I’ve just returned from a short trip working on Norfolk Island. I’ve now had three short trips to the island in three years. While I’m not at liberty to share what I was doing, I can share what I ate!
The first trip was in 2019. The second in 2020 before COVID-19 struck. I also shared some thoughts from my first trip here.
COVID-19 has impacted travel to and from the island, with Qantas taking over most flights instead of Air New Zealand.
No butter on Norfolk Island
We discovered soon after landing that there was no butter on the island. Because of COVID-19 freight supplies had become unreliable and there had not been a delivery of butter. While the island is replete with cattle, the cattle are for beef and not for dairy products. Prior to the legislative requirements for the pasteurisation of milk, there was an abundance of fresh milk, cream, and butter. Now, most island residents rely on UHT milk.
This meant my usual travel breakfast of Eggs Benedict was not possible without butter for the hollandaise sauce.
Monday dinner
“The Bowlo” The Bowling Club Bistro Taylors Road, New cascade Road, Burnt Pine
Tuesday breakfast
The Olive Café Taylors Road off Taylors Road, Burnt Pine
Tuesday lunch
The Olive Café Taylors Road off Taylors Road, Burnt Pine
The Olive Café Taylors Road off Taylors Road, Burnt Pine
Thursday lunch
Links to the places on Norfolk Island I ate at or bought food from
Bowling Club Bistro
The Olive Cafe
The Garden Restaurant and Bar
Golden Orb Bookshop Café
Juddway
Bounty Bar & Grill
Prinke eco store
The damage
So, I know what you’re thinking, how much weight did Gary put on over the three nights away?
Would you believe I weighed in at roughly the same weight I left?
I know right! Pretty amazing. God is good. I think it comes down to the amount of standing and walking and other activity. At my regular job with all the teleconferences and video teleconferences it’s like I’m growing my COVID-19 arse like some sort of weird science experiment.
Final thoughts on Norfolk Island
Have you been to Norfolk Island?
What did you think?
Would you be able to cope for three days without butter?
What’s your favourite travel breakfast?
Acknowledgements
Work travel always requires support from work colleagues and I am always grateful for their help and assistance.
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.
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.
G09/48 Gungahlin Place and Bruning Street, Gungahlin ACT 2912
Background
During the week, I was sharing with my BFF, GC, a couple of photos of Mum’s trifle which she made to accompany the steak dinner I cooked on Wednesday evening.
Mum made the custard from scratch and she happily ‘cheated’ with a packet vanilla sponge cake. Along with some raspberry jelly, whipped cream (flavoured with vanilla and brown sugar), Streets Raspberry Ripple ice cream, tinned lychees, fresh Kensington Pride mango, and some crushed Queensland nuts, it was a dessert of dreams. Rather than a boring bowl, Mum went all fancy and served the trifle in glasses, and we used parfait spoons.
Introducing Le Bon Mélange
Knowing how much I like custard, the following morning, GC sent me a screenshot from the Le Bon Mélange Facebook page. LBM had created a new product, an apple, pecan, and custard tart. GC knows me well. 😊
The idea of this apple pecan custard creation floated around in my head all weekend. I crave custard. A sweet nut crumb on a pastry is the best. I also like a tart apple in a dessert creation.
So, this morning, I ventured to Gungahlin to buy an LBM apple pecan custard tart.
Gungahlin
As a Belco Bloke, I rarely get into Gungahlin, it was delightful to drive into the heart of the Gungahlin town centre. Everything was so green and lush.
James Kirk Street
As I was driving, I had two pleasant surprises. I came across James Kirk Street.
On one of the signs, someone had conveniently added a “T.” between the James and the Kirk. If you have no idea why this would interest me, it’s because I’m a fan of Star Trek, and James T. Kirk was the captain of USS Enterprise 1701 from The Original Series.
USS Enterprise NCC-1701
Notaras Lane
The next pleasant surprise was passing Notaras Lane. I had no idea there was a Notaras Lane in Canberra.
The reason for this surprise may be a little cryptic. Professor Len Notaras, AM is one of my dearest friends. Len is the Executive Director of the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre in Darwin. He was the former Medical Superintendent of the Royal Darwin Hospital and Secretary for the NT Government Department of Health.
The Notaras family is prominent in Canberra and while Len hails from Newcastle, it’s still his family here.
Le Bon Mélange
As I approached Le Bon Mélange, I could see all the cars parked on the street. I figured this place must be popular. Evidence of LBM’s popularity goes beyond the vehicles and queue of people. The LBM Instagram account has more than fifty thousand followers, and nearly five thousand accounts follow the LBM Facebook page.
After finding a park and a short walk, I entered LBM and noted the light and spacious feeling. The display cases for the pastries contain all these delicious looking treats. I’m going to have to come back and try more cakes 😊
The apple pecan custard tarts stood out from everything else.
When I paid for them, the sales assistant mentioned they were her favourite and asked me if I had tried them before. I explained no, this would be my first time.
I brought the tart home and made a coffee. What could be better than coffee and a tart for morning tea?
Apple Pecan Custard Tart from Le Bon Mélange with caffettiera-made coffee
Apple Pecan Custard Tart from Le Bon Mélange with caffettiera-made coffee
Tart and coffee
Sliced tart
Click on an image and scroll through
Apple Pecan Custard Tart
The first thing I noticed was the faint smell of cinnamon. On cutting through the tart to get an idea of the cross-section, the pastry was firm yet thin. I like pie crust which isn’t too friable. The dome of diced apple split without falling apart and the custard was silky smooth with enough body to not flow. The sugar and cinnamon pecan nut crumb were delicate.
Biting through the edge of the tart revealed the crust wasn’t overly sweet and the custard was perfect. It was silky smooth and just sweet enough.
The apples were a little tart, and the pieces were still firm.
This apple pecan custard tart is excellent, and I’d go back again for more.
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