I’m starting to see a somewhat troubling pattern in my eating habits – or perhaps it’s got to do with being particularly fond of barbecuing ALL OF THE THINGS – but just the other weekend, we took to eating char-grilled meat and vegetables at my friend’s acreage. Yes, they live on an acreage and have two dogs, a cat and an enviously large back-yard. Of course I wanted to frolic through their back yard, but unfortunately did not get the chance – a huge, Typically Australian thunder storm rolled in and made things (and one of her dogs) uncomfortably wet. I’ll just have to leave frolicking to another time.

BEAUTIFUL SUNSET: Driving out bush to their place, I decided to take advantage of the fact that I wasn't driving.

I finally got the opportunity to trial my mixed-drink making skills and even I was impressed by the delicious out come - even though I haven’t yet thought of a name for it – sicne I figure, that’s what you do when you mix a drink – you give it a ridiculous name.

RECIPIE:

• 1/2 shot of strawberry syrup
• 1 shot of Ketel One (or vodka of choosing)
• Fresh strawberries (muddied)
• Chunk of lemon, lightly squeezed
• Ice
• Fill with lemonade to top

I even bought appropriately coloured paper straws for the event – only to find that even though they’re damn pretty, they’re also pretty damn useless. Within minutes, the straws (which I thought were composed of wax paper) turned into pretty paper pulp. Moral of this story? Buy some normal straws next time.

Nan’s idea of a “delicious drink”, on the other hand, is slightly different to mine – and even though he conceded that my Strawberry Girly Drink was delicious, he decided to make his own take on a “mixed drink” – by shoving as many lemons and limes as he could into a tumbler with a a massive dose of vodka and soda. Classy.

To distract us from our drinking shenanigans, our lovely hosts had prepared for us a veritable feast of things on sticks - chicken drumsticks, chicken hearts, chicken giblets, tripe, intestine, lamb, beef, mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, quail eggs - you name it, it was on a stick some where, grilled to perfection and then liberally stuffed into our faces with candour. Mmm, all of the delicious things!

BUTTER: We all love butter, quite a bit.

QUAIL EGGS: Yes, those really are quail eggs on sticks - talk about extreme!

GOOD COMPANY: Of course a barbecue is nothing without good company - it was great to catch up with a few friends over a delicious feast!

Oh yes, did I mention they also have an absolutely ADORKABLE CAT? Her name is fluffy and I want to steal her – for a 14 year-old feline creature, she looks fairly perky – and she has the most adorable little white boots! Gnaaawwww.

FLUFFY! CAN I STEAL YOU?