Our Itinerary

Our itinerary is on the below links – virtually the same but Nick leaves OZ before me. If it asks for a password it is natalievukosa@aol.com

Basic dates are
Tuesday Oct 31
NY to Tokyo AA0167
tues 11.30am arrives Tokyo wed 2.40pm
Tokyo to Bangkok UA0837
Wed 6.35pm arrives Bgk 11.45pm

Thurs Nov 15/16
Bangkok to Melbourne
BA 0009 thurs 5.05pm arrives syd 6.10am Friday 16th (terminal 1)

BA 7445 Friday 8.00am arrives 9.30am Melbourne terminal 1

Wed Nov 21
Qf624 melbourne terminal 1 3.05pm arrive Brisbane 4.10pm terminal D

Remember, we will have email access while away.
Back to the planning.

Nick’s
https://www.virtuallythere.com/new/reservationsChron.html?pnr=IHCORA&name=HAYNES&language=0&email=2&clocktype=12&style=0
Nat’s
https://www.virtuallythere.com/new/reservationsChron.html?pnr=EZUJCR&name=VUKOSA&language=0&email=2&clocktype=12&style=0

Penelope's 3rd Birthday Fairy Party

Looks like so much fun, wish i was there. Not long now though. I'm goin to post our itinerary later today so you can track us.
I'm going to have my blackberry with me, so i will be getting emails. I don't know how to pick up messages, so best to email.x

Pen & Phoebe

lovely. I can't wait to come home. I'll post the itinerary v.soon as well as some other information about our trip.

Amelie

How devine is she? Perfect looking little baby. Too yummy.

Off to London

We are off to London on Friday for a week. Busy schedule. Get in on Friday night, staying at Nick's mum's, down to Kent on saturday for Nick's dad's bday. Then to Belgium on Monday for two days. Think we are going to go to Antwerp. Not a single room in Brussels left but am keen to check out Antwerp anyway. Maybe go to Bruges too. Antwerp is for diamonds, and Bruges is for chocolate. Seeing friends in london for the rest of the time and back on sat.

Herb Garden

This is cute isn't it. A little framed herb garden for the new kitchen perhaps.

Thorn and Felicia

And what are these two doing?

Too Bold?

We all know I like Bold and Beautiful as much as the next person (ok, maybe waayyyy more) anyway, I found these ridiculously try hard pictures of the gang. CRazEe!!!! Had to share. They all look exactly the same as ten years ago.

Pork Chop

How funny is this. saw it on a website. Just had to share...

After discovering that her boyfriend of five years had eaten the pork chops she'd prepared for herself, 45-year-old grandmother Tracy Wenn stabbed him with a dinner knife while screaming "Eat my pork, feel my fork!" (Yeah, she was drunk.) "I'm sorry about what I did to Anthony but you just don't eat my pork chops and expect to get away with it. They're my favourite and I'd made them with peas and carrots with onion gravy. I'd been thinking about that meal all day, it looked lovely when I put it in the fridge and when I got home and saw he'd eaten them I saw red... I like my food, especially chops. He hasn't done it since. That's taught him not to pinch my dinner."

Amelie Louise Perry

Look at Caroline & Matt's new baby girl. Isn't she delicious??? Doesn't Louis look proud? Too sweet!

Warrenstreet welcomes Meggy K

a new reader!! Some of you know Meg, others have probably heard me talk about her. We used to live together at 85th street and now she is back in Oz. Her boyfriend is still here and her job brings her back this way, so that's nice. So, if you see a message from Meggy K you will know who she is.
nx

New Bed

Can't believe it's 20 days since my last post. Not much going on I guess. Our next big project is fixing the apt. New kitchen, bathroom and need to work on the rest of the place. I'm always looking out for stuff. Ie, have found the dining room table i want and now I think I have found the bed to get. Nick hasn't seen it yet but I'm sure he'll like it. What do you think?

London

I'm off to London Mondy night for Work. Returning Thursday. Very quick trip - only two nights. But nice to get to go for work and it will be fun to catch up with Simone and Philly & Co.

Dentist

Let me tell you a little story about me and the dentist. So, I've avoided it for a bit but eventually decided to go. My health insurance doesn't cover much for dental so I tried this new dental chain around the corner called Vitaldent. They do free xrays etc. They told me I needed SEVEN fillings. I was traumatized. How could this be so? i thought. I brush twice a day, floss (occassionally) and even use mouth wash, I said to myself. Anyway, they printed me out a payment plan and off I went. Obviously I didnt want to believe this so I asked everyone for recommendations for another dentist. Someone suggested one on my street - I had never even noticed it was there. I went yesterday, had the most painless polish and clean ever and was told I had, you ready for it.... no fillings! crazy right. I told the dentist my story and he said he sees it all the time. I said they need to get some journalism program onto it and he said they could probably justify it, you apparently have a window of whether you need fillings or not. Some dentists are really aggressive. He said to me that he could see three cases where they would say I might need a filling but if it was him, or his mother, he wouldn't fill any of them. Doesn't this make you mad? And the worst part of it is that the place I originally went to targets lower income people with the "free xrays" etc. They are then scared into having expensive and unnecessary work done. Just wrong i say. Just wrong.

Aubergines

Aren't these smaller one's so pretty? I think i might bake them. V. hot here so may have to wait a while

Figs

Can't get enough figs. Keep meaning to do something fancy with them but just end up eating them straight from the bowl.

Tomatoes

Having a lovefest with the wonderful tomatoes we have at the moment. Best of all are the heirloom tomatoes that are mostly from New Jersey. Devine and a meal in itself. Meg says they are in Oz but i don't remember them. Second shot is of the heirlooms. The green stripey ones are called Zebra and the reddy-wine coloured ones are called Brandy-wine's. They are the most popular. Always juicy and delicious.

Crazy Wabbits!

Comments

I see the kiddies post actually got two comments. A record me thinks. I wonder if the popularity of this particular posts means I should slant towards a more kid friendly/dominated blog. We will see. Keep the posts coming - it's the equivalent of a virtual head pat, and who doesn't love one of those. I know my audience hovers around 5 people, but I am still asking myself the big questions for your reading pleasure
natx

Don't try this one at Home

This is for the 'stupid and dangerous' file. And the 'we should all know better' cupboard. Hopefully you are smarter than I am. So, bought some yummy fresh basil from the farmers market yesterday and thought I would make a pesto to drizzle over the delicious tomatoes I had bought. Anyway, I put the ingredients into the blender and I guess it was too dry as it wasn't doing the lovely chopping action I needed. Safely and carefully I stuck a big knife into the blender - "as long as i don't go near the blade it will be ok" - i thought. oh no. it broke the blade of the knife off, it shot past my head with super speed and then nearly hit Nick. How stupid am I? Lesson hear for you all. NEVER, ever EVER, put a object in the blender when it is on.

Strawberries, Mk II

Wendy has a variation on the lemon, cracked pepper I wrote below. I keep reading about this one too. Must try it. We are running out of the strawbs here. but oh, my, the NY/NJ tomatoes are devine. that is all we eat. And i am still not skinny. Maybe it's the mozzerella and avocado that we have with it. What do you think?

A variation:

500g strawbs, hulled, then halved or quartered
1 tab caster sugar
1 tab balsamic vinegar
vanilla ice-cream to serve

Combine first 3 ingredients in bowl, mix well. Cover and leave to chill in fridge for hour. Serve w. icecream.

(The image doesn't really fit with the above but I just wanted something with the two key ingredients in it)

The Kiddies

Thought I would do a posting of the kids. I have been emailed quite a few of late. Fun to post. In order:
1. Phoebe Larter (Wendy's)
2. Penelope Larter (Wendy's)
3. Louis Perry (Caroline's)
4. Hamish & Liam (fka Puchit & Pumin) (Anna/Michelle's)

All cute as pie.
Sorry Paul, I had to cut you out of the Phoebe photo. Kids only in this posting.

Remind You Of Anyone??

I saw this on a website and it directed me to an art gallery in L.A. they were doing limited prints and I knew I just had to get one for Nick. Don't know why. What do you think? Lovely isn't it.

Mandarin Oriental, Chocolate

I still have to post some pictures from my trips to HK and Mexico, but I just found this chocolate sculpture from the delicious cafe at the Mandarin Oriental in HK. Yum

Flight of The Conchords

Guys
some clips. basically, the show is really fun and they jut break into song throughout the program with these ridiculously funny songs. Have a look at these two.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=N7vgY0yEs9Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT5AQIlmM0I&NR=1

Strawberries

So much great fruit at the moment. Eating lots of strawberries and blueberries. I read somewhere that cracked black pepper and lemon juice brings out the sweetness. That's what I do now. Pepper seems odd doesn't it, but it works. The shots are before and after. freshly cut, and then again after they have been sitting in the lemon juice for a while.

Quinoa

Quinoa (pronounced keenwah) is yummy and healthy. you can use it as a substitute for rice. We had this at a friend's place and i got the recipe and made it for dinner the other night. yum.

Makes 4 servings

ACTIVE TIME: 30 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 45 minutes

EASE OF PREPARATION: Easy

1 cup quinoa (see Ingredient note)
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dried apricots, coarsely chopped
2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup Moroccan-Spiced Lemon Dressing (recipe follows), divided
1 cup cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved
1 small red onion, chopped
8 cups baby spinach
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted (see Tip)

1. Toast quinoa in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until it becomes aromatic and begins to crackle, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a fine sieve and rinse thoroughly.
2. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until golden, about 1 minute. Add apricots and the quinoa; continue cooking, stirring often, until the quinoa has dried out and turned light golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Add water and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until the quinoa is tender and the liquid is absorbed, 15 to 18 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, make Moroccan-Spiced Lemon Dressing. Transfer the quinoa to a medium bowl and toss with 1/3 cup of the dressing. Let cool for 10 minutes.
4. Just before serving, add tomatoes and onion to the quinoa; toss to coat. Toss spinach with the remaining 1/3 cup dressing in a large bowl. Divide the spinach among 4 plates. Mound the quinoa salad on the spinach and sprinkle with almonds.

Dressing

You can put whatever dressing you like on it, but this was nice. I've never made a yoghurt based dressing. I'll definitely do it again.

1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons nonfat plain yogurt
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Whisk lemon juice, yogurt, honey, cumin, cinnamon and ginger in a small bowl until blended. Slowly whisk in oil so that the dressing becomes smooth and emulsified. Season with salt and pepper.

Indian Objects

Everywhere you turn, it looks like a postcard. So pretty. Bored of India yet? still more to come!

Laptop Tip

I'm probably the last person to know this, but I was doing a project yesterday about some new websites and as I was presenting them I needed to do a lot of scrolling up and down the page. I usually click on the scroll tab down the right side of the page and a client showed me that if you put two fingers on the mouse pad instead of one you can go up and down like that. great for blog reading.
nx

Watch Price

I know you were all dying to know (thank Caroline for actually asking) - the price is a tiny $24,000.00 yes $24k. It's from Australia's Marc Newson and it's a limited edition, but really. Think they are smoking crack.xxxx

Flight Of The Conchords

Not sure if this is a new or old program or if it is on in Oz or not, but if it is, you must watch it. One of our new favorite programs. It's a bit silly but so unlike anything on televsion at the moment. It's about two New Zealander's and the band (it's just the two of them) trying to make it in New York . Love it and full of silly little songs, the kind we would make up when we were six.
Look out for it.

Patterns from India

India is so devine and everywhere you turn, there is some beautifully embellished object or building. Some of these are over the top, but when you see them in real life, they are beauitiful

Moroccan Chickpea and Pumpkin Tagine

BIt hot for this here, but looks delicious and might be perfect for you guys in oz where it's freezzzzing. What do you think?

Butternut Squash & Chickpea Tagine Recipe

1 can of Chickpeas
8 vine ripened Cherry Tomatoes
1 Butternut Squash
1 Onion
4 cloves of Garlic
2 tbs of finely chopped Parsley
2 tbs of finely chopped Coriander and more for garnish
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1/2 tsp Ground Cumin
1/2 tsp Ground Tumeric
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp Paprika
2 tsp of Tomato Paste
1/2 tsp of Sugar
1 tsp of Sea Salt
1 pinch of freshly ground Black Pepper
1 cup of water

Method:
1. Finely chop the coriander and parsley. Set Aside. Peel the Squash and cut into 4 x 4 cm pieces.
2. Finely chop the onion and garlic. Heat the oil in the pot and add the onion. Cook over a low heat until soft.
3. Add the garlic and cook for about 20 seconds, then add the cumin, tumeric and cayenne pepper. Cook for 30 seconds, stirring continuously.
4. Add the paprika, tomato paste, sugar and half the coriander, parsley, salt and pepper. Stir.
5. Add the tomatoes and the drained chickpeas. Stir and then add the pumpkin and water, stir again and then cover with the lid.
6. Cook for about a hour or until the pumpkin is tender on a very low heat.
7. When ready garnish with more coriander and serve with couscous.

Couscous Recipe

1 cup of Couscous
1/3 cup of Raisins
1 handful of Pinenuts
1 handful of chopped Mint
1 cup of Organic Vegetable Stock

Method:
1. Bring the vegetable stock to the boil. Add the couscous and stir once. Cover and take off the heat and let it sit for about 5 minutes.
2. Remove the lid and fluff the couscous up with a fork. Add the pinenuts, raisins and chopped mint. Fluff again and then serve with the Tagine.

Watch

Guess how much this watch is?

Salmon in Brothy Soup

Wendy made this for me once when I was in London an it was delicious. No pictures unfortunately.

*Fry onion, garlic, shallots and whatever veges you have like carrot,
red capsicum, and courgette
*Add stock, sobu or rice noodles and
pieces of poached salmon, add a bit of soy sauce and for grown ups
(as opposed to 2yr-olds), i reckon some fresh coriander and lemon
grass would be lovely.

Lovely Buildings In India

India is such an amazing place. A visual feast. Everything is amazing to look at, the people are so colorful and warm and nice, and all the buildings are so intricate. We were only in Rajhastan - maybe you'll recognize one or two of these.