four days before

Connecticut - The Nutmeg State

The origins of the nutmeg connection to Connecticut are unknown. It may have come from its sailors returning from voyages with nutmeg (which in the 18th and 19th centuries was a very valuable spice). It may have originated in the early machined sheet tin nutmeg grinders sold by early Connecticut peddlers. It is also facetiously said to come from Yankee peddlers from Connecticut who would sell small carved nobs of wood shaped to look like nutmeg to unsuspecting customers.
(wikipedia)

I used to have a guinea pig called Nutmeg.

five days before

i think you've just got to jump in head first.

“Two roads diverged in a wood and I – 

I took the one less traveled by.”

Robert Frost

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”

Henry Miller

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.”

Martin Buber

“Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.”

Mark Jenkins

six days before

Farewell dinner with friends and family at the Local Bean (a surprisingly delicious affair - blue cheese and porcini mushroom arancini, chilli squid, and sticky date pudding...).

one week before

how cool to be able to say that now?

eight days before

the quick fox...

spent the morning applying for a credit card i don't want (but which will probably be approved), buying peppermint cream chocolate and hand making sheets of silky pasta for my homemade lasagne. Honestly, there is something just so appealing about making your own pasta. it feels so delicate and smooth and malleable, unlike the rock hard cardboard sheets of the stuff you buy at the supermarket.

I think i am going to have to do a fair amount of reporting on the culinary journey i take whilst in America - i just can't help but constantly think about food (haha). After watching Food, Inc. i am preparing for the worst, but i will still valiantly sample any pumpkin pie or maple and bacon flapjacks heading my way and report to you on how i go.

I'm particularly looking forward to Halloween in America. After years of trudging up and down our street, recieving pitying looks, the odd melted tim-tam, or a $2 coin as "it's the only thing i have on me at the moment, you'll have to get the sweets yourself", i am rather looking forward to people who actually celebrate it.

I might even still be there for thanksgiving if i'm lucky (i couldn't tell you what it's all about mind you, not yet anyway - just giving thanks?).

What would be your favourite time to visit the USA? (maybe fall, or some celebration?) Where would you go?

nine days before

Welcome to all those who have just joined me. To give an introduction to the blog, I'll send you to my first post, here: http://sausageinnabun.blogspot.com/2010/04/countdown.html

In the flurried state of events before i leave, I have managed to get 2 photobooks of Australia printed to showcase whilst i'm in the states. As part of my Camp's introductions, they are hosting an International Banquet, where all us international counselors do a 2 minute speech on our country and show it off a bit, followed by an auction of some item representing our country.

After trekking through various cheap souvenir shops looking at a myriad of "Made In China" koala bears and didgeridoos to be my auction item, I (smartly) decided that I would make my own contribution - a photobook of Australia. The photo above is one that I included, of Cradle Mountain National Park, in Tasmania.

Anyway, I'll leave you there as I am off to my first farewell dinner before i go. Enjoy your evening!
Elise

Cocoa Port Brownies

Cocoa Port Brownies

After a recent 'pistacio-nut chocolate brownie' disaster, i have been slightly wary of making brownies, but these have restored my faith. Absolutely so simple to make, they taste delicious, are airy and light, and SO beautifully moist.
I adapted this from a recipe on www.smittenkitchen.com, for cocoa brownies (i.e. they are made with cocoa powder and not cooking chocolate).
You may think that it is skimping on quality to use cocoa, but really they are delicious, and if you have good quality cocoa, they are probably far better quality than when you use those horrible composite chocolate bits or bars anyway.
And when it comes down to it, I almost always have a supply of cocoa powder but rarely can be bothered to buy cooking chocolate.

So, here it goes:

125g butter
1/2 cup cocoa powder (use more, up to 3/4 cup if you want it richer)
1 1/4 cup brown sugar (any sugar is fine, i just love using brown as it's so caramelly)
1/4 cup port
2 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup self-raising flour
2 eggs
1/3 cup macadamias or pecans (or a mix of both, as i did)

Melt butter, cocoa and sugar in a bowl over a saucepan of boiling water. Stir until melted; add port and vanilla essence. Heat until hot (when you dip your finger in). Remove from heat and cool slightly.
Mix in flour, then combine eggs quickly. Add nuts and mix vigorously.
Pour mix into a shallow baking pan. Cook in a 160'c oven for about 20-25 minutes.
Cool in fridge or freezer before slicing!

They turn out so irresistible you have to be careful not to eat them all in one go.

ten days before

Okay so things really seem to be coming together now. Slowly getting to know some people from around the world - Ireland, UK, Germany, America (of course) - in preparation for camp.

I know it's only ten days away but because I am pretty much doing nothing at home I half wish it'd come quicker. At least writing in this takes up (a little) time.

I'll share with you the success of hand-making pasta, which I have done quite recently. I don't use a recipe, but only because it is so basic that you can tell by feel whether it is ready or not. I had a couple cups of flour to about 3 eggs. Combine to make a dough. Knead for 10 minutes. Put in fridge for an hour.

After an hour you can take it out and start rolling the sheets in the pasta maker. The easter bunny this year gave me a special Italian one, so i have quite a lot of fun.

I made Kangaroo Meatball Spaghetti, with Homemade Passata (basically an Italian tomato sauce)

For the Passata:

About 500g home-grown tiny tim tomatoes
1 sweet chili
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 small onion, diced
1/4 red wine
small amount fresh basil


Saute the garlic, chili and onion in olive oil in a small saucepan until translucent and lightly colouring. Add tomatoes, wine and basil  and cook with lid on for about 10 minutes. Blitz in a food processor till smooth. Pass through a sieve to remove seeds and skin.

I added the chili just to add a touch of heat, another element, but it's not traditionally used.


For the Meatballs:

about 300g Kangaroo mince
breadcumbs
1 egg
basil

Combine all ingredient. Make into small balls. Don't handle them too much!


To bring it all together, cook the pasta (about 10ish minutes) in boiling water with a drop of oil. Fry meatballs (i shallow fried) until brown and cooked, then pour passata over top and cook for another 10mins.

Serve meatballs and sauce on a bed of pasta, garnish with a sprig of basil.

twelve, then eleven days before

excited, but nervous.

thirteen days before

_solitude is bliss_

fourteen days before

Okay so i am in the middle of watching Food, Inc. and am pretty shocked and amazed. Apprehensive about American food? Yes. (It's okay, i will eat it of course haha)
Anyway, i mention this because i think everyone reading this should DEFINITELY watch it.

This is their website: http://www.foodincmovie.com/

But you can just watch the whole thing in parts on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1xNerb4yE8&feature=related

Yeah well my beautiful choc chip cookies were nice. And they will be nice again next time I make them too (i seem to consume about 20ish cookies over 48hours, whenever i make a batch) - cos I made them and not some grimy, mass-producing and completely immoral factory half way round the world.

Inspired? I hope so.

fifteen days before

(if you will allow me a moment of vanity) this is possibly my most favourite photo of my self of all time. Of course, my dear little Nyla is in my arms too.

so, a bit random i know, but i just wanted to point out my 12 year old muscles... maybe because i am trying to build them up again as i think they may possibly be smaller now, than they were then... but they are pretty cool, yeah? *grins*

also tomorrow is TWO WEEKS from when i leave. scary. exciting.

sixteen days before

Okay so again I am posting another recipe. This one is just for damper, cos I think it's a good one and is fun to stick on the end of a twig and cook over a fire.

This isn't entirely an original recipe of course. Aussie bush blokes wouldn't have had chilled butter (or any, for that matter) or self raising flour even. But for the sake of the kiddies, I think it will taste better.

This recipe apparently feeds four, but we'll see how we go.

Damper

• 450g (3 cups) self-raising flour
• Pinch of salt
• 80g butter, chilled, cubed
• 185ml (3/4 cup) water

Make dough, stick on stick, cook over fire.

Drizzle (or dip, if you are sweet-of-tooth) in honey or syrup. We always had syrup as far as I can remember, but maybe bush honey was more traditional.



And for all of you sitting at home thinking back to your school camping days and the damper you ate (or even if you aren't), then I do recommend you make this. It's so simple you (really) can't go wrong. Cook it in the oven if you don't have a fire but it won't taste as good, i know.

pictures: Lara Stephenson (skilled artist and all-round person)(obviously a person)(not that she is all round)(rather, an all-round good person)(and not in the roly-poly way either)(though that really doesn't bear mentioning) she's good.

http://placidus-sinistra.deviantart.com/

seventeen days before

i'm delegating farewell organising to someone else. too stressed to make any decisions hehe.
BBQ? Dinner? Picnic? I don't know!

*smile*


My Gran's ANZAC biscuit recipe. This is mostly for my benefit, in case i am called on to cook them for any American kiddies, but also because my Gran's the best.

1 1/2 cups of rolled oats ,1 cup of sugar, 1 1/2 cups plain flour, about 3 to 4 tablespoons syrup, 4 ozs (110ish-grams) melted butter, 1 teaspoon of bi-carb in 2 tablespoons of boiling water.

I won't insult my intelligence by writing out instructions but if you want to know just ask :)

eighteen days before

I feel like i should be imparting some hidden knowledge to you before I go - that writing here gives me some special whatsit to enlighten you with - but i can't really think of anything so i'll keep on quoting people.
feel free to add your own quotes :)

I turned west against my imagination

to the searing plains

and my outstretched hands. (e)

nineteen days before

"Do what you do for the sheer joy of it,
Do what you choose, not what someone else chooses for you." 

Neale Walsch

twenty days before

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." 

Neale Walsch

I like this quote. My Uncle (Farmer Dave) showed me this guy, Neale Walsch.

(So, these are the bottles of pomegranate liqueur I made on 6.03.10.)

twenty-one days before

best smell in the world? Arctic Fire tea with honey and milk.

<3 autumn

i.bake.bread. (tuscan fig sourdough)

twenty-two days before

"our life is frittered away by detail. simplify, simplify."

Henry David Thoreau

twenty-four days before

You can’t know better until knowing better is useless.

This is something very important which I picked up from the book Looking for Alaska, by John Green. In retrospect of many events in our lives, we often lament over not knowing better. How often the phrases “If only i knew...” or “If only i had known better...” are hopelessly repeated. It is when you accept that you can’t know better - and contemplate that even if you did know better; would you really be better off? - that you can be free to move on.

I have found this particularly relevant since developing carpal tunnel syndrome, and then proceeding with surgery. That in itself didn’t cause me too much grief, but after 3 months of non-recovery post-operation, these things seem to get to you.

Through this time I have remained adamant that I should not feel regret or despair over this temporary disability. And I truly believe that. It is one of the things I have kept as a steadfast belief and it helps my healing.

These challenges concentrate your wants, desires and ultimate questions in life. I always imagined myself going to university and working in some high-paid law job, or at least something highly paid. That, of course, I still intend to happen. However, how I go about making it happen has changed. The things I love and ultimately enjoy are some of the simplest things. Cooking. Gardening. Travelling.

And so it is these things which I will aim for in life. And these are the things which I will make work for me.

Here’s to travelling…

twenty-six days before

People are basically good.

I came to this conclusion some time ago, when I thought about why people did things. People’s motives to do something are generally to satisfy some urge, or for some specific reason, which, on the whole, is ‘good’.

We eat because we are hungry; it does something good for us.

We get into the car and drive to the shops because we need bread; we eat it, it helps our body and therefore is a good action for us.

We speed on the way to the shops not because we want to cause damage or harm to ourselves (and therefore others), but because it is often tedious to go slow, and speeding gets us there quicker - which is in turn ‘good’ for us.

The result of our actions – actions which, whether we consciously intend for them to be good or just are ‘good’ (as above) -  are then determined by extraneous forces which may alter them to become “bad” or undesired, either for ourselves or as perceived by others.

Such as, hitting and killing a bird (or dog, or person…) whilst on our way to the shops to buy bread for ourselves to eat.

I won’t call this notion which prompted our actions as a good intent, as such, but rather just a simple ‘goodness’ which drives most of our actions, despite whatever the outcome may be.

Moonbeam (MB)