Food

My life is so full of food.  I am very lucky that some of it has been extraordinarily good.  Here are some of my top food experiences:

• New York Strip cooked Black and Blue
• Waygu steak cooked rare at the Red Oak Brewery - Sydney
• Hianese Chicken Rice - Singapore
• Mum's hot chocolate - the memory is probably better than the reality
• Chili candied olives at Barrenjoey House - Sydney
• Polenta for breakfast with pickled ginger and tamari
• Uncle David's Baked Cheesecake (which he won't make any more!)
• Tempura prawn roll at Izumi, Manly
• Freshly Baked warm sourdough bread with chive marscapone at Shore's restaurant, Mosman
• A firm goat's cheese with pear paste in the among the vines at McGuigan's, Hunter Valley.

This list is all I can remember at the moment.

This year I hope to eat at Tetsuya's and Bilson's and the Bather's Pavillion.

They don't seem to have very vegetarian menu's at these places but since I actually love meat and seafood and it's a once in a life time thing I might eat some.  I know at Tetsuy'as you don't have a choice as there is a degustation menu, which features seafood.

Pictures Galore

These are my last to Bentos for my Beau.  This one is based on a roast chicken dinner and pasta salad.

This bento is based on pasta salad, steak with Mango Mojo salsa and a roast beetroot and halomi salad.

This is my outfit for my Mum's 50th Birthday Dinner.  I thought it looked a little mod or like a girl who used to sell cigars and cigarettes.  My Aunt said I looked like I was out of the Jetsons.

Here are lots of photos from over the Australia Day weekend and my Mum's 50th.

Here is the whole family singing Happy Birthday to Mum with the Lemon Tart that we made together.  Her favourtie.

Coco helped her Mum and Grandma to make the Lemon Tart

Making the pastry from scratch.

Happy Australia Day!

 My Top 5 Australian Things

1.  The Australia Day Celebration happening at Dee Why Beach (Vintage Cars, Sausage Sizzle, Nippers, Pipe and Drum Bands and a Cuban-sounding band  - of which only 2 are actually Australian - which leads me on to....)

2.  Being so multi-cultural.  I can't imagine life without sushi train, espresso, capricoskas, paella, and the great Italian restaurant around the corner.  In Australia we have the best of all these things because the people who invented then live around the corner.

3.  Kylie.

4.  The landscapes - so different depending on where you are, but they are all beautiful.

5.  Democracy.  Even if you don't always get what you want you do get to have your say.

To celebrate today, we are having people over for a BBQ and to listen to the Triple J Hottest 100 count down (not my taste but can't be un-Australian).

I am making a pasta salad with roast veggies and frozen cocktails.

Mercury Rising

I cannot believe how hot it is!

However I am coping a little better now I have been for a swim and had a Champagne!

Alas, I have no photos to post from my holiday at Jindabyne because the beau decided to go and take the camera to Big Day Out and lost it!  He had fun though.

Over the next few days I'm hoping to get ready for back to school and actually be excited about about going back to work.  Like I was when I was little and just dying to get back to school and have homework to do.  No surprise I am a teacher!

The things I want to do before I go back to work are:

• Send out engagement party invites
• Have all my uni materials ready to go 
• Have my timetable sorted out and have confirmed all lessons for week 2 of term.
• Have the apartment perfect so I don't have to feel guilty about that.
• I wanted to have the ironing done but that will never happen in this heat!
  

In the next few days I will take some photos of everything that's happen so my posts look a little more interesting!

Outfit

Here is an outfit which I thought was lovely and cool for this hot weather.  Here is a slightly different pin curl set.  I still have to pull hair back on one side however.

I have been working with different effects on the iPhoto and I think that the Sepia and Antique finishes are the best.

Here are some other photos from the beau and my dates with the city (we have been trying to make Monday and Tuesday "do things" days).

This picture is from our picnic at Bronte day (it was lovely and not crowded at all).

This is a snapshot from Jamberoo - where we did indeed control the action!  I even jumped off a 3m drop!  Not much for some yes but for the world's biggest wimp (I couldn't do it last time we went)- it was a triumph!

Last night Mum and I watched the Jane Austen book club.  I have read all of her works bar -  Northhanger Abbey - and I really enjoyed it.  I thought that some of the plot was stupid at the end.  For one, if my husband wanted me back after he left for another woman I would hit him, and on the other hand if my husband was such a jerk that he canceled a trip to Paris for a basketball game I would also hit him and not want to "persuade" ourselves that we had anything in common.

Maybe I will re-read to confirm that they missed the fact that Jane was not so good as to forgive as her characters did so often.  Elizabeth Bennett was a make-believe character -not a self portrait!  But in the film they did mention the Patrick O'Brian naval series (with is set at the same time as Austen but written by a contemporary of ours) and I happen to be re-reading that series as we speak (I am half way through number 5  (14.5 left to go!).

Sunday

Here are my weekend photos:

This is with my hair pin-curled the night before.   =I had my new favourite pini on to do housework (as you can see behind)

This is similar to my other photo but front on and with an antique effect.

These photos are of my leftovers for the week.  So much waste.  This week I'm going to try and make smaller portions and use bits in my bentos (I have joined the Just Bento challenge).  Here are my new bentos:

Letting Go

On Thursday I was going to write a blog with this title but it went out of my mind.

I was lying down doing meditation at the end of a Body Balance class at the gym and all of a sudden my mind took my back to one of the worst moments in my hospitality career, where i got a warning for something stupid.  I only worked there for 3 months and now I have my own successful business.  Why is it that something like that can still upset me so much?

I have to learn to not think about it.  I guess I was just really embarrassed as people would think of me as that girl, and normally I am so conscientious.

This morning I had a fight with the beau about my brother going away when he owes us rent money.  He paid last week for the first time and I think that if we just go on the way we are he will pay every week.  but the beau wants him to ay the last four weeks as well now that he has some work.  I just think why discourage him when he is trying to do the right thing.  Say thanks and encourage him.  

The beau says that he had to pay his way his whole life and that he hates people who were brought up with a silver spoon in their mouth (my brother owes several family members what I think is a lot of money).  Well, we were brought up by the same people and he is living in an apartment with discounted rent because it is owned by a relative.

I feel like he is having a dig at me as well as my brother.  The beau also said that as soon as we took a step forward we take one backwards.  Meaning that when we got engaged my brother moved in.  Well my brother moved in before we got engaged - I didn't know he was going to propose.

I didn't raise my voice throughout this (I have a hideous temper) or say anything mean, apart from I wanted to move out if that was what he thought of me really.  Maybe we are too different.  I haven't suffered through half of what he had known in his life and we just don't come from the same viewpoint. 

Will this make a difference in the long run?  What if we are arguing the same thing about our children.

Does he resent my brother?  Is he jealous?  My brother life is not really to be envied (he has a new business, a on/off girlfriend, lives with his sister and her fiance, owes huge amounts of money and is owed money by his old boss).  Whereas the beau has a new career ahead of him, is just engaged (to someone who loves him very much), is living in a nice home and we have plans or the future.

I hope he doesn't make me choose.  I know that my brother would have a hard time dealing with it if I chose my beau.  I know he needs to toughen up but he is my baby brother.  I want to look out for him.  The beaus little sister is the same.  Is this a younger sibling thing?

I know that if I chose my brother I would not be forgiven.  Ever.  That would be it. 

Bad tofu?

Today I am feeling a little worse for wear due to some bad satay tofu (I'm not one for looking at expiry dates).

Other than that I have been going well being vegetarian.  On Friday however I did have fish and chips for lunch with my mother from Ocean Masters because it is her favourite.  I have to get to know what I can order at fast food places so I don't have to do it again.

I find that I am not missing the taste of meat at all.  I have even been editing my vast collection of recipe books down to ones the have a fair amount of vegetarian recipes in them.

The other most trying part of this is that people (mainly my Grandmother) think that it's absurd that I feel sorry for animals and don't want to eat all those hormones and antibiotics.  I'm not pushing for them to be vegetarian so why should they push for me to be an omnivore?

I am having my best friend and her boy over for dinner tonight so hopefully I will be able to make something nice.  I am thinking:

• Fresh sweet corn chowder (with bacon sprinkled on after serving)
• Pilaf with the chicken cooked separately
• Salad
• Ice-cream and hot chocolate (they don't drink tea or coffee.

Yesterday I also tried some new vegan foods:

• S0y King Butter (which doesn't melt so I think it's for sandwiches)
• Soy King Cream Cheese (this did melt and was great)

Below are some photos from dinner one night and a bush walk we did down to Elvina Bay (on the hottest day of the year - Tuesday).

This is a lovely dinner we had on the balcony with our new favourite wine - Knappstein Enterprise Cabernet Shiraz 2005.

Even Coco Chanel wanted to try it

This is the beau at the bottom of Lovitt Bay where there is supposed to be a swimming hole but as we have a drought - nothing.

The beau took these amazing pictures looking up at what normally is a waterfall.

Dissection of New Years Resolutions and lots of photos

Now I have time to think about what I'm doing here we go:...

1.  Do not eat meat this year and attempt to give up all dairy (cheese is my weakness!)

I am actually doing well with this.  So far I have tried tofu and tempeh and a few other vege alternatives (but not ones made from wheat).  I went to sushi train today with the boy and went - "they have nothing I can eat!" and then ate two pieces of salmon (not even a sustainable fish).  But then i found their menu and order a tamago nigri sushi (cold, sweetened egg omelette) and agadashi tofu and vegetable tempura.  It was all delicious and filing and healthy.

Plus I have started to lose a little weight - I guess from my cutting out most saturated fats - bonus!

2.  Go to Church more often - I really feel at peace with the world after service.  Also offer to take Sunday school once at month (there is not one now)

I have the world's worst temper and I know that by going and spending time reflecting on my life and my choices and feeling positive about myself i can deal with my anger and be a better person.  Plus I love all of the oldies at church - they are very sweet.

3.  Make time to go to the gym every second day - ideally every day

I have not done so well on this one yet.  Again going to the gym is a little me time that I need to unwind and think through things.  It also is good for my health.  I am hoping to go Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  I am going to stop using the excuse of there not being a class on.  The other day I went to the gym at 6 am and it was bliss - there was no one there - I could even have a clean shower.  

Yesterday I read SKM interview on TWW and she said the she was attacked for trying to look her best at the gym - well I am going into bat for her team and am going to try and look my best going to, at and coming home from the gym.  I have even gotten my gym bag all ready with everything I need to be glam.

4.  Do not take on work on my days off - I deserve a rest!

This will allow me to get stuff done and also to take time out for my university work (hopefully this will be my last year). 

5.  Save $50 a week for my wedding

This will start when I go back to work as I have no income until then.  I will stick it in an account and not touch it.

6.  Do my university  work at least a few days before it's due

Last  year I remember feeling sick at the thought of not getting my university work in on time.  It is only through the extreme generosity of my lecturers that I passed this year.

7.  Try and let the little things go that annoy me.

This applies mainly to picking things up and cleaning and there being no parking etc.  I am just going to accept it and move on.

Also while reading SKM (I am obsessed) I noted that she spoke with her Grandma about the amount of stuff that she goes around picking u and her Nanna says she didn't have to pick up so much stuff because  she didn't have so much stuff.  So therefore I'm going to get rid off stuff -  I have already started but forgot to drop it off at Vinnie's, so now it's crap in my car!

I have since this time thought of a few more that I want to implement:

8.  Try and have some sort of intimate moment with the boy every day - a nice hug and a kiss will do.  I have read that intimacy goes downhill when you are married.  I don't want to begin with birthdays and anniversaries!

9.  Not buy any magazines from this moment on.  Earlier today I bought 3 and read them in about 5 minutes and thought what a waste of money.  I can just look online for all my wedding things.