Thanksgiving came and went this year. It was a little strange and didn't really feel like a holiday. But, to keep the spirit alive I did cook up a turkey dinner with all the fixins yesterday for a few friends. I was able to secure a turkey a few weeks ago through the butcher from the farmer's market and had it delivered on Friday. It spent all day Saturday in the brine waiting to be cooked off.
It turned out that the turkey was the easy part of the meal. Walking through the grocery store last week I realized just how few "American" products that I'm used to relying on weren't available. The store didn't have any sort of french fried onions or cream of mushroom soup so there wasn't a green bean casserole. I was planning on oven frying some onions and making a type or green bean casserole but when push came to shove, that seemed like a bit too much work on Sunday morning. So instead I just blanched off some fresh beans and fried them up in a little chili oil.
Stuffing was the other difficulty. There wasn't any bagged stuffing to mix in so I had to pick up a loaf of bread early in the week and let it get stale through the week. Since the bagged stuffing usually has a far amount of seasoning in it, I added some fresh pork and fennel sausage to the mix for a bit more flavor. I cooked that off and it turned out quite well.
The gravy was pretty spot on as well. The and the potatoes were pretty standard. I couldn't find any sort of frozen hash brown so there weren't any cheesy potatoes. But I did make some corn bread from scratch which people seemed to like. All in all, it was a pretty good meal with plenty of left overs for the week. I'll just have to find a few creative ideas for them so it doesn't get old after a day or two.
I've also been trying a little experiment to see if I can go without a microwave. For the most part it's been going pretty well. Day to day I don't use one that much and it's not too much of a hassle to re-heat items on the stove or in the oven. But this morning was probably the first day where I would have like to have one. A little stuffing and gravy would have been a great way to start out the morning, but since I didn't plan on firing up the oven early enough I had to go without. Oh well, just more for dinner.
Hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Back in the game
I had a somewhat productive weekend. And by weekend, I really only mean Sunday. The most productive part of the weekend was finding out that the closest golf course is only a $10 cab ride away. Which means I might get to play more than once a year now. A few of us went to the range for a little bit to enjoy the nice weather. After not hitting a ball since last December, I was pretty impressed. I think I'm ready to hit the links for real.
That got me looking to see if there were any "amateur" golf tournaments around the Sydney area. I figure in a country with only 22 million people, that has to bump up my ability strictly based on numbers, right? I didn't find too much but I did find a Mid-Amateur tournament every November. Based on this years results I think I'd have a chance to be in the top half, maybe even third. I just need to do a few things:
1) Play enough to get a handicap (again)
2) Get the handicap down to below a 7.4 at some point by the end of summer when registration rolls around
The only other productive thing I figured out this weekend is that this summer, I'm NEVER going to leave my place without being fully covered in SPF30. This whole not having an ozone to protect you down here really makes that sun hot.
That got me looking to see if there were any "amateur" golf tournaments around the Sydney area. I figure in a country with only 22 million people, that has to bump up my ability strictly based on numbers, right? I didn't find too much but I did find a Mid-Amateur tournament every November. Based on this years results I think I'd have a chance to be in the top half, maybe even third. I just need to do a few things:
1) Play enough to get a handicap (again)
2) Get the handicap down to below a 7.4 at some point by the end of summer when registration rolls around
The only other productive thing I figured out this weekend is that this summer, I'm NEVER going to leave my place without being fully covered in SPF30. This whole not having an ozone to protect you down here really makes that sun hot.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
More daily updates to come
I've been on a bit of an app spending spree lately and, as a result, I'm hoping to be able to post more pictures from around town.
Let's see how this goes over the next few days.
Let's see how this goes over the next few days.
Monday, November 15, 2010
'Tis the Season to be Mary
Well, it's one week till Thanksgiving and we've started to push 90 degress. And I must say, it's pretty nice. Sure it's been strange seeing Christmas decorations up at the stores since mid September, but there's no holiday down here between the Queen's birthday in June till Christmas as an acceptable date to put up Christmas (sorry, holiday) decorations. It will however, take a bit of time to get used to walking to work and walking past the department store windows and hearing Christmas music blasted on the street at 8am. Hearing Dino sing about it being cold outside just doesn't seem to work here.
Still working on Thanksgiving plans down here, but I was able to get the butcher at the farmers market to order a turkey for me for the day. I have to have turkey, stuffing and gravy, but I'm trying to figure out some other lighter, summer options to go with the meal. After all, there's a decent chance it will be 90 out. At this point the only thing I've come up with are margaritas and I'm not sure how well those would go with gravy. We'll just have to see how this works out.
And while it doesn't quite feel like the holidays are approaching with the weather, traditions are traditions so I picked up a copy of Christmas Vacation. I probably won't be able to light my apartment up with 25,000 imported Italian twinkle lights, but I'll have to find something.
Let me know if anyone has any summer options to go with a Thanksgiving turkey.
Still working on Thanksgiving plans down here, but I was able to get the butcher at the farmers market to order a turkey for me for the day. I have to have turkey, stuffing and gravy, but I'm trying to figure out some other lighter, summer options to go with the meal. After all, there's a decent chance it will be 90 out. At this point the only thing I've come up with are margaritas and I'm not sure how well those would go with gravy. We'll just have to see how this works out.
And while it doesn't quite feel like the holidays are approaching with the weather, traditions are traditions so I picked up a copy of Christmas Vacation. I probably won't be able to light my apartment up with 25,000 imported Italian twinkle lights, but I'll have to find something.
Let me know if anyone has any summer options to go with a Thanksgiving turkey.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
First visitors just about done
It was too bad last week had to wrap up. It was a great week with family, if only the weather would have cooperated back in Sydney. The main highlights were definitely up in Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. The landscape up there was so unexpected, that it made for a great, relaxing escape. It would probably be like going to Hawaii, but it will only take me two and a half hours (not to rub it in or anything). Getting to snorkel in one of the great natural wonders of the world one day and then get up close with Koalas and Kangaroos the next was pretty cool. Despite trying to take on a rock with a Hyundai, and losing, it was a great few days up there. The 85-90 degree weather didn't hurt either. Though, I will be going through quite a bit of sun block over the next 6 months.
We had less on the agenda back in Sydney. We pretty much just wandered Sydney and my neighborhood as well as some of the beach towns. We did drink our fair share of Australian wines along the way, which were very good. We even went down to the Opera house Sunday night to catch some of the ARIA awards which were being filmed outside on the steps. We heard some of the music, though not knowing any of the songs. We went down with the expectation of watching the fireworks around the Opera house. And as the time approached when they were supposed to start, we realized that they were in the opposite bay with a large hill blocking the view. It was a bit of a bummer, but at least the weather was perfect.
I have plenty of pictures from this past week and a half and will try to get a bunch more posted this week.
We had less on the agenda back in Sydney. We pretty much just wandered Sydney and my neighborhood as well as some of the beach towns. We did drink our fair share of Australian wines along the way, which were very good. We even went down to the Opera house Sunday night to catch some of the ARIA awards which were being filmed outside on the steps. We heard some of the music, though not knowing any of the songs. We went down with the expectation of watching the fireworks around the Opera house. And as the time approached when they were supposed to start, we realized that they were in the opposite bay with a large hill blocking the view. It was a bit of a bummer, but at least the weather was perfect.
I have plenty of pictures from this past week and a half and will try to get a bunch more posted this week.
Monday, November 1, 2010
This is Queensland
We've been up in Queensland now for three days and it has been pretty cool. I didn't really know what to expect, but the landscape up here is so completely different than what I expected. When you land, the airport is right on the coast and inland are mountains covered with trees. There are random mountains every which way you look as well. It's quite a site. I have taken a bunch of pictures but can't upload them from my iPad so I'll post the when I get back to Sydney.
We caught a 6am flight to gtg up here and just messed around the first day. Spent some time picking up groceries to BBQ for the first few nights and spent some time down at the beach. There are warning signs as you approach the beach to watch out for stingers and crocs. Luckily, we saw neither. The water was probably around 80 degrees and not quite as refreshing as you'd hope when it's 90 degrees outside. But I'm not one to complain.
We got up bright and early the second day to head up to Port Douglas to go snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. The drive was up a very scenic two lane highway and at times bordering a rock mountain. About 20 minutes away there's a big ole rock just off center in the road. I'm panicking as I approach it because if I swerve right I'm in incoming traffic and if I go left I could go off the road. This being My second time driving I panic and decide to play chicken with the rock. I'm going to split the uprights. Well, I missed. I didn't judge the right side of the car very well and crushed the rock. The tire took about 30 seconds to deflate and I pulled over. Where I ended up was probably the most inopportune spot. Right after a very curvy road where we were a sitting target. I immediately got out of the car and ran back to try to get people to slow down before slamming into the back of the car. Luckily we got the tire changed and were back on the road in about 20 minutes.
We were the last people to board the boat, but we'd made it. We journeyed about 90 minutes to the first spot, Turtle Bay. The hope was to see turtles but we weren't so lucky. We did how ever get to snorkel with a few white tip reef sharks which despite being docile still look like sharks, especially when they swim at you (or just close to you.). We also got to see a few Nemo, a massive school of parrot fish, a very large fish I don't know the name of and countless other types of fish and coral.
The second stop had some amazing coral "gardens.". And try were right on the edge of the Continental Shelf. So we were literally on the edge of Australia. We saw a few giant clams, sea cucumbers and many other fish I couldn't recognize. But the sites were amazing. I didn't get sea sick on the boat at all, but after every snorkel stop I'd feel a little queezy. I think it was more bobbing out in the middle of the ocean that got my stomach going. We hit one final stop and got a few pictures (again I'll post them when I'm back in Sydney) before venturing back to land. It sounds like we were just under 30 miles off the coast, just bobbing along with our heads down. While we never saw anything dangerous, it was tough not to think of Jaws as you got to the edge of a reef and saw just blue water fade to nothing. I had an 18 inch parrot fish swim pretty aggressively at me (maybe more near me) but that got me to do a knee jerk reaction so I'm glad we didn't see any sharks.
I was sure cautious driving back and as we got close to the apartment we rented, I saw a stick on the side of the road. Not wanting to risk it, I swerved to the right. As I did that, the stick moved. Turned out to be crocodile probably between 3 and 4 feet long.
Today, we went into Cairns and messed around and swapped cars. Not much was happening so we drove up to Kerunda for a walk though the forrest. The neatest part was the drive up the winding mountain, but we did it. Everyones resting now before heading out for dinner and to spend some quality time with a few nocturnal inhabitants. We're hoping to het a few pictures with kangaroos tonight, so hopefully I'll have some to post tomorrow.
I did post a few pictures to Flickr which you can get to from the photo stream up top, but I'll try to get more tomorrow after walking through the rainforrest.
We caught a 6am flight to gtg up here and just messed around the first day. Spent some time picking up groceries to BBQ for the first few nights and spent some time down at the beach. There are warning signs as you approach the beach to watch out for stingers and crocs. Luckily, we saw neither. The water was probably around 80 degrees and not quite as refreshing as you'd hope when it's 90 degrees outside. But I'm not one to complain.
We got up bright and early the second day to head up to Port Douglas to go snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. The drive was up a very scenic two lane highway and at times bordering a rock mountain. About 20 minutes away there's a big ole rock just off center in the road. I'm panicking as I approach it because if I swerve right I'm in incoming traffic and if I go left I could go off the road. This being My second time driving I panic and decide to play chicken with the rock. I'm going to split the uprights. Well, I missed. I didn't judge the right side of the car very well and crushed the rock. The tire took about 30 seconds to deflate and I pulled over. Where I ended up was probably the most inopportune spot. Right after a very curvy road where we were a sitting target. I immediately got out of the car and ran back to try to get people to slow down before slamming into the back of the car. Luckily we got the tire changed and were back on the road in about 20 minutes.
We were the last people to board the boat, but we'd made it. We journeyed about 90 minutes to the first spot, Turtle Bay. The hope was to see turtles but we weren't so lucky. We did how ever get to snorkel with a few white tip reef sharks which despite being docile still look like sharks, especially when they swim at you (or just close to you.). We also got to see a few Nemo, a massive school of parrot fish, a very large fish I don't know the name of and countless other types of fish and coral.
The second stop had some amazing coral "gardens.". And try were right on the edge of the Continental Shelf. So we were literally on the edge of Australia. We saw a few giant clams, sea cucumbers and many other fish I couldn't recognize. But the sites were amazing. I didn't get sea sick on the boat at all, but after every snorkel stop I'd feel a little queezy. I think it was more bobbing out in the middle of the ocean that got my stomach going. We hit one final stop and got a few pictures (again I'll post them when I'm back in Sydney) before venturing back to land. It sounds like we were just under 30 miles off the coast, just bobbing along with our heads down. While we never saw anything dangerous, it was tough not to think of Jaws as you got to the edge of a reef and saw just blue water fade to nothing. I had an 18 inch parrot fish swim pretty aggressively at me (maybe more near me) but that got me to do a knee jerk reaction so I'm glad we didn't see any sharks.
I was sure cautious driving back and as we got close to the apartment we rented, I saw a stick on the side of the road. Not wanting to risk it, I swerved to the right. As I did that, the stick moved. Turned out to be crocodile probably between 3 and 4 feet long.
Today, we went into Cairns and messed around and swapped cars. Not much was happening so we drove up to Kerunda for a walk though the forrest. The neatest part was the drive up the winding mountain, but we did it. Everyones resting now before heading out for dinner and to spend some quality time with a few nocturnal inhabitants. We're hoping to het a few pictures with kangaroos tonight, so hopefully I'll have some to post tomorrow.
I did post a few pictures to Flickr which you can get to from the photo stream up top, but I'll try to get more tomorrow after walking through the rainforrest.
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