This was the weekend of our BBQ for the team from KISA's work. It went reasonably well, as the "coordinator" I could list a number of things that could have been better with the food, though I don't think anyone but me really noticed. We decluttered and cleaned up the deck both before and after so today we have a lovely clean and tidy deck again. The weather stayed fine and the temperature was perfect.
Two tiny grandchildren came along with their gran. It has been a very long time since such wee ones were in our home. Luckily I remembered that I had kept the duplo lego and the brio train set from the kids toddler years. Between that and the big exercise ball they were kept amused. They were very well behaved and sweet babies.
We were lucky enough to have a visitor from Spain attend as a guest of one of the team. He is on a holiday/working holiday and is enjoying our Queensland weather. As I have lived in foreign countries myself it is a real pleasure to offer an overseas visitor our Australian hospitality. I hope he enjoyed the evening. As usual with me and BBQs I overcatered and we have lots of leftovers. So it has been bagged and frozen for later use.
We had a visit from our local possum. He was very forward and despite the deck being full of people, walked the rails to see what was on offer. This morning we came out and noticed he had left several "calling cards" over the deck so he has come back after we went to bed to see what he could find. As cute as they are I hope he doesn't make a habit of it. It is the first time in the six years we have had the deck that we have had possum poo left behind. I forgot to take photos last night so no pictures I am afraid.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Recipe blog
I have spent (wasted) a lot of today creating a sister blog for recipes. I figure it would be easier to find them if they were all in one place. About 3 years ago I started a recipe blog so that Jess would have access to old favourites. I have forgotton the passwords to that one so I have copied over the recipes to the new one called Tropigal Cooks. There is a link in the right sidebar.
Although I have entered them will nilly they are each tagged according to their type, so if you are after a chicken recipe for example, on the right hand side click on "chicken main meals" and all the chicken recipes will come up. I hope that the boys and their partners will find this useful one day. There are still about 30 recipes I want to add, and as I find new favourites I will add them as well. Hopefully it will be a useful resource for me as well as family and friends! Cooking is a particular passion of mine, and I love to share recipes. I hope you enjoy it.
Although I have entered them will nilly they are each tagged according to their type, so if you are after a chicken recipe for example, on the right hand side click on "chicken main meals" and all the chicken recipes will come up. I hope that the boys and their partners will find this useful one day. There are still about 30 recipes I want to add, and as I find new favourites I will add them as well. Hopefully it will be a useful resource for me as well as family and friends! Cooking is a particular passion of mine, and I love to share recipes. I hope you enjoy it.
Pea and Ham Soup
Yesterday I went grocery shopping and at the deli counter at woolies they had ham bones. The marketing department must have decided it is soup weather, as on the same counter they had bags of yellow split peas. And since one of the ham bones was a very meaty one and looked pretty good, I figured I would play the game. So into the trolley went one meaty ham bone ($4.15) and one packet of split peas. So this is what I did with it:
Pea and Ham Soup
1 ham bone (not hocks try for a meaty leg bone)
1 500g packet yellow split peas
2 onions chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 sachet bouquet garni (like a tea bag)
good pinch whole peppercorns
12 cups water
Pop all of this into a large pot and bring to the boil, then turn down and simmer for 2 hours, stirring from time to time, especially as it thickens up towards the end. Just to stop it sticking. Pick out all the meat and bones with some tongs, then use a stick blender to mush it all up till smooth (or a food processor or a regular blender, or just leave it the way it is, it is fine unblended as well). Pick the bones, skin and fat out and toss. Shred the meat (and I had lots from my bone!) and put back into the soup. If you start this about 3pm by the time your starving husband gets home from work it is nice and ready. He will nominate you for sainthood. It is that good. This stuff freezes well, but is best fresh I think.
Pea and Ham Soup
1 ham bone (not hocks try for a meaty leg bone)
1 500g packet yellow split peas
2 onions chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 sachet bouquet garni (like a tea bag)
good pinch whole peppercorns
12 cups water
Pop all of this into a large pot and bring to the boil, then turn down and simmer for 2 hours, stirring from time to time, especially as it thickens up towards the end. Just to stop it sticking. Pick out all the meat and bones with some tongs, then use a stick blender to mush it all up till smooth (or a food processor or a regular blender, or just leave it the way it is, it is fine unblended as well). Pick the bones, skin and fat out and toss. Shred the meat (and I had lots from my bone!) and put back into the soup. If you start this about 3pm by the time your starving husband gets home from work it is nice and ready. He will nominate you for sainthood. It is that good. This stuff freezes well, but is best fresh I think.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Off the bitumen!
Well after spending last weekend on the mundane, yet still essential stuff of life, we were free, come Thursday afternoon, to head off in The Windsor on another little camping adventure. 
This time we went to Eungella Dam, off the bitumen, way off in the sticks, sort of.
This time the setup went much better and before long we were settled in front of the fire watching the sunset. And it didn't disappoint!
Up early the next day, as that's what happens when you camp, being in tune as you are with nature. Or it could be we always wake before 6am anyway. We set up a little bathroom today and played with the little present A&P gave us. Sisters should always give each other toilets. It is nice. And this particular one was a godsend, as the nearest toilet was 100 metres away. Which is no fun in the middle of the night. Now I am not adverse to popping behind the nearest tree with a spare tissue, but there were just too many other campers and not enough trees that were fatter than me. KISA of course, doesn't have this problem.
We also played with what I used to call KISA's Folly. He wanted to buy this, has been on my case for months to buy this. I said, that camping was meant to be a little more austere and simple. (not that our set up could be described as simple or austere!) I now no longer call it KISA's Folly, more like a bloody sensible idea. The temperatures dropped to below 10 degrees on each morning and having a nice al fresco HOT shower was quite the treat. Eungella Dam only offers cold showers, also 100 metres away.And it doesn't take up THAT much room. I am quite won over! KISA does have some good ideas sometimes.
I wish I could say we did lots of active jolly hockey sticks kind of stuff on our little camping adventure off the bitumen. However we did lots of sitting about reading and chatting and having cups of tea and communing with the locals. We loved it.
These guys came right up to the campsite next to us that was vacant. They ate the ashes from the fire pit. Then had a drink. You'd need a drink after eating ashes! Mr Plant said that they do it to kill their intestinal worms. I prefer Combantrim, it tastes better I think.
This is Lenny. Lenny is seven months old. He loves going for a swim in the lake after breakfast then coming over to us for a cuddle. We forgave him because he is so cute. Even for a cold wet smelly dog.
We cooked our dinner over the camp fire on the second night. I had made up a bread dough and pinched off two balls each about the size of a tennis ball. Pressed it out into a rough round flat shape by hand and grilled it on the cast iron flat grill pan thingy to make naan bread. It was great! Then we put some chicken thighs I had marinated in tandoori paste and yoghurt before we left home, on the grill for a few minutes each side to have with the naan. Great success and couldn't be easier. We baked the rest of the bread dough in the camp oven and it turned out really well. Very chuffed for a first attempt!
Next day we had visitors. Some very nice Plants came to visit us and have a picnic lunch with us. Mrs Plant is a tropical plant and found it a bit chilly. We visited together for a couple of hours and they headed back down to the greenhouse of Mackay. They are campers too and checked out the dam as a potential future spot. We enjoyed having guests in our little holiday home.
Another beautiful sunset on Saturday night, another pink one, and it brought the promised cold night and morning. Such a difficult thing to watch while seated in front of a nice fire sipping from a bottle of merlot! I couldn't choose from the photos we took, so here are two more pictures. I am such a sucker for sunsets!
This morning before we started to pack up, we went for a drive to the spot opposite our camp. We had seen traffic lights coming down the hill the night before, so went to explore what was obviously a road. It just went up and up and the views got better and better!
Then we found a rough track, 4WD only that headed even further up and led to a lookout with views of the dam and surrounding hills. It was also an incredibly clear day, completely free of haze. It was breathtaking.
This is a picture of our camp taken with the zoomiest zoom on the camera.
KISA and I were on top of our world!
We headed back down to do the pack up, which was the best one yet. We were on the road home within an hour. The camera's battery was flat and I had caught a cold, but it was a great weekend, think we will sleep well tonight!
This time we went to Eungella Dam, off the bitumen, way off in the sticks, sort of.
This time the setup went much better and before long we were settled in front of the fire watching the sunset. And it didn't disappoint!
Up early the next day, as that's what happens when you camp, being in tune as you are with nature. Or it could be we always wake before 6am anyway. We set up a little bathroom today and played with the little present A&P gave us. Sisters should always give each other toilets. It is nice. And this particular one was a godsend, as the nearest toilet was 100 metres away. Which is no fun in the middle of the night. Now I am not adverse to popping behind the nearest tree with a spare tissue, but there were just too many other campers and not enough trees that were fatter than me. KISA of course, doesn't have this problem.
We also played with what I used to call KISA's Folly. He wanted to buy this, has been on my case for months to buy this. I said, that camping was meant to be a little more austere and simple. (not that our set up could be described as simple or austere!) I now no longer call it KISA's Folly, more like a bloody sensible idea. The temperatures dropped to below 10 degrees on each morning and having a nice al fresco HOT shower was quite the treat. Eungella Dam only offers cold showers, also 100 metres away.And it doesn't take up THAT much room. I am quite won over! KISA does have some good ideas sometimes.
I wish I could say we did lots of active jolly hockey sticks kind of stuff on our little camping adventure off the bitumen. However we did lots of sitting about reading and chatting and having cups of tea and communing with the locals. We loved it.
These guys came right up to the campsite next to us that was vacant. They ate the ashes from the fire pit. Then had a drink. You'd need a drink after eating ashes! Mr Plant said that they do it to kill their intestinal worms. I prefer Combantrim, it tastes better I think.
This is Lenny. Lenny is seven months old. He loves going for a swim in the lake after breakfast then coming over to us for a cuddle. We forgave him because he is so cute. Even for a cold wet smelly dog.
KISA built lots of lovely fires and we were treated to another lovely, though totally different sunset on night two. See all the pink on the clouds? That means it will be bloody cold by next morning. And it was.
We cooked our dinner over the camp fire on the second night. I had made up a bread dough and pinched off two balls each about the size of a tennis ball. Pressed it out into a rough round flat shape by hand and grilled it on the cast iron flat grill pan thingy to make naan bread. It was great! Then we put some chicken thighs I had marinated in tandoori paste and yoghurt before we left home, on the grill for a few minutes each side to have with the naan. Great success and couldn't be easier. We baked the rest of the bread dough in the camp oven and it turned out really well. Very chuffed for a first attempt!
Next day we had visitors. Some very nice Plants came to visit us and have a picnic lunch with us. Mrs Plant is a tropical plant and found it a bit chilly. We visited together for a couple of hours and they headed back down to the greenhouse of Mackay. They are campers too and checked out the dam as a potential future spot. We enjoyed having guests in our little holiday home.
Another beautiful sunset on Saturday night, another pink one, and it brought the promised cold night and morning. Such a difficult thing to watch while seated in front of a nice fire sipping from a bottle of merlot! I couldn't choose from the photos we took, so here are two more pictures. I am such a sucker for sunsets!
This morning before we started to pack up, we went for a drive to the spot opposite our camp. We had seen traffic lights coming down the hill the night before, so went to explore what was obviously a road. It just went up and up and the views got better and better!
Then we found a rough track, 4WD only that headed even further up and led to a lookout with views of the dam and surrounding hills. It was also an incredibly clear day, completely free of haze. It was breathtaking.
This is a picture of our camp taken with the zoomiest zoom on the camera.
KISA and I were on top of our world!
We headed back down to do the pack up, which was the best one yet. We were on the road home within an hour. The camera's battery was flat and I had caught a cold, but it was a great weekend, think we will sleep well tonight!
Monday, May 4, 2009
Camping at last!
It was a long weekend this weekend, and we finally got away camping in the Windsor for the first time. It has been cooler this week so we went off to Eungella where we could be sure it would be even cooler! The waterfalls beside the road were running well due to all the rain this year. We settled into the Eungella Holiday Park on the edge of the escarpment in the camping area and set up the camper. There were a few frustrations with the annexe and also with the gas and the water pump, not working. We were getting tired and emotional. I took the ready made frozen dinners to the camp kitchen and the microwave wasn't working either! So it was peanut butter sandwiches for tea. 
Everything looks better in the morning though. This view after the early morning "wee walk" certainly makes needing to get up so early not so bad after all!
We very quickly sorted out our gas and water problems before breakfast and settled down for a hard days camping.
This is a side view of our camp. It had dappled shade and faced away from the bulk of the holiday park, with only a view of the lawn and the trees and the other campers at the other end.
This shot of the back of the tent shows our outlook a little. We were able to leave the big "picture window" side of the tent (near the car) open to look out over the trees, it was very private that side.
We must have snored loudly that night because our neighbour jumped off the edge of the escapment.
I don't know how he stays upright like that because he obviously has rocks in his head. His wife said he is a photographer and he takes lots of photos in the hour or so he floats around like that.
These boots were made for walking. Pity KISA's silly wife twisted her ankle climbing into the car for the journey up here and all plans for bushwalking went out the window. Pity too as the river would have been flowing very well. It was mostly better by today, but we figured a two hour walk wouldn't help it so we will leave it till next time.
So poor KISA had to content himself with more strenuous camping activities, like this. He looks happy enough don't you think?
He had lots of fun playing with the solar panels, ensuring they worked and that the battery charged up with them. Which it did, which means we can camp indefinitely if we have no power and a water supply. Being so green gives me a warm glow.
This is a five star camping kitchen. We still cooked last nights tea over the fire though. Can't beat that.
The camp ground was pretty full for the long weekend. This is KISA coming back from the camp kitchen with a bucket of hot water for the dishes. The Windsor doesn't have hot running water. Yet. KISA has a plan though.
On Sunday we took a drive to The Diggings campsite to find A&P and their friends' camp. We couldn't find it as it was so obscure. But we did enjoy the drive over the 4WD track. Pity I forgot the camera.
We had a fire each night. All those years at the boy scouts paid off. This man knows how to make a great fire.
I have discovered it is cold with no hair. My ears got cold! Must knit myself a beanie!
We couldn't not use this barbeque with a view. So this morning we had breakfast here, cooked by the breakfast chef.
Breakfast with a view. It is a hard life here at Tropigaloutlook.
Everything looks better in the morning though. This view after the early morning "wee walk" certainly makes needing to get up so early not so bad after all!
We very quickly sorted out our gas and water problems before breakfast and settled down for a hard days camping.
This is a side view of our camp. It had dappled shade and faced away from the bulk of the holiday park, with only a view of the lawn and the trees and the other campers at the other end.
This shot of the back of the tent shows our outlook a little. We were able to leave the big "picture window" side of the tent (near the car) open to look out over the trees, it was very private that side.
We must have snored loudly that night because our neighbour jumped off the edge of the escapment.
I don't know how he stays upright like that because he obviously has rocks in his head. His wife said he is a photographer and he takes lots of photos in the hour or so he floats around like that.
These boots were made for walking. Pity KISA's silly wife twisted her ankle climbing into the car for the journey up here and all plans for bushwalking went out the window. Pity too as the river would have been flowing very well. It was mostly better by today, but we figured a two hour walk wouldn't help it so we will leave it till next time.
So poor KISA had to content himself with more strenuous camping activities, like this. He looks happy enough don't you think?
He had lots of fun playing with the solar panels, ensuring they worked and that the battery charged up with them. Which it did, which means we can camp indefinitely if we have no power and a water supply. Being so green gives me a warm glow.
This is a five star camping kitchen. We still cooked last nights tea over the fire though. Can't beat that.
The camp ground was pretty full for the long weekend. This is KISA coming back from the camp kitchen with a bucket of hot water for the dishes. The Windsor doesn't have hot running water. Yet. KISA has a plan though.
On Sunday we took a drive to The Diggings campsite to find A&P and their friends' camp. We couldn't find it as it was so obscure. But we did enjoy the drive over the 4WD track. Pity I forgot the camera.We had a fire each night. All those years at the boy scouts paid off. This man knows how to make a great fire.
I have discovered it is cold with no hair. My ears got cold! Must knit myself a beanie!
We couldn't not use this barbeque with a view. So this morning we had breakfast here, cooked by the breakfast chef.
Breakfast with a view. It is a hard life here at Tropigaloutlook.
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