Front page headline: "Carry on bags banned on flights to the US"

Can you imagine the horror?? I woke up to that headline on the front page of the Vancouver Sun this morning. Over twenty four hours of travelling, and the possibility of not being able to have my lip balm, moisturiser (day, night, hand and eye), no clean or comfortable clothes to get changed into, or several books and magazines to entertain. Plus the likelihood of massive delays thanks to extra security measures put in place after a foiled terror attack. It was all bad news from the day before - lining up for seven hours for a frisking, flights cancelled, not being able to go to the bathroom for the last hour and a half of a flight, computer systems failing and tempers frayed. There were so many things that could have gone wrong, but getting through into the US was remarkably quiet. It still took an hour and there were tears (we'll get to that), but my frisker was very nice, and told me she liked my necklace, so it wasn't too bad. The girls at the check in counter also told me they liked my (new) travel wallet, so that was also ace.
I didn't think it was possible to ban EVERYTHING from coming on board, and the exceptions were "small purses" diaper bags and medical equipment. I wouldn't call my handbag small (nor would I call it a purse, but that's another matter), so I took as much out of my handbag as possible, compartmentalised everything in smaller bags, and thought I'd just be charming to get it through. So far so good. Then as we approached the entry to the security screening, the pre-security security man told me my bag was too big and I'd have to check it in. Bap bow. I could see he wasn't a proper immigration person (who you don't argue with), so I pled my case - we are flying to Australia after flying to LA, my bag isn't really that big, it just looks it - "see, if I hold it like this, and you see what's in here it's really very small". Fail. I was already feeling fragile and emotional after just saying bye to my parents and then a lady with a clearly bigger bag than me got through - WTF??? So I pointed this out to him and he was all "she is travelling with an infant". Whatever. So I asked him how big my bag could be and he was just all "yours is too big", there wasn't even a guideline, it was just his arbitrary decision with no avenue of appeal. Talk about injustice.
So, getting teary, we walked back to check it in, and I dumped everything out on a chair to see what I could fit in a smaller cotton bag I had. One of the baggage staff saw I was upset and came over and suggested folding up my bag and sticking it in the smaller bag - brilliant. It totally worked. Everything compressed very nicely, but then the same asshole was all "did you just put your other bag in this one" and then I got all annoyed being all "you told me I had to check it so I just did, are you kidding me?" so then he left me alone and let me through. Ah ha. I won. So once I cleared the security check and finished muttering about security wankers, the handbag came back out and the goods were reconverted, and all was well in the world again.
I'm now sitting in the Qantas lounge, having stuffed myself with noodles and just had a long hot shower. We have five or so hours to kill here, and I think we only have like two more to go. But there are only so many times you can get up to see if they have changed the food, and there is only so much soda water a girl can drink. Sigh. We got an upgrade on the way over - excellent, but have been denied that luxury on the way home. I'm sure it's nothing sleeping pills and booze can't get me through though.

So who is my mum declaring she loves more than her children?

Pebbles and Tootsie, of course. Pebbles is the tan one - she's a Chiweenie - a cross between a sausage dog and a chiuaua, and Tootsie is the white one with black spots, she's a rat terrier.

Kitchen - pre reno

These photos are actually from Christmas 2007 - I took pics once we'd emptied out the kitchen on the day before we left, but it looks so boring with nothing in it, and I think these capture more of the vibe of the old kitchen.

My new totally hot leather jacket (that's not me in the pic)

Food glorious food

Here's a pic of the fam taken some time this week, earlier into the binge eating festivities. My camera has died and I cleverly didn't bring my charger, so you'll all have to wait for the good pics.
So Jamie went crabbing with Pauline and her partner Dave on Christmas eve, and good lord did they come back with some great loot. They endured the cold and caught 20 crabs - serious sized crab - and we cooked them all up on Christmas eve. And when I say we, I had nothing to do with it, I was too entertained playing Dave's buck hunting game on the TV. It's great to have that much crab in front of you that you can become complacent about it and decide the little legs are too much hard work and that you are just going for bodies and claws. The leftovers were turned into crab cakes and eaten the next day. So good, so fresh and so totally nommy.
Christmas day we had scrambled truffled eggs with fresh smoked salmon and caviar, all made by moi. Unfortunately the truffle was a dud - I think it was too old, and didn't really do much to the eggs, let alone the chicken skin we shoved it under later on. Bummer, but I'm in no way deterred from the truffle, it was just a bad one, and our own fault for being impulsive about it.
So christmas dinner was the chicken, and also a bunny (made from a Stephanie Alexander recipe) with fennell and pork sausages. I wisely skipped over the chook, realising early that the bunny was where it was at.
But the pinacle of our gluttony was yesterday, boxing day, when Frank roasted a whole suckling pig. In fact, it was bigger than a suckling pig, because a sucking pig is supposed to weigh between 4 and 8 kilos, and ours weighed 15 kg. Mum and Frank have a monster BBQ (with rotisserie, natch), but this not so little piggie was too big for it, so while I went out conveniently boxing day shopping, Frank and Jamie hacked the piggie up into three, roasted two bits in the oven and one bit on the BBQ. It was out of control good. So moist and full of flavour. This was defintiely a happy pig when it was alive. It even looked happy lying on the kitchen bench awaiting dismemberment. And snaps for Phil's girlfriend, who was totally unfazed eating her breakfast next to a pig carcus.
When it came time to carve the beast, I was very keen, so Dave and I hopped in with knives and cut the beast up. We also volunteered to get all the meat off the bones after dinner and nearly filled up a STOCK POT with delicious pork, some of which is being baked into pies now.
It's so nice just chillaxing and being part of the family - listening to everyone talk, mum coo at the dogs, Frank blast us all away with his opera, incessant sport on the TV, someone putting the kettle on in the morning, fridge chockers with food, Jamie fitting right in with everyone and topping up wine glasses. It makes me feel really sad and aware that we don't have this whenever we want. Sure, it's not perfect, no family is, but we've been having such a great time. Tomorrow is our last full day before we fly home, and while I'm trying not to think about it, it's definitely in the back of my mind. At least we've got an exciting new kitchen to go home to!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I've just woken up in Vancouver and it's 2am in Sydney on Christmas day, so everyone will be celebrating very soon. Today we go and do all the food shopping (exciting!) - including a black truffle, a suckling pig, caviar and salmon smoked from fillets someone caught fresh. uummm, yeah, so it's going to be a good christmas. I keep offering and trying to cook, but I keep getting relegated to side dishes. No problem there, because Frank really is a fantastic cook. We have eaten so well.
J-Mo is off crabbing today, I didn't even act like I was interested in going out on a boat and getting wet and dirty in -1 temperatures. But I hope they come home with crabs!
So I see Sydney is going to be cool and rainy, while Perth is going to be hot and dry. We don't have snow forecast, but we do have sun in the prediction, so that will make a nice change.
I hope everyone is with people they love, be it friends or family, and everyone has a great Christmas!! Thinking of you all so far away. Have a great day!!! Love. xx

One year in

Ola peeps! It's been a while, as we have been on the road in the US. Having a great trip so far, and we are now in Vancouver, hanging out with my ma and pa.
We spent four days in San Fran, which we still loved. It seemed a lot quieter than last time, I don't know if that's because there has been some post GFC quietening down or because we now come from Sydney and that kind of changes your point of view on how busy things are. We stayed at the Mandarin Oriental, and got an upgrade after I complained about noise from the elevator. The new room was on the 41st floor and had three massive windows overlooking the city. We couldn't bear to sleep with the curtains closed because the view was so ace... so we didn't. It helps that it's been really grey and rainy and the sun rises at like eight, so you aren't brutalised into being awake at an obscene hour by sunlight.
Of course, we ate really well. I had the best steak of my life (prime rib the size of my head) and also the best sandie of my life in SF (from an awesome Italian deli - the guide book says it makes the kind of sandwiches the pope would get in heaven, I don't think they were far from wrong - I've possibly talked as much about this sandie as I have about any other meal I've ever had. It was freshly sliced paper thin proscuitto - like $10 worth, fresh buffalo mozarella, onions, roasted capsicum and lettuce, all toasted in an onion foccacia. And it was massive, and I wanted it to never end.)
We hit the road and spent a night at the most beautiful resort in Sanoma (which is the valley parallel to Napa). Most of the drive was grey and misty and rainy, which I love in wine country, and this resort was just amazing - big arm chairs, fire place in our room, huge bath and shower, lovely shutter windows, all a bit Spanish influenced, but not in an obvious way.
Then we hit small town America. Spent a night on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean and then the next night in a suicide inducing fishing come industrial town. We couldn't spend money there if we tried - stoped at a few places to get rates and look at rooms, but we couldn't find anything decent, so the "Lighthouse Inn" (which had nothing to do with a lighthouse) it was.
Two nights in Portland, which seemed a bit down and out to us. It's also the home of all waterproof clothing. Brand labels there are Columbia and Kathmandu, and nerdy bookworm types with attitude (and matching waterproof pants and jackets) seem to have taken over the city. People looked at me strange because I was wearing a dress (and my hot new biker boots), but whatever. Again, raining, so naturally we went shopping at Saks Fifth Ave (I bought a hot dress, Jamie a Hugo Boss jacket).
Then two nights in Seattle at a really cute Scandanavian themed hotel (yes!!!). We really liked Seattle. They have the most amazing farmers market, which is really old and obviously functional and cheap, not just pandering to the organic trendy types. Also not as sanitised as the markets in SF (which were also awesome - I actually like them better, but I'm probably more in the trendy organic category rather than the bargain hunting get your hands dirty category).
Most of the drive we did on the 101 rather than the I5 - the 101 takes a lot longer, but is right on the coast and goes through all the old redwood forests. It was really so pretty. A lot of the time it was misty, drizzly and low visiability, but that didn't really take away from it, it was still very mantic and the forest is all so dense and impenetrable. The road wound out along the coast and through the forests - really just spectacular
We did the drive south from San Fran three years ago, and I think I like the drive north more.
It doubled the cost of the hire car to take it across the border into Canada, so we dumped it in Seattle and caught the train up yesterday. Which is civilised in theory, but with my two rather large suitcases it becomes reasonably painful. Mum was waiting for us, et two very famous dogs, and Frank flew in last night. It's lovely to see them, and right now I'm in the study, and I can see mum preparing dinner, while Frank and Jamie sit at the Island bench in the kitchen having a drink and talking about shares or something equally riveting.
And really, the whole point of this post was to note that it's our first wedding anniversary today! We aren't doing anything special - the last week and a bit has been special enough, and we've eaten out every meal and been packing our bags in different hotels enough to make us both want to stay at home and have a low key night. With french champagne and bunny for dinner of course... So, I wish we could toast to today with our special peeps, but toasting with family who we rarely see is also pretty good. Thanks everyone for being a really special part of our lives for the last year and more. And thanks to my lovely hubby for making the last year so great. Marriage is so much more than I thought it would be, and I love what we have. xx
p.s. photos to come when we get home.
p.p.s. as I write this our new kitchen is all but complete!!! OMG - best ever motivation to want a holiday to end - a BRAND new kitchen. It's surreal to sit here and try to imagine what it looks like. I can't wait to see it. Needless to say, I will post about it asap after I've finished touching everything and panting.

That's the way we roll

We were very lucky to be invited out on a 75 foot boat on Sunday evening, and cruised around the harbour, soaking up the very different vantage point you get on Sydney from the harbour. It was a beautiful night, and we had such a lovely time. I so didn't want to get off the boat - I totally want that to be my life.
The boat was TWICE a big as our house. And has four times as many bathrooms - that is to say it has four bathroms and we have one.

Whole fish

The whole fish is something I'm trying to embrace more over summer. Mum and Frank used to make this dish all the time whe we were growing up, and it was one of those dishes that was always shrouded in adult mystery, because it was one they just made for them and didn't feed to us. Probably not for any particular reason other than getting kids to eat something when you can still see its face, something that is full of bones, and something that has chilli and tofu sauce is an uphill battle.
I'd forgotten about it until mum made it when I was recently in Jakarta, and it was really good. The fish stays so lovely and moist, and it's all very light and healthy. Two thumbs up.

The night Liam ruined Christmas

This weekend I had a quick trip to Perth. I'm still recovering - ugh. A great time was had though. Flew in Friday morning, had a spot of lunch at Il Lido with Em and Drew, nom, nom.
After a quick nap, it was off to Drew's to catch up with Liam, Benno, Sasha, Matt and Annie. Somehow six hours passed and many, many bottles of wine were drunk. It was great to see everyone, and I'm pretty sure I ranted and raved and caried on (I definitely know I writhed around on the floor to a Mariah Carey song with Drew), but that was nothing compared to what Liam did... After we (I) put some christmas carols on someone (Drew) decided to pull out his christmas decorations (and a drill to hang them). The drill was prohibited by someone (Liam) but that didn't stop the ornaments coming out (and did they keep coming...). After being roughly set up on every flat surface, more merriment ensued. The night wound to its inevitable end, and as Liam got up to say bye to Benno he RUINED CHRISTMAS and knocked over a family of homeless carollers. Legs, bits of christmas tree, heads - everywhere. So now no one will have a merry Christmas.
On the upside though, the apartment is totally cute. Here's some pics.
Team bubbles.
Nigella wares...
Sorry, who??

And of course you need three tagines.

Boozy Thai diner.

What to do when it's 42 degrees?

The answer to that is very simple - close the doors, close the blinds, turn on the ceiling fan, watch tv, nap, and wait for the heat to break. It's tempting to open up all the windows and let air in, but it's much cooler to just seal the house up. Only amateurs bother with the beach - crowds, parking, hot cars and no shade do not a cool and relaxing day make.

It's now eight o'clock and it's still 37 outside. Ugh. Beer just tastes like water (and goes down about as easily). It actually hit over 42 today. Luckily, we went to the fish market this morning, so we just had a low prep delicious feast outside.

So - we had oysters (for me), scallops (for Jamie), whiting with a caper butter sauce, prawns and some bok choy. Nom nom. And importantly, very minimal time in the kitchen was required.

This is what the sky looked like just before 8. It's supposed to rain, but there's no sign of it yet. Pant pant pant.

Chilli

I make no secret of the fact that I loooove chili. There aren't too many meals that can't be improved by a bit of chili, and I could happily eat it three times a day. My lovely hubby however, isn't such a fan, and while I try to be considerate of this, I often find myself holding a chili in my hand and rationalising that it won't be THAT hot, and that maybe he won't notice. Plus, I just made things with chili for Drew when he didn't like chili, and now he does, so maybe it's just a learned taste... Jamie does notice, and after nearly four years together, he doesn't seem to be any fonder of chili. But he suffers on, and only occasionally tells me he actually can't eat dinner because it's too hot. But I just CANNOT put it down - I hold it and think I should go easy every time, and every time I actually think it won't be that hot, and of course, it is.
Last weekend I made these YUMMY eggs for breakfast. Baked Turkish eggs with mushroom and tomato. Holding a loaded tablespoon of harissa in my hand I went through the "Jamie won't like this with loads of Harissa, maybe you should put half back in the jar" thought process, but then justified it by thinking "well, the recipe calls for it, so who am I to deviate from the recipe, there are rules about these things". The harissa went in and I think it was just perfect. I didn't mention it to Jamie, thinking he maybe wouldn't notice. He did. But the eggs were ace.

Bring it on

OMG. I was just channel flicking and only the all time best cheer leading movie in the history of the world just came on. "Bring it on". Like perfect timing - I've just watched the whole opening sequence, which involves the "we're pretty, we're hot, we're everything you're not" cheer. And Torre's male cheerleader boyfriend isn't staying around to see the vote for cheer captain - what a total loser, this isn't boding well for the future for the two of them (and not just because I know the outcome of their relationship having seen this movie many times before), this is only like the most important moment of her life.
Jamie is in the kitchen, and I'm wondering how long it's going to take him to cotton on to the fact I've got a totally craptacular (but excellent) cheerleader movie on. I just hope I get to the part where the badass girls from the Bronx show them how it's done before objections arise from the husband.
p.s. Torres was just nominated captain and is lifting team morale.
p.p.s. Kirsten Dundst's life has only gone downhill from this movie.
p.p.s. The movie started at 7:30 - I will keep you posted on what time the first objection is registered.
p.p.p.s. The cute, funny, slightly nerdy and non-threatening transfer student - Cliff - has just arrived. Him and Torres are sitting next to each other in class.
p.p.p.p.s. The male cheerleaders just totally owned the footballers after they tried to pay out on them. Footballers 0 - male cheerleaders 1.
p.p.p.p.p.s. I could really do this for the whole movie, but this will be the last one. There are now cheerleader tryouts, and Eliza Dushku (which isn't how you spell her name, but I can't be bothered looking it up), aka Faith in Buffy, and whoever the lead character in Dollhouse is, is about to try out, with massive 'tude but remarkable gymnastic ability. The rest you'll just need to hire the movie to find out...

Celebrate the renovate

I spent a lot of time feeling mild to strong levels of anxiety over our massive fridge purchase on the weekend, alternating being concerned that we now had a fridge occupying our kitchen which was too big to go where it was meant to and occupying a large amount of space in our not so large house and that we weren't going to get going with the renovation for another 6 months, with total excitement about having a new big fridge (it's nearly 1m wide!!!). The big boy...
As discussed on an earlier post, the idea was to buy the big fridge as a motivation for us to get on with renovating. I was sceptical about the theory (while of course still buying in - there was a free TV involved for gods sake, I'm only human), however, I am pleased and beyond excited to report that a deposit has been paid with the good folks at Freedom for a brand new kitchen!!! O.M.G. TOO EXCITING. The plan is to get them in while we are away next month, and pretty much to come home to a new kitchen. I'm sure there may be some details that need to be sorted out in between those two steps... but who cares, we are getting a new kitchen!!
We've picked everything already (in fact, we did that in like March when we first decided we were going to do it). The layout of the kitchen pretty much has to stay the same, but the cupboards are going to be a glossy white, squared off stainless steel handles, the benchtop a white-ish stone with flecks through it, we will have a rangehood (hallelujah), a shelf above the fridge for my cookbooks (!!!!!), and the cupboards will be taller and bigger. We'll tile the splashback and also get new tiles for the floor.
Anyone who knows me knows how important all kitchen related things are, so this is a very exciting and major development in my life. I so can't wait to be doing my thing in a new kitchen, and it's a great thing to come back to after holidays - I'll totally be jumping out of my skin to come home and play in the kitchen, as opposed to crying at the airport because I don't want to leave.

Sunday lunch

After our run we took ourselves off for lunch on Sunday - Locko and Michelle suggested catching up with Sam and Nat for lunch, so do that we did! I particularly wanted to post this pic for Dodd. I can imagine him sitting there doing that funny "huh" thing he does in a high pitched way over the fact we all caught up.

Running

J-Mo and I did a 10km run this morning out at Homebush. The course was basically around the Olympic stuff, and they called it a "run 4 fun". Let me tell you, there was nothing fun about it. Firstly it was in Homebush, which gets a big bap bow on the scale of fun places to be, and the course was just boring, secondly, it was HUMID and there weren't enough drink stations. We finished three hours ago and my fancy quick dry running top is still saturated with sweat.
To be honest, I pretty much hated every minute of it. I totally battled through the whole thing and just wasn't feeling good (J-Mo totally twisted my arm last night and convinced me to polish off a bottle of bubbles with him - we might take that out of our pre-race preparations next time). And I so don't go well running in humidity. But I had fancy new pants, and lots of fun music to make it all exciting.
A highlight was yelling at a woman (who was a spectator, but pretty much standing on the course) smoking. She let off this puff of smoke which pretty much got me straight in the face so I stopped and yelled "are you fucking kidding me, what the fuck is wrong with you" and kept running. I'm sure she had something to say back, but I certainly didn't hear it with my earphones in.
My motivation was pretty much finding someone fat who was in front of me and telling myself I had to overtake them because they were fatter than me. I guess it got me through, but it's perhaps not the best technique...
There were about 6,000 people who did it, and it was fun seeing so many people and running with them. And because it was in Homebush, there is parking galore, so it was easy to get in and out.
I have been training for this for a while, and wasn't sure if it was overly ambitious to try and do it in under an hour. Turns out that was a reasonable goal, I just didn't do it. Bummer. I clocked 1 hour 1 minute and 14 seconds. If I'd have known it would have been so close I'm sure I could have pushed it to get under an hour, but whatever. J-Mo did one hour and 50 seconds, so he was even closer. He zoomed off at the start but slowed his pace down, where I think I was more consistent with pace. I saw him a few times, because there are lots of parts where you double back on yourself, so that was fun. Really, I was more concerned about running that far than how fast I ran, but now I know I can do it, I'll try and get under an hour next time.
BTW - the pace we ran is pretty much the pace Muz and Em ran a whole marathon at. And let me tell you, the thought of doing what we did this morning four times makes me really appreciate what those two crazy kids did.
So now we are off for lunch with Locko and Sam (from Perth) and their respective lady friends. Fun!

Fridge.

Our fridge has carked it. Which isn't altogether too surprising given it's bout 15 years old. So, off we go to buy a new fridge. Rather than doing what most people would assume is the normal thing, and buying a fridge that fits the space it's supposed to go in, we bought a fridge that is far too big and means we'll have to renovate our kitchen in order to have the fridge fit. We've literally bought a fridge as an incentive to get on with renovating the kitchen. It's pretty cool - one of those double ones with the freezer down one side and the fridge down the other.... and it's going to look really nice next to our dining room table for several months while we get our act together and get the renos organised.
AND we got a FREE TV (which we don't want or need) with the fridge. We so fell for the sales gimick... In the store we were all "we'll definitely sell that on E-Bay" and of course as soon as we get home we are all "maybe it would be nice in the spare room". Jamie's been lobying for it to go in our room (I think that was his plan all along and the talk of E-Bay was just to convince me), but I am totally 100%, opposed to TVs in bedrooms, and I'm not budging on that.
I'll post pics of our kitchen being occupied by a massive fridge tomorrow...

Gucci!

The florist up the street has worked out the best marketing tool ever - a really cute dog. Her name is Gucci and she's AWESOME. So cute, so fluffy, super friendly and always hanging out at the front looking for pats. She knows she's not allowed out on the footpath, so stands right on the edge, straining with every bit of her bodyweight out over the edge, but technically still being inside. Or just has a lie down and looks cute. I totally want a cocker spaniel now. SOOOO much. Awwww.

Sunday brunch

Home made smoked trout cakes, asparagus and poached egg. With pink bubbles, naturally. There aren't too many better ways to start the day...

New York marathon - done.

Chances are I'm never going to be able to title a post like this in relation to myself, so I'm taking this opportunity to do so in relation to Em and Muz, who on Sunday, did the NY marathon!! They did the whole thing together, and crossed the finish line holding hands. Awww. It's such an amazing thing to do, and I'm so proud of both of them. So massive snaps for Em and Muz. And now they get to kick back and enjoy NY for another week! Awesome.

Books!

One thing I like about who I work for is that twice a year they have a book sale from all the books publishers send in for reviewing or promotion. There are tons of books, and they are all new, and they sell them for a couple of bucks each. I go nuts, and today was no exception when the sale took place. I was lined up ready for the sale to begin the second it started, pushed everyone else out of the way, and within five minutes loaded up my arms with as many books as I could carry. Back for round two I picked up a few more. Sixteen books later, I was feeling very satisfied with myself. The rest of my colleagues were far more moderate, picking up one or two choice titles, whereas I chose the binge option and had a stack as high as the edge of my cubicle. And I got tons of crime books - fiction and non-fiction, so good times are ahead...

Missing my peeps.

J-Mo has been away most of this week, and I've been filling in his absence by working on my relationship with the TV, and DVDs I got in Indonesia. Which has been wholly satisfying, but as we are all prone to finding out occasionally, there is such as thing as too much TV and alone time. So yesterday I got up, went to yoga, got the papers and pottered around the house. I started feeling a bit melancholy and thinking how much fun it would be to have the Perth gang over for a boozy afternoon of food and just sit around in the sunshine talking crap. It made me feel a bit choked up, and I missed each one of you peeps (you know who you are). We aren't overly social here in Sydney, and there's something just so easy about people you have known forever that know you back to front and you just don't have to try with (maybe it's laziness at the heart of my feelings). So I went to Fratelli Fresh and did the groceries, and also bought a cute new hat and scarf . Even that didn't fill the void (they are very cute though). I'm not usually taken by moments like that, but I would have just loved one of those days that used to be reasonably common. I hope it's not too long before we get the chance to do it again, but I guess life has moved on, and things will never be like they used to. Not that there won't be great and exciting times in the future, but if everyone could just move to Sydney, that would be ace.

Oh - since my last post about the jasmine - check this out - a GARDENIA bloomed!! I'm totally high fiving myself about that one. So this pic is for my peeps.

p.s. since yesterday, I've picked up the hubby, who is now pottering around in a bathrobe before we make smoked trout cakes with asparagus and poached eggs for breakfast (OMG - Yum!!!), I've spoken to Drew and Liam who were arguing about directions on their way down south, and this morning spoke to two happy but understandably nervous little New York marathoners (less than 24 hours to go now). Feeling much better, but still would love to have everyone around.

Halloween

I know I'm certainly not the first person in the world to observe this, but adult women getting dressed up for Halloween seems purely an excuse to wear something slutty which wouldn't otherwise be acceptable. Driving to get Jamie from the airport last night at about 8:30, there were a lot of people obviously on their way to parties. I saw a sexy vampire, sexy nurse, sexy devil and sexy cat. And they were all seperate sightings. And in a clear sign that I'm getting really old, when I was trying to find a radio station to listen to I was APPALLED by "the best dance hits in the country right now" and switched it over to the golden oldie channel.
Halloween also made me slightly anxious because I became concerned that children would come to the door and I'd have nothing to give them except a nice apple. I weighed up the liklihood of parents letting their children knock on random doors in Surry Hills (surely we are at the far more moderate end of what it's possible to encounter around here) with the effort of going to get treats, which would probably not be needed, and sit in my cupboard until I ate them. I decided that if anyone knocked at the door I just wouldn't answer it, and positioned myself on the couch so that if anyone did come knocking they wouldn't see me down the call. Turns out that particular effort wasn't needed... no one came.

Rendang

My favourite curry has to be a beef rendang. It's just the best. All the goodness condenses and thickens and the meat gets to the stage where it falls apart... aaarrrghhgfaodsfiowdf. I'll just wipe the drool off my keyboard.

I made a rendang on the weekend - what could ever be bad about something that has all this goodness JUST IN THE PASTE?!?!? Cooking away...

Then a quick detour to the pub to have a punt on the Cox Plate. As usual, my husband was randomly successful in his gambling endeavours and won $100 on his first bet, and then wisely pocketed his winnings and withdrew from the betting game. I however, was only mildly successful in my usual backing of the favourites - I lasted a while, but in the end lost money (it was only about $10, but still).

And the most nommy-licious result (with some beans for health factor).

Ugg boots

My deep affection for my Ugg boots knows few bounds. Year round, one of the first things I do when I come home is to put them on. A short history - Drew bought my my first (pink) pair off Uggs from NZ - we bonded quickly and became inseparable. They lasted a bit more than three years before requiring replacement. Another pink pair were procured - not as good quality as the NZ pair, and they recently got a hole. So when we went to NZ, I bought these babies. I loooove them. For obvious reasons - hello cowhide. The only problem is they have a proper sole on them (pro: better to wear outdoors, and to formal engagements, con: they are quite heavy and not as comfy as a purely indoor Ugg). So, not detracting from my love for the cowhide, formal Ugg, I just bought a pair of indoor, less formal Uggs. Some may say this is unnecessary. To them I say... whatever. They are lovely.

They are from NZ - a brand called Mi Woolies - the same as the original pink pair Drew bought me which lasted really well. Em has recently hopped on board the Ugg boot bandwagon - I thoroughly encourage you all to do the same.

Something I took care of made flowers!

I'm pretty proud of this - I think it's a first. We bought a jasmine plant a few months ago and not only has it stayed alive, its flowered! So now our back deck smells like jasmine, which I love. When we first moved to Sydney and were staying in Double Bay, there was jasmine everywhere and in summer the whole suburb smelt like it, it's just a lovely, gentle, summery, warm smell. Sometimes I walk outside just to smell it.
The gardenias we bought at the same time look like they want to flower soon too, but I think they want a bigger pot before they are going to give in and produce the goods. If that happens I will be totally excited - I think jasmine is really quite easy to keep alive and flowering, which gardenias are more fussy (in that they are slightly fussy and possibly not considered a pest that grows like mad).

Is there a finer sight?

I had a lieu day off yesterday after working last Sunday, and really wanted to make a nice dinner. So I piled up the cookbooks on the couch, put on some Mad Men, and made tea. I just couldn't decide though - I was being totally indecisive and nothing was really grabbing me. I ended up finding something I liked, but then after ringing the reasonable butcher (not it's real name - but the explanation for the nickname is obvious when you compare it to Hudsons) and Hudsons, with neither having skirt steak in stock, it was back to the books. I seriously looked for a couple of hours, but nothing excited me... that is, until I came to the "Meat" cookbook (which is excellent BTW - thanks Em) and saw a picture of a burger, and I was totally sold. This magnificent specimen has minced bacon, onion, Dijon, Worcestershire sauce and egg in the patty. I think some good smoked bacon really made a difference. I made my favourite oven chips with it - from scratch, naturally. The secret is to par-boil the chips before you put them in the oven (lots of EVOO, rosemary, chili flakes and Parmesan - trust me, it's so good). And of course, you can't have chips without mayo. Well I can't anyway. I know it's like pure fat, but OMG, it's just so good. I couldn't help myself before I took the pic, I had to quickly shove some mayo laden chips in my mouth... which you can probably tell, because the mayo is a bit of a mess, but whatever.
In other news, my cold turned out to be far from mild, and I still have this dry hacking cough that won't go away. What it will do however is send Jamie to the spare room at three in the morning... Making it only the second time we've been together he's slept in the spare room (the first time he had gastro and was intermitently throwing up in a bucket next to the bed, so thought he'd do it in the spare room).

Spring days.

Yesterday we went on a picnic to celebrate the birthday of the lovely Ros. Right down by the water, looking right on to the opera house and bridge, beautiful day, good times. I was totally paralysed with indecision earlier on in the week as to what I should take/ make for the picnic, but things were sorted out pretty quickly when we ended up spending most of the morning in Mosman to have me fitted for new running shoes and not having much time to spare (home made pastry, tart, and carrot cake ideas quickly flying out the window). A quick stop off at the local grocer to stock up on far too much cheese (let's be honest - no one is surprised by that one), smoked chicken, baguette, tomato, rocket and pate and we were off. We sat by the water for a leisurely few hours and then walked home with the afternoon sun on our faces.
Today I have a bit of a cold and I have to work, so everyone is hearing about it. I'm also feeling a bit blimpy from not running all week (sore foot). But the foot is on the mend, the cold is at worst only mild, I got made soft boiled eggs with buttery toast soldiers for brekky this morning, and I'll get Friday off for working today.
In other exciting news I don't believe I've blogged about, Jamie and I have booked tickets to go to the US/ Canada for Christmas! We fly to San Fran on December 9, and then we'll drive up to Vancouver, taking our time and stopping off at places we like on the way, arriving well in time for Christmas with my fam. Seven weeks to go...

I have an ow

So today I found out I have plantar fasciitis. Which sounds drastic, but is, according to Wikipedia a "painful inflammatory condition of the foot". My foot isn't swollen or anything, but apparently the tendon which runs between the heel and ball of my foot (along the arch) is. And it feels like a big bruise which is taking all my body weight with every step I take.
It seems I've done it running, and now I have a taped up foot after seeing a nice podiatrist. It has to stay taped up for two days - I wanted to take a picture of it for the blog, but because I went to the podiatrist about it, I took off my red toenail polish, and I just think my feet look strange without nail polish, so couldn't quite bear to have a "naked" pic. Then I thought about painting my toe nails for the picture, but then weighed that up against not being able to wash my foot for two days (while the strapping stays on), so then I had this whole internal monologue about my foot, nail polish and washing. Which clearly resulted in me doing nothing. I'm sure no-one is really that interested in my foot anyway.
But the taping looks impressive, and also, importantly, is highly visible, so I can look sad, point at my foot, accidentally show people, and hobble around sighing.
Good news too - high heels aren't a problem with this condition.

Movie inspiration

We saw Julie & Julia last weekend. It goes without saying that I loved it and immediately started thinking how deserving my blog was of a book and movie deal (very). Jamie really liked it too. There's lots of food, it's funny and feelgood, and it's a true story. I liked that both Julie and Julia's hubby's were really nice too and supportive of their quirky wives.
I took some inspiration from the movie, perhaps unsurprisingly. But it wasn't for a whole boned duck wrapped in pastry, it was for bruschetta, which the blogger, Julia and her hubby are eating when she gets the inspiration for the blog. So I bought three different kinds of yummy tomatoes from Fratelli, and we had a delish easy and quick Sunday night dinner!

Self portrait of me in the new specs.

New glasses

I am due for a new pair of glasses, and thought I'd be really clever and order them online for a third of the price. Drew recently did the same thing and had his glasses within a week. Things didn't turn out so well for me. Two months later I am still without my new Chanel frames, but according to UPS, they will be with me early this week!
This is them, and I'm quite excited. I was originally going to go for another black and nude pair, but it was a bit too much nude on face, which could have been a it scary given how pale I am. But I liked the concept of black and nude, so this was a good compromise.

Stuff white people like

One of our favourite gags to pay out on ourselves is to say what we like or what we are doing belongs on the list of "Stuff white people like", which is totally accurate and totally funny.
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/full-list-of-stuff-white-people-like/

And on Saturday we had a total "white people" day. After yoga (tick), we went out for breakfast (tick), then to the farmers market (tick) to buy some organic produce (tick), with me wearing a scarf (tick) and gumboots (tick), then we came home to watch mad men (tick).
But hilarity aside, the farmers markets are totally cool. It's right near my work, and sets up the first Saturday of every month. It was windy, rainy and cold on Saturday, but it was still chockers! Perhaps this explains why...

Fergus Henderson of St John Restaurant fame was in town for the food festival, and the pig on the spit was in his honour. I'm pretty confident that's him in the middle ground gesticulating. There were a bunch of rock star chefs all cooking "nose to tail" pork. Needless to say, we undertook in the adventure. One pigs head terrine later, we were still cold, but happy.

I'm not one for fancy advertising logo's, but confronted with one so convincing as "eat more venison," I am helpless. And the guy selling the venison was really "farmer wants a wife" country cute, and I was all "oh, really, tell me more about the venison - I'm going to make a pie, what would you reccommend?" So we have a venison leg with which we are going to make the pie we made in NZ, and last night we had venison sausages with fennel and chili, and they were great!

Husband, doing it "under a vacuum"

No, this isn't a kinky post about combining sex and the vacuum cleaner. Nor is it a post about me bludgeoning Jamie with a vacuum cleaner. Although I did vacuum today, and it's rare to get a feeling of satisfaction better than knowing your floors have been vacuumed and mopped and that the whole house smells like bleach. PLUS - it's six o'clock, and I'm still in my PJ's, drinking beer. PLUS - it's a long weekend. Seriously... life is pretty good. And I haven't even factored into the excitement the fact I'm roasting a whole duck for dinner tonight.
But I digress. Last weekend, the hubby cooked me a lovely Sunday lunch, the pinnacle of which was some lamb sous vide "under a vacuum". Now, this is a fancy technique that is all the rage in expensive restaurants, with chefs vacuum sealing meat and slowly poaching it in temperature controlled water. However, in the latest issue of Cuisine, they explain how you can do it at home. And it's reasonably uncomplicated. You put your meat (lamb back strap in this case) in a ziplock bag, with some tasty things like EVOO, garlic, mint etc, and then put the bag in 60 degree water (the meat thermometer came in handy here) for 8-10 mins for medium rare. Then you seal the lamb in a skillet, rest it for 10 mins in the oven, and et voila!!

I was so impressed with the hubby for this one. Admittedly, the first batch he tried didn't go so well when the water boiled and the bags melted, but take two was just spot on, and oh so tasty.

Potplant controversy abounds in Rainford Street...

I was out on a mission to get some emergency lamb after our first attempt at sous vide went wrong... and imagine my excitement when seeing a bunch of notes stuck up in a lane way that seemed to relate to some sort of pot plant controversy... The lane way runs behind Bird Cow Fish and Pizza e Birra, for those of you familiar with Rainford. On closer inspection, this seems to be the offensive pot plant worthy of someone REPEATEDLY complaining to council that local regulations are being breached. The owners of the property were paid a visit by two rangers (as I was informed by one of the letters stuck up on the wall), but protest rather articulately, that as landscape gardeners, they are just trying to pretty up their bit of space and do something nice for the peeps of Surry Hills.

This is the owners letter to the mayor. It's quite nicely written, and makes it's point...Also stuck to the pot is a note directed at the woman who is so offended by the hideous sight of some nature in a lane way... suggesting she may have some more sinister motive. Intrigue and mystery abound!