Talk Thai on Taco Tuesday

Taco Tuesday is in the books.  I'm stuffed and happy.  Leah is busy studying for her finals and I am doing some research into our weekend plans.  We are borrowing a car this weekend and are planning a camping trip up the coast somewhere.  I don't have a lot of energy for writing tonight and so I'm going to keep it short.

We've talked some here about the abundance of Asian food here in Brissie.  We are only a couple of minutes walk from at least a dozen awesome Asian restaurants.  Personally I have been really inspired to learn to cook with an Asian pantry.  Usually my kitchen trends toward Italian and Mexican styles. In fact there is a lot of crossover between the two as far as ingredients go. I really only have one or two Asian dishes in my normal repertoire.

I wouldn't say Leah is a picky eater, but in the past she has been somewhat less adventurous than I have been food-wise.  Where I'm an admitted food whore, Leah approaches new cuisine with reticence.  So when we find something new that she likes it's pretty exciting.  Recently we've found a few Indian dishes that she likes and a few weeks ago we found a couple of Thai recipes that she really likes.

Thai Green Curry with Beef and eggplant

By far our favorite so far is Thai Green Curry.  A savory stew of meat and vegetables in a spicy mixture of chilies, Thai herbs and coconut milk.  Something about it really rocks my world.  On Sunday we made our first attempt at cooking it at home.  We had found a jar of green curry paste at an Asian market the week before.  Coincidentally we were talking to Andrew and Melissa and they had just made a green curry themselves and had actually made their own paste. Melissa gave us a healthy portion of the paste she had made so we didn't even have to crack open our jar.  I have to say, her paste made a green curry that was just as good as any we've eaten in a restaurant and I'm not so sure I even want to open that jar anymore.  I'm just gonna steal Melissa's recipe and make it myself.

I'd post a recipe here but I'm too lazy.  Do yourself a favor and get on the Google and find one for yourself.

Here's a photo of me about to dive in.  I wanted to take a picture of her, but she told me there haven't been enough photos of me lately.

In the "after" shot I have a sweaty upper lip.

Bringin a Little of the South to the Southern Hemisphere

Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints!  I just got done watching the replay of the Super Bowl.  Good on em!

I have to say we really missed being home for it.  It's really not the same having it on a Monday morning.  All day at work people kept asking me what the big deal was.  Why do they have so much hype?  What's with the commercials?  Etc, etc, etc. Some things you just have to be an American to appreciate I guess.  But other's are universal, hence today's post.  

I love pork.  I really, really love pork. A slow roasted hunk of pig is like sexy dirty fantasy talk to me.  It's one of the great pleasures of life and I relish every chance I get to partake, so when Kev asked me to help him roast a pig, I jumped at the chance.  I practically majored in slow cooking pork when I lived in North Carolina and I don't mind if I do toot my own horn; I can cook me some pig.

Here's the after action report (AAR for you gamers out there)

The day started a little later than we had planned.  Kev went out on Friday and had a little more fun than he planned. (It was his birthday after all).  By the time he picked me up it was after ten.  We had planned to have the pig cooking by eight. After stopping for a few last minute sundries we got to Kev's about eleven.  When we got there we set to work.  First things first, we opened beers.

MMMMMM Beer.

After the beers were opened we got down to brass tacks and wrangled the pig onto the spit.  The boys hadn't done this before and being the resident American Redneck I stepped up to the plate.  We used the back of the work Ute (Australian for Truck, I think short for utility vehicle)  as a table and got it done.

"Crickey!"

I had to put the umbrella up because the sun was as hot as.  In fact it was one of the hottest days we've had for some time.  I didn't want this little beauty to get sunburned before we got him over the coals.  

The coals actually took us a time to get going.  We couldn't find charcoal lighter fluid anywhere and charcoal chimneys are rare so we were forced to use these fire starter brick things that weren't exactly up to par.  It took almost an hour to get the coals started.  So by the time the pig was on it was exactly noon.  Only four hours behind schedule.

Kev had told people to be there around 1:30.  So people started arriving expecting to the pork to ready and instead found a couple of semi drunk guys with a nearly raw pig.  They Aussied up and grabbed beers themselves.  Thus began the long afternoon of drinking.   

Phil, Richard, Kev and Dean with the guest of honor.

Standing around drinking beers and watching a pig cook on a spit is a great way to get wasted.  Take my word for it.  We set out to get hammered and hammered is what we got.  It's a wonder that any of us made it until the pig was ready.  It only took five and a half hours to cook but in that time, many, many beers had been consumed.  By the time the thing was ready just about everyone we work with was there or had been there. It was a lot of fun to hang out away from the office. 

Hugh (the guy I replaced at work) and Kev 

Notice the blue chequered police tape (yes it's spelled chequered here)

Kev and I managed to keep it together long enough to get the pig off the spit and cut up.  A job I'm proud to say only took about 15 minutes.  Kev's mom came through with all the fixin's and the pig pickin' was in full effect.  We managed to feed the heck out of everyone there.  

Cathy from work with and her friend (grubbin) and brother

Those of you with lots of pig pickin experience will notice the (several) non working cars lined up in the background of this photo.  The more that things change the more they say the same!  I mean it couldn't have been more authentically redneck.  I loved it, check out the back of the Ute used to serve up the food.

Classic!

It gets a little hazy after that.  Leah and Charlene showed up just when we were done cutting up the pig.  We spent the next few hours chatting and drinking. We decided to head back to the train.  I tried to get artsy with the camera but I think I may have been a little drunk still. I did manage one nice shot of the girls.

 Cathy, Charlene and Leah

By 9:30 we were on the train and headed home. And that was that. Our first Southern Hemisphere full on pig pickin'  I have a feeling it's not going to be the last.  I am getting really serious thinking about starting some sort of food related business here.  Street meat may be my calling.  

Phriday Photos

It's been a long week at work and I don't have a lot to write about tonight.  I thought I'd take the opportunity to post a few photos that are on my camera.  I'm going over to Kev's tomorrow early to help him get his pig roasted.  It's his birthday and I'm looking forward to a long day of drinking and eating.  I"ll be sure to get some photos to post on the blog. First are a few from the Australia Zoo.  Remember you can click on the photo for a larger version.

This is a Cassowary, a large flightless bird native to Australia.

Leah getting a ride on a huge salty.

The giant in that photo is a replica of a salt water crocodile.  It's believed that they can get this large or larger but mostly they are killed before they can.  Can you imagine seeing this thing in the wild?  

This little beauty put on quite the show. 

I think a dingo ate your baby!

We had incredible access to the animals at the zoo, unfortunately the Koalas spend most of the day sleeping.  

Ok off the subject of the zoo here's a picture that just struck me funny.  We were at the supermarket shopping one day and couldn't help buying this can of tuna.  It came with the most glowing endorsement from Louise, she's a "Tuna Enthusiast"  I didn't know you could do that professionally.

Just look at how happy Louise is, I'm jealous. 

Casa Poquito

So there you go, they say a picture is worth a thousand words. 

Enjoy your Friday, I'm going to sleep in.  Catch us on Skype this weekend if you're connected.  If you're not you really should be.

 

One For the BIrds

Kookaburra's sittin in an ole' gum tree

Think of a song that you associate with Australia.  Bet I know what it is.  90% likely your thinking of "Land Down Under" by Men At Work. Right? Today a judge has just ruled that the flute solo from that song (you're humming it right now aren't you?) was stolen from a children's song called "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree" and the songs owners are entitled to part of the profits from the song.  Holy crap what a load of garbage.  The reports are that the owners will now seek up to 60% of the songs profits so far.  I don't know how much that will be but it has to be millions and millions of dollars.  "Land Down Under" is like the unofficial song of Australia.  You still hear it all the time.  I happen to know the Kookaburra song, I'll bet that anyone who went to Ottawa Elementary Schools in the eighties with me remembers singing it in music class too.  And Men at Work surely stole a riff from it, but the "owners" of the song are a giant record label who only purchased the rights to the song in the '90's, ten years after "Land Down Under" was a hit.  It's a bloody outrage. I mean it's a freakin classic.  I'm on the verge of a stream of curses so I'll drop the subject.  Enjoy the video before it gets taken down.

Kookaburras, by the way, are really loud birds.  The ones in the picture at the top of the page are juveniles and I'd say the adults get about twice as big as these.  We had two of them fighting outside the window one morning and it was like the world was coming to an end.  At dusk and dawn they make a hell of a racket, marking their territory and declaring their existence. Most people think their calls sound like laughter, and you can't deny it once you hear it.  But it's not a pleasant kind of laughter, it's really really loud. Watch the video and tell me if you'd like to have this outside your bedroom window in the morning.  Welcome to our world.

Today was super busy at work, Kev had the day off for some training and I didn't leave my desk all day.  I didn't even get up for a wee until around 4:30.  All work and no lunch make Toddy something something...

Luckily when I got home Leah had gathered up the fixins for one of my favorite dinners.  We have recently discovered an Indonesian spice mixture called Nasi Goreng and when used to make fried rice it's absolutely delicious. I've never seen it for sale at home but I'm really going to be disappointed if I can't find it.

Oh my GOD!! US WEEKLY!!!!

Oh oH OH!  I almost forgot to mention, yesterday when I got home I found a surprise in our mailbox for Leah.  Turns out her parents got her a subscription to US weekly and the first one showed up.  Leah was ecstatic.  I had to take her picture. I'm sure that some of you are also readers of this classy periodical (Katie? Sarah?)  and you'll notice that we are about a month or so behind the times.  But since they don't sell US Weekly at the news stand she wasn't about to complain.  And then today the second issue showed up.  Maybe in a few days she'll be up to date with all the juicy celebrity goss.

History's Lessons

Since we can't spend as much time as we'd like just screwing around the country and having fun, I've been trying to learn as much as I can about our new home by reading.  I've read that Australians read more books per capita than any other country and If you ever got on the train in the morning with me you'd know it to be true.  Just about everybody has their face buried in a novel.  I've been no different.  Of course I am a pretty avid reader and I've almost always gone for fiction over more substantive reading. Lately though I've found myself reading a lot of history.  In particular history about Australia. 

We've got a library right above the train station here at Toowong Village that I've been using to get my fix.  I've read a couple of histories of Australia, just to get a feel for the country.  Let's face it, most Americans know little about the Australian history (We'll let's be real, most Americans know little about American History) and if we do know anything it usually ends with the whole "penal colony thing"  

It's true that the first colonies we're primarily populated by convicts but the total number of convicts sent here was dwarfed by the number of voluntary migrants within a few years.  The exception to this was Tasmania (formerly called Van Dieman's land) They sent a lot of prisoners there for quite some time, but that's for another post.  

The point is there is a lot to the founding of a country and now I feel like I have a great reason to find out all I care to know.  It's amazing how reading about the first migrants to Australia makes me feel closer to them. It's doesn't take a huge leap to imagine how lonely the first settlers here were.  I still have moments of painful homesickness even now in the internet age. Back then it took months and months on a ship to sail from England It could be years between letters from family members.

In one history book I read the author mentioned that a lot of people who came here in the first days kept diaries and most of them recorded mundane daily routine.  That sort of struck a chord with me, in that I don't want this blog to become a diary of my mundane daily routine.  I'm sure no one wants to read that. At least you shouldn't want to read that.  Of course I'm going to have mundane routine in my life, I can't avoid the fact that I'm not exactly swimming in piles of gold coins. But I am going to have to do some work to find a focus other than "what did I do today".

If you have any suggestions for things you'd like to hear about, drop a note.

Do I Work In Pee-Wee's Playhouse?

Yep, I finally succumbed to peer pressure and joined Facebook.  I should have done it earlier but I'm lame that way.  I like to be ahead of the curve with technology in some ways and in others I'm still in the stone ages.  Anyway welcome to anyone who may have been directed here from my Facebook page.  I hope you enjoy reading about our lives in Australia.

I told you before about the monster I have created at work in regards to rubber band balls.  I thought I'd show you some evidence today.

That's Kev's friend holding his rubber band ball, as you can see it's as big as her head.  Maybe a little bigger.  As you can tell, we take our work very seriously.  We weighed the thing last week and it was tipping the scales at over 2 kilos.  (about 5lbs)

I told you all yesterday that we had bought a Dragon fruit.  We cut into it tonight and it may be our new favorite.   Here it is before cutting.

You can see it's about the size of a big apple and it kind of looks like a swollen flower.  I'm not even sure how these things grow but I assume they come from a tree.  Cutting into one is kind of shocking as the flesh isn't at all what you'd expect from a bright pink fruit.

 The flesh is white and specked with seeds.  Leah thinks it looks like a poppy seed muffin.  The texture is a lot like a kiwi fruit but it isn't nearly as sour.  Once you've cut into it the skin peels away easily.  The flavor is really mild actually and is only slightly sweet.  We both really enjoyed it.  There is another type of dragon fruit that has red flesh and it's taste is sweeter.  We'll try and find one of those and post some photos another time.  If you ever run across one I definitely recommend you try it. I think these are native of Asia, but I'm pretty sure I've seen them in Mexico or maybe it was Costa Rica.

Oh and one more thing, O almost forgot to mention that today is Groundhogs day.  I tried to tell people at work but they clearly don't get it here.  They have no groundhogs for one thing and another it falls smack in the middle of Summer.  The closest they get is that Bill Murray movie.  Anyway, I hope Punxatawney Phil doesn't see his shadow today so you guys can start to thaw out.  Think warm thoughts.

Feeding The Body and Soul.

I really am a food whore.  And I suppose it's inevitable that one day this blog will turn towards food and never look back.  My grandmother used to tell me I'd be a chef and though it never worked out that way, I really enjoy cooking.  So I was ecstatic this weekend when I found dried pinto beans and black beans at a market.  I know you're thinking that's not a big deal, but these staples of the North American pantry are not so common here.  I couldn't wait to get home and have at them.  And what goes better with a pot of pintos than Pork?  Nada! So for the second time in less than a week I found myself on Sunday the caretaker of a nice sized pork roast slowly braising and making the house smell fabulous for most of the day.  It was glorious. I really am considering opening a taco stall at the weekend markets.

This weekend was pretty uneventful, we did our usual market shopping.  Some key buys include, a Dragon Fruit (more about this one tomorrow), fresh tomatoes (2 kilos for $2) a couple of huge mangoes for $1.50 each and six (6!) pints of strawberries for $2.  Granted we threw out about a third of the strawberries because they were getting moldy, but we cut up and froze the rest.  All told we spent about $40 and felt like we were practically stealing. We are able to save tons of cash on produce if we go to the market and try to not miss it.  Besides, our favorite little Argentinian guy is there and he sells the best empanadas.  One of these days I've got to take some photos.

We went to the movies on Saturday night.  We had both read "The Road" by Cormac Mccarthy and were keen to see the film.  I was a little scared because the book was so moving and I thought they'd have a hard time adapting it.  I was really happy to see that my fears were unfounded, I thought the adaptation was spot on and they did the original work justice.  If you haven't read the book I highly recommend it.  I read the whole thing in one sitting, staying up nearly all night to finish.

I've mentioned that the weather has been really hot lately.  Today broke the cycle, it rained on and off all night and today was cloudy and blustery and rainy all day.  We're getting the bottom edge of a tropical depression or cyclone or some such and it means that the temps have stayed reasonable all day.  I'm loving it.  In fact I'm told we're starting into the rainy season soon and I say bring it on.  The heat is a bit much.

Even though we are busy during the week, we aren't letting that stop us from doing fun stuff on the weekends.  Last week we decided to ride our bikes up to the top of Mt. Coot-Tha.  Apparently Coot-Tha is a bastardization of an Aboriginal word meaning honey.  And though it's not a mountain of the scale that we're used to in Colorado, it still is a pretty imposing presence in Brisbane.

We set off about 8:30 am on a Sunday, and that turns out to be too late to start.  The temps were in the middle 30s. (about 95f) and the sun was very intense.  Leah and her tiny little road bike kicked my butt getting to the top.  I found myself in 1st gear making about 4mph all the way to the top.  It took almost an hour to get up.  When we got to the top, I looked like this:

Laugh if you want, that's what Leah does every time she sees this photo.  In fact in all the time I've known her she's never laughed as hard as she did when she first looked at it.  

I regained what dignity I could muster and managed to enjoy the view for a while.  It was quite nice actually to see Brisbane from above.  We pestered another sightseer into taking our photo.  It was a little hazy but still worth it.  If you look on the right side and see the large blueish looking building there, we live a couple of blocks from that.

After about thirty minutes on top, we set off back to our place.  We decided to take the long way back and around the mountain, figuring it would be downhill all the way home.  Boy was that wrong.

Almost imediately we were heading uphill again and we spent almost another hour climbing.  I was hot before and now I was hot and bothered. 

[ Leah's Interjection: Let's just say when we took off to go the "long" way around I was ahead of Todd and saw another ginormous hill. I knew Todd was not going to be happy, especially since it took quite a bit of convincing on my part that we should give the roundabout way a go. "Todd, come on, were at the top. There's no way there is going to be more hills."  Anyway,  I luckily turned around just in time to witness Todd's look of horror at the brutal hill followed by his favorite 4-lettered curse word, rhymes with truck, echoing off the mountain. Okay, continue] 

Along the way we saw a sign for a waterfall.  The sign promised it was only 500 metres up the track.  I was quick to say let's do it.  I mean, it's hot and a waterfall would be so refreshing.  So we headed off road and onto a hiking track.  The walk was only about a quarter mile so it really didn't take us too long.  But we weren't really prepared for what we were about to see.  I'll let the picture speak for itself.

Note to self, DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT WALK OFF TRAIL TO SEE A WATERFALL ON TOP OF A MOUNTAIN IF IT HASN'T RAINED IN WEEKS! 

As you can see, it was a bit anticlimactic.  Not exactly what we were expecting but funny none the less.  You can't see that behind me from where I took this photo there was a drop off of about twenty feet, but there was little more than a trickle of water.  I'm sure it would be impressive after a big rain fall, but it just wasn't our day.

Shortly after the waterfall hike, we did finally get the uphill portion over with and the fun of riding downhill made up for all the pain.  We were going over 40mph down the hill and could have gone faster if our nerves would have allowed.  For the record Leah made 43 while I only made 42.  Blerg!

Tomorrow:  Rubber Band Ball Updates!