Bet you thought I wouldn't have waited over two months to update this thing! I basically turn into a really unmotivated grouchy person when it gets cold, so forgive me. I've had friends from home make fun of me for pretending to be cold (it drops to about 45f here), but if you were living somewhere that's mostly unheated for the entirety of about a 4-5 month season, you'd be pretty pissed off and lazy too!
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| Yes, that is frost. |
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| How to survive winter here - Step 1: Eat a lot of pho |
I actually have some pretty awesome news from both Regis and myself - we both have new jobs as of about a month ago! Super funny how it worked out, but we ended up receiving job offers within 30 minutes of each other on the exact same Friday. Regis had been looking for a bit, and he finally got what he was looking for. This is his fourth week as a suspension engineer and he is really liking it - if he ever provides an update, he can brief you, but I am 90% sure he is thrilled to be working with cars again!
To be honest, I hadn't been really looking that hard, but I was trying to figure out what my next step in my career would be. All of my jobs since college have kind of just happened by chance. The first real job I had in NC was because someone basically hired me out of the bar I was working at and I just kind of moved around from there! I really loved the job I had when we left, and it had been a really good fit for my skills.
We moved all the way here for better job opportunities, so I decided it was time to get serious and start looking at job descriptions of positions in marketing/advertising that sounded interesting just to start training up on my own. I ended up finding one that sounded REALLY cool, and just applied assuming they would never call me - they did, and I somehow ended up getting it!
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| Current level of joy about my new job: 10/10 |
Pretty funny story, but the owner of the company said they were looking for someone easygoing that was open to learning a lot of new stuff and helping with a lot of random projects (it's a pretty small company), plus he was impressed that I brew beer! So long story short, I'm a marketing specialist now, which is the first job I have had in the six years I've been out of school that actually lets me use the stuff I learned. I didn't have to dye my hair a fake color or pretend to be someone I'm not to get hired, and it makes me so happy. This is my third week, and it's been really good so far. I've gotten to get back into using InDesign and Photoshop, which has been awesome. I just went to our end of financial year conference (EOFY is the end of June here), which was at a winery almost two hours out of the city. It was freezing out there, but a great experience. I'm probably going to offend some people, but I really just can't get into wine, guys. An aperol spritz is about the most wine I can get into.
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| Cleveland Winery - Lancefield, VIC |
Anyway, the job stuff is about the only major update I have. We've still been looking for another apartment, but it has kind of been on hold while we adjust to our new jobs and commutes.
I have really been missing the hell out of my friends lately. I'm sure it sounds ridiculously stupid, but I always worry about being forgotten about like the old saying - out of sight, out of mind. A few of them have been messaging me on a regular basis to check up and I have even skyped with a few of them a couple times recently, which has helped SO much. My friend Brianne asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding a couple weeks ago while we were chatting, and I'm pretty excited to say I'll be back in OH next summer (July!) to be there for her! Hoping to squeeze in some other visits too and possibly a music festival! Please shoot through any music festivals worth going to that happen in July, and also let me know if you want to join! I'm going to try to get my siblings to come, since they haven't experienced one yet.
Before I get into my recipe, I want to recommend a good cooking show for literally ANYONE - even if you think it's hard or you can't get into it. These are 20 min episodes and Regis and I have been binging the F out of it because it's both entertaining and the dude is hilarious. It's called "It's Suppertime" - please go to this link and watch an episode ASAP! The program is Canadian, so pretty sure the only place you can find it is online at the moment. I'm making the eggplant parmesan sometime this week and cannot wait!
Anyway, since we are on the topic of unhealthy food, I am going to drop a recipe for gumbo today. I worked at a cajun restaurant as a server/guacamole maker/doodler/pizza maker through a good chunk of college and had never had cajun food before then - I'm proud to say I've been hooked since then (Thanks, Brian!!). In my tradition of not using specific recipes and just winging it after reading a couple blogs on google, here is my variation.
All of you hardcore meat eaters will hate me, but I usually make this with tofu sausage. I don't really eat pork, because it grosses me out - I did, however, suck it up this time around and use chorizo. Traditionally, you're supposed to use andouille, but since this is Australia and not the Southern US, beggars can't be choosers. Another note I'd like to add is gumbo is usually made with shrimp in it - I don't like the leftovers tasting super fishy, so I usually grill it separately with olive oil and cajun seasoning and just use it as a topping. Feel free to do whatever your heart desires or even skip it if it's not your thing.
My last note is that the photo I'm using sucks - our lighting in the apt is horrendous, but I promise it will be delicious and comforting and you will be so proud of yourself once you're done making this.
F Yeah, Gumbo!
Soup pot/dutch oven
Whisk
Wooden spoon
For the roux:
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup canola or olive oil
Veggies/etc (chop ahead of time and set aside):
2 red bell peppers
3-4 cloves garlic
1 medium red onion
1 large red jalapeno
4 stalks celery (inc leaves)
a few handfuls of okra (sorry, I suck at measuring things)
Stock:
6 cups water
3 chicken stock cubes
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
Cajun seasoning
Tabasco hot sauce (or whatever you like)
Protein (brown ahead of time and set aside):
1.5lbs/700g chicken thighs
12oz/300g of andouille sausage, chorizo or tofu sausage
Base/Toppings:
Steamed Rice (I use brown to feel like I'm making it healthy)
Grilled shrimp
Chopped green onions
Directions:
Please follow my instructions and chop the veggies up first. It's a huge pain in the ass, but you aren't going to have time once you start the roux because you have to be really attentive to what's going on in your pot. If you want to use rice as a base, it's also a good idea to throw that in a rice steamer at this time.
You will also want to quickly brown and chop up the meat before you start. It doesn't have to be fully cooked, because you'll get to that later. Do this in a large soup pot (the same one you will use for the rest of the process). Leave the grease and stuff in there, it will make the gumbo even better. I'd also recommend giving the okra a quick sear just for texture purposes.
The first, and most important step is making the roux. It's the base of this soup, and if you mess this part up, you will basically need to clean out the pan and start it over. My recommendation is to continuously stir this THE WHOLE TIME and ensure the flour/oil mixture doesn't burn or stick to the bottom of the pot. The first time I made this, I was really impatient and had no idea if I was doing it right, but it just takes about 20 mins for the magic to happen. My attention span is about 45 seconds, so this is one of the most challenging things you can ask me to do. It's worth it.
Start off by putting your soup pot (or dutch oven if you have fancier pans than me) on medium heat. Dump all of the oil in, and then once that is hot, pour in the flour. Whisk the flour, like, A LOT. Keep whisking it until you never want to whisk anything ever again. It really sucks, but it takes about 20 mins to brown to the shade you're looking for. Google told me to look for a color that is "a little darker than peanut butter" - so use that as your baseline. It will start to smell completely different and take on a thick, sticky texture.
When it reaches the color you're looking for, throw in the garlic and all of the other veggies listed except for the okra and switch to your wooden spoon. Cook all of this together for about 5 mins or until the veggies start to soften up a bit. You can then throw in the chicken stock cubes, chopped up meat and canned tomatoes. Make sure to incorporate everything and keep stirring.
At this point, your pot is going to look like a huge, gross mess. Keep stirring! Throw in a bunch of cajun seasoning and maybe 2 -4 tsp of hot sauce. A good rule for this is to start minimally if you're not into hot stuff - you can always add more later, but you can't take it out if you go overboard! I personally use a ton of cajun seasoning - shout out to my friend Jess who picked up some for me on her recent trip to New Orleans! :)
Once you have cooked this mixture for maybe 10 more minutes, add in your water. Add about half of it to begin with, stir it in really evenly, then add the other half. This is the point where your pot will start to resemble what gumbo actually looks like! Once everything looks good (no flour chunks), throw in the okra. Turn the heat up, and wait for the gumbo to come to a boil. Let it boil for maybe 5 minutes uncovered to start thickening everything up, then turn it down to simmer for about 30 minutes.
Once it is done, the base of the gumbo will be almost a thin, gravy-like substance. Serve it in a bowl with a big spoonful of rice as the base, and top with sprinkles of chopped green onion and a few pieces of shrimp.
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| YUMMM. |
Anyway, I should probably head to bed - I always forget how long it takes me to get these posts up.
Since Cheryl Strayed seems to have gone down well with you all a couple posts ago, I will leave you with another quote from her that I love:
"You will learn a lot about yourself if you stretch yourself in the direction of goodness, of bigness, of kindness, of forgiveness, of emotional bravery. Be a warrior for love."
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