Happy Easter!

Yes, I once again had No Beef and Yorkshire Pudding for Good Friday dinner. It's a tradition in our house, you can't NOT have it!

Have a safe and happy Easter, my little bloglings, whatever you're doing!

K xx

Easter TBR pile

Over the past week or so, my TBR pile has gotten a little...out of control. Given that Easter tends to be a time of not-going-anywhere-because-everything-is-closed, I'm hoping that I can make some headway in the aforementioned pile. Especially as down here in the Antipodes, we have another long weekend next weekend courtesy of my birthday Anzac Day!

So what's in my TBR pile at the moment?

These are the physical copies. Technically, I'm like 80% of the way through The Odyssey, but I'd really like to get it finished so that I can give it back to Ness (I read like 225 pages in one afternoon of sitting in the hospital waiting for her to be discharged and have been averaging about 20 pages a day since then. Womp womp). And Fangirl is a reread, although I read it as an e-book last year, so I'm pretty psyched about reading it in physical form. Half Bad and Popular were freebies, courtesy of the Penguin Teen Australia live event on Monday night, and I'm pretty excited about reading both of them. And Two Graves is my last remaining library book.

Now for the e-books:

Stolen Songbird I've been excited about for a couple of months now. Stay Awhile is another reread, but I'm counting it as in my TBR pile anyway because I reeeeeeeeeally need to get through it before the final book in the series comes out. Which will be soon (right, Alysia?!?!?!). Pushing the Limits and The Enemy are recent additions following a bunch of "OMG YOU SHOULD READ THIS!" suggestions at PTA Live. The others have been languishing on my Kindle for months now (although I'm pretty sure that The Elite is going to be a #stupidbookisstupid hate read based on my feelings towards The Selection...).

So there you have it. Eleven books (not including the one I'm currently reading). I doubt I'll get through them all over Easter (and the Anzac Day long weekend), but hopefully I can at least whittle the list down to a more manageable level!

What are you planning on reading over the long weekend?

K xx

Movie Monday: Miss Congeniality

So it occurred to me part way through today that I should have watched Dogma this week and added to the blasphemy of last year's Easter Movie Monday - The Life of Brian. As it is, we're taking a break from the blasphemy with one of my favourite completely ridiculous movies.

Source

Reasons why Miss Congeniality is awesome:
1. Sandra Bullock.
2. Solar plexus, nose, instep, groin.

Source

3. William Shatner. HILAR. Denny Crane in the making.
4. Stashing doughnuts in her dress.
5. The opening scene in the playground.
6. Michael Caine.

Source

7. Using her FBI badge to queue jump at Starbucks.
8. The makeover in progress.
9. Candice Burgen.
10. Gracie's ridiculous outfit for the talent show.

Source

11. Pizza and beer.
12. Playing the water glasses.
13. Heather Burns.

Too right it is. It's my birthday. Source.

14. Baton twirling.
15. Gracie's repeated faceplants.
16. Fighting over the crown.

Source

Plus, the following quotes:
- "Starting early today?" "Yeah, I'm gonna get chip faced."
- "Do all the women at the Bureau have to wear those really masculine shoes?" "Oh no, I get these made special by the guy who put the tattoo on my ass."
- "Oh my God. I haven't seen a walk like that since Jurassic Park..."
- "Those better be candy dishes."
- "My mother wouldn't buy them for me, she said they were Satan's panties."
- "It's light beer, and she's gonna throw it up anyway..."
- "I am in a dress, I have gel in my hair, I haven't slept all night, I'm starved, and I'm armed! Don't mess with me!"
- "Miss Rhode Island, please describe your idea of a perfect date." "That's a tough one. I'd have to say April 25th. Because it's not too hot, not too cold, all you need is a light jacket."
- "What, no armoured car?" "That would be in my OTHER dress."
- "I would much rather cancel the show than have my girls blown up." "Especially without their knowledge."
- "Operation "Thong" has commenced." "Why don't you stun-gun yourself?" "I knew she'd like that one."
- "What is the one most important thing our society needs?" "That would be harsher punishment for parole violators, Stan. And world peace!"
- "Look I know what I'm gonna do. I haven't done this since high school but it's like riding a bike." "You are not having sex on this stage!" "I didn't know that was an option."
- "See? Glide. It's all in the buttocks. Don't I look pretty?" "It takes a very secure man to walk like that."
- "In Hawaii, don't they use aloha for, like, hello and goodbye?" "So?" "So if you're on the phone with somebody and they won't stop talking, how do you get them? You say, 'Okay take care, aloha' don't they just start over again?"
- "If I'd ever had a daughter, I imagine she might have been something like you... which is perhaps why I've never reproduced."
- "The last time I was this naked in public, I was coming out of a uterus!"
- "Eyebrows. There should be two."
- "Ten out of eleven years my girls were crowned. The year we lost, the winner was a deaf-mute. You can't beat that."

Let's just go ahead and pretend the sequel never happened, shall we?

K xx

Things that are awesome

1. I received a (two week early) birthday present from my BFF Kat in the post today. I would take a photo of it for you, but....... Anyway, it's a bag from Mushy Wear and I love it!! It's the perfect size for uni notebooks without looking like a boring book bag.
2. We heard from the insurance company today, and I should have a replacement camera within a week!! I'm super-excited about it. It looks like it's going to be the next model up from my old camera, which comes with more megapixels, higher ISO capability, and full video. It's still an entry level model, but a brand new camera is not to be sneezed at! I'll make sure to take photos of my awesome new bag when the camera turns up :)
3. THE DALEKS ARE COMING BACK IN SERIES 7. And not just the Daleks. ALL the Daleks.
4. Discount Easter eggs at the supermarket.

That last one has nothing to do with anything else. It's just awesome. Wouldn't you agree, David Tennant?

I rather thought you would!

What's been awesome for you recently?
K xx

Movie Monday: The Life of Brian

So, how's everyone's Easter been? Like I said on Saturday, I'm pretty sure that I'll be going to Hell, so mine went pretty well! I also received the world's biggest Easter egg from my parents:

2 litre milk bottle for scale. Terrible quality courtesy of my webcam.

Anyway, if I wasn't already going to Hell for saying that you can eat as much as you want at Easter because Jesus takes the calories away, I'd be going to Hell for today's movie selection:

Source

Yes. The Life of Brian.

Reasons why The Life of Brian is awesome:
1. It's MONTY PYTHON. And they're brilliant.
2. The centurion telling Brian that the grammar in his graffiti is wrong, and making him write it out 100 times.

Source

3. Brian's mother yelling "SPEAK UP!!" at Jesus during the Sermon on the Mount.
4. The Roman character names. You can't help but laugh hysterically.
5. The opening song, taking the piss out of Goldfinger.
6. George Harrison has a cameo. GEORGE FREAKING HARRISON!!

That's Harrison on the right. Source

7. Brian's mother wearing a fake beard so that she can go to the stoning.
8. How six blokes played FORTY characters between them.
9. Michael Palin as Pontius Pilate. It's hard to single out one of the Pythons over the others, or even one of the characters out over the others, but he makes this movie for me.

Source

10. Singing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" to Brian when he's being crucified.
11. The suicide squad.
12. The followers arguing over whether the gourd or the sandal is more important and how to show you're a follower of Brian. Hilarious.

Source

13. It was banned in Ireland for blasphemy. UNTIL 1987.
14. The ridiculous food Brian is selling at the colosseum.
15. When Brian opens the window completely starkers and there are hundreds of people standing outside waiting for him.
16. "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" at the end.


Plus, the following completely brilliant quotes:
- "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!"
- "Now FUCK OFF!!!" [pause] "How shall we fuck off, O Lord?"
- "Blessed is just about everyone with an interest in the status quo."
- "Alms for an old ex-leper?"
- "I'm a Red Sea pedestrian and I'm proud of it!"
- "Crucifixion? Good. Out the door, line on the left, one cross each."
- "What's so funny about the name...Biggus Dickus?"
- "All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?"
- "He has a wife, you know. She's called...Incontinentia. Incontinentia Buttocks."
- "If you want to join the People's Front of Judea, you have to really hate the Romans." "I do!" "Oh yeah? How much?" "A lot!" "Right, you're in."
- "STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT RIGHT NOW! STOP IT! All right, no one is to stone *anyone* until I blow this whistle!"
- "Stwike him, Centuwion. Stwike him vewy wuffly!"
- "From now on you shall be called Brian that is called Brian."
- "It's every man's right to have babies if he wants them." "But you can't have babies!" "Don't you oppress me." "You haven't got a womb! Where's the fetus going to gestate? You going to keep it in a box?"
- "Vewy well! I shall welease... Wodewick!"

So, who else is joining me in Hell for watching this movie at Easter? Or, you know, just thinks it's awesome?

K xx

I'm going to Hell

So this afternoon, Nikki and I were texting (as we do pretty much every day), and we ended up talking about how we seem to be incapable of eating anything besides junk food this long weekend. I can't speak for Nikki, but there's a possibility that I had cookie dough and a mini creme egg for lunch on Thursday. [Oh. Hi, Mum. I had a salad sandwich and an apple. Yes. That's totally what happened.]

ANYWAY.

Nikki was up to her fourth(!) trip to the supermarket for the day (one of the downsides to not having a car) when she texted me with "BUBBLE TEA. And Tim Tams. I'm super healthy.". My response? "Screw healthy. It's Easter. Jesus takes the calories away, because they're sins!"

Yup. I'm officially going to Hell. (Will anyone be joining me there?! Incidentally, I've got a nice dose of blasphemy coming up for Movie Monday. It's only appropriate!)

Happy Easter, y'all!

K xx

Sculptures

I'm not a fan of modern art. Much like my complete non-comprehension over the appeal of poetry, I just don't get it. Pretty much anything that dates from after the Impressionist period makes me do a confused dog head tilt. And don't even get me started on paintings that are worth a bajillionty dollars, but which are a white canvas with two red lines on it!

One of the few exceptions to this rule is sculpture. I don't know what it is - probably the fact that sculptures are much less wanky - but I mostly just think they're cool. Or, as a guest lecturer said in class last night, "groovy". (Yes, we sniggered. No, I don't feel bad about it.)

All of which is a really long winded way of saying that about a month ago, we went on a walk around the Heide sculpture garden and neighbouring Banksia Park. And my trusty (now absent) camera came with me. OBVIOUSLY. And basically? Taking photos of different textures is fun.

Trees are deemed really old if Little Miss A can't get her arms around them.

Also? Banksia Park has a playground with a flying fox. Small children like said flying fox. See?

Random segue: have a good Easter, y'all! <3

K xx

Kirsti-mas Part 1!

As I said briefly yesterday, I spent the Easter/ANZAC Day break in Melbourne, running around like a headless chicken. The Kirsti-mas thing I've (apparently Chrome thinks I'm trying to write 'Kirsch' or 'Kiribati' rather than my name...) stolen from my brother and his mates - he has a friend called Kelly, and her birthday falls on December 25th. So Christmas is generally known in their friendship group as Kelly-mas. It seemed only appropriate that I adopt it for the whole six day long birthday that I've just had!

I flew to Melbourne first thing Thursday morning. Thursday featured thrilling things like a trip to the liquor store to buy some delicious Rekorderlig cider, and to the post office to send the lovely Lauren some Tim Tams. Incidentally, Lauren gave me a Stylish Blogger award the other day. Yay! But since I did it not that long ago, I'm going to skip the whole telling you seven things about me part and the passing it on part. Because I'm lazy like that! (Sorry, Lauren. Doesn't mean I'm any less grateful!!)

Thursday night we were supposed to be going to Mamasita, a shiny new (and apparently amazing) Mexican restaurant in the city. But they don't take bookings. We got there at 6.30 (seriously!), and the line was already out the door and into the street. After queuing for 15 minutes or so, we were told that they could put our name on the callback list, but that it would probably be at least 8.30, more like 9.00 before we were seated. Seeing as I was starving (living in Canberra makes you eat at Nanna O'Clock, because there's nothing else to do!) and seeing as the parentals had no intentions of going home and coming back into the city in two hours time, we abandoned that plan in favour of eating somewhere else.

I can't remember the name of the place we wound up going, but apparently I chose a "very manly dessert". It was hazelnut, orange and dark chocolate cannoli with bitter chocolate ice cream. I suspect they were just trying to make my brother feel better about his choice of dessert, but it was still a bit awkward having to say "Urm, I'll have the manly dessert too, thanks!"

Friday featured going to see Thor (which I keep calling Troy. Most unfortunate, given that the latter was quite shit and the former was AWESOME!!) with Jamie. We saw it in 2D, which I was eternally grateful for because 3D gives me a headache that painkillers can't touch and is totally not worth the extra money. I got home from the movies just in time to be handed the task of making our traditional Good Friday feast of No Beef and Yorkshire Pudding. Mmmmmm, roast goodness. Oh, word of advice? Don't eat M&Ms while making Yorkshire pudding. It's only a matter of time before one of them falls in the batter, and then you'll never find the little bastard (it was FIIIIIIIIIIINE, you totally couldn't taste the sugar! And I found it before the chocolate dissolved. It was just the coating that had gone)...

Friday night was spent seeing Eddie Perfect at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Now, if you remember this post, you'll remember that I love Eddie Perfect. So not only did I laugh hysterically through the entire show (I suspect my dad thought I was insane. But his song "Self-Righteous Cyclist" was one of the funniest things I've heard all year!), but I loitered around the Arts Centre afterwards to meet him. And he was lovely, not to mention insanely talented!! I apologise for the slight note of crazy eyes - I believe I was attempting to convey to my brother the importance of him learning to use the camera on his new phone within the next 10 seconds:

Anyway, we went out for drinks after the show (me, my brother and his girlfriend, not me and Eddie Perfect. Although that would have been AMAZEBALLS... *sigh*). And, it being Melbourne, we went to a bar that was under a pedestrian bridge in the middle of the Yarra River. Of COURSE - what else would you do?! It was pretty cool seeing geese swimming past as you sipped your cider (sadly, not Rekorderlig). And to honour the cooler temperatures at night, they had mulled wine. It smelled incredible! Not that I had any...

Saturday featuring catching up with Ness for the first time in a year and a half. And shopping. Complete with burritos and Mexi-crinkle fries from Salsas *drools* And a trip to Koko Black, where I FINALLY used the last $5 of the voucher my parents gave me last Easter! Saturday night was spent out on the town with friends for my birthday. We started out at Cho Gao at Melbourne Central. I ordered a Strawberry Colada. Apparently they'd run out of the glasses they usually used, so they gave it to me in two martini glasses instead.

Yup. Cos I'm classy like that. We started with a ridiculous array of Asian tapas, including something called "Rusty Nails" - deep fried beef strips with honey and chilli and some other things I can't remember. As someone pointed out, it was only appropriate for Easter! #allgoingtohell

About the time I finished my Strawberry Coladas, we discovered that they had Rekorderlig, and the cocktail menu was dead to me. Sad... I'm not entirely certain that cider goes with maple chicken udon noodles, but oh well! After we'd finished dinner, we headed over to San Churros across the road. When we asked for menus, they said they were all out (Urm, what? How do you run out of menus??) but that there was one above the counter. I asked my brother to go and take a picture of the menu so we could all decide what we wanted. But he came back having ordered this:

Yum - the Churros Fiesta! 18 churros with six dipping sauces. Well, more accurately, 9 regular churros, 9 cinnamon churros, four dipping sauces, whipped cream and a bowl of chocolate ice cream. Quite how we were meant to eat the ice cream I still don't know. But whatever! Holy Hell, it was good. The last time I had churros was at the Multicultural Festival, and these ones were a million times nicer than ones from a stall on the side of the road. Although I didn't get to drink the better part of a whole cup of melted chocolate like I did at the Multicultural Festival. You know what? In hindsight, that's probably a good thing...

When the churros had beaten us, we headed to a bar for more drinks. There I encountered the WORST MOJITO EVER. The barman was Irish and cute and called me darlin', so I couldn't bring myself to complain. But it was vile. Apparently mojito to him = use lime cordial in place of actual lime and sugar syrup. Gross... I don't think it helped that we were standing outside on a clear autumn night and I effectively was holding a glass of ice. Eh. I drank it anyway. Given that it cost $17, it's not surprising!

It wasn't a particularly late night - we were home by 1am. I blame my rapidly advancing age. But it was a lot of fun!!

To be continued................

K xx

Easter

Wow. So...unintentional hiatus much? Okay, it wasn't especially unintentional. I went to Melbourne for six whole days of Kirsti-mas (Easter coincided with ANZAC Day, which is my birthday), and with the usual running around like a headless chicken catching up with everyone ever that happens whenever I go to Melbourne, I didn't have time for bloggy-ness.

Anyway, the time was AWESOME. Now that I'm back in Canberra, I'm planning a massive post to update you on all of it. But in the meantime? I'm not dead. Just distracted!!

K xx

A delicious alternative to fish

So I grew up in a non-seafood eating household. Dad, for some bizarre reason of his own, loves the stuff. I have a vague memory of him going fishing when we lived in Canada and coming home with a massive salmon which was kept on ice in an Esky in the porch for what seemed like a month, because he was the only one who would eat it. Anyway, the whole anti-seafood sentiment means that Good Friday presents problems. Not that we're religious in any way (well, apart from 8 years of Anglican education for me and 11 years for Cam), it just seems like the right thing to do somehow.

Anyway, not eating fish presented a problem. Until Mum came up with a genius idea - No Beef and Yorkshire Pudding. Okay, so you could just call it roast veggies and Yorkshire pudding, but it doesn't have nearly the same ring to it when you're a kid. And sure, you could argue that Yorkshire pud is full of stuff you're not meant to use until Lent is over. But meh. So here we have Yorkshire pudding, as per the Australian Women's Weekly's 1970s recipe. They've changed it very slightly since, but this one works, so I'm sticking with it!

Here's the cast of characters. Pretty simple, huh?:

Start with half a teaspoon of salt:

Dump it into a mixing bowl:

Then measure out a cup of self raising flour:

And sift it into the bowl:

Then, make a well in the middle of the flour and salt mixture:

Crack two eggs and dump them into the centre of the well:

Beat the eggs, incorporating a little of the flour from the sides:

Then mix half a cup of warm water with half a cup of milk:

Slowly add the milk and water mixture into the bowl, a little at a time.

Stir it into the egg, adding more of the flour from the sides with each milk addition.

When all the liquid has been added and all the flour has been incorporated, beat the mixture for about two minutes.

Then leave it to sit for half an hour. Go and have one of these (it's a Malibu and pineapple juice, in case you were wondering):

After half an hour, it will have magically thickened.

Take an ovenproof dish (or a greased muffin tray, if you want to make individual Yorkshire puddings):

I use Pyrex. I love Pyrex. It's awesome - stackable and dishwasher proof. What more can you ask for!!

Drizzle a little olive oil into the dish:

And place it in the oven for about 5 minutes to heat up. The oven needs to be hot - between 200 and 230 degrees Centigrade.

Once the oil has heated, pull the dish out (with oven mitts - glass gets rather warm after five minutes in a hot oven. Surprising, I know!), and pour the batter in.

Stick it back in the oven and let the magic begin! And no complaints about how filthy my oven door is. I only realised when I went to take the photos...:

This is after about six or seven minutes:

And this was about the point I went "Holy crap, it's a giant mutant pudding!! Move it to a lower shelf!!!!" Trust me - if you cook Yorkshire pudding on the top shelf of the oven, at some point you WILL need to move it to a lower shelf... Who knows what lofty heights it would have reached if I hadn't...

And here it is, after 20 minutes in a hot oven. Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum...

And here we have a delicious Good Friday feast of No Beef and Yorkshire pudding. I could have made gravy, I suppose. But I hate the stuff, so I made others suffer through without it. Mwahaha!! Frankly, considering I'd only ever done roast veggies twice before, I think I did a pretty damned good job! I suppose I could have added roasted tomatoes in there too, but they strike me as a breakfast food, and therefore have no place here.

So there you have it - if you're vegetarian, hate seafood, or are just sick of your food staring at you while you eat it, try the roast veggies and Yorkshire pudding route next Easter. You won't regret it!!

K :) xx