trip the other day, we had spotted three fairly large garden centers within blocks of eachother. We stopped at one of them that day and bought a few planters. Yesterday, we decided to visit the other two nurseries. The second one is a gardener's dream! It not only has the most abundant indoor, outdoor and edible plant selection we've seen, but also a huge section with unique garden decor. It is definately a one stop place for someone who is designing an outdoor living space. As we meandered through each section, I kept saying, "this is my new favorite store in Australia". And I plan on taking my sister when she visits in August. We have been doing a lot of cooking and many of the recipes have called for cilantro. However, finding fresh cilantro in the grocery stores is near impossible. We were happy to find both cilantro (called coriander in Oz) and Italian parsley in addition to many, many other herbs. We've already placed on order online for about 8 other herb varieties and are waiting for them to be delivered, so we only bought those two herbs plus two tomato plants, a purple variety and a variety similar to the vine ripe ones you see in the grocery stores in the states. So, yesterday afternoon was spent on the patio planting our first tomato/herb garden. Thankfully, the plants seem to have transplanted well and aren't looking too shocked. We are looking forward to the day when we can use our own herbs when we are cooking.
Our tomato/herb garden
Ryan tending to his first tomato/herb garden
Speaking of cooking, any one who visits Australia will soon learn that Australians are HUGE pie fans. I'm not talking about your grandmother's sweet fruit pies. I'm talking about savory meat pies. You will find a multitude of varieties and there are even pie restaurants like our delis back home, where you can get individual sized pies in any combination of flavors you can imagine. In the afternoon, there are a few cooking shows that we have been watching. A few days ago, it seemed like they were talking to us. We had mentioned craving a pie, and that day the chefs were preparing pies! Needless to say, we started a list of ingredients that we would need. And yesterday evening after planting the veggie/herb garden, we made our first pie. It was a basic chicken pot pie, but it was delicious! Ryan BBQed the chicken before I cubed it added it to the filling, and it made for one smoky flavored pot pie. I've always said that the true test of whether a man enjoys a meal isn't whether or not he clears his plate. Instead, it's whether or not he goes back for seconds. With that in mind, Operation Pot Pie was a success. My guy went back for seconds!
Our first homemade pie in Australia
