Cronulla’s Cotton Candy Clouds

I think it looks best bigger.



It was such a surprise sunset tonight! One minute I was on the couch editing photos and the next I saw this out our window.
 

Tweet

Pin It

Adventures in Snack Making

I can claim absolutely no originality for this post whatsoever. But it’s Sunday and I’m feeling fine with stealing other people’s genius today.

First stolen item: My fab friend discovered this amazing blog Sprouted Kitchen. Second stolen item: Sara of Sprouted Kitchen’s fancy Savory Roasted Almonds. Third stolen item: Inspiration from Sara’s bf’s beautiful photos of her food creations. (Although the photos below are mine.)

So aaaaanyway, forget about the stealing. Ahem… Sara’s site is all about cooking with natural ingredients, whole grains, unsaturated fats, etc. And she promises that on her blog “you will find recipes that ALWAYS use local ingredients, and organic when found affordable.” I was inspired. And hungry. So I made yummy almonds.



Here’s what you’ll need, but you can find the full recipe here.
3 Cups/16 oz. Raw Almonds
2 Small Egg Whites (OR 1 Extra Large Egg White)
1/3 Cup Fresh Thyme Leaves
1 Tbsp. Red Pepper Flakes
1 Tbsp. Dried Oregano
1 Tbsp. Garlic Powder
3 Tbsp. Lemon Zest
2 tsp. Black Pepper
1 1/2 Tbsp. Natural Cane Sugar/Sucanat
Sea Salt                                                                                                                    
1/2 Cup Finely Grated Parmesan Cheese


I loved mashing up this concoction of fresh herbs and spices. So therapeutic, and it smelled insanely good.

     

      

Later that night I tried Sara’s Scallops on Creamy Leeks for dinner. And It was serious YUM. I would have taken photos, but I was too busy destroying the kitchen :)

Tweet

Pin It

Sydney Harbour

It was a pretty big day yesterday for this Indiana girl. I had two job interviews in two very different parts of Sydney, and had to navigate my way with CityRail and street maps. Indianapolis doesn’t exactly prepare you for these things :) It also doesn’t help that my iPhone is pretty much just a glorified calendar over here. So I was left to looking at railway timetables and bus stop street maps to get around. I’m sure there were “dumb tourist” whispers at nearly every street corner, but it was actually a great experience. (And I’m SO not a tourist, people. I live in the Shire. Booyah!)

I made it to each place with plenty of time, found cafes to collect my thoughts in, and had some pretty successful meetings! Oh, and I got to see the Opera House en route to BOTH companies. I wouldn’t mind this on a commute :)


                           


For my morning interview I was across the Harbour Bridge and had great views of the Opera House from the train as we crossed.

And I think this one is the front-runner :)

Then I headed into the CBD for lunch with a friend and a 2pm high-rise chat.
   


Two more on Monday, and then we’ll have a decision. Exciting times!!

Tweet

Pin It

Thursday Morning

  

Soooo no one wants to go to the beach then?

Tweet

Pin It

Showers

The weather has been pretty nasty here the last few days. A bit of sun sneaks out every now and then, but it’s mostly cloudy with plenty of rain. Today was probably the worst of it with really high winds and flat-out downpour at times. Nice skies though :)





And to be honest, I’m not really minding the doom and gloom. It’s been the perfect opportunity to curl up on the couch with a movie or good book (orrrr the last episode of Season 4 Dexter. GASP!!), listen to Sam play, drink too much tea, and enjoy the heater we drug up from the garage. Mmmmmmm comfy :)

Tweet

Pin It

Do people still think off-shore drilling is a good idea?

(via Dustin Henderlong)

Tweet

Pin It

Slide

Yesterday I was a giant tease – going on and on about Sam’s new songs and amazing talent. But I didn’t even share any of his music with you! What a jerk :)

Sooooooooo I’m beyond excited to share one of my favorite Sam Stephenson songs ….. Slide.
If you click, the link will take you to Sam’s new music blog called Rules of Mixtape. It’s a new project that he’s going to be updating with music discoveries and recommendations, up-and-coming bands, exciting collaborations and of course some music from his own project and Fisherking. It’s in the early stages now, but check back often for plenty of new posts and MP3’s to download!

Tweet

Pin It

Sam Solo

This past Saturday Sam played a solo show at The Brass Monkey and it was fan-freakin-tastic! You all know I’m biased, but really…it was an amazing night. He played a few Fisherking songs, but mostly introduced the new Sam Stephenson tunes he’s been working on.

The photos aren’t great since I was too scared to take my SLR out for the night, but you get the idea. Oh! And that’s Paul of Fisherking playing electric.

My personal favorite of the night was a song called Slide. It was written on the Dobro slide guitar I got Sam for his birthday last year….

And even though he had to play a different guitar on stage, I still loved it. SO proud of him and can’t wait for more shows!

Tweet

Pin It

Paddington

The interview went really well! I won’t share anything about the company, but the people I met were so interesting and very passionate about their work. Very inspiring….I think it could be a good fit! I wish I could stop using this iPhone app. But alas, here are my interview supplies and train views.



And I loved the area this office was in. Paddington is such a funky place. Really intricate iron work on all of the buildings and such a unique architectural style. I know these homes would be even more amazing inside, so I had to keep myself from looking in all the windows! I could really see myself living here…

      

These two images are from a blog called A Paddington Perspective, which I just discovered and immediately bookmarked. This lady’s got some remarkable taste!


I’ll have to go back with my proper camera soon :)

Tweet

Pin It

Travelling North

Off to an interview in Paddington today and taking the TRAIN!!

This song isn’t mood-appropriate at all, but I’ve always loved it. It’s from the infamous Dark Was the Night compilation and is called….

Train Song   

Duh. No brainer!

Tweet

Pin It

Also, I miss my puppy.

Sorry for the following.

Awe puppers!



  

And yes, I realize how pathetic this post is.

Tweet

Pin It

Pretending to Cook

So I still don’t have a job. Ugh :(

But on the bright side, I’ve had heaps of free time during the day! And in between searching, emailing, and resume uploading I’ve been trying to discover new passions (or at least hobbies). Happily for the boy in my life, I’ve taken to cooking.

I’ve never been much of a cook. I always said it was because of my busy schedule (and I did secretly like being the girl who had cereal and beer for dinner) but in reality, I just couldn’t be bothered to think up tasty recipes or experiment with new ingredients. Honestly, the idea of working through a page-long recipe was flat-out scary. But not anymore my friends!! I’m taking baby-steps, but so far in this lovely country full of wonderfully fresh food I’ve managed to conquer a few delicious recipes.

The first I got from Bill Granger, who is an Aussie chef famous for cooking simple food in amazing ways. From the book Simply Bill I took on his rice noodles with prawns and lime creation and man…was I impressed with me :)

(Image from Simply Bill)

Since then, I’ve mastered pumpkin soup (with significant help from Sam), my mom’s lasagna, chicken noodle soup, fancy chicken fajitas (categorized as fancy because I improvised a marinade and never opened a pre-packaged envelope of seasoning), homemade pizzas, and Sam’s favorite family recipe Chicken Pie. Yummmmmm…

I still have a LONG way to go, but I’m not so intimidated anymore. And I think I really want to learn how to cook Thai food. Like for real Thai food. I’m this close to the real deal….what better time?!

Tweet

Pin It