Happy Valentine’s day friends! I hope you had a wonderful day and spent it with someone you love.

Did Valentine’s Day sneak up on you this year? It snuck up on us. I was aware it was coming but I didn’t get a chance to organise anything special for the day. Instead, we decided we would go out for brunch as a family. I actually wanted to start doing brunch somewhere different every week with Octavia (and Marco when available) and post my experiences on here, so this was the perfect opportunity to start today.

We decided to visit the cafe Double Shot Expresso in New Farm. This is one of my favourite areas of Brisbane and it has many lovely cafes throughout this affluent neighbourhood. What I really liked about this cafe was the almost alfresco dining and the extensive brunch menu. They also have an amazing array of sweets and pastries in their cabinet. If you have a canine companion you are also welcome to bring them along as well. Our dogs are no cafe-friendly dogs, but Octavia got a kick out of seeing some canine customers.

We started off with coffee of course, which was quite good. We are a little picky with our morning cappuccino, so it was nice to be treated with a nice one. Marco ordered the Eggs Benedict special with bacon, I had the Caramelised spicy mushrooms with poached eggs and sourdough and Octavia had the fresh baked croissant. All the dishes were nice and definitely above average in care that it took to prepare and generous in size. Marco really enjoyed his dish. I didn’t mind mine either, as everything was cooked well. I just wish I knew the mushrooms were going to be spicy and sweet. I should probably have checked what seasoning they were going to use before ordering since I made noodles the night before with sweet chilli sauce. I probably go with something else next time. Octavia really enjoyed her butter but did not want to eat her croissant. I don’t know what her problem was because it was delicious. It wasn’t the perfect French croissant but it was warm, with soft layers of flakey pastry and had a nice savoury flavour. So it was a pleasant experience at Double Shot Espresso so I would recommend them for a well made, satisfying breakfast or brunch and great coffee.

 

After breakfast, we took a little walk in New Farm Park. This is one of my favourite parks in Brisbane, which I have many fond memories visiting as a child. It covers 15 hectares and is situated along the Brisbane River. It also has an amazing playground, but unfortunately, it was too far and too hot to walk over, from where we were. We stayed at the riverside, which overlooks some of the most amazing mansions on the other side, has plenty of enormous shading trees and series of plaques, which memorialise the history of the park and the New Farm area.

 

If you’re interested in architecture, the New Farm area has plenty of examples South East Queensland period houses and Queenslanders, that have been restored. Here are a few homes I found across from the park, which are interesting designs you won’t find in newer parts of the city. Although the typical wooden Queenslander is quite common in the inner city, these Inter-war brick homes are more rare to find.

 

So my Valentine Day wasn’t so eventful this year. I just realised I didn’t even make something sweet to celebrate. That’s life when your partner is a shift worker and your child woke up on the wrong side the of the bed.

One of my favourite vegan bloggers, Angela Liddon of Oh She Glows recently posted her Easy Vegan Sugar Cookies with Pink Frosting to celebrate Valentine’s day. This is a wonderful recipe if you’re wanting some sweet inspiration for this lovely day or just something fun to make with the kids. Octavia and I will have to make time to prepare some of these sweet, wholesome cookies later this week.

What did you do for Valentines Day this year?

Did you receive anything special?