" ..What's reality compared to me.. "
Been to the gym and back and not dead. Arms feel like they want to secede, lower back and right knee grumbling fitfully like I should beware of gunpowder barrels under the bed come November.
But not dead. So is a small victory. Even if best intentions of a yoga class yesterday fizzled due to completely defective movement. Even if I am thinking now that elliptical cross trainers are hellish, and treadmill work while watching roadrunner cartoons results in a surreal state of mind.
Spent waaay too much at Mondo's yesterday, as they were selling off their Christmas speciality products - like deboned, stuffed free range turkeys - ready-cooked and vacuum-packed, for the bought-raw price. Which comes out to a 15-20% discount. I bought about $420-worth of these for just over $300, and Don Vincenzo threw in a couple kilos of sausages free. Had to rearrange my chest freezer contents to fit it all in.
TigerEyes and I decided to split a "medium" preroasted turkey, so lunch was heaps of turkey, smoked pork loin, Jarlsberg, tatsoi and New Norcia bread (yes I know I'm yeast intolerant; I won't tell my gut if you won't), with lashings of cranberry jelly, oven-crisped apple-apricot-rice stuffing, mayo and mustard, avocado and cornichons. The rest was then divided and packed away, with the bones going into my freezer for future soupmaking.
Fridge is now very full. Along with the turkey leftovers the fridge contains venison rogan josh with rice, smokey roast pork, three kinds of cheese, cherries, and a huge load of prepped chinese greens obtained at the Freo markets during hollering-veggie-seller-discount-hour.
I also picked up some essential oils for the oil burner I got as a gift exchange present at work - neroli for that lemon blossom fragrance, lime, sweet orange and rosewood.
I think I'm set for the week.
Dinner last night was at Blakes Cafe, which was much more enjoyable than dinner last weekend at Gerschwins. Gerschwins was rather 'meh', but the food at Blakes was French-Moroccan and much more interesting. We had the Menu Fixe 'Hafla' for the evening, which was great value and only minimally duplicated from the regular menu.
Entree - Felafel
Chickpea patties served with green and white tahini, roasted capsicum, hommus and pickles
Served with fresh pita and tomato, coriander and chilli salad
All fresh, homemade and delicious, especially the pickles which were sliced raw garlic, cauliflower, cabbage and carrot - bright yellow with turmeric, fenugreek and coriander seed. Bread was freshly out of a woodfired oven.
Mains - Harymah
Fish fillet braised with tomato, capsicum, Moroccan spices.
- Bukhara - Uzbek beef stew
Beef braised with green herbs, spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg, and chickpeas
I loved the sweet spices in this one; very Moorish in feel to me.
- Chicken Tajin
Chicken braised with red wine, root vegetables, thyme and sage.
Root veg here meant beetroot also, with the resulting dish an intriguing blend of sweet, earthy, savoury and bright fuschia. Our favourite, as the herbs melded very well.
Accompaniments - Loobya
Chickpeas, silverbeet, tomato and lemon
- Majadera - "Green Rice"
Rice cooked pilau style with lemons, lentils, silverbeet and green herbs
- Yoghurt fresh salad
Salad of diced tomato and cucumber, flavoured with celery, onion, mint and parsley; topped with plain yoghurt
In essence the only thing I had a niggle about were the fact that the myriad braises made for a certain amount of textural sameness, and also that the small space with live jazz - the chef's hubby plays the sax on Saturdays - made it a little hard to chat. The flavours were lively, with lots of parsley, mint, lemon, cardamom, garlic and celery; don't even bother coming here if you like plain, bland food. And as for value, I can only state that the above Menu Fixe was $66 all up (10% surcharge on weekends) per couple. While vegetarians like lady_niav wouldn't find the menu too restrictive, it may be hard on anybody with a sensitivity or allergy to any herbs or tomato. Which is a pity.
Looking forward to the NYD holiday, even if it is going to be stinkyhot again. Ah well. But it's time I get to spend with my agate-eyed honey and my silky-whiskered children. Don't know if socialising is the go for NYE this year. Just a quiet one with good friends, methinks, if at all.
But not dead. So is a small victory. Even if best intentions of a yoga class yesterday fizzled due to completely defective movement. Even if I am thinking now that elliptical cross trainers are hellish, and treadmill work while watching roadrunner cartoons results in a surreal state of mind.
Spent waaay too much at Mondo's yesterday, as they were selling off their Christmas speciality products - like deboned, stuffed free range turkeys - ready-cooked and vacuum-packed, for the bought-raw price. Which comes out to a 15-20% discount. I bought about $420-worth of these for just over $300, and Don Vincenzo threw in a couple kilos of sausages free. Had to rearrange my chest freezer contents to fit it all in.
TigerEyes and I decided to split a "medium" preroasted turkey, so lunch was heaps of turkey, smoked pork loin, Jarlsberg, tatsoi and New Norcia bread (yes I know I'm yeast intolerant; I won't tell my gut if you won't), with lashings of cranberry jelly, oven-crisped apple-apricot-rice stuffing, mayo and mustard, avocado and cornichons. The rest was then divided and packed away, with the bones going into my freezer for future soupmaking.
Fridge is now very full. Along with the turkey leftovers the fridge contains venison rogan josh with rice, smokey roast pork, three kinds of cheese, cherries, and a huge load of prepped chinese greens obtained at the Freo markets during hollering-veggie-seller-discount-hour.
I also picked up some essential oils for the oil burner I got as a gift exchange present at work - neroli for that lemon blossom fragrance, lime, sweet orange and rosewood.
I think I'm set for the week.
Dinner last night was at Blakes Cafe, which was much more enjoyable than dinner last weekend at Gerschwins. Gerschwins was rather 'meh', but the food at Blakes was French-Moroccan and much more interesting. We had the Menu Fixe 'Hafla' for the evening, which was great value and only minimally duplicated from the regular menu.
Entree - Felafel
Chickpea patties served with green and white tahini, roasted capsicum, hommus and pickles
Served with fresh pita and tomato, coriander and chilli salad
All fresh, homemade and delicious, especially the pickles which were sliced raw garlic, cauliflower, cabbage and carrot - bright yellow with turmeric, fenugreek and coriander seed. Bread was freshly out of a woodfired oven.
Mains - Harymah
Fish fillet braised with tomato, capsicum, Moroccan spices.
- Bukhara - Uzbek beef stew
Beef braised with green herbs, spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg, and chickpeas
I loved the sweet spices in this one; very Moorish in feel to me.
- Chicken Tajin
Chicken braised with red wine, root vegetables, thyme and sage.
Root veg here meant beetroot also, with the resulting dish an intriguing blend of sweet, earthy, savoury and bright fuschia. Our favourite, as the herbs melded very well.
Accompaniments - Loobya
Chickpeas, silverbeet, tomato and lemon
- Majadera - "Green Rice"
Rice cooked pilau style with lemons, lentils, silverbeet and green herbs
- Yoghurt fresh salad
Salad of diced tomato and cucumber, flavoured with celery, onion, mint and parsley; topped with plain yoghurt
In essence the only thing I had a niggle about were the fact that the myriad braises made for a certain amount of textural sameness, and also that the small space with live jazz - the chef's hubby plays the sax on Saturdays - made it a little hard to chat. The flavours were lively, with lots of parsley, mint, lemon, cardamom, garlic and celery; don't even bother coming here if you like plain, bland food. And as for value, I can only state that the above Menu Fixe was $66 all up (10% surcharge on weekends) per couple. While vegetarians like lady_niav wouldn't find the menu too restrictive, it may be hard on anybody with a sensitivity or allergy to any herbs or tomato. Which is a pity.
Looking forward to the NYD holiday, even if it is going to be stinkyhot again. Ah well. But it's time I get to spend with my agate-eyed honey and my silky-whiskered children. Don't know if socialising is the go for NYE this year. Just a quiet one with good friends, methinks, if at all.