Five Siblings

It’s been a hectic weekend with all sorts of wonderful events taking place but the most significant of these was a Sunday lunch where my parent’s five children were not only in the same country but also seated around the same table.  The weather, which has recently been very disappointing actually turned on a warm and sunny day so we were able to enjoy a long lunch seated outside under a pergola covered in Spring’s wisteria blossoms.

The setting

The setting and that would be me playing with the dog!

It all came about because by coincidence, my two sisters who live overseas, were both flying into Sydney at the same time.  Both are on whirlwind trips so there was really just one opportunity to get together.

The table under the pergola

The table under the pergola

The lunch was a group effort with everyone volunteering to bring a dish.  Ms Hotly Spiced brought two and I’ll be sharing the recipes later this week.

Wisteria

Wisteria – normally more prolific but this year there have been rain and possum issues

We started with pate and crackers that I didn’t photograph because we were late.  On Sunday morning Alfie was invited to go canoeing with a few mates and when Carl went to pick him up, he was so far out into the ocean that a lot of time was spent encouraging him to hurry back to shore (he was in no hurry).

The girls love a sibling catch-up

The girls love a sibling catch-up

We arrived half an hour late and fortunately there was still a drop of champagne left for me to have a celebratory drink.

Eye fillet of beef (sorry about the messy platter)

Eye fillet of beef (sorry about the messy platter)

To prepare the lunch, eye fillets of beef were cooked on the bar-be-cue along with sausages and the beef was served with chimichurri sauce.

Chicken sausages

Chicken sausages

My mother roasted little kipfler potatoes that were lightly seasoned, had a lovely crispy skin and were soft and fluffy on the inside.

Roasted Kipfler potatoes

Roasted Kipfler potatoes

Katie made a freekah salad with lots of herbs as well as a red quinoa salad with sweet potato.

Freekah salad

Freekah salad with lots of nuts and herbs

Quinoa and sweet potato salad

Quinoa and sweet potato salad with feta

Celebrating the season, I made a fresh Australian asparagus salad with mint leaves, baby peas and pan-fried haloumi and a pomegranate dressing.  It was vibrantly green and looked very primavera (without the linguine).

Asparagus, pea and mint salad with haloumi

Asparagus, pea and mint salad with haloumi

There was no shortage of food and we’d all over-catered thinking Archie and Arabella would be there but alas, they had work commitments.

Dessert

Dessert

It’s still not all that warm in Sydney and so as the afternoon wore on it became too cool to eat dessert outside.  We moved into the living room and enjoyed a rich dark chocolate cake made by Millie and then a gluten-free hazelnut and banana cake made by me.

Banana and hazelnut cake

Banana and hazelnut cake

And so that was the five-sibling-get-together.  We’re all quite different but looking at the image below, maybe not all that different as somehow we all turned up in pants and there was definitely a blue and white striped top theme.  I would have worn my hair out to match the other four but with an early morning breakfast meeting, a shampoo and blow-dry fell into the too-hard basket.

Siblings

Siblings – me, Katie, Lou, Em and Millie

Our get-togethers only happen once every couple of years so we treasure the moments.

How frequently do you and your siblings get together?

Comments

  1. How lovely to be all together and what lovely looking women. I try to get to see my sister once a year but sometimes that’s not always possible. Those cakes look sensational – waiting for the recipes.

  2. What a fabulous get together! You must have so much to catch up on, but I bet it’s a lot easier with the internet and social media. What a beautiful group. It’s also so nice that your parents are still well enough to live at home and host an event like this!
    I heard an interesting thing years ago when friends of ours decided not to try for a boy after having three girls, apparently the odds are that after having three girls, 80% that you’ll have another girl!

  3. The four of us siblings get together evey few months and always include dad. He now knows to just sit back and listen as getting a word in is impossible. We save our catch ups with him separately where we do the listening. So much fun, I wish I could have had four kids for them. X

  4. How very special to have you all together! It is very seldom that I am together with my brothers at the same time so fully appreciate how special your day was.
    Have a happy week ahead Charlie.
    🙂 Mandy xo

  5. looks like a great get together – all that food looks fantastic and you all look quite similar (is the blonde natural?) Our get togethers with all 7 siblings are very occasional as I have a sister overseas so we also make a big deal of them.

    And the idea of coaxing a kid in from the ocean sounds tough – make coaxing a kid out of the pool seem quite easy 🙂

  6. Happy Days for the mini coopers! Lovely to see you all looking so happy!

  7. Your dad must have had a time keeping guard over his 5 gorgeous blonde daughters. 🙂 How lovely that you were able to get together however briefly.

    All that delicious food reminds me … I need to rustle up something green to serve with my own bbq.

  8. OoooooooooH, My heart.
    You are blessed, my dear. xxxxxxx Savor. Love. Kiss. Eat.

  9. Oh what fun to get together with all of your family! And the photo of you five is beautiful. Food looks great as well!

  10. Sounds like great food and a wonderful time. Always special to get together.

  11. What a lovely photo of the five of you! A treasured occasion for you to all be together at the same time – your parents must have been overjoyed! 🙂

  12. What a wonderful occurrence! So happy for all of you. I feel lucky if I see my brother three times a year. We are on opposite sides of the country.

  13. That last photo is beautiful. I can only imagine what it must be like to have FIVE girls. I had only one and the experience nearly killed me. 🙂 That’s one beautiful lunch and I’m looking forward to the recipes.

  14. So special for you all to be together in the same place at the same time. Hubby and I both have huge families and it’s always so special when everyone’s together!

  15. What a wonderful chance to all be together for a day Charlie! Gorgeous photo indeed as well 🙂 All my family moved away to Queensland- I’m sure it wasn’t to avoid me though- so they have to wait for me to find the time and money to get away. As they choose not to do Christmas or Easter, there are less celebratory reasons to make plans, but luckily there’s a special birthday coming up to give us a great excuse to get together xox

  16. What a lovely looking bunch you are! Def. look like you all came over from Sweden

  17. Weird. Some of my comment disappeared. Was just saying what gorgeous dogs you have!

  18. Aren’t you lucky to have so many siblings. A beautiful photo of you all, and a special event for sure! xox

  19. Yes I noticed the stripes.What a lovely get together that must have been. And growing up with 5 girls. Wow.

    Carolyn

  20. With my family spread out all over the place, getting together is also a rare and very cherished occasion, so I understand the feeling. How wonderful! Also, what a beautiful setting.

  21. You are all different? Are you kidding me? You are 5 peas in a pod. LOL.
    What a great get-together! I am so lucky that I have the whole extended family living here in New Zealand and actually in the same city too. I guess that is quite rare.
    You all look amazing!

  22. I can definitely see some similarities there! And I think the hallmark of any fun family gathering is over catering! 😀

  23. How lovely and precious that you, all 5 sisters, could be together with your parents. That is a beautiful group photo. We are 5 girls also but the opportunity of all 5 of us getting together is rare as we are scattered all over the USA and Canada.

  24. What a lovely day for you! I have noticed that you have a lot of gluten free foods… Have you heard of “Quirky Cooking” cookbooks, she make a fabulous array of gluten free, dairy free, egg free, etc… foods that all look delicious 🙂
    Liz x

  25. How wonderful that you could all be together. And you all resemble each other a great deal.

    I was just together w/ my five siblings this weekend, cleaning my mother’s house in preparation for selling it. We were together for the same purpose several weeks ago. We all live in Minnesota, which makes gatherings easier.

  26. That is awesome, all of you definitely look like loved up siblings 😀
    Delicious time together makes it even more special!

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

  27. What a wonderful time and delicious feast! So glad to hear you were able to spend time with your sisters. So special!

  28. What a gorgeous set of siblings! There are five in my family two, but two are boys. The banana and hazelnut cake caught my eye.

  29. That would have been the best all catching up, you all do look alike you know!!! Our family manages to catch up every couple of weeks still, somehow we manage it & it’s always the best to be all around a table swapping news, chattering away & sharing.

  30. Having just joined in a get together where my Mum and her 4 siblings were all together, also for the first time in quite some years and flown in from all over the place, I can appreciate how special this would have been. What lovely timing that everyone was there at once, and the food all looks fantastic too!

  31. Do you really think you all look different?! How funny because I think there’s more than a passing family resemblance. Your Mum and Dad must have been so happy to have you all together even if it was for such a short time. I’m afraid our family get togethers are better on paper than in reality – lots of wine is required!

  32. What a great looking bunch you all are! How fun that you could get together and that the weather cooperated. Looks like a lovely gathering.

  33. What an amazing thing to be able to sit down with all of your siblings – and at such a beautiful place!!! It looks like you all had a wonderful time.

  34. Sadly, I am an only child and always wanted a house full of siblings. But, I survived it. LOL What a gorgeous group of gals you are. And the food…FABULOUS!

  35. What a wonderful afternoon it must have been to spend time as a group again. I know your parents must have been thrilled.

  36. How wonderful! I love the picture of all of you girls together — a lovely group! The food looks fabulous too, of course.

  37. How cool to catch up, and gosh you all look fantastic, in todays society it is so hard to get family all together in one spot for a few hours. 🙂

  38. I loved reading this post 🙂 It’s always so nice to catch up with family and like i said in the previous post it’s so hard to get everyone together in the same country and also same table. It’s sometimes sad because we all grew up in the same house and were once so close with one another. I see my sisters about 3 times a year which isn’t too bad but I would like to see them more frequently if I could hehe

  39. How lovely to learn about your siblings! Yeah you all look similar! Everyone looks like they have a healthy lifestyle with healthy food! It’s nice that you still can get together despite some living far apart. Thanks for sharing! I miss my brother who lives in Thailand… 🙂

  40. What a beautiful bevy of sisters, Charlie. You aren’t quintuplets, no, but you do look like sisters! It must have been so wonderful for you all to be together, and I’m just beaming thinking of how much this must have meant to your parents. I see you are all cooks! 🙂 Love those salads!

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  1. […] to find a few moments to spend together.  As most of you are aware, we spent Sunday together at a family lunch.  One of the dishes I brought was this upside down banana and hazelnut […]

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