Friday, January 29, 2010

Another Day, another birthday

Little miss P turned 2 this week, I thought I'd summarise her life thus far in pictures.

Birthed gently at home in water (like all good babies should be)
Dads first snuggle
Crashed.

Mumma Bare (AKA wonder woman)
With a tired dad & big Sister L
The only way to travel

The whole Fam

Starting to smile (read laugh her ass off)
Eager to get on 2 wheels

In marysville

Beautiful Blue Eyes (I tried but couldn't get one in my size)

On he road again

Its not all rainbows and butterflies
The whole gang, I love shots where they don't know i'm taking the photo

Asleep on Dad

What did you just eat??

MMMMMMMmmmmmm

With Dad on the top of Mt Buller in summer

Baby blue

Asleep on Dad again (seeing a pattern)
Snuggles with Mummy

Slightly warm at the park
Cheeky
Asleep on Dad, once again
Cheeeesey Grins

Zonked (But still looking fabulous darling!!!)

Middle of winter, insisted on wearing her wondersuit
One of my favourite shots of us

Tripple pig tails

Big sister

In Canbera for the homebirth Rally

At the beach with Dad (I like being the gentle giant)

Wrestling in the bed

Cheeky dressed by big sister

In Dads Kozy Carrier at the Myer Christmas windows

Helping me inflate the birthpool in preparationfor little sister H's Arrival
Yes, Like Dad she is a rev head

I think Dad may have the most comfy belly

We love cheesey grins (& Polka dots)

Christmas day with Mummy and little sister H

Monday, January 25, 2010

Happy Un-Australia Day


Ok I'll admit it, when it comes to Australia Day I am most definitely "Un-Australian". I don't see the point of celebrating the anniversary of some people landing in Sydney Cove a few hundred years back.


I dont see how its relevant to modern day Australia, if you ask most indigenous Australians they see Australia Day as day of mourning. Also know as "Invasion Day" the anniversary of the beginning of the end of indigenous culture at the hands of British Colonisation.


Now you wont see me protesting on the subject down at the tent embassy in Canberra I do feel the original tennants of this great southern land make an interesting & valid point. Combine the days "sensitivity" with the indigenous community & increasing trend in recent years of turning all manner of things into an Australian flag and I cant help but feel the day now represents little to nothing.


While not a fan of our current flags design (eager to see a republic as a matter of fact) I do respect it as our national flag (as all should). I respect what it stands for and while I am very much anti-war I also hold the utmost respect for those who died for our country and more importantly what our flag means to THEM. I grew up with the strict teachings of flag code, I've marched on ANZAC day and for me, for some reason seeing it adorned on a pair of board shorts or a bikini top is highly disrespectful. Its this trend that has in recent years seen our flag stoop to a mere fashion accessory, driven by retailers hoping to cash in on a previously un-tapped market that adds to the demise of the Australia day.


I read a quote once: "The American flag unites, the Australian flag divides". I couldn't agree more, not that we should regularily heed advice fro the US of A (Hello Healthcare) but with the increasing amount of racism in Australia spearheaded by what is now clearly bogan culture & the whole "Fuck off we're full" mentality its become an ugly side of our great land that seems to get its time in the limelight every 26th January


Why? Well for one its definitely increased in recent years mainly due to images plastered ovr the news of the Cronulla riots. Is a 17 year old drunk male wearing an aussie flag for a cape screaming racist slurs at a drunk Lebanese 17 year old drunk male something we want to portray as "Australian"? I also struggle to see the significance of the southern cross, we share this with at least 8 other countries flags so why is it so tied in with national (read bogan) pride nowadays?


So this Australia day I will be spending quality time with my Family and friends, you wont see me getting a southern cross tattoo on my forhead or attaching cheap plastic flags to my car. I may BBQ some lamb and will definitely have a beer & most certainly dream of an Australian independence day.


Happy Un-Australia day Everyone, til next time.....

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Pork (It Comes from Pigs)


Yesterday I had a chance encounter with this lovely lady at the collingwood childrens farm, like all good one night stands I never got her name or number and was left feeling slightly unfulfilled when I woke this morning.



I quickly realised I was still craving pig, I mean Pork.





I must interject here and apologise for the fact that the photographic component of this update is cronologically flawed (mainly because I forgot to take pics of my prep work)

Anyhoo I digress.....



MY TRICK FOR GOOD CRACKLE

For those unfailiar with pork crackling its the outer layer that sometimes goes crispy during roasting, despite being something like 98% animal fat & 2% skin any unhealthyness disolves during the cooking process (this is what I tell myself)

STEP 1- Ingredients:
The best piece of pork for getting good crackling is a rolled side of pork. While the leg is my favourite part of the beast its not the part that crackle grows on. You need to make sure your butcher scores the hide (cuts heaps of slits in the skin) if not make sure you do it.

You will also need
- Olive oil, gold (harvested late) is best for cooking
- Salt, I use rock salt, ground up in a cup
- Herbs (I use a secret blend)


STEP 2 - Pork Preparation
This is easy but messy (just how I like it). Place the pork into a decent sized roasting dish and pour about a table spoon of the olive oil over the top, use your hands and rub it into every orifice, this can sometimes be a little unsettling for the pork, if need be buy it a drink or two first do this, but not to many, the pork should be easy with little inhibition. You must make sure you rub the oil into all the slits, the oil is the key for making the other ingredients stick.


STEP 3 - Crackle Preparation
Rub the Salt into the slits, I usually just separate the split with2 fingers (Are you getting turned on? I think I am), pour in the salt, then rub over. Make sure you rub into every crack. I also rub herbs into the ends of the pork (the meaty bits). Pour another tablespoon of olive oil around the pork and sprinkle any remaining sat and herbs into it.


STEP 4 - Preheat the oven
Heat is the key here. Over the years i've found that electric ovens work better for pork crackle but I actually prefer gas for just about everything else. I set the oven to 240c and put the pork in for 25 minutes, then drop the temp to between 160-180







This is what my little bundle of joy looked like after 25 minutes











At this point I dropped the heat to about 170 and cooked it for another 25-30 minutes










Sometimes I just pull it out and admire it













Time for the spuds, I just peel and half the potatoes then cut slits in them (similar to the pork)





This is after about an hours cook tie as you can see the crackle is coming up nicely








You can see the slits in the potatoes. I always use BBQ tongs to add them so I can roll them in the oil (which with its herbs and pork juice is now full of flavour) without fear of being splashed.















Fast forward about and hour and we are done, note in my eagerness to get a photo I tilted the tray and bathed one end of the potatoes in a little too much oil, I usually use the same BBQ tongs to get the spuds out and place them on a plate lined with a piece of paper towl.











Carving is not my strong point so I wont show you the end result. Lets just say it was liked by all, every family member asked for seconds and the crackle was perrrrfect.

I'm going to try and do one cooking related post every week or two.

Till next time....

Where to start?

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