Getting Dinner Straight from the Farm & vegemite

Hey everyone! Thanks so much for reading my blog and commenting! I had mentioned in a previous entry that I had tried vegemite and didn't like it. Well, I tried it again and it really isn't that bad anymore. It actually tastes like concentrated beef bouillion. I've been having it lately and I think I might be getting a taste for it. Hahahaha. At least I'm getting my Vitamin B! Of course, the trick is to have a miniscule amount on your knife for a whole slice of bread. Vegemite is sometimes put in gravy and I agree that would be good considering that it tastes like bouillion. Rys actually bought a small jar of vegemite for the wwoof house. This small jar will last for years.

Fri Jan 2 - Sujin the korean wwoofer left today and Allison's parents came to visit for the weekend. After dinner, everyone (except me) played 500. I am still trying to learn it and the french guys love this card game.

A friend of Rys and Allison came today to show us how to make armour. Blaney is from the medieval society SEA (?) and there are members around the world. There are kingdoms in Australia as well as the US (ie. Phoenix, Pittsburgh) where members will convene to fight wars. Blaney is a knight in the society which is apparently a rare honour. He showed us how to make a metal helmet by hammering a sheet of metal and putting the pieces together.

I went into the chicken dome to feed the chickens and found 4 eggs. I accidently dropped one which broke. Before I could pick up the pieces, the greedy hungry chickens were pecking at the broken egg. I had to take it away from them as soon as possible and feed them extra food to make them forget the taste of egg. Otherwise, they will know that their eggs are edible and eat them. Chickens eat everything....they even eat cooked chicken leftovers.

I've started running again which is great! I ran on New Year's eve and again every other day. It feels so good to exercise again! I run up and down the long driveway.

Sat Jan 3 - today was an action packed farm day!!!! First, we killed 2 chickens for dinner - a brown female and a white male Silkie. The chosen chooks were caught in nets and taken away from the others so that the other chickens do not see. The brown female was chosen because she makes the other ones nervous and the male Silkie was taken because we only need 1 rooster. Allison tried to break their necks so that we wouldn't get blood but it didn't work. I learned that chicken's necks can twist many times without any effects. So we had to do it the old fashioned way with an axe to the neck. Allison held one down and Pat swung the axe while Cara and I watched on the sidelines. I've always heard that headless chickens run around and I can confirm it now. The male Silkie actually ran a bit and then jumped and pirouetted around all over. Cara got excited since she loves chasing things so we had to keep her away. Then the chickens were hung upsidedown to drain the blood. The next step was skinning them which Allison did for the brown chook and started on the white Silkie. I finished skinning the white Silkie with a knife and large rubber gloves. The interesting thing is that Silkies have black flesh! They taste the same as the paler variety and apparently they are popular in Asia (China?) because of the colour of the meat. After removing the skin, I had to violate the chook by inserting my hand in to take the guts out. First came out the long intestines which looked like a long worm or thick spaghetti. Then came out the organs. Yuck. Since the 2 chooks were too little for 5 people, Allison made a stew using wine, potatoes, carrots, and barley. We had the stew over rice and it was delicious! I usually don't have seconds but I did this time! Yum. (Some people may be appalled that we killed chickens for food but I personally rather have them from a farm than a supermarket where they obtain them from places that mistreat the animals).

In the afternoon, I helped put up the greenhouse by hammering bolts into the wooden frame base and putting the walls together. It is a team effort from everybody and it takes a couple of days. The instructions that came with the greenhouse are so confusing. Allison's father is good with these types of things so he guides us on what to do and we do them.

In the evening, I went to the dam (pond on the property) with Pat to fish. It was my first time fishing and we caught 5 fish each!!!! We only kept 4 of the biggest ones and the rest back. The fish are red fin perches; they have beautiful brightly coloured orange fins (that are spikey) and striped black grey bodies. I was told that it is not normal for 1 person to catch 5 fish in 2 hrs! I'm so happy my first time was so fruitful! (I also caught a lot of weeds too while fishing). We are going to have the fish for dinner the next night.

Sun Jan. 4 - I got to pet a duckling more today while he was eating.

We needed to go back to the pond to catch more fish for dinner. Allison's father is a fisherman and he wanted to catch some too; therefore, he, Pat and I went to the pond to fish. No luck tonight.....they weren't biting. The only one who caught something was me and I got a tiny red fin perch which I threw back. The fish from the day before probably told their buddies about us... That's ok, we still ate the other ones we caught last night today. They were cooked in wine and ginger. Mmmm, they were good! It's so awesome to eat fish that I caught!

Aussie Foods Galore - vegemite, roo

Hey All! I had a lot of different foods over xmas and I've been eating eating eating. I also have to talk about the other foods I've had here but neglected to mention before...

Thurs Dec 25 - When the family came back, we had a traditional aussie xmas dinner (the neighbours ended uo not coming). We had prawns (served cold and whole with the heads attached and the eyes staring back at you), ham, plus the stuffing and mashed potatoes that I had made. Everyone loved my stuffing! I wasn't sure if people would like it since it's a unique recipe and it was my first attempt at making it. But Rhys and Allison want to make a WWOOFers cookbook and collect recipes from WWOOFers that visit them -- they want my stuffing recipe! Cool! After dinner, I learned an aussie card game called 500.

Fri Dec 26 - I went out to weed some thistles in one of the paddocks when Cara came around parading a dead bunny in her mouth. She really didn't catch it herself because she isn't fast enough to catch a rabbit and sometimes she won't notice a rabbit is nearby until it had already run away. Well, Cara just went up and down the field proudly clutching the dead rodent and showing off. The bunny appeared freshly killed with its head missing (decapitation is the MO of a fox). How lovely.

The day after xmas is also Boxing Day, where stores sell things on special. Ahhh, it's so nice to have Boxing Day again! We have it in Canada but I've been deprived in the years I was in NY. This day is also Women's Day Off according to tradition in Allison's family. All the women are to relax and do nothing because they had been busy cooking and preparing for xmas. So I got the day off too (except for the weeding I did in the morning). Hence, while the guys were trying to figure out how to assemble a greenhouse, us girls relaxed in the house and watched The Princess Bride. Afterwards, we all went to the dam where some of us swam. I went to see the dam and later on I went for a jog (much needed exercise after all that eating!).

I found out that Bella the annoying neighbour dog had broken Nicky the duck's water container when she leapt into it. Bella had scared all the animals and now one of Nicky the duck's girlfriends is MIA. We don't know where she is. That dog was so hard to control - we tried to bring her back to her house but she would come back (and her owner wasn't there). So we tied her up and she managed to break loose. Then we put her in a cage and she dug a hole in the ground to escape. So finally, she had to be tied up IN the cage. She was like freakin' Houdini! She's like those happy-go-lucky neighbours who always drops by and don't know how annoying they are. Basically, next time she comes around she's going to the pound and her owner will have to pay to bail her out.

Sat Dec 27 - I helped Allison lay hay in the garden today because it prevents weeds from growing and it decomposes to provide nutrients to the soil in additon to looking pretty.

I got started on sewing one of the banners with a sewing machine today. Rhys taught me how to use the sewing machine. Yep, I came to Australia to learn how to sew from a big burly man. LOL

Sun Dec 28 - This morning the french guys left for a road trip up the east coast to Byron Bay and will return on Friday. They left the house a mess with garbage and clothing (including nasty underwear) lying everywhere (no exaggeration) and Allison and I had to clean up because visitors are coming and I cannot live in a pigsty. Boy, I am extremely bitter that I had to clean up. Don't get me started! Grrrrr.

Well, one of the visitors that came today is a new WWOOFer. Her name is Sujin from S Korea and she is nice...very polite and respectful. We tried bbq'd kangaroo sausages for dinner. Allison had bought them at the supermarket and the package called them "kanga bangas". Hahahaha. I liked that. The roo meat is dark and has a verrry strong taste. Kinda similar to liver. Ugh. I mean, it's okayyy. But I wouldn't be hunting kangaroos to eat them so no need to worry about me killing cute little kangas. Although I wouldn't refuse a roo stir-fry or burger or kebabs because they may taste different from the sausages...

Tonight we saw the many stars in the country sky. It was so dark outside and the stars were plentiful and magnificent! I saw the Milky Way and the big dipper. I also saw the Southern Cross, which is made up of 4 brightly lit stars in the shape of an upsidedown kite - you can only see this in the southern hemisphere! How special is that?

What are other aussie foods I've eaten? Vegemite! This is a black paste that is made from the remnants of beer -- it's concentrated yeast extract. It is rich in Vitamin B and is an excellent cure for hangovers. Aussie kids bring vegemite sandwiches to school everyday for lunch - like our equivalent of peanut butter and jelly. Although it is eaten differently than PB&J. You have to take a piece of toast, spread some butter over it and then put on a thin layer of the vegemite. It's true, it's quite disgusting. It is very bitter. I actually prefer Marmite (the Kiwi/NZ version which is milder).

I've also had pudding cake....yum, sooo good! It's pudding that is boiled into a cake and it contains many dried fruits in there. Like a fruit cake but good! (The fruit cakes back home are horrible). We had this for xmas dessert. Traditonally, you would place silver coins in the cake for the kids to find (they'd be baked in).