90 in the shade

Townsville's summer is well and truly starting to arrive. The mercury is rising (as it is right across this wide brown land of ours) and with it the humidity. Up until now, the tropical climate has been quite pleasant, and we have not yet turned on the air conditioning (of which we have seven!!). However I feel life is about to turn, as the humidity starts to take its toll.

People have told us it can be sapping, but I thought I would be ok, having lived in South East Queensland before. Admittedly I am handling it better than Jane, but it is still a struggle. All I can say about the heat and humidity is - Bring on March.....!!

In other news, Jane is now gainfully employed, meaning I no longer have to front with pocket money (you can tell that she didn't get the opportunity to edit this post before it went to press!), and she can meet some people here in town. She is working as a principal's P.A. at the local Catholic school. She really does mean it when she says she can't play up on a 'school night'...

We have both started paddling outrigger canoes for Magnetic Island Canoe Club. Great fun, excellent for fitness, and a really social sport. Couldn't get any better really. We train Monday and Wednesday evenings, and then again at 'sparrow's' on a Saturday morning. We are both struggling a little with technique and fitness, but it is fun. Yesterday was 'Man Day' for all the guys- we paddled for an hour or so in the afternoon, and then went to the pub for a few beers. It made for a rather pleasant day.

We have also bought the timber for our next furniture projects. We are making bookshelves and a kitchen bench (with a marble insert). It is nice to be creative again, and we hope to share photographs of our progress as we go.

Hope wherever you are you can get cool, and enjoy a couple of coldies- it certainly makes for a more pleasant way of coping with the heat!

0547 h and mobile phones!

0547 h. Don't know why it is significant, but it appears to be so for me. Almost every morning, I wake up at 0547. Granted, we do sleep with the blinds open, so the sun does come in and slowly warm us awake.

About five minutes later, Townsville remembers that it lives in the tropics, and we get hit with a blast of hot air that generally hangs around until the sun runs out of puff sometime after dark. That is why the most exciting and life changing discovery of the last century was definitely air conditioning. Somebody should definitely tell the Army that, as my office doesn't have any cooling at all.

So- back to 0547. I wake up, roll over, and look at the clock. 0547. I have even tried to keep my eyes closed for a couple of minutes just so I can miss the MOST SIGNIFICANT PART OF MY DAY, only to finally sneak a peek at the clock to see- you guessed it- 0547!!

If anybody can enlighten me as to the significance of this moment, I would be most grateful. It does allow me to stretch for three minutes before the alarm goes off but...

Now- mobile phones. If my Nana had been able to give me one more piece of advice before she went to a place where tax is non-existent and there is never a bad vintage, it would have been as follows-

Sales people are generally bad. So when they tell you that the only phone available on the plan you want is a fancy touch screen phone, and that said phone is the way of the future you need to respond with the sign of the devil, turn around three times clockwise, throw a wreath of garlic at them and spit before running away.

Now obviously Nana is too busy enjoying the perfect vintages to pass advice through the ether, or maybe I wasn't listening, because I bought said fancy touch screen phone (with the perfect plan) and thought life was perfect, as I had the technology that would change the world. We have had the phone for about three months now, and last week it just stopped working. I could access enough of the phone to tease me into thinking that it might work, but not enough to actually do anything.

Aagh, you may well say- what about the warranty? Apparently the 'internal water damage indicator' has been activated, meaning that the extended warranty we bought has been voided. Insurance would of course cover it, but seriously- has anyone ever had satisfaction when asking a phone company to pay out on insurance? ( A colleague has an i-phone that has died. His insurance policy has been declared invalid as by installing applications he has turned his i-phone into a smart-phone. Seeing as how he has only insured for an i-phone, he is out of luck. Lawyer too...)

In talking to phone technicians, they tell me that the ambient humidity here in Townsville would have triggered it. Or moving from air conditioning into natural air. Or the sweat caused from the heating of the phone against your skin when making a call.

Either way, the phone is cactus and we are out of pocket three months into a 24 month contract, which kind of sucks. It does get worse, of course. All of my contacts were saved to the phone. The SIM card is empty. It feels both liberating and terrifying at the same time!

So, if I can channel my Nana, and pass on some advice- New technology isn't new tomorrow. The next big thing is obsolete before you get it. Yesterday's technology is still there because it works. And if you live in the tropics, you are going to get wet. A lot. Suck it up.

Finally- if anybody knows anything about 0547, feel free to share!!!

Chocolate Chilli Tart

I know I promised that we would give you recipes, and I am not going to renege on that!

So- one of my current favourite desserts (and certainly Jane's) is a baked chocolate and chilli tart. The recipe is based on a tart in a book of Nico Ladenis' and it is perfect because a single tart will feed a crowd as the richness means a small sliver is all that is needed.

Jane obviously disagrees with the last statement.....

She is in Canberra at the moment, visiting friends and family, and I am flying down to join her tomorrow. In the interests of maintaining family harmony I have baked a tart as a surprise. Sweetheart- I hope you don't read this before I see you tomorrow!!!

Now- the photo above may not look like much (and I am completely prepared for that to be entirely my lack of photography skills), but I can assure you it is a show-stopper!

The chilli sits on the taste buds, but is masked by the fat in the chocolate. As the chocolate melts, the heat of the chilli slowly fills your mouth with a magical warming heat. Absolutely marvelous! ( Jane's current favourite word).

I haven't accompanied it with anything for the pic- I was tossing up whether to repack this piece, or to reward myself. Sorry honey- I am only travelling with 85% of the tart!

SO- the recipe:

It is incredibly simple. You need to blind bake a sweet pastry case (let me know if you need a recipe for a brilliant sweet pastry). I use a 9 inch tart tin, with a removable base.

When the tart base is cooked, simply pour in the filling, and bake at 180 deg Celsius for ten minutes. Let cool, and slice and serve.

FILLING-

300 gm Dark Chocolate

200 gm Unsalted butter

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

3/4 tspn cayenne powder (or to taste)

Method:

1. Melt the butter and chocolate together, and whisk until smooth

2. Whisk the egg and yolks together until combined.

3. Add the chocolate mix to the eggs, a little at a time to prevent the eggs cooking

4. Beat until smooth

5. Add Cayenne to taste

I have served this with a crushed pistachio ice cream and a compote of rhubarb in the past.  I think just as wonderful would be clotted cream with poached rhubarb and berries.

Have a play, and let me know what you think. Chocolate and Chilli- It really works!

Graduations and weddings

Hi

I thought it well past time that we shared some of our pictures with you all.

So quickly-

This one is of me (in my mess kit) and Jane  at Graduation from RMC (Royal Military College) on June 23. It was a fantastic night, and one that lasted well into the wee small hours. Certainly one of the more memorable days and nights!

                                               

This is of me in the uniform we graduated in. I know I look serious- but it was a momentous occasion!

This is one of my favourite shots of the wedding (27 June). The photographs were taken at the Officers Mess at RMC in Canberra, and the tartan is the Dalziell tartan. 

There will be many more photographs over the coming weeks- please bear with us as we sort through them all!

Ciao

Our first post!

Hi all

Welcome to our journey. Jane and I intend to share our journey from now (November 2009, Army, Townsville) to "B'ond"- can't give you a time frame, but it won't be Army, and it won't be Townsville.

It will be our farm- self sufficient, and built on permaculture principles. We will be as self sufficient as we can be. So as well as being a medium to update friends and family, the blog will also be a place to share our learnings, failures and grand successes along the way. Being the 'foodies' that we are, we will also share reviews of places we eat, and recipes of great food we come across.

The letter below is one sent out to friends and family by way of update. Some of the first blogs will be things that we have written in the past, but generally they will be a diary.... Look forward to having you share our journey!!

Quentin & Jane

Hi all

I had thought I would be able to send out an update every 6 months or so. After all, an hour at the computer twice a year is hardly a large ask. However, Life got in the way over the last 15 months or so. I will try to cram 15 months worth of news into this mail to get you up to date. My new grand plan is to then follow this up with a regular blog; where I plan to share thoughts, photographs, experiences and recipes!

I think the last time I wrote anything I was at RMC, and had just finished my first semester there. I spent a further 12 months at the college, and on June 23 of this year, I graduated into the Australian Army as a newly commissioned Lieutenant. Two days later, I had my buck’s party, and was married on June 27^th! I realise this may come as a surprise to some, but there truly is someone out there for everyone!

I met Jane in Canberra at a pub called All Bar Nun. It was the 2008 Super 14 grand final between Canberra and the Waratahs. She had called into the pub to watch the game prior to heading out to a friend’s poker match. I had been at another pub with poor reception- so you might say the God’s had a hand in our meeting up! As I found out more about her, I was more impressed. The positives were as follows-

• Loves rugby (and knows about the game also
• Drinks beer while watching rugby (pints, no less)
• Loves food (Italian heritage will do that to you)
• Has a wine collection, and looking to add to it

 Naturally there were many other positives, but those were just the ones I discovered that night. I could add the kiss, but Jane probably wouldn’t want me saying that!

She had to go after the game, so I kissed her (again) and told her I would call her at 12.30 pm the next day- which I duly did. I asked her out for a coffee (thereby constituting a date) and we agreed to meet up. In addition to the positives as listed above, I found that Jane was a great conversationalist and that we share many similar interests.

To cut the courtship short, I proposed in mid-December with a sapphire and diamond ring, and even managed to surprise Jane with the proposal. During the time I was at RMC, Jane found out what being an Army partner can be like, with me disappearing for weeks at a time on various exercises around the country.

The wedding was absolutely brilliant. We had almost 120 guests at the Royal Canberra Golf Club, and had a marvellous time. I had my brother (Tyson) as best man and brothers in law (Mark and Jason) as groomsmen. We all wore kilts, and wore them proudly too! Our MC was my oldest friend, Dave Kennedy, and he ‘stripped’ to an All Black jumper for Jane.

Earlier in the year, Jane’s family gave me a wallabies scarf, so I returned the favour by presenting Jane with an All Black’s jumper at the reception…. As you can imagine, she was most impressed with that! Most brides spend money on uber-sexy lingerie for their wedding- but not my Jane. She went for the white cotton bonds, with the wallabies logo sewn in; and the garter was themed to the All Blacks.

Anyway, we had a great night, and are slowly churning through our wedding photographs. We will put them online, as soon as possible.

Until next time!