Daily Life – Page 21 – helenthura.com

February 11, 2008February 11, 2008

Hot Wok

6:20am Sunday Morning. I was laying in bed. The phone rings, should I get up and get it or let Pabbi get it, I think. Ahh stuff it, more likely to be for him or Mum then for me. But it was for me! On the other end was Leanne feeling quiet bad for ringing so early but she had an offer for me. Leanne and her sister had been given a voucher to do a cooking class (Hot Wok) at the Spirit House up at Yandina, her sister couldn’t go and Leanne has just found out that the replacement her sister had organised couldn’t come either. Did I want to go? Of course I did. A quick shower later, breakfast and flat ironed hair later it was time to go. A pleasant drive up to Yandina, a very nice class, a very yummy class, a poke round the setting taking a few photos and then it was time to make the trip home again. So happy to have had the chance to take the class.

It was a fantastic class, really enjoyed it. What I enjoyed the most was those little tricks, like deep frying basil leaves for a garnish – soo cool looking, they go really glassy and pretty darn tasty too or making fried shallots. What other little tricks were there mmm. Also enjoyed the time spent at the beginning of the class going through all the ingredients, getting the chance to taste them/smell them etc.

The dishes we made were –

1) Dry Red Curry of Cuttlefish with Wild Ginger
This was fun, the Cuttlefish can easily be swapped out with squid. Really liked this and it looked good on the plate too.

2) Braised Pork with Sweet Soya & Cinnamon
This was another really really yummy dish, we didn’t use a wok but actually just a large pot. Diced pork neck/scotch fillets were used and were quite tender by the end, the spices used were star anise, ginger and cinnamon, oh the flavour was so nice.

3) Sweet & Sour Stir Fry Chicken
This was a good dish, a lot more mellow in taste than the other dishes, which meant when we were sitting down to lunch, it was the least popular. Though it had pineapple in, big hunks of it. Anything with pineapple in is going to go down well in my tummy.

4) Stir Fried Beef with Roast Chilli Paste
This was one of my favourites along with everyone else in the class. Stir fry sliced rump steak in a cumin/coriander/fish sauce marinade. Then fried in the wok with chilli paste/jam (that stuff is so tasty), oyster sauce, fish sauce and just before serving some Thai Basil leaves were tossed through. The sauce was so thick and yummy.

5) Stir Fried Chinese Broccoli (Gai-Lan) with Asian Mushrooms and Oyster Sauce
Nothing like some stir fried Asian Greens with a nice sauce 😀

some of the food.

Leanne with the Sweet & Sour Chicken

Leanne

Bamboo

Hibiscus

February 5, 2008

The three Ts and I

Thursday arvo, Tom and Tiana/Tiana and Tom arrived in town after making the drive from Canberra. The Hotel Chelsea show of Tom, Ange and Cam was going to be playing Joes Waterhole in Eumundi on Saturday night. Thursday night though we hung out at Thor’s, I bang up my ankle, we laugh etc.

Saturday, Thor was working. I spent the day resting my foot to conserve as much energy as possible before the marathon of Saturday night started. Tom and Tiana went up early in the afternoon, they are from Canberra…they had places to explore. Thor and I made the trip up after Thor finished work. No trip happens without a saga, the day before Thor’s car broke down, this meant that she was bussing to work. A bus trip that takes the better part of 90 mins. I had a new car and a tank full of petrol so I drove south and we rendezvoused at a bus stop. We made it back to Thor’s and then after getting organised we were back on the road a while later than we had originally planned but most importantly we were all going to be up there for the show. We had a really good run up the highway and it was only a little more than an hour to get up to Eumundi. Talking, eating fruit and chocolate, making the most of the mini-road trip.

I had a great night in hanging out with the three Ts and Ange, talking, laughing, whatever else we do. Musically and Photographically I didn’t get into the night till Tom played. Mostly a case of wanting to be able to enjoy Tom’s set 100% which meant that I couldn’t give anywhere close to that for Ange and Cam. I had to take photos because how could I not. I see photos everywhere I look, bung ankle or no bung ankle I was going to take photos. However, there was pain. Pain that made it difficult to get into the positions that I normally find myself in when taking photos. I only took a few photos of Cam and Ange. I did however take up a film camera and a roll of Fujipress 1600, it will come with me for the next few gigs, really looking to see how it fares. Cam and Ange played first. Both played good sets. I really can’t tell you much more than that though 🙁 due to my brain not been fully aware of the happenings.

Cam Elliot

Ange Takats

Then it was Tom. and Tiana giving some backing vocals for a few songs. Lots of new songs. Good Stuff. There was one song, it was really new and I was listening to and thought to myself, that is the song. The song that will most likely stick to everyone who was in that room. I mentioned it to Thor afterwards and she said the same thing. I can’t tell you what it was called or even what it was really about due to my brain and the fact that it does not like to remember songs.

Tom Woodward

Then the three joined together for a Ramblin Jack Elliott song and of course I Shall Be Released. The crowd went wild.

Rest of the photos are in a gallery here.

Post gig chatter, enjoying a few moments out on the footpath, before we headed to the cars and started the trip south.

Before we knew it, we pulling over just south of the Pine River for Thor to jump into Tianaâ€™s car and to go back to her house and there were hugs and laughs and plans made.

Speaking of Thor’s house/flat/home, I must share this photo of her ceiling. The plaster on her ceiling is raked. I swear every time I have visited, I tilt my head back and say your ceiling is sooo cool.

This is sort of what my ankle looks like at the moment – the bruise is a whole lot darker in real life than it looks in the photo. I also have a bruise on the inside of my ankle as well. oh joy. No it is going good, less swelling, less pain and haven’t popped any pills today.

January 29, 2008January 29, 2008

Birthday Eve Dinner at 589

Yesterday we headed up to 589, commonly known as Glasshouse Mountains Lookout or Forestry Lookout 589 for Birthday Eve BBQ Tea for Grandad who turned 88 today.

I made a pavlova for dessert, my first! I then ate a whole lot of pavlova for dessert. Pavlova isn’t exactly the most friendly dessert for a 1 day shy of 88 diabetic….

Eating a BBQ dinner.

I got a chance to play with my GNDs taking this shot of the soon to set sun.

Prior to heading up to 589 we did the usual lazing round the farm on an arvo, reading, watching the birds, photographing etc etc.
There were a few birds that were having a ball splashing their tail feathers in the water and of course making for a good photo.

And of course a Galah.

January 27, 2008January 27, 2008

Australia Day Celebrations

2 Countries, 2 Hemispheres, 2 very different days.

Karl, like the typical Aussie Expat hosted a very fancy Australia Day Beach BBQ in Reykjavik. It was 1 degree above freezing. Still they had a beach, a flag, a bbq, Vegemite, three different types of Karl’s very own beer on tap. The photos are a hoot!

Helen, was assisting at her first wedding for local wedding photographer Tim Harris. It was 31 degrees in the shade at the Bride’s house. I had a great day though, holding flashes, cameras, flowers etc etc and taking a few photos as well. The whole bridal party were a great group and I enjoyed the day, though I was pretty buggered when I got home. 😀 I also hit the 10k mark on the 5d at about 1:59pm. She was 159 days old yesterday.

Australia Day also means the Triple J Hottest 100. Only two of the songs I voted for made it into the hottest 100, a couple of the other artists I voted for made into the list but not with the songs I voted for.
56 Xavier Rudd Better People
68 Ben Kweller Penny On The Train Track
I had a much higher hit rate on the Triple Zed Hot 100. Like getting I think five out of the top ten songs.

January 24, 2008

Jan 24

Andrea and I got together tonight for some retail time. Well really time spent socialising at Chermie and not really buying anything.
I am after a pair of black pants. It sounds so simple. Anything but. I want black, 100% cotton or similar, real pockets, nice cut. I tried on pants after pants after pants. There were one pair that were sort of ok, probably about a 7/10 on the like factor. I came home pantless. The problem is that I have a pair of stoney camel Country Road pants that I got off the sale racks at Myer a little while ago. I love them, decent pockets, Italian cotton and most of all a really nice cut. This of course means that any pants I try on are held up against them. Do they have that same feel? Do they fit as well as the Holy Grail pants to? The answer was no, it always seems to be no. I am thinking that perhaps I need to make a trip to a tailor in SE Asia with said pants and ask for X copies in X different fabrics. Moving away from my tale of looking for that perfect pair of black pants.

One of the things Andrea had for me was this CD (click image for the track listing etc).

Andie knows that I have a slight thing for covers. I now have 7 or 8 Beatles cover albums. This is a really good album, feels very Sunday arvo BBQ. A more alt, slightly folk, with a hint of Americana style Beatles, it works.

and some photos.

today.
Backlit Leaves, aren’t they so pretty?

yesterday.
some cool yarn.

the day before.
Made in India. My most hippy skirt. I picked up this skirt many trips round the sun ago for a school dance. I never ended up wearing it to the school dance. It has sat at the bottom of my wardrobe all that time, with me not feeling flowers in my hair enough to pull off the skirt. I went to a party the other night and decided to wear it. Now I very much feel flowers in my hair enough to wear it.

January 22, 2008January 22, 2008

Everyday Formula

I am so tired to but in a good way. I am working in the city at the moment with quite classy Brisbane River and Story Bridge views before my eyes. This means that I need to get up just a bit earlier than I used to have to get up when I worked down the road. I am thoroughly enjoying catching the bus to work again. I get to read, people watch, listen to music, think, etc. The reason that I am tired however is that I went to a concert last night. It was The Zoo, it is summer, it was a sweaty night.

I took this photo as my day 21 photo as I left the concert and headed back to the car.

I am about to go to bed but I have to take today’s photo yet. I don’t know what it will be yet. I am not going to pike though on the 366 days no matter how tempted I am to just fall into bed now.

Is this not the most delightful photo? It is currently my desktop background, thanks big brother.

I have watched parts of Kalahari on the ABC the last two Sundays. I could say Damm five hundred times over after watching that. Just the sheer amount of wildlife. Seeing those clouds of birds or the Acacia trees covered in bird nests or those herds of Zebras. I just can not fathom the sheer numbers. It was breathtaking.