patented rant #1

Posted on by bekswhoknits

in response to this ABC unleashed article

Unfortunately gender equality is catching up in this matter aswell.

Only the other day I was reading an article about ‘guybrows’, ie guy’s eyebrows and how guys should best pluck, wax, or otherwise shape their eyebrows to be more attractive.

It certainly is a feminist issue that many women (myself included) speak and write very passionately about. But we can’t forget the guys also striving to meet the impossible standards that are presented to them in traditional media.

Fortunately this is an area that non-traditional media is challenging. There are some wonderful websites, blogs, and online stores who actively promote different body shapes and ideals of beauty. And they don’t shout about how they’re promoting diversity, it’s the norm.
The online market is starting to demand it.
With social media and online forums having an increased influence, this can only be a good thing.

Seafood spectacular

Posted on by bekswhoknits

I never used to eat seafood. But I’m so glad I do now.
I never used to eat it because I never really liked the smell and couldn’t handle eating things that could look back at me.

However on my boyfriends love and passion for seafood I was persuaded to give it a try. Oh so glad I did.

Continue reading Seafood spectacular

i’m in love with a boy

Posted on by bekswhoknits

well my boy looked after me last night.
i didn’t (and i still don’t) feel too crash hot.
But i’ll survive…

but my boy cooked me brinner. For those of you who didn’t watch scrubs, brinner is breakfast for dinner.
So he cooked me bacon, eggs, mushrooms, tomato, and toast. The toast was complete with an Invader Zim reference (“i’m making Toast!” another reason i love this boy)
Continue reading i’m in love with a boy

Os Mutantes (with Mister and Sunbird) – Becks Music Box (6th March 2011)

Posted on by bekswhoknits

The Becks music box is a wonderful location for live music.
Just on the swan river, it’s accessible, the summer weather has been perfect (if not a little hot), and it reminded me what I tell myself every year I need to get more involved in Perth Festival next year.

Beautifully decorated with fairy lights, silhouettes of chandeliers, and littered with cosy couches (seriously, more live music venues need couches), the design was well thought out and gave a real sense of intimacy and warmth.
The drinks lines were short, and even though there was only a few selections available I didn’t hear many complaints about the lack of selection. Myself being a Becks drinker I was happy.
Continue reading Os Mutantes (with Mister and Sunbird) – Becks Music Box (6th March 2011)

Good ol packet food

Posted on by bekswhoknits

Because my new kitchen is taking a while to save for (must post this before the gig reviews i’m currently drafting show my true priorities), and because i really hate the colour of the cupboards, last weekend we brought some black paint.
The black paint will also be used on some shelves in my spare room (the joys of home ownership being able to do stuff – the con is having to pay for it).
But if you’ve noticed my kitchen from previous posts you’ll have noticed that it’s a hideous dark brown stain, which really doesn’t match my black, grey, and pink theme that i’ve got going.

So my lovely, gorgeous, talented, and good at painting boyfriend has kindly volunteered to paint them for me tonight.
So i felt it was only fair to cook him dinner. And all day i’ve been craving mexican food so i bought one of those Chicken Quesidila packs. They have the corn burrito, salsa, and chicken seasoning all in the pack. All you have to do is cook the chicken with the onion, add capsicum and mushroom, put it in the burrito and then top with cheese and fold over. Bung it in the oven until the cheese melts (and the corn cobs cook).

Some lettuce for crunch, the salsa over the top, and there you go – dinner is served.

And keeping with the lazy, i mean packet theme, i made up a packet sticky date pud. But it wasn’t all that good.
Even a bit of vanilla ice cream didn’t help it. But sticky date pudding has a lot to live up to in my books.

The best sticky date pud i’ve ever had was when i took my boy out for his birthday one time. It was an obscure restaurant in Mt Lawley called LavaStone. You cooked your own meal on a stone (which was good, although over priced for cooking your own food).

But the sticky date pud.

Oh the pud.

I’m only slightly ashamed that my boy went to the loo just as it came out and there wasn’t much left when he came back. We almost bought another one but it was very pricey.
So from now on that’s the sticky date that all future sticky dates have to meet.
And this packet mix just didn’t do it.
That sticky date was perfection. It was nice and dense, with gooey caramel but it didn’t overpower the sweetness of the dates.
I honestly don’t think i can ever go back there because it wouldn’t meet expectations.

But on a completely different note – happy birthday Ross Taylor. A superb New Zealand innings against Pakistan. Almost as enjoying as watching my boyfriend paint cupboards.
No, wait, much more enjoying.

it started with a craving for mushroom fettucini

Posted on by bekswhoknits

And ended with a fantastico meal…
The most difficult thing was frying all the components.
First into my pan went butter… mmm butter…
with a little garlic olive oil because that stops it burning according to all the cooking shows i watch.
then 2 cloves of garlic, a finely chopped onion, and some finely chopped celery.
That fried (sauteed?) until it went translucent.

Then i added some chicken thigh which i had sliced into strips. The strips was to try and make it noticeable, rather than dicing it and everything kind of mixing in together.
I let the chicken really brown up, and then added some chopped bacon. In hindsight (which is 20:20) it probably didn’t need the bacon, but my boy would probably disagree. He got very excited when he got home from work and i was cutting up a kilo of bacon (most of the kilo went in the freezer, not in the pasta sauce!)
After the bacon was cooked, i added some mushrooms and diced capsicum, and fried that off a bit.
I mixed that all around to combine it, in order to fry it all i kept pushing the individual components to one side until i had to sides left.
I splashed it with white wine, i don’t know much about wine so i confess i just used what i had, i don’t know if it’s what i ‘should’ have been using.
And once the white wine has reduced i added 2 packets of long life cream. I’m never prepared enough to have fresh cream.
And then i let it bubble away until the liquid to solid ratio looked like it would stick to pasta with just that little bit left over. And added some salt and pepper of course.
When that looked just about good i cooked the pasta (a fresh pasta packet, because i had a craving for fresh pasta like my mum sometimes makes)
And i made an improvised garlic bread from a ciabatta roll, which i buttered (shock!) and spread garlic paste over, then straight in the sandwich press.

And it was good…
if i do say so myself…

comfort food

Posted on by bekswhoknits

Zucchini slice is my number 2 comfort food.
(mashed potato is number 1 – lasagne number 3)

Largely because of how easy it is to make. You just plonk all the ingredients into a bowl, mix, pour into lasagne dish, put it in the oven, and wait (or in my case knit).
The ingredients:
1 grated zucchini (don’t bother peeling it)
1 cup grated cheese
1 chopped onion
3 rashers bacon chopped
5 eggs
1 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup oil
dash wooshter sauce
parsley, salt, & pepper to taste…

thanks Women’s Weekly…

it’s one of those recipes that my mum used to make all the time – which is probably why it’s so comforting.
and it’s one of the only ways that my boy will eat zucchini – mostly because of the bacon and the cheese.
but it’s really good, really easy, and really comforting.
and can be eaten hot out of the oven, or cold for work lunches.

Last night it was great because i didn’t feel like cooking, and i had a zucchini all ready in the fridge.

new cds make me happy

Posted on by bekswhoknits

Ive been a little splurgy over the last few week, and a few new albums from artists that I follow have come out.
So for my new listening please this week I have:

And you will know us by the trail of dead – Tao of the dead
M Ward – Hold Time
The Morning Benders – Big Echo
The Tallest Man on Earth – Sometimes the blues is just a passing bird
The Go! Team – Rolling Blackouts
The Silents – Sun A Buzz
She & Him – Volume One
She & Him – Volume Two
New Rules for Boats – The Skips On My Record
Cold War Kids – Mine Is Yours
Au Revoir Simone – Still Night, Still Light
The Decemberists – The King Is Dead

Excitement plus!!

Strawberries do belong in salads

Posted on by bekswhoknits

Well this salad is to die for…
Another taste.com.au recipe (ever reliable) and i was a sceptic but am now convinced.
Strawberries DO belong in salads.

who would have thought combining strawberries, spinach, feta, balsamic vinegar, and a little olive oil would taste sooo good.

And some home made pork and fennel sausage rolls (snausage rolls) for good measure.
that one is straight from the recipe book

happy lunch time!!