Get ready to Wok!

Angus was asked to compete in the Geltwood Festival Wok Off - 6 local business owners/local identities do a Ready Steady Cook type cookoff with ingredients in their goody bags...

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He had a final practice last night - 1 hour on the clock and off he went!
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He produced this 'Sesame Pork' with seconds to go on the clock - it was delicious!
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He wanted to wear his Statue of David apron but we though it might cause some of the ladies to faint? Appropriate only when pixellated!
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The day dawned cool and overcast - perfect for outdoor cooking. The judges and competitors line up...
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We had two EmCee's who kept the contestants on their toes with lots of questions throughout the Wok Off!
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Being interviewed by EmCee, Jan...
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The contestants had to set a table using items supplied and make it look the nicest...
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There was quite a crown of onlookers...
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Angus' mum, Margaret and Brianna paid $10 each to taste his stir-fry - all proceeds for the day go to the local Lioness Club (Lion's Club ladies) ...
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Ready, steady - Wok!
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In his goody bag he had diced pork, carrots, cabbage, onion, canned baby corn, pineapple, celery, cashews and broccoli...

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Chopping, chopping, chopping...
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Even the local TV news crew were there!
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The other contestants - John (high school principal) ...
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Sue (local girl) ...
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Brian (owner of the local Foodland) ...
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Karen (owner of Stock, Feed & Saddlery business) is looking nice and relaxed...
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Angus (local car dealer) starts cooking off the pork in batches... under scrutiny...
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Bubbles (cooks at local pub) looks highly organised and is the first to start cooking off ...
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Preparation is the key, says Angus...
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Being interviewed by the EmCee...
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Bubbles has nearly finished her dish...
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Brian claimed not to know how to cook at all but was doing fairly well... he said he had googled stir-fries the night before.
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Karen is nearly finished...
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While professing not to cook much, Sue's dish was coming along quite nicely...
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John decided his stir fry needed some Bundaberg Rum in it...
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Bubbles was the first to get her dish to the judges... looks good - apologies for the 'blue' look of the dishes - we are under a blue tarpaulin...
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Karen's dish...
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Sue's dish...
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Brian's dish...
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Angus' wok full of goodness ... nearly ready!
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John's final dish...
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Presenting their dishes to the judges...
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Angus delivers his dish to the judges...
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Angus' dish... he may have bribed them a bit... with a glass of Reisling each!
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Marg and Bri paid to sit at Angus' table and to eat his meal... they got a glass of wine too!
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Now the final decision and the placings are read out...
6th Sue
5th John
4th Brian
3rd Karen
2nd Bubbles
and the winner is......

ANGUS!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations to the winner! Yay!
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He won a set of kitchen knives, a wooden chopping board and a nice bottle of red wine!
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A very fun morning - haven't I got a clever hubby?
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Cheers - Joolz

Comfort food...

I love my Spode coffee mugs - blue and white yummyness!

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I was reading somewhere about recipes for rhubarb so I bought a few stalks of rhubarb on Monday and I stewed it up with a little bit of sugar and water to make a crumble. I topped the crumble with layers of apple...
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then sprinkled over a little brown sugar...
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I made my crumble topping with some rolled oats, Just Right breakfast cereal, brown sugar, flour and a dob of margarine, melted.
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These nice meaty lamb chops are going to be crumbed.
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I put plain flour, salt and pepper in a freezer bag, throw in the chop and give it a good shake. Then it goes into the egg then the crumb mix.
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Bake in a 170C oven for 30-40 minutes (depending on thickness of chops).
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It was one of those nights when I just wanted meat and 3 veggies - good comfort food.
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I baked the crumble for about 30 minutes (next time I will pre-cook the apples - they were still a bit crisp) ...
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I made up a sachet of Weight Watchers vanilla custard - it's not too bad...
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Red sky in the morning...
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... is a shepherds warning...
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...so they say! It turned out to be a very hot, windy day. There were a few fires that broke out in the district but luckily, just smallish grass fires. I hate days like these!
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As you can see, Bonnie was not impressed either!
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Our two sheep (Hobbles and DJ) were happy to munch on some hay Gus got for them. Our paddock is nearly bare - we just need that inch of rain to get some feed going again.
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Dark skies this morning at 7am - I do hope we get a bit more rain today. It's really cold outside at the moment, so much cooler than yesterday. It's teasing me!
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Now it's 9am and we have blue skies and sunshine - Grrr!
I guess it will rain eventually but not today, I think!
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Cheers - Joolz

A slow, quiet weekend...

I spent a quiet weekend just being. I tidied on Saturday morning, showered then settled down to watch a DVD. Gus was gone for the day so the day was mine! I had bought a ball of crochet cotton with the intention of making a dishcloth. Ahem, it was from the $2 shop and yes, that is a knot you can see in they yarn!
First, I had to teach myself some crochet stitches again. I think I was 10 the last time I crocheted. I can remember making granny square cushion covers and was very proud when I presented my Grandpa with one, in his favourite football team colours. He took that little cushion with him to the footy for many years.
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The internet has great tutorials for crochet and knitting - I am one of those people who can pick things up quite quickly if I am shown once, twice or three times. I found one for double crochet and watched a few times then started off myself. It all came back to me. Then I watched a single crochet tute.
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Now I just need more time to sit and actually do it!
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Sunday was knitting day! I am very proud of this 'finish'. I started knitting this basket weave dishcloth probably 2 years ago and had done about 2 inches of it. I dragged it out and thought, right!, I am going to finish this today!
So I did! Then I proceeded to single crochet around the edge of it - I am on a roll! The shape is a bit dodgy but overall, it will do the job.
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My second attempt at knitting was a great learning experience. This is a waffle weave dishcloth from Rhonda's Down to Earth book.
I hadn't cast on for such a long time so I looked up a YouTube video to help me.
Then I started off following the pattern -
First couple of rows were easy... then Row 3: K3 (P2, K1) 10 times, P2, K3
I set off knitting but when I got to the end of the row I could see that something was terribly wrong! I had sort of extra stitches and cross overs - Uh oh!
Back to the computer for another lesson - "how to change from knit to purl" - you have to swap your wool over the needle when you change stitches! Who knew!
I unpicked it all and started again - and after completing a set of the pattern rows, I could see the pattern emerging - success! This is pretty cool for a girl who has never knitted anything but purl/plain/purl/plain!
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Anyway, this variegated cotton was really just a test piece - I need to buy some nice colours now to get a stash of dishcloths going. Knitting is a great excuse for sitting quietly!
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Later in the afternoon I made a batch of Cherry Shortbreads but for some reason they spread more than usual and I nearly overcooked them. They still taste fine but not my best!
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Sunday night, Angus cooked a chicken in his Cobb cooker. It took a while but it is a learning process that we need to get right before we go camping with it.
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The finished roast - the veggies were cooked but not really crisp so we need to work on that. The chicken had a nice flavour, though.
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We watched My Kitchen Rules which we are really enjoying then after dinner, tidied up and hit the hay.
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Hope your weekend was nice and peaceful,

Cheers - Joolz

Praying for rain...

While a whole lot of Australia is currently under water and getting more rain than they need, we are in desperate need of rain here where I live.
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Our rain water tanks ran dry a few days ago so we have switched to bore water which I hate. It is a bit sandy and gritty and it clogs the filters in my washing machine which slows the filling time...
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I am doing a bit of a happy dance right now as this picture shows that it is indeed raining and I would hope it continues throughout the day. Our lawns look nice and green because we water all through summer but believe me, the rest of the block is dry as a bone! A couple of days of steady rain would put enough back in the tanks to go back onto rain water so I am sending up a prayer...
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Cheers - Joolz