Pea & Ham Soup

Along with the Leek etc soup - C also requested pea & ham soup. Cooked last night.

Today - a little average - performance review with ceo / reviewing casual staff / and co-ordinating weekend project. At least there wasn't much cooking today (re-heating not really counting as cooking) - or cleaning up for that matter. Dishwashers - gift from the gods.

In hindsight - I probably should have cooked it longer .. and it wasn't quite as flavourful as previous versions.

500g bacon bones (ribs)
3 x carrots - diced
1 x onion - finely diced
3-4 garlic cloves - finely chopped
small number of peppercorns
500g split green peas
3 x rashes bacon - finely diced
pinch salt
water to cover

bring to boil - skim - then reduce to simmer

Simmer for at least 1 - 2 hours - stirring often.

Leek, Onion & Potato Soup

From Delia's Collection - Soup

pg - 92


Today? Well today was horrendous. Busy all day - answering queries, sending emails to the wrong address (oops), snarky comments from the guy accross the clear cubicle dividors, attempting to recruit new casual staff, and to top it off - my work / employment quarterly review is tomorrow .. a fabulous day all round.

Upon arriving home, C had requested a 'soup' week - after M is away for a conference. I, in a moment of obvious temporary mental 'fuzziness' (for want of a better word) - happily threw away in a statement that I'd be happy this week to live on soup (meaning - wonton / or asian style soups - the clear broth sort). C has jumped onto the bandwagon, and after much deliberation - decreed that I'll cook 'pea & ham' and 'leek, onion & potato soup'.

And yes - I'm 'still' too messy in 'their' kitchen. and they wonder why I don't cook more??!!

Having said all of that .. and managed to clear out some of the nasty vibes that have been held close to my chest all day ... I found this receipe (after a little digging), in a Delia Smith cookbook.

I don't yet know how to make this link look all pretty - and appear as just a few words.. I'll probably learn that later. In the meantime - here's the link.

http://www.amazon.com/Delia-Collection-Soup/dp/0563487305/sr=8-3/qid=1170068958/ref=sr_1_3/105-6798997-1556440?ie=UTF8&s=books

This soup was stunning, simply delicious - rich & creamy without the cream. Flavourful with just the right hint of sharpness from the spring onions. Easily one to make again.

serve with some fresh crusty bread

Ingredients:

4 large leeks (used 2 – and substituted remainder with shallots)
1 onion – medium – finely chopped
2 x potatos – medium – peeled & finely diced
50g butter (2 oz)
275ml milk (10 fl oz)
Salt / pepper

To serve:
1 ½ Tbsp – snipped fresh chives or parsley
2 Tbsp cream or crème fraiche

Method:

Trim the leeks – discarding the tough outer layer – split in ½ lengthways and slice up finely. Wash thoroughly.

Drain well.

In a large heavy based saucepan – gently melt the butter – add the leeks, onion & potatoes – stirring around until they get a nice coating of butter.

Season with salt & pepper – cover and sweat the vegetables over a low heat for approx 15 minutes

Add the stock & milk – bring to simmering point – cover and let soup simmer very gently for approx 20 mins – or until the vegetables are soft.

(Note – if you have the heat too high – it may cause it to boil over).

Blend (after letting cool slightly). Blend to puree

Return soup to saucepan & re-heat gently. Taste to check seasoning. Add swirl of cream fraiche or cream before serving – and spring with freshly snipped chives or parsley.

Note - omitted the cream / creme fraiche - after blending it was creamy enough - and with the households' recent 'health kick' - I decided it would be safer to leave it out.

Australia Day Weekend

Australia Day weekend - it was meant to be relaxing - but of course - things don't ever really work out how you expect them to. Apologies in advance for the look of this blog, and the picture placement - i'm new to all of this .

I decided to explore the sights, sounds, and food of Sydney a little more whilst the family was away in Brisbane.

Left the house at 9:30am ... and all up - spent 1/2 the day was spent traveling. I've discovered that on a public holiday - public transport runs on a limited schedule - and the busses outside our house run only every 2 hours - 4 times per day. (go figure .. right at the time when ‘more’ people are traveling and wanting to travel .. i guess the transport people need a holiday too).

After eventually catching the bus (filled to the brim with people who sit and stare) ... and catching the 'long' train ride (standing room only) I arrived at Town Hall and walked the usual route into pitt street mall. Made my way to Hyde park to see all the events.

Wandered around .. trying to avoid running manic highly-sugared children – and children’s entertainers – and eventually traveled through the food stalls. The plan was - scout the food stalls and visit on the way back through ... seems I somehow switched to plan b .. which involved alternative transport home - and therefore I didn't actually go back through hyde park and the food stalls. Note to self - next time ... 'eat as you go' ... the food varied from 'aussie tucker - pies & sausage rolls', to gozelemes (the turkish crepe), wagamama had a stall, sandwiches, it all became a blur.

As per A's request from Townsville (who was very upset that I would be even 'near' the event' - I had promised to find the tripple J live broadcast of the hottest 100 - 2007. Sat down for a while in the sun and listened to the music (I think I was the oldest person sitting in that section) .. it wasn’t until I left that I found where most people ‘my’ age were sitting .. they were clever – and had found some shade way over to the side.

Continued to walk around – and discovered an extensive vintage car expo - streets and streets closed off ... minis/ Volvo/s holdens/ jag's ..you name it - it was probably there. It was actually a good thing that I’m not a huge car fan – otherwise I may have been stuck there for hours. It was hysterical watching all the ‘car people’ who were fans. Their eyes lit up like little children.\\

Speaking of children – I was run into twice – by children running full-tilt without looking where they were going. And to make matters worse – both times I was glared at by the parents, obviously for having the audacity to dare be walking past where their children were running .. and obviously my being run into was a conscious attack on their child. I said ‘oops’ - apparently this wasn't the correct response as per the glares received from parents - how "dare I walk into the 'flightpath' of their children".

Also discovered on my travels – St Mary’s Cathedral – apparently the largest catholic church in Australia – and the head of the Catholic church in Australia. As it was Australia day – it was open to the public, and tours were being held. This church is simply breath-taking .. if you haven’t been in it already – next time you are in Sydney – I would recommend just having a quick walk through. I even paid my $3 and went down into the crypt – stunning.

http://www.sydney.catholic.org.au/Cathedral/index.shtml

Further up the street, and around the corner, lies the Hyde Park Barracks museum. It’s an amazing building with such history – convict barracks, immigration depot for single females, law courts, government offices. Again - Amazing. In one of their interactive exhibits – I looked to see if one of my relatives had been housed here after coming over on the 2nd fleet – apparently not.

http://www.hht.net.au/museums/hpbm/hyde_park_barracks_museum

The recreation of the 'sleeping quarters' for the convicts was more than a little disturbing. It felt almost like the hull of a ship - and I hated to think about 30+ people being crammed into such a small space, especially after long hours of manual labour with little thought or provision for personal hygiene. I watched children and other visitors trying out the sleeping hammocks ... not really giving much thought to the reason for the hammocks, or the history - but revelling in the 'novelty' of it all. I have the feeling I may have only looked at / or paid proper attention to - about 1/2 .. the rooms were 'filled with people - which overall kind of took a little away from the experience ..but it was definitely worth while viewing.


Also visited 'the mint' briefly .. but was on the phone to a family member at the time - so didn't pay too much attention. Yes yes - this is wrong ... but .. at least I can say I've been into the building .. and I know now where it is.

http://www.hht.net.au/museums/the_mint/history/royal_mint_sydney


After a little more walking / wandering - I managed to find my way down to circular quay -- and all along the rocks. Decided that it might be 'novel' to catch a ferry back to parramatta ... (big mistake) .. so did fricken thousands of others too. The ferry's were already running 15mins - 1/2 hour behind .. when they had to close the whole of circular quay for the military to perform a parachute drop display ... for another 15-20 minutes. It was a complete people stampede / cattle call to get back onto the ferry. But oh well .. as a part of the overall learning experience that made up the day - I now which ferry to catch, where it arrives in parramatta, approximately how long it takes, and also where the train terminal is at circular quay … so no loss ...

Overall – Australia day was a huge huge day … and I’ve apparently done things that the neighbours (long time residents) – and C & M haven’t done. I wish I had done even more, or left earlier in the morning – but I’m not disappointed. In hindsight - I would have sampled the food ... and drunk more water. I've consequently been nursing a 'sunstroke / heat headache' for 2 days ... and my entire day's consumables consisted of: 2 pieces of toast, a glass of juice, 1 x 600ml of coke (at hyde park), and 3 rashes of bacon at home with 1 small bottle of water.

Next year I'll do more.

Back to it - january 2007

It has been altogether 'too' long.

Yes there have been no new posts ... but there is a reason. The shorter version? I moved from Townsville to Sydney.

In summary - Yes - it finally happened (10 years overdue according to some friends) - I did it - I packed my bags, said my goodbyes, and drove from far north queensland all the way down to sydney.

The trip went something like this:

Day 1:
Townsville - Mackay

Day 2:
Mackay - Gladstone

Day 3:
Gladstone - Brisbane

Day 4:
Brisbane - Port Macquarie

Day 5:
Port Macquarie - Sydney

Granted some of the stops along the way were 'family / friend' visits .. it was still a very long drive.

The only hotel / motel - accommodation that I stayed in during the trip was at Port Macquarie - Quality Inn & Suites Port Macquarie.... let the recommendations fly. This was a great little stop over location - easy to find - and a great room.

http://www.qualityportmac.com.au/qualityinn/

Notes:

Brisbane - arriving into Brisbane at peak hour. Bedlam! One way streets, crazy drivers, bridges ... not something I really want to remember.
Passed 'second hand houses' for sale in a field on the way in.
Passed a tree filled with what looked like industrial 'fluffy' waste - it was in fact birds nesting near a waterhole.
Dinner with nat & cath - somewhere in Southbank .. an Inn? the plough inn? Food was good - red wine ok. http://www.ploughinn.com.au/

Sydney - arrived in the middle of a heat wave... +38C outside the car ... driving over the soaring and sharp edged cliffs (that the locals assure me are easy as pie to drive over) ... with high winds, caravans in front of me weaving all over the road .. and fully-laden semi-trailers easily passing my little car struggling up the steep inclines.

The little garmin GPS http://www.garmin.com worked a treat ... up until it came time to direct me to Oatlands. Now .. not that it was the gps unit's fault .. it was in fact mine ... or to be more precise -- the street namers of parramatta. Who on earth puts duplicate street names in suburbs which are only 4 minutes apart? i ended up outside the wrong house ... dying to go to the bathroom .. and hysterical from the heat, overheating car, cliffs, bridges, and psychotic drivers.

After a few little tears - and frantic phone calls to the family - I decided to 'revisit' the gps .. and try for the street again -- this time using a different spelling for the suburb - lo and behold - it was there :).

And here we are.

Living with family
Moved house 'again' in the few weeks after arrival (to the house next door if you can believe it)
working in the city - and having had limited restaurant experiences (so much for living in a capital city full of food).

China town is a semi-regular Friday night haunt (if family can be bothered to make their way into the city from their place of work)
Lunch normally consists of sushi .. or fighting through the hoards in the DJ & Myer food halls (and the food hall in the westfield).


The posts should be updated again soon. Cross fingers.