One of the things I'm really enjoying about Australian TV right now is MasterChef. Love it! And I love that it's on almost every night of the week, so that you're almost forced to watch it. This also means that just about everyone else in Australia is watching it at the same time too, and everyone's talking about it. I'm not sure I have the right words to describe it, but it's like it's building community through a TV show, which I know sounds pathetic, but I think it's nice.
For those of you not in Australia, Masterchef is a reality TV show involving everyday Joes with a passion for cooking who are battling for the title of Masterchef. But the difference is that it's actually quite nice to watch, probably because there's none of the bitchiness of most other reality TV shows, and everyone is quite decent and supportive towards one another. The other great part is that it's all about good food. Every once in a while, they'll give lessons on some of the basics, and last Sunday, they made scones. mmmmmm, scones. There's lots of scones in Sydney, and they are freakin delicious. I tried out their recipe for date (they love dates in this country) and lemon scones last night and they were as easy to make as in the show and they came out perfectly. Do it! Make them! When they're done, enjoy them with jam, cream and a cuppa and you'll feel just like you're in Sydney (if you're not already in Sydney).
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Scare tactics
Australian public health campaigns rely heavily on scare tactics. The commercials warning about the dangers of smoking, crystal meth, too much sun exposure, and binge drinking are at times downright horrific. The other day, the "everybody knows" anti-smoking commercial came on while Gus was in the room and I made him close his eyes through all of it just to make sure he wouldn't have nightmares that night. Here's a link to the commercial, but I'm warning you - if you have a weak stomach, don't follow the link!
Interestingly, for any public health geeks out there, there was a famous campaign in the late 80s, called the "grim reaper campaign". And if you talk to Australians, they all remember these commercials and will swear to you that the campaign was incredibly successful and resulted in Australia's current low HIV rates, at least among heterosexuals. I have no idea if that's the case or not. I do have a vague memory from a course I took ages ago (in psychology? sociology? public health?) that scare tactics do not work in changing people's behaviour, it just grosses them out. But, I don't know...I think I'd be giving up the smokes pretty quickly after I saw some of those images in the "everybody knows" commercials. Also, someone recently made the point that if nothing else, these commercials are good at getting people to talk about these issues. This much, I can vouch for!
Interestingly, for any public health geeks out there, there was a famous campaign in the late 80s, called the "grim reaper campaign". And if you talk to Australians, they all remember these commercials and will swear to you that the campaign was incredibly successful and resulted in Australia's current low HIV rates, at least among heterosexuals. I have no idea if that's the case or not. I do have a vague memory from a course I took ages ago (in psychology? sociology? public health?) that scare tactics do not work in changing people's behaviour, it just grosses them out. But, I don't know...I think I'd be giving up the smokes pretty quickly after I saw some of those images in the "everybody knows" commercials. Also, someone recently made the point that if nothing else, these commercials are good at getting people to talk about these issues. This much, I can vouch for!
Monday, June 22, 2009
I can't help myself
This past week we finally bought a new car. When we first got to Australia, knowing we were only going to be here 3-4 years, we had a decision to make...buy a cheap old car and run it to the ground, or buy something more expensive that we could sell right before we return to Canada. Well, Vic heard several stories from backpackers and expats who went the cheap old car route, drove the hell out of it all over Australia's outback, and who strongly recommended that option to him. So we bought the lemoniest of cars for very little money. And what happened: well, it broke down about a week after we bought it, and continued breaking down on a regular basis since then.
In fact, the car's been steadily running worse and worse, to the point where we've been sticking close to home in the past month for fear of it breaking down and being stranded far from home. But last week, we finally got rid of it, and bought a much improved, dependable car. And what did we do the first weekend we had it....go to the Blue Mountains, or the Royal National Park or to the Northern Beaches??? No, no and no. Instead, I insisted we go to Ikea, which is way in the West of Sydney, about a 45 min drive from us. We hadn't been to Ikea since shortly after we got here, and I've been suffering from withdrawal from being able to buy cute stuff for our apartment, cheap.
In trying to avoid the insanity of Sydney traffic, we ended up spending absurd amounts on tolls, but for me, it was totally worth it. I love Ikea! Once there, we bought hot dogs. We had to, because Ikea is one of the few places in Sydney where you can buy hot dogs that actually taste and look like the hot dogs that we're used to. In other places, the hot dogs are an odd orange or bright pink colour and the inside of them is a yucky mushy texture. eww. The calzone (tomato and cheese) in the pic below is mine (have I mentioned I've been seriously off meat lately?).
We went with the intention of buying a shower curtain, and came back with an armful (and let me tell you, I had to restrain myself from buying many, many other cute things). Ikea's swedish ingenuity never fails to impress me. Check this out. A solar powered lamp (perfect for our small apartment that has limited electrical outlets), AND for every one that you buy, they donate one to UNICEF. We had to buy it, not just for us, but for the children. Also included in our purchases was a pepper grinder (I cannot believe I've been without for almost a year) and matching spice jars....and the grinder part of the pepper grinder comes off and can be screwed on to any of the matching spice jars. Genius! And of course, a fleece blanket to replace the sleeping bag we've been using as a third blanket to keep warm on the colder nights.
On our way out, we HAD to test out the ice cream machine.
Eyes rolling back into head. mmmmm, ice cream.
In fact, the car's been steadily running worse and worse, to the point where we've been sticking close to home in the past month for fear of it breaking down and being stranded far from home. But last week, we finally got rid of it, and bought a much improved, dependable car. And what did we do the first weekend we had it....go to the Blue Mountains, or the Royal National Park or to the Northern Beaches??? No, no and no. Instead, I insisted we go to Ikea, which is way in the West of Sydney, about a 45 min drive from us. We hadn't been to Ikea since shortly after we got here, and I've been suffering from withdrawal from being able to buy cute stuff for our apartment, cheap.
In trying to avoid the insanity of Sydney traffic, we ended up spending absurd amounts on tolls, but for me, it was totally worth it. I love Ikea! Once there, we bought hot dogs. We had to, because Ikea is one of the few places in Sydney where you can buy hot dogs that actually taste and look like the hot dogs that we're used to. In other places, the hot dogs are an odd orange or bright pink colour and the inside of them is a yucky mushy texture. eww. The calzone (tomato and cheese) in the pic below is mine (have I mentioned I've been seriously off meat lately?).
We went with the intention of buying a shower curtain, and came back with an armful (and let me tell you, I had to restrain myself from buying many, many other cute things). Ikea's swedish ingenuity never fails to impress me. Check this out. A solar powered lamp (perfect for our small apartment that has limited electrical outlets), AND for every one that you buy, they donate one to UNICEF. We had to buy it, not just for us, but for the children. Also included in our purchases was a pepper grinder (I cannot believe I've been without for almost a year) and matching spice jars....and the grinder part of the pepper grinder comes off and can be screwed on to any of the matching spice jars. Genius! And of course, a fleece blanket to replace the sleeping bag we've been using as a third blanket to keep warm on the colder nights.
On our way out, we HAD to test out the ice cream machine.
Eyes rolling back into head. mmmmm, ice cream.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Things I wish I had known...
Oh yeah, there's lots I wish I had known before I moved to the other side of the world to start this PhD almost a year ago. Here's one of my top ten: being a phd student is lonely! Before I started the program, I had read about the sense of isolation that most PhD students feel, but I ignored the warnings because I like to think of myself as immune to all those wussy feelings. Well, turns out those PhD blogs and websites were right, and it is indeed an isolating experience, especially if it's something you're doing full-time, like I am.
Here's a picture of the post-grad room, where I spend most of my weekdays reading and writing. My desk is the one in the left corner by the window, with the heater in front of it. Sometimes there are one or two other students in the room with me, but we're all working on our own thing, hence that isolation thing. The other six or so students that have desks in this room are MIA, which is not unusual in PhD by research programs.
Gone are my public servant days of working as part of a team, and consulting with everyone and their grandma before taking a step. Now it's just me and my research, which is sort of free-ing, but also a little scary.
Here's some of the stickers on my filing cabinet left behind by the last student. Is it any wonder that I'm feeling a little off meat these days?!?
Here's a picture of the post-grad room, where I spend most of my weekdays reading and writing. My desk is the one in the left corner by the window, with the heater in front of it. Sometimes there are one or two other students in the room with me, but we're all working on our own thing, hence that isolation thing. The other six or so students that have desks in this room are MIA, which is not unusual in PhD by research programs.
Gone are my public servant days of working as part of a team, and consulting with everyone and their grandma before taking a step. Now it's just me and my research, which is sort of free-ing, but also a little scary.
Here's some of the stickers on my filing cabinet left behind by the last student. Is it any wonder that I'm feeling a little off meat these days?!?
Friday, June 12, 2009
A warm salad
Last night we ordered pizza and I was looking around in the fridge for something healthy to eat with it. We had a big bunch of romaine lettuce that I was thinking about turning into a salad, but it was so friggin cold in our apartment that I couldn't bear the thought of eating something cold. So I decided to take a page from Kath's blog and make kale chips. This was the first time I had made them, and I was doubtful that kale could turn into anything tasting remotely like potato chips, but they were really, really good, and as an added bonus, I'm sure they cancelled out any unhealthiness from the pizza.
Here's the recipe (taken from Kath's blog): Take a bunch of kale, wash it up and rip into chip-size pieces, and lay them out in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and parmesan cheese and bake for 15 min at 375, until edges are browned. Easy peasy and delish!
Our crust supreme, soooo good with a combo of sweet pineapple and salty black olives, and other yummy toppings.
Kale chips (they taste better than they look)
Here's the recipe (taken from Kath's blog): Take a bunch of kale, wash it up and rip into chip-size pieces, and lay them out in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and parmesan cheese and bake for 15 min at 375, until edges are browned. Easy peasy and delish!
Our crust supreme, soooo good with a combo of sweet pineapple and salty black olives, and other yummy toppings.
Kale chips (they taste better than they look)
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Welcome to the 18th Century
Those were Vic's words when I told him about my new-found love for a hot water bottle that I bought over the weekend. I'm sure I've whinged about this before on this blog, but our little apartment (like most buildings in Sydney) has no central heating. This means that as soon as the sun goes down, which these days is around 5pm, it is absolutely freezing and our bed turns into an ice block.
One of the other students, who is from New Zealand - where it gets even colder and yet they also don't have central heating - swears by a hot water bottle. And now I have to agree, there is nothing like getting under the covers of an already warmed-up bed.
Next on my list of products I must buy to keep warm through the Sydney winter is a duvet suit. Who cares if it's made by a company called "Lazypatch". In fact, that makes it all the more attractive.
One of the other students, who is from New Zealand - where it gets even colder and yet they also don't have central heating - swears by a hot water bottle. And now I have to agree, there is nothing like getting under the covers of an already warmed-up bed.
Next on my list of products I must buy to keep warm through the Sydney winter is a duvet suit. Who cares if it's made by a company called "Lazypatch". In fact, that makes it all the more attractive.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Brilliant!
So lately I keep waking up in the middle of the night and having these wickedly brilliant ideas (or at least I think they are at the time). Just a couple of nights ago, I distinctly remember thinking of something that would make my PhD so much better, truly transformative in the field of sampling methods. Then in the morning, I woke up with nothing, not even a fleeting idea of what that thought was....aaaargh!
My only consolation is that last night I woke up with this really great idea for gifts. We're heading back to Canada for a visit this summer and I've been mulling over what little gifties I could bring back for friends and family. And last night, voila! I woke up thinking I could bring back some real Australian bush tucker, specifically some herbs like lemon myrtle and pepperberry, perfect for the foodies in my life, like my brother and sister-in-law and our old neighbour who once made this roast thing for us that I still dream about. And the brilliant part of it was that I would get it bulk from the uni organic foods co-op and I would store these herbs in baggies so that there would be no glass breakage.
Of course, this morning when I woke up, I realized that mass quantities of herbs in baggies in my luggage is probably about the dumbest idea ever, and highly likely to result in a full-on body search especially when we make one of our two stopovers in the U.S. on our way back to Canada.
So now I've stopped fretting that I've come up with and then subsequently completely forgotten about a brilliant idea for my thesis, cause it was probably equally as lame as my herbs in baggies idea. Just in case though, I'm going to put a pad of paper and a pen on my bedside table for any future strokes of brilliance.
On yet another bread related note, I've decided that I must never again buy Shepherd's Bakehouse 5-fruit bread. It is just too amazingly delicious, and I end up eating it non-stop. Here's what I just inhaled before writing this post: a slice of this bread, toasted, topped with almond butter, sliced bananas and a sprinkling of choc bits. mmmmmm.
Oh, and I've got to share a picture with you of our organic local fruit and veg box this week. Check it out: corn, kiwis, bananas, grapes, oranges...in our LOCAL produce basket.
My only consolation is that last night I woke up with this really great idea for gifts. We're heading back to Canada for a visit this summer and I've been mulling over what little gifties I could bring back for friends and family. And last night, voila! I woke up thinking I could bring back some real Australian bush tucker, specifically some herbs like lemon myrtle and pepperberry, perfect for the foodies in my life, like my brother and sister-in-law and our old neighbour who once made this roast thing for us that I still dream about. And the brilliant part of it was that I would get it bulk from the uni organic foods co-op and I would store these herbs in baggies so that there would be no glass breakage.
Of course, this morning when I woke up, I realized that mass quantities of herbs in baggies in my luggage is probably about the dumbest idea ever, and highly likely to result in a full-on body search especially when we make one of our two stopovers in the U.S. on our way back to Canada.
So now I've stopped fretting that I've come up with and then subsequently completely forgotten about a brilliant idea for my thesis, cause it was probably equally as lame as my herbs in baggies idea. Just in case though, I'm going to put a pad of paper and a pen on my bedside table for any future strokes of brilliance.
On yet another bread related note, I've decided that I must never again buy Shepherd's Bakehouse 5-fruit bread. It is just too amazingly delicious, and I end up eating it non-stop. Here's what I just inhaled before writing this post: a slice of this bread, toasted, topped with almond butter, sliced bananas and a sprinkling of choc bits. mmmmmm.
Oh, and I've got to share a picture with you of our organic local fruit and veg box this week. Check it out: corn, kiwis, bananas, grapes, oranges...in our LOCAL produce basket.
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