Debearding Dinner

Because today was more winter than summer, with intermittent rain and temperatures not above 17 deg (50's Fahrenheit?), we ate mussels with frites for dinner. It was my first stab at mussels and they turned out might fine.  There was some question as the stringy clumps of 'beard' came off with a small, white, slimy thing attached if I was debearing the mussels correctly. It seems to have worked. For these little gems of deliciousness, I was thankful two-fold: 1) They are brilliantly easy and 2) They were down-right delectable.

Think leeks, thyme, bay simmered in cider with a dab of wholegrain mustard. It's a River Cottage recipe, and as always, didn't fail to deliver.

(Pardon the food photography, I was WAY to lazy to break out the camera, so these are courtesy of MacBoyfriend's iPhone....I have a pic of the frites, but they don't look very photogenic...).

Today

Now we're up to speed. This one is pretty straightforward.

There was bacon and eggs this morning (with the best crispy bacon in Sydney, still no Nueske's though...), lamb and couscous this afternoon and venison with kale and veggies this evening: I am thankful MacBoyfriend did the dishes this evening.

Yesterday....

Unfortunately this is gonna be short and sweet, no photos...and well, it's kinda lame, I get that.

But yesterday I was thankful for the neighbours. We planned a picnic in the park to celebrate the holidays together before everyone gets too busy. It was glorious weather, delicious food (including my very first leg of lamb), and plenty of entertaining conversation. As one of the kids said, 'the lunch went on all afternoon.' Actually, it went on all afternoon and all night. We had lots of leftovers, so after a few hours of siesta, congregated in the evening to finish them off.

Oops....

So, dear readers, I slipped.

To be fair, I was THINKING about what I should be thankful for, just not blogging about it. Cést la vie and bygone-be-bygones...I'll make it up.

On Friday, I was thankful for my bed. It was a long day at working with lots of talking, and ended with an hour session at the gym where some of the stress was punched out. So here it is, with dirty clothes and all...

Tiny Little Joys

Happy First Day of Summer Southern Hemisphere!

Even after a delightful day at work creating a vision for 2012, playing a few games and having lotsa laughs (mostly over funny noises and faces), nothing 'thankful' popped out at me. Poor MacBoyfriend has been home all day not feeling well and was jones-ing to get out by the time I got home. A short spin around the local park and we were talking about the respective children of my two cousins, four-soon-to-be-five in total. Only three days after Thanksgiving, the Major Bacon Family added Baby #2 to their brood, and the Rhymes-With-Pickle Family are expecting Baby #3 (A GIRL!!). Major Bacon Family are living in Germany at the moment and I haven't spent as much time with their clan, but I have no doubt they are just as adorable.

We were lucky enough to spend a week with the Rhymes-With-Pickle Family in Costa Rica at the wedding of Cousin #3, Potato. Their two boys kept us busy in the pool. They were learning to swin and found great delight in nothing more than asking either a) 'can we go underwater together' or b) 'can I see you go underwater'? They were a bit shy of MacBoyfriend (with the deep Voice Like a Whale Song and all) but after they saw him swim a length of the pool without coming up for air, he was golden.

We had a number of fantastic moments with the boys: Boy #2 eating about 10 times his weight in rice and beans, and shouting for 'ricenbeans' in the pool. Boy #1 swimming underwater on his own. Boy #2 so desperate to swim as well as his brother he refuses floats, and the suggestion that we tie him up with a swimming noodle. 'Don't tie me up,' direct quote.

The best was trying to explain to them where MacBoyfriend and I are living, resorting to using Finding Nemo in absence of a globe. Boy #2, after some thought, asked 'do you know Dori?' It doesn't get much better than that.

So, I am hoping she doesn't mind, but here are a picture (or three) of two incredibly precious little boys that I am so thankful to have known better this year. Here's to hoping they are don't bonk their sister on the head TOO hard....

                                  Always at the ready in their little matching outfits!!



Boy #1 always thoughtful and considerate....                                          Boy #2, hard to put down....

To Market...

I was watching an older episode of River Cottage this evening and Hugh went to London, specifically this place.

According to the website it's London's most renowned market, and I say 'here here.' Places like Portobello Road or the smaller scale Broadway Market keep the competition healthy for 'London's most renowned market,' which I fully appreciate.

Today I stick with Borough (pronounced, correctly, like 'burra,' as opposed to me with 'burrow').

The Irish one and I would come here Saturday mornings with the Krazy American Couple. It was one hot tube ride away on the Northern Line.

During my first Thanksgiving in London at the flat on Eland Road I found comfort here. A little shop in the small alleyway connecting the 'big part' to the 'part with the umbrellas' sold a little piece of Turkey Day: turkey breast, stuffing, cranberry sauce and gravy on a french baguette. It was quickly dubbed the Thanksgiving Sandwich.  People would queue for this stuff, though the English tend to queue for most things. Despite selling beef and ham that looked equally as delectable, in 3 years I never touched anything but the Thanksgiving Sandwich. It was perfect at 10 a.m. on a foggy London morning.

So today I give thanks for Borough Market and all the memories: the Thanksgiving Sandwich, 3rd date with
MacBoyfriend (who had been in London for 4 years without frequenting Burrow, shameful), every out-of-town visitor, scallops with bacon and stir fry, and of course a number of delicious meals.

Cheers London....

Ob-la-di-ob-la-da

This morning I left the gym with solid aching from my shoulders to my abs. Normally the endorphins start popping 30 minutes after the session, but today there was nothing. There was no groove, no life-is-great-no-matter-what-happens moments. Nada. With Sydney radio failing to provide a boost, I went to the saving grace: the ipod. (A pause for the geniousness that is the ipod.) A little Mercedes Benz from Janis, some Ob-la-di-ob-la-da from the Beatles and life went on.

For those that aren't familiar....(tho I'm convinced it's still just Snow and Flurrita reading....)

A little Janis Some of the Beatles...

And I can't figure out how to make the videos smaller, but I did, if you noticed, get the picture of the harbour in line...check and mate!!! 

Target was also on the agenda today...well, because it's Target and who can walk past without going in (let alone dropping some $$$). It was a pleasant surprise when there were Christmas carols playing, despite it being 25 degress (or high 70s) outside. This whole hot Christmas/backward seasons is really throwing me...I need to really think about what month it is. 

So today saw me giving thanks, at a number of points, for music. Pure and simple. 

Awww Diddums...

This morning I was greeted to find my first two comments!! *fist pump* They were, of course, from my parents, who are hereby dubbed Snow (my father) and Flurrita (my mother). They were, nevertheless, still comments. And that made my day. After reading them, though, I knew immediately what I was going to be thankful for today. Snow's was particularly amusing and has a bit of a story. 

During one Skype call to the parentals, the threshold for complaints was met. Snow's advice, given in his ever gruff and practical manner, was to 'eat more fruit, go to church.' Since then, that has been his thing. I blame it on my grandfather. 

I secretly like the repartee for which my grandfather is so famous. After school my cousins and I could readily predict 4 p.m. was Porgy and Bess time (if you don't know Porgy and Bess, think Gershwin meets Huckleberry Finn). This only after he told us he was going to shit, shave and shower, but before he asked me to neck. He wasn't even upset over the Pilgrim Mix Fight in the back of his car, which involved lots of trail mix and popcorn. 

The point is, today I gave thanks for having a sense of humour (or humor if you're American).  Humour has seen me through the culture shock, long hospital stays and homesickness. Turns out it's harder to write about being funny than I thought, so I reward you dear reader, with a few entertaining photos (or photographs as MacBoyfriend says). 

This is a street post in Amsterdam...just in case you forget...

Come on...that's funny...

A Thai Maccas (or Mickey D's)

Just the way it is in Cambodia...

A Dr Fish massage...you'd be laughing if you were having one...

Who has holes in their money? Australia, that's who...

Regarding Hobbits

This blogging thing is harder than it looks. It has taken 20 minutes to figure out how to get rid of the birds on the background, and I think they are gone now. But if not, God love 'em, they're here to stay. I have no clue where or how to start, so I'm 'launching myself in there' as MacBoyfriend would say.

It's obvious to many, but important to note, Thanksgiving has just passed. A pause for praise...well done to America. It's not possible to do any better than creating a holiday where people are thankful and feel blessed, there's no business of presents, AND the whole point is to eat delicious food all day long. Well. Done.

In light of this and some recent events (of which most of you are probably aware....let's face it, if you are reading this, you probably know me) I am setting myself up to Thanks-give every day for a year. Hopefully there will be a few laughs along the way and maybe even a recipe or two. It could really become anything, and please let me know if you have any requests. Bear with me as I attempt to figure out how to get rid of the birds and navigate the rest of the blogging world.

My thanks today is for the sun. My first impressions of Australia was that: a) it's always sunny and b) everyone goes to the beach everyday. The past week has proven me seriously wrong. Apparently it rains for a week on end, causing flooding on major roads, which can't be good for the poor little 1991 Toyota Seca I'm driving. So, I leave you with this. A picture from our balcony....except I can't figure out how to get the picture in there....