Four days to go

Tuesday 21st December..... 

With the menu finalized for Christmas it’s now time for the gathering of ingredients, writing of comprehensive prep lists with time lines, ascertaining the whereabouts of display racks etc... and generally pulling the finger out and getting stuck into all that will be Christmas.

First of all I grab the ute and head off to the green store and proceed to accumulate a stack of boxes containing frozen meats and seafood....... from there I head off to the refers (refrigerated containers) located just down the slope from the LQ and right next to the smokers hut.  Filled with citrus, apples and melons in one and potatoes, carrots onions etc in another, I gather half a dozen new boxes to add to the already ladened 4x4 and with tunes blaring (music pumped out around the station via fm from a tune heavy computer located in the wallow) I set off back to the kitchen.

View from kitchen

Its 9am and the temperature is already 2 degrees above 0. Summer is slowly taking hold in the hills around my new home.  Looking out to the encroaching ocean all I can see is white........... not the white I was met with on arrival aboard the Aurora Australis, but more mid tones. Lots of brownie-creams created from the dust that now competes successfully for space previously occupied by snow and ice.  Also, shades of gray are beginning to erode the once pristine field of frozen water... not only in ever widening cracks but also in growing pools of slushy mush that are now giving the landscape a pattern referred to in military circles as arctic camouflage. Mottled greys, large splotches of white and darker shadows cast from a low sun looking upon an uneven surface, all paint a picture of a rapidly decaying bay of crystallised water.  Only a few titans of ice hold this now fragile formation in suspension. I keep looking out at the horizon.... now bored with the same old vista... a good part of me is wanting the dispersion of the same ole, same ole. But hey, soon enough I know I'll be wishing for the blues of our ocean to be sucked of colour so I can feel more Antarctic and clean again.  Life outside of Davis changes fast... but it’s sometimes too subtle to appreciate on a daily basis.

Chinese delegation

Getting a visit by a Chinese delegation comprising of the director of the Chinese Antarctic programme,  deputies,  both the ingoing and outgoing station leaders and some other top officials help keep the monotony on the inside of Davis from ever leaving the start line.  I play this day very much like the day before......though I leave the beer tasting alone out of respect for the positions held by our Asian tourists.  I snapped again some photos of their transport, this time it’s a Chinese made, French designed "dauphin". The tail rotors encircled by a fibreglass casing ensure the noise levels are kept right down.... as these puppies spin close to the speed of sound, only a high pitch whistly whine can be heard... very cool to observe. I just couldn't resist a traveller's shot in front of the helicopter just moments before its departure.

Change of scenery

Amidst all the madness that was the week leading up to an Antarctic Christmas, I was where they don't celebrate Christmas, in Saudi Arabia, discovering all that is Riyahd and the people that live there.  After two long flights (leaving Australia 6pm Monday and arriving in Saudi 7pm Tuesday 21st) and a 6 hour stopover in Singapore I finally arrived but my flight was so early that there was noone there to meet me.  Thanks to the wonderful Sinagpore Airlines employee that I got the attention of prior to Immigration and who escorted me through to the luggage hall where Justin's Dad, Brian met up with us.  Minor freak out over, we headed out of the airport and in to Riyahd, albeit it in a 3-tonne armoured vehicle.  A unique experience in itself. 

Brian and Bronwyn (Justin's Mum) had been invited out that evening, and the invitation had been extended to include me also.  I perfected a quick change, slapped on some make up and we were back out the door to Jim and Jenny Tanner's.  Jim is Head of the Brits in the Saudi National Guard.  We stayed for a couple of hours, chatted to some very interesting people and enjoyed some good food.  The Tanners were the perfect hosts and everyone looked to be having a great evening.  After the two hours though things were starting to get very hazy for me as the jetlag started to kick in so we called it a night and returned to the compound.

I slept like a baby and after starting the day with an email to Justin, was collected by Idris, an embasssy driver, and taken to pick up Louise, a long time resident of Riyadh and close friend of The Chambers'.  She had offered to act as tour guide which I can't thank her enough for - who wouldn't know that the places she took me existed or that as a 'tourist' you could go there.  It's hard to know what you can and can't do as a woman... but I did learn straight up that you can't drive and you must wear an abaya in public.  

Louise and I headed first to the Kuwaiti Souk where we spent a long time in the most wonderful Aladdin's cave of Haberdashery shops!  The place was a crafter's dream.  Wall to wall, floor to ceiling, room by room, every imaginable item you could think of was crammed in to this shop.  I could have walked out of there absolutely weighed down by all things beautiful but took the approach of if I didn't know there and then what I would do with it, then I wouldn't buy it.  It staved off all purchases, knowing I already have boxes of things I bought for that 'maybe one day' use.

We also visited a couple of abaya shops at the souk where I found one that I liked and purchased.  I know I was only there for a week but decided that if I had to wear one, it might as well be one that I felt good wearing.  And hey, it doesn't matter what you wear underneath so no staring in to the depths of the wardrobe for hours contemplating the day's attire.  We didn't wear the hijab (head scarf) to cover our heads, but we did have them draped around our necks in case we encountered the Mutawa, Religious Police, who would insist we 'cover, cover, cover, cover'.  (The Mutawa's role is 'the propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice'.)

Fabrics, Royal Mall, Riyahd

From the souk we headed over to the Royal Mall where the locals go to buy fabrics for the over-the-top ornate dresses that they wear to Saudi weddings.  And yes, they do get to be seen as the men and women separate after the ceremony and therefore the Abaya's are checked at the door, so to speak.  The range of colours, designs, fabrics and decoration was quite mind blowing.  The woman clearly go to a lot of trouble when it comes to dressing for an important occasion.

From there we headed back to Louise's part of town and her hair salon.  It is open from 12pm-10pm and as soon as that roller door goes up, the local women are queueing up for their little piece of pampering.  Due to the wearing of the abaya, it is important to the women to keep the things that can be seen beautiful... eye brows and nails, and to have only the best in bags and shoes.  We had a hair wash and blow dry - those girls know what they are doing - and then we were back on the street and straight on to the chicken shop, purveyors of excellent chicken and rice.  We took that back to Louise's apartment and enjoyed a tasty lunch followed by tea and mini cupcakes - beautifully decorated and equally as yummy.  

Home Compound

Louise went to work (2-10pm) and I was delivered to the NZ Embassy to drive home with Bronwyn and Brian.   We had a quiet-ish night at home with fellow Embassy employee, Vernice and her husband Graeme, who also live on the compound - which is well cared for and security strong.  (I'm talking vehicle checks, razor wire and machine guns.)

My education in Saudi has begun.

Monday 20 December

I rolled out breakfast, made up a small chafing dish of porridge, baked around 30 bread rolls and drank three cups of coffee all before starting the smoko of breakfast burritos. To make a breakfast burrito first scramble some eggs (plenty of cream and seasoning) add your favourite spicy tomato salsa and mix through, then proceed as you would with a burrito as in place the mix on a flour tortilla, add grated cheese, wrap, toast on both sides in a med to warm pan. Then serve with any number of tex mex accompaniments (sour cream, guacamole etc)........ or just as it is... plain. I made up around 60 plain ones. These were quickly demolished as were a few of the sweet slices made over the past 2 days.

The Indians down the road decided to investigate Davis and see first hand how a small community exists in the Vestfolds. Two groups of around 25 each were to arrive and spend 2 hours looking around the station and chatting to the locals. To make life easy for all involved the groups would be staggered.  First to arrive was the main Indian delegation consisting of the resupply Voyage leader, Medical officer, Lt. Commander, Petty officer, six scientists, five logistical personal, a few engineers, some construction crew, a 3^rd mate and a cook. I was in the Green store grabbing some supplies for the next few days when I heard the tell tale signs of helicopters approaching. There was a small squirrel carrying 5 of the party followed by a Ka 28 (Helix-A) transporting the other 20 personnel. I placed my stores on the back of the kitchen ute and walked slowly towards the helipads. The Ka 28 was an amazing beast to watch land. With over 20,000 lb of weight being slowly lowered by two sets of counter rotating rotor blades chopping the air like a Chinese cleaver on a chicken bone, and sending out pulses of base in quick succession like a house party next door playing ‘doof doof’ music at full volume, the behemoth owned by the Indian tax payer spewed out spent air in great downward gusts creating circular plumes of dust that spread outward with gathering momentum as the hunk of metal lowered its self to the ground. I observed the spectacle whilst standing in front of the Mechanics workshop.......having a great helicopter setting down behind a large structure such as the workshop but in turn making it look only like a backyard tool shed was indeed something to behold.

I drove back down to the kitchen and proceeded to produce lunch for the working station crew. At around 2 o’clock I put up an assortment of nibbles for our guests including the toffee apples and slices, nuts and dried fruits and some tasty cheese Doritos. When the delegation arrived in the dining room after having spent the last hour or so looking around the station I proceeded to greet the familiar faces, and offer a warm welcome to those I hadn’t met on my visit to their station. I thought it fitting to offer our local home brew for their tasting................they all gave it a try. Questions were raised about the alcohol percentage, age of brew and amount drunk on base. I believe they didn’t fully understand the specialness of our liquid gold and the effort given to gain the end result. Fridgey Dave (we have a few Daves on station) volunteered in Hobart to become the brew master down here. Having over 20 years experience of home brewing in his backyard Dave spends a few hours a week with the help of volunteers to firstly make large containers of brew mix (as per the instructions of the Coopers company), cleans and sterilises used bottles, decants fermented broths into appropriate receptacles, sorts and maintains control over his stock and assets and generally does a first rate job with the help of many grateful and respectful workers. So when the beer seal is finally broken and judgement is passed over the effervescent concoction....... a lot of self pride and bias is placed in the equation.............thus it all usually tastes great. Bought for, made, and drunk by us............it’s always gonna be a winner.  It’s hard to convey this to the Indians.............so hey they can at least tell their loved ones they came to an Aussie station ate a toffee apple and drank beer (I also explained the significance of the toffee apple in relation to our childhoods.........they had never seen one). 

The next group to arrive was made mostly made up of Norwegian construction crew with a few managers thrown in for good measure. These boys appreciated both the food and also the free beer. For our Nordic cousins the liquid flowed and their tummies were filled with all that was offered. I managed to swap a glass of home brew for a can of one of their national brews “Kansa”.  It now sits on a shelf in my bedroom next to a couple of bottles of Becks obtained from a German LIDAR scientist as payment for a short back and sides.  I’ll see what sort of collection I can get down here of various beers and maybe take a night off to enjoy them sometime this coming winter. Oh and the cheese Doritos were a big hit with the Indians...........a western Bombay mix?

Time for a little baking

Here we go again... same ole, same ole.  It’s Friday the 17th and preparations for Christmas are well under way, well by the social committee anyway.  Maybe not in the kitchen just yet. What Christmas means to most commercial operations is either a day or two off due to high operating costs and increased wages, oh and of course the fact that many mums and dads (wait staff) will be producing semi ridged smiles and expending precious goodwill that may better be concentrated  on loved ones gathered around the Christmas tree. Christmas can also mean getting up really early, grabbing a few coffees in between slicing smoked salmon, poaching eggs or rolling out pastry ready for Danishes then feeling your way through a foggy and confusing day of good wishes and warm fuzzies from colleagues,  then high expectations and time critical demands from the consumers. 

I’ve been placed in a rather unique position of having to cater to 73 plus expeditioners (consumers) who, on the flip side, are also the loved ones to whom I’ll stand side by side with whilst gorging on the excesses of the Christmas spirit.  Either way I’ll win right?  So let’s just take it easy and do the menu planning next week.......Hey the social committee needs a draft of the menu so they can get it approved and printed off... and they sorta need it now.?
Well Tony and I merged grey matter and scribbled down in chefs’ hand ( very similar to Doctors handwriting) a simplistic menu of running salads, seafood buffet, old school roasts with accompaniments, dessert table (Christmas pudding included) and a cheese board.

I’ll be able to update the blog with the exact menu after Christmas.  Things can change for any reason down here.

With the first version of the menu now making it’s way around our local intranet I felt a sense of calm and even a little energy.  Baking!!
I love finding time to bake extra goodies for the crew. It gives me a feeling of pride and satisfaction knowing people will soon discover tasty sweet morsels arranged on various platters dotted around the dining room. When I was a little kid I remembered coming home from school and opening the lid on our two toned brown Tupperware cookie container... looking in all I could see was darkness (this thing could act like the TARDIS sometimes).  I knew the jar was empty yesterday, was it still today?  I’d throw my arm up in the air, pull the sleeve up past my elbow and dive down inside. Just as a shag comes popping up from the oceans depths .......so too would my hand. Yes!!  It’s loaded!!  What have I scored?  Fudge.  Hmmmm, I’d have removed that lid at least 3 more times before my sister got home.  Then I was the self-appointed guardian of the jar.  I loved my mother’s baking ,who doesn’t?

Apricot Slice

Well there was nothing holding me back. Armed with a 2006 edition of the Edmonds recipe book, (mini cooks bible... in N.Z anyway), memories of my childhood delicacies and a fully equipped kitchen I set about creating a pantry full of icing and coconut topped treats.

Ginger Crunch

A little baking on Saturday and a lot on Sunday left most of my stock containers in need of a topping up.  Ginger crunch, hedgehog (fudge), jam slice, lemon and apricot slice, coconut brownie, caramel slice ,  Anzac biscuits and toffee apples.  I thought this would last me a week (my mother probably thought the same back then).  As it turned out we had a visit from the Indians on Monday, including their construction workers, and a Chinese delegation made an appearance on Tuesday.  By Wednesday my goodies were all gone.
It still felt nice making them.

Here we go again... same ole, same ole.  It’s Friday the 17th and preparations for Christmas are well under way, well by the social committee anyway.  Maybe not in the kitchen just yet. What Christmas means to most commercial operations is either a day or two off due to high operating costs and increased wages, oh and of course the fact that many mums and dads (wait staff) will be producing semi ridged smiles and expending precious goodwill that may better be concentrated  on loved ones gathered around the Christmas tree. Christmas can also mean getting up really early, grabbing a few coffees in between slicing smoked salmon, poaching eggs or rolling out pastry ready for Danishes then feeling your way through a foggy and confusing day of good wishes and warm fuzzies from colleagues,  then high expectations and time critical demands from the consumers.

I’ve been placed in a rather unique position of having to cater to 73 plus expeditioners (consumers) who, on the flip side, are also the loved ones to whom I’ll stand side by side with whilst gorging on the excesses of the Christmas spirit.  Either way I’ll win right?  So let’s just take it easy and do the menu planning next week.......

Hey the social committee needs a draft of the menu so they can get it approved and printed off... and they sorta need it now.?
Well Tony and I merged grey matter and scribbled down in chefs’ hand ( very similar to Doctors handwriting) a simplistic menu of running salads, seafood buffet, old school roasts with accompaniments, dessert table (Christmas pudding included) and a cheese board.

I’ll be able to update the blog with the exact menu after Christmas.  Things can change for any reason down here.

With the first version of the menu now making it’s way around our local intranet I felt a sense of calm and even a little energy.  Baking!!
I love finding time to bake extra goodies for the crew. It gives me a feeling of pride and satisfaction knowing people will soon discover tasty sweet morsels arranged on various platters dotted around the dining room. When I was a little kid I remembered coming home from school and opening the lid on our two toned brown Tupperware cookie container... looking in all I could see was darkness (this thing could act like the TARDIS sometimes).  I knew the jar was empty yesterday, was it still today?  I’d throw my arm up in the air, pull the  sleeve up past my elbow and dive down inside. Just as a shag comes popping up from the oceans depths .......so too would my hand. Yes!!  It’s loaded!!  What have I scored?  Fudge.  Hmmmm, I’d have removed that lid at least 3 more times before my sister got home.  Then I was the self-appointed guardian of the jar.  I loved my mother’s baking ,who doesn’t?

Well there was nothing holding me back. Armed with a 2006 edition of the Edmonds recipe book, (mini cooks bible... in N.Z anyway), memories of my childhood delicacies and a fully equipped kitchen I set about creating a pantry full of icing and coconut topped treats.

A little baking on Saturday and a lot on Sunday left most of my stock containers in need of a topping up.  Ginger crunch, hedgehog (fudge), jam slice, lemon and apricot slice, coconut brownie, caramel slice ,  Anzac biscuits and toffee apples.  I thought this would last me a week (my mother probably thought the same back then).  As it turned out we had a visit from the Indians on Monday, including their construction workers, and a Chinese delegation made an appearance on Tuesday.  By Wednesday my goodies were all gone.

It still felt nice making them.

Photos to follow.

Chocolate Hazelnut Brownies....YUM!

Hazelnut chocolate brownies

(Yield 2 small roasting trays or one normal gastro tray.)

500g melted butter cooled

800g Caster sugar

8 eggs

4 tsp vanilla

180 g flour

4 tsp baking  powder

1 cup cocoa powder

600g choc bits

200g roasted chopped nuts

Whisk butter and sugar.  

Gradually add the eggs and vanilla. 

Fold in the flour and baking powder.

Fold in the chocolate chips, pour into lined tray and bake until done

Fan forced 160 degrees for around 35 minutes.

The skewer should come out cleanish when done maybe with just a little cooked batter left on to ensure they are gorgeous and moist.

Adventures abound and not without being poetic

Friday the tenth day of December............. 

I started work  in the kitchen at around 5:30am. Getting out of bed is becoming increasingly more difficult as my body becomes ever more in tune with the surroundings. I’m sleeping very well these days.......and its always day now. Pulling my curtains deprives about 99.9% of the light from making its way into my little kingdom, and makes for a peaceful rest. I’m still drinking about a litre of water a night...............I may just jimmy up a humidifier to be placed in front of my wall vent........................you know, a chux cloth, container of water and some thumb tacks. 

Anyway, making 10 loaves of wholemeal bread and 24 white rolls kick started my day also with the addition of a double strength long black made fresh from a well maintained ranchillo coffee machine. Breakfast for the station consists of large bowls of fresh tinned fruit, freshly made yogurt, toasted muesli, 11 different cereals , porridge, dried fruits, toast with all the conserves you can think of, plus at least another 10 you can’t.  Basically you can call this a continental breakfast ..............and for chefs .......we live for it. What it means is about ½ an hour of setting up and 10 minutes of putting away, as opposed to a full cooked breakfast which will basically be cooked during the entire length of the scheduled breakfast eating times and slow down the prep  for lunch etc.

So on this Friday I prepared a lunch of beef stroganoff, rice, penne pasta with sundried tomatoes, tuna bake, chicken satay, spinach and vegetable soup, full lunch salad buffet and various condiments..............oh, then I decided to make one of the most delicious hazelnut chocolate brownies in the world for my much loved extended family............... and as it turned out the brownies ended up topping off another unique and surreal day down here in the Antarctic.

As Australia has 5 main stations during summer, so does it also have five main chefs. From time to time we chat with each other or email requests etc.  With science and personnel flights between stations occurring at various times throughout the summer period opportunities are seized and equipment and or supplies’ are transferred where necessary. I just happened to be able to fulfil another request from the Mawson Chef Maria for supplies of differing meats and cuts and also rolled oats, juice and a few other odds ands ends. In return I asked for some candles (to make special occasions more so), spray oil (as our supply has run out and the AAD are fazing it out) and a sieve to replace the usual semi rusty and hole-ridden ones found in most kitchens around the world.  As DSL I was asked to make a return flight to Mawson and make a transfer of special cargo. As the chef I was stoked to be able accompany Maria's supplies and hand deliver it to her................and of course put a face to the emails and phone calls.

So at around 1230 I grabbed a quick three minute shower (we are on water restrictions at the moment anyway), packed a survival  bag (needed on all flights around the Antarctic), donned my Antarctic field gear and grabbed the camera and all the bits and bobs that go with it.  I met up with one of the fly boys in front of the LQ at around 1300, jumped into a golf buggy and proceeded to make our way over the ice to the skiway and the awaiting plane. As it turned out I managed to experience a little rain on my face as we neared the Casa. First of all rain down here in the Antarctic is virtually unheard of ................maybe a few times a year if you're lucky, and secondly Casa is the type of plane leased by the AAD for summers. The one I’m about to fly on  is a C212 call sign Snowbird 2, operated by skytraders Pty Ltd.

I was given a  safety briefing and a small rundown of what to expect during take off......for instance the cockpit stall warning alarm will come on during the take off due to altitude being needed before speed.  Cool.... so now I sign a piece of paper of understanding or basically allowing the pilots to bypass some of the protocols enforced in Australia.  Hey we are all down here to do the best job we can with the best equipment and brains around. The Antarctic poses a few challenges for most....you can just imagine what these flyboys come up against.

Well I was very comfortable with the level of professionalism shown by the crew and had no problems giving my john hancock.

The engines roared and noise cancelling headsets were donned (expensive Bose ones), pre-flight checks carried out by the pilots, location, destination and route were radioed to Davis comms.........then woosh.....we were off skidding over ice for about what seemed only 20-30 metres before the alarms sounded as we became airborne. The forward thrust kicked in and we began to ascend into a cloud filled sky. The alarms stopped and all that could be heard was the distant roar of the engines outside and the humming vibrations of the interior. Soon enough we were at six thousand feet and  levelling off . The noises eased and communications were established by all on board.... and when I say communication I mean school boy banter.... and boy are those guys witty.

So there I was cruising at 6 thousand feet, listening to wise cracks between the pilots and staring out of the window in absolute awe of the world below.... surreal again. The cloud cleared about half an hour into the journey revealing some stunning landscapes of crushed ice and weathered rock. Soon enough we were over the ocean and looking down at various stages of ice development and deterioration. As far as the eye could see were blocks of ice slowly bumping one another and all the time shaping themselves into various  geometrics so as to give the impression of a jigsaw being recently tipped out onto a dark blue table. Dotted amongst these seemingly repetitious ice fields were ice bergs. Gigantic when close these great floating chunks of ancient ice seemed only to impress me with there sharp and out of place shadows, and by the deep aqua shades of blue given out by the caves and crevices adorning them and not by their relative size. 

Unlike the helicopter ride last week to India and China, I was now seeing the Antarctic from a very special position, high above all else that resides down here and in the comfort of a heated plane cabin. I couldn’t help but just stare out of the window in amazement.... "If you could see what I see".  A still or video camera  would have a hard time capturing the images that were crawling beneath the plane and the complexity of emotions that come from seeing first hand these sights.  Unbelievable!!!

I’m still stoked as I’m writing this blog entry about the opportunity that was given to me and the memories I now have burned permanently into my brain..............Once in a lifetime!!!

Anyway as part of the flight we made a detour to capture images and do a rough head count of any penguins living on or near to two monoliths. The first monolith Murray (had to be an Aussie who came up with that one) was a huge piece of rock forced out and up thousands of years ago.  It definitely gave the appearance of something to be respected.............I’m not sure what it was......size, shape, location? I’m sure though that had there been any tribal people living in this environment...............Murray would have been declared a sacred place. We flew slowly around cameras clicking away.......the pilots taking advantage of their retractable windows and poking their lenses right out into the frigid air. Bird count around 50ish Adelie penguins.  Next we flew on to Scullin Monolith.............whose presence seemed to mirror Murray's both in size and in spiritual reverence.  The plane gracefully tacked its way around and over the wind polished and ice carved chunk of rock.  This was another surreal moment, for want of a better word.  Bird count, Adelies 50-100, Snow Petrels hundreds.

From here we flew on to Mawson arriving around just before 3pm, making the flight time just over 2 and a half hours.

There was a small greeting party gathered beside two very shiny looking Haggs at the end of the make shift ski way.  Only 5-600 meters from the station we exchanged goods including the food provisions which Maria got to thank me for in person. I said a quick g’day to the crew which I knew half of already, took a couple of happy snaps, soaked up some of the unfiltered sun and then proceeded to strap myself into my allocated seat in preparation for our departure.  In total 10 minutes were spent on the ground.  Boy I hope another opportunity presents itself for me to come back to Mawson cause the asthetics of the 360 degrees surrounding the station offer another kind of wonder.  Having the station juxtaposed against a picture perfect mountain rage flowing seamlessly into the melted marshmallow-looking glacier would not easily grow old in my book.

The ice seemed even different again as we flew back, the sun coming from another direction gave colours and shapes not seen on the flight in.  I grew a little tired  as the heater beside me kicked in.......... then all of a sudden a choking sound was heard in the cabin.  It was me.........I had woken myself up by snoring! Luckily only about 25 minutes had passed.  As it turned out the guys up the front were getting ready for a little snack (care package) Maria had made us. So I gratefully accepted a strong brew of java’s finest, a ham and cheese sandwich .........................and a brownie.

The next thing you know the guys flying this tin can were singing the praises of Maria's chocolate delight. Now don’t get me wrong it was very nice, and I very much enjoyed every mouthful but hey could I let it go?  Nup.  The next thing you know I was big upping my very own creation waiting back at Davis and guaranteeing it's superiority against any other. This is what we chefs do sometimes. LOL. The boys promised to compare and offer a non biased judgement (yeah right, they were about to try my creation in my kitchen and offer a non biased opinion?)...... I had just guaranteed myself the icing on what has been another uniquely special day. As it turned out just 10 minutes or so after this conversation we spotted a whale next to the ice on the left hand side of the plane.  I was sitting on the left so quickly grabbed my camera and snapped a few shots.  From eight thousand feet we could just make out the shape and markings of an orca. Now that was the icing on the cake............

Chocolate Hazelnut Brownie recipe to follow.

Recipes galore

I admit I have slipped since I made the promise to try a new recipe every week so today, in a bid to make up for my lack of effort, I tried two.  After installing Mum at the market in what can only be described as really crappy weather, I came home and made a large pot of Minestrone using fresh ingredients from my garden.  I returned to the market in the afternoon, in the rain, to pack everything up and we came home, opened a bottle of bubbly and got to work decorating the Christmas tree.  I started to feel a little sad that I wasn't doing it with Justin this year but pushed that right back on down and kept going until we had a beautiful tree, adorned with all the decorations that we have collected on our travels including the tapa angel on the top of the tree from Tonga, the moose from Helsinki, matryoshka dolls from Russia and a tiki from New Zealand.  

Our neighbour's great niece, Julie who is visiting from the Netherlands, came over to use the internet and book some flights from Brisbane to Sydney on Xmas Day and stayed for a while sharing in our bubbly and nibbles while I made a batch of fresh pesto from the basil which is growing with great vigor.  It is the second time that I have made pesto and neither time have I ended up with that bright, rich green of recipe book photos... more of a muddy colour but I am sure that over-roasting the pinenuts wouldn't have helped!

My Minestrone (serves 6)

2 tsps olive oil

1 medium brown or red onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed
8 slices bacon, cooked 

(the actual recipe said proscuitto)

1 celery stalk, trimmed and finely chopped

1 medim carrot, finely chopped

1 medium courgette, finely chopped

2 x 400g tins crushed tomatoes

1.5 litres chicken stock

1 medium potato, chopped finely

1 cup small pasta (shells or macaroni)

1 cup finely chopped cabbage

1 tin cannellini beans - drained and rinsed

1 cup mixed leafy greens (I used bok choy and silverbeet from my garden)

1 tablespoon finely shredded basil

1/2 grated parmesan

Heat oil in large saucepan.  Cook onion and garlic, stirring until onion softens.

Add bacon, celery, carrot and courgette.  Cook, stirring, 5mins.  Stir in tomatoes and stock.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, simmer uncovered, 30mins.

Stir in potato and simmer uncovered, 15mins.

Add pasta, simmer uncovered about 10mins or until pasta is tender.

Just before serving stir in cabbage, beans, greens and basil.  

Serve in bowls with cracked black pepper, a teaspoonful of pesto, a sprinke of grated parmesan and a side of toasted Turkish bread.

The second new recipe was communicated via facebook this week and is extremely dangerous... I mean, chocolate cake in approximately 5 mins!  Called Chocolate Mug Cake... that's right, mug not mud, the ingredients are all put in to a coffee mug, mixed in there and then put in to the microwave.  And it is not too shabby!  We had it with vanilla icecream but I think that cream would have been the winner.

So hey, the weather may be really crappy and Noosa may be super sleepy but we are eating really well here!!

Meanwhile back in sleepy Noosa

The rain has been around for about two weeks now, which coincided great with me not feeling so crash hot,  but after two days of great weather, I got stuck in to some much needed work around home.  The floors are clean, the lawns are mowed, I have done some minor rearranging - the ugly arm chair from the lounge is now safely installed in the garage next door (and I took theirs to the dump) and the house in general is looking great. 

There have been a few spits of rain in the air today but I decided that that was not going to put a dampener on my Pimms afternoon.   So I got stuck in and made mini cheese and chutney scones, roast beef and horseradish sandwiches and cucumber sandwiches ready for the ladies to arrive at 3pm. 

We were soooooo lucky with the weather - it held off until everyone left and I shot around the block with Mr Bear only for it to really start as we walked back down the driveway! You couldn't ask for better than that.

The Pimms looked great and went down a treat. 
(I stuck with a weakish mix so the drivers could enjoy a couple.) 

My recipe consisted of:

200ml Pimms No.1

1.25 litre bottle lemonade - chilled

1 sliced orange

1/2 sliced cucumber

mint sprigs picked fresh from my garden

Put all on top of a heap of ice in a large jug and serve.  

We got 3 large jugfuls from the one bottle of Pimms and I still have a little left to enjoy on a quiet afternoon on my own.

Thanks Jenny, Janette, Deb, Tess, Dor, Julie, Julie and of course, my Mum for making time to sit around on a lovely afternoon when everyone is crazy in the lead up til Christmas.