It’s once again an Australia Time Friday! It’s FRIDAY!!!!
Though this posting is being made California Friday morning. Why? Well, the local Bargain Market Grocery Outlet store once again got in some of that Little Penguin Shiraz Cabernet Blend that I liked so much.
So, OK, I buy “a few” bottles. Buy it while they got it, right? And, of course, I pour the first glass on arriving home, while I start the dinner prep. Well, one thing follows another like one glass follows the other and pretty soon it’s tomorrow… 8-0
What can I say. I thought about doing the posting before dinner, but the clock told me not enough time and I’d need to stop in the middle to cook. After cooking it was eating and drinking (more…) time. Then it was sitting on the couch spending “after glow” time with spouse (and dogs… who insist my highest and best use is to be their “couch buddy” mattress…)
Then it was 2 AM and I’m waking up on the couch and removing dogs from on top of me… So you get this posting a little late and I’m blaming a Little Penguin…
The Tucker
Did “the usual” Loin Lamb Chops from Australia. Stood on the T-Bone fat end in a cast iron skillet in the oven at 400 F for about 25 minutes (for no-red inside, so less if you like rare).
A simple salad of mixed lettuces with Ranch dressing, and a vegetable mix were sides. Raspberries in Kefir for dessert.
For the vegetable mix, it was a red onion, mixed colored carrots, and yellow summer squash. Chop the onion into roughly dime sized bits and into a skillet with 1/2 & 1/2 butter and olive oil. Set it to a good medium hot saute temperature. Cut the carrot into dime sized bits too, and layer it on top. Now cut the squash into roughly half dollar sized slices (little end left round, big fat end quartered). Give the skillet a stir or two.
Once the onions are clear / translucent and both the onions and carrots are about 1/2 done, add the squash on top. I started the onion frying about the same time as the lamb went into the oven, and they both finished about the same time. So at about the 10? minute mark, squash goes in and you do the ‘steam and stir’ process. I used a metal mesh cover to prevent any spatter and it holds a bit of warmer steamy air over the vegetables that helps steam warm the fresher layers on top. After they are warmed, you can occasionally stir the mix until the squash is cooked through.
I usually put either Italian or Greek seasoning mix in near the end, along with salt and pepper to your preference. Last night I just left it buttery with a bit of salt (spouse not fond of pepper so I “do my own serving”…) It was rather nice having it more vegetables flavor than spices.
We have fresh raspberries in season now, and with a bit of Kefir or Yogurt over them they are quite nice. Occasionally I’ll sprinkle a little sugar if it needs it.
The Wine
Already mentioned… The Little Penguin Shiraz Cabernet mix. It is just so nice tasting and so easy to drink… I’ve already reviewed it a couple of times so not much more to say.
In Other News
I’m also a couple of days out of date on following the news. Why? A bunch of “round tuits” were dropped on me by various events. Not the least of which was a couple of days getting coffee out of my computer, cables, and Monitor / TV.
So Y’all will need to supply the “Other News” today.
Musings from the Chiefio 
I found this tweet from the White House to be interesting. Look how much the economy has improved since Biden moved into the White House:
I had the usual roast loin lamb baked with spring onions, carrots, and potatoes. What is it about carrots with lamb? )
Thanks EM for your Ausi support triggered by the recent bully-boy tactics of the CCP! We have just completed a 20,000 Km (12,000 mile) trip around Australia towing a small pop-up caravan. One common theme was the number of places where we heard “X has been sold, and the top of the chain of holding companies is owned by, (or has links to) the the CCP. X could be a large property (sheep, cattle, cotton etc) or a gold-mine or an airport or even a vast irrigation system.
I understand there are now 5 private airports dotted around Australia that have CCP links. One of them is a flight school for training Chinese ‘civil’-pilots. The ports of Darwin and Newcastle are ultimately Chinese controlled. All this would be fine if the “cuddly-panda diplomacy” had continued, but with the current “wolf-warrior diplomacy” many people ask ‘…how we will get out of this one?’.
@Sandy McClintock:
20K km eh? That’s ambitious! So the whole ring around the outside and a bit of the Outback? FWIW, I loved my drive from Sydney out to the Back ‘o Burk and then back through your “Mountains” (In quotes because, well, The Rockies and 12k Ft changes a blokes attitude about what’s a mountain…. ~”Now that’s a mountain ;-)
Yes, as the smaller and closer property, I’d expect a Chinese Strategy to be “buy up the place on the sly then compromise the politicians and then, open immigration and genetically flood the place, then absorb it. You’ve got your work cut out for you.
My suggestion for “getting out of it”? Nationalize key assets they own. It is what Socialists do, and they are Communist / Socialists, so just use their playbook against them.
FWIW, we in the USA have similar issues, though on a smaller scale. Motorola is now a Chinese company. Think I’m ever going to trust a Motorola phone? Smithfield Hams (largest ham and pork producer in the USA) is owned by China. No, I don’t buy their ham anymore… but do they care with a lot of it being exported to China? Ingram Micro? Yup, Chinese. Continental Aircraft? China owned. No, I’m not a pilot nor owner of anything that takes a Continental Engine; but were I to ride in such an aircraft I’ll ask some questions about age of the engine… Even the Waldorf Astoria is owned, now, by China (so not staying in any hotel from that chain and having to search the room for cameras…). The list goes one.
The ONLY saving grace is that if the Shit Hits the Whirly Thing, we can just say they forfeited the assets. There’s more, BTW. Land. Houses. etc.
There’s also a surprising increase in the number of Chinese Nationals, locally, who have suddenly gotten visas to move to the USA. The house next to mine is owned by a Chinese “emigrant”… and rented out to US Citizens…
IMHO, the best possible thing to happen would be for the CCP to attack Taiwan, put global chip supplies in peril, and the world to just nationalize the hell out of all their purchases… The worst thing would be doing nothing while they slowly take over the world, and we end up in “reeducation camps” and “organ supply facilities”… like the Falun Gong.
@Beththesurf:
Carrots, celery, and onions make up the core of aromatics. Mirepoix. Any subset gets a lot of the way there. Lamb or not.
FWIW, I want to try Roast Carrots (just place them in the skillet with the chops) some day. Stronger flavor and ought to be ‘way yum”….
We roast vegs, usually, but not invariably, with a mix of olive oil and butter. I have some bonsai (read undersized homegrown!) carrots I’ve added to some Brussels sprouts in the oven but decided to sauté some sliced spuds and leeks on top of the stove. We will have these with salmon and the remains of last night’s ratatouille.
Last night we had casseroled Cumberland sausages; I get them in Coles on my rare visits to them. They are made to a proper Cumbrian recipe and I think about my Cumbrian-based family in England (that I can’t visit and haven’t seen for ages). My mother loves them!
While awaiting the meal, I am having a glass of $8 dollar red fizzy (Yellowglen), courtesy of our local supermarket.
Guess that computer has a bit of a caffeine buzz!
@PhilJourdan:
The weirdest effect was the kaleidoscope like colors on the monitor. I could still see most of the base image, but with color shifts and speckles and other weird bits. Fixed via a good washing of the cable end with isopropanol…
It did look a bit like a drug buzz…
Well, maybe it has been sneaking a joint behind your back. Tis legal in your state now. ;-)
@Annie – Proper Cumberland sausages?
I’m in! Never had them.
I love the subtle variations of traditional ethnic sausages. Polska kielbasa, bratwurst, knackwurst, bangers, Tennessee Pride, Chinese sausages, Italian sausages… ad infinitum.
But now I’ve got a hankerin’ for Cumberland sausages.
It’s all good! 😁
Hey! I just scored a few bottles of Bundaberg Ginger Beer, brewed in Australia.
It has a decent snap to it. Not bad at all. 👍