When I was small my grandparents were mostly too unwell to have much to do with me, and by the time I was 14, they had all died. So I really appreciate that my children get to spend so much time with both sets of grandparents. CB’s parents are right here on the farm with us, so the kids see them often, and my parents make an effort to regularly visit us, and to have the kids visit them.
During the last school holidays, the kids spent the whole second week up in the mountains with my parents. We met in the Southern highlands to drop them off, and then we had a whole week kid free. To be honest it felt weird. Food didn’t disappear. Things stayed where we left them. The sink stayed free of toothpaste crust.
On the Thursday, CB and I decided to take the rare opportunity to eat out sans children. So we drove down to Jugiong (on the Hume highway between Yass and Gundagai) to the Long Track Pantry for lunch. It was a perfect warm spring day, so we sat outside underneath the budding grape vines and enjoyed lunch. CB had a ploughman’s lunch with cheese, pickles, cured meats, and crusty bread, while I had the lunch plate which had a delicious chicken terrine with pistachios, some feta, marinated artichokes, and an amazing smoked trout pate.
If you’re ever on the Hume highway near Yass, you should drop into Jugiong for a delicious lunch (It’s closed on Tuesdays so try another day). If not, you should just have a go and making this smoked trout pate, which tastes pretty amazing!
- 250g Philadelphia cream cheese
- 200g smoked trout
- 2T fresh dill tips
- zest of half a lemon
- 2T natural yoghurt
- Place the cream cheese in a food processor, and process for 30 seconds to soften and whip slightly.
- Roughly chop the smoked trout.
- Place all the remaining ingredients into the processor, and process on low speed for 30 seconds until combined.
- Serve.
You could use smoked salmon instead.
Of course, after having a go at making my own, I found their recipe on the website. My recipe is pretty similar. Either way, give it a go!
Do your kids get to spend time with their grandparents? Have you been to The Longtrack Pantry? Go!!
