food glorious food

Just another lazy Sunday

Posted on August 22, 2011August 22, 2011 by bekswhoknits

We woke up in Dwellingup after a good night’s sleep on the stretcher beds.
My duffle bag did do a surprisingly good job as a pillow, J’s towel not so much.

It was a beautiful Sunday. There had been a little rain overnight but nowhere near as much as Sunday night (which luckily we were at home for, and not stepping out of a tent to 52mm of rain).
A hot cup of tea hit the spot, before a bacon, egg, mushroom, and tomato sandwich cooked on the gasmate.
A one fry pan meal means less washing up. It would have been better on the fire, but we had run out of firewood the night before.

After breakfast we went for an explore. J took me to where he went fishing last night. The river was flowing. There weren’t as many kayakers around as I expected.
We packed up the tent and went for a drive and checked out all the other places we can go.
We stayed at Baden Powell, and the time before was Lane Pool so next time (and there will be a next time) we’ll get organised and .
We turned on the The Twelfth Man and drove around, looking at the scenery. It is a beautiful place. So green and lush.

Heading home we stopped in Byford for a pie. It wasn’t great, but it still hit the spot.
It’s a good thing I love driving. Well I love sitting in the passengers seat. Listening to the football on talk back radio, knitting, and watching the world go by with my man by my side.

I had a long, long bath when we got home. Another one of my favourite parts or by-products of camping.

Dinner was Chinese Take-Away Wing Bo. It’s by far the best chinese restaurant we’ve found locally, even if we do have to walk there to pick it up.
We shared a chicken and sweet corn soup which hit the spot.
I had cashew beef with steamed rice. Which was delicious, but could have used some more cashews.
J had mongolian beef with noodles which was really tasty too. But I wasn’t allowed much of that.

Chinese food curled up on the couch watching movies (Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, and then Gullivers Travels). It was a good way to end a camping weekend.

Camping – Dwellingup

Posted on August 21, 2011August 22, 2011 by bekswhoknits

I love camping

I love getting away from it all.

And food always tastes better on a camp fire.

We set off a little late on Saturday morning. We had planned to leave at 6 but it ended up being about 10. We got into Dwellingup (after a few scenic route detours) around 12 and we picked up some salad rolls at the local deli.
Once we got into the campsite we could relax.

We set up the tent, the (brand new) stretcher beds, self-inflating mattresses, and sleeping bags. Realised we forgot pillows!! We always forget pillows. Then we sat around the fire (I needed coals for the pork belly) and listened to the football on the radio with a couple of cold beers.

People watching gets better on holiday. We started off with some really awesome neighbors (a young, quiet couple) but they left and we got a couple with a child and a boombox. I’m not even exaggerating, it would run off double d batteries and still took CDs!! Anyway, they were loud and bogan and kept us up all night with their arguing.

J went fishing and I kept knitting. It suits us perfectly.
One of the things I love about camping is my alone time.
I enjoy and cherish solitude.
Camping provides that for me. I can sit by myself and watch the world go by.

He didn’t catch anything but I added a few rows to my knitting.

I had prepared most of the evening meal the night before, as in I chopped the onion, carrots, and capsicum so all I had to do once the camp oven was hot was plonk everything in. I left the potatoes whole so they wouldn’t go soggy.
And it was delicious.
The veggies may have been a little on the overcooked side (read slightly burnt) but the pork was delicious.
Seriously awesome.

The rest of the evening read like our usual camping evenings. Drinking beer, listening to music (the national, arcade fire), and talking about life the universe and everything around a campfire.

Imagine the shadows of trees against the sky, and the sky littered with stars. The stars were beautiful. Escaping the city to see the stars.

Did I mention I love camping??

Comfort food is required

Posted on August 20, 2011 by bekswhoknits

Apricot chicken with rice, the way mum made it.
Out of a packet.

Chicken drumsticks, coated in apricot chicken mix, apricot nectar, and put in the oven until slightly burnt (exactly the way I remember).
Then served with white rice.

Accompanied by a new knitting project (bathius scarf) and finishing series 3 of Mad Men.

Fish Taco Thursday

Posted on August 19, 2011August 19, 2011 by bekswhoknits

There are pictures in lieu of words today.
It’s been a horrible week. I’ve been battling all manner of disgusting ailments.
And as we’re going camping for the weekend, I’m spending all my energy trying to feel better.
That was I can concentrate on more important things such as, what knitting project to take camping, and whether lamb or pork would taste better in a camp oven.

You know, the important things.

So I’m leaving you with a link to the taste.com recipe my boyfriend used to marinate the basa fillets in.
And now I’m going back to imagining myself well again.

My boy cooks

Posted on August 16, 2011October 24, 2011 by bekswhoknits

Fish and Chips.
And prawns skewers.

But I’m not one to complain.

A spur of the moment soup

Posted on August 15, 2011August 15, 2011 by bekswhoknits

With the leftover tinned tomatoes from the Chicken Parma the other night, a soup was made.

I really hate throwing out food. I am so lucky and grateful to be able to live the style I do, I don’t want to waste the food that I’ve brought.

So into a pan went the tinned tomatoes, some beef stock, and some worcestershire sauce, salt & pepper (for good measure).
That boiled and then simmered for about 10 minutes.
It then became my lunch today.
Simple but I wish I had some cheese to top it off with.

With a spot of lunchtime reading, this Monday might just work out.

He doesn’t call scrambled eggs an ommelette

Posted on August 14, 2011October 24, 2011 by bekswhoknits

My neck is rediculously sore. My best friend is my heat pack.
And so whilst I’m incapacitated, my lovely boyfriend made me scrambled eggs.

And made the plate look all pretty for me. It was meant to be an omelette, but J didn’t quite separate the eggs properly so it became scrambled eggs.
It had cheese, German sausage, and eggs. It probably had more to it but I wasn’t involved in the cooking process.

Thanks baby, it was delicious.

A trip to Mundaring Weir

Posted on August 14, 2011October 5, 2011 by bekswhoknits

A lovely Sunday morning drive to the Mundaring Weir about 40 minutes outside of Perth.

We stopped at a local bakery to pick up a pie, and drove to a little secluded spot in the Mundaring national park.

The scenery is always beautiful, and the weir is looking better for the recent rain we’ve had. We even found a little creek!

After lunch we went for a drive on a couple of 4WD tracks.
There was a couple of challenging parts and a couple of water crossings but we made it through.

I would have liked to have explored the Mundaring markets that were on, but we were late for my nephews first birthday.
My new modcloth skirt was perfect for a birthday, but not so perfect for exploring the bush.
It was a lovely Sunday, and I just hope we can get away further out of the city next weekend.

Footy at the ingie

Posted on August 13, 2011August 31, 2011 by bekswhoknits

The Inglewood Hotel is one of my
locals.
I pretty much know the menu, and I know it’s a good feed.

It’s not always the football result I want (my boys are having a terrible year), but it’s a good vibe and a good experience.

So my best gal and I went to watch the Hawthorn v Port Adelaide game.
A spot of lunch was in order between beers, and instead of individual meals (read I couldn’t decide) we ordered some sausage rolls, three cheese croquettes, and wedges.

I love the ingie’s sausage rolls. Lamb and fennel are a wonderful combination, I do t know why I don’t eat them together more often.

The three cheese croquettes were a little bland. The quince chutney suited it, but it sort of tasted like hash browns whereas I expected it to taste more like grilled haloumi or baked camembert.

Wedges are wedges. They’re a pub staple and the ingie doesn’t get them wrong.

I’d order the sausage rolls again, but not the croquettes, and not the wedges unless there was nothing else available.

And after losing the footy, those sausage rolls with lime aoli were the highlight.

An impromptu schnitzel

Posted on August 13, 2011August 12, 2011 by bekswhoknits

I hate food shopping. I really do.
Shopping overwhelms me.

There are too many decisions, too much noise, and if I go in without a list I immediately forget the three items that I was meant to pick up.

So it’s something I avoid, so when I do go shopping I tend to buy in as much bulk as my small kitchen will allow me to.

All that planning means that I can usually whip something up on those nights when plans fall through.

And so instead of going out for dinner we had an impromptu schnitzel. Well more of a chicken parma but parma purists would be a little horrified by my version.

The (once-frozen)chicken thighs were beaten with a rolling-pin, and then coated in egg and then coated in breadcrumbs. This was the schnitzel part. They were then fried in some oil in a frying pan.

Once the bread crumbs had gone all golden, they went on some absorbent paper (to drain some of that oil), and then onto a baking tray.
On top of the schnitzel went a slice of ham, some grated cheese, and enough tinned tomatoes to just cover the schnitzel. I didn’t want too much tomato stuck to the bottom of the baking tray.
And then to top it off, a line of HP sauce down the centre.
That went into a hot oven for about 10 minutes.

Whilst that was in the oven, I boiled some fresh corn (which once cooked was coated in butter), some carrots, green beans, andbok choy

And this was the end result.
“Next time more chicken”, and “I hope this doesn’t become one of those things that you make once and never make again”.

So smiles all round!