It’s Christmas party season. Yesterday I spent the afternoon and early evening with Bron, Peter and Li Peng. We spent the afternoon laughing, eating and enjoying a fine warm Canberra afternoon in the sun.
Check out the food. I forgot to shoot a photograph of the oysters that Peter shucked. They were amazing.
The cheeses were great, especially with dips and pastes and what you don’t see in this image is just how much cheese we started with and how much cheese I ate. It was a lot of cheese, especially blue vein cheese, brie and camembert. The smoked cheddar was just amazing. The wedge in the front has cumin seeds in it. How do you pronounce cumin? Thanks Bron for all the cheeses
Lots of bread. Bron bought some from Silo Bakery. It was so good with the cheese and as you’ll see it was good with other things too.
Li Peng made char siu (barbecue pork) and we had it in fresh spring rolls and I had it in sandwiches.
This is the first part of the spread after we started on the cheeses and before we started to make spring rolls.
This is my first spring roll about to be rolled. Check out the char siu and prawns
Peter and I have a common love for prawn sandwiches especially with fresh prawns that have just been boiled. They need fresh white bread, salt, pepper, vinegar and real butter. After eating two prawn sandwiches I branched out and made a prawn and char siu sandwich which was amazing.
So I’m up in Brisbane a little earlier than usual. I’m here to help Mum and Dad for a few days while Mum continues her recovery from spinal surgery. She’s doing well and maintaining her exercises. I’m pleased to see her getting around and moving better than I imagined. I’m still trying to convince her though that things like ironing and perfect hospital corners on her bed are not essential to living and enjoying life.
Given that I’m in Brisbane earlier than usual I was so happy that Miss13, Miss17 and Miss19 came for a visit yesterday for Christmas dinner
I started the day knowing I had a lot of cooking and food ahead of me.
Vegemite on toast bathed in butter SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/5.6, 1/10sec, ISO 800
Vegemite on toast, also known as the breakfast of champions.
For lunch I made a simple smoked salmon and sour cream on toasted wholemeal bread plate for Mum and Dad. They both enjoy smoked salmon and sour cream. I should have bought bagels.
Smoked salmon and sour cream SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/5.6, 1/13sec, ISO 400Smoked salmon and sour cream on toasted wholemeal bread SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/5.6, 1/20sec, ISO 400
In the afternoon as I was thinking about preparing for dinner I got some cheese out for Dad. Dad loves cheese and this was a treat for him. What I also love about my daughters is they will try anything, even smelly cheeses. Miss13 said it wasn’t something she’d actively go looking for again but understood when I explained our palates change over years and as she gets older she may appreciate cheeses like this more. I love the spirit of Miss17, from an early age she’d try things, like oysters. I remember the first time she wasn’t that impressed but she made a conscious decision at a young age to try one every time we went out and now she loves oysters.
For afternoon tea we had Roquefort, Castella white and a Tlba cheddar SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/5.6, 1/60sec, ISO 1250
Christmas dinner is usually quite large in the Lum household. I tried to explain to Mum we could do something simple and still enjoy it. So I suggested we limit ourselves to two meats and just a salad plus some spuds (potatoes for refined readers).
So here we have a series of photographs that I shot as dinner was being prepared. I’m grateful to Miss17 for help with the salad and of course Mum who supervised and made the apple sauce even though I was meant to be looking after her.
So I apologise in advance for the number of photographs in this post but what you won’t see is the number of photographs I shot and are still in my Adobe Lightroom library.
Rolled pork shoulder prior to being rubbed SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/5.6, 1/60sec, ISO 1250Rolled pork shoulder after a rub of Chinese five spice and pepper with some star anise plugged in and bathing in sherry and whisky SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/5.6, 1/60sec, ISO 2000Our chicken before roasting. I love this angle. SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/5.6, 1/60sec, ISO 2500
Rolled pork shoulder out of the oven SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/4, 1/60sec, ISO 3200Roast chicken out of the oven SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/4, 1/60sec, ISO 2500Roast chicken out of the oven SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/4, 1/60sec, ISO 5000Roast pork and roast chicken after carving SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/4, 1/60sec, ISO 1250Roast pork and roast chicken after carving. More of the chicken in this view. SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/4, 1/60sec, ISO 2000This salad had carrot, cos lettuce, Lebanese cucumber, tomatoes, mangos, avocados, and nectarines SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/4, 1/250sec, ISO 6400Smashed potatoes with mayonnaise SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/5.6, 1/60sec, ISO 2500Our simple dinner setting SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/5.6, 1/60sec, ISO 5000Our simple dinner setting SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/5.6, 1/60sec, ISO 4000Our simple dinner setting SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/5.6, 1/60sec, ISO 4000
My plate SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/5.6, 1/60sec, ISO 6400
And then we had dessert
Dessert was red and green jelly with peach slice embedded and three types of ice cream SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/5.6, 1/60sec, ISO 3200
It was a good day with my parents and daughters. The weather in Brisbane was warm and it was moist. My skin was happy and I was happy.
I bought Mum flowers for her birthday next week. The Lotus pod reminded me of Canberra’s Skywhale because it looks like a carbuncle. SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/5.6, 1/60sec, ISO 3200I bought Mum flowers for her birthday next week. The Lotus pod reminded me of Canberra’s Skywhale because it looks like a carbuncle. SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/8, 1/60sec, ISO 12800
So if you’ve made it this far thanks for reading.
Please feel free to leave a comment and tell me what you have planned for your Christmas dinner.
Here’s my low carbohydrate meat loaf for a relatively quick dinner
I miscalculated this week when I went grocery shopping and didn’t buy enough meat to get me through the week. On the way home from work I wandered the aisles of the supermarket trying to work out what I wanted to eat tonight. I didn’t want to spend too much money even though today is pay day. Everyone has noticed a lighter pay packet today as changes in taxation and superannuation came through. June was also a big month with most of my professional subscriptions coming through.
Meat loaf surprise
Recipe Type: A simple meaty meal for a week night
Cuisine: Australian
Author: Gary Lum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1
A simple low carbohydrate tasty meat loaf that can be eaten with any combination of vegetables
Ingredients
Regular beef mince
Egg
Worcestershire sauce
Pepper
Chilli flakes
Olive oil
Smoked cheddar cheese
Parsley
Spring onion
Instructions
Break up the mince
With bare hands mix in the egg, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, chilli flakes, oil. cheese, parsley and spring onion
Flatten out on a roasting tray
Put into a preheated oven (180 °C) for 45 minutes
Slice and serve with whatever you like
Capture an image (Nikon D5300 and a Tamron 90 mm Macro lens at 1/60 seconds, f/5.6 and ISO 100)
Eat the meal
Wash the dishes
Write the recipe
Blog about it
Hope someone likes it
Hope someone makes a comment
Notes
I hope you enjoy making this meat loaf and eating it.
3.2.2708
Pay day dinner. Meat loaf and avocado.
If you have any comments or questions please send me a comment in the space below.
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