Yesterday, we journeyed from Rawnsley Park to Parachilna (population: 7), where we stayed at the storied Prairie Hotel. This place is known for their Feral Mixed Grill, and so of course that is what June and I enjoyed last night. On the plate was camel sausage, an emu filet mignon and a kangaroo steak, all of which was amazing (see bonus image below). No wonder why this dish makes the lists of top eats in Australia. And the hotel itself was a delight. The front is very traditional, but the accommodations in the back are new and comfortable. Among the guest is a film crew who are making a move about a woman crossing the desert with camels. we heard this morning that one of tne of the stars, Mia Wasikowska (Alice from the “Alice in Wonderland”) is staying here, and I’m sure we saw her after breakfast. And we hear that Pierce Brosnan will be there in February working on one of his movies. For a dot on the map, this place gets a lot of activity.
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Today began with golf. I joined middle brother Brett and the two nephews for a round at the Par 3 course in North Adelaide, although Brett and I were there as the caddies. As Brett explained, as caddies we get to leisurely walk around with flat white coffees in hand and stand in the shade while the boys do their thing — which sounded like a good arrangement to me! I did get one opportunity to tee off on one of the holes, but the fact that I haven’t even held a club in my hands for probably 5 years or more became quickly apparent. The boys on the other hand both had great games! Then that evening, Brett put on a good ol’ Aussie bbq. June talked Dad into having one the other night (his bbq’s are held in the highest esteem), so to have the chance for another barbie was terrific. Nothing beats the simple pleasures of a sausage with sauce in a piece of bread — I have those cravings over here in the States periodically. At this point in the bbq-ing process, the potato slices are already done, the grilled onions and sausages (or “snags” in the Aussie parlance) are on their way and the steaks have just met the grill. YUM!
One of the absolute musts for any trip back to the Mount is lunch at the OK Pie Shop, and were there at the first opportunity! Lined up in front of me is a meat pie with sauce (ketchup), a cinnamon finger bun and a carton of Farmer’s Union Iced Coffee. I’m in heaven!!
Since we won’t be around for Halloween — the first one we’ve missed with our local nephew and nieces — June made up some bags of candy that I took to them tonight after work. As it turns out, they weren’t home when I ran by, which proved to be a disappointment for our nephew Dylan. He told June that he was planning to hand me his Christmas wish list while I was there. Talk about advanced planning!
While making our pre-dinner cocktails, I looked at the ice bucket in the freezer and wondered if I could do anything with this to make a photo-of-the-day. So I played around with the image a bit and found this effect that add the orange/red glow between the ice cubes, while maintaining the blue of the ice. So I present to you…..”Fire and Ice.”
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!
They had an ice cream bar set up at work today for a team celebration, so naturally I availed myself of the tasty treat. Vanilla ice cream with an assortment of yummy toppings to pile on top. Just the ticket for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up.IT’S VEGGIE MAN!
I was having lunch today at Arby’s and ordered a chicken salad. Knowing that I needed a photo today of some sort (of course), I took my phone and just casually flicked through the various effects of my PowerCam app to see if anything caught my fancy. And lo and behold, this image appeared using the mirror effect. I especially love the moustache and goatee this guy is sporting.I did my volunteering bit at PeaceCasters this afternoon, and when i got home June was well and truly in gardening mode, so I made us both a cup of tea and while she toiled amongst the plants I took the opportunity to sit outside and catch on the day’s news in the paper.
Contrary to the stereotype many non-Australians have of Australian culture and cuisine, today I experienced a first. And at first I didn’t give it a thought, but then it suddenly occurred to me. Here I was wielding the tongs over the BBQ and on the grill plate were shrimp. Yes that’s right, for the very time in my life I had shrimp on the barbie! (Not that I had any — these were all for June.) Little teeny guys they were too – almost a shame to take them away from their mothers.
This afternoon, June and I went to visit her friend Stan who has just returned from some travels around the country. We sat in his front yard and enjoyed a glass of wine (or two) as we caught up with his news. In the background was the delicious aroma of meat cooking, so before we left Stan Stan took us over to see what he was cooking. Turns out he was smoking ribs in a homemade smoker fashioned from a metal garbage can, with the wire from political poster yard signs used as hooks to hold the double-stacked racks he had inside the can. It really was an ingenious creation.