No snickering.
To Blog or not to Blog...
3 years ago
Wednesday, January 31
New Years Eve...
I know it was a while ago and there's probably good reason I didn't post about it earlier, but we did herald in 2007 in style and with much laughter. We had a NYE bash at Joanne's place - lots of people, good food and bubbles. At some point during the night Lorena brought out her "Hello Kitty suit" fresh from Japan where, apparently, all the ladies are wearing them. I was bullied (and that's the story I'm sticking with) into modeling it for everyone... Anyhow, photos were taken so I have decided to rob them of their power to be used against me by posting them here.
No snickering.
No snickering.
Friday, January 19
Drip...Drip...CRASH
It's all over. The temperature is rising and the ice is melting. It started with dripping and now huge sheets of it are coming crashing down! Pretty cold and slushy outside but we'll be back to normal in no time. Or maybe not, since it's forecast to rain for the next 5 days! I don't think I've seen that much rain in the whole time I've been here.
The ice storm was a fun adventure though ^_^
The ice storm was a fun adventure though ^_^
Thursday, January 18
The Ice Storm
The 'Arctic Blast' continues, and we're still enjoying it! More freezing rain overnight. We went out again this morning to take some photos and this time I nearly lost it on the stairs! Luckily Jo stopped me going out in my ugg boots. I'm not very bright sometimes...
I'll let the pics speak for themselves.
Our deck roof edge
More lights
Over our stairs
mmm...crunchy grass
Frozen trees (der...)
The gate to our stairs.
Good, old fashioned Texas BBQ anyone? And from the looks of poor old Petey we couldn't go anywhere if we tried. Hard to see from some of the pics but he is entirely encased in ice, about an inch thick.
One last one...Holiday destination anyone? Reminds me of the Scottish B&B skits from Little Britain!
Wednesday, January 17
She's a bright button!
Just a quicky to let you know that Jo has been given the Dean's Commendation Award for 2006 for her thesis! She won't tell you how big a deal this is but there are only a handful given out each year, to the best theses across all disciplines.
Still chilled...
Arctic Blast!
That's what the TV is constantly telling me. If I hear them say 'freezing rain' one more time I will SCREAM! Yep, we are officially housebound, and cabin fever may be setting in. It got below freezing yesterday and hasn't budged since. Everything was already wet from earlier rain, so that froze right away, and the rain we had last night was indeed freezing (defined as: freezes on contact). We woke up this morning, not to a blanket of snow, but to a thick layer of ice on everything!
There's no sign of it lifting yet. If anything the snow is getting closer, and as they say, snow on top of ice is bad news. Most of the roads were shut today, but there were still over 100 accidents by mid-morning. Aside from the feeling of being trapped it's very exciting, and we both jump to the window when we here the next round of 'ping ping' ice against the glass. We went for a brief walk to the mailbox this morning and took some pics, but even that was a risky undertaking! Matt tried the same adventure at his place and slipped and hurt his knee!
Not sure if these pics will be as bad as it gets, I hope not though! I'll keep you posted.
Lights on our deck
Pretty...
Wow!
Petey!
Tuesday, January 16
Chill Bill!
Well, we're well and truly experiencing winter now. After having very similar temps to Tassie in Summer (aside from the cooler nights) it has suddenly turned on us and we're seeing some real American cold weather. We're under a 'winter storm watch' at the moment which seems to mean we are either going to get an ice storm or snow at some point over the next day or so. At the moment it's just below zero (in the middle of the day) and all the puddles from the rain last night have frozen over.
Texas goes a little nuts when it gets this cold, but it's mostly because people don't know how to drive sensibly. There's already been a few horrific accidents and that was before the ice really kicked in. The national guard have been mobilised and gravel laden trucks have been distributed at strategic points along all the roads. They warn that the bridges and overpasses are the ones that freeze first. To make it worse we had a lot of rain last night, so there's plenty of water on the 'drainage free' roads. More rain is due today and tomorrow, hence the warning. Here's hoping it delivers!! Jo is very excited by the potential for snow and has already started experiments with containers of water on the deck, to see how long it takes them to freeze. I was surprised that the first was iced up within half an hour o_0
I left work at lunch time to come home and I'm planning to work home tomorrow as well. The foundation will probably be officially closed anyhow, but better to stay off the roads at the moment anyway. We went to the supermarket and stocked up on ingredients for beef stew and hot apple cider :) It's actually a lot of fun to experience these seasons, because they're so much more extreme than tassie. I kept waking up all night last night to check if the pelting rain had turned to sleet, which was dumb because it's almost impossible to tell in the dark!!
Ice on our apartment stairs...at lunch time!
Our local weather (for all you BOM addicts)
Texas goes a little nuts when it gets this cold, but it's mostly because people don't know how to drive sensibly. There's already been a few horrific accidents and that was before the ice really kicked in. The national guard have been mobilised and gravel laden trucks have been distributed at strategic points along all the roads. They warn that the bridges and overpasses are the ones that freeze first. To make it worse we had a lot of rain last night, so there's plenty of water on the 'drainage free' roads. More rain is due today and tomorrow, hence the warning. Here's hoping it delivers!! Jo is very excited by the potential for snow and has already started experiments with containers of water on the deck, to see how long it takes them to freeze. I was surprised that the first was iced up within half an hour o_0
I left work at lunch time to come home and I'm planning to work home tomorrow as well. The foundation will probably be officially closed anyhow, but better to stay off the roads at the moment anyway. We went to the supermarket and stocked up on ingredients for beef stew and hot apple cider :) It's actually a lot of fun to experience these seasons, because they're so much more extreme than tassie. I kept waking up all night last night to check if the pelting rain had turned to sleet, which was dumb because it's almost impossible to tell in the dark!!
Ice on our apartment stairs...at lunch time!
Our local weather (for all you BOM addicts)
Thursday, January 4
Enchanted Rock
On Boxing day Teresa, Steve, Jo and I headed out to the hill country, to go climb something known as 'enchanted rock'. We hit Fredericksburg on the way through, and had a good hearty German lunch of bratwurst and sauerkraut and potatoes...mmm We did a quick lap of the main street, which I've described before, and was no less tacky touristy on this trip, but always fun.
Enchanted Rock was gorgeous and had something about it that reminded me of Australia. It was a huge lump of pink granite poking out of the ground. There were several options for walking trails the rest of my group, of course, picked the summit trail *sigh*. It was great to see that the trail markings were not overdone...I was partially expecting carved stairs and handrails. At times it was difficult to work out where the trail really was, but it didn't really matter since you just had to keep going up. I'm not entirely sure why it was originally named Enchanted Rock, something to do with the noises it makes when it changes temperature I think, but the enchantment for me (of the evil wizard kind, not the fairy godmother) was the slow curve of the rock meant that every time you thought you were at the top another 10m climb appeared out of nowhere!
I'll let the pics speak for the rest (since at this point I was somewhat out of breath anyway) It was so incredibly quiet, even with the small crowd of fellow climbers, and just a perfect day. I can't even imagine how hot it must get up there in summer!
Wednesday, January 3
Christmas Day and other good stuff
Just wanted to post a quickie to let you know that we had a truly wonderful Christmas - As good as it could have been considering how far we were from home and the people we love.
Christmas lights...from the car!
The plan for Christmas day was a huge lunch/dinner with work people and friends - mostly Australians and other orphans. It was our job to cook the turkey, stuffing and gravy. On Christmas morning we let Teresa and Steve sleep as long as possible, so Jo and I got up at sparrowfart (about 6.30) to put the oven on and wash out the bird etc. It sure was a beast! A little over 20 pound, hormone free and happy - till that point perhaps. We made a pork, sage, apple and celery stuffing but decided to cook it separately in a dish to give the bird the best chance to cook right through. Luckily the oven in our apartment is humungo and it fit the beast with room to spare. Later that morning we had quiet present opening at home, and it was lovely to do that with some of our family! Then I made the traditional Christmas milk (Dad's recipe, mostly whiskey and condensed milk but soooo good) and we finished off cooking the bird. The timing was perfect, the skin was golden brown and the juices were clear (which is lucky because I forgot to buy one of those pop up turkey timer gizmos).
Christmas day was great, there were 14 adults and 4 kids, mostly Aussies, a few Texans and a Thai family. It was a great mix of people who were all please to be there - chaotic at times, but lots of fun! Teresa and Steve fit in well. The food was just incredible. I'm not sure why my blog always ends up being about food but, but I guess it's how we celebrate here, and how we tell people we like them. Americans are very good about celebrating around a feast and I think most of us Aussies here have taken that on.
We began with Thai rice paper rolls and a stunning satay sauce, which were had with champagne while we exchanged pressies. The kids were having a ball and I think the rest of us were too. After the chaos of the exchange faded somewhat we moved into our lunch/dinner...what is the word for a lunch in the afternoon?? Aside from the turkey, we had multiple hams (honey and smoked), greens, potatoes, cranberry relish and stuffing. For dessert there was rum cake (no plum puddings to be seen here) and pavlova (of course made from scratch by an aussie) followed by amazing cheese platters and sticky wine. Yummo! Our weary travellers and their tortured tums actually held out surprisingly well, and we stuck around just chatting and hanging out for quite a while. All in all this Christmas was one to remember fondly. And it was made even more special (and seemingly less distant) by cards, parcels and good wishes from dear ones at home. Thank you all, we truly miss you.
Monday, December 25
Happy Christmas!!
Hello everyone, Happy Christmas!
Well, it's not quite Christmas day here yet but for some of you it is, and we're thinking of you. Christmas eve day here and while it comes with most of the usual excitement, it is also tinged with a little sadness and a longing for home... or shortbread.
We have very eclectic and simple decorations this year, but they suit the apartment. We also have a small tree made of rosemary!
My step sister and her partner arrive today, hopefully, although they're currently stuck in Phoenix airport due to the inevitable delays. The weather here has been really intense the last few days, with thunder storms and lots of rain, and it's turned cold now, but still no real chance of snow for us here in Texas.
It looks like we're having a pretty big Christmas, with about 14 people from work and friend networks, mostly Aussies! Jo and I are in charge of cooking the Turkey, so we'll see if we can pull that one off. It may be an early start to Christmas morning, but it's all good. Dad has passed on his treasured 'Christmas Milk' recipe so I'll be maintaining family tradition and preparing that in the morning. It's a milky whiskey drink, sweet and totally drinkable, but not thick like eggnog (or eggy...) It doesn't seem to last very long though...
Anyhow, thinking of you all and missing you even more. Have a wonderful Christmas. All our love-
Jo and Jac ^_^
Well, it's not quite Christmas day here yet but for some of you it is, and we're thinking of you. Christmas eve day here and while it comes with most of the usual excitement, it is also tinged with a little sadness and a longing for home... or shortbread.
We have very eclectic and simple decorations this year, but they suit the apartment. We also have a small tree made of rosemary!
My step sister and her partner arrive today, hopefully, although they're currently stuck in Phoenix airport due to the inevitable delays. The weather here has been really intense the last few days, with thunder storms and lots of rain, and it's turned cold now, but still no real chance of snow for us here in Texas.
It looks like we're having a pretty big Christmas, with about 14 people from work and friend networks, mostly Aussies! Jo and I are in charge of cooking the Turkey, so we'll see if we can pull that one off. It may be an early start to Christmas morning, but it's all good. Dad has passed on his treasured 'Christmas Milk' recipe so I'll be maintaining family tradition and preparing that in the morning. It's a milky whiskey drink, sweet and totally drinkable, but not thick like eggnog (or eggy...) It doesn't seem to last very long though...
Anyhow, thinking of you all and missing you even more. Have a wonderful Christmas. All our love-
Jo and Jac ^_^
Saturday, December 23
Tardy
tar·dy
Pronunciation: 'tär-dE
Function: adjective
Inflected Form(s): tar·di·er; -est
Etymology: alteration of earlier tardif, from Anglo-French, from Vulgar Latin *tardivus, from Latin tardus
1 : moving slowly
2 : delayed beyond the expected or proper time
Example: Blog entries on Jac Wabbit goes to Texas
Pronunciation: 'tär-dE
Function: adjective
Inflected Form(s): tar·di·er; -est
Etymology: alteration of earlier tardif, from Anglo-French, from Vulgar Latin *tardivus, from Latin tardus
1 : moving slowly
2 : delayed beyond the expected or proper time
Example: Blog entries on Jac Wabbit goes to Texas
Friday, December 22
Portland Part 2
Jo and I were lucky enough to find ourselves in Portland, Oregon for a week earlier this month. I'm collaborating with some great people there so it was mostly work for me, but Jo got to spend most days walking the city (stay tuned for her post - coming soon!).
For backstory, my previous Portland posts are Here and Here, although there may be other references lurking in May and June of the archives...
Portland is a great city and makes me feel totally at home. Read that as "Jac is head over heals for the place". I'm not sure if it's the cold, the mountains, the hot tea, the rain, the multitude of subarus, or the political leftness... but it's all good! We stayed in what is probably my favorite hotel thus far, the Benson. It's a small hotel that has all the good stuff, including lovely sheets, bathrobes, good cable and room service french onion soup, while not being at all tacky plasticky and nasty. They even have a lovely little Asian lady who knocks on the door at 5.30pm 'you want bed turned down?' and when you invariably say no she hands you a bunch of candy and a little card with the next day's weather on it.
Portland was FREEZING cold! Literally. It was ranging from -1 to about 8 degrees C, but we were lucky not to get any rain the whole time we were there. San Antonio has been a lush 25-30 degrees the last few weeks (unseasonal perhaps) but we did have a very cold week just before we left for Portland so we went and found ourselves a good quality jacket each. Columbia for the win :) I don't know if you can see the mountain in the background, I think it's Mount Hood (the one everyone seems to get lost on lately but it is the most climbed mountain in the US so the stats are stacked against it). Anyhow, totally covered in snow! Gorgeous.
Portland was great for getting us in the mood for an American Christmas. Not only was it bitingly cold (even with our new coats we still needed at least 3 layers before venturing out) there were also lovely carols playing everywhere, even in the taxis. The hotel itself had the whole old style American Christmas feel, with an enormous tree in the lobby. No only that, but every edge of the room was lined with pots of poinsettias!
The other cool Christmassy thing about the Benson was the HUGE gingerbread house (nay, castle) in the lobby. It was made by the chief pastry chef who is now an architect! All made out of food but totally not edible (something to do with fixatives...I did not try to stick my tongue in the lake) The windows were my favorite - made with smashed and melted pieces of Jolly Ranchers!
I spent most of the week working, but we also had some lovely dinners (no surprise for this blog perhaps), including one at a place called 'The Farm Cafe' that uses all local produce. I had an amazing crab risotto and Jo had wild mushroom fettucini. We also had warmed Oregon brie with an apple cider sauce and local hazelnuts.
One of the loveliest things about Portland has got to be the trees, the variety, the density, the hills surrounding the city that are still densely forested... There was even a hint of the Autumn (fall) colouration remaining!
One night, before going to dinner, we walked through the freezing city to go and check out chinatown, which turned out to be small, but heading home we stumbled upon a fabulous night market! It was called 'Art Happens' and wasn't a regular thing, just a one off for pre-Christmas, but there was some beautiful stuff - earrings and hand made bags etc. It was fun to walk though the square filled with Christmas lights and market stalls.
On the last day there we went out to the hills just outside Portland and did a wine tasting tour. They make some good pinot! The countryside was lovely and reminded me a lot of the Northwest coast, but without the gum trees. Lots of hills and farms and gorgeous mountains all around. It was a great day, mostly sunny even. Some of the wines were terrible and we were thankful we were sharing a tasting glass, but some were lovely. Our favorite place was a winery called the Red Barn that had a lovely farmer type in denim overalls running the tasting. Very down to earth and friendly, not at all snooty like some of the other places. He brought out cheese and crackers, and in true American style, brownie bites! Not sure how they went with the wine because the cheese was too yummy to go there. They're one of the older vineyards and they send their grapes off to different winemakers, so we were trying a range of wines all grown on site. They had a very drinkable pinot gris, which is usually the bane of my existence, and some good pinot noirs :)
The bad side to the Portland trip is the Jo has now realised that the rest of the states is nothing like Texas/Florida... She even found a little house, right up in the park above the city, that she'd 'quite like to live in'. Sorry Texas, you'll never win her heart now!
For backstory, my previous Portland posts are Here and Here, although there may be other references lurking in May and June of the archives...
Portland is a great city and makes me feel totally at home. Read that as "Jac is head over heals for the place". I'm not sure if it's the cold, the mountains, the hot tea, the rain, the multitude of subarus, or the political leftness... but it's all good! We stayed in what is probably my favorite hotel thus far, the Benson. It's a small hotel that has all the good stuff, including lovely sheets, bathrobes, good cable and room service french onion soup, while not being at all tacky plasticky and nasty. They even have a lovely little Asian lady who knocks on the door at 5.30pm 'you want bed turned down?' and when you invariably say no she hands you a bunch of candy and a little card with the next day's weather on it.
Portland was FREEZING cold! Literally. It was ranging from -1 to about 8 degrees C, but we were lucky not to get any rain the whole time we were there. San Antonio has been a lush 25-30 degrees the last few weeks (unseasonal perhaps) but we did have a very cold week just before we left for Portland so we went and found ourselves a good quality jacket each. Columbia for the win :) I don't know if you can see the mountain in the background, I think it's Mount Hood (the one everyone seems to get lost on lately but it is the most climbed mountain in the US so the stats are stacked against it). Anyhow, totally covered in snow! Gorgeous.
Portland was great for getting us in the mood for an American Christmas. Not only was it bitingly cold (even with our new coats we still needed at least 3 layers before venturing out) there were also lovely carols playing everywhere, even in the taxis. The hotel itself had the whole old style American Christmas feel, with an enormous tree in the lobby. No only that, but every edge of the room was lined with pots of poinsettias!
The other cool Christmassy thing about the Benson was the HUGE gingerbread house (nay, castle) in the lobby. It was made by the chief pastry chef who is now an architect! All made out of food but totally not edible (something to do with fixatives...I did not try to stick my tongue in the lake) The windows were my favorite - made with smashed and melted pieces of Jolly Ranchers!
I spent most of the week working, but we also had some lovely dinners (no surprise for this blog perhaps), including one at a place called 'The Farm Cafe' that uses all local produce. I had an amazing crab risotto and Jo had wild mushroom fettucini. We also had warmed Oregon brie with an apple cider sauce and local hazelnuts.
One of the loveliest things about Portland has got to be the trees, the variety, the density, the hills surrounding the city that are still densely forested... There was even a hint of the Autumn (fall) colouration remaining!
One night, before going to dinner, we walked through the freezing city to go and check out chinatown, which turned out to be small, but heading home we stumbled upon a fabulous night market! It was called 'Art Happens' and wasn't a regular thing, just a one off for pre-Christmas, but there was some beautiful stuff - earrings and hand made bags etc. It was fun to walk though the square filled with Christmas lights and market stalls.
On the last day there we went out to the hills just outside Portland and did a wine tasting tour. They make some good pinot! The countryside was lovely and reminded me a lot of the Northwest coast, but without the gum trees. Lots of hills and farms and gorgeous mountains all around. It was a great day, mostly sunny even. Some of the wines were terrible and we were thankful we were sharing a tasting glass, but some were lovely. Our favorite place was a winery called the Red Barn that had a lovely farmer type in denim overalls running the tasting. Very down to earth and friendly, not at all snooty like some of the other places. He brought out cheese and crackers, and in true American style, brownie bites! Not sure how they went with the wine because the cheese was too yummy to go there. They're one of the older vineyards and they send their grapes off to different winemakers, so we were trying a range of wines all grown on site. They had a very drinkable pinot gris, which is usually the bane of my existence, and some good pinot noirs :)
The bad side to the Portland trip is the Jo has now realised that the rest of the states is nothing like Texas/Florida... She even found a little house, right up in the park above the city, that she'd 'quite like to live in'. Sorry Texas, you'll never win her heart now!
Thursday, December 7
The yumminess that was Thanksgiving
What do vegetarians in Texas eat for Thanksgiving?
That’s right Tofurky!
On Thursday the 23rd of November we celebrated our first Thanksgiving. Everyone we talked to seemed a little sketchy on the details of exactly what we were giving thanks for (something about the pilgrims) but they all agreed the entire point of the day was to cook and eat a mass of good food. Sounded a little like family Christmas for us so we figured we could handle it.
Thanksgiving was held at John and Joanne’s because Joanne’s folks were visiting from Oz. In total we had 13 people, with a clear over-representation of Aussies (there were eight of us!). Jo and I got there bright and early to help cook, including the 20 pound beast of a turkey that took more than 5 hours to cook! Given the size of the bird we planned for an afternoon meal, and everything went surprisingly smoothly (considering the last minute realization that if the turkey was in the oven, NOTHING else could fit!).
While the food cooked we watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, which apparently is the traditional thing to do. Lots of amazing floats, most of them including a ‘hot air balloon shaped like X’ where X was pikachu (a pokemon) or nemo, mr potato head, supergrover… There was much dancing and many cheerleaders, although since it’s held in New York and it was 2 degrees and raining, everyone was rugged up to the eyeballs! The parade finished with santa, just to remind us all that Thanksgiving is only the beginning of the crazy holiday season.
I won’t go into too many details but the entire event was lovely, and a lot of fun. We had a great group of people, including a strict vegetarian, and it was great to hang out with a bunch of aussies and pseudo-aussies. It was a gorgeous 27 degree day, clear and sunny, but we hardly ventured outside! We began with prawn skewers sprinkled with old bay seasoning and grilled (or mixed veggie skewers for the non-fish eaters), champagne (Jacobs Creek) and punch (although the lads did have an esky of beer). By this point the room was full of turkey smells so the skewers not only kept the masses happy, but they injected a little bit of Oz into the whole traditional American holiday thing.
The dinner was amazing, and we managed to time it surprisingly well given the total chaos in the kitchen and the fact that different people had contributed different items that all needed heating/cooling/dressing etc. Lorena, our resident vego, brought the Tofurky and it was a surprisingly handsome (and tasty) beast. Being a true American she also supplied the mash and the green bean casserole, but I guess I should tell you the menu…
MENU
A MASSIVE roast turkey, golden brown, with a bread/bacon/mushroom stuffing
Fried slabs of smoked ham
Roasted veggies, including potato, sweet potato, pumpkin, onion, parsnip and garlic
Steamed asparagus
Steamed cauliflower with white sauce
Vegetarian friendly couscous stuffing with cranberries, orange, and pistachios
Traditional green bean casserole, made of a mixture of long green beans, mushroom soup and chili, with crispy fried onions on top - sounds bad I know, but was very good!
Mashed red-skinned potatoes
Cold cranberry relish that was a little sour and had nuts in it
Cranberry sauce
Two types of gravy (the turkey juices made the BEST gravy!) plus a vegetarian ‘gravy’
And finally, there was the Tofurky!
While attempting to digest all that yumminess we watched ‘Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving’ in a attempt to work the whole thing out. For good measure we followed it up with the Garfield version (the original cartoon, not of the CG stuff). Once we had regained some measure of composure, and just before we all fell asleep, we unveiled the dessert table! We had lemon meringue pie, a huge pavlova (mad by one of the other aussies) and, of course, pumpkin pie! Jo helped make the pumpkin pie the day before, so she has the details of what went into it. It was tasty, because of the spices, but I wouldn’t have gone back for seconds. It was served with either whipped cream, or cool whip, which is a scary white substance that is almost entirely unlike whipped cream.
Anyhow, I highly recommend thanksgiving. And it was a good test run for Christmas, where we get to do most of it all over again!
That’s right Tofurky!
On Thursday the 23rd of November we celebrated our first Thanksgiving. Everyone we talked to seemed a little sketchy on the details of exactly what we were giving thanks for (something about the pilgrims) but they all agreed the entire point of the day was to cook and eat a mass of good food. Sounded a little like family Christmas for us so we figured we could handle it.
Thanksgiving was held at John and Joanne’s because Joanne’s folks were visiting from Oz. In total we had 13 people, with a clear over-representation of Aussies (there were eight of us!). Jo and I got there bright and early to help cook, including the 20 pound beast of a turkey that took more than 5 hours to cook! Given the size of the bird we planned for an afternoon meal, and everything went surprisingly smoothly (considering the last minute realization that if the turkey was in the oven, NOTHING else could fit!).
While the food cooked we watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, which apparently is the traditional thing to do. Lots of amazing floats, most of them including a ‘hot air balloon shaped like X’ where X was pikachu (a pokemon) or nemo, mr potato head, supergrover… There was much dancing and many cheerleaders, although since it’s held in New York and it was 2 degrees and raining, everyone was rugged up to the eyeballs! The parade finished with santa, just to remind us all that Thanksgiving is only the beginning of the crazy holiday season.
I won’t go into too many details but the entire event was lovely, and a lot of fun. We had a great group of people, including a strict vegetarian, and it was great to hang out with a bunch of aussies and pseudo-aussies. It was a gorgeous 27 degree day, clear and sunny, but we hardly ventured outside! We began with prawn skewers sprinkled with old bay seasoning and grilled (or mixed veggie skewers for the non-fish eaters), champagne (Jacobs Creek) and punch (although the lads did have an esky of beer). By this point the room was full of turkey smells so the skewers not only kept the masses happy, but they injected a little bit of Oz into the whole traditional American holiday thing.
The dinner was amazing, and we managed to time it surprisingly well given the total chaos in the kitchen and the fact that different people had contributed different items that all needed heating/cooling/dressing etc. Lorena, our resident vego, brought the Tofurky and it was a surprisingly handsome (and tasty) beast. Being a true American she also supplied the mash and the green bean casserole, but I guess I should tell you the menu…
MENU
A MASSIVE roast turkey, golden brown, with a bread/bacon/mushroom stuffing
Fried slabs of smoked ham
Roasted veggies, including potato, sweet potato, pumpkin, onion, parsnip and garlic
Steamed asparagus
Steamed cauliflower with white sauce
Vegetarian friendly couscous stuffing with cranberries, orange, and pistachios
Traditional green bean casserole, made of a mixture of long green beans, mushroom soup and chili, with crispy fried onions on top - sounds bad I know, but was very good!
Mashed red-skinned potatoes
Cold cranberry relish that was a little sour and had nuts in it
Cranberry sauce
Two types of gravy (the turkey juices made the BEST gravy!) plus a vegetarian ‘gravy’
And finally, there was the Tofurky!
While attempting to digest all that yumminess we watched ‘Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving’ in a attempt to work the whole thing out. For good measure we followed it up with the Garfield version (the original cartoon, not of the CG stuff). Once we had regained some measure of composure, and just before we all fell asleep, we unveiled the dessert table! We had lemon meringue pie, a huge pavlova (mad by one of the other aussies) and, of course, pumpkin pie! Jo helped make the pumpkin pie the day before, so she has the details of what went into it. It was tasty, because of the spices, but I wouldn’t have gone back for seconds. It was served with either whipped cream, or cool whip, which is a scary white substance that is almost entirely unlike whipped cream.
Anyhow, I highly recommend thanksgiving. And it was a good test run for Christmas, where we get to do most of it all over again!
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