#115 - Punk Rock, Thanksgiving and a blast from the past

(Punk) Rock 'n Roll and more eating
I went to my first (and only?) rock concert / band thing...one of my brothers was touring with a band, "Bad Astronaut" through Australia - a tour called "Hits and Pits".

It was a very cold Sunday night in November when I met my Mom outside a venue whose name I have now forgotten.  We were the most unlikely duo there and if you did the old "one of these things isn't like the others" game from Sesame Street, just by looking, we would have been those people.

Anyway - my Mom is a very good mom:  she knew most of the songs (not all the newer ones), she knew the words and she bopped along to them.  Having your mom bop along to punk songs...I never thought that combination of words would ever be written, much less that I would be the one writing them.


Backstage - yes, we got to go backstage - very exciting (though you still needed earplugs) and Mom did what moms do - she mothered people a bit.  I was just taking it all in except I couldn't remember faces and/or names unless I wrote things down later.  (One of my brother's friends was a guy who had known us for probably 20+ years.  I asked him what band he was in.  Luckily he took it in good spirit and at least I remembered him when he joined us for dinner a few nights later.)  So AC is talking shop with Dave, a guy from a band which my Mom knew about, called Black Flag (?) - ugh, I've forgotten again.  Anyway - they're talking about amplifiers and a few other esoteric things which were incomprehensible to the uninitiated so I took the opportunity to play fan / not-groupie and got a candid shot.

In which I actually use some of the stuff I learned in cooking school...
Funny enough, most of my family seem to be foodie types.  AC is a really good cook so when I offered a home cooked meal, his eyes lit up.  Of course he pooh-poohed the chili which everyone else requests (my sister having done so only last night or so) since he can make his own.  The result:  a menu we cobbled together backstage.

He likes duck.  So does my Mom.  I do not like duck because...it took a while to nail down what the smell reminded me of, but I finally got it:  wet dog.  So here is the prep two nights before AC was due for a home cooked meal.  Duck:  bought and butchered and I took my time removing all the shafts from the feathers (yech!) because I do not have a blow torch.  So - duck confit done, duck breast separated, bones ready for stock, everything in the fridge ready to be schlepped up the hill for dinner.

Dinner

Dinner was set for after work.  Australia has influenced me in several ways - shopping (I can no longer say that I don't care what my bags and shoes look like, though I can say I don't care much about the label) and food - beetroot no longer appears to be the root of all evil but I will never come around to lamingtons or vegemite.  Anyway - the starter (left?  it shows as "above" as I write the post) is 3 layers of crispy biscuit type things (1 plate is gluten-free), 3 layers of goats cheese, baby heirloom tomatoes and peeled grapes.

The main:  duck confit with jus, pan roasted duck breast with orange reduction, rice (as a nod to the Hawaiian part of the meal, and to go with the Hawaiian Seasonings salt which I used as part of the marinade for the confit) and steamed vegetables.  You can't see the sauces very well and the jus was over reduced - but luckily most of those little details were only things I noticed.

Mixed salad and dessert, but I don't remember what we had - obviously not very memorable!

I give thanks for everything...
And for Thanksgiving - we went for Indian food down the street.

Do what you're afraid to do
I've always hated snakes.  We do not get along, but when you go to a function where an opportunity presents itself, you have to grab it with both hands.  Or in this case, touch it very gently with one hand.  In this case, there was an exhibit opening at the Taronga Zoo so my Mom and I went on behalf of someone else so that they could give us (and about 100 other people) a little preview.  We did not know that the preview would include live animals, including this spotted python, Sputnik.  Sputnik was very happy and relaxed, according to his handler.  He was warm and he felt very odd as I touched him.  The baby lemur was much less intriguing after touching the snake and he (the lemur, not the snake) was asleep so I thought I wouldn't disturb him.

Blast from the Past
And then there was a flying visit from a friend from Le Cordon Bleu days - I got a surprise message on Facebook from WP who said she would be in town for certain days.  We ended up having sushi at Hemmesphere after work one night and chatting away until we were both yawning more than the occasion warranted.

It was so nice to have a visit from what seems to be a lifetime ago.  We caught up on what each had been up to since graduation - I think we learned more about each other over those few hours than we had in the 9 months in London.  Then it was time to say goodbye and despite best intentions and endeavours, I had to get ready to go home for the holidays and she had the rest of her travels to complete.

I am now home for the holidays and ready to have some fun with cooking parties.  Christmas plans are in full swing so more later - so until next time, happy and safe holidays to all!