pantone801

Quick Golf Trip Away

// January 3rd, 2010 // No Comments » // Travel

I am thankful I was born in the month of March. Being born between Christmas and New Years poses many problems. Mark has made it very clear that he wants his birthday and Christmas to be very separate occasions. I spend months planning and saving for something special for him every year, and this year my plans fell through at the last minute. I won’t go into the details, but the runner up prize was a quick trip to the Sunshine Coast for a round of golf.

We headed up yesterday morning, and drove up the Bruce Highway with the roof down to Pelican Waters and checked into the Golf Resort. Tee off was at 3pm sharp and we had a fun game of golf. Mark has not played for about six months; and it has been a couple of years for me. The Greg Norman designed course has a lot of water, and with my rusty skills several balls were lost in the drink, but the scenery was wonderful with lots of birdlife and many wallabies on the course. Continue Reading

2009 – A Review

// January 1st, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Home

Every year I like to do a quick post to review the year that was, my last review post was filled with optimism, but 2009 panned out to be a more difficult year than 2008, but has been punctuated with some awesomeness.

There were a few tragedies in 2009, the saddest being the death of my beloved grandfather in early July. After he died I dashed back to NZ to spend some time with my Granny in Taumarunui. On the same day grandpa died, Mark and I also found out a dear friend was not well; but thankfully he has recovered. As kids, my brothers and I were very close with our grandparents, spending endless summers on their yacht Lemara moored at Richards Bay in Northern Natal, South Africa. The two photos above are from Gran and Grandpa’s 60th wedding anniversary, and our Civil Union. He was so proud of us on that day.

In August Mischa lost her eye. Mark got home from work and in some excitement she has either chased our cat Chad, who has freaked and scratched her, or has run past a rosebush scratching her eye on a thorn. The saddest part is that at this stage the eye was salvageable, and her vision was not affected. We rushed her to the vet immediately, and followed up the next day with another visit, and she should have been given a buster collar to prevent further damage, but was not. Mischa ended up further damaging her eye with her paw resulting in it having to be removed. I ended up taking the vet to the small claims court and we thankfully settled out of court. Mischa has recovered well, and having only one eye does not seem to bother her much.

In July on the way to work Mark said he was not feeling well, and I pressured him to go to hospital to have it checked out. The diagnosis was a blood clot, and he ended up being in hospital for a few days. Mark is doing well now, but this incident really highlighted how isolated we were in Perth, and not having any family close during times like that is difficult. This was a catalyst for us moving back to Brisbane later in the year.

The last piece of bad news for this review is about Chad, our beloved ginger cat who was run over shortly after we moved back to Brisbane. Chad was a lovely cat, and he is sadly missed.

Looking back through my blog posts and facebook updates of the past year it has not all been bad, and a major highlight of the year was moving back to Brisbane. Being back is great, and it’s like we never left. We have settled back into our group of awesome friends, and whilst moving back was stressful with the logistics of getting ourselves, our car, pets and ourselves back. It all happened quite easily, I guess we are getting good at moving big distances. We also landed a great house, in a great part of town, and are looking forward to the next few years in Brisbane.

I have seen some great shows this year, and have taken some great photos from Samesame.com.au. The best concert I saw was Basement Jaxx at the Future Music Festival. Parklife, Good Vibrations, the V Festival and West Coast Blues and Roots were fun, but the best festival of the year was Southbound at Bunburry. Some festival highlights were watching Empire of the Sun [photo above] from backstage, and meeting Sam Sparro briefly. Other great shows through the year included The Freemasons with the camp Katherine Ellis, who was lovely when I met her after the show. Sia, Little Birdy and The Presets were also awesome shows. Rozalla was terrible and she lip-synched her way through all her songs. Shortly after we moved back we saw the Trocks here in Brisbane, an all-male ballet troupe who dance en-pointe, and were very camp.

In 2009 I have had great fun with my photography. I photographed all the festivals above, and also a couple fashion events; StyleAID and the Perth Fashion Festival.

2009 was also the year of food, which is showing on our waistlines. Mark and I published our little recipe project titled Cooking with Tools, and we are already working on edition 2, which will be out in May this year.

In April my little brother Greg and his now Fiancé Natasha spent a few weeks with us is Perth en-route to London where they now live. It was great having family around and catching up, doing a Wine tour of the Swan Valley and Greg came along to the West Coast Blues and Roots Festiv

2009 is also the year I have decided to volunteer some of my time back into the gay community. After reading this article about refugees who face persecution in countries where they could be killed because of their sexual orientation, I got in touch with ORAM, an organisation helping them escape the persecution they face, and resettle them as refugees in safer countries; and have offered to redevelop their website. The new version of their site is looking good and is due for a launch in mid-January.

Here’s to a wonderful 2010.

Hoop Dreams

// December 24th, 2009 // No Comments » // Design, Home

Last weekend I luckily managed to pick up my second piece of art by Perth based graffiti artist Creepy. Nine Lives gallery in the Valley had an end of year exhibition called Small Fry, and luckily we needed to be in the area at that time. So we popped in, and I made a beeline to this piece that was the only Creepy in the exhibition and I had to have it. I am so glad we got there early, there was a lot of interest in the piece, and was stoked when another couple were grumbling that the price had a little sold sticker on it. This is my second piece by this artist, the first is called Anti Cloud.

Raspberry Chocolate Cake

// December 15th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Food

I’ve been making versions of this cake for a few years, and it always goes down well. I recently made it for an afternoon tea when my aunt and uncle visited, my aunt is mildly lactose intolerant, so this dairy-free cake was ideal (there is some cream in the topping though). When placing the berries on the cake it’s best to use disposable gloves to avoid staining your fingertips, or if you are dexterous like me; use chopsticks. Good quality cocoa power is best, Droste is my favourite brand and Whittakers dark chocolate.

75g (2 1/2 oz) butter
1 tbs vanilla bean paste (I like Queen brand) or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 eggs
1 1/3 cups raw sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup plain (all purpose flour)

topping
300g  fresh or thawed raspberries
375g dark couverture chocolate, chopped
1 cup (6 fl oz) cream
75g butter

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Line the base of  square 20cm cake tin with baking paper.

Melt the butter and vanilla in a saucepan over a low heat then set aside to cool slightly.

Place the eggs and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 8 minutes or until the mixture is light, creamy, and tipled in bul (this step is important- the sugar needs to be completely dissolved)

Sift the cocoa and flour twice, then sift over the egg mixture and fold gently using a metal spoon with the butter mixture until just combines (do not over-mix). Pour the mixture into the lined cake tin and bake for 30 minutes, or until cake shrink away from the side and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the cake.

Cool the cake in the tin, then turn onto a cooling rack and remove the baking paper.

To make the chocolate topping, place the chocolate, cream and butter in a double burner (or a metal bowl placed on a saucepan of boiling water) and melt the chocolate and stir until smooth. Remove from the heat and refrigerate until cool.

Place the raspberries on the top of the cake in an even grid pattern. Fill a piping bag with a small plain nozzle and pipe the chocolate topping to fill the little space between each raspberry, allowing some to drizzle down the sides of the cake.

Char Siu Chicken Salad

// December 15th, 2009 // No Comments » // Food

This has quickly become a new summer favourite, is so easy to make, and is very tasty. This recipe is from the latest Dec/Jan issue of ABC Delicious (Page 94 for those playing at home). The recipe below may sound fussy, but it’s not hard and this makes a great mid-week meal for a balmy summer night.

Serves 6

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup hoi sin sauce
1/4 cup tomato sauce (ketchup)
3 tbs honey, plus 2 tsp extra
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tbs fresh grated ginger
1tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp Chinese five spice powder
4 small chicken breast fillets
2 red capsicums, quartered
100g oyster mushrooms (available form Asian grocers)
1/4 cup olive oil (plus extra to drizzle)
juice of 1 large orange
1 tbs lime juice
200g sugar snap peas, trimmed
3 cups salad leaves

Combine the sauces, honey, ginger, sesame oil and five spice in a non-metallic container. Add the chicken and turn to coat in the mixture. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

Preheat grill to high and oven to 180°C/355°F. Grill the capsicum, skin side up for 3-4 minutes until the skin blisters and blackens. Place capsicum in a plastic bag and set aside for 10-15 minutes. Once cool enough to handle remove and discard the skin, then slice into 2cm strips. Set aside

Meanwhile, place the chicken on the tray, reserving the marinade. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Turn chicken and add oyster mushrooms, drizzle with a little extra olive oil and bake for a further 8-10 minutes until the chicken is cooked and mushrooms are tender. Set aside

Blanch snow peas in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, refresh under cold water, then place on paper towels and pat dry. Set aside.

Place the reserrved marinade in a saucepan with the olive oil, orange juice, lime juice and extra honey. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes until reduced and thickened.

When ready to serve, slice the chicken. Layer salad in bowls with salad leaves, peas, capsicum strips, chicken and mushrooms, drizzle with dressing and serve.

New Coffee Cup

// December 15th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Home

Every morning Mark gets up about 2o minutes before me, and makes me a fresh espresso, I am so spoiled. Last weekend we went to a Market at the Brisbane Gallery of Modern Art, and I picked up this cute new espresso sized cup. Perfect for my morning coffee. It’s made by a local potter who did not have and cards, does not sell online or on Etsy.com, and did not have any cards on her. The only thing I know about the artist is her initials ‘KY’ because that’s on the bottom of the cup.

Miniature Hotdogs

// December 2nd, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Food

These are really simple and go great with a cold beer. I am not really into many sports, except for the Tour de France, but I imagine these would be great to serve while watching the footy or something like that.

small dinner rolls
miniature cheese Kransky sausages
tomato Sauce
American mustard

Heat the dinner rolls in a hot over for a few minutes, and heat the sausages on a barbeque. Slice each roll open along the top and prepare the hotdogs by placing the sausages in the rolls and topping with the sauces. Serve warm.

Banana and Blueberry Bread

// December 2nd, 2009 // No Comments » // Food

This is one of my favourite recipes from Cooking with Tools Edn 1, and one that I have customised from the classic Kiwi Edmonds Cookbook. I usually double the recipe and make a few loaves. I slice them when they have cooled and keep them in the fridge. Then each morning Mark makes me a coffee and toasts a few slices while I get an extra twenty minutes sleep.

ingredients

1 3?4 cups self raising flour
1?4 tsp baking soda
1?4 tsp salt
1?2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1?4 cup milk
75g melted butter
1 cup mashed banana (as ripe as possible)
1 cup frozen or one punnet of fresh blueberries

method
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Sift flour, baking soda and salt into a bowl. Mix in sugar. In another bowl beat eggs then stir in milk, butter, banana and blueberries. Combine with the dry ingredients until combined (don’t over mix) place mixture into loaf tins which have been greased/lined. Bake for 45-55 mins or a skewer inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool for approx 10mins then turn out onto a cooling tray.

Bye Bye Chad

// November 30th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Brisbane, Cats

I usually only like to add positive content to my site, but this is an exception.

Last Thursday Mark and I caught a cab home from a concert and were met on the driveway by our neighbour who told us out cat had been run over. He had sweetly laid him on the grass and covered him with a pillowslip, and saved him from being run over again.

We got Chad from the Brisbane RSPCA several years ago, and he was quite well traveled, and came with us to Perth and back. It was only a few weeks ago that I blogged about him venturing into the garden for the first time. Chad loved having is photo taken and rubbing his nose and ears against my lens, see all the photos of him on Flickr, and I regular readers will also know I blogged about him quite a lot.

See ya buddy

Anti Cloud

// November 30th, 2009 // No Comments » // Brisbane, Design, Graffiti Street Art & Stencils, Perth

Today a piece of artwork I ordered at an exhibition by Creepy arrived, titled Anti Cloud. This is the first time I have bought a piece of art by an artist I have been following for some time, and whose work I think is fantastic. I discovered Creepy’s work a few years ago in Melbourne when I saw a mural on Hosier Lane [map], and I blogged about it here. After I moved to Perth I started seeing a lot of his work on walls around the city- he is a Perth native. He painted a large part of the Western Power mural, and has several murals on William Street in Northbridge, Perth, and many more around the city.

Just before I left Perth I popped into an exhibition by Creepy at a little store called Distracted in Leedervile, just down the road from our house. I could have bought every piece in the exhibition, but could only afford one, and this is the one I selected. It’s a perfect souvenir of our time in Perth and I hopefully I will pick up some more works in the future- or commission a mural or tattoo maybe?