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Blogs and dogs

It’s been a while since I’ve done a link love post here on Yummy Lummy.

I want to share some link love with two bloggers for whom there is a canine connection. Both own dogs and one blogs about her dog every day. The other blogs about a couple of webcomics she writes and she has a dog. I know this may be a tenuous connection but I needed a hook for the title and I communicate with each of them nearly every day through social media.

Jennifer P

The first blogger is Jennifer P. I’ve mentioned Jennifer a few times previously on Yummy Lummy. Jennifer is an independent author of fiction for children and teens as well as the creator of a couple of webcomics. She is very artistic.

Sarah and Choppy

The second blogger is Sarah. Sarah likes to travel with her dog Choppy. Although of late, Sarah and Choppy have limited their travel to daily walks.

The nice thing is that Jennifer and Sarah know each other.

The Canine Connection

So what’s the canine connection with Jennifer I hear you ask? Jennifer has recently started posting to Instagram and she has a great Vimeo channel. A recent video (on her Patreon site) was of her dog, Siggi going on a walk. Siggi has this bright blue illuminated collar which he wears to increase his visibility on footpaths. Jennifer has mentioned that sometimes cyclists ride on footpaths and it sounds like little Siggi can be easily missed. The collar is like a high visibility jacket.

Webcomics

Jennifer has a couple of webcomics and derives some money from a patreon account and the sale of webcomic-related merchandise. One of the comics, viz., Little Monster Girl is not safe for work NSFW. There’s nothing particularly offensive about LMG except it’s about Zela a little monster girl and her adventures in her comic realm. The thing that makes LMG NSFW is that she’s usually topless and she has large boobs. Then there is Lulu, Lulu has no knees and she has even larger boobs.

Jennifer’s other webcomic is titled There’s Something Wrong with Everyone. This is a quirky funny comic on Tapastic. This is safe for work SFW and is a bit of fun.

If you like a funny quirky read I can recommend both webcomics. Don’t expect too much from either comic and everything will be okay.

The Adventures of Choppy

So Sarah has a dog, viz., Choppy (F) and a cat, viz., Schooner (M) [BTW Jennifer has a cat too, viz., Mr Ashe]. Choppy features in four blog genres.

  1. Where’s Choppy? In these posts Sarah shoots a photograph of a scene with Choppy in it. It’s usually not obvious where Choppy is. It’s the reader’s task to find Choppy. Sarah usually follows up within a few days with the location.
  2. Howlidays are basically memes where Sarah hangs a sign around Choppy’s neck with a funny quote or slogan. Sarah also writes on a card and places it in front of Schooner’s fore paws. I’m guessing Schooner won’t let anything hang around his neck. The words on the card are usually a smart reply to the words on the sign around Choppy’s neck. Sometimes there are outtakes suggesting Schooner is very much his own cat. I’m hoping for some video violence in the future to add some excitement!
  3. Dog walk challenges are daily posts with a photograph of at least Choppy or a scene on Sarah’s walks plus some walk statistics.
  4. Corny dog jobs are irregular, associated often with holidays, but consist of up to a handful of memes featuring Choppy, usually in some fancy dress and jokes written in meme form. Most of these will give you a giggle, some make cause you to scratch your head and occasionally you will LMAO.

Choppy is a very forgiving girl and I often wonder about the relationship between her and Sarah!

Social media

You can find Sarah, Schooner and Choppy on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

You can find Jennifer and sometimes Siggi and Mr Asche on Instagram, Twitter and Twitter.

So what have I been up to over the last week?

I know you want to know what I’ve eaten and what else I’ve photographed this week!

Last night I caught up with a friend from the Northern Territory. She’s now a rural and remote general practitioner but when I knew her she was an excellent medical laboratory scientist who I worked with across the NT. She was in town for the Rural Medicine Australia conference. About nine of us dined at Aubergine. The reservation was set for 8.30 pm. That’s the time I go to bed. I was surprised I stayed awake but it was a fantastic night. I had so much fun. The food was also fantastic. We had a four-course meal plus canapes.

  1. Salad of local asparagus, crispy quail egg, grilled avocado and toasted buckwheat.
  2. Lamb rump and sweetbreads, broad beans, black garlic and celtuce.
  3. Beef rib eye, mustard butter, cippolini onion, pumpkin and zucchini.
  4. Brown butter ice cream, almond praline, and frozen lemon myrtle milk.

No photographs because I was too busy talking and eating.

Black swans and cygnets on Lake Ginninderra #canberra #belconnen #lakeginninderra #sonyalpha #lightroom #aurorahdr #hdr Gary Lum
Black swans and cygnets on Lake Ginninderra
#canberra #belconnen #lakeginninderra #sonyalpha #lightroom #aurorahdr #hdr
Budgerigar on Lake Ginninderra #visitcanberra #canberra #belconnen #lakeginninderra #sonyalpha #lightroom #aurorahdr #hdr Gary Lum
Juvenile red rumped parrot on Lake Ginninderra #visitcanberra #canberra #belconnen #lakeginninderra #sonyalpha #lightroom #aurorahdr #hdr
Lake Ginninderra in HDR Gary Lum
Lake Ginninderra in HDR
Lake Ginninderra in HDR #canberra #belconnen #lakeginninderra #cbr #visitcanberra #sonyalpha #lightroom #aurorahdr #hdr Gary Lum
Lake Ginninderra in HDR
#canberra #belconnen #lakeginninderra #cbr #visitcanberra #sonyalpha #lightroom #aurorahdr #hdr
Crispy streaky bacon and fried wasabi sesame seeded eggs with Worcestershire sauce #breakfast #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon Gary Lum
Crispy streaky bacon and fried wasabi sesame seeded eggs with Worcestershire sauce
#breakfast #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon
A pair of black swans and cygnets on Lake Ginninderra. I wonder if it is a cob and pen. Gary Lum
A pair of black swans and cygnets on Lake Ginninderra. I wonder if it is a cob and pen.
A pair of black swans and cygnets near Lake Ginninderra. I wonder if it is a cob and pen. #lakeginninderra #belconnen #canberra #cbr #visitcanberra #igerscanberra #australia #hdr #sonyalpha Gary Lum
A pair of black swans and cygnets near Lake Ginninderra. I wonder if it is a cob and pen.
#lakeginninderra #belconnen #canberra #cbr #visitcanberra #igerscanberra #australia #hdr #sonyalpha
Lake Ginninderra HDR Gary Lum
Lake Ginninderra HDR
#CloudPorn over #LakeGinninderra #belconnen #canberra #cbr #visitcanberra #igerscanberra #australia #hdr #sonyalpha Gary Lum
#CloudPorn over #LakeGinninderra #belconnen #canberra #cbr #visitcanberra #igerscanberra #australia #hdr #sonyalpha
Lake Ginninderra HDR Gary Lum
Lake Ginninderra HDR
Saturday morning coffee at Everbean Espresso Bar Gary Lum
Saturday morning coffee at Everbean Espresso Bar
Streaky bacon, fried eggs and cheese #breakfast #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon Gary Lum
Streaky bacon, fried eggs and cheese
#breakfast #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon
Rare Scotch rib eye fillet steak with chips and pepper sauce at the Canberra Southern Cross Club, Jamison #dinner #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #iphone Gary Lum
Rare Scotch rib eye fillet steak with chips and pepper sauce at the Canberra Southern Cross Club, Jamison
#dinner #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #iphone
Vanilla ice cream and salted caramel topping #dessert #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon Gary Lum
Vanilla ice cream and salted caramel topping
#dessert #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon
Fried chicken and roast vegetables from the Canberra Hospital's staff cafeteria Gary Lum
Fried chicken and roast vegetables from the Canberra Hospital’s staff cafeteria
Roast sesame Chicken Maryland with avocado and potato chips #dinner #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon Gary Lum
Roast sesame Chicken Maryland with avocado and potato chips
#dinner #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon
Really delicious mildly spicy payday butter chicken with Jasmine rice from Urban Bean Espresso Bar #lunch #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #iphone Gary Lum
Really delicious mildly spicy payday butter chicken with Jasmine rice from Urban Bean Espresso Bar
#lunch #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #iphone
Payday #coffee because specialist microbiologists do it with culture and sensitivity #coffee #tired #fatigue #science #medicine #pathology #truth Gary Lum
Payday #coffee because specialist microbiologists do it with culture and sensitivity
#coffee #tired #fatigue #science #medicine #pathology #truth
Public art in Woden on a cloudy Thursday morning Gary Lum
Public art in Woden on a cloudy Thursday morning
I really needed a good #coffee from Urban Bean Espresso Bar and a good read about the science of immunisation #coffee #immunisation #vaccination #science #vaccines #truth #medicine Gary Lum
I really needed a good #coffee from Urban Bean Espresso Bar and a good read about the science of immunisation
#coffee #immunisation #vaccination #science #vaccines #truth #medicine
Preparing for a big day at work. Black pepper Spam with cheese and wasabi sesame seeds #breakfast #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon Gary Lum
Preparing for a big day at work. Black pepper Spam with cheese and wasabi sesame seeds
#breakfast #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon
Queensland nut (Macadamia sp) and lemon myrtle Jasper and Myrtle Chocolates #snack #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon Gary Lum
Queensland nut (Macadamia sp) and lemon myrtle Jasper and Myrtle Chocolates
#snack #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon
Baked wasabi sesame seed salmon, pickled jalapeño pepper fennel salad and avocado #dinner #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon Gary Lum
Baked wasabi sesame seed salmon, pickled jalapeño pepper fennel salad and avocado
#dinner #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon
Jasper and Myrtle Chocolates black and white sesame milk #chocolate #snack #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon Gary Lum
Jasper and Myrtle Chocolates black and white sesame milk #chocolate
#snack #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon
Baked salmon, streaky bacon, baby broccoli, asparagus and pickled jalapeño peppers #dinner #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon Gary Lum
Baked salmon, streaky bacon, baby broccoli, asparagus and pickled jalapeño peppers
#dinner #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon
Slowly roasted rump with nutty kale coleslaw and garlic aioli #dinner #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon Gary Lum
Slowly roasted rump with nutty kale coleslaw and garlic aioli
#dinner #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon
If you really like dark chocolate. I highly recommend Jasper and Myrtle 80% PNG Dark Chocolate #smooth #rich #snack #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon Gary Lum
If you really like dark chocolate. I highly recommend Jasper and Myrtle 80% PNG Dark Chocolate
#smooth #rich #snack #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon
Crispy cheesy fried noodles with garlic prawns and pickled jalapeño peppers #lunch #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon Gary Lum
Crispy cheesy fried noodles with garlic prawns and pickled jalapeño peppers
#lunch #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon
Breakfast lamb sausage and black pepper spam #breakfast #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon Gary Lum
Breakfast lamb sausage and black pepper spam
#breakfast #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon
Here's me opening a can of black pepper Spam while wearing my Spam Hawaii T-shirt Gary Lum
Here’s me opening a can of black pepper Spam while wearing my Spam Hawaii T-shirt

How to make pork and cabbage soup

The Yummy Lummy Cooking for one podcast
The Yummy Lummy Cooking for one podcast
How to make pork and cabbage soup
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Click on the play button above for the audio podcast. The YouTube video is below.

Pork and cabbage soup on Canberra labour day 2016, what a great idea! A great way to use leftover slowly cooked pork shoulder.

It’s been two long weekends in a row. Not a bad thing. This weekend also marked the beginning of daylight saving in some states and the Australian Capital Territory. Getting an extra day to manage a slightly earlier start is a good thing.

The weather in Canberra has been good. On Saturday and today, we’ve had rain and overcast skies. Sunday was bright, shiny and relatively warm. I managed to get out for a walk around Lake Ginninderra and shoot a couple of photographs. I wanted to play with some new software. It seemed to produce a couple of nice pictures.

Lake Ginninderra photographs

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The cabbage soup

On Sunday, I put a boneless pork shoulder in the slow cooker and had a nice simple pork and cabbage dinner. Today I used some of the leftover pork and boiled some cabbage along with some coconut milk to make a nice soup.

What went into the cabbage soup

  • Leftover pork shoulder in bite sized chunks
  • A quarter of a small drumhead cabbage finely shredded
  • One packet of salt reduced French onion soup
  • Use a single jalapeño pepper and red chilli sliced with the seeds included
  • Two hundred and seventy millilitres of coconut milk

How to put the cabbage soup together

  1. In a large saucepan boil the cabbage and French onion soup until the cabbage is soft.
  2. Toss in the pork and bring it back to the boil for a couple of minutes to heat the pork through.
  3. Drain out most of the water and add the coconut milk and bring it to the boil and then turn down the heat and allow it to simmer for a few minutes.
  4. Ladle the soup into a large bowl and then garnish with the chillies and peppers along with some chopped chives.

How does the cabbage soup taste?

Pork and cabbage soup

It was pretty good. I thought about adding some curry powder, but the chilli and peppers added the right amount of spice while the coconut milk gave it a creamy texture.

Final words

As a kid, I didn’t like cabbage very much but as an adult, I’ve come to enjoy it as a vegetable that can absorb flavours much like pasta can. While boiling it removes the nutritional value, the fibre is still in it and it makes a great filler.

If you try this recipe please let me know what you think.

Rainbow over Lake Ginninderra

The three best vanilla slices of my road trip to Bendigo

Before we get to the vanilla slices, I should explain why I’m doing a road trip to Bendigo.

2016 National Clubs Carnival for Gymnastics Australia

The 2016 National Clubs Carnival for Gymnastics Australia is being held in Bendigo at the Bendigo Stadium at the moment. It’s the reason for my road trip. My two youngest daughters, viz., Miss15 and Ms19 competed. Well, Ms19 competed and Miss15 got a 0.00 score because a few weeks ago she fractured her fifth metacarpal in her dominant hand while training on the balance beam. It was a clean fracture which hopefully will heal without repercussions. Anyway, Miss15 was listed to compete, so on the score sheet, she scored 0.00 for all apparatus. Looks silly really. She was allowed on the floor with her teammates so she helped with video recording their routines and doing other tasks to assist her coaches.

Ms19 competed injury-free and did well in the L10 division.

Bendigo

Given Bendigo is a little over 600 kilometres from Canberra it was a good reason for me to take a few days recreation leave and drive down on Wednesday 14 September. I’ve never driven to Bendigo, I’ve never been to Bendigo, I knew almost nothing about Bendigo. What I did know was it is a large country town in Victoria and had a start in gold mining. I learnt in high school there was a lot of racial tension with the Chinese who came in and extracted gold from the waste left behind by others.

[Read with sarcasm] Being Victoria, I knew they speak another language. They refer to things like snot blocks and potato cakes. I knew I had to be careful amongst these aliens. I knew I could ask for a vanilla slice but they wouldn’t have a clue what a potato scallop is. I figured if they didn’t know what a potato scallop is they probably didn’t know how to cook a decent one anyway. For confused readers, I wrote this paragraph with heavy sarcasm, after all, I was born and bred from the greatest of the Australian states, viz., Queensland and lived for twelve years in the greatest of Australian territories, viz., the Northern Territory of Australia.

The plan

Before embarking on this trip I consulted with a close colleague from another government agency who is widely regarded as a vanilla slice connoisseur with an excellent knowledge of rural Victoria and New South Wales. I even made an MS Excel spreadsheet containing my extensive ‘research’ findings. I passed this on to my friend and his only warning was to lock my car in one of the towns I mentioned.

The plan for the drive from Canberra to Bendigo was to leave early and have breakfast on the road in Gundagai. This nearly came unstuck because Apple in its wisdom released iOS 10 on the morning of Wednesday 14 September. Being an early adopter (but not brave enough to use β versions) I woke up at 4 am to download iOS 10. Bloody hell, Apple also wanted me to download an updated version of iTunes which was >250 MB. iOS 10 was >1 GB. My ADSL is pathetically slow so I only managed to update my iPad and I was late leaving my apartment at 6.15.

First stop

My first stop was the town of Gundagai. I’d been to Gundagai before and seen the dog on the tucker box. Would you believe my kids didn’t know about the dog on the tucker box? What do they teach kids in school these days? I had decided I’d have a coffee and some sort of carbohydrate-laden product for breakfast. I went with a scone and butter. I did this with trepidation. I have irritable bowel syndrome and my gastrocolic reflex is reasonably good and it is the reason I usually never leave ‘home’ without eating, even if it’s for a morning walk. Being caught short is a constant fear for IBS sufferers.

The Gundagai Bakery is pretty nice. The person who served me was very friendly and I got a large scone, some butter and a decent flat white coffee for $4.50. That was the best bargain of the trip.

Coffee and scone road trip to Bendigo
Coffee and scone

Dunny stop

I got to Tarcutta and the urge to purge struck. Say no more I hear you think!

I posted a photograph to Twitter and mentioned my dunny stop. I received a mention from a fellow food blogger who tweeted when she was younger her father frowned on her use of the word dunny. I like that as an adult I can be as vulgar as I want.

Dunny stop at Tarcutta road trip to Bendigo
Dunny stop at Tarcutta

Morning tea

By the time I got to Holbrook it was raining cats and dogs. I couldn’t see the submarine out the window as I drove. I figured it had been carried away by the storm water runoff. When I got to the Holbrook Bakery the gutters and sidewalk were like a white water rafting course. I really hate having wet shoes and socks when driving. Oh well I thought, I’m here for a reason, having wet shoes isn’t the end of the world.

So this was my first vanilla slice of the trip. It was pretty nice. Not the best in terms of texture, taste and consistency but I’d happily eat more of these.

 

Lunch

Two years ago I drove to Geelong for the National Clubs Carnival and broke up my trip by spending the night in Wangaratta. This time, I was driving straight to Bendigo so rather than dinner in Wangaratta it was lunch.

I decided to have lunch at Cafe Derailleur. The café has seating in the front behind windows, some outdoor seating and an area out the back. I chose to sit inside near the main counter. I was feeling a little peckish so I went with duck fat garlic potato wedges with miso mayonnaise, beetroot sweet potato fritter, avocado, mushrooms, poached egg and spinach, along with a beetroot ginger carrot apple juice. It was pretty good. A word of warning, though. Having eaten a beetroot fritter and enjoyed a beetroot drink, don’t be surprised if you do both you may have a little scare in the bathroom the following day, especially if your tired and feeling a little vague. I’m glad I don’t need to visit the endoscopist again.

Duck fat garlic potato wedges miso mayonnaise Beetroot sweet potato fritter, avocado, mushrooms, poached egg and spinach Beetroot ginger carrot apple drink road trip to Bendigo
Duck fat garlic potato wedges miso mayonnaise, Beetroot sweet potato fritter, avocado, mushrooms, poached egg and spinach, and Beetroot ginger carrot apple drink

Afternoon tea

I had never heard of Violet Town before last week when I started planning this little holiday adventure.

As I arrived I noticed a nice Lions Park with public amenities so I stopped for a dunny break before afternoon tea.

Lions Park Violet Town road trip to Bendigo
Lions Park Violet Town
Violet Town Cafe road trip to Bendigo
Violet Town Cafe

The Violet Town Café had a nice looking vanilla slice in the display cabinet. I could see the passionfruit seeds in the custard and the icing. I had to have one. I really like a little passionfruit in my vanilla slices. While I also like a pink icing, it’s the passionfruit I really like.

 

This vanilla slice and tea was a revelation at the Violet Town Cafe. I love the passion fruit in the custard and in the vanilla icing. I highly recommend the Violet Town Cafe! road trip to Bendigo
This vanilla slice and tea were a revelation at the Violet Town Cafe. I love the passionfruit in the custard and in the vanilla icing. I highly recommend the Violet Town Cafe!

Comfort Inn Julie-Anna Bendigo

Comfort Inn Julie-Anna spa bath road trip to Bendigo
Comfort Inn Julie-Anna spa bath

I chose to stay at the Comfort Inn Julia-Anna on Lake Weeroona. I got a room with a spa bath. While it hasn’t been a really cold winter in Canberra, I’ve been crook for a while and I was looking forward to a daily soak in a spa bath.

This is a short video of my room

 

 

Dinner

I had thought I might go to the Bouchon Bendigo for dinner but I wasn’t feeling the best and figured I’d have dinner in the motel restaurant. When I checked in, the person at reception mentioned how much effort they’ve been putting into getting the restaurant up to a really high standard.

The menu looked good. I went with the parmesan crusted braised lamb shoulder with pea purée and mashed potato. It was delicious. I really enjoyed the mouthfeel of the crispy parmesan crust on the little brick of compressed lamb shoulder meat.

Parmesan crusted braised lamb shoulder with pea purée and mashed potato road trip to Bendigo
Parmesan crusted braised lamb shoulder with pea purée and mashed potato
Vanilla cheesecake with chocolate soil and raspberry coulis road trip to Bendigo
Vanilla cheesecake with chocolate soil and raspberry coulis

For dessert, I went with the vanilla cheesecake which came with chocolate soil and a raspberry coulis.

Thursday 15 September

Breakfast

Rather than have a motel breakfast, I went searching for a café. I had been told about The Dispensary in Chancery Lane but when I arrived it wasn’t open. I went for a little walk around to see if I could find anything open.

I came across Queen Victoria. Victorians really seem to like her.

Queen Victoria Bendigo road trip to Bendigo
Queen Victoria Bendigo

Then I saw that the Pall Mall café was open and I went in and had Eggs Benedict. It was a pretty good breakfast.

Eggs Benedict Pall Mall Café road trip to Bendigo
Eggs Benedict Pall Mall Café. The streaky bacon was crisp and delicious.

National Clubs Carnival Bendigo Stadium

My two youngest daughters, viz., Miss15 and Ms19 are gymnasts. They both compete for Delta Brisbane. Delta Brisbane has a very good record at national championships, regularly winning champion club. Unfortunately, Miss15 recently fractured the fifth metacarpal in her dominant hand. She did it while training. It was great that she was still permitted to travel with the team and help her Level 8 teammates. Both of them have had their share of injuries including fractures of vertebræ, elbows, and arms plus torn ligaments, tendons and muscles. It’s a tough sport but both of them love it so much. Ms19 is at Level 10 and was competing in the combined levels 9 and 10 division.

It was great seeing them both and spending some time with them. Needless to say, over the two days of competition for levels 7, 8 and 9/10 Delta Brisbane won the best club title for all three divisions.

I’ve created a SmugMug gallery of photographs that I shot during the event. I should explain the images are not that good. I was some distance from the competition floor and so I cropped these photographs considerably and had to use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to reduce a lot of noise. I was using a 24–240 mm f/3.5–6.3 zoom lens and shot at 1/500 second with the ISO at 6400 and exposure compensation at +1 stop.

The gallery will run as a slideshow automatically. There are 25 images and they change every 3 seconds.

 

This is a video of Ms19’s uneven bar routine from Thursday 15 September

Dinner

After the first night of competition, I was again feeling a little poorly so ate in the motel restaurant. This time I went for the duo of pork. This consisted of a

Crumbed pork shoulder rillette, braised pork belly, sweet potato mash and spinach road trip to Bendigo
Crumbed pork shoulder rillette, braised pork belly, sweet potato mash and spinach

crumbed rillettes of pork shoulder plus a piece of braised pork belly. This was served with sweet potato purée and a ball of spinach.  This was a particularly delicious meal. The crackling was nice and the fat had been rendered out nicely.

 

Friday 16 September

Breakfast

I slept very poorly. My snoring was out of control and my chronic cough kept me awake most of the night. I decided rather than going in search of another café I would eat breakfast at the motel.

The poached eggs with Hollandaise sauce, smoked salmon, and spinach was delightful to look at and delicious to eat.

Bircher's Muesli and Yoghurt road trip to Bendigo
Bircher’s Muesli and Yoghurt
Poached eggs with Hollandaise, spinach and smoked salmon from Comfort Inn Julie-Anna road trip to Bendigo
Poached eggs with Hollandaise, spinach and smoked salmon from Comfort Inn Julie-Anna

Thursday and Friday Lunch and Friday dinner

The best sporting event meal I know is potato gems and chicken salt. The chips at Bendigo Stadium didn’t look that enticing. I could have gone out between events on Friday evening but I had a really good seat and I didn’t want to lose it. In addition, Ms21 made a surprise appearance. It turns out Ms19 had decided to retire from gymnastics after 16 years of training and competing. This was to be her last competition and with each apparatus I could see she was looking happier with the completion of each routine. Would you believe I spent $16 on three potato gems meals!

After the trophy presentation on Friday night, four gymnasts announced their retirement from the sport with Ms19 being one of them. When I got a chance to congratulate her, I started crying and couldn’t stop. All of us had leaking eyes. Gymnastics has been a major part of her life for 16 of her 19 years. It’s helped give her discipline and purpose. My Mum often says that Ms19 is very much like me. Dogged stubbornness and determination. I’ve often said, I’ve never seen anyone so young with the mental toughness of Ms19.

Potato gems at NCC 2016 road trip to Bendigo
Potato gems at NCC 2016

road trip to Bendigoroad trip to Bendigo

Saturday 17 September

Friday night ended late and well past my bed time. I had another crapulent sleep. I had planned to leave Bendigo at about 6.30 which meant I would need to be out of bed at about 5.30 given I hadn’t packed and I wanted one last spa bath.

After being awake until about 3.30 I fell asleep and woke at 6.30 with a start. I was running late. I still had a bath and was out of the motel room by 7.30.

Breakfast

I decided I would skip breakfast in Bendigo and planned to eat something in Benalla. Just before I got there though the instant coffee I had in the motel room kicked in so a rest stop was needed.

My target for breakfast was Hides Bakery. I got there a little after 9 and requested a coffee and scrambled eggs with bacon on avocado spread sourdough toast.

Benalla rest stop road trip to Bendigo
Benalla rest stop
Hides Bakery road trip to Bendigo
Hides Bakery
Coffee from Hides Bakery, Benalla road trip to Bendigo
Coffee from Hides Bakery, Benalla
Scrambled eggs with bacon and tomato on avocado sourdough bread from Hides Bakery, Benalla road trip to Bendigo
Scrambled eggs with bacon and tomato on avocado sourdough bread from Hides Bakery, Benalla
Takeaway vanilla slice needs protection road trip to Bendigo
Takeaway vanilla slice needs protection

Morning tea

Before leaving Hides Bakery I bought a vanilla slice to go. I found a rest stop halfway between Wangaratta and Wodonga and enjoyed the treat. It was really nice.

Hides Bakery Vanilla slice at a rest stop midway between Wangaratta and Wodonga at 36°13'12" S 146°26'42" E road trip to Bendigo
Hides Bakery Vanilla slice at a rest stop midway between Wangaratta and Wodonga at 36°13’12” S 146°26’42” E

Lunch

I’d promised myself that on this adventure I would also enjoy a meat pie or two or three. Surprisingly, that hadn’t happened. I went in search of a good meat pie. My search led me to Henri’s Bakery in Wodonga where I enjoyed a minted lamb pie. It was a perfect meat pie. Not too hot, chunky meat and recognisable vegetables.

Minted lamb pie from Henri's Bakery, Wodonga road trip to Bendigo
Minted lamb pie from Henri’s Bakery, Wodonga
Henri's Bakery Wodonga road trip to Bendigo
Henri’s Bakery Wodonga

Coffee stop

My final planned break on my journey was the Interchange Café in Tarcutta. To be honest, I was relieved when I entered the café to see a display case bereft of custard filled treats. No vanilla slices and no other pastries that looked appetising. Instead I had a small coffee. It was very good. I really needed it. I had started to feel very tired driving.

Coffee from the Interchange Cafe Tarcutta road trip to Bendigo
Coffee from the Interchange Cafe Tarcutta

How was the drive?

I really like driving and despite not feeling the best, the drive to and from Bendigo was enjoyable. There was a lot of rain on the way south and on occasion there was sufficient water on the road that I had to slow down and carefully drive across the few centimetres of water that was flowing across the road surface. The roads in Victoria aren’t particularly good. There were a lot of pot holes to avoid.

I spent my hours in the car listening to podcasts. One of my favourite podcasts is Quackcast by Mark Crislip. Mark is an infectious diseases physician from the United States. He does a great job at demolishing the quackery of alternative and complementary medicine including acupuncture, naturopathy, Chinese herbal medicine and homeopathy. You can find the podcast in the iTunes store and I assume in the Google play store if you’re an Android user.

Getting back to Canberra

On arriving I filled the car with diesel and went and bought some food for dinner. I made a simple ramen noodles and lup cheong meal. Nothing fancy. Just light and easy.

Fried cheesy noodles with lup cheong and vegetables road trip to Bendigo
Fried cheesy noodles with lup cheong and vegetables

Final words

What can I say. I enjoyed the short holiday. A good drive is always fun.

My favourite meal was the duo of pork at the Comfort Inn Julie-Anna.

My favourite vanilla slice was the takeaway treat from Hides Bakery and eaten on the side of the road.

My favourite moment was hugging Ms19 at the end of her competition and telling her how proud I am of her.

Every time I look at this photograph it brings tears to my eyes. Ms19 has been a gymnast for sixteen of her nineteen years. It’s taught her discipline. It’s helped her develop an understanding of physical fitness. It’s made her powerful and strong. Most importantly it’s developed her as an individual and as a member of a team. This year she captained Queensland at the national championships. A lot of people criticise gymnastics because of the injuries, it’s true gymnastics get injured but the benefits far outweigh the injuries. Well done Ms19 I love you so much and I am so proud of you.

2016 National Clubs Carnival Ms19 retirement road trip to Bendigo
2016 National Clubs Carnival Ms19 retirement

Have you been to Bendigo?

What did you think? What did you eat? What did you do?

Thanks for visiting. Please check out the rest of Yummy Lummy. I’d love it if you shared this site with your friends.

If you’d like to see more please follow me on Twitter here and here, on Instagram here and here and on Facebook here and here.

Do you want some easy ideas to cook Australian Asparagus? Plus, a weekly round up!

This week I received a package from the Australian Asparagus Council via Vikki Leng

Vikki works on behalf of the Australian Asparagus Council. You can find out more about the AAC at its website www.asparagus.com.au, on Facebook: facebook.com/asparaguscouncil and on Instagram: instagram.com/aussieasparagus

The AAC has a free cookbook at Download FREE e-cookbook

To get an idea of how bloggers have been using their Aussie Spears, on social media platforms search for #australianasparagus and #aussieasparagus

You can get to know Vikki at her website: www.vikkileng.com.au  Facebook: facebook.com/vikkilengenterprises and Instagram: instagram.com/vibrant_vegetarian

So in this post I’m going to do a weekly wrap up and highlight when Australian asparagus is featured.

Sunday 4 September

Last weekend was pretty wet. I managed to get out for a walk around Lake Ginninderra and shoot some photographs.

The blossoms are looking good.

Blossoms on Lake Ginninderra Gary Lum
Blossoms on Lake Ginninderra

It was a bright and beautiful morning in Canberra and on the lake.

Lake Ginninderra HDR Gary Lum
Lake Ginninderra HDR
Lake Ginninderra HDR Gary Lum
Lake Ginninderra
Lake Ginninderra HDR Gary Lum
Lake Ginninderra

For dinner, I slowly roasted a shoulder of lamb with the bone in. I had it in the oven in a heavy casserole for four hours at 150 °C. It was so succulent.

 

Slowly roasted lamb shoulder with honey kale coleslaw and fried shallots Gary Lum
Slowly roasted lamb shoulder with honey kale coleslaw and fried shallots

Monday 5 September

Work was good. I have been working on a new matter which has engaged some areas of my brain that I haven’t used for a while.

You’ll also recall from last week’s post that one of my hospital colleagues gave me a book as a gift. It is a very special book and it helped me complete my collection of editions of the “Manual of Clinical Microbiology”.

Manuals of Clinical Microbiology Gary Lum
Manuals of Clinical Microbiology

 

For dinner, I had a simple meal after a big weekend of eating. A simple piece of salmon with some coleslaw.

 

Panfried salmon with kale coleslaw, fried shallots and caramelised onion Gary Lum
Pan-fried salmon with kale coleslaw, fried shallots and caramelised onion

 

Tuesday 6 September

My package of asparagus arrived via Australia Post. Vikki had arranged five bunches, one large bunch of luscious spears, two medium bunches, and two mini bunches. These were in a reusable bubble bag.

 

Australian Asparagus letter from Vikki Leng Gary Lum
Australian Asparagus letter from Vikki Leng

 

Vikki had also arranged for a Media Release and a fact sheet on the nutritional value of asparagus.

 

So on Tuesday night for tea I had a medium sized bunch of asparagus plus some salmon.

 

Honey soy pan fried salmon and asparagus with avocado and fried shallots Australian Asparagus Gary Lum
Honey soy pan fried salmon and asparagus with avocado and fried shallots

 

Wednesday 7 September

I had a busy day. I had some heavy reading and writing to do. I didn’t even record how I made my dinner.

Normally I have Chicken Maryland on Wednesday and Thursday evenings but when I was shopping the previous weekend there weren’t any single pieces so I bought a packet of Coles brand pork sausages (six sausages) and ate three snags with a medium sized bunch of asparagus.

 

Pork sausages with asparagus and cheesy fried shallots Australian Asparagus Gary Lum
Pork sausages with asparagus and cheesy fried shallots

 

Thursday 8 September

I received a nice surprise in the mail. It was a book celebrating “60 years of Aiming High”. My primary school, Stafford Heights State School, held a celebration last weekend in Brisbane. I didn’t attend but I bought a book. I had contributed to it with a couple of pages of memories. It’s been good reading some stories from friends and teachers.

 

60 years of "Aiming High" at SHSS Gary Lum
60 years of “Aiming High” at SHSS

 

For dinner, I made curry pork sausages and asparagus using the large luscious bunch of asparagus.

 

Curry pork sausages and asparagus with potato, onion, chillies and fried shallots Australian Asparagus Gary Lum
Curry pork sausages and asparagus with potato, onion, chillies and fried shallots

 

Friday 9 September

For dinner, I had surf and turf (rump steak and prawns) from the Canberra Southern Cross Club Jamison.

 

Canberra Southern Cross Club Surf and turf rump steak with prawns and chips Gary Lum
Canberra Southern Cross Club Surf and turf rump steak with prawns and chips

 

Saturday 10 September

For breakfast, I had a fried egg on a piece of fried bread with some smashed avocado.

 

Avocado on fried bread with a fried egg Gary Lum
Avocado on fried bread with a fried egg

 

For lunch, I had a bunch of mini asparagus with some crispy bacon and a fried egg.

 

Bacon and egg with Australian Asparagus Gary Lum
Bacon and egg with Australian Asparagus

 

In the afternoon I went for a walk and shot some photographs.

 

Lake Ginninderra Gary Lum
Lake Ginninderra
Blossoms on Lake Ginninderra Gary Lum
Blossoms on Lake Ginninderra
Lake Ginninderra Gary Lum
Lake Ginninderra
Lake Ginninderra Gary Lum
Lake Ginninderra

 

For dinner, I had some leftover lamb from last Sunday’s dinner plus some pearl barley couscous and the final bunch of asparagus (a mini bunch).

 

Leftover lamb shoulder with pearl barley couscous and roasted Australian asparagus Gary Lum
Leftover lamb shoulder with pearl barley couscous and roasted Australian asparagus

 

Australian asparagus is tops

You should try it. If you haven’t tried asparagus, it’s worth a go. It’s easy to cook and great to eat. Don’t forget you can get the AAC has a free cookbook at Download FREE e-cookbook.

Final words

I’m hoping I can get into a more regular blogging and vlogging rhythm soon. I’d really appreciate your visiting my YouTube channel, liking some videos and subscribing. The videos are short and I hope to make them more entertaining.

Thanks for visiting. Please check out the rest of Yummy Lummy. I’d love it if you shared this site with your friends.

If you’d like to see more please follow me on Twitter here and here, on Instagram here and here and on Facebook here and here.

 

 

3 highlights from this week plus a whole heap of other stuff

Tonight I’m writing a weekly wrap up of 3 highlights from this week plus a whole heap of other stuff

Saturday 27 August 2016

My youngest brother became Mr45

I started the day with avocado on toast

Avocado on fried bread
Avocado on fried bread

Lunch was a Garlo’s lean beef and mushroom meat pie

Dinner was a plate of beef burgers coated in crumbs made from Panko and fried shallots

Sunday 28 August 2016

I started with a nice walk around Lake Ginninderra

Lake Ginninderra
Lake Ginninderra
Lake Ginninderra
Lake Ginninderra
Spring flower on Lake Ginninderra
Spring flower on Lake Ginninderra

Breakfast was eggs Benedict with salmon

Eggs Benedict with salmon
Eggs Benedict with salmon

Lunch was another Garlo’s meat pie

Garlo's beef and mushroom pie with Worcestershire sauce inside
Garlo’s beef and mushroom pie with Worcestershire sauce inside

Dinner was slowly roasted lamb shoulder

Monday 29 August 2016

A relatively uneventful day at work, busy but not hectic.

Dinner was salmon and prawns coated in crumbs made from panko and fried shallots

Tuesday 30 August 2016

Nothing to report from Work

Bad news

Miss15 broke the fifth metacarpal on her dominant hand while on the balance beam. This means she won’t be competing with Ms19 at the National Club Championships in Bendigo later in September. I am so sad for Miss15. She’s already had a couple of fractured vertebrae last year as well as an injured ankle.

Dinner was baked salmon with avocado on a bed of pearl barley couscous

Wednesday 31 August 2016

Highlight #1

Performance review time. I came away very happy.

Highlight #2

The plumber came and fixed a leak in my en suite hand basin, repaired the taps in my laundry and tightened the taps in my shower. For those querying, yes I could do this myself but all my tools are still in storage and as a renter I shouldn’t be doing my own running repairs.

Dinner was chicken Maryland with macaroni and Brussels sprouts

Thursday 1 September 2016

It wasn’t pay day so it wasn’t an exciting Thursday. I did have a good meeting though at Russel Offices.

Dinner was a piece of chicken Maryland on a bed of crispy crunchy ‘instant’ noodles with Brussels sprouts.

Friday 2 September 2016

Hospital day!

Highlight #3

I received a gift from a workmate who had just passed her Part I examinations for her Fellowship of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia. She bought me a first edition of the American Society for Microbiology’s Manual of Clinical Microbiology. I have every edition of the Manual but the first which was published in 1970. This made my day. I was so happy. In fact, this made my week.

Manual of Clinical Microbiology First edition
Manual of Clinical Microbiology First edition

Dinner was leftover lamb shoulder with red quinoa and brown rice done fried rice style except rather than soy sauce I used Worcestershire sauce for an English touch.

Saturday 3 September 2016

It was raining cats and dogs so no walking today.

Lunch was a Garlo’s sausage roll and beef and mushroom hot pie

Garlo's beef and mushroom pie with Worcestershire sauce inside plus a sausage roll
Garlo’s beef and mushroom pie with Worcestershire sauce inside plus a sausage roll

Dinner was Coles Australian pork slowly cooked pork ribs

Final words

How was your week?

Let me know in the comments below.