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HULLO AGAIN.

As you probably already heard, I passed my exam. What a relief. I still think about it sometimes and revel in the amazing feeling that I don’t have to become a taxi driver.

But funny (?) story, I got another email last week from my new case officer that said “as your application deadline is rapidly approaching and you still haven’t told us if you passed your exam, do you want to withdraw your application?”. WAT!!?! I did not think that I would have to tell THEM that I passed THEIR exam. But apparently I did, and then my registration was finalized a couple hours later. Ah bureaucracy, so fun.

And then speaking of silly bureaucracy… I got a letter from the Australian Electoral Commission saying that I was not registered as voter at this address. Umm duh. So then I had to send THEM back a form telling them that I’m not a citizen! WHY ARE THESE THINGS MY PROBLEM??

I wonder what else I haven’t notified people about.

Anyway so I’m finally able to apply for jobs. I applied for all three that are posted right now. I have absolutely no clue how much competition there will be. Hopefully it doesn’t take too long for me to get a job.

It was real hot today. 35ºC. And the forecast for tomorrow… 16. Melbourne, you crazy.

Some pictures:

We had some friends over to watch hockey a few weeks ago. I made Nanaimo squares for the first time ever! They turned out DELICIOUS! Although Scott and I agree that the middle layer should be the thickest, not the bottom layer, so I would probably adjust the ratios when I make them again.

I used this recipe, but had to use smashed up cookies instead of graham cracker crumbs because they don’t exist here.

L-R: Kathy (aunt), April (niece), Brett (bro), Beau (nephew), Vicky (mum)!

April had her 3rd birthday party at a park. It was watermelon themed. There was a bbq, and footy kicking, and presents galore! I think she had a good day.

We also went to Blairgowrie for a night, way down near the tip of the Mornington Peninsula, on the other side of Port Philip Bay. We stayed with Shaun and Karen and baby Archie, and the boys went golfing one afternoon. We got to try fresh abalone that their friend caught that afternoon. I didn’t take any pictures the whole time though, whoops.

That’s all I can think of right now.

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Canadian Thanksgiving is long over, but I still think about the turkey we made all the time. It turned out SO GOOD. And it only took 80 minutes to roast a 16 lbs bird! Rosemarie declared that she’s never eating turkey again unless it’s spatchcocked, hahaha. Anyway since American Thanksgiving and Christmas is coming up, here we go.

Look how beautiful it turned out!!

I used the Serious Eats set of instructions. They promised that spatchcock (aka butterflied) would ensure that the breast AND thigh meat would cook at the perfect rate and result in a perfect flavourful juicy turkey.

They recommend a dry brine, which is excellent because it’s stupid easy: Wash & dry your (defrosted) turkey, mix up 1/2 cup kosher salt & 2 tbsp baking powder, sprinkle the mixture over all sides of the turkey. Leave the turkey uncovered in the fridge for 12-24 hours. That’s it.

Thanksgiving Day I picked up Leslie and some shears and we got to work. Warning! Gory raw meat pictures ahead! This slideshow was extremely helpful for the prep and the carving.

First cut up one side of the spine.

Then the other side.

Remove the spine and cut off the plastic leg holder thingy.

Flip the bird over and press down hard on the sternum to crack it so you can make the bird as flat as possible. I was not strong enough to do this so Scott jumped off a chair and did a sweet wrestling drop. It cracked.


Just like this.

Cut off all the extra bits of skin around the neck and the… butt?

Flat Stanley. With tucked in wings.

Pop it onto a wire rack on top of vegetables on top of a baking sheet. PS I love our enormous baking sheet. I sprinkled on a few herbs. No butter or salt. And bake! At 450ºF.

There wasn’t much drippings, I guess because we removed a lot of the extra skin and didn’t use any butter. Healthy!

We baked our 16 lbs bird for 80 minutes and honestly it probably only needed 70 minutes, because when I checked the temperature in the breast it was already higher than 150ºF. Whatev it still turned out extremely moist and flavourful. Like a 9.7 out of 10. Rosemarie said she ate 4 times as much meat as she usually does.

Next time will be 10 out of 10. :D :D Can’t wait.

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After 3 months, 61 episodes, 22 eliminations, (+ 2 days of complete social media ban) it was time for us to watch the Masterchef Australia Season 7 finale. We had Rosemarie and Lauren over for a 4 course team challenge finale watching dinner where we all made fancy things from the show.

Lauren made salad rolls with shrimp and a dipping sauce.

Rosemarie made sesame beef tataki with gochujang aioli, pickled vegetables and puffed rice. Plated up in modern, negative space style.

Scott made meat pie with homemade crust, and homemade tomato relish (ketchup, hehe).

And I made lemon & thyme ice cream sandwiches with a lemon thyme syrup. Let’s not talk about the TWO glass bowls I shattered while double boiling, or the ummm… XTREME DARK CARAMEL syrup that fused itself to the pot…

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Scott killing his forearms at Rosemarie’s bouldering charity event. I had to help attach ice packs to Scott’s wrists with elastic bands, haha. Bouldering is fun, but hard! Ow my lats.

I LOVED having purple hair but I didn’t love how fast it faded, and the mess. Oh god, the mess. It stains everything!! Shower curtain, clothes, bed sheets, couch cover… everything. So I made an appointment at the Aveda school to get it all fixed up. I asked for permanent bright purple but to be honest we had no idea what shade it would come out since it would be a mix of types of pigments. It ended up coming out super dark purple, and I love it. I wish I had gotten my whole head dyed. Perhaps I will go back in a few weeks and get the colour all over.

A billion lacey cookies. So easy, so tasty!! I think this recipe could be customized lots of ways. Next time I will use some kind of nut, like macadamia or pecan, instead of oats.

My allergies weren’t too bad last week, but the past few days they have been worse than ever. My eyes feel like they have crumbled corn chips in them. Aghhh.

Work had been great lately. I’ve been working a lot. I am going to start doing therapsheres as well. It’s all working out well these days and I really hope it continues like this!

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Mint Oreo brownie ice cream cake for Scott’s birthday. This cake was AMAZING. So many different types of sugar, so many different types of delicious. Would have been easier if I had a spring-form pan, instead I had to improvise with bits of cardboard and parchment paper, haha.

Our attempt at chili cheese fries. Good, but needed more liquid cheese…

Rosemarie made us a nice lunch platter one day when she was staying with us. She really was a great house guest. Those little bottles are filled with delicious balsamic reduction that we bought at the apple festival.

Scott’s co-worker gave him about 9 billion key limes, which he promptly turned into key lime pie. One naked key lime pie, and one key lime pie with meringue (above). I liked the naked one more… it was super super limey. He also juiced all the extra limes which I used to make margaritas, and guacamole.


SO LATE. Budget Bytes Crispy Peppermint Bark. I love the addition of rice krispies to the bark. It adds a nice crunch and keeps the costs low. I want to make this again right now, even though it is totally not Christmas. Bark in any season I say!