Cooking Classes

Millie's school has started a cooking class every other week (every fortnight) for parents. I decided to make myself go for the purpose of meeting new people and perhaps expanding my exposure to other cuisines.

I have met some very nice people. None of them are born in Australia. Which is SO TYPICAL for the area we live in. It's fantastic. India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, South America, England. It's so great.

This week we made baked ricotta and pear salad with roasted walnuts. 

And we always get to sit and eat it, too! With no kids around!

Party crashers

Saturday night/Sunday morning about 12:30 I heard so much helicopter activity in the air, I had to get out of bed to see what was going on. There was a helicopter hovering in the air nearby. I assumed there was a criminal situation of some kind and went back to bed.

Leo had the whole scoop of the story before breakfast via twitter and Facebook. Some of the kids involved go to his school.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/facebook-party-brawl-four-people-injured-in-wild-melee-in-point-cook-20160521-gp0r9l.html

Appliances

We are living in a rental property. Of course, this means that the landlord isn't interested in providing the best appliances or most aesthetic detailing. We can't complain. But I do complain about the dishwasher. I have hated it since we came here. There are no tines in the upper rack so everything falls over unless it's fully loaded. The tines in the lower rack are oddly spaced. And it pretends to have a "dry" cycle, but there is no vent on the door so there is absolutely nowhere for the water to go when it's finished. I have to open the door as soon as it's done and then slide the racks out to dry. It's not a huge kitchen either so it's annoying having to step around it while the dishes air dry.

What is bitterly ironic is that last month our dishwasher at our home in Utah stopped working. So I had to shop for a replacement online and arrange for installation. I was salivating over all the ball-bearing sliding racks and quick-wash options. And bestill my heart--HEATED DRYING! After much comparison and deliberation, I settled on a KitchenAid 46 decibel dishwasher in Black Stainless Steel with a THIRD RACK for all those odd size utensils and small snack cups for lunch packing. The handle even doubles as a towel rack which is perfectly placed in my kitchen. I LOVE IT! But it will still be three months before I can meet it.

Look at the cute red circles in the handle!

There are some other odd quirks about our rental house that we've had to get used to.

I'm definitely going to miss this

With a combination of less Zumba, no gym membership, and more time in my schedule (that gives me more time to bake and EAT), I am face-to-face with my over-40-ness, and having to reduce my sugar consumption. Sugar increases my craving for more sugar, so I've tried to break my addiction. I was depressed about this at first. But I've made it nearly 4 weeks with ALMOST no sugar and I do notice a distinct reduction in cravings. However sometimes I just want to keep my mouth busy with something besides cucumbers.

You know my favorite treat ever is cookie dough. It isn't just about the sweetness. It's a total package of texture, and sweetness, and coolness, and density, and... I could eat it non-stop. Sometimes I do. Go back to start.

But, Lo and Behold, verily, I have found a very good substitute for cookie dough. And it is available in abundance in Australia.

You won't believe me when I tell you. But it has made all the difference for me over the past few weeks. And I've finally perfected it enough to share with you.

Recycling

There are a few things we can learn from the reduce, reuse, recycle efforts here.

First off. The recycling bin is larger than the trash bin. Hooray. Promoting the right behavior and making the other less-easy.

More people use reusable shopping bags. The cashiers often ask if you want a receipt or need a bag.

If you do end up with a lot of plastic shopping bags, the irony is that you CAN'T put them in the recycling bin. You have to either take them to a specific recycling location (at our library) or put them in the garbage bin (rubbish). I suppose the person below just got sick of keeping these around with good intentions of taking them in to be recycled.

Driving on the Left

No doubt, one of the biggest differences we faced when getting settled in Australia was learning to drive on the left side of the road. It was incredibly unsettling. You don't realize how instinctive your traffic checking habits are. You know where the opposing traffic is coming from and you guard that side of your car. But when the traffic is coming from the other way, you are constantly checking in ALL directions, even the places where traffic won't be. For weeks I kept looking over my right shoulder when I would cross traffic (to turn *right*), because I thought I was going to get T-boned--and DIE. I'm so used to cars driving on that side of the road I couldn't trust there wasn't a car over there. Then other times when entering the road, I would forget to actually check the traffic on the right side. I'm still alive and have not caused any accidents! Phew!

I had Leo hold the camera for a couple of our car trips so you could experience what it is like to drive from the left side: