Tag Archives: Rugby league

Week 11 of 2013 in my Instagram life


After the last blog post last weekend I finished with an image of chicken schnitzel. Here it is cooked with some fried eggs. Yum comfort food.

#dinner #simple Chicken thigh schnitzel and fried eggs #yummy

Chicken high schnitzel with fried eggs

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On Sunday morning I had breakfast with Bron and we went to Black Pepper for Eggs Benedict.

#breakfast Eggs Benedict with bacon and an extra side of hollandaise sauce. #yummy Bron had the same 😃

I always ask for more Hollandaise sauce

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I went to work on Sunday to catch up on some work. Fortunately I had a snack there.

#lunch It's Whoopie time 😃

An extreme chocolate whoopie

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From my garden

From my garden

From my garden

I do nothing to the garden bed in my apartment. I do not even add water and look at what grows.

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Sunday night dinner of salmon salad

#dinner Salmon and salad with pear, beetroot, spring onions, feta, coriander, tomatoes, lemon zest and juice #yummy

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Monday was a public holiday. I visited Bron and we had her homemade hot cross buns

Bron's hot cross buns #yummy #breakfast

These were really good. I had two and lots of butter.

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After another day at work on a public holiday I made chicken salad

#dinner Because I'm an old man and because I don't feel well I had an early dinner. Maple and soy chicken salad. #yummy

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Tuesday night I felt a little blergh and just made chicken and potato gems (tater tots)

#dinner I was bad. Chilli crusted chicken with potato gems (tater tots). #yummy

I felt better after eating this.

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Bron has been busy making macarons. Look at these babies. Salted caramel, rose water and vanilla.

#dessert Look what Bron came and gave me today. Homemade macarons #superyummy

A salted caramel maracon.

#dessert The most delicious salted caramel macaron I've tasted #superyummy Thank you Bron ❤

This is the best salted caramel macaron I’ve ever tasted. These were so good. I love the way the flavours change as I bit into them and then as my tongue made contact.

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My personal passport expires in about eight months. It is easier to renew it before it expires. I pick up my new one in a couple of weeks.

Morning office #coffee Time to renew personal passport.

Most of the travel I do is for work and for that I use an official passport. My current personal passport expires in January 2014. Given a passport cannot be used for the last six months of its ‘life’ and because renewing a current passport is many orders of magnitude easier than renewing an expired passport, I thought it was time.

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Nothing beats a sausage roll for a quick lunch

DIY biology and a sausage roll. Quick #lunch So busy.

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It was nice having a WIZZ FIZZ lollipop

I think I need a wizz fizz before dinner 😃

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Thursday morning treat from Bron

Bron asked me not to photograph these delicious treats. I can't help but like the nipples.

Now this is the morning after the meal at Morks so I wasn’t that hungry but who can resist macarons. 

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It was Jacqui’s birthday at work. We didn’t our usual Pay day Pie day, instead we had a burger. You may recall Jacqui from last week’s post.

#lunch Urban Bean cheese burger with bacon egg and beetroot. Amazeball chips #yummy Happy birthday @jacquimkane

This is an Urban Cheese. It is a cheeseburger from Urban Bean Espresso Bar. It has an Angus beef pattie, tasty cheese, bacon, fried egg and beetroot. The chips came with homemade mayonnaise.

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I just had a salad for dinner

#dinner with Bron. Salad and no meat. #yummy

Followed with macarons

Look what we have for #dessert Nipply macarons. Thanks Bron

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Mmm…Friday morning rituals. Mavi Breakfast wrap. This one was amazingly good.

#breakfast Getting my hand and mouth a Mavi breakfast wrap #yummy

The owner made this one and we reckon he put in more bacon and mushrooms.

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Hot chip Friday lunch of course

#lunch hot chip Friday. Sorry @snagstand too busy today.

You’d think I would have had enough of these but no.

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Saturday morning breakfast

Big #breakfast #yummy

This was a mistake. We had breakfast at Gourmet Deli in Belconnen Westfield shopping centre. This place has great coffee and is a fantastic delicatessen. This breakfast was a little too ‘greasy’.

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For dinner on Saturday night I was at Bron’s place. Bron has been thinking of making Jamie Oliver’s Yorkshire puddings again. She’d made them a little over a year ago and we blogged about it.

Here are some very short video sequences of the puddings being poured and rising in the oven. I have uploaded them on Vine but don’t know how to embed Vine into this blog so I’ve embedded YouTube uploads.

http://youtu.be/SO4p1wqYzLQ

http://youtu.be/aXnIZy1CEpQ

http://youtu.be/_mjHr2RZ_kU

Out of the oven

Yorkshire puddings #dinner #yummy

What a lovely plate of Yorkshire puddings

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With the smoked hit ocean trout and horseradish

Bron made Yorkshire pudding with hot smoked trout and horseradish #dinner #yummy

It’s very hard to describe just how nice it is to have the tangy trout and horseradish along with the crisp fresh fluffy pudding

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Dinner is served

Bron made Yorkshire pudding with hot smoked trout and horseradish and pear and walnut salad #dinner #yummy

It looks great doesn’t it?

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Bite sized morsels of happiness

Bron made Yorkshire pudding with hot smoked trout and horseradish #dinner #yummy

This is perfection between my fingers

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Oh yeah there was a pear and walnut salad

Pear and walnut salad #dinner #yummy

This added a lovely touch

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Dessert was Bron’s amazing sticky date pudding with butterscotch and custard

Bron made the most amazing sticky date pudding with butterscotch, custard and ice cream #dessert #yummy

This is I think Bron’s signature dessert. No one makes it better. The butterscotch sauce is to die for. The custard is perfect. The ice cream was Madagascan Vanilla Bean.

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Sunday breakfast was simple and in two stages

Bron's poached egg #yummy

Poached eggs are so yummy

River of yolk love #yummy Thanks Bron

Check it out. Hot homemade hot cross bun.

Amazing Bron breakfast. Poached egg on muffin followed by her homemade hot cross bun with butter. #breakfast #yummy #breakfastforwoojm

I hope you agree this looked so good. It tasted better.

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After a walk today I needed a snack.

Grilled Australian Havarti cheese on toast #lunch #yummy

Australian Havarti cheese on toast

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For dinner tonight I made some honey soy salmon and a salad.

#dinner Honey soy salmon with salad #yummy

I like the sweetness of mixing honey with soy on the hot fry pan and reducing it.

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For dessert Bron gave me some of her sticky date pudding.

#dessert Bron's sticky date pudding with butterscotch and custard #superyummy

It was a nice big piece with extra butterscotch sauce and custard. This was just so good.

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So ends this post.Thank you for reading this and going through my instagram experience. I’d also invite you to view my Facebook page and if you like it please click the LIKE button. Thanks.

I hope everyone has a great week at work. I know I’ve been finding my new role a challenge and it seems there is a lot of fatigue around not just in my workplace but from what I hear and read around the place. I hope everyone finds balance in their life. Take care. Live long and prosper.

On a good note, the Brisbane Broncos defeated the St George Illawarra Dragons this week and the Gold Coast Titans defeated the Canberra Raiders. It was unfortunate that the Melbourne Storm defeated the North Queensland Cowboys. I don’t feel that bad though because Melbourne are my number four team. For those who don’t know me well my top four teams in the National Rugby League are 1. Brisbane Broncos, 2. North Queensland Cowboys, 3. Gold Coast Titans, and 4. The Melbourne Storm. For Soccer it’s the Brisbane Roar. For the Australian Football League it’s the Brisbane Lions and the Gold Coast Suns. For cricket it’s the Queensland Bulls. For Rugby it’s the Queensland Reds. For State of Origin it is the Queensland XXXX Maroons. One day I’ll reveal the teams I detest.

Footy food and the Decider #origin #QUEENSLANDER Queensland defeats NSW 21:20


Tonight it was the decider. Last year Queensland won its sixth State of Origin series. This year Queensland won the first game and NSW won the second game. I’ve previously written that I really hope for a good close game and truth be told, as much as I wanted Queensland to win, NSW winning would mean that Rugby League is the winner. We need to have two strong origin sides not a lopsided competition. We need to have a game that kids can remain excited about, after all, rugby league is the greatest winter sport of all. Much more enjoyable than soccer and Aussie rules and for a spectator superior than Rugby Union. I write these things not wanting to upset readers. I just find so much satisfaction in watching a good game of rugby league.

In the end the result was right and the game was one of the most exciting nail biting games of rugby league we’ve seen. Queensland defeated NSW 21 to 20 in a very tight match.

For dinner tonight I was partially inspired by recent MasterChefAU episodes featuring dude food. I knew I needed some vegetation so there is some avocado. Otherwise it was all chicken. Chicken wings coated in oil, honey and spike.

Eight chicken wings in my fry pan. Ready for roasting. (Nikon D90)

So I put the wings into a fry pan and then put them into a hot oven (200 °C) for 30 minutes.

Nicely cooked chicken wings. (Nikon D90)

I could have just eaten the chicken but my conscious got the better of me so I added some avocado as an after thought. It’s also green :-)

Spiked chicken and avocado. (Nikon D90)

During the game it was great watching my Twitter timeline. It was fantastic seeing Lisa Curry tweeting for Queensland. I recall watching her swim when she was a school girl and I was swimming at school. She is a fantastic Queenslander.

Best meal ever and #StateofOrigin Game 2


Last night Bron and I visited some close friends who we often have dinner with. Mostly it’s us going to their place to eat wonderful food. Last night was no different. In the words of Bron (and I agree), “Best meal in my life“.

A few weeks ago we set up the date and started talking about a menu. We suggested we’d go to Costco and get King crab legs for an entrée and Bron said she’d make a lemon tart for dessert. P and LP came back and said they would happily prepare an Asian degustation for our main course.

Bron and I ventured out to Costco yesterday morning to learn that the seafood arrangement only came out every fortnight. We’ve been to Costco so many times on alternating weeks that we had not noticed this. This was disappointing because Bron was also going to make her gorgeous aioli and and another dipping sauce. Bron sent P a text message and explained. No worries, “We have prawns” came the reply.

The lemon tart was an experiment. Bron had not made this recipe before. She need not have worried. It was perfect.

So we started with a few prawns and homemade dressing. These had only been frozen once and were a delicious and certainly acted as an entrée or appetiser for us. I was so hungry.

What followed can only be described as awesome. I use that word advisedly. Like a good many words used on social media and on television and movies, “awesome” is over used. This meal was awesome.

We started with LP’s dumplings. Mouth sized and full of flavour. The spicy dipping sauce was just right. P then followed with some of his signature pieces, namely, a crunchy Chinese cabbage salad and seafood cakes. I could have eaten the salad all night. This was followed with LP’s tamarind prawns. Oh my the flavour was fantastic. This was a first time for LP. The Pièce de résistance was P’s twice cooked belly pork. The reduction could be smelled when we entered the house. The star anise and cinnamon wafting in our nostrils tempting us to pick up the jug and drink the sauce was an ever present danger.

With the ‘mains’ over, we entered the dangerous world of dessert. I say dangerous because no one gets between some of us and their dessert.

LP was preparing the chocolate soufflé as we arrived. She was so delicate in folding in the cream. It was certainly worth the effort. I have never had a soufflé so light and fluffy. Bron was concerned that I had left crusty bits of chocolate on the edge of my ramekin. I quickly fixed the problem without burning my tongue :-)

Bron’s lemon tart was also a triumph. Earlier in the day Bron had received a gift from a dear tweep who shared from her bounty of lemons. The quickly prepared candied lemon rind was also delicious along with the cognac whipped cream that LP had provided with her soufflé.

To finish the evening we all enjoyed a half of a small pavlova that P has now perfected. It was a perfect evening with fantastic conversation, lots of laughs and dare I say, for me at least, belt loosening.

I apologise for the quality of my iPhone photography. I was trembling with multiple foodgasms that I had trouble focusing.

Prawns with homemade seafood sauce (iPhone)

Pork dumplings (iPhone)

Crunchy Chinese cabbage salad and seafood cakes (iPhone)

Tamarind prawns (iPhone)

Twice cooked pork belly (iPhone)

Twice cooked pork belly (iPhone)

Chocolate soufflé served with cognac cream (iPhone)

Cognac cream (iPhone)

Lemon tart with Cognac cream (iPhone)

Pavlova served with Chinese gooseberry, passion fruit and strawberries (iPhone)

More as a post script than anything else, I have not blogged for a few days and I should comment on the second game in this year’s State of Origin series. NSW defeated Queensland. As much as I wanted the Queensland XXXX Maroons to win, it wasn’t to be. The game was fierce, it was tight, it was superbly played. Queensland played well and NSW played better. NSW were the best team on the night and deserved to win. This now means a decider in two and a bit weeks. This is not a bad thing. If Queensland had won, this would have made game three a fizzer and given Queensland has won the series in the last six years it would severely damage the State of Origin concept. Dare I say it, NSW winning the series in 2012 would not be a tragedy. The important thing is ensuring the greatest game on the planet, i.e., Rugby League is maintained for everyone to enjoy.

Shout out and thanks to @phonakins


A couple of weeks ago I blogged about a big day and this year’s first state of origin game. In that blog I also mentioned I’d won a prize in a competition run but a well known Australian tweep and blogger, viz., @phonakins or Fiona the littlelioness.

Today my prize arrived. Thanks Fiona :-) Thanks Red Rock Deli.

Importantly Fiona has decided to do something crazy for her 30 years on year. She’s giving up caffeine for a month. She’s doing this for charity. Please visit http://www.everydayhero.com.au/phonakins30 to learn more.

Red Rock Deli hamper from above (iPhone)

 

Inside the Red Rock Deli hamper (iPhone)

These are the Red Rock Deli corn chips that were inside (iPhone)

This is a gratuitous photograph of my dinner tonight. Avocado with drumsticks and peas and corn.

I like symmetry when plating up (iPhone) my avocado and drumsticks :-)

Big day and a big result and shout out to @phonakins (#QUEENSLANDER #StateofOrigin)


Today was huge with back to back meetings all day. I did an hour session on record management systems and came back to the office to be greeted with cake. Readers who follow me on instagram will know I regularly post photographs of cakes and biscuits that work mates make and bring in to work. It makes for a wonderful work environment.

During the training session I answered some questions and received chocolates :-)

Cake and chocolate (iPhone)

Tonight is the first of three State of Origin games. As I was driving away from work I thought about dinner. It needed to be a footy dinner. Hamburger I thought and hamburger is what I made. For readers who don’t know me, I’m a convinced and convicted Queenslander, that is, I am passionate about Queensland the greatest state in Australia; and Rugby League the greatest game of all; and State of Origin, the greatest sporting contest known.

I checked my e-mail and discovered I’d won a prize. On 16 May @phonakins at littlelioness.net posted on her blog a competition to win a Red Rock Deli Corn Chips hamper. The request for the competition was to let Fiona know in the comments your ideal corn chip and dip combination (fantasy or reality) and why they go so well. I answered, “I want a sweet corn chip coated in icing sugar that can be used to scoop up thickened chocolate sauce or melted chocolate and then eaten whole, that is a chocolate corn chip slam ;-) Perhaps then http://wayfaringchocolate.com/ can review.“Thank you very much Fiona. Much appreciated :-)

So I better show images of my hamburger.

Cheese and barbecue sauce with Wagyu beef burger (iPhone)

With it’s top on (iPhone)

And to all my friends and family who support New South Wales and the Blues, I’m sorry if you find me offensive on nights like tonight.

For readers not familiar with State of Origin rugby league history. Queenslanders (Maroons pronounced marones) are known as the cane toads (Buffo marinus) and NSW (Blues) are cockroaches. These are affectionate terms of endearment. As they say, State of Origin is mate against mate, state against state. For those interested, it was Kangaroo great Barry (garbo) Muir who coached the Queensland side from 1974 to 1978 (two years prior to the adoption of Origin selection criteria) and during this time Muir coined the term “cockroaches”, the descriptor of the New South Wales rugby league team still used by the Queenslanders.

In the end, Queensland defeated NSW 18 to 10. There was a very poor decision that resulted in a Queensland try in the last ten minutes that soured the victory. But as they say, a win is a win. I will attend work tomorrow a happy Queenslander.

A warm Sunday in Canberra


I haven’t done any exercise this week. I’ve been lethargic and also suffering from hay fever. I wake up feeling groggy and very tired.

This morning I went for a walk to the Owl Statue and back. http://runkeeper.com/user/garydlum/activity/57156858

It's a pity this owl doesn't dispense wisdom

After some scrambled eggs and a little house work I thought another walk was in order.

Scrambled eggs made with cream

As I was walking out the gate I came across a nice looking lizard which had lost its tail. http://runkeeper.com/user/garydlum/activity/57176624 

Lizard sans tail

This afternoon I watched the V8 supercars go around the Gold Coast. It was good to see Ford win.

Tonight I cooked a small rack of lamb while I did my ironing. Sadly the pan got a little smoky and now my shirts smell of cooking oil. That isn’t a good thing.

Rack of lamb with cabbage, pumpkin and sweet potato

I rounded off the meal with a nice Kensington Pride mango.

Tonight I’m watching the Rugby World Cup. I’m torn. I really don’t like NZ that much nor am I a fan of the French team. The only reason I can think of to support a team is NZ for Brad Thorn because he was a mighty Brisbane Bronco and Queensland Maroon. A fantastic rugby league player. It is great he has reached the peak of the two great footy codes as a dual international for two different countries. A great achievement.

Today’s calorie effort is 1200 and I used 370 walking.