Hello from the middle of Winter in the
southern states. We are enjoying the cooler weather, and it is certainly a nice
change to be able to wear some of the warmer clothing we have after several
years in shorts and t-shirts!
We have had a busy few weeks, and as a
result have been lazy when it comes to this blog. This will be a catch-up,
before I then disappear for work for a few months. I suggest that this blog
will go into hibernation for the winter, and again rear its head into your
collective mailboxes towards the end of November.
Since our last post, we have finished the
shed (and had council sign it off, which is a VERY good thing!), and have found
the time for a dinner party in Canberra. We have started to put the final
touches on the house plans, and hope to start work on that when I come back
later in the year. Oh, and we made sausages!
Venison and pork sausages... not bad for an afternoon's work!
The shed was great fun, and we couldn’t
have done it without help from some very special people. First up, Sam and
Simone for letting us stay, and use the power from their shed. Leigh and Clare,
for coming to visit for lunch, and then being coerced into staying for the
night. Without their visit, I reckon the roller doors would still be sitting on
the ground! Mark, also for lending us tools. The plans were definitely not for
a DIY finish – I think they are drawn up to really confuse you, so that you
then go back to the professionals to get it done. However, in doing it
ourselves, we have saved several thousand dollars, and have the satisfaction of
being able to look at the shed, and knowing that we put in every wonky screw!
Peter and Phyl were also fantastic help,
and it was brilliant to be able to sit up on the roof, and have Peter throw
sheets of roofing iron up to me. That alone must have saved us at least half a
day! Peter and I went up to finish the shed last weekend, and the weather
turned miserable before we had a chance to connect the spouting. Peter politely
pointed out it was well past time for lunch in any case, so we set off for the
big smoke (Canowindra) for a bite. The rain had eased on our return, so we
could finish without getting wet. It was gratifying to see that the water was
doing everything it was supposed to, and not pooling in the guttering.
The shed and tank in all their glory!
Over the long weekend, we took the opportunity
to take a dinner party to Canberra, and set a table for twelve. We had a lot of
fun, and it wasn’t too much of a challenge not to be working with my own tools
and kitchen. The menu we served was as follows:
Hors
d’oeuvres: Potato Latke, with spiced apple and sour
cream/egg rolls with smoked salmon, mascarpone and capers/onion rings, in a
sourdough batter
(Note: the onion rings were seriously good,
and I am sure that some would have been happy enough to just eat that!)
We sat down to the table, and didn’t serve
the bread until the second course. This was done in some way to keep Kate Cox
from filling up on the bread too early. I don’t think it helped!
Dinner:
- Cauliflower veloute, with dried prosciutto
- Pickled beets and carrots with whipped broad bean and feta
- Parsnip and parmesan tart, salsa verde
- Slow braised lamb shoulder. Duck fat roasted potatoes, braised Brussels sprouts and aioli.
- Jane’s cheese ‘thing’ – Quince paste and smoked cheddar Napoleon, with honey roast walnuts
- Chocolate, ginger and pecan tart, with glace fig ice cream
Peter pulled some lovely wines from the
cellar, and we had a great night. We had planned a duck themed degustation for
home later in the year, and had gone so far as to curing the duck prosciutto,
but that will now have to wait until next year!
One of our recent photographs of MacK - being very grown up!
