Birthday weekend

Dear Reader,

Hi there. How are you? Welcome to another midweek post. I just had a wonderful weekend in Canberra with my girlfriend. It was great to have someone with me to celebrate my birthday.

We spent a lot of time eating. We also spent time walking and enjoying the glorious weather. I recommend it if you’ve never visited the National Arboretum on a fine sunny day.

Two before ten, Aranda 10 Yards (the evening restaurant)

Entrée

Antipasto Plate for 2

This is a share plate of locally sourced cured meats and cheeses, garden salad, Urban Farm lavosh crackers and pickled vegetables. It was more than enough for two people and would probably be enough for the main meal.

Main meals

We shared the mushroom ragu and a special on the menu, viz., confit chicken Maryland.

The ragu included:

  • Aranda grown mushrooms.
  • Roasted tomato and garlic.
  • Garden herbs.
  • Shallots with Urban Farm pappardelle and pecorino cheese.

The confit chicken Maryland included chorizo sausage with cannellini beans. The borborygmi and the aftereffects that evening were delightful!

These dishes were large and probably too much after the antipasto. I’d probably think about sharing a single main course dish for future reference. Both dishes were delicious; however, I liked the ragu more than the chicken.

Dessert

We shared a single serve of bread-and-butter pudding, ice cream, and butterscotch sauce. More than enough, this was a nice, sweet end to a good meal.

Food 4/5

Service 3/5

Stella’s by the lake

One morning we both enjoyed Eggs Benedict with bacon at Stella’s. Stella’s is an excellent go-to local café for coffee and a solid breakfast or brunch, given the proximity to where I live.

Food 4/5

Coffee 4/5

Cheese

Rather than lunch each day, we indulged in cheeses. A blue, a brie, a cheddar, a Pink Lady apple, Bartlett pear, and crackers. We went with Olina’s Bakehouse cranberry and sunflower seeds.

Cheeses, crackers, apple, and Haigh’s freckles with a glass of Blackwell Shiraz

Aubergine

One evening, we dined at Aubergine. It was nice to dress up a little and enjoy the quiet ambience of this well-known Canberra restaurant.

The five-course meal begins with snacks and ends with petit fours. There was seafood in the form of Murray River Cod and yabby. There was poultry in the form of quail and mammal meat in the form of lamb, including excellent lamb shoulder beignet balls.

The food was delicate and artistic in terms of plating and arrangement. Each dish combined flavours so that each could be distinguished along with the textures of each element. Some were surprising, and all were delicious.

The service was outstanding. It was friendly, informative, and attentive.

Food 5/5

Service 5/5

Birrigai café

This café is located within the IRT Kangara Waters Retirement Village. Given my age, it felt comforting to be here enjoying a breakfast of light, fluffy pancakes, a jug of maple syrup, and a ramekin filled with a red berry compote. 🤣

Food 5/5

Turkish Pide House

Rather than go out, we got a takeaway from this long term established purveyor of Turkish delights. The starting combo box had zucchini balls, potato balls, and börek along with garlic yoghurt. The pizza had pumpkin, rosemary, garlic and feta and mozzarella cheese.

The serving size is always huge here, and I had leftover pizza for another night.

Food 5/5

Ricardo’s café and patisserie

Ricardo’s cafe and patisserie is in Jamison Plaza.

We had granola with banana brûlée for breakfast and an excellent coffee one morning.

One evening we bought pastries for the birthday cake. We enjoyed two creative desserts, which were out of this world good.

Food 5/5

Service 4/5

Final thoughts

It has been a fantastic weekend. Again, I took no photographs because I was focused on enjoying the whole experience.

The food and service ratings I’ve given should be considered in terms of:

1/5 Poor

2/5 Not satisfactory

3/5 Satisfactory

4/5 Good

5/5 Outstanding

A shout out to friends with Facebook pages

A shout out to friends with Facebook pages

It’s been a little while since I last posted anything here. I wanted this post to be a shout out to some friends’ Facebook pages and a roundup of what has happened for me in the last week. If you have Facebook pages please feel free to leave a link to them in the comments below.

I’d like to mention a couple of European blogging friends.


Ana Calin

The first is Ana Calin. Ana is an author of suspense fiction and she has a passion for psychology. Ana regularly shares psychological profile questionnaires which are fun to take and learn from. For example, Ana will share a photograph or painting and ask her readers to look at a short selection of possible captions. You need to make your choice quickly without spending too much time ‘thinking’ it through. Down the page is a list of possible interpretations.

Ana is an active responder to comments so if you want an interactive blogger Ana is great. She also has a Facebook page.



Medical Fun Facts Podcast

Okay so here is a little bit of self-promotion. A friend at work inspired me to start a podcast on medical fun facts. This started when my friend, let’s call her KMV, was working in a short-term task force and I’d visit from time to time in my role as a medical adviser. Because I like to tell stories, KMV asked for a medical fun fact each time I visited. That was a while back and now KMV is in another area and we’re working together on one or two pieces of policy work.

low-res-copy-cropped

So MFF started as a podcast on my ‘professional’ webpage and KMV suggested putting it up on iTunes. It turns out it is dead easy if you’re using a Squarespace site to load a podcast and have it submitted to the iTunes podcast store.

If you want to listen and read each show head on over to https://drgarylum.com/blog/ and check it out. Now remember the emphasis is on fun which can also mean frivolous but facts are facts. These are short snippets of information with a little jargon, some strine and hopefully a laugh every now and then. So far I have ten shows on the blog.

Do you like listening to podcasts on your iOS device? Head over to the iTunes store and subscribe. The link is https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/blog-gary-lum/id1170771102

I’d love it if you subscribed if you like what you hear. Please also rate (5 stars would be great) and review in the iTunes store. If you do, it helps iTunes rank the podcast higher so others can find it. Thank you.

You can also get the shows at the Facebook Page. Please like it and you’ll receive a notification with each new episode.


Jasper and Myrtle Chocolates

My dear friends Peter and Li Peng are going gang busters with their handmade chocolate business, Jasper and Myrtle Chocolates.

I’m in a very fortunate position to see them every so often and I get to sample chocolate. If you live in or near Canberra you’ll be able to find Peter and Li Peng at various markets. You’ll also find their products in various outlets around Canberra. If you don’t live near Canberra, you can still try their award winning chocolate by putting an order in through their website.

Award winning Jasper and Myrtle Chocolates Gary Lum
Award winning Jasper and Myrtle Chocolates | The “Silk Road” Rocky road is to die for. It’s amazing. 

They have a Facebook page and you should read the reviews.

If you like chocolate, you need to get onto this straight away!

Both Peter and Li Peng are talented in the kitchen too. Last night we had a meal which started with salt and pepper squid, then a massive steam boat (no photographs, I was too busy talking and eating), then a gorgeous tiramisu which was followed by homemade baklava.

Peter's delicious salt and pepper squid Gary Lum
Peter’s delicious salt and pepper squid

Peter's Tiramisu Gary Lum
Peter’s Tiramisu. It was delicious.


My weekly roundup

I had a really big week. It started with a publication in the Medical Journal of Australia. I also gave evidence at a Senate hearing in Sydney. On Friday I started experiencing the symptoms of man flu.

Here’s what I ate and some other stuff too!

Almond crusted custard filled croissant from Ricardo's cafe and patisserie, Jamison #afternoontea #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon
Almond crusted custard filled croissant from Ricardo’s cafe and patisserie, Jamison
#afternoontea #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon

Best way to start Monday morning. Urban Bean Espresso Bar #coffee #canberra #cbr #woden #iphone
Best way to start Monday morning. Urban Bean Espresso Bar #coffee
#canberra #cbr #woden #iphone

Cheesy streaky bacon wrapped Chicken Maryland on quinoa rice with baby broccoli and avocado
Cheesy streaky bacon wrapped Chicken Maryland on quinoa rice with baby broccoli and avocado

Chicken, bacon and avocado sandwich from Urban Bean Espresso Bar #lunch #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #iphone
Chicken, bacon and avocado sandwich from Urban Bean Espresso Bar
#lunch #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #iphone

Public art at Canberra Airport
Public art at Canberra Airport

Coffee at Canberra Airport
Coffee at Canberra Airport

Yoghurt at Canberra Airport
Yoghurt at Canberra Airport

Payday #coffee from Urban Bean Espresso Bar and reading George Korch one of my favourite people. #lovemyjob #canberra #cbr #woden #iphone
Payday #coffee from Urban Bean Espresso Bar and reading George Korch one of my favourite people.
#lovemyjob #canberra #cbr #woden #iphone

#PayDay potato scallops for the win #lovemyjob #iphone #lunch #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood Gary Lum
#PayDay potato scallops for the win
#lovemyjob #iphone #lunch #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood

Slowly cooked oyster blade steak with potato chips and avocado #dinner #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon Gary Lum
Slowly cooked oyster blade steak with potato chips and avocado
#dinner #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon

Seafood basket with chips and gravy from The Canberra Hospital tuck shop Gary Lum
Seafood basket with chips and gravy from The Canberra Hospital tuck shop

Apple and walnut scroll
Apple and walnut scroll

Steak and cheese sandwich for #nationalsandwichday #TGIF #dinner #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon Gary Lum
Steak and cheese sandwich for #nationalsandwichday #TGIF
#dinner #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon

#ManFlu Cheesy scrambled eggs with streaky bacon Saturday morning edition #breakfast #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon Gary Lum
#ManFlu Cheesy scrambled eggs with streaky bacon Saturday morning edition
#breakfast #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon

Christmas tree at Westfield Belconnen. It seems way too early for this. Gary Lum
Christmas tree at Westfield Belconnen. It seems way too early for this.

Perfect Saturday morning coffee from Everbean Espresso Bar Gary Lum
Perfect Saturday morning coffee from Everbean Espresso Bar

Crispy streaky bacon and fried eggs Gary Lum
Crispy streaky bacon and fried eggs

#ManFlu Drinking #Coffee and working at Everbean Espresso Bar #morningtea #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #iphone Gary Lum
#ManFlu Drinking #Coffee and working at Everbean Espresso Bar
#morningtea #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #iphone

Award winning Jasper and Myrtle Chocolates Gary Lum
Award winning Jasper and Myrtle Chocolates

I'm standing on Beissel Street looking towards Lake Ginninderra and there is a car park in between despite the sign. Gary Lum
I’m standing on Beissel Street looking towards Lake Ginninderra and there is a car park in between despite the sign.

51 today | My birthday 2016

I’m 51 today.  It’s been a pretty good day. I woke up at 4.30 with rain falling. 

I started the day with my favourite drink. Coffee made with condensed milk.


Happy birthday to me

Breakfast

My birthday breakfast was a simple omelet

Birthday Cheese omelet
Birthday Cheese omelet

Lunch

I had a Yum Cha lunch with Bron at the Dumpling Inn. Sorry, no photographs.

Birthday viewing

The best view today was a FaceTime session with my daughters.

I also watched a couple of my favourite movies, viz., Crimson Tide and The Hunt for Red October. I like submarine movies especially two movies with Star Trek connections. Can you guess what they are?

Birthday exercise

I went for a walk around Lake Ginninderra. It rained three times, only lightly mind you. It was nice getting wet 51 today.



How is 51 different to 50?

Last year I celebrated my 50th birthday in Brisbane. The highlights of turning 50 in Australia include a faecal occult blood test and for some a colonoscopy

I’ve recently been enjoying some workplace training which has included sessions on persuasion and self awareness. The self awareness session reminded me of the importance of reflection. Birthdays are good for reflection. I spent a good portion of today reflecting on the last year.

Birthday disappointment

My footy team the Brisbane Broncos was defeated by the Cronulla Sharks.

Birthday dinner

I was thinking of making baked salmon but after a huge Yum Cha lunch I settled for a cake. I got the Big Boy from Ricardo’s Cafe and Patisserie

Big Boy from Ricardo's Cafe and PatisserieBig Boy from Ricardo's Cafe and Patisserie split open to show the mousse centre

Other birthday highlights

One of the great things about social media is the messages from friends and contacts. 

I really enjoyed the messages on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

 

Final birthday thoughts

How do you feel about birthdays? Do you celebrate? Do you look forward to them anymore?


What I ate this week

In the last week I have really eaten quite a lot. I won’t go through every meal but just the ones that I have photographs for.

Last Sunday I turned 51 and I bought a cake to celebrate.

Big Boy from Ricardo's Cafe and Patisserie
Big Boy from Ricardo’s Cafe and Patisserie

This is from Ricardo’s Cafe and Patisserie in the Jamison Plaza shops. This is known as the Big Boy. It’s slightly larger than a softball but the crispy nutty chocolate shell contains a rich chocolate mousse. It was delicious.

Readers who follow me on other social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter will have noticed that my lunch photographs have taken on an artistic background in the last week. I found an old 2008 calendar and thought it would make a nice backdrop. It’s quite large and it has some interesting subject matter.

Because my leftover meals tend to look ‘beige’ as some friends say (meaning bland and unappealing) I’ve been experimenting with black and white.

Monday lunch was leftover lamb forequarter chops

Leftover lamb forequarter chops
Leftover lamb forequarter chops

Monday dinner was baked salmon

Honey soy baked salmon with vegetables
Honey soy baked salmon with vegetables

Tuesday breakfast was fried eggs and cheese

Fried eggs and cheese
Fried eggs and cheese

Tuesday morning coffee from Urban Bean Espresso Bar

Coffee from Urban Bean Espresso Bar
Coffee from Urban Bean Espresso Bar

Tuesday lunch was leftover chicken giblet congee

Leftover chicken giblet congee with black fungus and an artistic background. Where is that hand going?
Leftover chicken giblet congee with black fungus and an artistic background. Where is that hand going?

Tuesday afternoon tea

Crunchie bar with note paper
Crunchie bar with note paper

Tuesday dinner was baked salmon and crunchy rice

Baked salmon with fried quinoa rice
Baked salmon with fried quinoa rice

Wednesday lunch was leftover forequarter lamb chops

Leftover slow cooker lamb forequarter chops with potatoes and quinoa rice
Leftover slow cooker lamb forequarter chops with potatoes and quinoa rice

Wednesday dinner was Chicken Maryland and crunchy rice

Chicken Maryland with crunchy quinoa rice, avocado, Brussels sprouts and cheesy potato gems
Chicken Maryland with crunchy quinoa rice, avocado, Brussels sprouts and cheesy potato gems

Thursday breakfast was a Snickers bar. I had a 6 am teleconference.

Snickers on my keyboard
Snickers on my keyboard

Thursday lunch was leftover slow cooker beef

Leftover slow cooker beef and vegetables
Leftover slow cooker beef and vegetables

Thursday afternoon tea was charity chocolate

Turkish delight and picnic chocolate on my keyboard
Turkish delight and picnic chocolate on my keyboard

Thursday dinner was Chicken Maryland with crunchy noodles

Baked cheesy Chicken Maryland with crunchy noodles and cheesy potato gems
Baked cheesy Chicken Maryland with crunchy noodles and cheesy potato gems

Baked cheesy Chicken Maryland with crunchy noodles and cheesy potato gems
Baked cheesy Chicken Maryland with crunchy noodles and cheesy potato gems

Friday breakfast was a cheese and spring onion omelet

Cheese and spring onion omelet
Cheese and spring onion omelet

Friday lunch wasn’t leftovers. Normally on Fridays I work in ACT Pathology at The Canberra Hospital. This Friday though we had senate budget estimates so I had to be at my regular job. I ended up driving to Parliament House twice and didn’t get asked anything which I’m not unhappy about. I’ve had a bit to say over the last couple of estimates hearings and gave evidence at a senate inquiry hearing towards the end of April. So for Friday lunch I splurged a bit and enjoyed a Pork belly cheeseburger with a really nice jalapeño aioli from Urban Bean Espresso Bar.

2016-05-06_08.34.48_001_GARY_LUM_IG

Pork belly with Jalapeño aioli cheese burger and chips from Urban Bean Espresso Bar
Pork belly with Jalapeño aioli cheese burger and chips from Urban Bean Espresso Bar

2016-05-06_10.30.14_001_GARY_LUM_IG

Friday dinner was a simple affair. The Australian Kangaroos were playing a rugby league test match against the New Zealand Kiwis so I needed some footy food. In the end I went to Coles and bought a couple of beef and mushroom meat pies for dinner. I used Adobe Photoshop to create the Green and Gold background in support of the Australian team which contained most of what I hope are the Queensland team for this year’s State of Origin series.

Beef and mushroom meat pie
Beef and mushroom meat pie

Saturday breakfast was in the QANTAS club at the Canberra International Airport. I went with a slice of rain toast, a glass of tomato juice and a small latte.

Raisin toast with coffee
Raisin toast with coffee

The flight to Brisbane was pretty smooth. I ended up in an armrest battle. Have you had one of those?

I ended up eating second breakfast!

Breakfast on QF948 CBR to BNE
Breakfast on QF948 CBR to BNE

I flew to Brisbane for my eldest daughter’s twenty-first birthday. Ms21 is a qualified event planner/manager so we had a really nice party with family and her friends.

Mum and Dad took me out to lunch to Portabella Restaurant to celebrate my birthday from last week. We also had Ms18 and Miss15 with us too. Ms18 is now Ms19 so it was a celebration for her too. Yes, my two eldest daughters were born on the same day.

Mum, Dad, Larissa and Nicola
Mum, Dad, Larissa and Nicola

Larissa and Nicola
Larissa and Nicola

I was going to asked for the pork belly or the lamb shank but the fish of the day was a wild caught fresh north Queensland barramundi. My mouth started to salivate.

Crispy skin barramundi with duck fat sauteed potatoes
Crispy skin barramundi with duck fat sauteed potatoes

It wasn’t what I was hoping for. The skin was crispy. The duck fat sautéed potatoes were nice. It looked nice but the barra wasn’t pleasant to eat. It wasn’t moist and flaky. It was spongy and bits clung to the teeth. Barramundi can be difficult to cook, it is bad undercooked and easy to overcook. I suppose having lived in the Top End for nearly 12 years I was spoilt. I’ll know next time to ask for something else like the pork or the lamb.

For afternoon tea I had a vanilla slice

Vanilla slice
Vanilla slice

For Saturday evening we celebrated Ms20’s 21st birthday. No food photographs sorry but here are some photographs from the evening.

Grace and Rhys Grace, Larissa, Nicola, Mum and Dad Grace, Mum and Dad Grace and Samantha

Chinese Lantern made by the birthday girl
Chinese Lantern made by the birthday girl

Grace, Larissa and Nicola at #GraceLum21 Grace, Larissa, Nicola and Samantha

Sunday Mother’s day breakfast at Groove Train Chermside

Hearty vegetarian at Groove Train
Hearty vegetarian at Groove Train

The hearty vegetarian always a good choice and better when Mum gave me some bacon from her Eggs Benedict.

I hope you had a good week!

Standing rib eye roast beef

Standing rib eye roast beef is one of my favourite roasts. The meat near the rib bones is always tender and it’s always moist. Not as much flavour as the blade and other cuts but the fatty loose tissue near the bone is to die for.

With Australia Day coming up on Tuesday 26 January I was thinking of either lamb or beef. There is now an undue amount of commercial pressure to eat lamb on Australia Day. The advertising campaign has been very successful. Check out this year’s advertisement. I’m sorry there is a little Channel 7 at the end.

So I’ve decided to cook the rib eye roast tonight and I’ll have lamb on Australia Day.

Standing rib eye roast beef
Recipe Type: Dinner
Cuisine: Australian
Author: [url href=”http://garylum.me” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”]Gary Lum[/url]
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • Standing rib eye roast 1 kilogram
  • [cap id=”attachment_15562″ align=”alignnone” width=”1200″][url href=”undefined”][img src=”https://yummylummy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/2016-01-24_11.12.54_005_GARY_LUM_FB.jpg” width=”1200″ height=”1200″ class=” size-full” title=”Roast beef” alt=”Photograph of Roast rib eye beef standing rib roast”][/url]Roast rib eye beef standing rib roast[/cap]
  • Onion
  • Lemon
  • Carrots
  • Red quinoa
  • White quinoa
  • Green peppercorns
  • Kale coleslaw
  • Mixed nuts crushed
  • Kensington Pride mango
Instructions
  1. In a baking tray may a trivet with onion and add the lemon, quinoa, and carrots
  2. Cook at 140 °C for thee hours
  3. Prepare a salad with kale coleslaw, crushed mixed nuts and mango
  4. When the roast is finished cooking, all it to rest for 20 minutes
  5. Scoop out the quinoa and peppercorns and add to the coleslaw as a dressing
  6. Cut between the bones and vacuum pack on half for another meal
  7. Serve up and shoot a photograph
  8. Eat the meal and hope I can digest it all before dessert
  9. Wash the dishes
  10. Write the recipe
  11. Blog (verb)

Here are some photographs of my rib eye roast. It was worth waiting for this.

Photograph of Roast rib eye beef standing rib roast
Roast rib eye beef standing rib roast

Photograph of baking tray with vegetables
Baking tray with vegetables

Photograph of Roast rib eye beef standing rib roast
Roast rib eye beef standing rib roast

Photograph of Roast rib eye beef standing rib roast
Roast rib eye beef standing rib roast

Roast rib eye beef standing rib roast
Roast rib eye beef standing rib roast

Standing rib eye roast beef with mango, quinoa, kale and nut coleslaw served with carrots, onion and green peppercorns
Standing rib eye roast beef with mango, quinoa, kale and nut coleslaw served with carrots, onion and green peppercorns

Earlier in the afternoon I had a Full Moon cake from Ricardo’s cafe and patisserie at Jamison.

Photograph of Full Moon from Ricardo's cafe and patisserie
Full Moon from Ricardo’s cafe and patisserie

Do you like rib eye roast beef? How do you cook it?