Follow the Leader

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It’s hard to believe, but this is our last post from Down Under. This tour seems to have gone by rather quickly, or maybe it’s just me. I really enjoyed our adventures with Aussie cuisine and have a feeling a few of these recipes will stick around (especially the Pavlova) for years to come. However, before we get to the final recipe, I thought we’d play a little game of follow the leader.

You see it’s my turn to pick our next cooking around the world destination, but I’m feeling a bit indecisive. So I thought I’d leave it up to you to decide where we go next. You lead, we’ll follow. The poll will be open until next Sunday evening. So tell us, where should we go? Click your choice in the poll below.

Now on to our last Australian dish and we’re heading back to the barbie. This time we’re going with seafood and a recipe inspired by the Sydney Fish Market, a Grilled White Fish with Lemon Rocket Pesto. The original recipe called for the use of lemon myrtle, an ingredient I had never heard of before. So after consulting good ol’ Wikipedia, I learned that it’s a flowering plant and a well-known “bushwood” flavor. I then had to learn what “bushwood” meant…it traditionally relates to any food native to Australia. Continue reading →

Tiny Dancer

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I was feeling reflective this past weekend. Perhaps it’s the start of the new school year, or my approaching birthday, or just the song in the background.

Whatever the reason I was reflecting on the kids. When you have children, you know it’s your job to teach them – right from wrong, common sense, values, etc., but the one thing I don’t think they tell soon-to-be or new parents is how much your children teach you. It is amazing how much my children have transformed me, how much better they have made me and how much more I appreciate everything about my life. Children shift priorities and they show you the world through different lenses.

From the time Mr. N and Miss A were born they have each had a definite and distinct presence. Mr. N, well, he’s my old, sage soul. His ability to ask big questions, to see the world beyond his own and to have such a confidence in his place – well, it’s simply beyond his years. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still an eight-year old boy who whines, fights with his sister, gets lost in his video games and forgets to put on at least one article of clothing every morning, but deep inside lies this wonderfully empathetic soul that ponders deep questions, understands complicated concepts and loves beyond measure. tracing Continue reading →

Perfect Balance

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First I have to start by complimenting my dear husband. He got up last Friday in the wee hours of the morning, when it’s still quite dark, to start the 14 pound brisket in the smoker. I admit that I was skeptical. We had done some reading about smoking a packer brisket and it sure sounded complicated. There are so many things to consider…things I had never even heard of before. So to say I was nervous would be an understatement. We had a backyard full of people to feed after all.

Well, I ended up worried over nothing (Isn’t that usually the case for us natural born worriers?). Mike’s brisket was cooked to perfection – pink on the inside, crispy on the outside and oh, so juicy! There was only a morsel left (You know the last piece no one takes because no one wants to be the person to take the last piece.). And I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shout-out to all of our wonderful friends that brought the tasty side dishes to share. Each one was delicious! Sadly, I was too busy to take a photo, so you’ll just have to use your imaginations. You can flashback to our “Chopped Challenge” from New Year’s to see the rub Mike used though. Great stuff!

Now back to our Australian adventures…As we adjust to being back in our school routines, it’s all about finding that perfect life balance – or at least some semblance of balance. You know, trying to find the right balance of time for work, family, exercise, marriage, volunteer work, the kids’ activities and heck, even blogging! Some days it all comes together and others, well, you just have to muddle through. Those are the kind of days when a little comfort food is in order. Like an Aussie Meat Pie. We started with a pie crust. Continue reading →

Fire Up the Barbie

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Well, school kicked off to a good start. Mr. N survived his first full day of school. He did come home a bit hyper and over-stimulated, but that will cease in a week or two. There’s always that adjustment period. Most importantly though, he seems happy. His nerves are gone and it’s all old hat again.

Miss A had her first day as well. No nerves for her. She was raring to go. Unlike her big brother, she didn’t come home bouncing off walls though. She was exhausted and will definitely sleep well for a few weeks while she adjusts too.

Now that the summer is winding down, birthdays and anniversaries are past, it’s time to get back to cooking around the world with Miss A at the helm. After much consideration and at least three destination changes, she arrived at Australia. So over the next few weeks we’ll be sampling some recipes from Down Under and I gotta say, we’re pretty excited. Australia is high on our list of places we’d love to visit someday, and what better place to start than in our kitchen (or on our patio). Continue reading →

Off and Running

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One of the great things to come out of these cooler temps we’ve been having lately is my running season is off to an early start. I don’t like to run in the summer. Temps above 75 are just not for me, which is odd because I spend at least two to three times a week in hot yoga with temperatures between 95F and 105F degrees. Anyway, today was my first morning run of the season and it was a good one. Temperatures hovering around 60, not a cloud in the sky, sun shinning, flowers still blooming – it was perfect. In fact it was so perfect, I ran farther than I ever have before (without stopping to walk) and was just getting to the point of winding down when I looked up and saw a coyote about 100 feet from me. Needless to say, my run did not wind down, but rather picked up to a speedy pace (amazing what a little adrenaline will do) and I ran back toward civilization (thank goodness for early morning golfers).

I know that coyotes are probably more afraid of us than we are of them, but I wasn’t about to hang around to find out. He never came closer, but did run parallel to me, tracking my moves until I came within range of the golfers and golf carts. Then he disappeared and I ran on home. So now that I’m all wiped out (but mentally exhilarated from an exciting first run), I’m going to turn today’s post over to Mr. N. He had a “write a blog post” on his list of things to do this summer. Take it away Mr. N… Continue reading →

Smoking Good Times

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At the start of the summer, on one of our little weekend getaways, the four of us sat down and made a list of things we wanted to do this season. Summer always seems to go so fast, and we’re likely to let it get away from us if we’re not careful. But we’ve found that by creating a wish list we’re more likely to actually get around to doing some of the fun things we thought up and less likely to forget.

Like visiting random historic sites.

Last weekend we realized that summer was once again passing right before our eyes and decided it was time to attack making Cornish hens (which was at the top of our “foods to make” list). We invited some friends for dinner and set to work. A co-worker had recently mentioned a recipe for smoked Cornish hens and I knew that’s what I wanted to do. We found our inspiration in a recipe from the Neelys over at the Food Network. Continue reading →