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Topics - Nikkit
1
« on: July 23, 2014, 06:44:48 am »
I have a recipe for a Wagon Wheel Slice, which has been converted to the TM, and I have made it and it gets the "thumbs up" from hubby who LOVES wagon wheels (but I refuse to buy them...especially after reading the ingredients list!) Anyway - I cannot for the life of me remember where I got the recipe from, was wondering if anyone posted it in here? I just want to say - thank you for a yummy slice. If it didn't come from here I'll post the recipe.
2
« on: June 24, 2014, 06:32:24 am »
Oh Yum! Mine came out looking like the picture in the book, so I was stoked! I made a couple of changes... Used macadamias instead of walnuts as I didn't have any. Nearly forgot to put the macadamias in, so the mix was well stirred by the time it was done! Only put in 95g sugar (raw, had no coconut sugar) and could go less again I think. Vanilla essence (home made, so it is brandy based) instead of rum (had none of that either!) My GF friends loved it, so it is a keeper! Linked JD
3
« on: April 28, 2014, 08:12:52 am »
This is so easy and really yummy. I did the recipe as it says...sort of. Cut the sugar back to 250g, but could have gone less again - probably to 200g. I used Plaistowe brand dark cooking chocolate as I don't have the fancy expensive stuff in my house! Made it in the TM, wrapped TM bowl in a towel, took it around to friends place, poured it into small ramekin dishes (about 1 cup each - made 6 very full ones) Cooked it for I have no idea how long...about 3/4 bottle champagne, so about 50 minutes or so I'm guessing. They had risen up like a soufflé and looked fab and then cracked and sunk and looked a bit ordinary, but OMG did they taste awesome with some Connoisseur (?sp) vanilla icecream! Sorry no photo, we scoffed the lot! I will be making this one again Linked JD
4
« on: April 11, 2014, 04:51:45 am »
Time for another story ladies, although not sure if you'll be cleaning computer screens after this one I flew in a surveillance chopper one day around the Torres Straits. The pilot usually did the whole flight by himself, writing the report with his left hand while he was trying to keep the chopper in the air with his right hand. (not an easy task!) I told him he could fly, I would write and we’d get the job done in no time. Seeing as I knew a lot of the trawlers and fishing boats by sight and I knew their rego's I’d tell him to fly past them all anchored up at the islands. I could rattle off 50 rego’s out of 100 boats anchored in one spot, so no need to stop and hover over them. Plus the lads on the boats worked all night, so day time was for sleeping and the last thing they wanted was a chopper hanging around making a racket. The guys tend to get a bit titchy when their sleep is interrupted – I had been threatened before when flying past one too many times trying to get rego’s or check out a strange boat. Anyway the pilot didn’t listen. (he knew best...) We’re hovering, real close...barely 10 metres off the water and 20m from the back of the boat, I’m writing the report and also asking him "please lets go, we’re going to annoy someone in a minute." All of a sudden over the UHF comes “**** chopper, get the **** away ****before **** I ***** shoot ***** you”! Lo and behold there’s a big hairy peeved dude in his undies on the deck of the trawler we’re hanging around with a shotgun in his hands. I could see the whites of his eyes we're that close Hence - we're making a whole lot of noise the guys really don't need to hear! “oh gosh” says the pilot “I think he’s a bit cross, time for us to go” I gave the pilot the evil eye and got on the radio to apologise profusely to the bloke on the trawler, saying that this pilot was new and didn’t know all the rules yet. Would he please not shoot! Calmed the chap down somewhat and we had a good old chat about planes and choppers and how much noise we make and I told him that I would put the word out to not get so close next time. I finished the chat on a good note, the skipper was happy, I had made a friend in the trawler group – all good. The pilot however, was not happy. I got a serious “talking to” about how he was not new, he had X amount of hours flying choppers blah blah blah. And he was taking this higher. “Go right ahead mate, you have a lot to learn yet” was my reply! So he took it higher, I stood my ground (I’d had a few more hours flying in the straits than he did at that stage and knew a whole lot more about it than what he did) and explained to the boss man what the go was and what happened. Boss man agreed with me, had a quiet word with the pilot and all was good. Sort of. I had to fly with that pilot again another time and figured I better sweeten the deal with some nice morning tea, so I took cake and coffee and all the trimmings next time we were flying. We landed on a little island, had a lovely cuppa and cake, a good old chat about the ins and outs of flying in the Straits. It worked, he listened and learned and I don't think anyone was ever threatened by a big trawler dude in his undies with a shotgun again!
5
« on: March 19, 2014, 03:52:23 am »
This one didn't spin our back wheels I have to admit. With all the ingredients in it, we all decided it was a bit bland. But there are plenty more in the book to try Linked JD
6
« on: March 19, 2014, 03:49:12 am »
Yum, a simple yummy recipe, easy to make.
I added more chilli as we like chilli. I used thighs and didn't line the varoma tray with baking paper, had to stir it half way through cooking.
I will make this one again.
Linked JD
7
« on: March 19, 2014, 03:25:40 am »
If you have no teeth or if you like eating your steamed broc through a straw, then follow this recipe as is. The sauce is tasty, we liked it, but steaming broc for 25 minutes? Really? Cut waaaaaaaay back on the steaming time for the broc, til it suits you, and this recipe is nice. Linked JD
8
« on: March 19, 2014, 03:10:16 am »
This recipe has a whole lot going on and not a lot of it good. I can't see how a can of coke in a sauce is good. Just saying... Therefore I do not make the sauce. I have simplified it a bit to suit me and my family. I make this every Christmas as it is great cold. Slices beautifully and it freezes well. (So I make about 6-8, cook them all and freeze any leftover ones) I use chicken breasts (as many as you like) and cut them in half almost all the way through so they are 'butterflied'. If they need to be a bit more even I bash them a bit with a mallet. Lay out about 3 rashers of normal bacon per breast, rinds removed. The amount of bacon will vary as to how big your breasts... err....chicken breasts are. Lay chicken breast on top, then top with a slice or 2 of nice ham, a slice or 2 of your favourite cheese (I like swiss, use something tasty) and then a line of pitted prunes near to the top where you will start rolling. Roll up as tight as you can. Then transfer onto a piece of gladwrap and roll up tight again. Place into Varoma, and cook for 40 minutes, varoma, speed 2. Check the water in the bowl after about 20 mins. If needed top up with boiling water. Once the rolls are cooked I let them cool in the wrap as it keeps the moisture in. Into the fridge and the next day I unwrap and slice as needed. Yummy on a platter of cold meats, and good in sandwiches too. If I freeze them, I wrap them again and freeze whole. Linked JD
9
« on: March 12, 2014, 05:57:17 am »
Does anyone have a recipe for a light fruit cake? As in light in colour? I have plenty of good recipes, but mine are all dark cakes and I want to try a light coloured one. Thank you lovely ladies Nikki.
10
« on: January 08, 2014, 01:19:31 am »
Have been going through some old photos while trying to clean out a cupboard (is taking me ages as I keep getting side tracked!) and a few old photos jogged my memory from back in about '92...
I ended up with a job flying surveillance as an observer in the Straits. I logged over 2500 hours in about 4 years. What an experience, and when I find my log books and photos on the odd occasion, they bring back a lot of memories. We would fly between 4-7 hours per day (depending on the route, weather, traffic on the water) around the Torres Straits.
I have many memories – some a little more hair raising than others.
One day it was an all girl crew. Female pilot and 2 female observers and it was something we liked to brag about. So off we go, 3 girls, coffee, cake and all the other stuff we needed for the day. Take off and first couple of hours was pretty un-eventful. The usual boats on our route, nothing exciting.
Until we came to the reef that runs up through the middle of the Straits. Often there would be a canoe down from PNG with a few Papuans on board hunting for beche-de-mer the sea cucumbers. There were a couple that day and as they were not meant to be there we had to do a few passes and take photos and report them to the authorities.
Now we were allowed to fly at 500 feet (ASL - above sea level) and had special dispensation to fly down to 100 feet when we were doing a pass on a boat, so we could get a better look and take photos. Seeing as the day had been quiet, there was no other air or sea traffic, the weather was calm so the water was pretty flat, we’d had our coffee and cake and needed a little excitement, we decided to go just a teeny tiny bit lower and let the chaps know that we were on to them and they should really set their stripy blue, red and white sail/tarp up and head for home.
So we may have come down to something similar to “zot feet”.
In other words – there was not a whole lot of air between the belly of our plane and the water. The mast on the canoe was higher than us.
We did another pass to take some photos. We could see the whites of those Papuans eyes!
And we did another pass just to ruffle their loin cloths...and they saw the whites of our eyes when they started throwing their spears at us!
Well, there was some yelling in the cabin, 2 chicks screaming “pull up pull up they’re chucking spears at us” the pilot hauling back on the stick and jamming the throttles up to ‘go faster’.
The poor old plane was grunting a bit as it climbed under full throttle, the pilot was checking all the gauges and we were making sure both the fans outside were still going round and round. We had 2 “bubble windows” in the back (one each side) where you could stick your head into the window, so effectively you were outside the body of the plane. I had my head jammed in that bubble upside down and down and up and back and forward on both sides of the cabin to see if we had a spear hanging out of the fuselage anywhere.
Nothing, all gauges were good, fans still going round, no extras hanging off the plane that I could see. We then started breathing. And laughing. With relief!
We did another pass well above 500 feet waggling our wings at the blokes on the water. Once we settled down we then realised it probably wasn’t one of our better ideas as if they’d struck it lucky and made us ditch in to the water – 3 white chicks on board may have made them forget about beche-de-mer for a while.
The authorities were impressed with our photos as they were so clear and close up and they could see the people very well. “A little too well” was one comment. “How low did you ladies go?” he asked. “Oh the usual mate – 100 feet, geeze they were chucking spears at us, you think we were going to go any lower than that?”
None of us could look at each other with out giggling though, so he knew something was up!
11
« on: December 12, 2013, 10:18:37 pm »
Not sure if anyone has already done this before but thought this might be worthy of a giggle or 2... seeing as Gert casually mentioned that she'd met Elvis and someone else mentioned a Bucket List.... What is on your bucket list?? I'll start... I've always wanted to drive across America in a huge caddy. You know the one with a bonnet and boot that goes for miles, the one with a glovebox you could have a party in (although I always wanted to stash a Colt 45 in there too, along with a never ending bottle of bourbon) Chrome galore and sparkly duco, leather seats, an old scratchy radio belting out some country hits. I don't want to hit the big cities, just cruise on through the small places, get on those gravel roads, meet the locals, see the real country, work on a ranch with a real cowboy... Sounds a bit "Thelma and Louise" (although I have dreamt of doing this since I was a little girl, so it was probably minus the bourbon in those days...) What's on your bucket list??
12
« on: October 25, 2013, 04:25:20 am »
I made this yesterday with a few changes... I did not have 1 kg of beetroot, (only about 750g) so I made up the rest with apples. I only put in 55g sugar and it is sweet enough, glad I didn't put in the 100g. Forgot the salt! I put the beets in a pyrex bowl with a lid and baked them that way. I did follow the recipe for the rest of the instructions. We had some with steak, chips and eggs last night for tea and it was yummy. I will make this again. Linked - JD
13
« on: October 15, 2013, 08:11:56 am »
I thought some of you may want to have a laugh at my expense, so here's another story of me...
In the early 90’s I ended up in the Torres Straits. I had a few adventures and mis-adventures prior to getting there, and many once I was there, but they’re laughs (at my expense) for another time!
I had headed east as my folks wanted me to come home, I was on a pay phone doing the weekly “phone home” to Mum and she was begging me to head south. I was not ready to “settle down and be sensible” so dug my heels in, she asked me “Well where are you going then?” There was a small black board outside the phone box and on it was written Broome, Townsville, Cairns and the cost of the bus tickets. So thinking quick I said “I bought a ticket to Cairns yesterday, heading off in an hour, will call you next week when I get there, love you Mum, got no more change, my moneys about to run...”
I exited the phone box and went and bought that ticket to Cairns and the bus did leave in an hour! I arrived in Cairns exhausted from too many days stuck in that bus from Darwin vowing to never travel that way again. (I had done plenty of bus travel before, Perth to Carnarvon and return many times, Perth to Fitzroy Crossing, Derby to Darwin...never ever again!)
I found a backpackers, got my own room (I was not sharing with other backpackers and their rustling plastic bags at midnight, them trying to get into my bed as they were toddling through the door after 17 too many refreshments at the local, and the not so quite activities in a squeaky bed) and slept for a day or so. After a good feed that didn’t include bad roadhouse coffee and deep fried food I needed a job, so bought the local paper and started reading.
Barmaid wanted on Thursday Island, experience essential, over 20 years old, accom and flights supplied. Bonus! That was the job for me. I had experience, well, I did a bar course in Darwin, spent more on the paying side of the bar than the earning side, but gee, I knew the difference between beer and rum, I was 19 – that’s pretty close to 20, flights and accom supplied and it was an island! Yay – I was heading for the Whitsundays...oh yeah.
This is where I should have gotten a good map and had a bit of a gander!
So I ring and do the old phone interview, yep I’ve had experience, no I’m not 20, yep I can be there on the next flight, yep I can cook if I have to, no probs mate. Yep I can be at the airport tomorrow, easy. It’s in the bag, the job is mine. I’m thinking... Palm trees, beautiful beaches, Great Barrier Reef. Island life here I come.
Should have had a look at that map again...
I am on the plane and not worrying too much (courtesy of a couple of coldies on the flight) until the Captain does the “we are about to start descent into Horn Island, the weather is 25 degrees, blah blah blah” spiel. I’ve stopped breathing. Horn Island, no-one mentioned Horn Island, what about Thursday Island. Breath. Then the hosty says something about a bus and a ferry and other island transfers and I’m starting to panic, where on earth am I? I’ve gotten on the wrong plane. I frantically press the hosty attention button and she comes down to me. I ask her where the heck am I? She raises one perfectly groomed eyebrow and pulls out the in-flight magazine, flips casually to the page with the map on it, smiles and points to the very tippy tippy top of Queensland. I got the feeling she had done this a few times before!
Uh oh. I pointed to the Whitsundays and asked “are you sure we aren’t here somewhere?” She smiled again and shook her head, tapping a tiny dot off Cape York. This was in no way where I expected to be going, but hey, she’ll be right mate, I’m still in Queensland (just) still on the reef (not quite) still on an island ... but not the Whitsundays that’s for sure! She kindly reassured me that I would be taken to Thursday Island and I had nothing to worry about. I am sure she smirked and mumbled something along the lines of “fresh meat for the pub” as she walked away.
As it turns out there were 4 new girls with me heading to the same pub. They all had the same thoughts as me when it came to “where are we?”, so I wasn’t the only dopey blonde on the plane that day! I was the only dopey Aussie though – they had an excuse – they were all Poms.
And we were fresh meat for the pub! Life really got interesting for me once I hit the Straits.
14
« on: September 26, 2013, 06:35:34 am »
This was nice. Warming spicey. But not overdone either...does that make sense?
I served it to friends who came for lunch yesterday and the "never had chai tea before" people loved it, and the "I love chai tea" people loved it.
When I made it for me, I cut the honey back to 20g and found it too sweet, so depends on how you like your tea.
I made it without honey yesterday for those who didn't have a sweetener in their tea and they said it was great. For those who did have a sweetener in their tea I just added a little honey to their cup. They were happy too.
Linked CC
15
« on: September 26, 2013, 06:30:14 am »
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! This is a light dessert, coffee - ey without it being over the top. I cut back the sugar to about 60g, and for me could have gone less again. Yum, will make it again Linked CC
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