A Couple Updates and How to Make Hot Sauce!

Hey guys!

So we have actually been pretty busy lately, and I owe this page an actual update, which I will do when I have more time and a few better photos! Honestly, we haven't been up to too much that's out of the ordinary lately.

A couple cool things do come to mind though!!

- I have been driving a lot and I'm actually used to it now!

- My mom was here a couple weeks ago to visit

- We are currently looking for a new apartment

I'll obviously go through those details in the next post, but I wanted this page to start featuring some recipes I like making since I'm pretty into cooking and making my own sauces/dressings/etc. Plus, let's be real.. hearing about us all the time is boring - let's mix it up!

I'll throw it out there - I REALLLLLY, REALLY miss the variety of hot sauces we have in the States. Not that there isn't variety here, it's just a different assortment of stuff you can buy. I really just miss going to Trader Joe's and trying basically anything on the shelf for about $2. Here a lot of the hot sauces are imported and they are pretty expensive - there are lots of duds too!

So I started making my own a few months ago just to see how I'd do - turns out it's pretty simple and they have all turned out great!!

The recipe I am sharing is a variation on a copycat Frank's Red Hot sauce recipe I found in a quick google search - I'm not linking it because I've changed so much! You can basically suit it to your needs, but since Regis and I are obsessed with pretty spicy sauces, I threw some habaneros in. Let me know how it turns out if you decide to make a batch!

Red Jalapeño and Habanero Hot Sauce

You'll need:

About 25ish red jalapeño peppers (for extra heat, set them in the sun for a few days!)
2-3 habanero peppers
2 cups of white vinegar
2-3 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

Directions

Place all of the peppers, vinegar and garlic in a small pot. If the peppers are not almost covered by vinegar, add more. Simmer this mixture for about 20 minutes - about 5 minutes in, stir in the salt. Don't let it boil too much as this will overcook the peppers.

Mmmmm.. spicy!

Take the mixture off the heat for a few minutes, then blend this in batches. I made the mistake of putting too much in last time I made this sauce and made a huge mess, so be extra careful when blending!

Pre-Blended

Make sure the mixture is as smooth as possible before adding back to the pan. Continue to simmer on low heat for a further 15-20 minutes. Use this opportunity to add a half cup of water or more depending on your heat tolerance - this will take down the spiciness a bit and will also make straining the sauce easier later on. Taste as you go and add more salt if needed.

Straining into a bowl

Once this is done, pulse mixture in batches in the blender one last time. Strain the mixture into a large measuring cup or bowl, then transfer to a sealable bottle (These ones from Ikea are my favorite!).

Final Product!

This will last a couple of months in the fridge - not that it's ever stayed in there that long in our house! :)

You can also use the leftover chilis from straining as a condiment - I've found it's great to throw these into Asian food. Stir fries, pho and banh mis are great with some fresh pickled chili!

Pickled chili on a tofu banh mi (Regis HATES when I take fancy  pictures of food I make!)

Anyways, hope to give you some more updates soon. I'll leave you with a phrase I've recently adopted from basically every person ever here - Cheers!

-L

Here's to 2018.

Well, I would have had no idea that my last post would be the last one of 2017, AND the last post before we hit our one year of living here! What a crazy year. 

We have had all kinds of highs and lows, we (by we, it's Regis) have a car now, we have a nice apartment in an awesome area of the city, we have made some great friends, we've had several visitors, have gone on some cool road trips, have brewed some great beers, and all kinds of other stuff I'm more than likely leaving out. Oh, and I turned 29 last week, which terrifies me haha. People here act much younger than people back home, so we fit right in!

Sunday Fundays with the neighbors

Kat, Colleen and me en route to the Yarra Valley wine region!

It's crazy to think a year ago, we were living in someone's spare bedroom in their apartment with literally four bags of stuff, two bikes, and no job prospects whatsoever (to be fair, I had one interview lined up before we got here). It's utterly insane how much we've accomplished and I am really proud of both of us. This move has taken more out of me than I ever could imagine, but at the same time it was completely worth it because both of us are so much more fulfilled here. I mean.. today for example we went paddle boarding at the beach after work. What a great way to end the day!

From today's session

First time on the new board!

I think for the most part we are fully adjusted, although I'd still go for cheaper beers and not having an hour commute to work. Sometimes when I gripe about silly things like not being able to eat turkey bacon or that I miss the crap out of Trader Joes, I have to stop myself because living here is basically a dream I have always had and we finally made it. Seriously though, if anyone wants to send me some hot sauce from Trader Joes, I'll pay you :)

News-wise, we have just been enjoying this gorgeous Aussie summer! Having the holiday season during the summertime just makes so much more sense - you get nice days off work! If I never see a white Christmas again, I'm 1000% cool with it. 

This year, we did Christmas Eve dinner on the barbie!

Regis got me a standup paddle board for my birthday, so we have been spending a considerable amount of time getting better at it. That's about all I've got for now, so until next time!

Disclaimer: I mentioned last post that Regis would be the author for the next one, so it's his fault this thing hasn't been updated for so long! He hates writing, so I guess expect 2-3 posts a year from him!

Me: "Hey Regis, are you going to update the blog??" Him: "NOPE"

-L

Home is Where the Sunshine (And Patio Furniture!) Is

I’m not gonna lie, I was feeling pretty back and forth for a long time about living here but it is FINALLY, FINALLY starting to feel like home now. I feel like I have grown so much as a person the past nine or so months and it’s pretty surreal to type this blog post sitting on the balcony of our new apartment on our sweet ass new patio furniture next to our new grill that we don’t have to share with 300 other people (sorry old apartment complex!).

Montalto Vineyard, Oct 14th

Montalto Vineyard, Oct 14th

We have worked extremely hard to get to where we are and it’s taken the better part of a year to get to a place where we’re comfortably living again. It’s super sweet to have real furniture and not be basically living in someone’s spare bedroom! It’s nice too to finally be able to comfortably sit outside – winter here is nothing compared to home, but houses here are not equipped for the cold at all (we have basically one space heater that’s attached to the wall in the kitchen) so the winter was pretty effing miserable.

BBQ at a Brewery on the Peninsula

St Kilda Beach Volleyball - the New Thursday Night Hangout

I’m pretty sure we are going to have the go-to spot all summer though, with our new furniture, grill and our homebrew on tap! I’ve also started my gardening career, so it will add some nice additions to our outdoor area. There is a ton of sun and dust from living right over an extremely busy road, so we may not be able to grow much other than cacti!

My New Balcony Garden

Regis got a car almost two weeks ago now meaning we can finally drive to run errands, and more importantly we can go on our adventures on our own terms! We were both super happy to go pick up furniture for our patio. Next up on the list is another bed so our visitors coming have somewhere to sleep (and my new favorite, this egg chair!)!

Our visitor season is coming up, and I’m so excited to say that my mom went through with buying the plane ticket to Melbourne! No one in my family is much of a traveler, mainly due to money and lack of time off, but I am so proud of both my mom and my sister for taking the time to plan out a visit here and buying plane tickets! My brother and sister turned 26 yesterday and I felt a lot of guilt about not being able to spend time with them – so some family time is going to be much needed.

Regis traveled for work for about six weeks straight and I’m pretty sure I was going nuts for a while, but we have been back to basically normal (whatever normal is for us!!) for about a month. Some new beers are being brewed, and we’ve finally made a few other friends! We even went on a trip recently with them to the Mornington Peninsula that was a nice relaxing getaway away from the city. We went back to the Peninsula this past weekend to go back to the hot springs I mentioned in our last post, and we also went to a couple other places we went when we were on holiday here.

It was a huge “holy crap” moment when we went to Montalto Vineyard – I think that was the point on our holiday two years ago where we both decided it’d be worth it to actually go through with moving to Australia, no matter how difficult it would be and it was basically one of the most surreal experiences I’ve ever had going back there as a resident and not a tourist. Most of the stuff we’ve done here hasn’t seemed like huge leaps or bounds, but looking at it all now is insane, we have really accomplished a lot and set up a new life in a pretty short amount of time. It’s a hell of a lot of work though and I am not trying to move anytime soon!!

Montalto Vineyard

The Cups Estate

I honestly don’t have too much more to add at the moment, but hope you all enjoy these pictures of the beginning of a gorgeous Australian summer!

Rye, Victoria

St Andrew's Beach, Victoria

Parrots on our Balcony!

St Andrew's Beach, Victoria

Until next time, guys! Regis is up.

-L

Spring Has Sprung...Sort Of?

Hey guys, I know we have been so bad at keeping this updated, but it's honestly because we haven't been doing anything remotely exciting. We've been working, going to the gym, eating healthy (most of the time), trying to cut out beer (it doesn't work because we have also been brewing beer), and being boring pseudo-adults. Plus Regis has been traveling for work a ton, so he has been on site more often than he's been at home the past month and a half or so. Who thinks he should get me a puppy?! haha. Just kidding (sort of).

Brewery Visit for "Research"

People ask us a lot how much we have traveled and explored since we've been here, but since we have started working, neither of us has taken time off and it's been too cold to do anything fun, minus odd days here and there where we can get outside! Plus, we still don't have a car. Melbourne has the most highly ranked public transportation system in the world, and I can tell you all day how great it is.. but for getting out of the city and checking out awesome stuff like the coastline or wine regions, you REALLY need a car. Trust me, I'm absolutely DYING to go back to the Peninsula Hot Springs, and we've already committed it as our first trip with the car we will be getting! I'm also rather excited to go back to Yarra Valley to try some more of the wineries, although this will probably be a fun girl's trip since Regis' interest level in that is about 5%!

I can't believe today marks the last day of summer for everyone back home. It's definitely been a surreal experience kind of watching everyone's lives keep going while we are so far away. One of my friends had a baby, two of my friends made huge moves across the country, my whole friend group in Charlotte is basically no longer friends anymore, and two of my friends I went to high school with got engaged. Holy crap, you guys are all getting after it! It definitely makes feel anxious in a way how many holidays, birthdays, weddings, big important events, etc I'll probably miss because of how hard it is to travel back home. I am super proud of you all, with or without being able to be there.

I appreciate notes and Skype sessions so much!

It's insanely awesome to live here though, I feel like if we went back to Charlotte we'd be bored to death in a matter of a weekend. There is just so much here, and it's beautiful. Just so you guys know, all these gorgeous pictures represent about 1/10 of the weather we have had lately. Most of the recent weather involves rain, clouds, and more wind than I have ever experienced in my life. Like, it actually freaks me out sometimes! But, it's finally spring as of Friday, so here's to looking forward to some sun and some beach weather!

Albert Park Lake - across the street from our apt

St Kilda Beach Boardwalk

St Kilda, our new hood

View from the Yarra River

We have been making some friends here and there too, which has been really fun. We have started hanging out with our neighbors that also brew beer, and I made a friend in my hooping class, so we have lots of plans for weekend afternoons in Albert Park. I'm also in a fun book club that involves more wine and cheese than actual books, haha. We were both planning on signing up for beach volleyball when it rolls around, and I can't wait to start riding my bike to work. Only about a month of this mild weather to go!

In other news, our beer brewing has been going really well. We've churned out a batch of a really good grapefruit IPA about a week ago, and we re-brewed it with a slightly different recipe over the weekend. I think we're improving, which is great for our business idea, but not great for our be healthy/cut out beer idea. You win some, you lose some, I guess. I'm in charge of the next batch! I won't ruin the surprise, but coconuts are involved!

Drinking our beer while brewing more beer - a pretty excellent feeling

I don't have much else to share as it's about midnight here, but for whoever cares, I am rather embracing my blonde hair I wasn't sure about and am dyeing it platinum/silver when the color I ordered comes! I can't wait. I'm already collecting ideas for the next color for when I'm inevitably bored of this one though. Feel free to drop me an idea!

Goodnight from the other side of the planet!

-L

Six Months In - We Did It!

We’ve made it here 6 months! It feels like we’ve been here two years, and also two months at the same time. We have seriously gone through SO MUCH since we started this whole thing a little over a year ago. Also, to give you all an exciting update, the condo back in Charlotte finally sold! It has been on the market since right before Thanksgiving and holy shit… what a relief for Regis!

 Sometimes I think about how easy I had it in Charlotte, and it’s both good and bad. Things were ridiculously simple (and great!), but I know we were really tired of the same bar-brewery-pool-home routine, and I was sick of being stuck in a three block radius with no car 80% of the time. I try not to only focus on stuff I miss from there because it can get me in a nostalgic mood and that’s just not productive at all for trying to be happy here.

Perspective can be a really interesting thing. I started thinking about the way I wanted to live my life shortly after we started traveling and doing fun things. About 2 years ago was the first time in my life I could afford to do things I wanted to do (and actually have time off work!) and it made me a much happier person. I got asked by people fairly often how I am such a positive, upbeat person, and I really didn’t know what to say. I’ve thought about it a bit more though, and I think the way most people think about their yearly vacations should slightly change their perspectives and they would be a lot happier. What if you lived your life in a way that you didn’t spend all year waiting for your one week break from it? I think that’s basically what we are trying to do here – not to say I don’t still count down the minutes on Friday afternoons at work, but I definitely get a lot of value in my life by living somewhere I want to be and looking forward to simple things (see ya, Ohio!).

We also have some visitors lined up, which is super exciting! My sister Colleen will be here from the last week of November for a couple of weeks, and Regis’ parents are coming for Christmas! I am definitely looking forward to a warm holiday season – I usually dread Christmas, so it’s going to be a nice change. My mom has also mentioned wanting to visit, and has been checking out flights here in February - so basically we need to start getting furniture for our patio and the other bedroom! Also a note to anyone wanting to visit, you better get up on your slang! Here’s some help:

A funny note to add here is that I hear most of these on a fairly regular basis – usually you can tell what someone is saying based on context, but some of these are so random it’s hard to guess. The first time I heard someone say they were “crook”, I was so confused! It means sick, apparently, haha. The “C” word is also thrown around  a bit here, which was kind of shocking at first!

As for any other updates, we haven’t been up to too much. We went to Regis’ Mid-Winter ball hosted by his footy team last weekend, and we saw one of my favorite DJs, RL Grime over the weekend. I’ve recently applied to be a promoter for a company that puts on electronic shows because I think it’d be a good way to make friends, and I think I am going to start my hula hoop classes back up! Our Christmas in July beer we brewed turned out excellently and in a not-surprising-at-all way, Regis drilled a hole in the front of our fridge so we can keep our home brew on tap! Fun picture updates are below, see ya soon!

The home brew tap!

Our Christmas in July beer

The new view - we couldn't have picked a cooler new home city!