Camp Food - Lamb chops in the forest

Can't believe I am away for that long!! Been busy lately, lots of packing and day trips. Only 2 more weeks till I leave Melbourne to KL! In fact, my dogs are already in an airport awaiting for their flights to KL for the next day. Lucky dogs to be on a plane! Their tickets are not cheap, I must say, it totals up to A$2145 for both of them. Phiew. There goes my holiday trip to Italy.

Allright, back to the topic. Went bush camping at the Kooyoora State Park in Bendigo last weekend. It was hot and dry. Also, there were like gazillions of flies all around, which is the most annoying thing ever! I never knew that there could be so much flies! God damn!

I must say that the highlights of the trip for me would be the dinner and the trip to Melville Caves which was absolute gorgeous.

I freeze lamb chops the night before and by the time we were at the camp the next day, the lamb chops had defrosted nicely to be whacked on a pile of hot coals! I seasoned it with dried rosemary, salt and pepper. While it's cooking, it smelt amazing and guess what. It just attracted more flies. Ouch.

Turning around.

I wonder, why does camp food always tasted so much better than the same meals made at a kitchen? I swear to god, those were the best lamb chops I ever had. And I had many before that. It was so good.

Oh yah, the canned food was chilli beans with beef chunks. It was yummy but the lamb chops still wins in the taste factor hands down. Yee-haa!

The Royal Melbourne Show

This is the 3rd time I've been to the Royal Melbourne Show, and probably the last time, too, since I'll be heading back to Malaysia for good at the end of the year. Sigh. Oh well, J and I had a marvelous time yesterday and it will be one of our sweet memories of Melbourne.

Ferris Wheel

Even though it's a Tuesday, there's still a big crowd, particularly when the school's holidays are here. There were plenty of rides to keep the adrenaline rushing.

Hangover

The first stop for me would be the food and wine display, of course. There were about 30-40 food exhibitionists in there, some with free tastings. I had a field day trying out the cheeses, crackers and the memorable fiery chilly sauce which was rated 10/10. Dear god, I was gasping around for air I thought I was chilly-tolerant. Boy, that chilly sauce put me straight up that day.

Wines from the Yarra Valley

The Australian Apiarists

Multi-colored fudge

Next up was the trip to the Arts and Crafts show where they displayed the wide range of cakes, jams and cake decorations from competitors (mostly housewives) around Australia. It was a simply breathtaking sight to behold.

Cupcakes

The winner of all cupcakes has got to be g-ood

Jams and Jellies

There were plenty of audible oohs and ahhs at the cake-decorations display area. I was one of the louder ones. *grins* Those were the most amazing piece of arts that I have ever seen, and to think they are going to be eaten! My heart goes out to all of them.

Sugared teddies

SO CUTE. Love the cow.

Outside in the open air, there were plenty of activities and games to keep the public entertained. I walked down a path and saw kids had their face painted using vibrant colors.

Spiderman in the making, hooray!

Cheer up, boy. There's nothing wrong with Cicakman.

Then there were the farm animals in the Animal Pavilion and the show dogs at the Dog Shows.

Cute kids

I let you touch me while I'm sleeping only because you are pretty.

Friendly neighbours

There was also an entertaining circus show in the middle of the showground complete with trapeze, balancing act and acrobatic stunts.

Flying trapeze

And monster trucks and free style stunt bikes in the Coca-cola Arena, which was the best show of the day, I reckon.

Monster truck

And in every nook and corner, there were eye-catching stalls selling showbags - which is the main attractions for the Royal Melbourne Show.

Showbags selling like hotcakes

I noticed that everyone had showbags in their hands, some with trolleys full of showbags. It's like going to the markets - instead of shopping for meat and vegetables, they shop for showbags!

I must say we were one of them - we bought 10 Pedigree showbags for our dogs. There were Schmackos and Denta Sticks which we thought were very good for value. We love our dogs more than ourselves. Lol.

Soft toys

There were lots of soft toys around - some bigger than the kids themselves. You play games or join a lucky draw to win them. I got a Care Bear, yippee!

And after all the hours of walking and shopping, we were hungry and started to look for food. We don't have to look for long though, there were food stalls dotted all around the showground. Throughout the day, we had fish and chips, pancakes with icing sugar and maple syrup, a dagwood dog and soft drinks. Fried food with show just go hand-in-hand together.

I'd be happy too if I'm surrounded by fairy floss all day

Food stall

Best pancakes, ever.

We had a great time and the total damages for that day was $180 for the both of us. Not cheap, but still, another great memory with lots of photographs that comes with it.

Premium Rump Steak - Juicy and Meaty

Medium rare premium rump steak

Scenario:

(Coles Supermarket, Meat Aisle)

Bf : What are we having for dinner tomorrow?

Me : Well, we have some beef rendang in the freezer. We could have that. I could prepare
some vege to go with it.

Bf : *looking at steaks longingly* Could we have steaks instead?

Me : But you just had steaks last month!

Bf : Yeah, but that was ages ago. It was 2 weeks since I had one.

Me : Oh, all right. *reach out for premium rump steaks from the shelf*

Bf : *Grins widely*

*************************************************************************************
Scenario:

(The next day at 7pm, kitchen)

Seasoned lightly with cracked black pepper and rosemary



***After 6 minutes on a stove***

Glistening juices

We like ours medium rare

Yummy with buttery potato

*************************************************************************************

A looong time ago, I must have my steaks well-cooked. Wrong move. The consequences are dry and tough steaks resulting me in asking for more gravy to sort of compensate the lack of juices, which did not help, of course. I remember needing to chew a small piece of meat for about 2 minutes and then forcibly swallow with gulps of water in between *shudders*

However, once I try a medium rare steak, I never looked back since. The result is an extremely juicy and succulent piece of meat. And gravy is never needed. In fact, it's best to eliminate strong sauces as the taste of the steak might be overpowered by the gravy.

Tim Tam - Love them, Enjoy them, Want them or Hide them?

J went to the supermarket recently and immediately noticed the latest limited edition of Tim Tams Originals. Of course, he has to get the Love Potions, too.

I was intrigued by the phrases on the packaging and found these very interesting info on their website.

And so, I decided to do a Tim Tams test:


1. Love me

"The majority (52%) of Tim Tam lovers enjoy doing the Tim Tam Slam where the biscuit is used as a straw to drink coffee or port"

Verdict: Have not try that method before. So, no, I don't love you, Tim Tams. *but that's not fair because I really like to eat you!*


2. Enjoy Me

"50% of consumers choose to eat the last Tim Tam in the packet before anyone else does, while only 17% will share it with family or friends"

Verdict: I'm the 17%


3. Want Me

"64% of consumers eat their Tim Tam biscuits on the same day they buy them"

Verdict: YUP. On the other hand, we don't eat 'em all since we always buy in bulk when there's
sales.


4. Hide Me

"Many consumers go to extremes to hide their Tim Tam biscuits from others…inside the crisper draw in the refrigerator, the laundry basket, the freezer, the car, in a desk drawer, in the bedroom, and even in the safe!"

Verdict: Not me. Lol, who in the mighty world would keep chocolate biscuits in the safe?



Sigh. It seems that I fall in neither of the categories. What a slap on the face, and I thought I love them.



Now, which one are you?