Dear Reader, this post is formatted differently from the usual way I write here. Please bear with me. I’ll get to the sandwich a bit later.

This year has been a roller coaster ride for many, and in some circumstances, sadly, it’s been a fatal crash ending.

Bushfires

In Australia, 2020 began in the midst of what many are calling the worst bushfire season in living memory. So much was destroyed, so many people were affected physically and mentally. Some people died. We lost vast amounts of fauna and flora. The economic cost was huge to many communities. Some families have not recovered and remain in a state of poverty.

COVID-19

By the end of January 2020, we were staring into a public health incident of international concern. We have spent most of 2020 in pandemic response mode because of COVID-19. On some days, when there is just so much work, and it’s stressful to get through it all, time feels like it stands still, but overall, this year has sped past.

I know so many people who have been affected by the pandemic in very profound ways. I’m fortunate that I don’t have a personal connection with anyone who has died, but when I look at the figures around the world, I’m aghast at how some countries have fared. 

We can speculate about the quality of political leadership and the quality of medical expertise. Praise God, in Australia, despite what many people think of our leaders and decision-makers; the overall outcome has been good. Australia benefits in being an island continent with strong governance in biosecurity. It also benefits from having good health and medical expertise and leadership. This is all based on a foundation of people working in policy roles who aim every day to make Australia safe. Health protection is their vision and mission for their working lives.

How does any of this relate to a sandwich?

Well, while I spend time pondering the suffering of others, I feel guilty in a small portion for thinking this has been the best year of my existence.

While others have lost employment (including my daughters and brothers), I’ve never been busier. Working from home has been forced on some; yet, I’ve always had options. I’m able to do four days in an office building working with others while I spend the other days working from home. 

Being able to see people physically has been good. Having good friends who are happy to communicate digitally has been soul-saving, and faith restoring.

I’ve been working with three teams of extraordinary policy officers. Each person is gifted, and it’s a joyful experience working with them. 

Now we come to the sandwich.

Claire is in one of the teams I work with every day. Claire makes marmalade for her family and friends. Claire gave me some of her whiskey Seville marmalade, which she made last year. Surprisingly, Claire dislikes marmalade. I love the stuff.

So, what do I do with a jar of yummy marmalade? Cue, GC, who suggested Three Mills orange and raisin sourdough bread. I’d never heard of Three Mills Bakery, so GC shared the website URL and I noted that I could buy a loaf from Le Bon Mélange (LBM) Café in Gungahlin. I’ve previously written about a delightful apple, pecan and custard tart from LBM before.

Fridays are my working from home day. I have a series of teleconferences and videoconferences each Friday, and I can do that easily from home. My first meeting on a Friday usually starts at 9 am which meant I had some time to buy a coffee at Atlas on Hibberson and then wander over to Le Bon Mélange and buy the orange and raisin sourdough bread.

When I was on Hibberson Street, it made me feel like I was in a country town in Queensland. It just had a nice feel to it.

When I got to LBM, I thought that I might buy another pecan, apple and custard tart too for morning tea. When I walked inside LBM, however, there were none 😞

The pecan tarts looked good, but the lemon and lime white chocolate cheesecake caught my eye, and I had to have one.

In a time not that long ago

When GC mentioned fruit loaf, it stimulated memories of when I used to travel a lot for work, and I’d have breakfast at the airport in an airline lounge. There was always some fruit loaf to toast plus packets of butter, orange marmalade and peanut paste (albeit smooth and never crunchy).

My favourite breakfast was two pieces of toasted fruit loaf, lashings of butter and lots of marmalade and peanut paste. And, there would always be coffee.

Resident medical officer life

This habit is similar to when I was a resident. In the doctors and nurses lounge in the hospital, I trained in, between surgical cases, I’d always have a peanut paste and marmalade sandwich on the fresh thick-sliced white sandwich loaf. The only thing which kept the weight off in those days was the frenetic pace of resident life. I lived on sandwiches, hot chips and late-night pizza in the wards with the unit’s other house officers.

The sandwich

The connection with work and this sandwich goes a little further. GC works in one of the teams, and she recommended not only the bread but also the Mayver’s peanut paste.

Then there is the butter, in the third team is MH. MH grew up on a dairy farm, and on most days at work, we comment to each other about our profound fondness for butter as a food group. Her family farm’s milk only goes to milk and cheese and not butter, but she only buys Lurpak.

Rather than just spread the butter on dry toasted orange and raisin sourdough bread, I pan-fried the bread in Lurpak butter. The sugars in the fruit and bread caramelised beautifully.

Claire’s whiskey Seville marmalade has a strong whiskey flavour but enough citrusy tartness to make my tongue sing. This is nothing like the marmalade you’d buy in a supermarket.

While I do like peanut paste and marmalade, and the slice I had with both was good, I think for the rest of the loaf (now frozen) and the rest of the jar of marmalade, I’ll exclude the peanut paste. It’s an unnecessary accompaniment. 

Lemon and lime white chocolate cheesecake from LBM

Here’s my description in one sentence.

Beautiful thin and firm shortcrust pastry lined with a delicate and friable biscuit crumb encasing a tarty sweet lemon and lime white chocolate cheesecake with visible flecks of lime zest.

Truly delightful.

Weight chart

Surprisingly, I’m still managing to keep within the 73.5–74.5 kilogram weight range. Next year, I may be able to realise two goals which I thought were out of reach. That is a healthy weight range Body Mass Index (BMI) and a scaphoid abdomen.

With Christmas coming up though, I also have a desire to eat tubs of ice cream, custard, and pudding most days between Christmas day and new year’s day. That may have an impact. There will also be affogato.

Tonight’s dinner

Reverse seared New York strip steak with caramelised onions and mushrooms with asparagus, broccolini and sugar snap peas.

I made the caramelised onions and mushrooms yesterday for my Friday pizza.

The steak was dry brined and then cooked in a warm oven until the internal temperature reached 45 °C. I then seared the steak in a cast-iron skillet with Queensland nut oil and butter.

The greens were par boiled to enhance the green colour, cold shocked in ice water and then finished in the burnt butter after the steak had been seared.

The packet (McCain’s) sweet potato chips where cooked in a hot oven for 30 minutes.

A book to read

A blogger friend, Jules has written a book about her experience caring for her son who has bipolar disorder. Jules wants to establish an education centre to help others.

I hope to read this book over the next few weeks.

Final thoughts

Dear Reader, this post has been a little different and given I’m seriously contemplating retiring the diary blog, future posts maybe like this one.

Please leave a comment and let me know how you feel about this change. Thanks for visiting Yummy Lummy.