Tuesday, May 01, 2007

How Life Is

Today was the first time this Autumn that I’ve felt the slightest nip of cold in the air. It was more of a challenge than ever to stick to the four minute shower regimen.

I’ve discovered that it takes approximately 2 litres worth of water streaming from the shower head before a temperature suitable for my ablutions is reached. I know this because I’ve been collecting said water in an especially purchased bucket and tipping it into my water filter for drinking and cooking purposes.

It was cool enough this morning so that I withdrew my light pink robe and matching ugg boots from their storage space in the cupboard and donned them while I drank coffee and marked the last in a pile of first year assignments.

I read that ‘99% of Australians occupy one television’.

For the past week or so, I have been trying to fight off an imminent cold. The first sign of being run down arrived in the form of a tingling in my eye, which heralded the beginning of a sty. As I became aware of the proto-sty, I realised my throat was sore.

I bought a new vitamin supplement called Immunodefence. Its active ingredient is Lactoferrin-Bovine (Dairy). I have also been drinking Immune juice which contains guava, pineapple and an Echinacea supplement. I have further supplemented my Echinacea intake with Echinacea + C lozenges.

Yesterday, I slept until 11.30am.

Late last week I warded off the effects of a disappointment by treating myself to a new cookbook, Growers’ Market: Cooking with Seasonal Produce by Leanne Kitchen. It's an Australian book. It’s nice not to have to translate everything from Northern Hemisphere climes in order to make sense of it here in the Antipodes.

It’s the season for eggplant.


These were transformed into an eggplant jam that I’m eating on scoops of pita bread.

You know your life is not worth living if you don’t know what I’m eating.


This is a home-made tomato soup. The recipe came from the hand-held blender-processor manual. It’s nothing you couldn’t find in any recipe book. The soup’s smooth consistency was achieved using the hand-held blender-processor, which boasts it is also capable of crushing ice.


I’ve been experimenting with cooking kangaroo. It’s higher in iron and protein than beef. I’m finding it difficult to get good results. It has practically no fat. It’s the kind of meat that I think you have to wrap in layers of proscuitto, a bit like rabbit. I’ve made meatballs and bolognaise with the mince, but they seem a bit dry for my taste. The best meals have required the least preparation: a fillet brushed with olive oil and seasoned, then char grilled to medium rare.

Big Brother
has started. Painting Australia has finished. Medium returns this week.

I have been buying TV Week for a month or so now.

Every now and then I am consumed with fury when I replay the comments from my last Sarsaparilla post in my head.

I try to concentrate on the fact that a senior colleague read my post and the ensuing comments and said that he considered me an equal; he didn’t need to defend me or look out for me—I knew how to conduct myself.

I have over forty unwatched programmes on the hard disk of my DVR. Many of them are films.

David Stratton has an entire double page spread to highlight which movies are worth watching on free to air TV.

TV Week doesn’t provide the schedule for ABC2.

Some of my students have started watching Autopsy:Life and Death on SBS at my recommendation. We talk about how queasy we feel when we watch it. I watched Top Gear because my students said it was good—beautifully shot—even if you weren’t into cars. They were right.

I’ve loaned my copy of twenty-six lies/one truth by Ben Peek to a friend who teaches a popular culture course because I think it’s the kind of thing the kids of today should be reading. If she sets it she will get complaints from Christians and education students. When I was in undergraduate they complained about 1988 by Andrew McGahan. In Toowoomba they complain about Loaded by Christos Tsiolkas.

I am secretly reading Middlemarch because people I respect say it’s the best book ever written. Other people I respect disagree.

This Friday is Audrey Hepburn’s birthday. That means it is my birthday too. Therein all similarity ends.

16 comments:

Ampersand Duck said...

What a glorious post. Just needed a cat to make it perfect.

I'm glad you're getting over that last post. The support of your colleague is well justified.

lucy tartan said...

Such a fantastic post.

I secretly hate Middlemarch. Oops, there goes the career.

Kirsty said...

Thanks for the compliments.

While we're revealing secrets, I have thought of joining in Friday cat blogging by taking photos of the two cat magnets on my fridge. Sad, yet true.

I'm keeping the whole Middlemarch reading a secret because I may well not finish it. But I will try.

Ariel said...

A great round-up of your world this week! The ugg boots and the robe and the coffee sipping sound so cosy ... and I'm impressed with the bucketing shower water to filter and drink. I do it to water the garden.

Patrick said...

I wouldn't wrap the kangaroo in proscuitto if I were you - I know it's a popular choice, but imho the saltiness completely overwhelms the kangaroo which is at heart a delicate meat (same reason why I'm baffled that there are so many soy/kangaroo recipes out there).

My personal favourite kanga dish is a salad I make:

Sear some kangaroo strips in a lightly buttered pan - thirty seconds or so, no more.

Take em out, throw in some chopped free-range bacon, cook that, then deglaze with half an orange or so.

Add the strips to lettuce and other misc salad ingredients, and then drizzle the slightly syrupy mixture on top.

The acidity of the orange really sets off the gamey kangaroo, and you left with a sweet/sour malty delight.

Anonymous said...

The Squeeze loves Top Gear. He watches it on his computer in bed. And Myth Busters. I like the way the ABC (or is it SBS?) advertises Top Gear as 'Man's second best friend' - I like the way the gender stuf is being hyped up and then tipped over with silly jokes.

Don't wrap your roo in proscuitto - it will get too salty.

Kirsty said...

Ooh, thanks for the kangaroo cooking advice--I'll try your recipe Patrick.

Meredith Jones said...

This all made me smile... Can you put up the recipe for the eggplant jam please? And happy birthday for tomorrow!

Ariel said...

Ooh, yes, happy birthday for tomorrow!

Kirsty said...

As requested, Eggplant Jam:

Slice two eggplants (1cm thickness), salt, leave for 30 mins, rinse and dry.

Fry eggplant in olive oil until golden brown. Drain then chop finely.

Combine 2 crushed garlic cloves, 1 tsp paprika, 1.5 tsp cumin, 2 tbsp of fresh coriander, 1/2 tsp sugar.

Add to eggplant then return to pan and stir over a meium heat for 2mins. Add lemon juice and season to taste.

More a dip than a jam (as I understand it), but who's complaining when it tastes good.

Thanks for the Birthday greetings.

Zoe said...

BIt late here, but happy birthday to you. And thanks for jam recipe. I'm a bit nuts on eggplant at the mo

Anonymous said...

'Roo?

Sear on the bbq, serve with Merlot, salad and prawns. Nice and simple.

Mark Lawrence said...

Sorry I'm late, but I hope you had a very happy birthday.

By the sounds of your wander through South Bank the next day, you've had a happy birthday weekend!

Kirsty said...

Thanks Mark, I did have a nice weekend. The next day I went to Mt Tambourine with my sister. We took in the rain forest and spent hours wandering from little shop to little shop. I ended up buying a serving platter, 'Emu Dreaming' from a central aust. artist who works in glass. Don't know that I'll ever serve food on it though, it's too pretty to cover up. Even with kangaroo, prawns or eggplant (Hope you enjoy the jam, Zoe!)

Mark Lawrence said...

Sounds like you had a nice time. I can't remember if I've been to Mt Tambourine (may have been dragged there by my parents many years ago). Is it anything like Montville?

How about a pic of the platter?

Kirsty said...

It is a bit like Montville. Somewhat less in the way of local artists' wares though, which is a shame, since that's what I was looking for.

Pics of the platter will be posted soon.