The Midnight Prowler

No, this isn't a story of my Cat (The Fanged Terror, His Royal Highness, Prince Bagheera, Blackness Personified, Lord And Master Of All He Surveys, otherwise known as Dipshit). This is the story of what you hear on your roof and on your upper deck in the wee hours of the morning...

The story starts with Dave (that's me) being woken...

Oh, wait: WP stands for "Wifey-Poo", otherwise known as "The Most Wonderful Woman In The Entire World"; just so ya know.


4:30 am

WP "There's something on the roof."

WP "Psst, wake up. There's someone on the roof."

WP then kicks and elbows YT (yours truly, that's me).

YT "huuuhhhh, wwwhhaaa... yessssh dear... whatever you'd like..."


4:31 am

WP "I've been listening to something on the roof and the deck for a while!"

YT "... huuunnnhhhh..."

WP "Something's on the ROOF!"

YT "Ummmm, I'm not hearing anything..."

WP "Wait, you'll hear it... It sounds like feet scampering around on the deck, SHHHH!"

YT "Yes dear..."


4:40 am

YT "I'm not hearing anything... The wind is blowing and it's probably just a branch on the gutters."

WP "I KNOW what a branch sounds like! This was the sound of feet pattering about on the roof and thumping on the deck!"

--Sudden sound of CLAWS scrambling up and along the roof... pitter-patter of feet above our heads--


4:40:30 am

YT "Honey, there's something on the roof."

WP "I KNOW!"

YT "I'm sure it's just a possum."

WP "But it could be a prowler."


4:41 am

--THUMP onto the upper deck, sound of feet scampering across the deck two feet from us--

YT "Yup, that's a four-footed critter, 10 to 20 pounds. Either a possum or a cat."

WP "Are you sure?"

YT "Do I sound that dainty when I'm on the roof cleaning the gutters?"

WP "No."

YT "So, it's not a prowler, right?"

WP "Riiiiggghhhtttt..."


4:42 am

--CLAWS scramble up the drainpipe right outside our heads, and a shadow flits outside of a window along the upper roof slates--

YT "See, just a possum, I just saw it."

WP "whimper..."

YT "Cute little bugger too."

WP "ummmmm..."


4:42:30 am

--claws and feet skimper along the roof over our heads--

YT "It's just a possum, go back to sleep."

WP "..."

YT "Look, there he is! Right outside the other window on the roof-beam."


4:43 am

--YT peels back sheets from over WPs head--

YT "See, it's just a possum. I see the arched back, the possum nose, and the foofy (oh good god, I actually SAID that word!!!!) tail."

WP "Awwww, he's cute. Look, honey! A cute ring-tail possum on our rooftop."

YT "Snore."


So, the moral to this story is... Ahhh, there isn't one.

Anyways, the new name of the clan house is "The Possum Lodge" With all due respects to Red Green, of course.

Post-Tour Hangover

Holy bicycle spokes, Batman! It's been a month since I've updated... I *think* the Post-Tour Hangover is gone now, just in time for the Rugby World Cup --WeeHoo!

See, the french have a problem: They have this big ole massive bicycle race in July, but they run it in the middle of the night! How rude is that? BTW, the Tour is watched by more people worldwide than the US Super Bowl, just in case y'all were wondering.

Back to the hangover... Oh, that is what it's called in media and fan circles: Post-Tour Hangover! At least the Super Bowl hangover goes away in a day... But WHY, oh WHY does the Tour one last for weeks? It's all about sleep schedule.

Allow me to elaborate...

SBS TV in Oz (bless their hearts!!!) carries each stage of the Tour live. They do a DAMN fine job. I have no idea what the telecast in the US is like, but it sure ain't like watching a US Olympic telecast. They show THE RACE, and only THE RACE. You want character stories and such? Well, just listen to Phil and Paul while watching the bike race. So, every night there's like 3 to 4 hours live starting anytime betwixt 10 pm and midnight. Finishing anywhere betwixt 1 and 4 am.

Now, don't get me wrong, I can stay up late partying with the best of them --*cough* 20 years ago *cough*-- But to do that for a month straight and still getting up at 6 am each morning requires a HELLUVA lot of caffeine. I think part of the Post-Tour Hangover is caffeine withdrawal.

Now, what I'd do after dinner each night, is go to bed to take a *nap* for 2 hours, then get up an hour before the telecast and follow the early action on the net --while drinking coffee. If it was a particularly exciting stage, then I'd watch the last hour a second time (just waiting for the coffee to wear off, REALLY!) and then crash sometime around 2 to 4 am. I'd be awake at 6 am (as per usual, morning person I am), and I'd spend time on all the cycling sites reading interviews and stuff about the stage.

Nap time was around 2 pm, till around 4 pm. I'd then start working on dinner for the clan.

Do you see where all this leads????? For a month straight I slept in short segments no longer than 3 hours! So now after the tour, I'd (obviously) wake up after 2 or 3 hours and be wide awake for a few hours.

However, I am FINALLY back to normal (or at least normal for me, which ain't sayin' much). The last three nights I've stayed up till 10, and haven't gotten up any earlier than 5 am. Afternoon naps only last an hour, life is good!

To sum up: I'm back! I'm normal! I'm hip! Well, you can discount those last two...

cheerios from Oz,
dave

More Sillyness From Yours Truly

Hi all! So, like, any new readers out there now that I've passed 2000 page views? Anyone? Hello... ello... ello...? Hmmmm, nice echo, cool. No worries, I can always write this now so that when I'm rich and famous everyone will be flocking here (like sheep to the slaughter HA HA!).


Back to Alaska; then and now


Then

During my many decades in the frozen north, I was into many sports. I didn't like the team events (although I like watching them for the strategy). For a while I ran (among other sports, more later). I did the cross-country races in high school, and afterwards ran just for the heck of it.

One year, I decided to get in shape to run the Equinox marathon in Fairbanks --oddly enough, held on the fall equinox, Sept 21. So I spent the summer (in Anchorage while tossing freight around for work) getting in shape. I'll spare you the details, with this one exception...

I decided that on one of my rest evenings after work (resting from running) to hike up Wolverine Peak in the nearby mountains. Fairly short (4 to 6 miles, I think), and not that steep (4000 feet, could've been 4500???) so it wouldn't be a problem doing it after work since it was light till almost midnight. Oh yeah, I forgot a water bottle.

After a mile, I got bored with hiking and started running... I ran to the top... not stopping, no water. The rocky, loose sections weren't bad since I'd practically grown up outside. The snowfield crossing was easy, except when a foot would break through and "posthole" in the deep snow --ouch.

The last mile was the easiest since it was along a ridgeline --2000 foot drop down either side! Wee-hoo, keep running!

Anyways, at the top some other folks there looked at me like I was crazy (they were right). One guy asked if I was training for the Mt Marathon race. No, I think I might do Crow Pass though, however I'm training for the Equinox up in Fairbanks, was my reply. Yup, I was definitely CRAZY!

A quick swig of water from one of them, and I was off down the mountain. Fastest miles of my life, that was. Got down to the parking lot, drove home.

Did it again the next day.


Now

Ummmm, I get winded cleaning the pool...


Tour:

Damn those Frenchies! How dare they have a bike race in the middle of the night? Do you know how much fun it is to stay awake (and coherent) till 2 and 3 am for 3 weeks straight (without getting to sleep till noon the next day)? Let me tell ya something: me and mister caffeine are DEFINITELY on good terms. Last night was a rest night, which means I got to sleep --wee-hoo!

I'm more than majorly bummed about Mick's wipe out; he could have won the tour with that breakaway, damn. Also, being a fellow Adelaidian, I wish Stuey a fast recovery from his 9 broken ribs, punctured lung, and broken shoulder blade. Now you know why I don't race!

Like everyone, I don't think the chicken will hold yellow through the time trials, and Cadel is in good position. However: I'm REALLY rooting for Moreau now (a frenchie) cus he's been the only GC contender to actually make attacks! Good on ya, mate!


House:

Did you guess the number of doors (entrances)? SEVEN! Cool, eh?

Did I mention the solid timber staircase at the end of the marble (real marble) tiled entranceway?

Did I mention our master bedroom is 348 sq feet?


Remember, you can't bring your guns down here to shoot me! Nyah, nyah!


Food Stuff:

Sorry, I'm late with this and I've got a dinner to cook for the clan. Next entry will be all about food though, promise!

Just a quickie... and a house update

Well, well. A few more days have come and gone, MY how time flies as we get older! My back actually continues to get better, I hope to be able to take real bike rides soon :)

Speaking of bikes... Dave's Le Tour Update: The blokes have just finished the first mountain stage, and a summit finish is up for tonight. We all know that Vino and Klodi are hurting from injuries. In fact, Valverde has said that he and his team want to drop Vino on the last climb tonight (local Aussie time). Ummmmm, Vino has an overall podium finish under his belt, whereas Valverde had yet to even FINISH a TDF. Ah, kid, shut your mouth!

I'd like to think that Vino is playing poker with his injuries, but they do look pretty bad. And it's hard to imagine Klodi riding through the mountains with a broken tailbone: OUCH.

I'd love to see Cadel take the overall, but I think the team has had to do too much work for Robbie the first week. Same thing with Sastre; CSC worked damned hard for Fabian and Sastre isn't a world-class time trialist.

I'll make a prediction here, and it's based on both Vino and Klodi's injuries being bad. Final GC: Levi, Moreau, Mick. Not the 3 I'd have picked if there hadn't been many wipeouts the first week, and I do have good reasons for not picking other favs (involving team politics). They are basically the 3 GC contenders who are the SOLE leader for their team, their ENTIRE team is behind them, and they haven't had any bad spills on the flats the first week. How's that for logic? Oh, yeah: they can all time trial!

Oh, I was very happy with Gerdemann's win, been watching him for a year: Good Kid!

House teaser:

Did I tell you there are FOUR bathrooms? Well, there are! Did I mention that the entranceway just inside the double glass doors is marble tiled? Oh, perhaps I haven't... Well, it is!!!

Go ahead everyone, guess how many doors there are (the double glass entranceway counts as ONE). The person who gets closest gets a virtual hug and a virtual swim in the pool.

Food Stuff:

I've got a recipe for shrooms for you, but that'll have to wait till later. Instead, you get a pic of the finished peanut butter cheesecake with hot chocolate sauce topping, Try not to drool on your monitor, eh?

Warning: This Blog Is Rated R

Can you believe it??? I get an R rating... huh? Here I am, semi-retired, and I have a blog about cooking, Alaskan stuff, stupid stories, and some pointless ramblings.

Apparently, that site searches your recent entries for keywords, and rates the blog based on keywords.

The keywords that earned my an R rating were: hell, crap, hurt, kill, knife. Well, well, I guess I'm more violent than a Hollywood movie now :)


Food Stuff:

Referring back to yesterdays recipe, to get the frozen cheesecake out of the pie dish, float it in a sink of very hot water. This is why you butter the dish even though it's not being baked. One minute floating in hot water is enough to melt the butter, and the pie (still frozen), crust too, pops right out!

Back to Alaska (sort of)

Back to ALASKA!!! (and part of the new house)

No, no... I'm not moving back to the "frozen north". The title of this pertains more to the fact that it's been YONKS since I've written anything about Alaska. Now, for some reason, every single person I've met down here in Oz is fascinated with Alaska --many of them think it's part of Canada (if only!!!!). There's also lots of online folk (I'm guessing big city types) that seem to love Alaska.

Whoops, it's now the next day... my how time flies. I'll bet none of you even noticed that 24 break in my typing, eh?

Alaska story: This was on one of my bicycle trips from Anchorage to Fairbanks (360 miles). I was with a good friend of mine, Rich, and we were doing the trip on our mountain bikes set up with road tires (I've ridden knobby tires all the way to Fairbanks, and let me tell ya, IT'S HARD!). It was a beautiful fall day, late August, sunny, warm (by Alaskan standards, bloody-well cold by Aussie standards) and we were having a grand time.

It was also still tourist season... campers and winnebagos abounded --the shoulder was wide and they were all cool while passing, no worries. As we rode up one hill, we both decided to take a short break. We leaned our bikes up against the guardrail and sat down on the six-foot wide shoulder. That's when we noticed the pavement was very very warm :) Since both of us were somewhat lazy, we decided to lay down and stretch out on the nice warm pavement next to the guardrail.

On retrospect, it was not a good idea...

Picture this: Two bikes leaned against a guardrail on a road in the middle of nowhere, and two guys stretched out on the roadside. Now, any Alaskan would drive right past; because they KNOW there are very few chances for Alaskans to work on their tans (we had taken our shirts off). However, after about the 10th kindly, elderly tourist stopping to ask if we were ok, we hopped back on the bikes and continued to Fairbanks.

Moral to this story: What Alaskans think of as normal, the rest of the world thinks is a little bit crazy.



Tidbit (or two) about the new house

Did I mention there is a pool??? Did I? Well, there is! This is an L-shaped pool that's 29 sq meters --that's 315 sq feet, larger than some apartments!!!! Wee-hoo, I'll be spending a LOT of time in it this summer.

Did I mention the FOUR patios and the walk-around second story deck???? Well, I have now! I'm a smug bastard, eh?

Did I mention the parquet flooring and the sunken lounge in the 3rd family room??? Oh.... I can hear the teeth gnashing from here! TTHHHHBBBTT

There's only 5 palm trees dotted around the grounds, and I don't have any grape vines so I'll have to find a neighbor with some vines so I can make my homemade dolmades this season... Gotta have some drawbacks, eh?


The tour! I'm not normally a fan of the beginning flat stages, but HOLY SHIT did anyone see the last 60 k's of stage 3? It was great to see the chase, and even better to see what Fabian was able to do at the end in yellow! Go find a highlight vid, you won't be disappointed.


Food Stuff:


Peanut butter cheesecake with hot chocolate sauce


What you need:

For the crust:
1/3 to 1/2 pound of crunchy chocolate chip cookies
2-3 tbsp melted butter --slightly cooled
1 tbsp milk

For the Filling:
3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup of cream
1/2 pound softened cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar

For the chocolate sauce:
1/3 to 1/2 pound dark chocolate --chopped coarsely
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup cream



What you do:

In a food processor, process the cookies until the are a fine texture. Then add the butter and milk; process some more.

Press the crust mixture into a buttered pie or flan dish. Chuck it in the fridge for an hour to harden and set.


For the filling; add the peanut butter and cream to a small saucepan, then mix/whisk over low heat until it's combined. Let it cool. While that's cooling, mix the cream cheese and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixers (you know, the kind with the beaters you licked as a kid?), until it's smooth. Then stir in the peanut butter mixture thoroughly.

Put the filling into the crust (duh), then chuck it all in the freezer overnight.


The next day...: Just before serving, make the hot chocolate sauce. Put the dark chocolate and butter and cream in a small saucepan and heat slowly while stirring (you don't need a double boiler for this).

Then (here's the easy part): slice the frozen cheesecake and top with the hot chocolate sauce.

In case you hadn't guessed, it's rather rich... I'd suggest very very small pieces...

The move from Hell, stage Last!

Gosh howdy folks! This is the Move From Hell, stage last.

Before I get to stage last, did anyone watch stage one of the Tour last night? That was the most exciting sprint finish I've ever seen, and Robbie is a damned incredible bike rider. 6 or 7 years ago I didn't like him, but he has matured with age and grown up a lot. If you didn't see it, folks are already calling it a Miracle Finish. Just watch it!

Getting back to the move... I was planning on doing a whole huge long story about it, but I've kinda ran out of steam. So l'll do a summing up.

IT RAINED!!!!! I know that may not surprise many of you, but we've been in a drought for a few years. Guess what? The drought broke, which would normally be good news. I just wish it had waited 10 more days, blech. I had the truck for 9 days --should have been seven, oh well. I got wet but was able to dodge showers well enough that nothing got soaked. Oh, the help I was supposed to have on the heavy and/or bulky stuff didn't materialise --what a shock! Fortunately, I was able to do it all myself... what FUN!

I somehow managed to find space in the new house for everything. That's pretty amazing considering this house doesn't have a huge garage like the last house. However, it does have quite a few features that are very very very very very nice. I'll tell you about that next time --I promise.

Getting back to the Tour. I thought that Fabian's ride in the prologue was incredible and that there wouldn't be any big dramas till stage seven. Boy was I wrong! What Robbie's team did and then was he did in the last 15 k's was the stuff of legend. He's won 178 races in his career and many people are already saying it's his best ever. Go watch the highlights, then see if you can find someone who recorded the whole thing (like me) and watch the last 30 to 40 mins. You won't be disappointed.




Food Stuff

A simple, tasty lamb soup.

You can do this with pretty much any meat, I just happened to have some off-cuts left from a side of lamb the other day. Also, lamb is darned cheap down here.

What you need:

A pound or two of lamb offcuts
lots of dried basil
salt
pepper
water
carrots, peeled and sliced
potatoes, peeled and diced


What you do:

Fill a big pot with a lot of water, put in the meat. Add salt (at least a few teaspoons), ground black pepper, and basil (at least 2 teaspoons).Boil for an hour or so --covered so it doesn't reduce. Let it cool, then strain and add the liquid back into the pot after skimming the fat off*. Pick all the meat off the lamb pieces, toss the fat and bones away.

Put the meat, the potatoes, the carrots, and more basil all in the pot with the broth. Cook till carrots and spuds are done to you liking. Then eat with good fresh bread.

*There are several ways to de-fat broth. Let me know if you are interested, always happy to help.

Oh, this is even better the next day!

The Move From H*ll; Stage 1

The move from hell; stage 1

You know, if I was smarter (biiiig IF!), I should've timed this story to start on Saturday, July 7th. Get it? Prologue? Stage 1? Tour de France???

Oh well, since I'm not smarter...

The last time we moved we had a "moving company" (down here they call them "removalists") move everything we'd packed. It didn't go well, the boss of the company was there and he insisted on stacking stuff in the truck himself (instead of his helper who was much more experienced at it), and much of our bookshelves, desks, etc were pretty scuffed up. Also, he was working at a snails pace figuring he could milk us for around $2500. After 20 mins I saw what he was doing so I grabbed my own hand truck and started running loads to the truck along with his helper. His helper was a very cool guy and a damned fast worker, he was also pissed at the loading job his boss was doing so he and I loaded and unloaded very quickly. All in all, we got away with $1600.

Also, since I had to really hurry for 2 days (3 HUGE truckloads) I kinda tweaked my back; but that's another story.

Anyways, this time we decided to rent a truck. Me, being a former truck driver and freight tosser arounder, would be able to drive it. I also know how to move large, awkward, and heavy things without killing yourself --as long as you don't rush! It turns out they are pretty darned cheap and come with a liftgate, cool! For 10 days of having the truck (see, I told you we wasn't hurrying) it was just under $800. No worries. The truck was also the EXACT SAME MODEL as one that I used to drive in Fairbanks for 4 years.

What could be easier, right?

Famous last words... Stay tuned for stage 2!



Went to the Egyptian exhibit today. It's the one from the Louvre (in France) that's been on display at our state art gallery for 3 months. It was amazing! Unfortunately, no cameras, darn.

Got to see lots and lots of really neat old stuff. There were even sections of The Book of The Dead on the orginal papyrus! Oh the fun I could've had if I could read heiroglyphics! It would've been neat to see that mummy of a cat come to life and terrorise everyone --WEEHOO!

I'll talk more about the exhibit next time, just wanted to get something about it in today.

Food Stuff:

What's that you say? You're making something and the recipe calls for buttermilk? But, you don't have any buttermilk and the shops just closed! Oh, the horrors! What to do now...??? Have no fear, dave is here!

Buttermilk substitute:

250 mils (8 oz (1 cup)) of skim milk
1 tbspn lemon juice or cider vineger*

Mix the first two ingredients together and stir. Let sit for 5 mins. Wa-La! instant buttermilk!

*don't use distilled vinegar EVER, for ANYTHING --you don't want to know what it's gone through or what it started out as (I'll give you a hint: think yummy, scrumptious leftover heavy crude oil). Always use fermented vinegar.

The Move From Hell --Prologue

Well, The Move From H*ll is done and finished. The Cold/Flu/Sinus Infection From H*ll is also over...

Does that explain why I haven't been blogging for 2 months? My last post was on friday the 13th, and no, I'm not superstitious about the number 13 --I happen to know why it's considered an unlucky number and the reason is pretty sickening, nuff said.

Anyways... That week we had got a load (2200 pounds) of firewood for the winter (yes, there are winters down here), and we had a call from the real estate agency informing us that the owner wants to sell the house. Now, this we knew cus he told us himself 2 weeks previous. However, the B*STARD also told us we have plenty of time and he is in no hurry. Hmmmm, I guess 2 weeks in his little world is "plenty of time". Our lease was through September, but we didn't want to go through weekly open inspections for 6 months.

Sooooo... "A packing we will go... A packing we will go... Hi Ho the Dairyo a packing we will go!"

The story continues... stay tuned!

Food Stuff

Grilled Cheese sandwich!

Yes, I hear you all (all 2 of you) groan... "Dave, why the hell are you putting a recipe for a grilled cheese sandwich here?"

My answer is: A proper Grilled Cheese Sandwich is an art form, and you gotta learn to do it right.

You aren't going to get any "what you need" or "what you do", we'll just dive straight in!

You'll want white bread for this (I'm a big fan of wholegrain, wholemeal, multi-grain etc breads, but nothing beats white for grilled cheese sandwiches), and cheddar cheese. You can use other types of cheeses, but I've found that cheddar melts at the same time the bread is grilled --very handy.

DO NOT TOAST THE BREAD FIRST!!!!!!!!!! That is THE cardinal sin of grilled cheese sandwich making.

Take your butter out of the fridge at least an hour previous so that it's very spreadable. Do not use margarine or any of that other spreadable crap. Butter one side of each slice of bread only; insuring you get the butter all the way to the crust and have total coverage. Sprinkle a bit of salt on each buttered side.

Slice the cheese, do not grate (it melts too quick if you grate it). Make the sandwich with the buttered side on the OUTSIDE with the cheese slices on the INSIDE (duh). Place the sandwich on a medium hot frypan/griddle pan/grill hotplate. Check the bottom after 2 mins, the bread should be toasty brown and the cheese starting to melt. Flip the sandwich over and grill till the second side is done --the cheese should be perfectly melted at this point.

Serve with hot tomato soup!

cheers,

dave

Greatest EVER Creamy Chicken Soup

Before I get to the food goodness that you all long for, I think I need to remind myself I've promised y'all a few stories. I shall tell you about a leg cast, and also about how I am the nicest guy ever (my bro-in-law may disagree).

However: you aren't getting either of those today. We are going to "Hide In The Woods" for the day and then go out to dinner. A whole day away from the house and the gang... ah... BLISS (insert singing angelic music here).

Speaking of hiding in the woods, remind me to tell you a story later on about that...

Alright. I've got 30 mins to type in the recipe for the Greatest EVER Creamy Chicken Soup. Ready? Hang on!

Greatest creamy chicken soup EVER!

This recipe may strike some of you as rather convoluted, but just trust me on this, ok? You'll also get to learn how to make fresh ricotta cheese along the whey (way).

What you need:

Whey from yesterdays ricotta cheese making
Chicken stock (either fresh or powdered)
4 or 5 strips of bacon
3 or 4 diced pototoes
2 cups (or so) of cream
pinch of flour

See! See??!! Doesn't that sound like a nice list? Very Very simple...

What you do:

To make the whey: mix 4 cups whole milk and 2 cups buttermilk in a pot. Heat slowly till curds form (182 F), let sit for a half hour while curds continue to form. Strain the curds through cheesecloth (now you know why it's called cheesecloth)-- I'll tell you next time about what to do with the curds as I'm running out of time this morning-- You'll be left with a quart or so of whey (the yellowish-greenish liquid after straining). That's the whey to use in the soup!

Ok, on with the show:

Fry up the bacon in the same pot you'll be doing the soup in. Remove the bacon just before it goes crispy. Add the diced potato to the bacon fat and fry for a minute while you get the flour out of the cupboard. Add a few large pinches of flour to the potatoes and continue cooking them (moving regularly with a spatula). After about 5 mins, add a cup (or so) of the whey. Stir well. You'll notice all the cooked on stuff from the bacon and spuds loosens and incorporates itself into the whey --this is called "deglazing".

Once the pot is deglazed, add in the rest of the whey and also the chicken stock. If using powdered stock, then 2 tbsp should do the trick, a cup or two if using liquid stock.

Bring it all to a low boil and simmer till the spuds are done to your liking. Add the cream, stir well. Crumble up the bacon and toss that in too.

Ta-Da! Done!

It is incredible, if I do say so myself! Serve with fresh homemade bread hot out of the oven.