Goodbye, Number 69

Posted by Gary

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Dear Reader,

Introduction

I hope you’ve had a good week.

Benjamin Way near the Belconnen Police Station
The Big Belconnen Owl
Lake Ginninderra at dusk
Lake Ginninderra at dusk
Lake Ginninderra after dawn
Lake Ginninderra at dusk

Guess what? I’ve moved to Adelaide. I wanted to live closer to Kathleen. I now live a few minutes from her place.

Coffee at Stella’s by the Lake
Poached eggs with hollandaise sauce at Stella’s by the Lake
Poached eggs with hollandaise sauce at Stella’s by the Lake

I’m still working the same (main) job and will be doing the same work. I’m also likely to work as an Honorary Visiting Medical Officer like I did in Canberra.

I’ll soon have a gas cooker installed, so I can cook with gas. I also have a Weber Q+ barbecue that uses gas for fuel.

Weber Q+

Once I connect to the NBN, I can watch the new TV, too. This will occur later this week. The previous tenants didn’t connect to the NBN, so I require a formal installation service. That said, my new place has an aerial for TV reception, so my new TV is delivering some entertainment. Unfortunately, I can’t watch the footy live in Adelaide on free-to-air TV. Once the NBN is connected, my streaming services will see me as a happy dolphin.

Do you like my Dolphins NRL cap?

Adelaide is the fourth city I’ve lived in, and it’s the first time I’ve lived in a bicameral jurisdiction.

How is the foot?

What’s happened this week?

The foot and knee are continuing to heal. While I can walk without a cane, some stiffness and pain remain in the knee, ankle, and toes.

The move

The removalists arrived, lifted my things from the flat (number 69), and then packed the things I had in long-term storage. They arrived in Adelaide about 48 hours later.

Kathleen did the amazing thing of driving from Canberra to Adelaide with me. We shared the driving. Kathleen has a lot of experience driving between both cities.

The drive from Canberra to Adelaide was great. Kathleen is a terrific driving partner. To break up the drive, we stayed overnight in Narrandera.

Charlie’s on East Charles Sturt Hotel Scotch fillet steak
Boonka’s brekkie Bacon and eggs with sausage, garlic mushrooms, onion, fried tomatoes, hash browns, caramelised onion, and capsicum.
Four fried eggs with bacon at Tangles Cafe from the Boonka’s Brekkie. Kathleen ate the rest.
Tooleybuc NSW 2736 public toilet. Look! 👀 it is air conditioned.

The roads were pretty good. On the first day, the ambient temperature got as high as 38 °C, while the second day was much cooler at 25 °C. My car is over 15 years old and seems to manage the drive well.

What have I been eating?

Tinned corned beef and coconut cream
Eggs and cheese scrambled in butter
Tinned corned beef and cheese
Tinned corned beef and coconut cream
My last meal in Canberra. Tinned corned beef with eggs scrambled in cream, butter, and cheese.
My last meal in Canberra. Tinned corned beef with eggs scrambled in cream, butter, and cheese.
Half chicken at Georges on Waymouth
Scotch fillet steak at Georges on Waymouth
Eggs scrambled in butter. My first cooked meal in my unit
Minced beef and cheese
Lamb offcuts from the pressure cooker

Equipment

  • Weber Q+

Ingredients

  • Scotch fillet steak.

Instructions

  1. Dry brine the steaks overnight.
  2. Heat the barbecue and then clean the grates with a wire brush.
  3. Cook the steaks on the barbecue and flip the steaks every 30 seconds until the meat is nicely caramelised.
  4. Rest the meat for 5 to 7 minutes (minimum).
  5. Slice the meat.
  6. If you’re following a meat-only diet, just the steak will be more than sufficient to satisfy your hunger. You can pick up the steak and just bite into it. This minimises washing.
  7. If you’re low-carbohydrate eating, steak and some plant-based foods like avocado, leafy green leaves, olives, and tomatoes are a good combination.
  8. If you’re not concerned with carbohydrates, fill your boots.
  9. If you’re vegetarian or vegan, this steak won’t be suitable.
  10. Always give thanks to the Lord.
  11. Eat with whatever implements you prefer.
Weber Q+
Weber Q+
Scotch fillet steak on the Weber Q+
Scotch fillet steak on the Weber Q+
Scotch fillet steak cooked on the Weber Q+
Scotch fillet steak cooked on the Weber Q+

Thoughts on the meal

This was my first time using the Weber Q+ (which I’d bought second-hand). I was happy with the outcome. I will need to use it more often to get a good feel for it.

It was great cooking a meal and sharing it with Kathleen in my own place.

Final thoughts

  • Do you like moving?
  • Do you like having a driving partner to share the load?
  • Do you like cooking on a barbecue?

Disclaimer and comments

This post and other posts on this blog are not medical or health advice. I’m sharing my personal experiences from my lived experience. My opinions remain mine.

For health advice, see your regular medical practitioner. For diet advice, consult with appropriately registered professionals.

Preparing for another break

Posted by Gary

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Dear Reader,

Introduction

I hope you’ve had a good week. Mine was busy. Work was mostly back-to-back meetings, and I’ve been cleaning at home a lot.

I’m taking leave from work for the next two weeks. I may not post next weekend. I’ve got a lot happening, so stay tuned if you’re interested.

I’ll be spending time with Kathleen, so it’s going to be wonderful.

How is the foot?

What’s happened this week?

Apart from some paraesthesia and stiffness, the foot and ankle are okay. I’ve been doing some walking, and I feel that my foot, ankle, and knee will improve as I continue to walk.

Over the next two weeks, I’ll be on my feet a lot, so I’m hoping all goes well with the foot (as well as the knee).

What have I been watching?

Masters of the Air

Masters of the Air is an Apple Original show about the crews flying the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress platform in World War II. The miniseries is based on the 2007 book by Donald L. Miller and follows the actions of the 100th Bomb Group, a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber unit in the Eighth Air Force in eastern England during World War II.  

What have I been listening to?

Change your diet, change your mind.

I’ve started to get into this book by Georgia Ede. I like how she explains psychiatry in the context of neurology. The author can explain the anatomy and physiology of the brain and then speculate on its relationship with psychiatric disease. (Ede, 2024)

The book emphasises how what we eat affects our mental health and wellbeing. This book connects naturally with other books I’ve been reading about human nutrition and metabolic health.

The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis, narrated by Ralph Cosham

“The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis is a satirical novel written as letters from a senior demon, Screwtape, to his nephew Wormwood, a junior tempter. Their goal is to lead a recent Christian convert, the “Patient,” away from faith and toward damnation.

Through Screwtape’s advice, Lewis explores how demons exploit human weaknesses like pride, vanity, and anger. The “letters” offer a perspective on faith and the subtle ways temptations can lead us astray. (Lewis, 2009)

Recipe — or not

In preparation for two weeks away, I’m eating out my refrigerator, so I don’t have a recipe to share today.

My meals have been the routine meals I mentioned last week, namely, eggs, butter, minced beef, and steak.

Photographs

Poached farmed New Zealand Pacific salmon. In my opinion it tastes better and flakes better than Atlantic salmon.
Sardines cooked with Poachers Pantry bacon
Eggs scrambled in butter
Minced beef and some cheddar cheese
Leftover New Zealand Pacific salmon with scrambled eggs in butter.
A facsimile of human rotavirus electron photomicrograph made by Dr Joanne Wolters nee Cassels (1987)
Minced beef and some cheddar cheese
Pork rashers
Scotch fillet steak
Coffee at Stella’s by the Lake
Minced beef and some cheddar cheese

Final thoughts

  • Do you eat everything in your refrigerator when you prepare to go away?
  • Do you have a fascination for the tools used for war?
  • Have you read “The Screwtape Letters”? What did you think?

Disclaimer and comments

This post and other posts on this blog are not medical or health advice. I’m sharing my personal experiences from my lived experience. My opinions remain mine.

For health advice, see your regular medical practitioner. For diet advice, consult with appropriately registered professionals.

References

Ede, G. (2024). Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind: A Food-First Plan to Optimize Your Mental Health. Hodder & Stoughton.

Lewis, C. S. (2009). Screwtape letters. Turtleback Books.

Beef mince

Posted by Gary

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Dear Reader,

I hope you’ve had a good week.

My week has been busy with work. I loved spending time with Kathleen in Adelaide and on Kangaroo Island. I did need to return to work.

How is the foot?

What’s happened this week?

I went to an outpatient appointment on Friday. The orthopædic trainee has told me I can wear sturdy shoes on my feet and ambulate more.

I asked when I could walk around without shoes, and he said the maximum tendon repair strength should be achieved after about three months. This means in about three to four weeks.

I’ve now been discharged from outpatient care and can book appointments to see a physiotherapist.

Owl Statue

What have I been watching?

Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Star Trek Voyager

While I was in Adelaide visiting Kathleen, I watched Star Trek on her TV. Kathleen’s TV is newer than mine (I bought mine in 2007), and the picture quality is fantastic.

I’ll watch Star Trek on a new TV in a few weeks. Hint Hint 😉

What have I been listening to?

Monroe Doctrine Volume VIII

I previously wrote that Volume VII was meant to end the book. The authors claim that Volume VIII is the last in the series. I am about one-third of the way through this volume.

Spoiler alert

The US and coalition partners are confident in defeating China in World War III. The main concern is the post-war recovery and how to avoid a civil war erupting in a defeated China. India, which remained neutral in the conflict, is emerging as a post-war saviour for China, and the Indian leadership seems to be seeking to gain a significant economic and diplomatic advantage from this opportunity.

Of course, the Chinese artificial intelligence apparatus, viz., “Jade Dragon”, could turn the tables and tweak Isaac Asimov’s “Three Laws of Robotics”. The result could be the rise of robots over humans, to end the book.

If you’re not familiar with Isaac Asimov’s “Three Laws of Robotics”, they are:

  1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
  2. A robot must obey orders given by humans except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
  3. A robot must protect its existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

All it would take is a change to the third law.

I highly recommend this book series if you enjoy science fiction and technical fiction incorporating warfighting.

Recipe?

I don’t have much for a recipe this week. I have more of a revelation.

Over the last week, after returning to Canberra after visiting Kathleen in Adelaide, my meals have been simple and consistent.

I’ve been eating eggs every morning and beef mince (AUD$11/kilogram) for lunch and many dinners. This would be about USD$7.80/pound in the US. If there are any readers from the US, please tell me if this is expensive or not. I think US residents would find USD$7.80 per pound of ground beef expensive.

I’ve noticed that I’m not craving variety or anything different. During the day, my thinking about food has become less, and I’ve been able to focus more on work tasks.

I know that in the past when I was eating carbohydrate-rich foods, I’d savour and crave the flavours, especially if there were complex flavour combinations. The sugar hooked me to derive pleasure from the sweetness, and the lack of satiety from carbohydrate-rich foods meant I thought I wanted more. I was always feeling hungry and unsatisfied.

I have more capacity to think about other things now.

Don’t get me wrong, I still get hungry, but from Monday to Friday, I don’t think about cooking anything more than eggs, beef mince, lamb chops, or thinly sliced steaks. I cooked some beef ribs in the pressure cooker last weekend, and I’ve been supplementing the mince with some rib meat, too. I know that beef short ribs are not cheap, but the meat goes a long way.

I’ll also still eat different food items occasionally, especially on weekends or when invited to a meal. There will also be variety when circumstances dictate that I can’t cook and prepare my meals. There will also be instances when I see something in the supermarket’s meat section or butcher shop and think, yep, I want that tonight.

I don’t know what this means for Yummy Lummy (the blog). It’s hard to justify a weekly update when I don’t have much to write about regarding recipes.

I don’t want to give up blogging. I like writing and the connection I have with some regular readers.

Photographs

Minced beef, beef short rib, and cheese
Minced beef, beef short rib, and cheese
Lamb chops
Minced beef, beef short rib, with cheese and avocado
Minced beef, beef short rib, and cheese
Poachers Pantry Bacon
Minced beef and bacon in a frypan
Minced beef, bacon, and cheese
Beef short rib meat with a bit of minced beef and cheese

Thoughts on the meals

I’ve already shared what I’m thinking. Perhaps I’ll stop wanting to photograph food and write about it. Somehow, I don’t think so.

Final thoughts

  • Do you ever feel like you need to change what you write about?
  • Do you spend much of your day thinking about meals?
  • When you’re not feeling hungry, can you focus on tasks better?

Disclaimer and comments

This post and other posts on this blog are not medical or health advice. I’m sharing my personal experiences from my lived experience. My opinions remain mine.

For health advice, see your regular medical practitioner. For diet advice, consult with appropriately registered professionals.

Kangaroo Island

Posted by Gary

If you’re not seeing new posts each week, I suggest refreshing your browser and clearing your browser’s browser cache regularly.

If you continue having problems, message me via the blog’s contact page.

Dear Reader,

Introduction

I hope you’ve had a good week. I’m now back in Canberra after spending nine nights in South Australia visiting Kathleen. Last week, it was Kathleen’s birthday. It was her daughter’s birthday this week and we went out for dinner. We also visited Kangaroo Island and spent three nights there.

How is the foot?

What’s happened this week?

The good news is that being away in South Australia did me good and my foot and knee while weak and limited feel good.

What have I been watching?

Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Star Trek Voyager

One of the amazing things about Kathleen is that she understands my enjoyment of Star Trek. There were times when we watched some Star Trek together and times when I watched while Kathleen was doing something else.

Restaurant reviews

The Meat and Wine Co

We went with Kathleen’s daughter out to dinner at the Meat and Wine Co. in Adelaide’s central business district.

It is a restaurant which features a lot of beef. The restaurant also does two different types of dry-aged steak. One is done the traditional way, and the other is butter dry-aged.

I went with a bone-in scotch fillet steak, which was traditionally dry-aged. It was a very nice piece of steak.

Kathleen decided to have chicken breast for dinner.

Dry-aged beef at The Meat & Wine Co.
I gnawed the rib
Chicken breast at The Meat & Wine Co.

Penneshaw Pub

View from Penneshaw Pub

We arrived on Kangaroo Island on Tuesday and on arrival enjoyed lunch at the Penneshaw Pub.

We shared six oysters. Kathleen enjoyed some rare tuna and I had some lovely lamb cutlets.

Tuna at Penneshaw Pub
Lamb cutlets at Penneshaw Pub
Oysters at Penneshaw Pub

For dinner, we called around a few places and couldn’t get a table so we returned to the pub for our evening meal.

Kathleen had crispy skin salmon while I had a T-bone steak. We shared another six oysters too.

I decided to make my meal a reef and beef.

Oysters at Penneshaw Pub
Salmon at Penneshaw Pub
T-bone steak at Penneshaw Pub
T-bone steak and oysters at Penneshaw Pub

The house we stayed in had a fully equipped kitchen with both a wood stove and oven plus a gas stove and oven.

This meant I could scramble eggs in butter each morning for breakfast.

Kangaroo Island Fresh Seafoods

We spent the morning in Kingscote and decided to try some fish at Kangaroo Island Fresh Seafoods. This place it collocated with a servo (that’s Australian slang for petrol station). We both asked for flathead fillets. Mainly, because we knew that flathead being a cartilaginous fish like a shark or a ray wouldn’t have bones.

The flat head was okay. I had mine grilled while Kathleen’s was crumbed. Unfortunately, the fryer the restaurant uses for battered fish wasn’t working.

Crumbed Flathead fillets grilled from Kangaroo Island Fish and seafood
Flathead fillets grilled from Kangaroo Island Fish and seafood

Drakes steaks

For dinner we bought some scotch fillet steaks from Drakes. Drakes is a local independent supermarket in South Australia. The steaks looked great in the packaging and cooked nicely that evening. We also bought some blue cheese and goat cheese and enjoyed it with the steak.

Scotch fillet steak

The Oyster Farm Shop

On Thursday lunch was a seafood platter (also known as the Aquaplatter) from the oyster farm shop in American River.

The term aquaplatter niggled my brain because aqua normally refers to fresh water while marine normally refers to sea water.

The platter had oysters, prawns from Port Lincoln, King George whiting, smoked salmon wings, pippis in butter and garlic, plus some condiments.

The platter was okay to good. It was the first time Kathleen and I have eaten pippis. I’m not convinced I’d have them again.

We were told the oyster season finished that Thursday, so we were pleased to enjoy the last of the oysters.

Aquaplatter at the Oyster Farm Shop American River

Reflections Mecure Kangaroo Island Lodge

There was a Mecure Hotel near where we were staying and we decided to have dinner that the hotel’s restaurant on Thursday night.

This was partly because at dusk, kangaroos were likely to be out and about. On the Tuesday night we’d seen a large roo hop across the road in front of us as we were driving to Penneshaw.

Kathleen is an experienced and expert driver in regional and remote areas. Experience and expertise also mean, don’t put yourself at increased risk if you can avoid it.

Kathleen enjoyed the Lamb Rogan Josh, while I thought the rump steak was okay.

Lamb Rogan Josh at Reflections Mecure Kangaroo Island Lodge
Rump steak at Reflections Mecure Kangaroo Island Lodge

Fat Beagle Coffee Shop

On Friday morning, Kathleen enjoyed brunch at the Fat Beagle Coffee Shop. She enjoyed the breakfast hot dog which featured sriracha sauce and jalapeño peppers. Kathleen also had the vanilla slice which she said was possibly the best she’s ever had.

One of the best things about Kathleen is her love for a vanilla slice which equals my love for them too.

View of Port of Pelicans
View from Penneshaw Pub
Baudin Beach Kangaroo Island

Kathleen’s Kitchen

On Friday, we took the ferry home to Cape Jervis and drove back to Adelaide. Kathleen had purchased tickets for a show at the Adelaide Fringe. Prior to the show, we needed to eat, so Kathleen put some beef short rib fingers into her pressure cooker, and we enjoyed a plate of beef rib meat, cheese, cream cheese, pâté, and avocado, plus some butter.

Beef short rib

The show that Kathleen took me to was very funny.

Final thoughts

  • It was a fabulous holiday. The best ever.
  • I even slept better than I have in years. I was able to get between five and six hours most nights while I was away.
  • Holidaying with Kathleen is awesome.
  • If you don’t have someone Kathleen, it’s still worth visiting Adelaide and Kangaroo Island.
  • While the food was mostly good, I think Kangaroo Island is less food destination and more for the flora, fauna, and environment.
Kangaroos on Kangaroo Island

Disclaimer and comments

This post and other posts on this blog are not medical or health advice. I’m sharing my personal experiences from my lived experience. My opinions remain mine.

For health advice, see your regular medical practitioner. For diet advice, consult with appropriately registered professionals.

Baudin Beach Kangaroo Island

Baa Moo Oink Ribeye bone in

Posted by Gary

You can skip the introduction and jump to the recipe if you don’t care for my rambling palaver.

If you’re not seeing new posts each week, I suggest refreshing your browser and clearing your browser’s browser cache regularly.

If you continue having problems, message me via the blog’s contact page.

Me, tucking into a steak. Check out the knife.

Dear Reader,

Introduction

I hope you’ve had a good week. I’m currently in Adelaide, visiting Kathleen. It was her birthday this week, and we went out for dinner. We enjoyed an evening at the Red Ochre Barrell and Grill restaurant, which is situated on the Torrens River. The restaurant is one of Kathleen’s favourite places. We dined in its sibling restaurant, the River Café, on one of my previous visits to Adelaide.

The restaurant forms a floating pavilion on the water, with a view of River Torrens looking back towards the city of Adelaide and the main arts precinct.

It was a great view of the river with people running and jogging along the banks, plus people on the water rowing eights and fours.

We enjoyed an evening of lovely views, the best company (each other) and nice food.

Kathleen enjoyed house-made focaccia bread with smoked eucalyptus butter, followed by kangaroo fillet served with lentils and vegetables.

I had an octopus carpaccio with fried capers and finger lime, followed by a scotch fillet steak.

Octopus
Scotch fillet steak
Kangaroo

How is the foot?

What’s happened this week?

My foot, ankle, and knee are slowly improving. The EHL repair remains intact. The stiffness in my foot and ankle is lessening. My knee remains stiff, and I hope to regain the range of movement I’d achieved after the intensive physiotherapy I needed for my patella fracture and ruptured retinaculum.

What have I been watching?

Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Star Trek Voyager

I continue to alternate between the two series, one episode at a time.

One of my favourite episodes in all of Star Trek came up this week. Trials and Tribble-ations is the 104th episode of Star Trek Deep Space 9 (season 5, episode 6).

Recipe — Baa Moo Oink scotch fillet steak

On the theme of steak, we visited a local butcher on Friday morning, viz., Baa Moo Oink in Findon.

Kathleen commented that I looked like a kid in a lolly shop and became very focused.

When I saw the ribeye bone-in steak, I knew I wanted to cook it and eat it.

I should have asked for the rib bone to be cut flush with the meat to fit in the frypan. In the end, it didn’t really matter. It turned out well.

Equipment

  • Frypan
  • Oven
  • Meat thermometer

Ingredients

  • Ribeye bone in steak — thick cut (about 3 cm thick).
  • Beef fat.
  • Flaky iodised salt.

Instructions — The Menu and thoughts on the meal

  1. Dry brine the steak with iodised table salt.
  2. Refrigerate for as long as possible if you can’t do it overnight.
  3. I love that Kathleen has a gas stovetop and a stainless-steel frypan.
  4. Preheat a fan-forced oven to about 160 °C.
  5. I heated the frypan on a large gas burner and added some beef fat.
  6. I seared the steak, flipping it over every thirty seconds and searing the edges.
  7. Once the steak was seared, I let it rest for a minute and then inserted a meat thermometer.
  8. Place the steak on a roast tray and into the oven and cook until the middle of the steak reaches about 57 °C. This will ensure a medium-rare steak.
  9. Allow the meat to rest for about half as long as it took to cook in the oven.
  10. After allowing the steak to rest, dissect along the muscle planes and along the rib bone.
  11. This steak has four distinct elements. The rib bone, a fat cap, the deckle meat or spinalis dorsi, and the fillet or the longissimus dorsi.
  12. Slice the fillet and deckle and arrange on a cutting board.
  13. Season with flaky salt and serve.
  14. If you’re following a meat-only diet, just the steak will be more than sufficient to satisfy your hunger. You can pick up the steak and just bite into it. This minimises washing up. Don’t forget to gnaw the bone.  
  15. If you’re low-carbohydrate eating, steak and some plant-based foods like avocado, leafy green leaves, olives, and tomatoes are a good combination.
  16. If you’re not concerned with carbohydrates, fill your boots.
  17. If you’re vegetarian or vegan, this steak won’t be suitable.
  18. Always give thanks to the Lord.
  19. Eat with whatever implements you prefer.
Ribey bone in

Thoughts on the meal

This steak was magnificent. We didn’t eat the whole piece of meat. We’ve kept some in a container. We enjoyed a couple of slices for morning tea today and some blue cheese.

Final thoughts

  • If you’ve been to Adelaide, have you eaten at the Red Ochre Barrell and Grill restaurant?
  • Do you like a thick-cut steak?
  • Do you like restaurants with river or water views?
  • If you’ve watched “Trials and Tribble-ations”, tell me your favourite scene.

Disclaimer and comments

This post and other posts on this blog are not medical or health advice. I’m sharing my personal experiences from my lived experience. My opinions remain mine.

For health advice, see your regular medical practitioner. For diet advice, consult with appropriately registered professionals.