Yesterday's Excitement

We had quite a bit of excitement around here yesterday, considering it was a 'boring' day at home.  Again!

We were sitting peacefully watching the last few episodes of the last season of Little House on the Prairie when it sounded like a huge wind hit the house and then it shook.  And shook.  And shook some more.  For about 40 seconds  Not violently.  Just enough for us to pause the DVD and go "wow....feel that!".  Melbourne is not known for having earthquakes so it's quite exciting when they happen.  This was only a baby at about 4 on the Richter scale.  I'm sure the ones I felt as a kid in PNG were stronger....and often longer.  We got another tiny one after dinner as well.  It always sounds like a truck is barrelling through the house, which of course there never is.  Thankfully.

In the afternoon the excitement was mine alone and the kids were left pondering again if their mother has a few screws loose.  I peered out the laundry window with all the wind and rain that was flying about and saw the poor little lemon tree out there in it all.  What do you know, that thing is full of little yellow orbs just waiting for us to find things to do with them.  Miss Sunshine wanted to run right out and pick them all.  Firstly it was pelting with rain so no one was going out there.  And secondly I had to explain that you only pick as you need, otherwise the lemons go off sitting on the bench or in the fridge.

Recipe: Beef Casserole

I wish I'd thought to take a photo before we ate last night.  Whilst I linked my menu, yesterday, to a recipe from Jamie Oliver, I felt a little overwhelmed at the list of ingredients.  Oh I know...you can add in and take out all manner of vegetables for things like this.  But it just wasn't simple enough.  The casserole I ended up making was a tried and true recipe that I've tweaked a little over time.  The organic beef we bought off our friends a few weeks back is absolutely divine.  I'm not sure yet, if it possible to make it turn out awfully.  Time will tell with the roasts, I imagine!

Beef Casserole

500g beef, diced into 1.5cm cubes

1 red onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or minced

5 potatoes, peeled & chopped into large chunks

3 carrots, peeled and chopped into thick slices

1/4 cup plain flour

1 teaspoon paprika

2 teaspoons mixed herbs

a few splashes of red wine (optional)

a splash of worcestershire sauce

2 cups beef stock (or water and stock powder)

1. Combine the flour, paprika, mixed herbs and a little salt and pepper to taste, in a plastic bag.  Add the beef cubes and shake until the beef is coated.
2. Heat a pan with some olive oil; add the beef and brown on all sides.
3. Add the onions and garlic to the beef and stir about until the onions are transparent and softened slightly.
4. Add in the potatoes and carrots and toss, before adding a little red wine.  This will begin to thicken; add the beef stock and worcestershire sauce.
5. Put the lid on and place in a preheated oven (180C/350F) and cook for about an hour.
6. Serve with rice or pasta.

Of course, you could brown the meat and then add everything to the pot of a slow cooker and cook all day on low.  I wasn't that organised.  You could also add vegetables like sweet potato and pumpkin...any root vegetables you like. Last night I added a zucchini that I had cut down the middle and then sliced into semi-circle shapes  about 15 minutes before serving.

None of our children are fans of casseroles, as such, but we all enjoyed this one immensely.

The New Toy

This is a picture of my new toy.  I say 'my'.  Really, Dh's accountant told him he had to spend some money before the end of the financial year.  So really, it probably belongs to 'the business'.  I don't know how it all works and quite frankly I don't care.  Because right now I'm tapping away on a new laptop replete with academic software.  I have Publisher on a laptop...finally!  Woohoo!

I have yet to move all my Uni and work files over from the old laptop, but you know, these things can't be done all in one day.  My one disappointment?  No numeric keypad to the right of the alphabetic keypad.  But you can't have everything right?  I have Publisher!  Oh, wait.  I said that already, didn't I?  It's one of those things ~ you don't realise  how much you use something until it's not right at your fingertips.

So...my Uni semester starts in two weeks and by then I will have this baby all ready with all my favourite files and bookmarks transferred over.

Monday Menu Plan: Week Beginning 4 July

Apart from this week's menu plan I have some very exciting blogging foodie news.  Well....it was exciting for me.  Once upon a very long time ago....say, 10-15 years....there was a site called 'Steph's Country Kitchen Goodness'.  It was absolutely filled to the brim with really good, tasty recipes.  They weren't fussy, but they were tried and tested by a family and our family ate often from Steph's vast repertoire.  One day her site just disappeared.  You can still access some of it here at the Way Back Machine archive site.  Today, however, I randomly decided to google the original site name and discovered that Steph's Country Kitchen is back in blog form.  Oh happy day!

All of that was in aid of the fact that I needed some inspiration for my own menu plan today....and wondered if I could dig up Steph's seasonal menu plans, because they always inspired me all those years ago.  That...and my freezer is full of beautiful organic beef and I need some help with what to do with it all!  I need some room in my freezer for other things.  Like bread.  And chicken, occasionally.  I'm also planning another trip to Costco with my brother and his wife at the end of my school holidays, so some of that beef needs eating.

Monday:  Beef Casserole, rice
Tuesday:  Frittata, salad, baked potato
Wednesday:  Beef stir fry, rice
Thursday:  Honey & lemon chicken, vegies
Friday: Beef Shepherd's Pie, vegies
Saturday:  Tomato soup, english muffin pizzas
Sunday:  Crockpot pot roast, vegies

We'll be all beefed out by the end of this week!

This Time Last Year

View from the top of Pikes Peak, looking out over Kansas

On this day last year, we were enjoying a beautifully perfect Colorado Springs (USA) summer.  Half way through the torture of shopping, yesterday, I realised that on the 2nd of July last year we had spent 7 hours at Castle Rock....shopping.  And it had been easy.  I commented, yesterday, that I would rather shop at Costco, and what do you know, within an hour and a bit that's where we were.

Anyway, on the 3rd of July last year we were driving up Pikes Peak.  It is one of the 14,000 footers in the US.  Each morning, while we were in The Springs, I would open the back door blinds at my BIL's house and take in the view of the magnificent Rocky Mountains...and Pikes Peak.  Apparently you can't get that close and not drive up, so we did.  My BIL drove.  A good thing, since Dh was a bit freaked out once we got past the tree line near the top.  We were told to drink water as we drove, to help avoid altitude sickness.  Alas, we were still not used to being at 6,500ft, let alone 14,000ft!  We reached the top, where there is a visitor centre ~ as large as any I've seen.  Truly American sizing!  Miss Mischief and I struggled with the lack of oxygen the most.  Dizziness and queasy stomachs, however, did not stop me from buying a thimble from the top of that amazing mountain.

The thing that has amazed me, as I have spent the last week wandering through beautiful memories of that amazing holiday, is that the weather here in Melbourne has been the winter match for those oh-so perfect summer days.  It has been sunny and not too cold.  As if to encourage us to remember.  And remember we have.  Days in Disneyland and Universal Studies.  Castle Rock.  Pikes Peak.  Fourth of July in Denver to see the fireworks....and one of the worst storms to hit Denver on the 4th of July in a long time.  Oh those black, black clouds!  I've never seen anything like it!  A few days camping at Estes Park, just north of Denver, as well as some must-see tourist stops around The Springs.  And driving for ourselves....on the wrong side of the road on the I25 at 75mph...well over our customary 100kph!!!!  *sigh*  It was a magnificent once-in-a-lifetime holiday.

Saturday

We celebrated last night, with one of my brothers and his little family.  End of term, great reports for the four students of the house and just happy for a change of pace to be upon us.  My SIL is also a teacher so she was more than happy to celebrate with us!  I cooked dinner, they brought dessert and we were entertained by the going's-on of little people at the dinner table again.

I'm told my youngest niece has declared me 'favourite aunt'.  How gorgeously special is that?!

Now that the hullaballoo has settled, however, perhaps some house-cleaning and baking might have to be the focus.  And since we're meant to have some sunshine here and there again today, perhaps some rose-pruning might not go astray either.  We were overseas this time last year, enjoying a Colorado Springs summer...so the pruning never got done.  Poor roses.

The End

Today marks the end.  Of professional experience.  Of Term 2.  Of my Uni semester...once and for all.

I have one lesson to teach today ~ a consolidation of a maths lesson I taught on Wednesday.  I'm really looking forward to it.  I think it will be fun.  And 45 minutes later school will be over and there are plans to relax before heading off for the holidays....and for me, to pick up my own children who finish an hour later.  You've always wondered why private schools seem to get more holidays?  We actually have slightly longer days and finish the term at normal time.  It all ends up even at the end.

I'm looking forward to the school holidays this term.  Not a scrap of study to be done.  Just lots of time to spend with friends and family.  Lots of time to ponder some cooking adventures and then to put those thoughts into practice.  Time to read.  Time to visit Costco again.  Time to just be.

And time to make a list of all the things I want and need to do during Work Break in two weeks' time!

On a completely different note, I just googled something and discovered that today is Dorothea Makellar's 126th birthday (it came up as the header on google).  Incidentally last night I was in Big W and couldn't resist buying a beautiful hardcover copy of 'My Country'.  We all adore the poem.  My Busy particularly, as he studied it in Year 3.  I also couldn't resist "There Was an Old Man Who Swallowed a Chook".  With truly Aussie humour, it really appealed to me.  I'm hoping to get a chance to read it to the P-2's today.  I know the Prep's at my school will love it.  I believe this is called building up my 'professional library'!