Weekend of DOOM
A couple of weekends ago we were invited to sample a special dinner by staranise & Robbs (with
geekintheheat). Why us, not me I hear you cry? Well we're foodies without allergies or strong dislikes (other than our mutual dislikes). Wow. Medieval food can be so good. The cinnamon lamb especially was almost addictive. I'll refrain from going over the full list inorder to prevent you drooling on your keyboard. Suffice to say it was a truly wonderful night.
GETAWAY
Flash forward to last weekend. As previously mentioned Imogen and I were invited to cook at FOCUS's Getaway. And we did.
Friday morning kicked off with seeing exactly how much can fit in our car. Several hundred dollars for fruit and veg (including 60kg potatoes, 5 boxes of apples and 2 boxes of oranges) later it turns out that quite alot can! We then drove down to the coast, where we were given a quick tour of the kitchen, and then unpacked. This was quite an effort. Then it was off to buy the meat (60kg mince, 260 drumsticks and 200 sausages), drop that back and off to pick up the bread. Lots of bread (35 loaves, 120 each hamburger and hotdog buns). The car still smells freshly baked (no bad thing). And thence to Bi-lo (Aldi was further than we felt like going). 3 trolleys. 10kg cheese. 30 litres of milk. 12 litres cordial. A bunch of other stuff. Our poor, poor car is definately due for a treat. Oh, and all of this is just what we had initally - there were several more trips to ensure that we didn;t run out of things like mild and bread.
Once we returned and unpacked; it was time to survey our domain. I could stand to have an industrial kitchen. Admittedly, I'd probably need some pots smaller than 10 litres; and one industrial sized oven would be ok - but still. And I definately want a kitcken island that you could comfortably sleep on. Oh, and the toast-beast (despite my almost overwhelming urge to cry "Toast for the Toast-beast!!!" ;P ).
Then it was time to check out final numbers and confirm special diets. We had no veggos. Not one. It's kinda scary. But the person with an allergy to garlic [how I weep!!!!!] was enough (oh, and a couple of lactose and gluten intolerants). Then Immi soaked the porridge and I marrinated the drumsticks (GETAWAY CHICKEN!!!) and then to bed.
Ok, what's with young'uns liking porridge? Breakfast was due to start at 8, but because of the hungry hoards assembled, we kicked it off at 7:40. The porridge was gone by 8:05. Well lesson learned. Everythign else went well. Then it was on to preping the Shepherd pie for lunch. This was the most traumatic meal of the weekend, but I can guarantee than next year there will be more! Then it was time to prep dessert and prepare for dinner. Cooking 8kg of rice is ... scary, and you need some-one of Hulk-like proportions to stir it. The chicken was a bit more worrying, as it just would cook. We ended up both foil covering it and having the ovens on 260 (the powa!!!). Finally 45 mins later it was ready to serve. People raved about it, so I guess it was worth the wait. Oh, and I'm pleased to say that there was plenty for secconds and leftovers. Dessert was a crumbly-apple (I couldn't really call it a crumble) - basically pre-roasted apple quarters (roasted with cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar) topped with a oats/brown sugar mix. Yum. Went down like the treat it was. Then urbiquitos clean up for people who aren't me (it's good to be the boss), while I flavoured up the meat for tommorrows lunch (and Immi mixed it).
Sunday - more porridge and feeding of the toast beast. Breaky even easier. Then onto cooking the burgers. A moderate amount of ingenuity was required, but soon we were cooking with Industrial-Sized Gas. Once again rave reviews (particularly as Aussies, we'd got the beetroot out. After lunch there was a brief break before we had to get into baking the jacket potatoes and making the savoury mince. ONce again it was raved about (and the potatoes were beautifully baked). Then an apple and peach cobbler for dessert. More Hurrah!s for us!
Final day and we were off to a flying start with pot-fryed mushrooms (the box worth than the non-existent veggos hadn't eaten) for your toast, and the left over cooking apples grated into the porridge. Lunch was snags-inna-bun and left overs. There were a few grumbles that we didn't provide a dessert, but come on! As it was we were among the very last to leave.
Looking back, I know where we would need to alter stuff, and have an idea as to what's possible. All in all an excellent if bloody tiring experience. And by the sound of it, we may be back next year. Hmmm, that gives me some ideas ....
Felix's (brother-in-law) Birthday
Having made the effort to return from England for his (30th) birthday, it was obviously going to be a special time.
I only hope that my 30th (in the distant future :P) is 1/2 as nice.
We kicked off by driving to Murrumbateman to stay at Guest House Schonegg for Monday night. We were given an exceptional welcome, some lovley canapes and a couple of bottles of wine to start us off as we lounged away. Knackered as I was, I had to head off to bed as the game playing started (much to my annoyance); but judging from the noise I could hear from 2 rooms down, a good evening was had. Instead I was luxuriating in my Shereton sheets. Never again will I mock such sleeping accessories. Bring on the high thread counts! The following morning we had an excellent breakfast and hours of serenity :) Plus I learned not only how to play, but also how much I suck, at Boggle. Then it was lunch time. Now normally they don't do lunch, but secret deals were struck. WOW. I think it's fair to say that it was certainly one of the five best meal I've ever had. For a look at what sorts of things, go here. Regrettably this all came to an end, and it was time to head home.
To prepare to see Varekai.
Varekai (at wikipedia) is the latest Circe du Soleil performance to come to Australia. Here I'm just going to say that you should go and see it. And by 'should' I mean 'sell a kidney'. It was simply one of the most amazing sites I have ever witnessed. Now we were lucky enough to be in the Tapais Rouge (VIP / red carpet) section - but you don't need to be. Just go and see it. If there is such a thing as human physical perfection you will see it. Oh and freaks. I mean that positively, it's just that I'm reasonably sure that much of what I saw surely can't be physically possible for ordinary humans. Hmmmm, maybe they're from Xavier's School for the Gifted ... Seriously, please for your own sake, go and see it - you will not be dissapointed.
Anyway enough from me, I'm bushed and this has taken way too long to write.