Week Six: Doctor Who and Pumpkin Pie

Week 6

11/24-11/30

Doctor Who 50^th Anniversary Show

Sunday (November 24^th) was the 50^th Anniversary of Doctor Who. To celebrate, several cinemas were playing it across Sydney. I went with the Townsend brother’s to a showing in Bondi Junction. Braedon picked me up around 2:30 and drove us there, where Kieran and Daniel were already waiting. (We were able to get a parking spot right next to Kieran. Which I wasn’t that impressed with at first, but then Braedon and I figured out that there are roughly 5,000 spots in the parking garage so it really is amazing that we would find an open spot right next to Kieran. Kieran, even after presented with the odds, was not very impressed). Daniel works at a restaurant there and was getting off early so he could go to the showing. Braedon and I ate lunch at Dan’s restaurant (Burgers and chips), which was very nice. Then we went to Woolworths to buy some movie snacks instead of paying 3000 times more for snacks at the theater. The boys got Maltesers(which are basically whoppers in The States) which I have never been a huge fan of. The boys thought that that was ludicrous that I would not like Maltesers, but I slightly redeemed myself by getting Pods, which are delicious and have no real counter part in America for me to compare it too.  Anyway, the episode was great! And afterward we went back to the cars, and I regretted the fact that we parked next to Kieran when Daniel threw a candle at me from Kieran’s car to Braedon’s through the open windows. Okay it wasn’t really at me, he just wanted to see if he could make it. But at the time it felt like a hate crime. Then we went back to their house where we watched a nature documentary. Then Braedon took me to his friend’s house who was having a bit of a going away/end of Uni party.

Pie

This week is Thanksgiving in The U.S. I wasn’t planning on doing much, on account that it is an American holiday and I am not in America. But Danielle and Mark insisted that we had to do something. They said we can get a turkey roll (which is turkey breast meat and stuffing), and I offered to make Pumpkin Pie. Pumpkin is not a sweet flavor here. When you mention it as a dessert, you can see peoples faces pinch as they try to imagine what it might taste like, ultimately deciding that it would be disgusting. But seeing as how it is an American tradition, I wanted to show them what it was about. Now, I had never made pumpkin pie before. And I really wanted them to like it. I wanted to prove that we are not crazy for taking this squash and turning it into a dessert. I felt like I had the weight of the American people on my shoulders. All 3.13 million of them saying “Come on, Rach! We need this!” I was going to be the pumpkin pie ambassador.  If they hated it, I would be that weird American girl that made them eat a disgusting pie. I can’t have that be my lasting mark! So yeah, there was a lot riding on this.

And because it is not a sweet flavor here, they don’t have canned pumpkin. So I was going to have to take a whole pumpkin, and somehow turn it into a delicious pie. I found a recipe, went out and bought all of the ingredients and got crackin’. Here is the whole pumpkin:

       Puree time:

 Roasting and carving it out:                                  















Ingredients mixed in:

 Final Product:

 

It got a little burned on top, because, you know, Celsius. It kind of looks like a heart though. So let's just say I planned that. I made an apple pie as well. The apple was my contingency pie, incase the pumpkin was a huge fail. 

Here was my Apple pie:

Thanksgiving

On actual Thanksgiving Day, I was home with Harry. Danielle came home early and took the boys to the shops. They came back with Red, White, and Blue balloons and some Chardonnay from San Francisco. They wanted it to feel as close to home as possible. We had a lovely dinner of Turkey roll, roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes, green beans and peas. After we had all eaten our fill, it was time for pie. Judgment time was upon us. I served everyone a slice of pumpkin with some whipped cream, and a slice of apple with vanilla ice cream. Both pies turned out wonderfully! Seriously. Not to toot my own horn, but “toot-toot”! The family really liked it. There were pleasantly surprised by the pumpkin and said that they would have it again, which is good considering there are heaps of leftovers. Now I can breathe knowing that I did my country proud.

 

Mini Pumpkin Pies out of Leftover crust/puree

Week 5: Celsius

11/16 – 11/23

Week 5

Designing

I have been recruited to be on the creative team for my church. Every Saturday after the service, there is an “After party” for the Powerhouse group. (Powerhouse is just what they call 18-25 year olds) So I have been charged with making the little invite cards that are given out to people in our age group to let them know what’s happening after the service. This week we were having a BBQ at Prince Alfred Park... that is, if it doesn't rain.

Baking

I got in a baking mood this week and decided to bake some white chocolate cranberry cookies. I’m still getting used to baking with Celsius. So the first batch I made, I burned 2/3 of it. I think I jinxed it a bit though. When I went to the store I purchased 2 times the amount of ingredients “just in case”. So I was almost welcoming the inferno. In unrelated news, the smoke detector in the house is top notch. Anyway, the second time around they came out fantastic and Lachie has been asking for them in is lunch every day.

Wesley Grad Show

Wesley is where I went to School when I studied here. And some of the people who were in my classes have finished their degrees! So to celebrate this, Wesley has a grad show where the students are able to display their work. It was really cool to come and support them and see all of the amazing Graphic Design stuff they have done. They are all incredibly talented and I feel very proud to know them. I took one of all of their business cards.

 

Alphabet

I’ve been having Harry practice writing his letters. I made a few sheets with letters on them that he can trace. It’s nothing huge, just something to keep him occupied. Most of the time he really enjoys it. He looks up to his brother a lot, so anything he can do to be more like him, like writing letters, he’ll do it. And he looks so cute when he's concentrating so hard!