Two clubs

Yesterday I joined not one, but two clubs. Now these are metaphorical clubs; they aren't the kind of clubs that demand membership fees, a uniform and a sworn allegiance towards lifelong memberships, but they are clubs that I am proud to be a part of nevertheless.

Club # 1: the sore bum club

On Sunday I took myself off for a long overdue bike ride along the Bay Path to Beaurmaris and back, retracing a route I took earlier in the year.



The day was gloriously clear and perfect riding weather. Lovely and sunny, but not too warm to overheat and get all sweaty. It felt good to be out on the bike again, after a way-too-long break over winter.



Beforehand I was worried that I'd have forgotten how to ride with my fancypants shoes. Instead I should have worried about how my bum would fare. The last 15km or so were not pleasant indeed. Why oh why didn't I wear my padded shorts?

After a day or so, I thought I'd recovered as I was able to sit down without too much discomfort. Then last night, 4 days after the initial ride, I attended my first ever spin class at a local bike shop (cool idea hey!!). Getting up on the bike at the start of the class proved that my bum had not yet recovered. Ouch! My bum needs to toughen up, that's for sure!

Club # 2: the sandal booties club

Yesterday I received a package from Urban Outfitters containing my first summer shoe purchase: sandal booties.



After a fruitless winter-long search for over-the-knee boots I decided to give up and focus on building up my sandals wardrobe. Despite living in sandals for many months of the year, I only own a few different pairs. This is a vast improvement on a few seasons ago when I basically livied in Birkenstocks for 6 months of the year. Thanks to youlookfab my sandal wardrobe has expanded a bit, but still has a long way to go.

Enter the latest addition: a cross between a sandal and a bootie. Talk about the best of both worlds!



It's too cold to wear them out at the moment without my toes getting frostbite and dropping off, but I'm looking forward to the weather warming up soon (please Melbourne?), and these coming out to play.

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One non-metaphorical club I am thinking of joining is some kind of bike riding group. Although I love heading out by myself, it's also great to ride with a group. To find new routes, to get encouraged as you go up hills, to chat as you ride down them, and then to stop for coffee at the end. My bike buddies are one thing I miss about Wollongong a lot!

I've searched on the internet and found a few prospects. My varied schedule makes it a bit tricky, but really it's just me being a big scardycat that's prevented me from actually trying out a ride somewhere. If I don't post that I've done so soon, can someone please keep me accountable and nag me about this?

Where does the time go?

Yet again it's been an inordinate amount of time between posts. My excuse is that for the last 3 months I've been back on the Monday to Friday grind of ward work. With a good helping of weekend cover shifts thrown in as well.

But as of this Friday afternoon I'll be back on shift work. Is it strange that I can't wait? I love having random days off during the week even if it does mean working a lot of weekends. I'm also looking forward to working 40, rather than 70 hours per week.

And who knows, maybe as well as giving me more time for blogging, it will also give me more time for doing something to blog ABOUT!

Depending on what (if any) job I end up getting for next year, I may never have another ward job again. We shall see!

I shouldn't complain too much though. I've just had a lovely weekend off. I was technically on-call all weekend, but didn't have to go in at all. Instead I went and saw the Tim Burton exhibtion, then went out and drank waaaaay too many cocktails, then slept in and caught up with a friend visiting from Sydney at my favourite cafe. So it's not all work and no play.

Today when I got home after 11 hours at work, I was tempted to kick back and bludge around the apartment (yet again). Instead I dragged myself out for a walk along the beach. Wandering along, I ran into 2 seperate people I know and stopped to say hello. While I still don't feel exactly "at home" here, it is nice to see familiar faces and feel like I have some connections here.

Next challenge is to go for a run after work, or maybe actually make it to a yoga class or the pool. I'm working 15 hours tomorrow though, so it certainly won't be then!!

One small step for man

I know the quality of this photo is crap. I lost my camera several weeks ago and this was taken on my iPhone. Eventually I'll get around to getting a new camera. Until then, it's this or nothing!



This may look like a badly photoographed, and inherently unphotogenetic bowl of risotto. And whilst it is that, it's also a lot more. For one, it crosses off one of the items on my Things to Do In Melbourne list I've got stuck up on the fridge; namely "Learn how to make risotto".

Believe it ir not, I've never made risotto before. Whilst I've eaten plenty, they were always made by the now-ex-boyfriend (who from henceforth shall be known as Neb on this blog). Risotto was always one of his special dishes to make, and to be fair he was pretty damn good at it. So learning how to make it myself was something I never had to think about.

Most restaurant risottos are awful - they are either lukewarm, too watery, don't have enough tasty filling bits, or have at least one ingredient that I don't like in them (hello Pumpkin!!!). Unless I have reason to believe a restaurant's risotto is going to be amazing, it's not something I would risk ordering off the menu. Too much of a gamble!

Given that it's now over 6 months since Neb and I have been together, that means that's its been over 6 months since I've eaten risotto. In summertime I didn't even notice the lack of risotto from my diet, but now that we are well and truly in the midst of a freezing cold winter, there are some nights when a warm bowl full of creamy rice and veggies would just hit the spot perfectly.

So I finally decided that the lack of risotto in my diet had gone on far too seriously long enough by half. The only thing for it was to give it a go and just see what happens. I spent some time googling around, and finally came up with a few candidate first-timer risotto recipes from taste.com.au, finally settling on this recipe for Spinach and Sweet Potato Risotto.

The verdict? Yum. I might try a few other recipes before considering making this exact one again, but now that I've gotten over my initial risotto fear, there's no stopping me! Just one more thing I don't need a man in my life for, right?

A fine Autumn day

Ever since I've come back down south from The Gong, I've been moaning about how cold it is, and how worried am I about how I'm going to survive winter. Yesterday was gorgeous, and I had a great day out on the bike.

Now I know today is Monday, but given that I'm doing shift work, I had the day off. Since it was another beautiful day, I decided I really should make the most of it and get out in the sunshine while I can.



Today I took a stroll along the bay in the opposite direction than I went riding yesterday.



I know a lot of people disparage St Kilda as being touristy, and to some extent I agree. On weekends especially you have to dodge around people to walk along the esplanade, and finding a seat at a cafe along Acland st can be a bit traumatic. However on weekdays? Quite a different story.



I love being home during the week to take advantage of days like this.



And after the walk? What better than a tasty burger at one of my favourite cafes?



Normally chockablock full on weekends, often with a waiting list taped to the front door. Today it was half-empty, and I had a whole table to myself, no hassle. Bliss!

Things I love about Melbourne #2: Bay Ride

I know, I know it's been about a bazillion years since I posted here. In my defence, I've been away, I've been sick, and it's been cold. Any more excuses required?

Despite my slackness and sickness, I've been trying to do some stuff. Today I got out on my bike and explored part of the Bay Trail that extends from the west side of Port Melbourne to Carrum (wherever that is).



Here's the small part of it that I did today: 35km there & back according to googlemaps.



It was a perfect day for riding. Sunny, but not too hot. A bit of breeze in the air which I thought was lovely on the way down, but had to struggle against all the way back.



I am far from an expert cyclist, however I have recently made one important cycling purchase: clip-on shoes. I took my bike up to Wollongong on my recent jaunt home, and after lagging behind on hills, friends assured me these clip-on shoes were the way to go.



They look pretty groovy don't they? Tell you what though, it was like learning to ride a bike all over again, falling off the bike included. In fact 2 weeks later the bruises on my thigh are still healing! Ah well, no pain no gain!



To be honest, I have no idea how much a difference these shoes make. I haven't gone up any of the same hills since I've been wearing them that I struggled with earlier. I do like the security of having my feet always on the pedal though.

Who knows if it's all psyhcological, but anything that helps to get out and enjoy a beautiful day like today is worth it, isn't it?

Pot pie

There aren't many things in life that are more comforting than a pot pie. The most delicious one I've ever had was a sweet potato and chickpea pot pie that I had at a pub at Mount Victoria, whilst driving back from The OC to Sydney one weekend.

I've never seen it on any other menu, and never seen a recipe for such a pie, but I have craved it often. So much in fact that I've searched around on the internet to find something similar. This recipe for Moroccan lamb & chickpea pot pies at Taste is the closest I've seen.

A sudden cold snap hit Melbourne a few days ago. Also, I'm starting night shift tonight for 4 nights in a row. So what better time to fill the fridge with a hearty and nourishing pot pie.



I've adapted the taste recipe to take out the lamb. Still not quite at the level of the Mount Victoria pub, but I'm willing to keep working on it over winter!

Morroccan sweet potato & chickpea pot pies

Ingredients

• Olive oil spray
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• Half a leek (I happened to have it in the fridge. I wouldn't buy it just for the sake of this recipe if I didn't have it already though)
  
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin (I added this because I always seem to use coriander and cumin together)
  
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 x 400g can no-added-salt tomatoes
• 500g orange sweet potato (kumara), peeled, cut into 1.5cm-pieces (I increased the amount to compensate for the lack of lamb)
  
• 60ml (1/4 cup) water
• 1 x 400g can chickpeas, rinsed, drained
• 1 tsp honey
• 4 sheets filo
• 1 tsp sesame seeds

Method

1. Heat a large non-stick frying pan and then spray with olive oil spray. Add the onion +/- leek to the pan. Cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until soft. Stir in the garlic, coriander, cumin and cinnamon. Cook for 1 minute or until aromatic.
2. Add the tomato, sweet potato and water to the pan. Bring to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes. Add the lamb and chickpeas, and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in the honey. Season with pepper.
3. Preheat oven to 200°C. Divide the pie mixture among four 250ml (1-cup) capacity ovenproof dishes. Spray 1 filo sheet with olive oil spray. Fold in half 4 times to make a square. Place on top of 1 pie. Scrunch the edges. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Repeat with remaining filo sheets and sesame seeds. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Serve.

I'm not very good at working with filo, so I kinda mucked this bit up. Still tasted good though. I'm going to have to get some filo lessons from my friend who uses it to make yummy spinach and cheese triangles.

Also I really need to buy some ramekins. I have the small baking tin pictured above, but the rest of the mix just went in a loaf pan since I don't even have any ovenproof bowels. On the todo list!

Tagged!

I was going to start this sentence by saying "I don't normally participate in these tagging things"...which is true, I don't. But given that I've never actually *been* tagged, I can't say for certain whether it's because I don't like tag-things, or just that I've never been asked.

Anyhoo, I've been tagged by both the lovely Michelle, and the amazing Theresa, and given that it's been a while since I posted here, and since I'm unexpectedly home for the night, here goes! I need to list 10 little-known facts about myself and then ask 10 other people to follow suit. Buckle up kiddies.

1. I'm completely unmusically and unartistically talented. Only instrument I've ever played is the recorder. Both my brothers have uni degrees in creative arts but I missed out on the artistic gene too.

2. Before going back to uni to study medicine, I was a computer programmer. Technically I can put the initials BITCH after my name and mean it (Bachelor Information Technology and Communication with Honours). Actually getting that H was one of the main motivators that made me want to do Honours in the first place!

3. My biggest fears are huntsman spiders and leeches. I temporarily got over my fear of leeches after spending a month in Borneo (they are everywhere there), but years later Australian leeches still freak me out unless I have salt on standby. I don't think I will ever get over my fear of hunstman spiders.

4. Goats are my favourite animals. I've had a few pet goats, but a little angora goat named Andy stole my heart. I used to take him for walks through the village we lived in, had taught him to jump over ropes and even tried dying him pink with mulberry juice once. I was devastated when police dogs escaped and killed him.

5. I love British comedy and could spend hours quoting Blackadder, The Young Ones, Red Dwarf and Monty Python. I once translated "my hovercraft is full of eels" into 30 languages just for the fun of it.

6. When I was born I nearly died of haemolytic disease of the newborn and had to have an exchange blood transfusion to replace all my red blood cells at birth. Given that I'm the oldest child, this means my mum unknowingly had a miscarriage before I was born. Nowadays this is prevented by giving prophylactic anti-D injections to pregnant mums with O- blood group. Modern medicine can be great!

7. I had never been overseas until I was age 12. That year my parents packed up and moved us all to England for a year. It was scary, but great. I have never stopped wanting to travel since!

8. I have never been sea-sick in my life. Not even crossing the English channel in a terrible storm when everyone around me was staggering around projectile vomiting including every other member of my family. I sat there doing my maths homework like the nerd that I am!

9. I don't know how to braid hair. I'd really like to learn.

10. I used to hate pineapple, tomato, capsicum, onion, asparagus and a host of other veggies that I now love. I still hate cauliflower, broccolli and brussel sprouts with a passion and can't even eat food those vegetables have touched. I also can't eat mixed peas and corn. They have to be separated and then eaten. OCD much?

Whew, talk about useless trivia huh! :)

Now who to tag? I think all the youlookfab ladies have already played along, and I don't know who else actually reads this blog! Mary, Phil, Nadine: wanna play?