(February 5, 2010 – 02:56)
It’s one week exactly until Hannah arrives home.
I spent last weekend in Townsville, partly to see Dad, and partly so that I’d make it to Althea’s 21st. It’d been raining for quite a few days before I got there, but on my last day, just before I was due at the airport, we drove to the top of Castle Hill and enjoyed the sunshine.
Back in Brisbane, I’ve been renovating furniture, repairing my bicycle and shooting headshots with Anna:
… and in the biggest and best news, my cousin Mary and her husband Andrew had a beautiful baby boy, Vincent. I can’t wait to meet him!
(January 12, 2010 – 07:00)
I arrived home in Brisbane to find myself waist-deep in a few varieties of basil. They’re all potted in water-storing pots, which means they survived a month with no watering at all, until the rain started after Christmas. A surplus of basil means only one thing:
Almond Pesto
- 1½ cups raw almond kernels
- 1 cup virgin olive oil
- 150g parmesan reggiano, chopped or grated
- 4-5 cloves of garlic
- armful of fresh basil – I used a fairly even mix of Greek, Genovese and Thai.
- salt and course-milled black pepper to season
Wash and shake dry basil. Pluck leaves and add to a food processor with parmesan and half the oil, and process until just combined. Toast almonds until fragrant, then add to food processor. Sauté coarsely chopped garlic in remaining oil until just soft. Add oil and garlic to food processor and process until well mixed – you may need more oil to get sufficient smoothness. I like mine fairly chunky, although biting into a large piece of almost-raw garlic can ruin your date. Serve warm on grilled ciabatta, mixed with pasta for alla genovese, or store under oil in the refrigerator.
By Sam
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Posted in Blogs, Recipes
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Tagged almond, australia, basil, brisbane, food, garlic, home, italian, pesto, recipe, summer
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(January 9, 2010 – 23:47)
I’ve just spent the last five weeks with the girl I love, in my favourite city in the world. Bliss.
We did lots of the usual couple things we’ve been unable to do for the ten months since I moved to Brisbane: dates, movies, falling over in the snow. We’ve built snowmen, cooked meals together and gone hiking. We even made it to London for a long weekend in the big city:
Britain isn’t getting any warmer. I left Edinburgh at five in the morning, trudging through half a foot of snow and -10°C temperatures. Thirty-eight hours later (via Dublin, Abu Dhabi and Singapore) I emerged into a balmy 30°C Brisbane morning, still wearing thermals and a coat. Oops.
I’ll miss the snowmen:
(and the snow in general, I guess),
I’ll miss my beautiful city:
But most of all, I’ll miss my Hannah:
Five weeks and counting ’til she’s home.
By Sam
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Posted in Blogs, photography
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Tagged christmas, couple, edinburgh, england, hannah, hogmanay, ice, london, love, new years, scotland, snow, travel, UK
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(November 29, 2009 – 18:27)
I was a little nervous about Belfast after lasts month’s attempted bombings. I arrived after dark, and having spent all day travelling, settled in for an early night. I woke early and spent several quiet hours walking around the city centre. Sunday morning is a quiet time for Belfast – the only other person I saw was a German tourist following a similar route. Even the 24 hour Tesco is closed until one in the afternoon.
It’s a bizarre feeling walking though a city that has such a violent recent history. It reminds me a little of Sarajevo, but with fresher wounds. The “peace line”, a three-mile wall dividing the Falls Road and Shankill neighbourhoods, still stands, though the tanks guarding the gates have been gone a decade. The police stations are heavily fortified and shelter a legion of armoured cars. Republican and Unionist propaganda and graffiti covers the walls of the working class suburbs, and there’s barely a city block that doesn’t fly at least one Union Jack, Tricolour or St. George Cross.
Still, the people are as cheerful and friendly as anywhere else on this island, with accents equal parts entertaining and unintelligible.
Just don’t talk religion or politics.
The Ulster photoset is here.
(November 29, 2009 – 18:18)
Days without getting soaked to the bone: zero.
Wednesday saw me on a bus through County Clare and the Burren, bound towards the Cliffs of Moher, towering more than a hundred metres over the Atlantic ocean. I’ve gotten used to forecasts like “Maximum of 0ºC, humidity at 100%,” but the wind off the Atlantic was still a surprise. It was strong enough to drag spray up the cliff face and onto us poor, shivering tourists. Still, a beautiful sight, and it was lovely to reacquaint myself with the Atlantic.
The Burren is a limestone karst landscape covering a few hundred square kilometres of Co. Clare, packed full of neolithic tombs, livestock and little else. According to Edmund Ludlow the Burren is “country where there is not enough water to drown a man, wood enough to hang one, nor earth enough to bury him…… and yet their cattle are very fat; for the grass growing in turfs of earth, of two or three foot square, that lie between the rocks, which are of limestone, is very sweet and nourishing.”
Photoset for Galway and Co. Clare is here.
(November 28, 2009 – 03:01)
With typically good timing I came down with a fever just as I reached Galway, Ireland’s party capital. I soldiered through yesterday, with a daytrip through The Burren and the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare (photos to come), but today has been all about bed rest. Oh, and scones. There’s only so many hours one can lie warm in bed before the urge to battle through wind, rain and subzero temperatures to the nearest Tesco, in order to procure baking soda, becomes overwhelming.
Buttermilk scones
Makes about eight medium sized scones.
- 2 cups plain flour
- 3 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 40g butter, cubed
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ¼ cup water
- jam and whipped cream, to serve
Preheat oven to 180ºC. Sift together flour, sugar and baking soda. Add butter, rubbing into mixture with fingertips until crumbly consistency. Add buttermilk and water, and stir until just combined. Spoon onto a greased tray. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until firm and just crisp on the outside. Serve with whipped Irish cream and strawberry jam.
I would have taken photos, but we ate them too quickly.
(November 25, 2009 – 19:36)
(November 22, 2009 – 08:09)
Dinner party a moderate success. Noted high correlation between vegetarianism and absenteeism.
Just about to jump on a plane!
(November 20, 2009 – 01:06)
First, a quick catch-up from where I left off: I’ve been home, in Brisbane, for nigh on ten months. I’ve completed a year of a nursing degree without killing anyone – and promisingly, I’m convinced that I’m doing the right thing, and that I’ll actually stick around long enough to graduate, this time.
Along with study, I’ve spent the year making new friends, taking photographs and mastering the art of wok-cooking.
My aims for this blog are several-fold:
- I want to journal the experience of being a student nurse in Queensland’s healthcare system, although as my name is featured in large type rather prominently on every page of the blog, I’ll be trying to avoid making comments that’ll get me sued/fired/stalked.
- A showcase for my photography. I occasionally produce work I’m happy with. You’ll see it here.
- Recipes. I’m working on a book, and many of my recipes and associated photographs will be proofed here.
- Writing. I remember a time when I actually enjoyed producing prose and poetry. This was probably before I was required to APA reference every statement I make.
I leave for Dublin in two days time. The night before I fly, I’m hosting a steamboat dinner-party for friends I haven’t seen in weeks, thanks to my exams and hospital practicum. I’ll reach Dublin on Monday morning, and after a little under a week exploring Ireland I’ll cross the sea to Edinburgh, for a long-awaited reunion with my beautiful girlfriend, Hannah.
Can’t wait. I’ll keep you posted.
