Sunday, August 21, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
... in the still of the night ...
06.46 am Sunday 02 January 2011 AEDST
hmmm. the mock mai tai jug (and large Woolworth's plastic tumbler) is still where i left it on christmas eve; the cottage has become an infernal hole of stuff (where is that two litres of milk I bought on Christmas Eve and where is the bunch of basil I bought at Harris Farm Bathurst on New Year's Eve; couldn't find the milk when I looked (did I imagine or overcount? ...... or is it lurking somewhere like an unexploded milk device)). Looked for basil in a rush yesterday – back door of Volvo self locked, a much hated safety feature; friends yesterday pointed out that there is a safety rule difference with Swedish cars and how the back/front seats fold (ie vs German, which seem to carry more IKEA Billy shelves, which I need a lot of for cottage rooms).
Complete post Christmas collapse; slight revival (with stomach cramps, yesterday) for NY Day lunch party: ham & potato gratin a la Julia Child, grated carrot salad, young asparagus with raspberry vinegar and hazelnut oil, mixed cherry tomatoes with bocancini and chives and mint and olive oil, little Woolworths heat-at-home rolls (burnt in oven by me), Margaret Fulton's Vanilla Bavarois garnished with red currant crown, raspberries in several colours and black berries and whatever karakaberries are around base (in charlotte mold, served in deep roundish Pilly dish, raspberry (McCains Frozen, best type at moment) coulis flavoured with a bit of icing sugar and lime juice (fresh), Charleston Woodside Cows Milk Cheese with Bathurst cherries (me) and Harris Farm Victorian cherries (guests), Rosalie's cheese biscuits (christmas present), Margaret Fulton's curried nuts (burnt by me) - it was that sort of day then with Bill's Beans Sassafras blend coffee and hot milk where required a 3 tier Pilly tray of on top: marzipan fruit from Country Fruit maybe with fruit flavours (subtle, could just taste), Josephan's chocolates on two, Crabtree and Evelyn Shortbread on one (Rosalie & Bruce, very timely and useful Christmas present. Two loads of washing up; didn't like Wild Oats Pino Grigio (Mudgee Merlot Rose missing in action), hottest day since we have been here (28.8 C); cooled down about 7; two Andrews inspected roof and tanks; water flowing, house tank's 3/4 full (we are big users).
Original menu had pea (frozen) soup from Jane Grigson topped with little cloud of whipped cream and chives, (frozen) salmon with mayonnaise, asparagus and small (not new, locally at this point) and same pudding. Mammoth quantity of ham in fridge forced change.
Apart from milk and basil, my camera is lost somewhere (? back of Volvo) so no pics of xmas trees and meadow-in-lawn. On list are cottage, volvo inside, east (front) lawn, bedroom.
28 Dec roses have all gone due to heat.
mornings lovely with sun filtering through vines and sun projecting vine shadows onto walls birds singing most of day, need to get work done by about 10 am when heat begins, hot then until about 5 pm, when temperature falls, evenings/overnights coolish.
possums drop onto roof above my bed and scratch across roof (? two ? get up from big pine tree behind my bed off south verandah). fortunately not in ceiling, or there would be real trouble. my mother hadn't heard possums before but heard them last night. maybe they only run across roof at my end of house. believe responsible for tearing into garbage bags left outside back door or garage at night but they haven't actually got into one and I try and see nothing is left outside for them as I don't fancy clearing up mess.
Trip to UK and maybe week in Paris using Qantas fluffies 28 September 2011 to 16 November 2011; about three weeks longer than I would have liked but only dates I could get post daffodil season for trip. we haven't been since April/May 2006 (I was in Tokyo in August 2006). we probably can't afford to do this – even country cottage prices still high for us; London and Paris amazing although may have found modern, basic location in South Ken with roughly Australian hotel/motel prices. Trouble finding walk in showers for my mother in London/Paris. Some of cutier chicer little hotels may be ruled out, but hard to tell from websites.
Terrible internet connections, last night may be due to distant thunder storm (it wasn't here, must have been in valleys to west) mean looking very slow at times; also days in and out of cottages vary ie Friday afternoon to Friday morning in north of England and Scotland but Saturday afternoon to Saturday morning elsewhere; sites seem very stern about this, will have to leave a day early at least at one location; dream of highland cottage dashed, will have to make do with Lanarkshire and maybe day in Edinburgh (17 miles away) and explore country south of Edinburgh on other days. Good rates at some country house hotels in October. Have spent maybe 40 hours on internet so far getting this to a rough draft, checking travelling times via Google and emailing hotels in England and Paris apartments; one hotel response, very prompt with good rate but because of holiday period nothing about Paris.
Merry New Year!
on rereading there seem to be several closing paranthesises missing, so hear are a few spare for past, present and future posts: ))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
hmmm. the mock mai tai jug (and large Woolworth's plastic tumbler) is still where i left it on christmas eve; the cottage has become an infernal hole of stuff (where is that two litres of milk I bought on Christmas Eve and where is the bunch of basil I bought at Harris Farm Bathurst on New Year's Eve; couldn't find the milk when I looked (did I imagine or overcount? ...... or is it lurking somewhere like an unexploded milk device)). Looked for basil in a rush yesterday – back door of Volvo self locked, a much hated safety feature; friends yesterday pointed out that there is a safety rule difference with Swedish cars and how the back/front seats fold (ie vs German, which seem to carry more IKEA Billy shelves, which I need a lot of for cottage rooms).
Complete post Christmas collapse; slight revival (with stomach cramps, yesterday) for NY Day lunch party: ham & potato gratin a la Julia Child, grated carrot salad, young asparagus with raspberry vinegar and hazelnut oil, mixed cherry tomatoes with bocancini and chives and mint and olive oil, little Woolworths heat-at-home rolls (burnt in oven by me), Margaret Fulton's Vanilla Bavarois garnished with red currant crown, raspberries in several colours and black berries and whatever karakaberries are around base (in charlotte mold, served in deep roundish Pilly dish, raspberry (McCains Frozen, best type at moment) coulis flavoured with a bit of icing sugar and lime juice (fresh), Charleston Woodside Cows Milk Cheese with Bathurst cherries (me) and Harris Farm Victorian cherries (guests), Rosalie's cheese biscuits (christmas present), Margaret Fulton's curried nuts (burnt by me) - it was that sort of day then with Bill's Beans Sassafras blend coffee and hot milk where required a 3 tier Pilly tray of on top: marzipan fruit from Country Fruit maybe with fruit flavours (subtle, could just taste), Josephan's chocolates on two, Crabtree and Evelyn Shortbread on one (Rosalie & Bruce, very timely and useful Christmas present. Two loads of washing up; didn't like Wild Oats Pino Grigio (Mudgee Merlot Rose missing in action), hottest day since we have been here (28.8 C); cooled down about 7; two Andrews inspected roof and tanks; water flowing, house tank's 3/4 full (we are big users).
Original menu had pea (frozen) soup from Jane Grigson topped with little cloud of whipped cream and chives, (frozen) salmon with mayonnaise, asparagus and small (not new, locally at this point) and same pudding. Mammoth quantity of ham in fridge forced change.
Apart from milk and basil, my camera is lost somewhere (? back of Volvo) so no pics of xmas trees and meadow-in-lawn. On list are cottage, volvo inside, east (front) lawn, bedroom.
28 Dec roses have all gone due to heat.
mornings lovely with sun filtering through vines and sun projecting vine shadows onto walls birds singing most of day, need to get work done by about 10 am when heat begins, hot then until about 5 pm, when temperature falls, evenings/overnights coolish.
possums drop onto roof above my bed and scratch across roof (? two ? get up from big pine tree behind my bed off south verandah). fortunately not in ceiling, or there would be real trouble. my mother hadn't heard possums before but heard them last night. maybe they only run across roof at my end of house. believe responsible for tearing into garbage bags left outside back door or garage at night but they haven't actually got into one and I try and see nothing is left outside for them as I don't fancy clearing up mess.
Trip to UK and maybe week in Paris using Qantas fluffies 28 September 2011 to 16 November 2011; about three weeks longer than I would have liked but only dates I could get post daffodil season for trip. we haven't been since April/May 2006 (I was in Tokyo in August 2006). we probably can't afford to do this – even country cottage prices still high for us; London and Paris amazing although may have found modern, basic location in South Ken with roughly Australian hotel/motel prices. Trouble finding walk in showers for my mother in London/Paris. Some of cutier chicer little hotels may be ruled out, but hard to tell from websites.
Terrible internet connections, last night may be due to distant thunder storm (it wasn't here, must have been in valleys to west) mean looking very slow at times; also days in and out of cottages vary ie Friday afternoon to Friday morning in north of England and Scotland but Saturday afternoon to Saturday morning elsewhere; sites seem very stern about this, will have to leave a day early at least at one location; dream of highland cottage dashed, will have to make do with Lanarkshire and maybe day in Edinburgh (17 miles away) and explore country south of Edinburgh on other days. Good rates at some country house hotels in October. Have spent maybe 40 hours on internet so far getting this to a rough draft, checking travelling times via Google and emailing hotels in England and Paris apartments; one hotel response, very prompt with good rate but because of holiday period nothing about Paris.
Merry New Year!
on rereading there seem to be several closing paranthesises missing, so hear are a few spare for past, present and future posts: ))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
Friday, December 24, 2010
... mock mai tai christmas eve ...
7.07 am Saturday 25 December 2010 AEDST
up until 2 am this morning wrapping; if retail sales are down it isn't my fault.
drank a mock mai tai while wrapping:
1 litre pineapple juice
1/2 cup grenadine
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/4 teaspoon almond essence
juice 1 juicy lime
about 1 litre of ice
to garnish:
lemon verbena or mint large sprigs
maraschino cherries
cold sparkling mineral water
straws
mix all of above in 2 litre mixing jug, placing ice in first and then pouring other ingredients over.
mixing shouldn't be necessary.
serve in large ie at least 400 ml glass, placing a small sprig of lemon verbena and 2 (I had 3) maraschino cherries. I started out drinking this straight, then cut it 50/50 with cold sparkling mineral water. I ended up stirring the ice melt in after I had finished up the mineral water (a 750 ml bottle). got clearer as ice melted.
my ice was from some I bought at the BP at Mt Lambie en route to Bathurst for an afternoon's christmas shopping and I had a big lump about 1 litre in size.
it was best after a couple of hours, when the almonnd extract kicked in (still no orgeat syrup and Monin don't list it on their Australian web site).
there are recipes for home made orgeat and marischino cherries (although they only have a three week refrigerator life span. I'll try because it is cherry season here.) on the chow.com site; this has various other syrups which I am interested in and good cocktail recipes which I would like to try.
I was going to add a little St Germain but decided not to (had too much wrapping) ; I added some elderflower cordial, bought earlier in the year at the Orange Markets, about 50 mls after I had had the first couple of drinks; not certain that this helped.
chow.com is recommended, has good photos and videos, but you might have to wade through a lot of americanisms. it seems to be mainly out of the west coast/texas but also has some contributors from Chicago, New York and maybe mid West.
merry christmas. wrap in moderation.
up until 2 am this morning wrapping; if retail sales are down it isn't my fault.
drank a mock mai tai while wrapping:
1 litre pineapple juice
1/2 cup grenadine
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/4 teaspoon almond essence
juice 1 juicy lime
about 1 litre of ice
to garnish:
lemon verbena or mint large sprigs
maraschino cherries
cold sparkling mineral water
straws
mix all of above in 2 litre mixing jug, placing ice in first and then pouring other ingredients over.
mixing shouldn't be necessary.
serve in large ie at least 400 ml glass, placing a small sprig of lemon verbena and 2 (I had 3) maraschino cherries. I started out drinking this straight, then cut it 50/50 with cold sparkling mineral water. I ended up stirring the ice melt in after I had finished up the mineral water (a 750 ml bottle). got clearer as ice melted.
my ice was from some I bought at the BP at Mt Lambie en route to Bathurst for an afternoon's christmas shopping and I had a big lump about 1 litre in size.
it was best after a couple of hours, when the almonnd extract kicked in (still no orgeat syrup and Monin don't list it on their Australian web site).
there are recipes for home made orgeat and marischino cherries (although they only have a three week refrigerator life span. I'll try because it is cherry season here.) on the chow.com site; this has various other syrups which I am interested in and good cocktail recipes which I would like to try.
I was going to add a little St Germain but decided not to (had too much wrapping) ; I added some elderflower cordial, bought earlier in the year at the Orange Markets, about 50 mls after I had had the first couple of drinks; not certain that this helped.
chow.com is recommended, has good photos and videos, but you might have to wade through a lot of americanisms. it seems to be mainly out of the west coast/texas but also has some contributors from Chicago, New York and maybe mid West.
merry christmas. wrap in moderation.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
... rained in ...
Tuesday 14 December 2010 10.28 pm AEDST
started raining lightly, was very tired and lay down, got up to close car, garage, toolshed, cottage and for Nigella and Cheese Slices; watched Nigella (can a christmas party be made up of glazed petit sausages, litttle meat balls in tomato sauce, gingerbread (sans icing) and seasonal coloured jelly beans with pink processo flavoured with ? Chambord ???????); kitchen sluttiness is one thing but poor menu planning is another :: time to call in the caterers, honey.
watched some of Cheese Slices, this was about truffled cheese in Piedmont; poor doggies didn't get any, even though they found them.
was more interested in reading about white charcoal and japanese knives at Chef's Armoury on Botany Road, Roseberry (NSW), mentioned in this weeks Good Living (online version, not same as weekly edition, a newsprint magazine lift out every Tuesday in SMH. has local foodie news, recipes, product reviews and lots of ads. now on holiday until 18 Jan 2011. why do they go on holiday just when everyone has time to read them beacuse they're on holiday; television and radio also closing down until late Jan/early Feb and leaving us with rerebroadcasts of rebroadcasts and 48 hour marathons of Top Gear old series; already filling staellite waves with reruns of 4 year old Great British Chefs).
now raining lightly and cool breeze through mosquito screen ( determined mosquito could knock to verandah in microseconds). hope rain disappears in morning so can finish off front lawns (now high alpine meadows full of yellow flowers). yawn.
started raining lightly, was very tired and lay down, got up to close car, garage, toolshed, cottage and for Nigella and Cheese Slices; watched Nigella (can a christmas party be made up of glazed petit sausages, litttle meat balls in tomato sauce, gingerbread (sans icing) and seasonal coloured jelly beans with pink processo flavoured with ? Chambord ???????); kitchen sluttiness is one thing but poor menu planning is another :: time to call in the caterers, honey.
watched some of Cheese Slices, this was about truffled cheese in Piedmont; poor doggies didn't get any, even though they found them.
was more interested in reading about white charcoal and japanese knives at Chef's Armoury on Botany Road, Roseberry (NSW), mentioned in this weeks Good Living (online version, not same as weekly edition, a newsprint magazine lift out every Tuesday in SMH. has local foodie news, recipes, product reviews and lots of ads. now on holiday until 18 Jan 2011. why do they go on holiday just when everyone has time to read them beacuse they're on holiday; television and radio also closing down until late Jan/early Feb and leaving us with rerebroadcasts of rebroadcasts and 48 hour marathons of Top Gear old series; already filling staellite waves with reruns of 4 year old Great British Chefs).
now raining lightly and cool breeze through mosquito screen ( determined mosquito could knock to verandah in microseconds). hope rain disappears in morning so can finish off front lawns (now high alpine meadows full of yellow flowers). yawn.
Monday, December 13, 2010
... snowed under ...
i'd update a bit more frequently if i didn't get caught in blooger/google's infinite loop sign in; each time i have to work out how to get out of it and sign in here; i think that this is because i am signed into gmail under my other user names.
email status:
mac.com mail has been online again for a few days; i am monitoring gmail and forwarding anything that comes in to mac.com and replying through mac.com (ad cetra ad nauseating etcetra);
email's working but i'm not (actually i am):
there is a 2 to 3 day turn around on most email at the moment; i am wrapping, shopping and mowing (and sitting down because i am still dizzy quite a lot) and otherwise away from email (and blogger, although infinite loop has been a real drag (doesn't help when you're dizzy; also to and fro email is the flavour of the month and it gets, well, complicated, as they say; i've also started reusing my cpap machine and have started sleeping longer (and on foggy/cloudy mornings sometimes don't wake until 7.15 am ish although was up at sparrow (jenny wren and husband around here) fart yesterday, which was bright and sunny (today has been grey and cool and is now, now that i have got petrol from Lithgow to make two stroke, thundery). i don't think that the lawn likes being cut.
otherwise tsunami continues and i am, i speak metaphorically, clinging to a very soggy bent palm tree occupied by a breakfasting monkey (papaya and banana) who is very annoyed and demanding that i depart immediately and where is blooody management when it's needed; bloody tourists have their own place and pleese git there right now (monkey has for some reason mixed south african/hindu gentleman accent). am trying to point out impossibility of this as tsunami continues breaking (so far longest ever recorded). ho ho bloody hum.
was going to do my day starting maybe 8 December but this has turned into my week and shortly will be my fortnight. don't think eleanor roosevelt had these problems.
ipod, at suggestion of technical advisor, has been put off until new model announced maybe in February; iPad funds have been spent on chistmas present for mother in Queen Street (Woolahra, there is no other (except of course in Brisbane and Auckland but they don't quite have the same expenditure opportunities as the 2025 postcode zone)).
kindle australian charger has arrived; otherwise no sign; false alarm last week with large USPS bag, which contained two books from guys at Baked, in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
fat boy Ralph is enroute from Price USA agent since early am yesterday. am making do with sunday afternoon's nautica, cutter and buck and gazman (said to be capri pants but more like long shorts) from big boy's store at Skygardens.
new pitt street mall, with gap arrived and zara coming, is complete fizzle with many potential buyers on sunday afternoon but nothing for them to buy.
lpq definitely not up to Brussels standard, but better than any competition except maybe cheese sit up counter at DJ's Market Street (highly personal preference; cheese plate is casual anytime meal of choice).
back soon, maybe sooner if it rains.
email status:
mac.com mail has been online again for a few days; i am monitoring gmail and forwarding anything that comes in to mac.com and replying through mac.com (ad cetra ad nauseating etcetra);
email's working but i'm not (actually i am):
there is a 2 to 3 day turn around on most email at the moment; i am wrapping, shopping and mowing (and sitting down because i am still dizzy quite a lot) and otherwise away from email (and blogger, although infinite loop has been a real drag (doesn't help when you're dizzy; also to and fro email is the flavour of the month and it gets, well, complicated, as they say; i've also started reusing my cpap machine and have started sleeping longer (and on foggy/cloudy mornings sometimes don't wake until 7.15 am ish although was up at sparrow (jenny wren and husband around here) fart yesterday, which was bright and sunny (today has been grey and cool and is now, now that i have got petrol from Lithgow to make two stroke, thundery). i don't think that the lawn likes being cut.
otherwise tsunami continues and i am, i speak metaphorically, clinging to a very soggy bent palm tree occupied by a breakfasting monkey (papaya and banana) who is very annoyed and demanding that i depart immediately and where is blooody management when it's needed; bloody tourists have their own place and pleese git there right now (monkey has for some reason mixed south african/hindu gentleman accent). am trying to point out impossibility of this as tsunami continues breaking (so far longest ever recorded). ho ho bloody hum.
was going to do my day starting maybe 8 December but this has turned into my week and shortly will be my fortnight. don't think eleanor roosevelt had these problems.
ipod, at suggestion of technical advisor, has been put off until new model announced maybe in February; iPad funds have been spent on chistmas present for mother in Queen Street (Woolahra, there is no other (except of course in Brisbane and Auckland but they don't quite have the same expenditure opportunities as the 2025 postcode zone)).
kindle australian charger has arrived; otherwise no sign; false alarm last week with large USPS bag, which contained two books from guys at Baked, in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
fat boy Ralph is enroute from Price USA agent since early am yesterday. am making do with sunday afternoon's nautica, cutter and buck and gazman (said to be capri pants but more like long shorts) from big boy's store at Skygardens.
new pitt street mall, with gap arrived and zara coming, is complete fizzle with many potential buyers on sunday afternoon but nothing for them to buy.
lpq definitely not up to Brussels standard, but better than any competition except maybe cheese sit up counter at DJ's Market Street (highly personal preference; cheese plate is casual anytime meal of choice).
back soon, maybe sooner if it rains.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
... xmas is coming ...
was coming like waves of gentle inbound tide; now in full tsunami force and crashing inland with vengance. caught only half way to high ground, as usual. every thing in place but assembly still required, and caught as by blizzard (that would be nice but flood much likelier).
... Pearl Harbor outranks mai tai
10.06 pm Wednesday 08 December 2010
We always forget about that pesky international dateline, maybe because we are still primarily anglo centric.
The Japanese attack on the US base at Pearl Harbor was at about 7 am on Sunday 7 December 1941 Hawaiian time, which would have been ? around 3 am in the morning on Monday 8 December 1941 in eastern Australia.
So here is a Pearl Harbor cocktail from : http://cocktails.about.com/od/vodkadrinkrecipes/r/pearl_harbor.htm
Would think calls for a pretty paper parasol.
Was in 1966 on overcast day at Pearl Harbor; didn't seem place for cocktails.
Simple, but think I still prefer mai tai.
We always forget about that pesky international dateline, maybe because we are still primarily anglo centric.
The Japanese attack on the US base at Pearl Harbor was at about 7 am on Sunday 7 December 1941 Hawaiian time, which would have been ? around 3 am in the morning on Monday 8 December 1941 in eastern Australia.
So here is a Pearl Harbor cocktail from : http://cocktails.about.com/od/vodkadrinkrecipes/r/pearl_harbor.htm
- 1 oz melon liqueur = midori
- pineapple juice
- maraschino cherry for garnish
- pineapple chunks for garnish
Preparation:
- Pour the vodka and melon liqueur into an old-fashioned glass filled with ice.
- Fill with pineapple juice.
- Garnish with a maraschino cherry and pineapple chunk on a cocktail skewer.
Was in 1966 on overcast day at Pearl Harbor; didn't seem place for cocktails.
Simple, but think I still prefer mai tai.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
