Virtual Australia: Outback Cuisine

 Aussie Outback Special: Witchetty Grubs.

(...which we will not be trying by-the-way...)

Looking a lot like pale puffy tomato worms, these are the larvae of Cossid Moths and are found as they are eating the roots of witchetty bushes. They are eaten raw or lightly roasted.

Raw, they are said to have an almond flavor.

(...I'll never know...)

Roasted the skin gets crisp like fried chicken and the insides light yellow like fried egg.

(...I'll take their word for it...)

 It is interesting to mention that an estimated 9 out of 10 aborigines in Australia still eat (and presumably enjoy) the grubs.


They are also used as bait by the freshwater fishermen.

Hunting and Eating Witchetty Grubs.

https://youtu.be/VBf-Gelm5fE

Roasted

Yeah..I'm going to have to pass.

And I have found a caveat for my Motto: Try Everything...except Witchetty Grubs...lol!

For those more adventurous than me you can buy these from an online site in the UK

https://www.eatgrub.co.uk/shop/

(...nope...)
 
Some of the traditional bush food like Emu and Kangaroo can be bought online, as well.

The Exotic Meat Market

https://www.exoticmeatmarkets.com/default.asp

I have Emu and Kangaroo Ordered and am buying Vegemite off Amazon.

Emu.

 Emu, like ostrich, is surprisingly red meat.  Since the bird's fat content is very low it is quite healthy for you, but care must be taken to prevent it from overcooking and being extremely dry.

Emu over the Barbie.

Recipe.

Marinate steaks for 2 hours in wine, oil, vinegar, tomato paste, garlic, mustard and sugar mixture.

Drain and place steaks on grill (reserving marinade liquid)

Brush with reserved liquid during grilling.

Grilled Emu.

Which I am anxious to try, and hear it is quite good having almost a lean beefy taste.


Kangaroo, is should be noted, is not a preferred meat in Australia...although plentiful. Many consider it "...only good for dog food". A recent rebranding is occurring because of its availability and leaness toward the "healthy
alternative"

As one Aussie pointed out

"It's STILL 'roo, mate."

Most of the recipes I found were for it ground and spiced heavily into sausages or burgers.

Helped a great deal by the addition of spices and toppings. The taste is said to be quite gamey and the meat very dry and tough.  Often boiled for stews.

We will find out soon! I've a pound of ground 'roo on its way.

About the Vegemite.

En route as well.

Chris, having experienced Vegemite years ago when a friend (and foreign exchange student) brought some for the whole class to try.

"We use it just like peanut butter!" she exclaimed.

"Not PEANUT BUTTER. Disgusting." my son later declared.

Anyway...this is Vegemite Spread

and here is where you can buy it if you want to try it yourself.

https://www.amazon.com/Vegemite-150g-Jar/dp/B001JDHUUA

Spread on toast.

Salty, a bit bitter and a meaty flavour from the black sesame seeds...as well as a yeasty beer flavor from the yeast extract.

Is is said if you dislike beer...you won't care for the taste of Vegemite either.

We will see when it arrives. 

Here are some other ways to use Vegemite besides toast.

https://www.taste.com.au/quick-easy/galleries/ways-vegemite-youve-never-thought/XElcZw6O

Off to wander Western Australia soon!

 More Anon...

A Cup of Cohen...Kaylee is 13...FAIR FOOD...and Playing in the Plants

Busy week!

Played in the plants early on.

Happy that everything seems to be recovering from the near 100 degree temps of the past couple weeks and that the sunflowers have now bloomed.

There have been quite a few drive-by produce (ings) now and the tabletop sports cucumbers, zucchini and tomatoes and one yellow goose-neck squash.

James brought some of his recently caught catfish fillets.

You're right, son.
Flatsheads are really "good eating"- Thanks :)

Snipped fresh herbs and cut up zucchini and fresh tomatoes, and garlic to pair with Italian Sausage...

then layer over linguini.

The entire house (and me, too) smelled just like a trattoria.

Shelby-Cat was thrilled.

Finally spent my 1:1 day with Kaylee (...formerly my Kaylee-Bug...but now she is 13...so we've changed it to KB...) on Thursday.

She loved her necklace.

Took all these wonderful birthday shots...went shopping...got 13 pink roses...took her to Almost Home where we had an elegant brunch...and our waitress even wrote Happy Birthday on the edge of the dessert plates...and we had a candle each on big slices of chocolate fudge cake & made wishes. She even got some great pictures of Kaylee and I posing together- It was perfect.

Then life happened.

Got home and tried to dump them from the SD card (which admittedly has been around for a long long long time) only to realize that the card had malfunctioned...died...and all our photos were gone.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Immediately called Chris who checked to make sure that the files were not just hidden...and could be therefore be recovered. But...they are gone. Zero. Nothing there. 

sigh

So, it seems, this year's birthday trip will be recorded only in our actual Memories.


And what wonderful memories.

So nice to get the day together. She is as tall as I am now...and had her top-knot dyed red. When they are babies they are cute. When they are young children they are fun...but she is at that stage where you can finally see the adult they are growing into...it was really great.
 
And the useless SD Card?
Soon to be replaced.
 
Murphy's Law strikes again.

Met with my friends Diane and Judy on Friday at the near end of the Putnam County Fair. Ostensibly to see the exhibits (a couple of our mutual friends had there in the Adult Divisions) but everyone knows what we were REALLY  there for...

Yeah...once a year...without fail...

Eating our way through the fair.

Because...

FAIR FOOD

Funnel cakes and elephant ears sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, roasted corn on the cob and Italian sausage sandwiches smothered with grilled peppers and onions (dripping with red sauce), battered blooming onions and deep fried...well...pretty much everything...ice cream, lemon shake ups and food on a stick!

Life is good. 

Missing our partner in crime, Loretta.


She is getting excited about our (John and I) trip out in a couple of weeks. Since her birthday is at the end of this month we are going to surprise her with everything a little EARLY!

She is adapting well. Realizes now that she really could no longer live independently, and is enjoying someone else cooking and cleaning and such for a change.

Cleaning...omg..Amber made it back this week...and it is hard to put into words how much I missed her while she was gone. The floors are back to CLEAN again...the trash is out...the litter-box smells fresh again and I have milk. All is right with my world.

Of course,  I can't say as much for Donald Trump's world this week and to paraphrase James Comey

"Lordy...there was TAPES!"

And Friday found our Mango Mussolini tweeting till his tweeter was sore...frantically...insanely..incoherently at time...lol!

When pal for years...fixer and ex-lawyer Cohen decided that not only was he NOT going to take a bullet for Trump...he wasn't going to jail for years for him either.

Releasing not one...but 12 taped conversations between the two of them discussing payoffs...hush money...porn stars and playboy bunnies...and setting up shell companies.

Yes.  The shit has indeed hit the fan.

At first Trump seemed genuinely bewildered and betrayed

"I can't believe he would do this to me."

"I've never heard of an attorney who tapes...is this legal?"

But as the day moved on the scorned woman in him surfaced...then when Cohen dropped the collusion bombshell

"Trump Senior knew about the meeting with Trump Jr. and The Russians at Trump Tower"

the buddy-buddy relationship between them dissolved and was replaced by enraged tweets.


Fancy Trump referring to ANYONE else as a liar??? I mean..seriously.

No honor among thieves.

Or maybe why you don't hire your lawyer/fixer off a billboard...lol.

He is even distancing himself from Don Jr. on this one...ready to throw his own son under the bus.

I half expect him to say

"Don Jr. ? Barely knew the boy. I think he brought coffee or something."

Oh...and Mueller is quietly smiling.

The GOP getting that cow in the slaughterhouse look in their eyes as they finally realize most of them are going to be pink-slipped (voted out) in the midterms and a lot more in 2020.

Just watching the show.

We're going to need a hell of a lot more popcorn.

The Book this Week:

Dystopian future that begins when an East Indian street vendor loses his shadow...a novelty when it is first noticed that takes a much more sinister turn when it begins happening randomly all over the world...prompting panic. The shadowed and the shadowless. And the realization that not only are they losing shadows but with their shadows something far more important...their memories.

Entwined in this a love story...a shadowed man and his shadowless wife. Her wandering away as she slips further and further into the world of the shadowless. Him trying to find her through the whole book. Finally finding her...well her memories anyway...placed into somebody else.

After finishing this engrossing novel it took a while to digest the ending. Not your typical feel good finish.

Jackson Browne sums it up best

"...of all the times that I've been burned

by now you think I'd have learned

that it's who you look like...and not who you are. "


Well worth a read.


This Week's Movie:

A sequel. And although I have not seen the original...now I must! 

Denzel Washington plays Robert McCall a former DIA Agent who has recently lost his wife. A Lyft driver by day; who quietly helps people in bad situations with his Defense Intelligence Skills.

Fast paced. Often edge of your seat as he seeks revenge when former DIA teammates kill a close friend of his on one of their clean-up missions.

Based on an earlier televised series.

Washington is perfect as McCall. There isn't a bad performance in this entire film.

Watching the original tomorrow.

Incredible film!

A MUST SEE.

Have a Peaceful Weekend!
                           More anon...

Virtual Australia: Flinder's Range and The Maree Camel Cup

G'day Mates,

Before we leave the (virtual) South Outback grab your favorite Bruce or Shelia for a bit of racing...Outback Style.

I promised you Adventure, and will not disappoint.

Today we check out The Maree Camel Cup!

If you find a field of thoroughbreds exciting, you'll love these 2 meter high at the hump contenders.

The races traditionally held on July 9th.

The track and building built in 1883 for a bit of sport outside the Flinder's Range., where camels carried supplies between the nearby towns and Adelaide's end-of-the-line train providing everything to the Outback.

The Maree Camel Cup 
     (a must watch)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxJUbMpZmEI

One jockey...when asked what you get when you win...replied wryly,

"A sore back and a sore arse, mate."



Well, that...and a small purse and Gold Cup. 

More anon

This Week's Cup...and The Cave

Still in "Recovery Mode" from our Cave Adventure.

Sometimes there really isn't ENOUGH coffee.

The place was pretty incredible and the decor was so well done that with candle-lighting and the faux fire-bowls...it looked real.
Loved some of the detail.

 
The grotto hot tub was amazing...and even had a section cut out with tiny multi-sized lights on a black background that looked as though you were looking up through a hole in the cave roof to a night sky.

All in all...pretty well thought out.

Except for the waterfall type faucet that filled the hot tub.
I had never seen one of these before.

                              (not the actual one...found this on Google.)

To say that this was a slow way to fill a two-person hot tub...would be...well...a vast understatement.

Spurring

#ThingsToDoWhileWaitingfortheTubtoFill

1.  Clean the Cave.

2.  Paint A House.

3. Make a 6 Course Dinner. (for 12)

4. Take a 2 Hour Nap

5. Read War and Peace

6. Watch Dances with Wolves (...all three hours of it...)

7. Figure and File Your Taxes...and possibly get the Return Back.

8. Write a Novel.

9. Read the New Congressional Tax Bill.

10. Create a Child, and Raise him to Adulthood.

Yeah, you get the idea.

But it was great...and

               BUBBLES!
       Bubbles!  Bubbles! 

Took the Tour de Terre Haute (and Farmersburg, Shelburn, & Bridgeton) the next day. Our bank is now up for sale. Tried to find John's old farmhouse from his childhood only to find it is now gone...and in its stead...a BASS Lake.  We may have to come back with fishing poles!

Ended the day with ice cream from the Bridgeton Mill.

and came home to THIS...

                                                       "SERIOUSLY"
                                     "You left me...you freaking left me" 

This, being her

"We need to TALK."

face.


John's Gizmo-Cat was just as bad...climbing in his suitcase before our trip ever began.

 
LOL!  She is so expressive. This is her

"You aren't actually LEAVING me???"

face.

Shelby may have Resting Bitch Face; but Gizzy has Guilt Induction Face down to an Art-Form!

When pouting doesn't work...there is always Seduction !

                         "Draw me like one of your FRENCH KITTIES, John."

And you can almost hear the icy

"Well, FINE, then"

When he leaves.

A Grand Adventure...and looking forward to our next, soon!


My friend, Loretta, settling in to assisted living life now.  Enjoying the fact someone else is cleaning and cooking. Also that worrying over paying bills and maintaining a home is a thing of the past.

 She is active in their church service, and likes their midweek Bible study.

Looking forward to seeing her (there) soon and Judy, Sharon, Diane and I are assembling a "care-box" of a few things we know she will love, needs, or just wants.

We still talk on the phone about every day and write back and forth weekly.

The best thing is, of course, that she is safe and has 24 hour nursing care.

 Worked on the patio and played in the plants and borders (here) late this week.

 

My herb basket now overflowing and some of the mini-sunflowers already bloomed!

No movie or book of the week, this time...Just started the book and waiting to see a new release.

Next week.

Now it is time for-

And Now What?????????????????

If you are not just shaking your head in disgust and a bit gob-smacked at this point. Well, you must be a Trump Supporter.  
(...bless your heart...) 

Spent three wonderful Trump and News-Free Days just after his open televised treason. 

Did I come home to find that the GOP had suddenly realized what being Americans was all about and began the impeachment process?

Hardly.

Like Kids in Cages and a lot of the other crap they have turned their heads from or tried to explain away.  Made excuses for.

I now realize that this GOP Congress is not going to hold this President accountable for ANYTHING. 

Not. Even. Treason. 

So we must.

There have been protests in front of the Whitehouse since the televised meeting with Putin...which occurred only hours after we learned that our Nation's elections were (and are) under cyber-attack from Russia. 

They have popped up Nationwide now.

And Trump has, since, invited Putin to the White House in November.

Seriously....isn't this like catching someone in the middle of breaking into your house...and then inviting them to a dinner party later??? 

What the actual fuck? 

Emboldened by his party- this guy

GOP Congressional Rep. Minnesota Jason Lewis actually bemoaned the fact he could no longer call women

 "SLUTS" 

(...by the way Minnesotans...Angie Craig is running against this POS in November...let's fix this...shall we...) 

But back to Our Orange Wackadoo for a moment.

The news hasn't all been bad.

Because (to paraphrase James Comey)

"Lordy...there WAS tapes!!!"

Christmas came early in the form of several. Delivered, not by St. Nick, but  by Trump's former Fixer...er...lawyer. 

Cohen releasing them. Including one of their (his and Donald's) conversation concerning the payoff to a former affair/playboy bunny. You know...the one he said he didn't HAVE an affair with just after the birth of his son...and didn't pay off. 

Kind of like he didn't DO or pay off Stormy Daniels and then forget to sign the NDA.

In Trump's defense...when you lie about as many things as he does on a regular basis...who can keep them all straight?

And because he (Trump) is as dumb as he is ugly...his first remarks upon hearing that his buddy-who-apparently-won't-take-a-bullet (or a lengthy prison sentence) for him were

"I can't believe he would DO this to me!"

(...not exactly the utterance of an innocent man...)

A deliciously karmic moment...when you remember how he betrayed all the women he has ever been married to.

"Betrayal sucks...doesn't it, Donnie?"

Wondering how Melania "stand by your man" is feeling right about now.

You know , honey...you're right.

I REALLY don't care.

 So yeah...we need to stand shoulder to shoulder during midterms (less than 100 days away, now) and flip the Senate and House. 

Blue No Matter Who.

Straight Party Ticket for 2018 and 2020.

And as soon as we get Congress back we need to FIX this mess.

IMPEACHMENT

Suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome?

Does the current political atmosphere leaving you feeling exhausted, hopeless, anxious,sleepless, angry?

 Ask your Congressman if IMPEACHMENT is right for you.

Side Effects  May Include: Sudden Bursts of Happiness, A Return to Democracy, Over-all Sense of Well-being, Better Sleep, Singing in the Shower, and Dancing in the Street.

IMPEACHMENT- It's not just for Nixon, anymore.

Have a Wonderful Weekend!

  

"And VOTE in November!"

Virtual Australia: The Fence

Known is some areas as The Dingo Barrier. In others- Western Australia- as The Rabbit Proof Fence. This is the longest stretch of fencing in the world.  It was built from 1880-1885 and its purpose was to keep the dingoes out of SE Australia and protect the sheep flocks of Southern Queensland. The Fence is 3,500 miles long and runs from sea across the state of South to the sea.

To put this in perspective...this is like running a fence from New York to San Francisco...and then continuing to fence another 500 miles into the Pacific Ocean.

Most of the barrier fence is close to 6 feet high and several sections are even electrified. 

The greatest threat to the fence today is sections flattened (and repaired) because of the number of feral camel...and flooding during the winter rains.

It was originally built to exclude rabbits...and later reinforced to repel the wild dogs.

Great video on The Barrier Fence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPE5qxt413U

 
Parts of the fence are illuminated at night with solar powered lights.

The upkeep is maintained by ranchers whose property is bordered by the fence and regular patrol...whose job is to make sure it is intact/repaired.

Any dingo pelt fetches a $10. bounty.

Although their numbers are still nearly 200,000 most of the pureblood dingoes are gone and the remaining are dingo/domestic dog hybrids now.

A fact lamented by conservationists who say that soon the pure dingo population will be extinct...but applauded by the ranchers, who have had to deal with the decimation of their flocks to this predator.

More anon.