Tag Archives: Salad

My weekend in Brisbane

I love my visits to see my kids and also my parents. The weather has recently turned sour in Canberra and Brisbane is maintaining its warm and wet weather. It rained most of the time I was in Brisbane. It was lovely. Driving in the rain is not something that worries me. It seems to cause Canberra drivers to panic a little. On Thursday afternoon Radio Station | @2CC reported nearly ten road incidents that afternoon. I suppose it’s what you get used to. I loved driving in Darwin and Katherine in the wet season. That said Canberra drivers are expert at driving in fog. Fog freaks out a lot of drivers from other places. Canberra is so fog laden in winter you get used to it.

Miss11 turns 12 this week so this visit was well timed. I had already bought her a new Wii U game and she wanted some books. Miss11 is an avid reader so part of the weekend was going to be devoted to buying books. Becoming 12 also means she becomes eligible (at least in our family) to have a mobile telephone. It had been worked out by Miss17, Miss15 and Miss11 that Miss11 would get Miss15′s old fashioned Nokia and Miss15 would get a new smartphone for her 16th birthday. So this weekend was also about telephone buying for Miss15.

The weekend started well. I left work and Bron also came to the airport to spend some time with me before I left Canberra.

Canberra Qantas Business Lounge

Liquorice all sorts and jaffas shared with some soda water with Bron.

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The flight into Brisbane was uneventful and as usual the landing was delayed because BNE is in such poor shape with its runways that only one was working. This is a constant problem to the extent I never believe the arrival time and always assume I’ll be between 30 and 60 minutes late. I picked up a hire car, a Toyota Yaris, and drove to my parents. I love that modern cars can all connect seamlessly through Bluetooth to my iPhone. It was good to drive to my parent’s place with my tunes.

As well as a birthday gift for Miss11 I also had a bag full of chocolate for all the girls (including Mum). I had recently spent some time in Adelaide and bought up big at Haigh’s and menz. I also bought Mum some Almond Roca from Costco. She loves Almond Roca.

We watched a movie and slept well.

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We woke up to another day of clouds and rain. I heard from Bron that Canberra was cold with 40 km/h winds. I felt for her but I was feeling pretty good. My skin was moist and I could walk around in shorts and a T-shirt.

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My type of weather

I love overcast rainy warm days

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Breakfast at my parents’ place on a Saturday

Peanut paste and strawberry jam

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Shopping for Miss11′s 12th birthday this week

I loved these books when I was in primary school. I know the words have been modified to make them politically correct. I understand why but I am disappointed. I would hope kids are smart enough to distinguish between modern language and old language and want to learn what it means. I only ever read one novel at primary school and one novel at high school. I loved short stories like these though.

Miss11 also got two other books.

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Plastic shopping bags

Queensland is yet to introduce legislation banning plastic shopping bags. In Darwin and Canberra before legislation was introduced to ban their use, I would use them to line bins at work and in my bathroom. I found them very useful for multiple uses rather than single use. I still use plastic bags to lin bins, I just buy them now.

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Lunch with Mum and Dad

Mum had some lamb meatballs which she cut up and with some Havarti cheese she made toasties. These were magnificent. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havarti

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After lunch fruit

This is my first sugar plum. It was nice.

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After picking up Miss11 and Miss15 from gymnastics training they needed something to eat. On Saturdays they train from 1100 to 1500 so lunch is difficult. An afternoon snack is always necessary. Usually they have fruit or a sandwich. With me today though they asked for a treat.

They had this white chocolate mocha frappuccino with cream and some coconut loaf.

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Someone couldn’t get my name correct

I don’t mumble. I speak clearly. I also speak with an Australian accent. The person behind the counter didn’t have English as his first language. For a second I wondered if there was a “Gally” waiting but then realised it was for me.

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Dinner preparation

Tonight I promised my daughters I’d cook dinner. They like it when I cook for them. I made salmon and salad. They love salmon. Yes that is a tomato vine in one of the salmon containers. I used it to impart a little flavour when cooking the salmon. As you can see there was a lot of beetroot. We all like beetroot.

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This was my plate

We all like lots of feta. Everyone liked the lemon zest too.

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Miss11 becomes Miss12 this week.

Yes, she is gorgeous.

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Dessert

Mum made the cake and we bought some Weis’ sorbet to go with it.

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The rain continues

The constant rain has been a feature of the weekend. It’s been warm and it’s been moist. It’s been good.

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Breakfast preparation

My job was setting the table while Mum, Dad and Miss17 cooked.

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My Mum’s Sunday breakfast

A big pikelet with bacon, maple syrup and whipped cream

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A snack before leaving Brisbane

I know I didn’t need it but I do like cheese.

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The snack on QF957 from Brisbane to Canberra

I love salted caramel

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Dinner tonight

This is a beef hamburger with spinach leaves, coriander (cilantro), grated carrot, sliced beetroot, tomatoes, sesame seeds and Havarti cheese.

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It’s been a good weekend. I enjoy them with my daughters. When I leave Brisbane there is always a touch of sadness. I hope I get to see them again soon.

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Weis’ is a well known name in Queensland. As a kid we would crave Weis’ bars.

I don’t think any person from South East Queensland of my age could not have heard of a Weis’ bar. They were and are amazing.

The sorbet tubs are a relatively new addition http://www.weis.com.au/#/products/sorbet-tubs and extraordinarily good.

My week in Instagram and I won $50 of meat. Shout out @2CC and Elite Meats Canberra (garydavidlum.com)
Pho Viet Review 2 | The Aldi Expressi Coffee Machine | Back with Bron | My week in Instagram (garydavidlum.com)

My week in Instagram and I won $50 of meat. Shout out @2CC and Elite Meats Canberra

16 Replies

It’s been a good week. I won a $50 gift voucher from Elite Meats Canberra

Radio station 2CC (Capital Radio Talking Canberra) has been running a “best of Canberra” competition for the last few weeks. This Tuesday they ran a “best public art in Canberra” competition. I nominated The Owl Statue on the T-Junction of Benjamin Way and Belconnen Way at Google Maps

View Larger Map

I have posted to instagram numerous images of the Owl Statue

He is meant to be a Powerful owl and the connection with Canberra relates to the collective noun for owls, viz., a parliament of owls which fits given Australia’s parliament meets in Canberra.

Thank you 2CC and Elite Meats Canberra

Chicken and salad

More chicken and salad

I bought one of these coffee makers for work.

An iced coffee banana smoothie for breakfast

My first brew

A Lindt cafe salted caramel macaron

A salmon and capers quiche

Raspberry and blueberry slushie

Chicken and salad

Clouds near sunset over Lake Ginninderra

More clouds

Mmm…chocolate covered ginger from Haigh’s chocolates

Breakfast at the airport on Wednesday on my way to a meeting in Melbourne

A work mate’s birthday cupcakes

My morning tea

Chocolate noodle spider

This morning’s Mavi breakfast wrap

Ruchi Belconnen Southern Indian dining for a #CBRTweetUp Shout out @Sister_Ratched (garydavidlum.com)
Dear Canberra (a love letter, of sorts) (inthetaratory.wordpress.com)
{Wordless Wednesday} Canberra Sleeps As The Sun Rises. (mumchic.com)
A Love Letter (inexplicablewanderlust.com)
Malamay in the Burbury Hotel (inthetaratory.wordpress.com)

Breakfast at Elk and Pea

15 Replies

In a remarkable coincidence I went to Elk and Pea with a friend for breakfast. Without thinking about it we had the same breakfast as T1 and BF on 15 January. Without wanting to offend T1, I did recall she had been to Elk and Pea but in my mind it was for dinner rather than breakfast. Sorry T1 I’d forgotten

In terms of the experience we arrived at 0930 and were shown to a table in the back near the toilets. The tables were all pretty close to one another and I could hear what other diners were saying. This is a worry because I’m deaf in one ear and it was on my deaf side. It was all pretty cosy. The table we had was very wobbly. We were grateful that a waiter came over and shoved napkins under the base. After a few napkins the amount of movement was reduced but not completely. Along with the quality of napkins I get judgy about restaurants if they cannot manage decent tables and chairs. This was not a good start. It was also dark and my immediate thought was poor lighting for iPhone photography. Fortunately, as I alluded to in my end of 2012 post I’ve recently acquired an iPhone 5 and the camera is a much better tool for food photography.

We ordered coffees and then food. My breakfast buddy asked for the Paprika eggs and I asked for the smashed avocado and mushrooms. The place was busy and fairly full so we accepted it would be a longish wait. The coffees seemed to be delayed especially when later orders (from the table next to ours) came out sooner than ours. Once the coffees arrived, the food arrived in quick order

The paprika eggs looked really good and tasted great too. My avocado and mushrooms was delightful. The bread was nicely toasted and the mushrooms perfectly sautéed. There was a good amount of avocado and my poached egg was perfectly cooked with a nice runny yolk. Unfortunately the poached paprika eggs were on the solid side. Marks off I’m afraid. Poached eggs really need to have soft runny yolks.

I had to use the toilet and didn’t see one specially for men. There were two women’s toilets and I used the unisex/disabled toilet. It was well appointed and also had a shower. This is a good thing for those customers who rely on a wheelchair. There were no paper towels and the air drier was pretty pathetic. I know they’re expensive but the Dyson air blade should be the standard for any restaurant toilet.

The food at Elk and Pea is really good. There is no question about that. I’m looking forward to going there for dinner this Saturday night with friends. I’ll happily go back for breakfast again. The coffee was good and I want to try the other items on the menu.

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I spent all afternoon at work today and came home to my ironing and decided on an easy dinner.

Chicken thigh seasoned with Madras curry powder and a simple salad.

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Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/gK4LP

View Larger Map

Breakfast at The Elk and Pea (inthetaratory.wordpress.com)
How to Eat Hass Avocados (avocadocentral.com)
eggs and avocados and hot sauce …what cowboys eat for breakfast (omamas.com)
Poached Egg Breakfast Sandwich (notyourgrandmothersschmaltz.wordpress.com)

Honey soy salmon and a chocolate honeycomb dessert

10 Replies

I just posted some images on Instagram and my friend Laura asked on Twitter if I’d blog the recipe. If asked, I’ll blog anything

So I had a fillet of Atlantic salmon which I bought from Coles. It was about $30 per kilogram.
I made the salad out of salad leaves from a packet from Coles. This is a really convenient way to get various types of lettuce leaf plus Rocket. The leaves keep for about four days in an airtight container.
In the salad I had grated fresh beetroot as an alternative to sliced pickle beetroot, freshly grated parmesan cheese, crumbled Australian feta cheese, chunky diced cucumber, sliced celery, sliced spring onions, quartered cherry tomatoes, ground pepper, and chilli flakes.

My method of cooking the salmon is dead simple and always works. I heat up a fry pan with some vegetable oil until it gets to smoking hot. I then add the salmon and add a lid. I time this for five minutes. I leave the fry pan for five minutes and don’t touch it. When the time is up I turn off the heat and move the pan and leave the lid on for another one minute. After the minute the lid goes into the sink of hot soapy water and the salmon is put on a plate to rest. The fry pan then hits the hot soapy water.

The salad is basically leaves in a bowl with everything except the beetroot added. The colour of the beetroot will bleed into everything so I add it at the very end.

Tonight I flaked the salmon and added it to the salad.

Normally I might use a salad type dressing for the salad but tonight instead of putting the fry pan into the soapy water I heated it up again and added a little white wine then soy sauce and then honey. I stirred that quickly and let it reduce a little. I drizzled the honey soy over the salmon and the salad. It was sweet but not too sweet.

For dessert I took inspiration from Rachael and Laura again with their advice on menz chocolates from Adelaide.

I had some menz Chocolate Honeycomb which I crushed a little with a meat tenderiser and added with Connoisseur Classic Vanilla ice cream. It was so yummy.

A happy ending and the end of a good little break | Ping @ColouredPurple

13 Replies

On Wednesday evening I vented my frustration about a bad taxicab driver and a lost bag. I don’t really like to vent. I prefer to be more positive and upbeat. I was coming down from the high of being with my daughters and having such a good time. I was surprised how annoyed and upset it made me feel, after all I’ve had my bags mishandled five times in the last twelve months by Qantas and United Airlines. The good news is my bag caught up with me sixteen hours after I returned to Canberra. The relief was palpable. I’m just grateful it didn’t happen on the way to Brisbane given that bag contained presents for my kids and parents.

So coming back to Canberra means coming back to the same old routine.

Ice coffee banana smoothie for breakfast

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I received a call from Qantas at about 0900 AEDT saying my bag had been found. This is despite the website stating the bag couldn’t be located and they were still tracing. Given it had arrived in Canberra at 0900 AEDT, it’s hard to believe it just appeared on that flight. I shouldn’t complain further, I have my bag. What it meant though was I had to hang around and delay my day’s plans for it to arrive.

My bag with the offending Qantas QTAG.

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Routine means tinned red salmon and tomato on toasted multigrain Vienna loaf

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Thursday evening saw dire warnings across southern Australia of an impending heatwave. There were predictions of temperatures in some areas in the mid to high 40s (degrees Celsius).

I wasn’t feeling that warm but wanted a light dinner suitable for warm weather. Mangoes and cucumbers are cooling.

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Dessert. Dark chocolate covering ginger from my girls.

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You need refreshing drinks on warm evenings.

Crushed ice and pineapple pieces with lemon lime and bitters cordial blended with Coles sparkling mineral water. So refreshing and I forgot the mint.

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Even though we’re past 2012/12/21 (day with longest daylight time) it was still light until late.

Last light over Lake Ginninderra

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As predicted on Friday we started seeing extreme temperatures across southern Australia (with attendant bush fires destroying homes and causing injuries). I did what most people do if they don’t have air conditioning and aren’t at work, I went to the local shopping mall and watched a movie. It’s been a few months since I’ve been to a movie. I chose Skyfall, as in James Bond 007. I enjoyed it. It was longer than I was expecting. The ending was cool. I’d rate it 7.5 or maybe 8 out of 10. If you’re a James Bond fan it’s worthwhile although a little tedious in parts.

For the remainder of the day I chilled and watched a DVD or two. One of them was The Dictator. I love the quote about Crocs (footwear). “The universal symbol of a man who has given up hope.”

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Dinner had been in my head since Thursday evening. I watched an episode of How to Cook like Heston. It was the first episode in the series and it was dedicated to beef. In this episode Heston describes the myths around steak and his technique. I didn’t follow his method exactly because I didn’t have two days to age my piece of Scotch rib fillet. That night I unwrapped the steak and put it in the refrigerator uncovered and let it dry out. On Friday night I got a pan smoking hot and seasoned the steak with some salt. I then applied the steak to the pan and turned it every 20 seconds for a total of three minutes. I then let the meat rest for a full five minutes. I had prepared a salad with some lettuce, avocado, beetroot, Parmesan, spring onion, tomato, and Chinese sausage with some lemon juice. I sliced the steak thinly and added it to the salad.

Scotch fillet cooked Heston style with lettuce, avocado, beetroot, Parmesan, spring onion, tomato, and Chinese sausage salad with some lemon juice. I was pretty happy with the comments I received on Instagram

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On Thursday evening a Twitter friend @ColouredPurple mentioned after I posted my tropical drink that she had come across a nice Italian sparkling mineral water from Aldi. On Friday night I made my drink with it.

It was pretty good. Better than the $0.80 bottles from Coles.

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This morning I woke up a little later than normal and went for a walk.

The sun rising over Lake Ginninderra.

As the sun rose the Owl Statue looked all shiny and golden.

My view as I walked down Benjamin Way.

Another view of the lake.

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After watching part of the test match from Sydney I had this delicious lunch.

I’d bought the Gorgonzola cheese, and Maggie Beer pâté and Maggie Beer quince paste earlier today.

Unfortunately while biting through the toast I lost part of an upper right side molar.

That’s the bit next to an Australian five cent piece.

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Okay so it’s a little warm today.

Why can we just have low 30s and 95% humidity? That would be perfect.

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Despite a broken tooth I’m determined to keep cooking and eating. Tonight I had a raw beetroot and grated it into the salad. There’s also grated Parmigiano-Reggiano plus cucumber, celery, nectarine, spring onion, lettuce and tomato.

Nothing like a light salad as the rain falls to cool down the day and increase the humidity.

Catch you later.

Things mentioned in this post

Skyfall
Website http://www.skyfall-movie.com/site/
IMBD http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1074638/

The Dictator
Website http://www.thedictatormovie.com.au/
IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1645170/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

How to cook like Heston
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/how-to-cook-like-heston
http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/tv-show-recipes/how-to-cook-like-heston-recipes
http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/heston-blumenthal/hestons-perfect-steak

Aldi
Website http://aldi.com.au/

Coles
Website http://www.coles.com.au/

Change in jobs (garydavidlum.com)
She Makes Hats On Instagram! (shemakeshats.com)
Why Heston Blumenthal deserves the Turner prize (guardian.co.uk)
Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck – part 3 (carolynchan.wordpress.com)
How Blind People Use Instagram (gizmodo.com.au)
How to use Instagram (slideshare.net)
How Blind People Use Instagram (gizmodo.co.uk)
Instagram says users’ photos won’t appear in ads (newsobserver.com)

Boxing day and the next

8 Replies

It’s coming close to the end of 2012. It’s been an interesting and tumultuous year in some respects. I’m still not sure if this will be my last post of the year. Somehow I think I have more to give especially if I continue to eat like I am while in Brisbane.

Christmas day was a very different one for me. This is the first time I’ve spent Christmas day with Mum and Dad and no one else. I’ll get to see my daughters on Friday. My brothers were doing things with their own immediate families and there were no visitors and no visits to aunts, uncles and cousins places. We’ve all grown up and this year I spent the day with Mum and Dad.

The Christmas day post outlined the majority of the food images from breakfast and lunch.

In the afternoon we went for a short stroll. Dad now walks with a stick so we’re limited to pavement and roads.

The afternoon was glorious. It was warm and it was humid enough to not be uncomfortably dry.

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We ventured around the retirement village and aged care facility on site. It’s ominous when an ambulance arrives with sirens and leaves slowly in silence.

The village has its own swimming pool and lawn bowls area.

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Dinner was a simple affair. Mum decided we didn’t need pudding or cake or anything too sickly sweet after a big lunch. I agreed on a spread of cheese and fruit.

This was a delicious way to end the day. We had fresh mangoes, cherries, seedless water melon and cheeses.

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Boxing Day morning I woke up feeling good in my skin. It was warm and it was raining. I had a bead of sweat on my forehead and my skin didn’t feel dry and cracked.

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Boxing Day in Australia (like many countries) means that large department stores and malls have significant sales on. Department stores like David Jones and Myer do a brisk trade as do most other stores. In Sydney the David Jones stores open at 0500 AEDT. In Melbourne it’s 0600 AEDT. Brisbane is more civilised and the stores tend to open at 0900 AEST. I’d bought the girls their present in Canberra and brought it up with me. I also intended to buy them some things that were going to be on sale. With steely determination I ventured to Westfield Chermside. I arrived at 0845 AEST and car park was full.

This sort of parking is what elicits car park rage. I witnessed another person write something rude on a piece of paper and attach it to the driver’s side window.

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Rather than wake up Mum and Dad I elected to have breakfast at the mall.

The eggs were pretty good. The Hollandaise wasn’t that good. There was hardly enough to pour on both eggs. I had breakfast at Cafe Siena in Westfield Chermside. I wrote a Google+ review.

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I ended up getting my girls some extra stuff for their new Wii U plus some games and external hard drives for their photographs and other data.

On getting back to Mum and Dad’s I noticed the flowers I got for Mum’s birthday which was last week. These are Australian natives. They’ll last for weeks if not months.

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One of the nice things about an abundance of Christmas food is left overs.

Today’s lunch was fresh white bread filled with chicken, duck, mayonnaise and lettuce.

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Another feature of Boxing Day in Australia is a cricket test match played in Melbourne. When I was a boy I happily spent hours watching cricket relieved during breaks when we’d go outside and play cricket in the back yard. Today was the first time I’ve sat and watched cricket with Dad for decades. In the late afternoon though I discovered (to some horror) that Mum and Dad enjoy the television soap opera, viz., The Bold and the Beautiful. I elected to go for a walk rather than endure that.

You can see the simple route at http://runkeeper.com/user/garydlum/activity/137877980

I walked past a Jenny Craig franchise and thought after all I’ve eaten I may need to visit.

That said there is a legal history between Jenny Craig and my father so I never will.

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This is where I bought my first Ford Falcon. Not a V8, they were to come later when I lived in Darwin when I owned three V8 Falcons and Fairmonts.

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This is a place we used to frequent in the 1980s and get takeaway Chinese food from. As an IG friend quipped, not exactly new anymore.

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Boxing day dinner was a simple affair of left over chicken and duck plus some potato bake and a salad. It was delicious with lots of avocado.

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This morning I woke to the tragic news that Gerry Anderson had died after a battle with dementia. Gerry was the creator of SUPERMARIONATION and the developer and producer of television programs like Thunderbirds are GO, Fireball XL5 and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. As a kid and even now I love the Thunderbirds. The whole concept of International Rescue and the story behind Jeff Tracy and his sons each named after a Mercury astronaut was so compelling. Now that I work in emergency management there are days I wish we had The Thunderbirds on-call. Virgil was my favourite character. Virgil piloted TB2. I was also very fond of Gordon who piloted TB4.

YouTube is replete with clips. I’ve added a few that I like, but there are so many more.
Thunderbirds are GO! http://youtu.be/BfIAKj3Gl1E

This is the closing theme music from AudioBoo (I hope this works)

http://audioboo.fm/boos/1027643-thunderbirds-are-go

Take off of TB1 and TB2 on YouTube. The beginning is a little tedious but once you see the swimming pool move you’ll be sucked in.

Wiki entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbirds_Are_Go

Breakfast was sombre and simple. Vegemite and jam on toast with a strong coffee.

The day itself looked good.

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Today Mum and Dad asked me to take them on a long drive. They don’t get out much from the retirement village except in bus trips with other residents. So we spent the day driving with no plan.

This is the car I hired. It’s a Toyota Camry. It is quite good. The remote key entry and ignition is cool. I like how it connects easily with my iPhone through Bluetooth.

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I suggested Caloundra and Mum said why not Noosa, in the end I decided not to turn off and we ended up in Gympie in time for morning tea. Gympie has a long history in Queensland, some of it not so positive. I think you have to be a local to share those tales so I won’t go on. I had many friends from Gympie in my university and early years as a medical practitioner. I remember one gorgeous nurse from my intern year…

Morning tea was at the Little Brown Jug cafe in Gympie. I had a pot of tea and a vanilla slice. Regular readers know my fondness for vanilla slice and my dream of one day doing a vanilla slice crawl around Australia. Vanilla slice search of Yummy Lummy.

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After Gympie we hit the road and headed to Noosa. In the 1970s and 1980s we would spend Easter holidays at Noosa and occasionally some Summer holidays too. As we got older, we ended buying a place at Caloundra and I remember weekends and holidays in my later years of high school on the beach every chance I could get.

In Noosa we used to stay at a place called Paramount Towers on Hastings Street. Mum said it was reasonable in the day at $50 a night. I can’t imagine how much it would cost now that Noosa is one of the most expensive tourist places in South East Queensland.

It’s now called the Settler’s Cove.

This is the famous Noosa beach. I used to love this beach. So many good boyhood memories. In the late 1970s and early 1980s the beach was crowded with locals and tourists. It was kind of exotic and there would be lots of foreign tourists. For a young fella, what I remember most was that most young women on the beach had no desire to wear much and many would lay in the sun and enter the water topless. There was a clothes-free beach a short walk away but no one seemed to care. Anyway, enough of those thoughts…naughty Gaz.

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Rather than eat lunch at an over priced place in Noosa, Mum suggested Buderim. Buderim is a sleepy town in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. It has a significant number of senior Australians (aka self funded retirees) and is a favourite place of art and craft lovers. Dad was feeling a little tired so rather than look too far we stopped at a cafe and enjoyed a toasted sandwich.

I had a chicken, mayonnaise and avocado toasted sandwich.

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For dinner tonight we enjoyed a crumbed steak and salad.

I will confess I ended up eating two large pieces of scotch rib fillet steak that was covered in fresh bread crumbs. They are irresistible.

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Things and places mentioned in this post

Myer
http://www.myer.com.au/

David Jones
http://davidjones.com.au

Westfield Chermside
http://www.westfield.com.au/chermside
Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/dKrdP

View Larger Map

Cafe Siena
Google+ https://plus.google.com/117272677739548942732/about?gl=au&hl=en

Boxing day test match
Wiki entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_Day_Test

The Bold and The Beautiful
http://www.boldandbeautiful.com/

Gympie
Wiki entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gympie
Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/TxtYd

View Larger Map

Little Brown Jug https://foursquare.com/v/little-brown-jug/4c9fe1f654c8a1cd2f2c9b4b

Noosa
Wiki entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noosa
Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/Nc7Y9

View Larger Map

Buderim
Wiki entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buderim
Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/CXXfT

View Larger Map

I also came across this clip on YouTube. Okay, so you get the idea, I’m a scifi geek.

Evolution of the USS Enterprise
http://youtu.be/oAakbHMvgzI

Thunderbirds Creator Gerry Anderson Dies (news.sky.com)
Thunderbirds puppeteer Gerry Anderson dies, aged 83 (thetimes.co.uk)
Thunderbirds Creator Gerry Anderson Dies – What’s Hot and What’s Trending Boxing Day 2012 (whatshotwhatstrendingnow.com)
R.I.P. Gerry Anderson (m.deadline.com)
Twitter remembers the creator of the Thunderbirds (macleans.ca)
Farewell to puppet master who defined childhood for a generation: Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson dies (independent.co.uk)
Thunderbirds creator dies (bigpondnews.com)
RIP Gerry Anderson Creator of Thunderbirds,UFO, And Space 1999 (swordsandstitchery.blogspot.com)
Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson dies (radionz.co.nz)
Gerry Anderson, creator of Thunderbirds dies (telegraph.co.uk)

Week 51 2012 Christmas party season

15 Replies

Saturday night I went to a Christmas barbecue with some friends. It was a good night with lots of tasty food and good company. I’d like to say it was unseasonably cold, but this is Canberra. It’s snowed close by on a Christmas day before. What can I say, I’m looking forward to being in Queensland for Christmas where the weather is more to my liking.

Again like Friday night I was a bit slow with my iPhone and I didn’t capture images of the nibbles. There were lots of nibbles. Lots of nuts, dips, cheese, pâté, crackers, bread, chips, and stuff. For dinner we had a barbecue with steak, hamburger patties and sausages plus potato bake, coleslaw and other salads.

Like a lot of my previous posts I’m using images from my instagram profile. You can get more information on each image by clicking on it to see comments from other IGers.

The spread

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My plate

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Some of my friends queried my burger contents of steak, sausage, hamburger pat tie, coleslaw and potato bake. I thought it all went well together.

———-

For dessert we had pavlova.

———-

I was cold

I was cold. I’m glad I brought a hoodie and was given a wrap.

View the twitter conversation here and here and here

———-

I spent most of Sunday relaxing. I did a little grocery shopping and then got into watching series two of Breaking Bad. This is a surprisingly good series. Like The Walking Dead I’m addicted.

I felt pretty full from the night before so my breakfast and lunch was an iced coffee banana smoothie.

———-

You can tell it’s Christmas with cars wearing reindeer antlers and candy canes. I’m not a fan

———-

I love pineapple and a pineapple smoothie was in order for afternoon tea.

———-

I took home a left over potato bake from Saturday night so now I have potato bake for a few nights this week.

This meal was a piece of salmon, some potato bake and some salad.

———-

On Monday morning as I was checking out my post office box the new art was standing proud, all shiny and new.

———-

One of my work friends turned 32 on Monday.

———-

Monday evening’s dinner was a rasher of pork, some salad and some potato bake.

———-

I read today the new terms and conditions of use for Instagram. If Instagram wants to use my images I really don’t mind, I can’t imagine any of them are worthy. My only concern is that some of my images contain people and I may not always have permission to include them. Many IGers moved to Flickr. I received more e-mails from Flickr in the last few days than in the few years I’ve had an account. http://www.flickr.com/photos/garydlum

———-

Tuesday night’s dinner was a piece of salmon, some salad and the last of the weekend’s potato bake. The drink is made from pineapple and mint leaves plus some lime cordial.

———-

On Wednesday I forgot to make my lunch.

This was a smoked salmon and capers quiche from Urban Bean Espresso Bar. It was very nice. The raspberry soft drink was also pretty good too.

———-

Food regret

Jess went out for doughnuts and I said yes. I shouldn’t have. It came from Breadtop in Woden. The Breadtop franchise has grown well in Australia. See below for details.

———-

A friendly visitor

This cute blue tongue lizard greeted me when I alighted from my car in the apartment garage.
Wikipedia entry

———-

Wednesday dinner was a pork rasher and mango salad. It was delicious.

———-

On Thursday we had our branch Christmas morning tea.

Many sections, branches and divisions have out of office get together. When we’ve tried that in the past something has gone wrong like a health emergency necessitating staff to return to the office. It’s just part of working in an emergency management team.

These were amazing. Cylinders of crunchy nutty brownie goodness topped with a chocolate ganache with a white chocolate tipped strawberry which is sitting in a white chocolate disc for stability. The person who made these has made some great strawberry based treats in the past, especially her chocolate drizzled strawberry and marshmallow kebabs. I think nearly everyone in the branch has a cooking or food bent. It’s amazing.

———-

Everyone in the branch received an end of the year award.

I think everyone knows I love capturing images of food and then posting them to Instagram.

———-

At lunch the other SES (Senior Executive Service) staff from the division went to lunch. We went to The Palette which is in the Beaver Galleries.

I’m sorry this is so blurry. I was so excited to be having crumbed lamb brains with a capers and vinegar side. The piquancy of the capers and vinegar offset the fattiness of the brains perfectly. The brains were lightly crumbed and not overcooked. Kept into small portions like these, the taste is delicious and not overpowering. Lambs brains brings back great childhood memories of Mum cooking crumbed lambs brains with a white sauce with onion and parsley.

———-

The Beaver Galleries are a landmark of Canberra art and culture. I’ve been there a couple of times now. The gallery is full of exquisite pieces. That said, the prices are very high.

One of my favourite food bloggers is Hannah of Wayfaring Chocolate fame. Earlier this year she did a review of sweet selection at The Palette

———-

The trifecta for Thursday was Christmas dinner with dear friends.

We started with freshly cooked prawns. These were cooked in sea water, yes sea water that had been specially collected.

———-

The main was a roast pork and vegetables. The crackling was sublime.

The peas were home grown in the garden along with the snow peas.

———-

For dessert we devoured a violet crumble semifreddo.

———-

While Friday was not the last day of work for 2012, it had a very holiday feel. Ursula, our branch executive assistant gave me a toy car filled with lollies for Christmas.

I played vroom vroom throughout the day.

———-

I moved offices as part of my new role. In my old office I had a big pin board on which I could hang my favourite flags. The top one is Queensland’s flag. A quick search of this blog will reveal how I feel about being a Queenslander and Queensland.

The bottom flag belongs to the Northern Territory of Australia. Brisbane may be my home town and I am a passionate Queenslander, however, Darwin is my spiritual home, it’s where my soul lives. For that reason the flag has always been hung upside down in my office. An upside down flag is a maritime distress signal. I want to return home. I expect Australian readers to recognise it’s upside down, for my non-Australian readers, the stars represent the Southern Cross and it is upside down.

———-

We’d heard some weeks ago about the Snag Stand. A new franchise from Sydney and Melbourne had opened two outlets in Canberra, one very close to where we work.

They cook and assemble onsite. It’s a pretty busy place.

The menu for the Sydney outlets is here and for the Melbourne outlets here. They don’t have the Canberra ones posted. I assume they are similar.

———-

We brought our food back to work.

I chose a Swiss Bratwurst. It was topped with a really yummy Sauerkraut

It was excellent. Not too big and not too salty.

———-

Last night I needed something light.

Organic free range chicken drumstick and salad.

———-

This morning on my walk I tried the new Instagram Mayfair filter when saying hello to the Owl Statue.

———-

I hope at the end of next week to write a short piece about 2012. It won’t be much. Hopefully I’ll be enjoying myself in Brisbane where it will be warm and moist.

Places and things mentioned in this post in more detail.

Breaking Bad
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_Bad
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903747/
http://www.amctv.com/shows/breaking-bad

Breadtop
http://www.breadtop.com.au/
http://www.westfield.com.au/au/retailers/breadtop/woden
Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/Z5Bdv

View Larger Map

Beaver Galleries
http://www.beavergalleries.com.au/
Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/Di7Yr

View Larger Map

The Snag Stand
http://snagstand.com.au/

View Larger Map

http://www.westfield.com.au/au/retailers/snag-stand/woden
Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/Z5Bdv

#BoycottInstagram? Instagram Lives On (tcjock.wordpress.com)
Instagram says it now has the right to sell your photos (gloryartgallery.wordpress.com)
Instagram or not to Instagram ? (since198x.com)
Instagram: “All Your Photos Are Belong to Us!” (beanstalk-inc.com)
Photo Friday – Insanity Instagram (insanityofmotherhood.com)
Moving From Instagram to Flickr (kinlane.wordpress.com)

Burrito sans tortilla at Jamison Zambrero

6 Replies

We went and ordered lunch at Jamison Zambrero today. We’ve been interested in trying this place for some time and today presented as a good opportunity. Bron suggested looking at the menu on-line before going in and ordering. The on-line menu also provides a kilojoule counter for those interested in calorie counting.

If you’re interested in lowering your carbohydrate load you can order a burrito sans tortilla. I asked for lamb with guacamole and sour cream plus salad including jalapenos with a mild smoky chipotle sauce.

The food was served on a very shallow bed of rice in a cardboard tray and then covered in aluminium foil for takeaway customers.

I quite enjoyed mine although I don’t think it was worth $12. In addition, while it didn’t taste salty while I was eating it, I became very thirsty shortly afterwards.

Would I have one again? Yes probably, but it won’t be a regular meal.

Burrito sans tortilla from Zembrero Jamison

Guacamole, Guacamole Recipe & Guacamole Dip | Pottery Barn (potterybarn.com)
A burrito like no other: Tacón de Marlin (foodieinvallarta.wordpress.com)
Did someone say pie? (garydavidlum.com)
Burrito sans tortilla at Jamison Zambrero (garydavidlum.com)

Seeking redemption after last night’s transgression

6 Replies

Last night I made a dinner which I thought was fit for Man v Food. It was based in tinned meat, potato and cheese. I received mixed reactions today from friends. Mostly negative reactions but at least one positive. The positive reaction was from a friend whose husband loves Man v Food and who is keen on a visit to the USA to do a Man v Food eating tour. Most reactions were dismay that I would eat meat from a tin. What I didn’t say was how much I really like tinned corned beef as much for the fat content as well as connective tissue content like big arteries and veins.

My biggest regret about last night was the amount of garlic I used and the fact that all day I could taste and smell garlic. I thought for dinner tonight I would do something unexpected but in keeping with my style.

Surprise surprise, tonight’s meal contains no meat, not even bacon pieces. I prepared sweet potato fritters and salad for dinner.

Sweet potato fritter

Grate sweet potato and cheddar cheese. Crumb a slice of bread. Bind with an egg. I added seasoning to taste. I made a few fritters and baked in an oven for 45 minutes. I added no oil.

Yes, I know they are uneven

My salad

Tonight I had some avocado, peaches, sweet corn, and cherry tomatoes tossed in a little lime juice and balsamic vinegar.

Plated up. Sweet potato cake and salad.

Sweet potato, avocado, and bacon salad (saffronandhoney.com)
Sweet Potato Patties (thecoffeecrazedteacher.wordpress.com)
Quick and easy use of sweet potatoes (hazellovesdesign.com)
Man Food (thelittlehenhouse.com)
Englishman v. food? (bbc.co.uk)

New years eve dinner

8 Replies

Last night we were invited to a dinner party. Good friends through work. The same friends who hosted high tea a month ago. There were six adults. Bron had been thinking of a chocolate and strawberry creation based in part on the base via Donna Hay and the rest her own creative juices.

Before the main course we were treated to some gorgeous food in terms of olives, Turkish dips and a really nice Persian Feta cheese.

The main meal was a jerk chicken with sweet corn, haloumi salad and rice. This was an incredibly tasty meal. Fortunately there was enough for me to have seconds.

Jerk chicken, sweet corn, haloumi salad and rice

This image is taken before we left Bron’s place. The icing sugar is still obvious.

Bitter chocolate and strawberry tart

I ended up having two slices.

Bitter chocolate strawberry tart

It was a great night of sharing funny stories and eating good food. A great way to spend new years eve.

Secrets of domestic goddess Nigella Lawson’s incredible diet (mirror.co.uk)
Is there a word better than awesome for tonight’s dinner? (garydavidlum.com)

Yummy Lummy

Gary's rants and raves about food (and a little about life)

Tag Archives: Salad

My weekend in Brisbane

My week in Instagram and I won $50 of meat. Shout out @2CC and Elite Meats Canberra

Breakfast at Elk and Pea

Honey soy salmon and a chocolate honeycomb dessert

A happy ending and the end of a good little break | Ping @ColouredPurple

Boxing day and the next

Week 51 2012 Christmas party season

Burrito sans tortilla at Jamison Zambrero

Seeking redemption after last night’s transgression

New years eve dinner

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