Baking Day

This is what happens when you leave me alone in a nice kitchen!

We have been house sitting for the last week and have until the 10th of January here. Andrew and Emma are friends of Rowan and in turn that is how I am friends with them. They have a house they just built and very graciously invited Siyani and I off our couch and into their home while they visit family in Brisbane. 

The nice thing about new houses is new kitchens and we all know how much I love kitchens. On Wednesday Siyani went to help the brothers dig trenches at the Kingdom Hall as they are laying power lines for lighting in the lower parking lot. This left me on our 2nd day in the house alone with the kitchen, and boy did I do some damage. 

Brownies

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Vanilla Cupcakes

Sticky Date Pudding

and Impossible Pie

Impossible pie is awesome, the easiest dessert and perfect for last minuet guests and get togethers. No method, no complicated ingredients and no real skill needed to make this mouthwatering yummyness. I first had Impossible Pie on my first visit to Australia and enjoy making it when I really get stuck into baking. So here it is, Impossible Pie, make some right now, it is so good. 

Impossible Pie

4 eggs

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup coconut

2 cups milk

2 tablespoons vanilla

Mix all this together in a bowl, put into a deep baking dish and bake for 1 hour at 330*. 

Impossible pie creates its own crunchy crust, soft custard inside and pie like bottom. 

Check the other yummies I made as well.

 

Simple Pleasures

A Bunch of Little Aussie things for One BIG Post

Life for the last while has been pretty basic, nothing to out of the ordinary to write home about. Siyani works detailing cars for Avis out at the airport and I go in service, clean the unit and bake. Every now and then though a little something interesting does happen. 

For example:

Siyanis first Aussie spider. 

While not as big as others here, it was the first one Siyani saw. Almost a right of passage for living in Australia seeing your first of many and most of the time bigger spiders.

Iced Coffee: Espresso, Milk, Ice Cream, Whip Cream and Chocolate Shavings.

What I should have gotten was a picture of Siyanis face when this came to the table. We went out when Sam and Deb Clements where in town driving through after Deb's son Alecs wedding. We hit the coffee club and I just ordered for Siyani. I had been dying to get him one of these since we landed but had not yet had the opportunity. His exact words when this was out in front of him were "that's not coffee, that's dessert." The Aussies know how to do Iced Coffee right. 

While pizza is not purely an Aussie thing, being here has allowed me more time to try out recipes. This wonderful creation was my attempt at something Aussies don't have. Perogies.....to be more exact perogie pizza, like what Boston Pizza makes. It turned out really good, and was almost a baby. Let me explain. Back home we used to get together with Taija, Rowan, Shaun and Gina and order pizza from the take and bake shop Papa Murphy. They weigh your pizza after it is made, and one time after doing one of the make-your-own we were told it weighed 6.5 pounds. We of course marveled at the fact that we had just created a pizza that weighed as much as a new born baby. Now every time after we make pizza it usually comes up about whether or not we just made a baby.

Finally, something I really enjoy while being in Australia. Making pumpkin pie and sharing it with the Aussies. The hardest part of making pumpkin pie in Oz Land is not the varied recipe I have to do for the pastry or even the true essence of "from scratch" for the pumpkin pie filling which includes peeling, boiling and pureeing, it is convincing the people to even try a piece. Pumpkin here is either an entree side or a scone, not a pie. Once you get them to taste it though, it is generally a big hit. For the encounter shown above we were invited out to a BBQ with a group from the congregation, as a back up I also took some pumpkin roll. The Aussies ate it up, literally, right down to licking the plate clean. 

Simple Pleasures......Aussie Style!

Finally A Video

YAY I Did It!!!! I made a video. 

I have been teaching myself to edit videos while we have been here. I don't have the most advanced program in the world, which is probably a good thing, seeing as how it took me this long on an easy program. This video is from when Siyani and I first arrived. It starts with us in Brisbane airport, shows the beach just down from Taija and Rowan's unit and gives you an idea of what we have been living in for the past 5 weeks. I know the song is corny but I needed something Aussie and I figured Waltzing Matilda didn't really fit. 

Enjoy the video. 

Aussie Delight-Vanilla Slice

Vanilla Slice

I enjoy making desserts as anyone who actually knows me can attest to. One of my favorite "Aussie" desserts is Vanilla Slice. I call it an Aussie dessert because Australia is where I first was introduced to this divine treat and Australia is where I make it most often. Enjoy the pictures and maybe take whack at making this yourself. The best part of making this in Australia is the passion fruit icing, because I can get passion fruit here. It is so delicious and very light. Creamy custard between flaky pastry topped with a tart fruit and sugar. 

• Ingredients

• 2 sheets (25cm x 25cm) ready rolled frozen puff pastry, thawed
• Melted butter, to grease
•  (3 cups) milk
•  (1 1/2 cups) thickened cream
• 8 egg yolks
•  (1 cup) caster sugar
•  (1/3 cup) plain flour
• (1/4 cup) cornflour
• 50g butter, chopped
• 2 tsp vanilla essence
•  (1 1/2 cups) pure icing sugar, sifted
• 2 tbs canned passionfruit in syrup
  
  
  
  
  Preheat oven to 220°C. Line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking paper. Place 1 pastry sheet onto each lined tray. Bake in preheated oven, swapping trays halfway through cooking, for 20 minutes or until pastry puffs and browns. Remove from the oven. Cover pastry with a clean tea towel and use your hands to gently push the pastry down to flatten. Set aside for 15 minutes to cool.
  Brush  square pan with butter to lightly grease. Line base and sides with foil. Place 1 pastry sheet, flat-side down, in base of prepared pan.
  Meanwhile, heat milk and cream in a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat until mixture just comes to the boil. Combine egg yolks, sugar, flour and cornflour in a heatproof bowl. Whisk until thick and pale. Gradually stir hot milk mixture into egg mixture. Place in a clean saucepan over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 5 minutes or until custard comes to the boil and thickens. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla essence until combined. Pour over pastry and place remaining pastry flat-side (unpressed side) up on top. Place in fridge for 1 hour or until custard sets.
  Place icing sugar and passion fruit in large bowl and stir until smooth and glossy. Turn slice out onto a large chopping board and remove the foil. Spread icing over the top of the slice with the back of a spoon. Set aside for 20 minutes or until icing is set. Use a serrated knife to cut the vanilla slice into 16 pieces.Recipe from http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/12569/vanilla+slice+with+passionfruit+icing 
  Enjoy, it really is so very yummy and as Rowan says every time he sees it in the fridge "I'm gonna get sooo fat" which translated means "Ohhhh Yummy" 
  

  

  Siyani enjoying his first taste of Vanilla Slice

  
  

A little Music a lot of Baking

Music Makes the Food Better

This evening is Cruise Night. Every Thursday night Taija and the other import car owners get together to talk shop and drive around. Siyani is now the proud owner of an import so he took his new Skyline out tonight with Taija and Rowan. I stayed home for two reasons. 1) I was invited to a lunch tomorrow with some of the other sisters in the congregation and wanted to make something nice to take. 2) I feel a little out of place with  all these knowledgeable car people as the best thing I can offer is an "oohh pretty" if someone pops the hood of there car. 

So I stayed home to bake 2 pumpkin rolls and 1 orange poppy seed cake. Seeing as I was by myself I put on Jango and went to the Broadway Show-tunes Channel. I was having such a ball singing along I just had to share some of the songs that played. Also I felt this was an appropriate time to share a quick belief. 

The Right Music Makes Food Taste Better.

Why? Because the right music puts you in the best mood and when you are happy pure love goes into cooking or baking and how can anything be bad when it is made with pure love. 

Enjoy the musical selection, emphasis on the "musical" 

Mmm.....Kangaroo

CC and the Kangaroo

Not long after being in Australia I was informed that I was about to enjoy a meal uniquely Australia, Kangaroo. It is a lean meat that has a hint of sweetness to it, because it is cooked for a shorter amount of time than beef it does not get tough at all. The bottle you see positioned behind the plate is Bundaberg Ginger Beer ( think a nice Ginger Ale ) so far since being here I have consumed a number of bottles. I myself quite enjoyed the taste of Kangaroo but I can see why some would find the taste hard to adjust to. 

The Wonderful World of Oz

Everyday Life in Australia

Megan's View:

Being here has brought a lot of changes, who knew it would actually be tough not working. Trying to figure out what to do with your days when you don't have a job or any real form of transportation other then your own two feet makes it a bit of a challenge. It's not that I don't like walking to where I need to be, it's that between the distance and the heat it isn't always a viable option. Thankfully, the sisters of the congregation we are apart of have been wonderful in making sure I have a ride to service on Mondays and Wednesdays and that has been a true blessing. I love Monday service because it is the day everyone "goes out country" and I usually end up spending most of the day away from the unit. Fridays have become my baking and cleaning day which is a good distraction from the biggest change of all. Siyani works 10 hour days and being apart from him for what seems like forever is really hard. Coming from a job where I saw him everyday throughout the day and where we had lunch together almost everyday to a situation where he is gone before I wake up and away for such long periods of time has been a real challenge for me. I have Taija 3 days a week to hang out with and that is great, but you don't realize how attached you are to a person until you don't have them around as often. I always knew CC and I were weird with how much we love spending all of our time together but I guess I never really realized just how real it was. It's not a change I love but one I am learning to live with (mostly cause there is no other option). One of the best changes this move has brought is our reliance on Jehovah and each other. We try harder here in every aspect, we try harder to pre-study, to get to the meetings and to make the most of the time we have with each other.  Change isn't always easy but right now it is really good. 

A little ocean view from us to you

Siyani's View:

Australia has its differences I wont deny it, but other than the fact that the humidity in the air fuzzes my hair there is nothing I can really complain about. As Megan mentioned there are things that we are having to adjust to. I am now working ten hour days, which entails getting up at 6:00 in the morning and not getting home until 5:15. Choice of food while similar has its differences and even things like yogurt are slightly different. One of the biggest changes of all is driving on the opposite side of the road to what we are used to but when my job is cleaning cars that I at times then have to either drive to a storage lot or to the stalls we park the cars in at the Airport, it is a change I have had to adjust to fairly quickly. Even though we are approaching our third week in the country it feels as though we have barely been here a week. Working ( so far ) six day weeks and dealing with the process of buying a car along side day to day life has made things go fairly quickly. I have thankfully been adjusting to the heat fairly well although it is going to get 5-10 degrees warmer so we will see how I am doing once summer fully hits. I do however find that once you hit 30 Celsius anything over that doesn't feel that much worse and while everyone asks me how I am finding the humidity I don't even notice it. In fact I much prefer it to be hot and humid to the dry heat we often get in Canadian summers. That and living next to the Ocean means there is generally a mid day cool breeze that brings with it a pleasantly sweet aroma. Overall I am very happy to be here alongside Megan. I look forward to embracing the changes and taking in all the experiences and lessons that Australia has to offer us.

First Few Aussie Days

We Made It

Thursday, November 8th

So here we are, in Australia, in Mackay and it is wonderful. The flight from L.A. to Brisbane was 13 hours and turbulent. I got a bit of sleep and Siyani got even less. We were both very thankful for all the movie choices we had on the flight. It was a full plane, so the ability to snag an empty row to stretch out on was non existent. We arrived Tuesday, November 6th at 4:10 pm into Mackay after a 6 hour wait in Brisbane airport. As we got off the plane it was very clear we were tired as both Siyani and I walked right past Taija and Rowan. As we were collecting our bags, Rowan then informed us that not only was it meeting night, but it was also the CO visit, we had 3 hours to get home, eat, shower, find clothes and head out to the meeting. 

It was great though, even being so tired (Siyani was literally nodding off). The brothers welcomed us warmly ( this is a new congregation even for me) and I was so happy to see that the CO was Brother Kuvanst. He was serving the Bowen congregation when I was here back in 2010/2011 and it really goes to show just how hard these brothers work to get to know us because even though he didn't remember my name he did recognize me and was happy to see me again and to meet Siyani. It was also such a great thing to go to this CO visit for one very big reason. The first time I ever traveled on my own, my dad said to watch for how similar the meetings are because our unity is seen in even the finite details. Brother Twan came to visit the Summerland congregation before Siyani and I left and his talk was about sacrifices. Brother Kuvanst gave the exact same talk, same scriptures, as he spoke I could hear Brother Twan speaking at the same time. It was really special to experience that. 

Wednesday not much happened as both Siyani and I slept and we went to the mall with Taija to get containers so that the over taking of the living room could be contained. I also got sick but thanks to Rowan I got over it quickly. 

Now for the little bit of the blog post that I promise is not bragging (ok maybe a little bit, but not in a mean way) Check out the pics below to see a little snapshot of life in Australia. 

Just Chillin'

The view from the hammock

Breakfast: Fresh mango, water melon and golden honey dew enjoyed in the hammock outside.

Taija washing the Supra

Waiting in Vancouver

Now we Wait

We have said our final goodbye to Siyani's Mom and Dad and now we wait to board our first of three flights. This is the Vancouver to L.A. flight which leaves tonight at 6:25, YAY 3 hours of waiting. We are thankful for our new computer (see here for that story) and for free wireless at the airport. Technology today is so amazing. We don't have cell phones at the moment, so instead we just Skyed my Mom and Dad to let them know we were doing ok and to say one last goodbye as well. It might not even feel like we are in Australia with things like Skype. Siyani suggested to pass the time that we watch a movie, and I think it is the perfect idea, another thing we are thankful for NETFLIX. Enjoy these last "us in Canada" pictures. The teddy bear is CC, he is coming on this adventure with us and you will be seeing allot of him in the future.

Siyani and I waiting at Gate E83 for our flight.

Last Day in Canada

Good-bye Party & Flight

T-Minus 0 Days. Today we leave for Australia

So here we are. I am sitting in the hotel room at the Holiday Inn Express in Vancouver waiting to catch the shuttle to the airport where Siyani and I will fly to L.A. then to Brisbane and finally to Mackay where Taija and Rowan will be (hopefully) waiting for us. 

On Friday, Mom threw us a small going away party. Arlene from Edgy Petals brought us a beautiful going away bouquet with all my favorite colors, our awesome landlords Dana and Carey came by with a bottle of wine and we got to say goodbye to the kids Paige and Josh. My Uncle Jody drove from Grandforks to say good bye as well.  It was a really nice send off from wonderful people who really care for and love us. 

So here we go, off to Australia and new adventure. It's hard to believe the day is actually here, but what an exciting day it is.

Girls Night Out

Dinner & a Movie: Girls Night

 

Countdown Clock: 12 days left until Australia.

 

With so little time left until Siyani and I leave the country I felt it was time for an evening with my mom and my sister.

 

Katrina and I surprised mom by forcing her into the car and not telling her what we were up to. It ended up being one of the best nights. We went to this place in Westbank called Bamboo Chopsticks and had one of the best meals any of us had enjoyed in a long time. The service was great and the food fresh, like you can taste how fresh it is fresh. Katrina as with any Asian restaurant had the won ton soup, I ordered for mom and I, the seafood pho and a rice bowel with pork, salad, lemongrass dressing and spring roll. I'm dying to know how they make  their spring roll, it was so buttery and flaky and awesome. Their drink special that night was Sangria and it was yet another thing i wanted the recipe for. It had the perfect blend of wine and juice flavor to make it the perfect thing to sip on as we enjoyed our meal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner we went to the movie.

 

This whole last minute girls night came to mind because a while back mom had said she wanted to see the movie Hope Springs. Westbank has a new theater but the old Capitol is still kicking around now known as Encore and it keeps movies for forever and it was still playing Hope Springs, so I decided to to take mom.

 

 

 

Katrina describes the movie as "the reason she no longer needs sex ed in school" while mom and I being married saw the truly sweet side of movie and very much enjoyed it. Mom even cried little, but then again if my mom isn't crying it's most likely cause she is sleeping when it comes to watching movies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A great night, just us girls, one last time before I leave with my husband on a wonderful adventure. I'm going to miss my family so much but I am so looking forward to Australia as well.

 

 

 

 

Simple Pleasures

The Frothier the Better

 It is amazing how life in it's simplest forms can change in an instant. 

October 1st hit and it was the like the weather knew "time to be cooler" and in a moment the need for warm sweaters, boots and glow plugging the car (because we drive a diesel) was upon us. 

I love fall, I love the feel of fall and I am very happy to get one month of it before we leave for Australia. 

T-minus 29 days and counting

My favorite love of all when it comes to this time of year boils down to one awesome food. Pumpkin!!!! And I will be sharing some amazing pumpkin recipes before we leave.  

This post though is about something entirely non pumpkin related, a new love that steams from two old ones. Eggnog and Tea. 

While on a business meeting at a local cafe I pondered over the menu items trying to decide what I wanted to drink. To my dismay they did not have a pumpkin spice latte so I fell back on a drink I had not indulged in for some time, a London Fog. Steamed milk, vanilla syrup and Earl Grey Tea, a perfect substitute for the very fall day we were experiencing. 

Later that evening while at home a desire for another London Fog prompted ingenuity. One of our wedding gifts was this cool milk steamer/frother. Easy to use and two settings for either hot or cold. I dug this out of a box as I had already packed it away, this just shows how much I needed a frothy drink. As I was about to froth the milk I realized that adding just sugar wouldn't have the desired sweetness or flavor that vanilla syrup adds, and then inspiration, I had Eggnog in the fridge how perfect. Add that to Lady Grey tea with some cinnamon on top and WOW. 

Since Tuesday I have been making this every morning, lunch and night. It's a new addiction. The addiction continues to my totally gigantic cup as well, which is what I use for my evening indulgence. Drink this while eating fresh popcorn with M&M's on top and it is movie night perfection. I like to mix it up, so the M&M's usually consist of Peanut, Peanut Butter and Cherry all on top the popcorn at the same time. 

It's what I love about fall, that change in the air, the crispness of it all and the amazing things we create from life's simple pleasures.

A Foodie Adventure: Five Guys Burgers and Fries

A Great Food Update

 

 

Thursday September 20th Siyani and I decided to head up to West Kelowna (although I still call it Westbank) to look at buying a laptop for our trip to Australia. We stopped in at Future Shop and after an hour of looking and two sales people, CC was still having trouble committing to the piece of technology.
 

Thankfully for me deciding on a computer is harder for him then committing to me for the rest our lives. Buying a laptop, tough choice, asking a girl to marry you, no problem.
 

All joking aside, I was getting tired and pretty hungry so we decided to split a burger at this place across the parking lot. Five Guys Burger and Fries. We have driven past this place a number of times and always commented on we should we try it out.

 

Now that we have less than 6 weeks left in the country, we are trying to "do" more and not just say "one day". I am so glad that we tried this place out. Not only was the food amazing, like burgers don't taste like this anymore amazing, but the staff were beyond awesome.

Let’s start with the food. The burger was huge, it fed both me and CC. The taste was everything you would imagine a classic diner burger to taste like. It wasn't this miss-mash of flavor, they put their burgers together so well you actually taste each element working together. Again the size, like I said, it fed both me and CC and we were full after. Talk about portion overload (but in the best way) and it continues throughout the whole experience. We also ordered fries, but you don't just get fries here, you get a wide range of choices and we went with the Cajun flavor. I watched the girl pack up our bag and thought she was making a mistake, not only did she put our container of fries in, but then she filled the bag with the rest of the basket. I almost couldn't find the burger under all the fries. That’s what you get at Five Guys, every time you get a whole basket of fries.

 

Now to the experience, I don't think we have ever had so much fun at one place (except for the time at Montana's Cookhouse where they gave the boys helmets with antlers and they almost started a head-butting competition). CC and I walked in and were deciding on which burger to get, I said "Why don't we get the Bacon Cheese Burger with everything" and CC replied with "You want both A-1 and BBQ sauce". I shot him an eye roll and said "No, when you order "loaded" it comes with all the black lettered stuff, the red letters are extra free ones you can add." The guy waiting to take our order laughed and said "You know the menu better than most, you could take my job."

I offered to input our order into the till and he said if I could figure it out I had a job. So I leaned forward, he turned the till towards me and I put it in. After working at McDonald's and Tim Horton's, tills aren't a very big mystery to me but the guy was still impressed and offered me a job twice more, while another guy said I was so good he was going for his break. The rest of the night went awesome, we laughed with them and really enjoyed our food.

 

The biggest thing that impressed me though was how every time a customer left someone always remembered to say "Thanks, have a great night" Not a single person left without hearing those words.

 

Great Staff, Great food, Best Burger experience in Westbank.

 

Oh ya, on the other side of this post, CC finally did decide on a laptop. Now we have a Sony Vaio. Nice, easy to use, lightweight, perfect for our big adventure.

 

 

July 25th 2010: The begining

Before we head out on our adventure, I thought it best to quickly go over the last year and bit and show you "Us". How we met and fell for each other and how everything we have done together has been leading up to us jetting off to another country.

July 25th 2010 is the day Siyani told me he loved me and the day I knew for certain he was going to be my husband. What is so sweet about that day is at the time we were not even dating and had only really met and hung out together two weeks prior to his big revelation.

"Megan, I have something to tell you and I know if I don't just say it then it won't come out right......I love you"

My world froze, but his words didn't hang in the air long as I looked him in the eyes and said "I love you to". How was I able to respond so quickly and with absolute certainty? Because two weeks earlier at the summer Convention of Jehovah's Witnesses, Siyani had sat next to me as I sat next to his best friend, my cousin Owen and as he smiled at me and the day went on my stomach flip flopped that way it does when you have fallen in love.

Earlier that week, before the I love you was said, I had a phone conversation with my sister Shaina and my exact words which I remember so clearly to this day were, "Shai, I met this guy and he will either be my best friend for the rest of my life or I am going to marry him".

This is how we fell love, fast paced and with only a smile. That smile still gives me butterflies when he shoots it my way.

July 25th 2010....The day we were officially in love.

CC & Me: An Introduction

Welcome to The Life of the Lindows.
That's us in the picture, obviously, Megan and Siyani. I call him CC and the story of how he got that nickname is to come.

This blog was created to share not just our everyday life but our adventures. We have been married since May 2011 and finally life is about to go beyond interesting to extraordinary.

Click on the CC's favorites tabs to see the cars, music, games and everything else Siyani loves about life (maybe he will remember to put a picture of me in there to)
I love to cook, food to me is an expression of everything: love and friendship and style. Food is an icebreaker when meeting new people, a sign of "I'm here for you" in good and hard times and a symbol of how everyday we can create beauty and love from the simplest of things. Click on the Meg's Recipes to see what  I have been cooking or even eating as we live our lives in as many different places as we choose to.

Join us on our most exciting journey ever........Everyday Life!!!