Visitors Coming - Quick Look Busy!

Because I am constantly on the property it is hard to tell if there have been any improvements since moving here. Over the next 4 weeks I will have returning visitors so I need to make sure there the property is looking better than before. The wet season has pretty much ended which means the growth of the plants has slowed down - thank goodness! It also means the temperature and rainfall has been dropping and therefore I can be in the garden longer. Over the last week I have been trimming and weeding in two key areas. Where-as Myles has been using his new chainsaw to cut up firewood for the winter season.

This is the side passage to the rear paddock. Originally it was completely overgrown and basically a goat track. Now I can drive the ute up it and deliver firewood directly to the wood shed - saving so much time. I'm a little bit of a show-off and took the neighbour down to see the area. I was then informed that all the trees in the area are fruit trees. Mulberries, Avocado, Lilypilys (you can eat the fruit), Loquat, Fejoia, and Guava trees have all been discovered and I am sure more will be identified. I just need to trim up more trees to let in the light.

My favourite tree

I had a little help with the ornamental gardens near the house. Originally the whole area was overrun and quite a few snakes discovered. Now they are looking pretty darn special! Hopefully the guests will see the improvement and know I haven't just been baking and getting fatter!

Duck Fat, Southern Style, Biscuits

A few years ago Myles and I made a trip to Dallas Texas. Myles went for work and I followed using frequent flier points. We had one week in Dallas and then 8 days in New York. Who would have thought that Dallas was the highlight of the trip!

Myles would go into work each day leaving me with a car and credit-card. I did a little bit of shopping  but nothing major. However when it came to food Dallas really has the calories, and yum yums. A friend of ours in Australia asked us to take over some gifts for Marie, a family member, who was now living in Dallas. Upon hearing from us Marie invited us over for a BBQ. I normally feel funny about visiting people I don't know but Marie and her husband Robert made us feel very welcome. Aussies think BBQing is all theirs but really it is a Southern American thing. In America they use loads of sugar in their sauces though - so you know it is going to taste great! Marie told us she was going to make biscuits - not to be confused with the English variety. I was keen to see her in action and was gobsmacked when Marie grabbed a can and can opener. How could you bake from a can? I kept an eye on the process and was amazed when pre-made biscuits were produced from the can and simply put on a tray and baked. They tasted lovely but then again anything with fat, sugar and salt would. It wasn't the only time I was shocked with the way you produce food in America. We also managed to see a Opossum in her backyard - possibly one of the ugliest animals in the world!

Later in the week we ordered KFC for two people and walked out with three bags - we couldn't fit everything in - chicken, biscuits, pasta, corn bread, chips etc etc. Myles and I were then invited out with some work colleagues who took us to a Tex Mex restaurant where I discovered my favourite drink - the swirl - basically frozen margarita and frozen sangria swirled together and served from a slushy machine. Oh memories!

When in New York we travelled to Coney Island and ate at 'Nathans' - apparently the birthplace of the hot dog. The cheese on the hot dog was poured from a beer tap? Unfortunately that is not a rare occurrence in the U.S! The meat also came from the magic tap - it didn't taste so good.

Anyway today I thought I would make some Southern Style Biscuits but with duck fat. For those who don' know, Southern biscuits are like scones but made with fat instead of butter. You smear them with butter when they are hot - yummo!

Steve's Duck Fat Biscuits
3 Tbspn of Duck Fat
1/2 cup of plain yogurt
1 pinch of Salt
1/4 cup of sugar
2tspns of Paprika
and about 2 cups of self raising flour - enough to

mix everything together in a bowl. Then tip out on a bench and knead slightly. Work the mixture to deside if it needs more flour. Add more if the mixture is sticky and continue to knead until the mixture is smooth to look at and soft and googy without being sticky.

Roll out and cut into shapes. Place on baking paper and then on a baking tray. Bake at 200 degrees celsius for about 20 minutes or until brown on top. You will find the biscuit is flakeyisk <that's a new word>

As Sweet As Candy

Finally Myles had a weekend at home - over the last few weeks he has either been away for work or visiting his family. While I often like to be alone the work was mounting up and I was a little over cooking, cleaning, and farming at the same time. On Friday Myles got himself ready for a weekend of woodcutting and wood stacking - in time for winter. He went down to the shops and bought a brand new chainsaw that was smaller than our regular one - so he could work longer. I had also asked him to cook dinner because I was shattered after clearing the side passage so that the ute could easily drive up it. I snoozed for a couple of hours and woke when Myles started cooking some sort of pasta dish. I'm leaving it at that incase he reads this and thinks I'm ungrateful. Dinner was finished and I went back to bed for a restless sleep - not sure why.

We woke to hear the rain teaming down. Not appropriate weather to be working outside so we went shopping - after he made me perfect poached eggs on toast! We had invited our neighbours over for a movie and dinner so needed some groceries and we thought we would have a look at some baskets to hold firewood. After being out for 3 hours we returned with a basket and assorted items to fill the house, plus food!

Tonight Myles, yes Myles, will be roasting chicken on our rotisserie. He is this blogs guest chef - frankly speaking roasting is all he ever does! But he is darn good at it.

Paprika Chicken

The Chook is stuffed and stabbed!

Clean the chicken and stuff it with breadcrumbs, pasty, salt, pepper, and wine.
Ensure the chicken is dry - use paper towel.
Mix paprika, salt, pepper, honey, garlic, and lemon juice together and then smear all over the chicken.
Then stick the rotisserie rod up the chooks bum and out the front. Cook for about 1 1/2 hours.

I thought we had better snack on something - so tonight I will be making homemade crunchy bite.

Steve's Homemade Crunchy Bite

Before it is broken up and dipped in chocolate

Mix 100g of sugar and 4 tbspns of golden syrup in a pot. Let the mixture boil over a medium heat until it changes to a darker colour. You can also test it by putting a drop of the mixture in cold water. It should be solid, or tough chewy. Then put half a tspn of vinegar in and mix gently.

Finally add 1 1/2 tspn of bicarb soda and mix it quickly - it should froth up at this point. Ensure you have a tray lined with baking paper ready and pour the mixture in. Then wait for it to set - about 20mins.

Finished

Finally melt down some chocolate over a double boiler. Break up the crunchy into bite size pieces and coat in the chocolate - ensure the plate you use is cold so that the chocolate sets.

The meal was yummo! Good work Milo.

Kids and Chocolate Cake

The neighbours have visiting kids who have been checking out all the wildlife and generally having a laugh. They are between the ages of 6-9 - a great time to be a kid! At 9am we heard the kids making some noise and scratching their stomachs. Apparently scratching your stomach attracts wallabies - or so the kids had been told! We were invited to a BBQ with the visiting family. The youngest asked me
"Mr Steve we heard you make nice cake, can you please make some for us?"
It's not that difficult to make cake so I thought why not. They asked for a chocolate cake but I thought I would make a plum sponge - a childhood favourite. When I opened my pantry and looked at what was available I changed my mind and thought the chocolate cake would be better. But not a normal chocolate cake.

Steve's Mosaic Chocolate Cake

Basically a black forest gateaux mixture - however I did put more cocoa in it and I think that made it a little dry.

Then I whipped up some cream and melted down some chocolate. I put some of the melted chocolate into the whipped cream - along with extra sugar and whipped it further. That made the frosting.

I thought I would be tricky and make some chocolate scrolls for the top. That means tempering chocolate - which I have never done. So I heated the chocolate up to the right temperature and then then spread the chocolate on some wax paper to start setting. The chocolate was too warm so I let it sit 'till it started to harden. Unfortunately I left it too long and it went too hard to manipulate, and I didn't have a hairdryer to warm it slightly. So the idea for the scroll was thrown out the window and I decorated the cake in a mosaic look and put some dried off frozen berries in the middle.

I think with a little more work and better chocolate it would be nicer. The photo doesn't really do it justice.

Scrubbing the decks and my new toy

When Myles and I bought this place the decking around the house was a real mess. After careful inspection we realised that no much was holding it up - actually someone had shoved a piece of wood underneath one part - leveraging against the septic tank - nice workmanship! So we decided it was a priority to get the deck fixed first. Especially as I knew I was just going to be sitting in the sun with a G&T - WRONG!

The finished decking at dusk - when I finished it

We love natural timber - the previous deck was painted green - yuck. So after all the beams were replaced marbo timber was used to deck the area. Marbo was chosen due to its high resistance to termites and low maintenance. Our builder had a couple of helpers when he first started the work but once the beams were laid down those workers had an emergency and could help with the completion of the job. He was working by himself which was taking much longer than he anticipated and he couldn't get any other labourers. The builder then brought his wife along to help out - she was lifting heavy beams and bossing him around. I felt sorry for her until she said it was better than looking after their twins! LOL

Once the deck was finished I oiled it up - making it look fantastic. 6 months later it was looking tired. Today I scrubbed the deck clean with an acid wash and then applied 2 coats of the decking oil. It looks new again - dogs are banned from the deck for a couple of days! We bought a large table and 8 chairs to fit on the deck - they needed oiling to - after oiling them I never want to see timber chairs again!

The New Toy

I hadn't been shopping for awhile but always look online at company catalogues. I spotted a meat cutter from KMart at only $45. I stopped buying pre-cut cold meats when we moved here. The price, compared to 'whole meats', was ridiculous and we were eating a lot of sandwiches. Cutting the meat was never going to be as fine as a deli. But now I have this baby I will be cutting everything - hopefully apart from a finger - like bread, meat and cheese.

The Explosion of Chilli Sauce

Left:Chillies in Oil Centre: Regular Chilli Sauce Right: Green Tabasco

Over the weekend I was given about 3kg of assorted chillies from my neighbour who grows tons of them. I had already made some chilli sauce last year but I had given a bit away to friends and had obviously used quite a bit in my own meals - so was close to running out. I love using chilli in almost all of my dishes and used to buy chilli flakes - no more! I have a few plants on the property but I never have enough bulk to make up sauces. So I was thankful to have a fair amount to try different styles.

The Green Tabasco Sauce

First I thought I would make a green chilli sauce - like a green tabasco sauce. I spent 20minutes deseeding and removing the tops. Then I boiled them up in vinegar and sugar. No measurements just to taste. I now wear rubber gloves because the first time I made sauce I made the mistake of scratching before washing my hands - OUCH!

Once the sauce was cooked I poured the mixture into my blender. The blender was filled almost to the top but I thought I could get away with still blending the whole thing in one go. The top lifted a little after the first pulse which was a little scary but I thought I would risk another pulse of the blender. BAD Mistake - the whole top came off and the chilli sauce sprayed the kitchen - cover the windows, toaster, oven and floor in green goo. It took sometime to clean that mess up. But I used the sauce that night as a marinade for some chicken and sprayed some lime juice on just before BBQing the chicken. It tasted wonderful.

Chilli Sauce

I've made this before. Just deseed the chillies. Heat a pot with sesame seed oil put in the chillies and add sugar - chinese vinegar, and white vinegar. Once cooked blend and put in sterilised jars and insure the jar is filled to the top. Using the sesame seed oil gives it a nuttier taste.

Roasted Thai Chillies in Oil


Now this is a little tricker. I've investigated that chillies stored in oil can go off within a month because the oil doesn't stop the bacteria. So I roasted the chillies in the oven - then while they were still hot packed them into a jar and added some lemon juice and then poured olive oil into the jar to the top. You have to make sure there is no air left in the jar - so a knife down the side of the jar helps.

Apart from the mess I should have a great year of using the chillies. And all it cost me was my own time, some oil, vinegar, and sugar. Plus my sanity cleaning green sauce off everything.

The Graveyard of Failure

Today I buried Rogan - my second favourite goat. Rogan was a sparky, friendly animal that allowed me to hand feed and pat her since she arrived. I thought goats were hardy animals and that was the reason for starting farming with something we couldn't kill easily.

All the animals have been drenched and vaccinated but I think the weather and poor state of the land when we arrived has contributed to the high mortality rate with our animals. The land is a gully with all the water of neighbouring lands pouring into the four dams. That will be a blessing in the dry times. However Australia is experiencing a Lan Nino weather cycle which is making the area very wet. It is hard to make out the difference between sheep/goat poo and mud - which is hardly a good thing for the animals and I think would add to any diseases.

Rogan had been getting thinner each day - she was always the last to the feeding trough - so I had been waiting to see the others eat and then hand feeding her grains on the side. Myles had commented that he thought she was looking bigger and I pretended that he was right. On Thursday I looked in on the animals and saw she wasn't looking flash. So I went back to the house and told Myles that perhaps we shouldn't wait another week to drench the animals - as per the instructions. We went down at lunch time and rounded the animals up and gave them a different kind of drench. Drench is feed to the animals orally - I originally thought you sprayed something on their back as I had seen that done in New Zealand. Wrong! You have to get their mouths open and spray the disgusting looking liquid down the throat. It must taste yucky! This protects them from worms - which will suck their blood until they die. You rotate the types of drench so the worms don't become immune.

Drenching the animals was probably easier than last time - we've got better. But there are still fights between Myles and I when the liquid doesn't go down their throats properly or easily. Rogan took her dose easily and then stood staring at a wall. We left to do other things but I returned at feeding time and saw Rogan was still in the same spot. I tried to hand fed her but she didn't care for it - I got some water and tried to give that to her but she refused. I did completely the wrong thing and decided to see how she would go overnight. I knew the answer and should have ended it for her. I was a chicken, gutless and a coward.

As I slipped under the sheets I shed a little tear and told Myles that I didn't want her to die - knowing that in the morning she wasn't going to be with us. I had a restless sleep thinking about what needed doing to prevent this from happening again. I woke and discussed everything with Myles - who also had lost sleep thinking about the situation. After breakfast I loaded up the ride-on with timber planks, a shovel, and spade and went to the front paddock that we haven't been using because it has a stream running through it that the animals won't cross. I dug the stream deeper to ensure the water was moving quicker - making the surrounding area less marshy. The rain was pouring down and I was soaked in seconds. Myles came down and helped me move the timber to form a bridge that I hoped the animals would easily cross. Myles then checked on the Rogan and informed me that she had died in the night. He locked the goat shed up so the other goats couldn't get in.

I then herded the sheep into the front paddock - to fresher pastures - in the hope that rotating them might make them healthier. Then I mucked out the disgusting muddy shed - 4 inch mud! And transported the muck up to a garden bed to be used as fertiliser in the future. I was completely exhausted, wet, and smelly so had a shower and remembered I still had to bury Rogan. I couldn't do it - I had no energy and Myles was working until 3pm, then on a flight to Adelaide so he couldn't do it.

So I did it this morning - when the sun was shining brightly on a perfect day. Hopefully the land will dry out soon - it should in winter. I think we will have lambs in the next week or so. Perhaps that will bring some animal joy. We won't be buying anymore animals until the land is 'freeish' of worms.

Dinner for 4 with Some Uninvited Visitors

Moving to the country has meant take-away and dinners in restaurants are hardly practical. It is a 20 minute drive into town and more often than not the food is average - so why travel to have average food when I can cook at home!

My brother visited for a couple of months ago last year. We had worked hard in the garden and decided that cooking dinner was too hard. I researched who would deliver pizza to our area and was pleasantly surprised to see Eagle Boys did. Once I had chosen the pizzas I looked at the final cost - there was a $25 delivery fee! We were hungry so I ordered the pizzas. 5 minutes later I got a call from Eagle Boys informing me that they would only deliver to the General Store- 3kms away!!! We were still hungry so I agreed and drive to the meeting spot. Crazy and never to be repeated!

So now Myles and I often visit the neighbour for a couple of beers - which usual ends with us eating dinner at their place. To, naturally, repay the favour we invite J and S to our place and cook dinner for them. My dinners usually have hours of planning but I wish I could throw good food together like they do. Last night I decided to make Asian Tapas; Vietnamese Spring Rolls, Indian style chicken with homemade yogurt dipping sauce, dumplings, asian greens, and poached daikon - with coconut risotto for desert. No photos unfortunately but it all tasted YUM!

After dinner we were have a chat and let the dogs in the house to socialise. Lily was cuddling up to Myles when we discovered she was bleeding from her lip due to a leech bite. Myles' pants were covered in blood and the leech was working its way across room leaving a trail of blood across the designer porcelain titles! We cleaned the mess up and Myles changed his pants. Then I scratch my neck to discover a leech was attached to me and my shirt was covered in blood. The leech must have come off Fritz when I cuddled him. So everyone in the house had a meal who says we are not great hosts!

Dorrigo National Park with Leti

I know it has been some time since my last update. Unfortunately just over a week ago we had the sad news that Myles' mother had become very ill after a 6 year fight with cancer - which has sapped my creative side.

We were lucky enough to have all of Myles' family stay with us over Christmas. An occasion that will stay with the whole family forever. Sylvia made a wonderful DVD of memories as a gift to her son which brought many a tear from the family and which will be watched over and over again!

A Visit from Leti

Leti in Dorrigo National Park

We love visitors often because my meaningful conversions are with the goats or sheep. Often talking to the dogs just involved food - and really I talk about that all the time with two legged beings anyway! Myles was away in Hong Kong and I was all alone discussing the laws of thermodynamics to Fritz. By Wednesday I was relieved to have a conversation with Leti, our Italian friend, who was traveling down to Sydney from Brisbane. Leti had been planning on moving to Australia but her circumstances had changed. We were storing her life's processions and Leti needed to send them back to Italy - be-it a smaller amount.

I picked Leti up from the bus station at 1am - struggling to stay awake past 9pm. The rain was pretty intense and we got soaked getting her bags into the car. After arriving home we chatted for a couple of hours until I begged to be allowed to go to sleep. Four hours later we had breakfast and went on a 4km walk. Leti thought she was lucky to see a couple of wallabies - later she saw 10's of them! Myles' plane arrived at about mid-day so we hitched up the wagon and went into town. George Negus was on his flight and I pointed him out to Leti. Myles came to the car looking a little wearing and smelling - bad. He told us he wasn't well and had swallowed his vomit twice on the flight - he then sprayed the plane toilet with his lunch. Mrs Negus had tried to use the toilet and but laughed after opening the door just after Myles exited it. She let the staff know that she would hold on and the toilet was then closed for the rest of the flight.

Our Lunch

Myles had a shower and caught up with news of Leti. We decided a trip to Dorrigo National Park would be a good idea for the next day. Lucky we used the 4WD as the track chosen to visit Dorrigo was mostly made of dirt. The waterfalls in Dorrigo were fantastic but not as good a the picnic at Never Never Picnic Park. Leti then lead us along the bush walking track finally stopping at the Crystal Waterfall - we needed to get back to Coffs so Leti could check out the beaches so the walk had to be quick - I was left sweaty and breathless when we finally got back to the car. A quick trip to the beach and then onto a party for our neighbours 45th birthday. What an exhasting day!

We sadly said goodbye to Leti the next day at the train station with the promise we would catch up again in Europe one day.