Tuesday 20 December 2011

December Travels - The First Leg

I hopped on a bunch of planes over the last couple weeks (and I'm sure I'll be on a bunch more before the end of the month). Let me show you, part by part, where I visited.


It all started, belatedly, with a shaving of the Mo.

You know, when you even it all out, it doesn't look that creepy bad (well, maybe just slightly less so).

All back to normal...so to speak. Clean and proper and ready for air travel!


6:00 AM flight out of SFO. A bit too early for my tastes but a good feeling nonetheless to be back on a plane.

I found myself, on the other end of that flight, in New Jersey. Not wanting to waste a perfectly beautiful afternoon (and my several hour long layover) in the Garden State, I promptly hopped on a train and got myself into New York City to meet up with some old friends. You can see us (Traci, Kurt and I) posing for a pic here as we strolled through the High Line Park. For those of you who haven't heard of it, the High Line used to be an elevated freight rail line that ran through part of Manhattan, which recently got converted into a park/walkway.

Kurt, Myself and Phil (who also found time to come out for a visit) enjoying some crisp December air (and keeping our hands nice and warm in our respective jackets).

Can't really argue about how beautiful the High Line looks with the golden hue of the setting sun.

All four of us near the southern terminus at the end of our walk. In addition to having the opportunity to catch up with good friends, I also appreciated being able to stretch out the legs in preparation for another several hours worth of sitting on the plane.

And of course it would be a shame to go all the way to one of the great food cities of the world and not partake in a bit of caloric consumption. We dined at the Lobster Place in Chelsea Market where we helped ourselves to the following delectable treats: Tarragon shrimp roll, tray of fresh oysters on the half shell, lobster bisque and scallop & bacon chowder. All delicious. Worth a stop off if you happen to be craving seafood. We also stopped by the Tuck shop on the way out to grab an Aussie pie for the road (which I later consumed on the plane).


Then right back on the train, back to EWR and back onto a (very full) plane heading to my final destination.

I had this meal (vegetarian kofta curry) part way through the flight and it'll give you a little bit of a hint as to where I might be headed next.

Thank you very much to Traci, Kurt and Phil for keeping me company during my layover. Great to see each of you even if only for a couple hours. Keep checking back in for the next part of the epic trip. Hopefully I'll get around to posting it sooner rather than later.

Friday 2 December 2011

Thanksgiving 2K11

I'm gonna rush this post a bit because I gotta get to bed, but I wanted to share these pics of my glorious Thanksgiving break for you all.


So, Abbott gave me a turkey and I decided I should be a "grown-up" this holiday season and cook it. Here is step one of the cooking process: brining to ensure the meat is juicy and flavorful.

Tearing up the day old french bread loaf in preparation for making the stuffing.

In to the oven goes the turkey. Just a light coating of butter on the skin and a few chopped vegetables lining the inside of the pan and stuffed into the body cavity.

Our glorious turkey about half way through cooking during the second baste. Starting to look nice and browned with help from the delicious butter coating and generous basting.

And the final product! Nice and crispy skin, juicy meat. Very, very good by my standards and I think a pretty good job for a first go.

Mum's mac nut stuffing recipe to the rescue! Simply celery, onions, bread, mac nuts, dried cranberries and vegetable stock. A huge hit with the guests.

Doing a final brush with the juices just before carving up the turkey. A happy chef.

Crazy table full of hungry guests as the food starts to come out of the kitchen. You can see some holiday favorites in this pic including mashed sweet potatoes, gravy, turkey, cranberry sauce (from the can), salad and stuffing.

Charles, Sang (not pictured is baby Keri who was sound asleep in my room), Amelia, Mari and Alyssa. Nick, Priyanshu and myself were otherwise busy getting all the final details ready.

My dinner plate (Temuka pottery!) with all the delicious food! Yum.

And I even saved a bit of room for dessert: dutch apple pie, homemade pumpkin pie, vanilla ice cream and a homemade pear & brie tart.

We did well, but there's still plenty o'meat on that turkey. Guess what I've been eating all week...

Thank you most of all to Nick, my sous chef, for helping immensely with the prep/cooking. Priyanshu came early and leant a hand too. Finally, thanks to all the guests for coming by to help me eat all the food (or at least most of it). Happy holidays all! I've got more pictures coming at some point but I think I'll be a bit busy this coming week. Take care everyone and see ya next time!