Hi Readers ... well, I survived my first week on the new job & it's pretty good so far. Very busy already, which is unusual in a first week. Normally you're twiddling your thumbs for at least a week until someone has time to even talk to you properly. But in this case, they were so eagerly anticipating my arrival, everyone's eyes have lit up when I've been introduced & clearly they've had a backlog of work waiting for me! This is good, as I'm usually bored in jobs (no matter how much everyone around me complains of being soooo busy) ... and there are some interesting, sexy projects to work on. I may be finally getting a bit of mojo back re: work.
Anyhoo, that's just a quick update - have more news later. But this blog post is not about me. It's about my friend Tara. I went to school with Tara (yes, a million years ago) & she is truly what you'd describe as a good egg. She has entered a competition all about women representing their body shape. I love this concept, and she is a great person so I'd really love to see her win. And she looks smokin' hot! So please, my dear readers, vote for Tara. And tell your friends - spread the word, help Tara win $3000!!!
http://theartofshaping.com.au/competition/profile/tara-doyle
Friday, March 25, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Beef & Guinness Stew
I have had the last week off, before I start my new job on Monday. It got away from me too quickly, mainly because I had to do so much paperwork to get a special licence for my new job. So unfortunately, not as relaxing as I would've liked.
However, by Thursday afternoon it was a little less hectic so I decided to make Beef & Guinness stew for dinner, in honour of St Patrick's Day. I have made this a few times before, but tweaked it a bit this time & decided to cook it slowly in the oven instead of on the stovetop. My husband had seconds and said, "That was BEE-YOO-tiful", so I consider that a success! I have frozen the rest for another night. Here is my recipe:
Beef & Guinness Stew
Ingredients
2 tablespoons plain flour seasoned with salt & pepper
800-900g cheaper cut of beef, trimmed, cut into 3cm pieces
olive oil
2 sticks celery, chopped
1 brown onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced or finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled, chopped
10 small mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup Guinness (Extra Stout, not Draught - more info below)
2 cups beef stock
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
couple of sprigs of thyme
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
Method
Season the flour with salt & pepper & lightly coat the beef chunks. I do this by putting it all in a large zip-lock bag, zipping it & shaking around until meat is coated. But you can do it however you like.
Do all your chopping, slicing, mincing etc.
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed casserole dish. I used my le chasseur pot, which I am in LOVE with. Brown the meat in batches - you don't want to overcrowd the pot. It took me about 4 batches. Put meat aside on a plate.
Add meat & any juices back to the pot, stir it all through. Lid on & then in the oven at a low temp (about 140C) for 2 hours.
You can just leave it to do its thing, or check on it halfway through & give it a stir, skim off some fat etc.
When you think it's ready, remove from oven, skim excess fat, remove the bay leaves and add chopped parsley & a bit of salt & pepper.
Serve with mashed potatoes & peas. Yummo! (I forgot to take any photos of it all served up - ooops)
However, by Thursday afternoon it was a little less hectic so I decided to make Beef & Guinness stew for dinner, in honour of St Patrick's Day. I have made this a few times before, but tweaked it a bit this time & decided to cook it slowly in the oven instead of on the stovetop. My husband had seconds and said, "That was BEE-YOO-tiful", so I consider that a success! I have frozen the rest for another night. Here is my recipe:
Beef & Guinness Stew
Ingredients
Method
Season the flour with salt & pepper & lightly coat the beef chunks. I do this by putting it all in a large zip-lock bag, zipping it & shaking around until meat is coated. But you can do it however you like.
Do all your chopping, slicing, mincing etc.
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed casserole dish. I used my le chasseur pot, which I am in LOVE with. Brown the meat in batches - you don't want to overcrowd the pot. It took me about 4 batches. Put meat aside on a plate.
Add a little more oil to the pot, if needed & cook the onion, celery & carrot for a few minutes, over medium heat. Try to scrape off the crusty bits left by browning the meat - this is called "fond" in chef-land. See, don't say I never teach you anything! Add the garlic & continue to cook the veggies until softened. Add the mushrooms - they don't really need to be pre-softened like onions, etc - so add them whenever you like.
Add tomato paste & cook this off for a couple of minutes. This avoids that tinny, metallic taste tomato paste can have.
Slowly pour in Guinness. This is the correct Guinness to use - I can only really find it in longneck version. It's much better than the draught stuff in cans, which makes the stew a bit bland and froths up too much. And, because it's a longneck, after using a cup in the stew, there is a pint leftover to drink! (husband had this - I prefer wine)
Add stock, thyme & worcestershire sauce. Bring it all to the boil.
You can just leave it to do its thing, or check on it halfway through & give it a stir, skim off some fat etc.
When you think it's ready, remove from oven, skim excess fat, remove the bay leaves and add chopped parsley & a bit of salt & pepper.
 |
| Without flash |
Serve with mashed potatoes & peas. Yummo! (I forgot to take any photos of it all served up - ooops)
 |
| With flash |
Monday, March 7, 2011
Wedding Weekend #2
Well, off we went again! Up way too early for a Saturday morning, to the airport and off to Melbourne. Then straight into a hire car and off we headed to Avoca for the wedding of the lovely Maree & Mark. After a brief mishap trying to get on the right highway, we were on the road.
A brief toilet & coffee stop in Ballarat was colder than I expected anywhere to be at this time of year (and this is from a girl who grew up in Canberra), and before we knew it we were in Avoca. We had lunch at the lovely Avoca Hotel - very swish for a local pub in such a small country town. Then off to find our accommodation at Summerfield Winery. We arrived at exactly the same time as my old friend Dave, who was sharing the room with us. We literally drove in right behind him. Unfortunately the room was not ready & we really needed to stress that we had a wedding to get ready for. But eventually we were in the room & getting ready, and then back into town ready to party. Well, we were - Dave was driving as he was taking lots of photos & video.
The ceremony site was lovely, and it was a glorious day. It was quite hot by this time!
Me looking smooth-as, with my sunnies & overgrown fringe. (and yes, having put on way too much weight since my wedding - back to the gym ASAP!)
Here is the beautiful bride Maree arriving.
I first met Maree over 12 years ago (wow, I'm so old), when we were both living in Edinburgh. I was working with a fellow Aussie by the name of Dave (yes, the afore-mentioned Dave, our roomie & chauffeur for the night), with an absolutely wicked dry sense of humour. He's a fair bit older than me, but he befriended me & we went for drinks a couple of times, then he invited me to his place for dinner. Maree was his flatmate - they had previously worked together in Melbourne & were at this point sharing a flat in Edinburgh. As I later found out, Maree had been suffering for the lack of a girlie friend there & had instructed Dave to bring her home a girl. And he did ... ME! Well, needless to say we hit it off enormously well & all had some great times together there. Maree went back to Australia, I moved to Wales ... but when I came back to Australia we always stayed in touch & visited each other. Dave stayed over there for several more years, but has been back in Melbourne for a couple of years now. I feel so fortunate to have made such wonderful friends in my time there, and thinking back to that time when Maree & I were young & sort of fancy-free ... and have been through ups & downs together over the years, and now to be sharing each other's weddings less than 6 months apart. It's just wonderful where life takes you ...
To add a lovely personal touch, the celebrant was a very old & close friend of the bride's ... and one of the few people there I actually knew. There were over 200 people there (big weddings seem to be the theme so far for 2011 - we only had 60 at ours!), and I knew about 5. Rima the celebrant has been a friend of Maree's for many years, and has always been so welcoming & fantastic to me. She is an absolute hoot! And now she's qualified as a celebrant & was able to marry one of her best friends ... only her third wedding too!
Ahh, it was lovely. The reception was definitely unusual - at times it felt more like a big disco where everyone knew each other, than a wedding. It was a bit fluid with some of the details such as run sheet, catering, flow of the night, etc. But that was ok - it was a lovely occasion & the bride & groom had the perfect day for them. And that's what it's all about! We were thrilled to be there & to see Maree & Mark so happy.
More boring domestic news next time.
A brief toilet & coffee stop in Ballarat was colder than I expected anywhere to be at this time of year (and this is from a girl who grew up in Canberra), and before we knew it we were in Avoca. We had lunch at the lovely Avoca Hotel - very swish for a local pub in such a small country town. Then off to find our accommodation at Summerfield Winery. We arrived at exactly the same time as my old friend Dave, who was sharing the room with us. We literally drove in right behind him. Unfortunately the room was not ready & we really needed to stress that we had a wedding to get ready for. But eventually we were in the room & getting ready, and then back into town ready to party. Well, we were - Dave was driving as he was taking lots of photos & video.
Me looking smooth-as, with my sunnies & overgrown fringe. (and yes, having put on way too much weight since my wedding - back to the gym ASAP!)
Here is the beautiful bride Maree arriving.
I first met Maree over 12 years ago (wow, I'm so old), when we were both living in Edinburgh. I was working with a fellow Aussie by the name of Dave (yes, the afore-mentioned Dave, our roomie & chauffeur for the night), with an absolutely wicked dry sense of humour. He's a fair bit older than me, but he befriended me & we went for drinks a couple of times, then he invited me to his place for dinner. Maree was his flatmate - they had previously worked together in Melbourne & were at this point sharing a flat in Edinburgh. As I later found out, Maree had been suffering for the lack of a girlie friend there & had instructed Dave to bring her home a girl. And he did ... ME! Well, needless to say we hit it off enormously well & all had some great times together there. Maree went back to Australia, I moved to Wales ... but when I came back to Australia we always stayed in touch & visited each other. Dave stayed over there for several more years, but has been back in Melbourne for a couple of years now. I feel so fortunate to have made such wonderful friends in my time there, and thinking back to that time when Maree & I were young & sort of fancy-free ... and have been through ups & downs together over the years, and now to be sharing each other's weddings less than 6 months apart. It's just wonderful where life takes you ...
To add a lovely personal touch, the celebrant was a very old & close friend of the bride's ... and one of the few people there I actually knew. There were over 200 people there (big weddings seem to be the theme so far for 2011 - we only had 60 at ours!), and I knew about 5. Rima the celebrant has been a friend of Maree's for many years, and has always been so welcoming & fantastic to me. She is an absolute hoot! And now she's qualified as a celebrant & was able to marry one of her best friends ... only her third wedding too!
Mark the groom has only been in Maree's life for just over a year - it has been a whirlwind romance.
The first time I ever met him was at our own wedding, but we recently stayed with them when we were down there & I think he is wonderful & they are perfect together. Just look how happy they were when they were declared husband & wife!
Ahh, it was lovely. The reception was definitely unusual - at times it felt more like a big disco where everyone knew each other, than a wedding. It was a bit fluid with some of the details such as run sheet, catering, flow of the night, etc. But that was ok - it was a lovely occasion & the bride & groom had the perfect day for them. And that's what it's all about! We were thrilled to be there & to see Maree & Mark so happy.
 |
| The famous Dave |
Bit exhausted from the interstate parties & weddings now and definitely need a break. I'm glad I don't have any more weddings on the agenda for the time being, but I have enjoyed them & hope to maybe have some next year or even later in the year! (nobody else is engaged yet, but you just never know)
More boring domestic news next time.
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