Gastography

Sydney Pictorial – Part 1 of 3

February 12, 2018February 18, 2018LifeLeave a Comment

This holiday season, I lucked up bigtime and won a door prize at a holiday party – one free ticket anywhere Qatar Airways flies. Qatar airways flies to over 150 places as of the time of this post (with more being added almost monthly). I could have chosen pretty much anywhere, but settled on checking out the home of a bunch of my new friends – Sydney, Australia.

Things didn’t mesh up with DH’s schedule (or desire for a 14-hour flight), and I found myself on one hell of a visa bounce – an 11-day Grand Adventure to a hemisphere and country I’d never been to.

This trip was fantastic. I absolutely loved Sydney, and had a splendid time getting in 20 – 30,000 steps a day, eating as little or as much as I wanted, sleeping in a schedule that made little sense, and speaking to no humans unless I really wanted to.

Sydney itself feels like a cross between New York City, Seattle and the California beaches – lots of big buildings, lots of beautiful coastline, a bustling maritime life – and of course, beaches (and that laid back beach life) aplenty.

Since I saw a bunch and took a ton of shots, I’ll be splitting the pictorial into 3 parts. This is Part 1. Stay tuned for the rest!

Thursday, January 25

This was mostly a travel day. Bye, Doha!

This was my home for the duration of my trip – Space Q hotel (hostel) in Haymarket (the Thai/Chinese area of town).

This place was really cool. The location couldn’t be beat – I was 20 – 30 minutes from pretty much anything I wanted to do, and blocks from Central Station and it’s trains, buses and light rail.

Friday, January 26

Australia Day! I woke up and headed to Circular Quay to see the festivities, wandered The Rocks a bit, and headed over the Sydney Harbour Bridge to catch the Australia Day Harbour Parade.

sydney_australia_day-1 — Ship racing from the Sydney Harbour Bridge

sydney_australia_day-2 — The conclusion of the Tall Ship Race

Australia Day was cool. The whole city was decked out in Australia and Aboriginal flags, music was everywhere, street food was flowing freely, and the general atmosphere was one of a big party. Since I’ll miss my own country’s celebration day, it was great to take part in somewhere else’s.

Saturday, January 27

I woke up super late, wandered around downtown a bit trying to figure out what I wanted to do, decided to point my feet toward Darling Harbour and checked that out, went to the Sea Life Aquarium, wandered over to the Queen Victoria Building juuuuust as everything was closing (as I was discovering, much to my American chagrin/mild outrage, almost every damn thing barring restaurants and bars closes by 7pm), and decided to drown my lack of shopping options sorrows at this really cool viking bar I’d heard about on Facebook – Mjolner.

sydney_-2 — These guys were a big constant everywhere I went in Sydney

Queen Victoria Building – Syndey, whyyyyy with the early closing?!?! Super frustrating for Americans! (I’ve since been told that Australia values work/life balance highly – which is actually something we should all aspire to. Just super frustrating when you’re used to everything being open late!)

Mjolner was amazing. The cup holds a fat-washed something alcoholic with gold sherbert paint on the outside. I had a short rib trencher and couldn’t finish half.

The ferris wheel in Darling Harbour. Darling Harbour was a little tourist trappy for my taste, but was jam-packed with restaurants, shopping, the aquarium and other touristy things to do, a cool maritime museum I didn’t get to see, the convention center, and really high caliber street performers. I spent a fair amount of time here.

Sunday, January 28

I hopped down to Circular Quay and onto a ferry to Manly Beach. Walked that beach a bit, hopped the ferry back, decided I wasn’t done and hopped another ferry to Milson’s Point to check out Luna Park – which was cool, looks a crazy amount like the Luna Park in Coney Island (for good reason – it’s modeled after it), headed back to The Rocks to check that museum out and learn more about Sydney’s early history, walked the craft market going on there, grabbed Korean bbq on the way back to the hotel, and called it a night.

sydney_-3 — The Sydney Harbour Bridge from the ferry

Manly Beach – super crowded the day I went (I think there was some sort of kids surfing or other water sport thing going on), but full of cute little beach shops and restaurants.

From the ferry. The ferry system in Sydney is robust, convenient, and provides a great way to see the city.

Yes – this is a *lot* like the one in Coney

Part 2

Part 3

February 11, 2018

February 11, 2018Picture of the DayLeave a Comment

This mall has had these wall wraps up in over half of its areas since I got here.

Do they promise?

Is it happening this century?

February 10, 2018

February 11, 2018Picture of the DayLeave a Comment

Dinner out

Instant Pot Lamb with Gremolata

February 10, 2018February 10, 2018keto, RecipesLeave a Comment

I’ve been craving lamb a lot lately – not sure what’s behind that … maybe oncoming Spring? Is it possible to have Spring when one’s Winter doesn’t dip below 50 F?

Whatever it its, I’ve been wanting some slow cooked carnitas-style lamb in my life and recently found an electric pressure cooker — unfortunately not an Instant Pot since those don’t exist in this country yet, but it does the same thing.

gluten-free, keto, paleo

Instant Pot Lamb with Gremolata

3-5 lb. lamb roast
2 Tbsp. fat of choice
1/2 cup mixed shallots and garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 Tbsp. dried rosemary
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. onion powder
2 tsp. cumin
2 Tbsp. worcestershire sauce
1 cup beef broth
1/2 cup wine (red would be best; I had zinfandel – optional)
Salt & pepper

Gremolata

Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. parsley
4 cloves garlic
Salt & pepper

Add 2 Tbsp. fat of choice to a large pan over medium-high heat. Salt and pepper the lamb liberally on all sides. Add the lamb and brown on 3 out of 4 sides. While cooking, mince the shallots and garlic and add when you’re mostly done with the lamb. Sautee until the lamb is browned and the aromatics are soft. Hit with a little salt and pepper.

Add to your pressure cooker with the rest of the ingredients and set the timer for 50 minutes.

When your lamb is done cooking, release the pressure, pull the lamb, and shred with forks. You will have a lot of liquid left over – make a pan sauce by reducing in a saucepan by half or so if desired. I was too lazy and was really craving gremolata.

Chuck the shredded lamb under the broiler with 1-2 additional Tablespoons fat for 5 – 7 minutes or until browned and crisped up a bit like carnitas.

On to the gremolata. Blend all the ingredients together. Pour over the lamb.

This is fantastic served with leftover spaghetti squash reheated and fried a bit in a little butter, salt & pepper. Spaghetti squash can also be cooked in the pressure cooker – and quickly. I think it took 15 minutes? Nom Nom Paleo has an easy recipe.