It’s once again an Australia Time Friday! It’s FRIDAY!!!!
The Tucker
We’re having Australian Lamb Loin Chops, roasted in the oven. A bit of salt, pepper, and garlic granules as desired. As many times before.
An “American” Side Salad. Ranch dressing. (Bottle almost done, then a new dressing on offer ;-) This is a lettuce salad with carrot shreds, some red cabbage bits, and some slices of radishes in it. Maybe some other stuff. Just Bag-O-salad, really.
I’m having a bit of left-over Acorn Squash (roasted) reheated and buttered. The spouse is just going for the other main side dish: Red Potatoes, cut into “fingers” about 1 cm square, coated with Olive Oil and roasted along with the Loin Chops.
Yeah, “Meat & Potatoes” with a side salad and me doing the leftovers a bit.
The Wine
New Zealand Honorable Win! I have a bottle of New Zealand White Cliff Rosé. Vintners Selection 2020. A rather delightful wine that had a bit of sparkle in the glass, a nice peach with rose color, and a delicate delightful fruit flavor. The nose is fruity and a delight. Definitely a Winner! I was having a glass or two as I made dinner ;-)
With dinner, we will be having a ShottesBrooke Farmers’s Friend Cabernet Sauvignon Langhorne Creek 2017. Deep and strong flavors. A bit too tannic after the White Cliff, but the pallet is adjusting and will likely be well in balance with garlic crusted lamb when it is done. Ought to bottle age well, but is drinkable now with strongly flavored foods. Nose is a bit thin (or 3 glasses have dulled mine already ;-) with some oak but not a lot of fruit. I’d expect this wine to go well with a strong red meat or an Italian main dish. After dinner I’ll post an update on that point.
The News
Major point here is that “Omicron” variant has shown itself to be our friend, and Enemy Of GEBs everywhere. HIGHLY contagious and endowing strong Natural Immunity all over the planet. Spreading like wildfire, yet NOT putting folks in the hospital.
I predict a FLOOD of “Fear Porn” from the Pwned Media painting this as worse than Black Death and DEMANDING ~”Everyone be locked down for months and get 2 or 3 booster shots too!!!! PANIC!!! EVERYONE PANIC!!!!”. Because, you know, you can’t have a nice Global Dominating Fear Porn Driven Panic over a head cold that gives you immunity…
Everything else, IMHO, pales in comparison to this Nature Provided Antidote to the Plandemic Fear Porn.
Side bar on me: I’m now into my 2nd year of No Bad Thing despite 2 (soon to be 3) cross nation trips and interacting with a cast of 100 Thousand+ while not wearing a mask and while remaining a Pure Blood. I think that pretty much proves Ivermectin works very very well.
Musings from the Chiefio 
Your meal sounds delicious. We had salmon instead! We buy the 1kg frozen packs from Aldi.
It is good that your anti-Wuflu protocol seems to be working well. I too am hoping that the omicron bug will remain mild and help to spread immunity to covid around the world, joining seasonal colds in the usual manner. Fingers crossed.
Before today, the news was emphasizing the rapid spread of Omicron and using that as a lever to push more vaccinations. As of today, enough time has passed since it was detected to say cases are mild and hospitalizations are low. As you say, a blessing!
The people of the USA are increasingly at odds with the National and State governments that still haven’t come to understand what their role should be. Some people don’t have a clue either. Consider the lost soul alone in an auto fully masked that I saw yesterday — likely listening to Anthony Fauci on NPR saying grinch type things.
The reports about “the number of cases” is a reflection of the concept of keeping people busy with this schist so they don’t notice how useless the government is.
In Australia the Federal government, as represented by the Prime Minister and the departing (thank God) Minister for Health has sent a letter out saying (slightly paraphrased)
1. We done well avoiding the worst by using vaccination (some might think quarantine & barred entry.
2. Over 80% are already vaccinated. If not jabbed fully do so A.S.A.P.
3. Get a third (booster) jab when it comes due.
4. There is no requirement AT PRESENT for more than 3 jabs.
5. There is no shortage of vaccine – we have 151 million doses available.
So my question is why have they bought so many doses?
31 million doses would be enough to give everyone 3 jabs.
We haven’t had a food fight on the FofA thread for a while. I’ll throw this dish up against the wall and see what sticks.
We’re having a potluck Christmas Brunch here at the RV Corral. I was trying to think of something breakfasty/lunchy, would keep well in a crockpot (glazed earthenware slow cooker) start to finish.
Howz about Bavarian spaetzle with large crumbles (1cm x 1cm) of Applewood smoked bacon, lightly caramelized onions, and sauteed mushrooms starting on the firm side. I was thinking of chopped chives for a garnish, but somehow, I don’t think that will work any better than ‘barely OK’.
a) Does that sound edible?
ii) Any garnish ideas?
I did just now think to use strips of sundried tomatoes and longer chives to make some sort of Christmas tree or wreath figure on the top., but that will look good only until the first serving is scooped out.
Ooooo… a baked potato snowman? Nawww… that’s more trouble than it’s worth. (I’m saving that idea for another time, though.)
I had another transport day – a 300 km round trip to our nearest hub to collect a pallet the boys had shipped in. Had coffee with a friend from back in BC, had a hair cut. got things and the pallet and a slow trip home.
Dinner was a local rendition of the E,M, Salisbury Steak, with Coopers DIY
Seasonal report – a pasture growing season like we haven’t seen in a long time. Over 200 mm since the start of November. The biggest 24 hour fall 40 mm so plenty of time to soak but eventually make surface water for stock without washing hell out of everything. And I got stuck – like that kick and staircase story – not bogged as it was barely down tyre deep. But on reeds, with water and mud so no traction. Pulled out next day no trouble with a Falcon ute and a snatchem strap. All my own fault for looking elsewhere at the crucial moment. Did I have a mobile phone – yes. Did I have reception – no. And no one at our uhf base and I couldn’t get the neighbours who still use uhf. So communications problems caused a 9.5 km walk in 30+ C temperatures.
That gives an example of adjusted priorities – which became “getting home”, not” getting home quickly”. So the “Office Manager” (5 kg of yap and teeth), a water bottle and I set out. About every half km found a shady tree and made it no trouble. With time to observe plant establishment on the way. And not even stiff the next day.
@Annie:
It was rather good, even if one we’ve done often (with minor variations). I bought a side of salmon, but it has gone to the freezer as I’ll not be home to cook it for a while… Usually I do a citrus drizzle and capers on the side, with butter or olive oil coating, and baked…
FWIW, the “protocol” isn’t really mine. I’m just using the FLCCC protocol. And yeah, it works.
@Jim2:
Yeah. They ramped up the Fear Porn over it. Then just ignored the good news bit.
@John H.:
Nice description of the problem. Still looking for a viable solution. How to get the useful fearful idiots to lose the fear…
@Graeme No. 3:
Yeah. That’s very suspicious math. Makes a fella wonder.
BTW, folks congratulating themselves while showing themselves the door usually means they are abandoning the ship (job done) before the search for the guilty and reprisals show up…
@H.R.:
Seems lacking in a “sauce” of some kind. Egg noodles with bacon is a good start. Onions and mushrooms bring flavor too… but it all sounds kind of dry. A creamy sauce would likely pick it up. Alfredo comes to mind. Or a cheese sauce. Like fondue sauce over the noodles. Even just some Olive Oil & Garlic (oleo e aglio) otherwise I think it’s going to dry out on standing.
Not very strong on German cooking so don’t know what sauces a German would use. Searching on Spaetzle Sauce turns up a LOT of choices!
https://www.yummly.com/recipes/spaetzle-sauce
The Amish use a LOT of animal fat based stuff in their German cooking (cheese, eggs, bacon galore!). This recipe has them just cooking the spaetzle in too much butter ;-)
https://www.bigoven.com/recipe/pennsylvania-dutch-german-spaetzle-dumpling/539910
Mennonites are a bit more progressive than Amish and the recipe has more variations too:
http://www.mennonitegirlscancook.ca/2009/10/spaetzle.html
Figure bacon for the pork… make the mushrooms into a gravy… and you are there…
That’s my approach to it anyway. Either too much butter, a mushroom gravy, or some kind of cheesy / alfredo sauce… (with the bacon bits, onion sautee and mushrooms in it).
@Another Ian:
Yeah, mud and wet plants are a no-go slippery. Maybe time for a Satellite phone? OTOH, I regularly walk home from my mechanic 5 miles away. A bit slow, but not bad. I noticed there’s a Starbucks every 1 mile of the way too ;-)
Delicious dinner, E.M I go with the baked potatoes, baked pumpkin and I’ll just add steamed cauliflower sprinkled with parmesan cheese.
Re Omicron , Dr John Campbell is keeping us informed and is cautiously optimistic. If it’s still producing mild symptoms ten days from now, I think we need to go flat out getting this across to the uninformed . We know they wanna sell all those vaccinations because of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Thank heavens our Health Minister Greg Hunt is retiring! I am in his electorate.
On Bloomberg TV this morning, the Omicron headline was “Omicron cases are mild for the vaccinated.” (That’s a paraphrase.) Of course it’s a lie by omission. Omicron cases are mild for the non-vaccinated also!
@E.M. – For sauce, I was counting on the butter from the onions, and mushrooms. I could thicken it a smidge. Spaetzle in butter is how I usually serve it; salt and pepper to taste.
I considered cheese, but the holy trinity of mushrooms, onions, and bacon might turn it into the Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse if I complicate it with cheese.
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@Annie – I’m glad you brought up Aldi. My trailer kitchen is not equipped to make my own spaetzle. I’d have to buy a few kitchen items and then figure where to store them.
Aldi carries the real deal spaetzle ready to go. Thanks for the memory jogger! Quite fortuitous that you mentioned them.
“Did I have a mobile phone – yes. Did I have reception – no.”
Ian, where I work we sell “Cel-Fi” booster for mobile phone use (we are wholesaler, so don’t sell to public)
Very popular, we just did our best month ever on them.
Normally sell about 1,000 or so a month.
Together with a good co-linear array phone antenna on bullbar/roof, can add many km to useful range of mobile phone – if you are off the main highway, there’s likely 10+km of no reception before you approach your town, normally this is then covered with the booster.
We also sell some of the best antennas you can buy – currently shipping more than a 40′ container per month to Motorola in the US (we are their preferred supplier, and want to expand their current range), mostly police and other emergency services (almost all emergency services in Oz already use them), more to India, Bangladesh, Philippines etc – even export some to China! All made in Oz (Vic, actually)
@H.R. Glad that casual comment of mine was helpful! I find some good stuff in Aldi, including some proper delicious English Cheddar and Red Leicester cheeses, not to mention Cypriot Halloumi (Australian made versions of halloumi are much too salty and their ‘cheddar’ equivalents are rather bland). Some of the best beef fillet steak we ever had came from the Lakes Entrance Aldi in East Gippsland!
E.M. and Kneel
Solid state back-up is .on hand. A quad on a trailer.
More on that – I’m usually here on my own on 21000 acres and not a nice square plot which can exaggerate distances from home. Neighbours in similar situations so you do mostly what you can. I do carry a beacon and leave a sheet in the kitchen of what I’m doing and where – usually.
And I’m banned from climbing windmills and working cattle in yards on my own – with which I don’t argue as my next birthday is the big 8+0
Yay! Went to Aldis and got my spaetzle.
I just thunk up that flavor and ingredient profile for a spaetzle dish. I had no idea I was just expressing my inner Mennonite girl (per E.M.’s link). Who knew it was already a recipe? 😜
I’ve settled on the garnish. I’ll use chives cut to necessary lengths to make a Christmas tree on the top and use tiny daubs of red sundried tomato as ornaments on the tree. I’ll use finely grated Parmesan cheese shaken from a straw to make the garland for the tree.
Ah well. It’ll look festive for the first serving or two.
“More on that – I’m usually here on my own on 21000 acres and not a nice square plot which can
exaggerate distances from home.”
Hope you enjoy your own company :-)
If you are on your own a lot in a place like that, then the Cel-Fi unit is probably a good investment if you have coverage in some spots but not others. The Quad is nice, but it doesn’t take much to end up with a badly broken leg that would make it damn hard to get the quad off the trailer etc – rabbit holes can do that. Not trying to flog product, but mounted on the “local rego” farm ute that you tootle around the place in might be pretty bloody handy if things go south…
I can probably get you a good deal if you like – last time I asked, was about $600 with an antenna, and I have seen them retail for $1300 or so. Email me – either EM can give you my email, or Jo Nova probably can as well, or even Jen Maohasy. Jo and Jen also have my mobile number I think (I think it’s my new number they have…)
@anotherian – So you’re coming up on the speed limit in my neighborhood? (At least the teenagers seem to think 80 is the speed limit 😜)
I’m still just a pup! I hit 68 next week. Time flies, so enjoy the ride is what I say.
H.R.
A slightly different view on the ride. In gliding, when you’re out flying and it is time to come home. If you have plenty of height you can just point the nose at the air strip and come home on a final glide without having to worry about finding extra height in thermals.
When you are past “three score and ten” you are on a different sort of “final glide”, so you’d better stop and investigate anything interesting on the way.
Kneel
The boys are in charge of things like that now.
“Hope you enjoy your own company :-) ” – Maurice Walsh in his novels used to note the distinction between being alone and being lonely