Australia Day-by-Day: Part One

Alright, now that I’ve finally managed to sleep all the way through the night at least once, I think I can write another post.  I will come back to my usual food/recipes after two more posts of being super excited to share what experiences I had in Australia.  I’ve split the calendar of events into two posts because there was a lot that went on and that I want to share with you guys, not to mention some pictures!

Day 1: To quote my journal here, this is what I felt like after about twenty hours of travel and the longest overseas flight I’ve ever taken in my life. “I feel drunk.  I’m lightheaded and dizzy; the world feels like it’s moving around me.  I hope that if I get an hour or so of sleep on the flight to Townsville that my body will be able to sort itself out. I’m trying very hard to stay fed and hydrated and the only thing left that I can think of that I may need is sleep….Maybe my brain is oxygen starved.”  In defense of my “drunken” ramblings, this was at 4am Australia-time, meaning 2pm my-time and I’d been up since about 6:30 am the day before.  So I think I was right to think that I needed sleep.  Luckily for me I did manage to fall asleep on the flight to Townsville, and though still groggy, I made it through the entire day with my friends, starting immediately with lunch and then proceeding to the local aquarium.  I think I fell asleep around 8:30pm.

Day 2: We started the day pretty early, hopping in the rental car to being the 4 hour drive to Cairns.  Along the way we stopped at Australia’s tallest waterfall (268 meters) and climbed down to the bottom of it through the rainforest.  The hike down was pretty and amazing—I’ve never been in the rainforest before but it looks the same as in all of the movies: green, lush, big ferns and hanging vines, lots of birds and birdcalls, and a bit damp.  The end of the trail was close enough to the waterfall that we got misted in all of our pictures, which cooled us off for the hike back up the waterfall.  We picnicked there and then headed on for Cairns.  Driving and the waterfall took most of the day so when we checked into our hostel, we were pretty ready for dinner.  The hostel had a deal with a local bar where dinner was pretty cheap, but the food wasn’t the best.  They conveniently had a cheap house wine that washed away my dinner worries, though.

Day 3: Another early start.  Sarah and I boarded a small boat that was bound for a couple of specific locations on the Great Barrier Reef.  The morning started out a bit rocky, (no really), and Sarah and I spent most of the ride staring at the horizon and trying not to vomit while 99% of the other passengers on the ship were tossing their cookies over the railing.  Luckily neither of us is a sympathy vomit-er.  Once we got to the reef, though, it was amazing and the sea calmed down quite a bit (or maybe it was the fact that we were a part of the sea that made it better).  The first location had us practically belly to coral as we snorkeled over the reef and we mainly saw fish, but the second location had some reef cliffs, where the reef abruptly dropped off into much deeper water.  This was a really cool place to snorkel because it meant that we could see a lot of turtles and larger fish.  No sharks, unfortunately, because that would have been awesome, but the turtles were amazing in and of themselves.

Day 4: We didn’t have anything planned until the early afternoon, so we ate a leisurely breakfast at a café near the marina.  I had a pain au chocolate with mixed berries and a sparkling passionfruit beverage, which was SO delicious.  Afterwards we walked out onto the marina, jealously staring at all the yachts that were parked their and imagining what it would be like to have one of our own and what we would name it.  Afterwards we drove a little ways to a boardwalk that went right through a mangrove forest.  The ground was pretty swampy and we saw all sorts of different crabs that had homes there.  The trees were beautiful and amazing.  I really love mangroves.  We found another café for lunch where Sarah and I both got the special, a pesto pasta dish, and I also had a fresh juice.  It made me immediately want to invest in a juicer for home.  Finally we headed out for white water rafting.  The trip was about two hours long on class three rapids on the Barron River.  I had already fallen out of the boat by the time we hit the third rapid, but luckily managed to stay in for the rest of the time, though at one point I did practically end up in the guide’s lap.  Whoops!  We got to swim down one of the rapids, which basically meant that we got to drink the river.  Not the tastiest, but definitely a blast!

Day 5: This was mostly spent driving back to Townsville from Cairns.  The weather didn’t cooperate much, so we didn’t do anything outdoorsy, but we did find a little winery to stop at along the way which offered a free wine tasting.  The flavors were really interesting—the winery was established on the basis of sustainability and recycling.  The owners noticed that in the fruit industry a lot of fruit wasn’t being sold because it wasn’t beautiful and pristine enough, of it had gotten bruised or nicked in the process, so much was getting thrown away.  So what better use for less than beautiful fruit than to ferment it and make wines and liquors!  There was a cassowary plum (red) wine, a mango (white) wine, a lychee (white), and a passionfruit (white) wine.  There was also an herbal blend that created a red wine.  All of them were really fun to try, though I’d say the plum wine was a little potent for me.  I ended up buying a bottle of mango wine and very, very carefully packing it in my suitcase to bring home. (It survived!)  That night Sarah and I went out to a really nice dinner: she got a steak; I got a huge arugula salad and mussels in white wine sauce.

Tomorrow: the latter half of my trip to Australia.  This includes snakes, kangaroos, sunburns, a local brewery, and more mussels!

Opening Remarks about Australia

After something like twenty-six hours of travel, I got home last night, proceeded to do laundry and unpack, and then somehow was unable to sleep through the whole night.  There’s nothing like being awake for an entire 15-hour plane trip (and the three other connecting flights) and then not falling asleep when I finally do have a real mattress and a real pillow and a stuffed Tiger.  Then, when I do fall asleep after melatonin and lying awake for quite some time, I have nightmares about airplanes falling out of the sky, having to collect food from army bunkers, and then wake up at 4:00 am with a distinct need to urinate.  Ah, the joys of travelling.  The good news is I’ve managed to stay awake all day today since getting out of bed, and I’ve even accomplished things too.  Tomorrow it’s back to work for the rest of the week, so hopefully this evening I can make it through the night.

Let’s talk about Australia, though.  I have several vague remarks.

-I never once heard anybody say “crikey,” but I did hear “mate” and “crocs” and “lollies.”  “lollies” is the word for gummy candy, as far as I can tell.  “Stingers” are the same thing as jellyfish.  “Crocs” are clearly crocodiles but everyone is just too lazy to say three-syllable words.

-A lot of SUV’s have snorkels on them.  I have no idea why.  It’s very bizarre.

-Everything in Australia can kill you: plants, fish, koalas (if you eat them), jellies, snakes, spiders, the desert…everything.  The world’s three most poisonous snakes are all found in Australia.  They have a several month long jellyfish season during which is it unwise to enter the water because the box jellies (and like six other kind of jellies) are migrating and a sting in the wrong place can kill you.  There are spots on the beach where the ocean is netted off that are basically the only safe places to swim, and just in case, they have cartons full of vinegar for stings on the beach too.  Koalas only eat eucalyptus leaves, which are basically toxic on their own, but when a koala eats them it makes the koala toxic.  So nothing can eat a koala without getting super sick.  Granted, this is basically their only defense mechanism, and unfortunately, if something did decide to take a bite out of them, it wouldn’t be until later that the something realized what it had done.  Finally, there was a really horrible tree in the rainforest that has somewhat fuzzy leaves that, if touched, will release a neurotoxin that will leave skin stinging for months.  Yes, you read that right.  Months.  Not to mention that it is potent enough to kill humans, dogs, and horses.

-If I were to come back, I’d spend time in the large cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, and the outback.  I would also come back if I really wanted to do adventure sports and diving, because that seems to be pretty good out here, but if the alternative is a vacation in New Zealand or Italy or Ireland, I might pick the alternative vacations over returning to Australia.  (Don’t get me wrong—I did have a fantastic time! I would just like to explore other parts of the world next, or do something really, incredibly different from home and visit the outback.)

-Australia is really, incredibly similar to America.  There were some places that we drove through which seemed really Australian, but a lot of the bigger towns unfortunately reminded me of places like Phoenix, full of sprawl and big box stores and nothing that really sets one big town apart from any others.

-The food isn’t really that different from the food we get at home, except for the kangaroo and the seafood.  Kangaroo tasted a lot like steak, except maybe a bit grainier and tougher.  It’s a pretty lean meat.  I liked it well enough.  The price was very reasonable.  They also have really fresh seafood.  I ate a lot of mussels which were big and delicious each time and I also ate A LOT of fish n’ chips.  I love fish n’ chips, but I associate it more with England than with Australia.  The fish was mostly barramundi and if you throw that in some batter and deep fry it…gosh it’s delicious.

-Take advantage of the snorkeling.  Learn how to dive.  White water rafting is stellar.  Get out of your comfort zone a little.  It’s worth it.

This is getting a little long, so I’ll update again soon with more details about the experiences and what we did.  Basically I had a ton of wonderful experiences, tried a lot of new things, and saw a lot of things that I wouldn’t have been able to see anywhere else in the world.  I’ll keep you posted.

Twenty Two Hours and Counting

I am leaving for Australia TOMORROW!  I was going to post this recipe for a really delicious chocolate cake before I left, but everything just got completely away from me and I’ve actually been really busy, so you’ll get it when I get back, after I post all about the trip!

Recap of the last week (as far back as I can remember):

Saturday: Day OFF!  Went to see Flight of the Butterflies with my dad at the Louisville Science Center on the IMAX screen and then went out to lunch at a restaurant called Funmi’s Café.  Then we went home and I promptly slept for two hours.

Sunday: Worked all day.  Went out to dinner at an Asian restaurant with my dad and our neighbor and his daughter.  Dad and I split the spicy mussels appetizer and then I had lo mein pasta with scallops in a ginger-garlic sauce for dinner.  Then we all headed to the Louisville Palace Theater to see Bob Dylan!  This would be the day that I learned All Along the Watchtower is not a Hendrix original.  Oops.

Monday: Watched something like eleven episodes of Vampire Diaries on Netflix while essentially dying on the couch from some sort of stomach bug.  Not good.

Tuesday: I honestly don’t remember what I did yesterday.  I attempted to pack.  I worked.  I made risotto and asparagus with my dad for dinner.  Caught up with my friend Clara on the phone for a bit before bed.  Clearly I’m too exhausted from work to do much of anything else.

Wednesday: That’s today.  I worked.  I got off early and did the crossword puzzle on the back porch.  I packed.  It took me an embarrassingly long time to pack.  It’s actually still not quite done…

Tomorrow I head into work early in the morning and then when I get off I am going to finish up with all of my packing, shower, and head for the airport.  I can’t believe that it’s finally time to take this trip.  I booked it in January and the time has flown by (probably because I’m so busy with work every day) and now I finally get this vacation!  I’ll be back in two weeks, but until then, here’s to friends, white water rafting, the Great Barrier Reef, and travelling!

Mediterranean Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

So the anatomy of my off day looks kind of like this: wake up, lie around in bed, grab breakfast, walk to the bank, drive to the post office, grab lunch, do the crossword puzzle with Mom, and fall asleep on my bed snuggled up with Lawrence for at least two hours.  It was supposed to be sunny and beautiful today for at least the morning and early afternoon, but the weather turned cloudy and breezy really quick and I’m a hundred percent sure that it had something to do with my epic afternoon nap.  Not to mention that I’m probably just overtired all the time anyways ‘cause of getting up early for work five days a week.  Though analyzing my nap is really not the point of this blog post.  The point of this post would be the really, really delicious vegetarian (or vegan!) meal that I made the other night for my dinner.

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

2 large Portobello mushrooms
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 14.5 oz. can artichoke hearts, drained and sliced
¼ – ½ cup kalamata olives, halved
large handful kale
½ cup feta cheese, crumbled (if desired)

Scoop the gills and stem from the interior of the mushrooms and cut the stem into small pieces.  Cook the removed material in olive oil with the minced garlic for two minutes, or until the garlic becomes fragrant.  Add artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, and kale, and cook over medium heat for about three minutes.  Reduce heat and put on the lid of the pan.  Cook for about ten minutes to soften the kale.  Meanwhile, place the mushroom caps open side down on a small greased baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Bake for 10 minutes at 350° F.  Remove caps from oven and flip over so that the open side faces up.  Stuff each mushroom with approximately half of the kale mixture.  Top with half of the feta cheese is desired.  Bake at 350° F for ten more minutes.

So here’s how I know these are good: my mom sniffed them, said they smelled delicious and asked for a bite.  She proceeded to say they were delicious.  Ian, my younger brother, eyed her dubiously over the dinner table.  Mom looks him in the eye and says “no, really!  You know it means something if Megan cooks it and I say that it’s delicious.”  Then she proceeded to ask me for a second bite.  Now, this is not the highest praise that I’ve ever received.  This comment is coming from my (incredibly picky when it comes to vegetarian or vegan foods) mother, who has tried other things that I’ve made and said “ermmm…well…you tried.”

Sometimes the sentiment echoed in that statement is true, and I wouldn’t share anything with you if I thought it was strange and my mom thought it was strange, but usually she’s being a little biased against the chickpeas or the kale or whatever else I’ve put into a recipe that isn’t her favorite food.  But this one was a triumph for me and clearly thought of as a triumph by her, so I’m really thinking that you should give it a shot.

Warm Chickpea Salad

I haven’t written recently for a couple of reasons:

a) I’ve been on the phone with my roommate Sarah for hours over the course of the last week because we were trying to get out final details and reservations for Australia worked out before she leaves for New Zealand.  We got about 85% done before she left and the rest is up to me and Hannah!  What we do have, though, is reservations for white water rafting, snorkeling off the coast of Magnetic Island, three nights at a hostel in Cairns, and we’re just waiting on another        snorkeling/boat trip and horseback riding.  I leave in seventeen days!!

b) I got really distracted with some printmaking that I was doing for a couple nights.

c) I actually am just a little bit ADD.  I keep thinking “oh yes, I’ve got to write right now!” but then I’d get distracted because my dad wanted to watch a movie or because I was having a Skype date or a phone date or because I was making banana bread!  Not to mention the full time job or anything.

But, the point is that I’m here now.  And I have a dairy-free and grain-free recipe to share with you.  It originally started off as an alternative to the Italian sausage-enriched pasta sauce that my mom was making, but it ended up being so good and so filling on its own that I ditched the pasta and just ate the “sauce.”

Warm Chickpea Salad

Olive oil
½ onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 oz. mushrooms, diced
 juice from half of a lemon
pinch of saffron
pinch of thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup white wine
4 oz. cherry tomatoes, halved
Kalamata olives to taste, halved
14.5 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan.  Add the onion and sauté until it begins to become translucent.  Add the garlic and mushrooms and sauté for about five minutes, or until the mushrooms are cooked through.  Add the lemon, saffron, thyme, oregano, salt and pepper, and wine.  Stir to distribute the herbs and bring to a boil.  Add the tomatoes, olives, and chickpeas.  Reduce heat and cook gently until the tomatoes start to break down and the liquid has all boiled off.  Serve warm over a bed or arugula or spinach, or use as a pasta sauce, or eat plain!

Like I said earlier, the pasta that I tried this with the first night was unnecessary.  The flavors all came together really well: the tartness of the lemon was brought out more by the saltiness of the olives and the dryness of the wine.  The saffron was mainly an added aromatic bonus (but my saffron is old and it could be that’s why I had trouble tasting it).  The chickpeas provided the base that held the entire meal together!  This made about two meals total and the leftovers were perfect for lunch the next day.

The rest of today will consist of errands and possibly meeting a girlfriend for lunch and then I’ll probably read for the rest of the day.  I get pretty drained on the days I work and reading makes me fall asleep, so the days I don’t work I have to take advantage of so I can catch up on five days worth of not reading!

Chicken Tetrazzini

Finally, finally, finally I am on medication for tonsillitis.  Why did I wait so long before going to the doctor?  Well, I believe in the power of eating five fruits and vegetables a day, (which obviously did not help me out on this one, but I’m sure I have amazing levels of Vitamin C right now), I never actually had a fever (though I run cold so when I have a fever it’s typically a sign that something is SERIOUSLY wrong), and I felt like I was getting better.  Seriously.  My cough didn’t feel the need to express itself so often, my sore throat was lessening, and my tonsils felt smaller….until yesterday at about 5:30pm when everything returned with a vengeance and my mom finally said “Megan, I really think you should go see a doctor.”  And here I am, $48 and 24 hours later, still coughing.

There is good news though.  A) UofL won the national championship for men’s college basketball.  Yes! B) I took a three hour nap last night AND managed to get a full night’s sleep right after, so I’m definitely sleeping something off.  C) Today was my off day and I spent the majority of the day outside, lying around on my back porch taking in the 80° weather and the sunshine!  I now have tan lines.  Take that spring breakers! I look like I went to Florida too!  Hopefully my body will get back to its equilibrium within the next several days and I can finally stop coughing and being in constant pain.  That’d be nice.

As I recall, I promised you the recipe for chicken tetrazzini, and I am writing now to make good on that promise.  This recipe is pretty versatile and it tastes just as good on the second and even the third day, so if you’re big into leftovers (and I certainly am), then this is one for you.  Also, the original recipe called for something like a stick and a half of butter.  I am so happy to tell you that I’ve cut that WAY down to less than half of that, and the flavor isn’t sacrificed in the slightest.  Also, feel free to use skim milk if you want with this.  We always use 1% and it comes out plenty flavorful.  If you’re aiming for a vegetarian meal, just triple or quadruple the amount of mushroom and omit the chicken, and feel free to experiment with adding other vegetables too.  I think asparagus could have really great potential with this recipe.  And peas. And, a final tip, this is a super fun recipe to try out flavored salts with.  We seasoned it with truffle salt (which is basically to die for) once it’s all served up on the plates and the dimension that truffle salt adds to the meal is wonderful and inexplicable.  You’ll just have to try it.

Chicken Tetrazzini

Sauce:
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
3 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 egg yolk

Melt the butter in a saucepan.  Add the flour and whisk to combine.  Add the milk, whisking constantly, in ½ cup increments.  Bring to a boil.  Add all remaining ingredients (be very generous with the freshly ground pepper), and remove from heat.

Body:
1 ½ cups cooked chicken, diced
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper
¼ cup white wine
1 lb. spaghetti
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Sauté the chicken and mushrooms in the oil for about three minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste and wine.  Cook for three more minutes.  Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti according to package directions.  Drain and pour the spaghetti into a large, greased Dutch oven or casserole dish.  Add the chicken mixture, and toss to distribute throughout the spaghetti.  Pour the sauce over the entire pot and add the parmesan cheese.  Mix until the cheese is melted and the sauce is well distributed.  Bake at 350° F for 20 minutes.

I guess the one thing that I forgot to tell you is that this recipe does leave you with a lot of dishes. But it’s really worth it, I promise!  I’m making a new chunky spaghetti sauce tonight that I’m really looking forward to sharing with you guys tomorrow, and I’ve got some frozen bananas that are aching to be used in the near future as well.  I can’t wait to share more yummy recipes!

What I Ate Wednesday

I promised a What I Ate Wednesday post, so here it is.  As forewarning: I have spent most of the day, lounging around the kitchen in sweatpants and a sweatshirt that I got in 2006 alternating between watching rerun episodes from season two of Doctor Who and reading a memoir called The Good Girl’s Guide to Getting Lost by Rachel Friedman.  The book is really good—it’s about a twenty-something who travels to Ireland, Australia, and South America on a quest to figure out what she wants to do with her life.  I feel a strange sort of kinship with her because I am going to embark on my trip to Australia in under a month and yes, even though I’m headed for grad school in August, there are still a lot of unknowns in my future.  This, quite frankly, makes me a little bit anxious.  So, being the OCD-list making-anal retentive kind of person I am, I am making short term goals that I can cross off a list and feel really good about in day-to-day life.  For example: brush my teeth, go to the bank, pay my credit card bill, write a blog post, cook something new, get a meningitis booster shot, book plane tickets to Minnesota, etc.  These are the little things that I have control over at the moment.  I acknowledge that the rest will simply have to wait.  Newest item to check off the list: write a What I Ate Wednesday blog post.

Morning fruit: I need my vitamin fix in the morning because I’m still trying to get rid of this stupid sore throat.  We have: grapefruit juice (no sugar added; the only ingredient is grapefruit juice, as it should be), kiwifruit (high in potassium, apparently), and a pear.  I followed that with a throat-soothing mug of breakfast tea.

Lunch was nothing special.  It consisted of more vitamin C in the form of a Cutie clementine and a Trader Joe’s cheese and green chili tamale.  The tamales are actually pretty good.  You can buy them frozen in packs of two (I think there are several different flavors to choose from) and then you just warm then up in the microwave for about three minutes and you’re good to go: corn-y, chili-y, cheesy goodness!

After lunch I finished my episode of Doctor Who and had a little treat from my Easter basket: a marshmallow egg and a couple Dove milk chocolate eggs.  Those little Doves are addicting.  I swear.  It’s a good thing I’m spending most of my time dog sitting for the neighbors or I would have already eaten all the Doves that the good Easter bunny decided to put in my basket.

I took a nap on the porch when the sun was finally warm enough.  It may only have been 50° F outside, but with the sunshine and the heat radiating back from the deck, I was not only out like a light, but I was warm enough to actually start sweating.  I can’t imagine how Lawrence felt with all that fur of his.

For dinner the plan is to eat green beans, butternut squash, and leftover chicken tetrazzini (recipe to follow in my next post) but of course I will pick out the chicken.  For dessert I’ll finish up the last piece of homemade French silk pie leftover from Easter dinner (recipe to follow next time we cook it and I can take a picture of the process).

Both of these things are delicious: the tetrazzini is a huge bulk meal that keeps our family happy for about three days because there’s so much of it, and the cheese and wine and mushrooms come together as this perfect medley of tastes.  The French silk pie is like chocolate mousse in a pie shell.  What could possibly be better than that?

Tomorrow I am headed back to the restaurant grindstone at 6:30am and I’ll be working early mornings for at least the next four days in a row.  I’ll definitely have a chicken tetrazzini recipe to post for you pretty soon and hopefully I’ll get some cooking done over the weekend too (I’m thinking chocolate-banana bread pudding)!