Toadfish Monastery

Christmas Pudding

8 oz Butter
8 oz Brown Sugar
4 oz Soft White Breadcrumbs
4 eggs (61g)
4 oz Plain Flour
8 oz Currants
8 oz Sultanas
2 oz Candied Peel
2 oz Blanched Almonds
3 Tablespoons Brandy (or more)
¼ Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
¼ Teaspoon Carb Soda
¼ Teaspoon Mixed Spice
8 oz Seeded Raisins
Pinch Salt
Extra butter to grease basin
Glad Bake
Aluminium foil
Cotton string

Clean fruit, chop almonds & put with the brandy overnight.  Prepare a large pudding basin by greasing well with butter, cut a circle of Glad Bake and put in the bottom.
Cream the butter and sugar until light.  Beat the eggs lightly and add gradually to mixture, beating well after each addition.  Add prepared fruit, almonds, peel and brandy, stirring until evenly mixed.  Add breadcrumbs and sifted flour, salt, spice and nutmeg.  Mix thoroughly and pour into basin allowing a little space for rising.

Cover with two thicknesses of Glad Bake and then two of Aluminium foil, folding down over the sides of the bowl.  Tie securely under the rim of the pudding basin using cotton string, forming a handle over the top (this also helps keep the string in place.)  Place in a steamer and steam for 6 hours.  Can also be put directly in boiling water, but keep the water up to at least half way or more throughout cooking - but not over the top of the basin.
Steam a further two hours on the day of serving.  When ready to serve, heat 1/3 cup of brandy set alight and pour while burning over the pudding.  Serve with brandy custard and King Island cream.
Store in the refrigerator.

Slow Cooker variation
Place a trivet* in the bottom of a large slow cooker, put pudding on top then fill to about an inch (2.5 cm) below the rim of the basin with boiling water and cook on high for 8 12 hours without opening the cooker.  Reheat with trivet and water as before for 4 5 hours or twice as long on low.  I usually put it on about 7-8 AM and it is fine when wanted after a midday meal at around 1:30-2:00 PM.
* Or use three egg rings – so long as your cooker is deep enough to hold the basin on top with the lid on properly.

P.S.    Use traditional china or stoneware (not metal) pudding basin available at most kitchen or hardware stores - size required would be about 8" or 20 cm across the top.

Glad Bake is similar to baking parchment, I believe.

Note: This recipe was the old family recipe of an old Scottish lady that was a friend of my grandmother's.  She gave Nana the recipe in the 1930's.  It is at least 100 years old.

Yarr, me 'earties!  Oi be a tellin' ye on account o' me 'avin a contritomps  contretamps  er foight wiv a scurrilous blaggard, Oi now bin fitted wiv a woodin toe, so from now on Oi'll be known as Dread Cap'n Peg Toe Bluenose.  Avast!!!

Beware all the Pommie siblings, Cap'n Bluenose is planning a raid on Old Blighty next year. I'll be arriving mid May and departing mid July. Lock up your daughters, er rum, and batten your hatches! There's fun to be had!  I want to catch up with as many of you lot as possible, I'm already planning a sortie on Griffin, look out all the test of you!

Suggestions of places to visit welcome, plus you better let me know roughly where you're hiding so I can make some sort of a plan for getting around, even if you do live on a rather small island!  

Hi Sibs!  Have had the gall  bladder out. Now recovering.  have had temporary neurological issues than made it hard to use the phone.
I'll post more later.

Not sure if we don't already have a topic like this, but I couldn't find it - maybe it's lost somewhere in the catacombs.

I saw this today and I just have to share it, apologies if you've already seen it, but I think it would be worth another view just the same.

[youtube=425,350]BKezUd_xw20[/youtube]

Today I arrived home to a very pleasant surprise in the mail, a valentines gift from Opsa, Mr Opsa and the Opsalette for Mrs Blue and little ole me - some very yummy ginger chews.

I guess this falls under no good deed goes unpunished theory and is in retribution for the jar of ginger marmalade I sent Opsa a while back.  

Thank you very much Opsa, you're a champ!  And the chews are very good indeed, I especially like the hint of chilli.  Delish!

Well, it's two weeks, more or less, until we Ozwalds go to the polls.

For your edification and amusement here is how it works here...

Australia is a parliamentary democracy with a bi-cameral legislature.  The lower house, the House of Representatives, consists of 150 members elected to represent electorates of approximately equal numbers of voters, within a specified tolerance.  Voting for the lower house is via a preferential voting system.  The lower house term is nominally three years.  The upper house or Senate, sometimes known as "the States' House" consists of 76 members, 12 elected for each state (6 States), plus 2 each for the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory.  Senators are elected using a proportional representation system for fixed six year terms and in an ordinary general election half the Senate positions are declared vacant.  Half-Senate elections are held at the same time as the election for the lower house, but the newly elected Senators do not take up office until the expiry of the fixed term period after the general election.  There's more to it than that, but that will suffice, lest I bore you all to death!

The Prime Minister is the lower house Member of Parliament who commands a majority on the floor of said lower house.  Our nominal head of state is the Queen of Australia AKA Betty the tooth (hey, I'm an Aussie, I'm supposed to be disrespectful of authority, so sue me...).  However the Queen has only one power and that is to appoint the Governor General, who is our actual head of state, and in doing so she is required to follow the advice of the Prime Minister.  There are a great number of Australians who argue that we should become a republic, however, I feel we are for all intents and purposes a republic already, plus we get the added advantage of all the spectacle of a royal visit every now and then and we can feel a sense of ownership of all the pomp and ceremony that happens over in The Old Country without having to pay for any of it - bargain!  In the mean time the Royals don't effect our day to day lives in any meaningful way at all (except for those that buy trashy magazines) so we can safely ignore them.  I can't think of a better use for a head of state, can you?

Anyway we are now in the grip of election fever - or not, as the case moves us.  Mostly not, we just want it over.  So who do we get to vote for?

The current Labor (no, they can't spell) government is led by Kevin Rudd.  He was first elected Prime Minister two elections ago (Kevin 07), got himself a reputation for being a total workaholic nut job, rude and disrespectful and maker of policy on the run, much of which proved to be abject failures or complete wastes of money, so his fellow Labor (the buggers still can't spell) Party colleagues decided to chuck him out and put Julia Gillard in his place.  Julia proceeded to not quire win the next election and held onto minority government by making a deal with the devil Greens and the three independent MPs, thus delivering her a "majority" of one in the lower house.  Many people thought that she should have called a new election, but she determined to press ahead.  As part of her deal with the Greens, Julia introduced a carbon tax, despite having specifically and adamantly ruled it out in a much publicised television interview a few days before the election.  Julia continued along the policy on the run approach sometimes announcing major policy decisions affecting our near neighbours, without consulting them first.  Due to this and other continued policy failure the government standing in the polls plummeted.  The same faceless men that ejected Kevin the first time, noting that Labor (I really wish they would learn how to spell their own name) was well and truly on track to be annihilated in the upcoming election, now turned on his replacement and put Kevin back in the drivers seat hoping somehow that he would save their collective bacon.  Two months on and now two weeks away from the election. the polls have been through their "new" leader bounce - they maxed out just about the time Kevin actually called the election, and since then have continued to slide for the party with the poorly spelled name, probably as people remember why they hated him so much the first time.  Kevin's amazingly bizarre attempts to use the vernacular, usually coming out with clumsy, not quite right wonders of ineptitude, sound just like a dad trying to be cool in front of his teenage kids' friends - truly cringe worthy.  As things stand now it seems likely that Kevin will be ex-Prime Minister this time on 8 September.

Hoping to become the new Prime Minister is Liberal Party leader Tony Abbot.  Tony was the former health minister in the previous Liberal/National Party coalition.  (The Nats are a sort of country auxiliary wing of the Libs.)  He is a Catholic, as indeed is Kevin Rudd (Julia Gillard was openly atheist).  Detractors say this will colour his approach to a number of issues, but somehow seem to think this is not the case for Kevvy.  Oh well. consistency was never the hallmark of the political apparatchiks.  However, in Tony's favour it should be pointed out that as health minister, despite admitting that he personally did not support it, but he did nevertheless take the advice of his department and oversaw the introduction of RU486 (the "morning after" pill).  Tony has tended to suffer a bit in the past from foot-in-mouth disease, but so far in this election has managed to avoid any major gaffs.  I guess time will tell.  His main challenge is to not succumb to hubris based on the polls (that he has the election in the bag) and to control his colleagues in the same way.

Snipping around the edges are a number of smaller groups, the largest of which are the Greens.  The Greens have one member in the lower house and 9 Senators.  Australia has for a long time had a third party that polls about 10-12% of the vote, before the Greens it was the Australian Democrats and before them the Democratic Labour Party.  As a rule these parties have served the purpose of providing an alternative for those jaded with the two main political parties and for those that believe in faeries at the bottom of the garden.  The Greens achieved their biggest success at the last Federal election due to some preference deals, but this time round both main parties have decided to place the Greens last on their tickets (primarily to avoid another minority government which it has to be said has been far from a resounding success) which is likely to have a major negative impact on Green MPs' chances of re-election.

After the Greens there are a hodgepodge of minor parties from what can only be considered to be joke parties (not least because he is deadly serious) like the Clive Palmer's Palmer United Party (yes, he of the Titanic II "fame"), to some that defy description such as Bob Hatter's Hatter's Australia Party, sometimes unkindly called the Mad Hatter's Party.  Also there is the Australian Sex Party, which actually just about has a chance to pick up the sixth Senate seat in Victoria due to preferences.

All in all, I think that the best policy was expressed in some graffiti I saw a few years ago: "Don't vote, it only encourages them".  However, seeing as how Australia has compulsory voting, I do at least have to turn up at a polling booth, get my name ticked off the electoral roll and pick up my ballot papers.  Whether I fill them in or use them to draw a nice fire engine, is up to me.

Dad was admitted to hospital yesterday with a high temp and abdominal pain near his lap band port.  CT scan shows that he has erosion of the stomach wall and the band will have to be removed.  He went in about 3 hours ago, I'm at work and have not yet heard any news, although it was only expected that news would become available about now, so no panic on that front.  He didn't look too good when I went to see him last night, but I am pretty sure that it was no worse than I looked when I had a raging infeciton in my foot a few years ago.  The IV anti-biotics will take care of that.  Here's hoping all goes well.

Hi siblings!

This is what was on the other side of my back fence last night.  Aussies often joke that Americans think we have kangaroos running down the middle of the street all the time.  Well, I often have them over my fence, I suppose that's close enough!  Oh, and before you ask, yes, that is a female with a joey in the pouch.

Weather across southern and central Australia has been very hot of late with temperature in many places topping 47-48°C (116-118°F).  One location in South Australia reached 51.2°C (124°F), only 0.2° below the all time Australian record.  Today in Melbourne was a lot less hot than yesterday, when it got to 43°C, but it's predicted to go back above 40°C for the next five days or so and there is a good chance the Australian record high temperature may be exceeded in some inland locations.

There have already been some fairly severe bushfires, especially in Tasmania where a couple of towns have been badly effected in scenes reminiscent of the fires in Victoria on Black Saturday in 2009.  Fortunately, at the moment there have been no confirmed fatalities.  Last night approximately 1,000 people were evacuated by sea from the Tasman Peninsular as the fires had completely cut off the peninsular at Eaglehawk Neck.  However, news reports to hand indicate that the main highway has just recently been re-opened.  The fire services across Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia and southern New South Wales are bracing for the next few days.  There is a large pool of very hot air over the continent at the moment and in southern regions strong, hot and dry northerly winds are forecast.  The country has dried out after a couple of years of strong vegetation growth due to substantial rains and so now it is much like the clichéd tinder box.  The potential for very bad fires is frighteningly real.  Lets just hope we can get through this without anything further happening.  But I wouldn't be betting on it...

Night Before Christmas in Aussie land

'Twas the night before Christmas; there wasn't a sound.
Not a possum was stirring; no-one was around.
We'd left on the table some tucker and beer,
...Hoping that Santa Claus soon would be here;
We children were snuggled up safe in our beds,
While dreams of pavlova danced 'round in our heads;
And Mum in her nightie, and Dad in his shorts,
Had just settled down to watch TV sports.
When outside the house a mad ruckus arose;
Loud squeaking and banging woke us from our doze.
We ran to the screen door, peeked cautiously out,
Snuck onto the deck, then let out a shout.
Guess what had woken us up from our snooze,
But a rusty old Ute pulled by eight mighty kangaroos.
The cheerful man driving was giggling with glee,
And we both knew at once who this plump bloke must be.
Now, I'm telling the truth it's all dinki-di,
Those eight kangaroos fairly soared through the sky.
Santa leaned out the window to pull at the reins,
And encouraged the 'roos, by calling their names.
'Now, Kylie! Now, Kirsty! Now, Shazza and Shane!
On Kipper! On, Skipper! On, Bazza and Wayne!
Park up on that water tank. Grab a quick drink,
I'll scoot down the gum tree. Be back in a wink!'
So up to the tank those eight kangaroos flew,
With the Ute full of toys, and Santa Claus too.
He slid down the gum tree and jumped to the ground,
Then in through the window he sprang with a bound.
He had bright sunburned cheeks and a milky white beard.
A jolly old joker was how he appeared.
He wore red stubby shorts and old thongs on his feet,
And a hat of deep crimson as shade from the heat.
His eyes - bright as opals - Oh! How they twinkled!
And, like a goanna, his skin was quite wrinkled!
His shirt was stretched over a round bulging belly
Which shook when he moved, like a plate full of jelly.
A fat stack of prezzies he flung from his back,
And he looked like a swaggie unfastening his pack.
He spoke not a word, but bent down on one knee,
To position our goodies beneath the yule tree.
Surfboard and footy-ball shapes for us two.
And for Dad, tongs to use on the new barbeque.
A mysterious package he left for our Mum,
Then he turned and he winked and he held up his thumb;
He strolled out on deck and his 'roos came on cue;
Flung his sack in the back and prepared to shoot through.
He bellowed out loud as they swooped past the gates-

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, and goodonya, MATES!'




* NB, none of this is the work of Bluenose!

The other day there was a knock on my front door.  When I answered there stood a young woman with a babe in arms and a small child beside her.  She asked me if I knew the phone number to call to get help recover her car keys which she had dropped and had then slipped down a drain in the gutter next to her car.  I said that I would grab some tools and we would get them back ourselves, could she just wait a second or two while I went back inside and came back out through the garage with some tools.  When I opened the garage door, she simply lost it and started crying, in relief I suspect.  I well remember her daughter saying "don't cry, mummy" it touched my heart - I reassured her but it made me realise that she must have been feeling pretty desperate and she told me that she had been visiting a friend and when they both left, her friend had driven off, and that was when she had dropped the keys.  She had tried on quite a few houses in the street with no answer before she tried my house.  I then lifted the lid on the drain and using a long length of wire hooked out the keys.  She was so relieved that she asked if she could give me hug, which I accepted with thanks and left her putting her children back in the car to drive home (or wherever.)  That was the end of it as far as I was concerned, the satisfaction of helping out someone in need was all the reward I would expect or want.

Yesterday I had another knock on the front door.  There was the young woman again with a box of chocolates as a thank you.  It made me feel very happy and although chocolates are hardly what I need (there is altogether much too much more Bluenose than there should be), I felt that the only way I could acknowledge her thoughtfulness was to accept them with thanks, which I did.  I had almost forgotten the incident and certainly never expected anything in return - I only did what I would expect anyone would have done.   But one thing she did do was make me feel much better towards my fellow human beings.  Not everyone is only out for themselves.  It made me feel very happy.

Greetings and salutations from the Land Downunder to all you USians on the 236^th anniverary of the act of treason against declaration of independance from the British crown.





Sorry, just couldn't help myself.  

We had a magnitude 5.3 earthquake here last night, just before 9 pm local time.  The whole house shook from side to side for about 40 seconds - very scary/exciting.  Fortunately no damage at Casa del Blue and I understand that there have been no reports of serious damage.  Mostly I think we all just rang each other up to compare notes and started tweeting and posting on Facebook.  It's another age, these days...

I have recently tried a couple of new recipes, the first one is mine, the second is one I was given:

Dead easy peanut butter biscuits (cookies for the USians)

1 egg
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/3 cup small dark chocolate bits

Beat the egg, mix all the other ingredients in with a wooden spoon (takes no time at all)

Spoon out small lumps of the mixture (about 2-3 cm or 1 inch across) and roll in your hands until they make smooth balls.  Place on baking paper on a flat oven tray, leaving room to spread.  Squash down slightly with a fork until about 1.5 cm (½ inch) thick.  Bake in a moderate oven 180°C (350°F) for 10 minutes.  Allow to cool and enjoy!


Super easy fruit cake

Start 2 days before you want to eat it.

1 kg (2.2 lb) mixed dried fruit
600 ml (1 US pint + ½ US Cup) chocolate flavoured milk
1 cup self raising flour

Place the fruit in a largish container with a lid and pour in the chocolate milk.  Push down the fruit so that it is all in the milk, cover and put in the refrigerator over night.  Stir in the flour with a wooden spoon until well combined but do not over mix.  Place in a greased and lined cake tin about 20 -23 cm (8-9 in) accross.  Bake in a moderate oven for about 1½ hours, until a skewer comes out clean.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 30 mins or so before removing from tin.  Best if wrapped in aluminium foil for a day or so before eating.  Delicious!


---
Edit: that would be crunchy peanut butter

Just found this on the net, haven't heard it for a long time, but I thought I might share it with the siblings.  Make sure your sound is on.

Come to Australia

After twelve years of drought, the Black Saturday bushfires, locust plagues, two rounds of flooding - first in Queensland, then again in Queensland, New South Wales and into Victoria (my home state), now north Queensland looks like it is about to be plastered by severe tropical cyclone Yasi which is a category 5 cyclone with wind speeds up to 300 km/h and is due to arrive over the coast on a 500 km front in the next few hours.  The weather bureau  is forcasting up to a metre of rain or even more in effected areas.  There is predicted to be a storm surge of about 2.7 m at Cairns which is likely to inundate the CBD there.  As I type this I am listening to an emergency warning that is being broadcast to advise people in the effected area to secure themselves now and that there is now only about 3 hours left to evacuate before it becomes too dangerous.  Landfall is expected about 9 or 10 pm.  The advice is that at current rate of progress, the eye of the cyclone will take about an hour to pass overhead and the government is warning not to be lulled into a false sense of security when the eye is overhead.  This is going to be a wild ride indeed for my countymen in North Queensland.

For interest, here is the latest visible satellite photo clearly showing the cyclone out in the Coral Sea.

  Avarst!  Oi bin jest lookin hat me kalenda, an' Oi notissed wot it be jest a few days till that blaggard Santie Claws be getting reddy ter make is hanual run.

Oi gots me cannons all primed an' loaded, but Oi be a fewe crewe short ter man the guns.  Be there any volunteers to elp me - iffen we be luckie we may get the baskit goode an proper this toime!

Well, we had all the fires around here a couple of years ago, we've had 12 years of drought, now we're having major floods across half the state and we're expecting a major outbreak of plague locusts in a month or two.  Does somebody not like us?

The Australian Federal Parliament has finally done something useful, see this article in Melbourn'e Herald Sun newspaper.