Friends, Barbecue, Australia.

How was everyone's Australia Day? This year Ben and I decided to take true advantage of the public holiday and host an Australia Day Barbecue. We absolutely love having friends over, and I can tell we're going to be doing a lot of hosting in the future. With themes. Themes are good. Our theme on this day, despite it being Australia Day, appeared to be deliciousness, as opposed to the more topical 'all things Australiana'. But that was fine, people were happy. Plus, there was certainly some Australia love going on. It was a load of fun hanging out in our little backyard with friends, feasting and drinking, and eagerly counting down the Triple J Hottest 100. It was nice, really nice.

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Salty Dogs to start, which are made of grapefruit juice and vodka, plus a salt-rimmed glass (recipe link). Usually I do enjoy a rimmed glass, however I wasn't in love with the salt addition here. I think I'd prefer a plain glass, an unseasoned dog, if you will. A salt-rim is so pretty, though, like delicate little crystals hanging from your glass.

Sometimes aesthetics outweigh taste...

We also nibbled on sliced Watermelon,

Chicnuts (love),

and Olives.

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After a little while it was time to cook, starting with...

Mushrooms and Meat!

We also had Corn. Favourite.

We slathered the corn in Ben's Chilli Butter, which was highly praised. He simply melted butter in a pan then added diced birdseye chilli. It certainly packed a punch. We agreed that some fresh lime juice would have been nice, too.

Yum.

Potato Prep. I had three trays of these babies on my kitchen floor, raised by bricks - pre-cooked, ready to be re-heated, which worked quite well.

Salt and Vinegar Potatoes (recipe link). Favourite.

Peta's beautiful Rocket, Pear and Walnut Salad.

My Farro, Chickpea and Kale Salad with Roasted Purple Carrots and Goats Cheese (recipe to come!).

Lovely.

Yeah, feeling a little guilty that we didn't buy VB, but sometimes taste outweighs patriotism...

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I was quite happy with how the countdown turned out, especially with the large number of local acts highlighted. Go Australian music! It was nice to reminisce on the music of this past year and hear so many fabulous songs in one looooong hit.

It's a humble little space we have out back, and I'm quite in love with it. It was really lovely spending the evening chilling out there.

Hang on, what's that you say? It's time for something sweet? Sure thing.

Watermelon, Raspberry and Mint Popsicles. Well, more like little popsicle niblets. I had trouble releasing these icy babies from their kung-fu grip casings. I suppose it serves me right for grabbing super cheap moulds at the last minute. And clearly I need to research 'popsicle releasing techniques'. No-body likes a popsicle niblet. Although my friends were still complimentary, enjoying the refreshing, fruity flavour.