August 2014. Return to downunder

Hi dear friends and peregrinos

It has been a long while since I attempted to do our Blog page so please excuse it if there are mistakes chuckle.

Anyway welcome to this page again.

This month has been hard on me as my knee has been creating problems and stopping me walking (my passion as you well know). Still enough said chuckle, just to say the weather hasn't helped either but still according to our records,August has not been as wet as last year but I find that hard to believe. Now it is supposed to be coming into Spring!!!!

Here are photos to show our garden has been a picture this month  

Sorry, blogger now refuses to let me get them closer together but they look OK.

The Freesias first, 
they make lovely cut flowers and smell so sweet

I was given the seeds of these garden flowers 
in the flower bed but I don't know what they are called

The big shrubs are the West Australian Geraldton wax

When I have managed to walk I did remember to take my camera, so you will see a number of river and wild life shots, but first things first. 

We got in contact with the ladies of our old singing group, Uslot, who we hadn't seen much of since we stopped singing together in our house. So to put things right we phoned them and chose a day to meet here and we promised to cook a paella.

We were lucky with the weather, apart from a cool breeze
springing up at about the time we were to disband anyway. 
So we managed to cook outside on the big gas ring and the
paella was very good and we ate most of it and even after
seconds the rest was just enough to be taken home for
husbands left behind chuckle.
 

 

When the knee started to give me problems, I cut down on my walking and also how far, now only doing 6k to the weir café, but when it felt better I did go further. I found the other café at Riverton
(12k there and back) was closed. There had been a kitchen fire and also the children's playground was being re done. These photos are of both almost complete.

       

 

I sat at the shelter table to drink my flask of tea and up came the black swans. 

They had raised only 2 little ones this year. Their mum was very protective but I got a few nice shots while sitting there watching.

I have now cut down my walking, by going just to the weir and back, 6k!

Here are a number of river photos of the birds and things that got in the way of my camera lens over the next few weeks. Lets start with the tired bear that looked up at me from a tree by the rivers edge. I wonder what magic put him there?
 

On the way home - Riverton bridge from a more unusual spot.

The bridge.

Gulls from the Bridge

Now flowers and leaves seen over the month.

one of my best I think

Australian Shelduck

Australian Grebe

Somehow these fluffy little fellows, who are fully grown and smaller than the black swan cygnets we saw above at the Riverton cafe, spend a lot of time under the water  and never look wet!

As you can see the weather has changed so I leave you with a nice recipe for

Empanada de Miguel

You need a baking tray of about 38cm by 27 cm for the amounts here.
1and1/2 cups wholemeal flour
2and 1/4 cups plain (all -purpose) flour, plus extra for rolling. 
80 g butter softened, I use margarine canola
2 eggs
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 glass white wine
I teaspoon salt

1 more egg, lightly beaten for glaze

Filling
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
4 tablespoons tomato paste (Dolmio)
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
1 tablespoon chopped oregano
1- 125g tin of chopped tomatoes - or about 6 ripe pealed tomatoes chopped 
2 - 85 g tins of smoked tuna
1 peeled and chopped roast capsicum, green or red
2 or 3 tablespoons chopped parsley

Hands to work
Sift the plain flour and teaspoon of salt into a large bowl, then the wholemeal, work the remnants in the wholemeal as much as possible and discard rest. Mix together.
Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Combine the eggs and the wine with a whisk and add to the bowl, cutting the liquid in with a flat-bladed knife to form a dough.
Gather together into a smooth ball (do not knead or you will have tough pastry)
Cover with plastic wrap or bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

To make the filling,
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and cook the onion for about 5 minutes, or until translucent.
Add the tomato paste, tomatoes, herbs and cook for 10 minutes, or until pulpy.
Add the tuna, roasted capsicum and parsley and season well.

Cut a piece of grease proof baking paper to stop the pie sticking to inside of baking tray, make it too big!

Preheat the oven to 190c

Dust a work surface with flour.
Roll out half the pastry to a thickness of 2mm to fit your baking tray
Place in tray gently and press into place, making sure it's up the sides and lapping over top, and cut off surplus pastry
Roll out the rest for the top, making sure it will fit to cover a baking tray
Fill bottom of pan with filling and wet top edges
Carefully lay pastry over the top and press around with a fork to seal edges.  Make an ample number of fork holes to let out steam while cooking. Decoration can be cut out of any surplus pastry and put on now, wetting the backs to stick them on.
Cut off surplus baking paper.
Brush empanada with beaten egg to glaze.
Bake for 30 minutes or until golden.
(Meanwhile,any egg glaze left over, fry in the frying pan that you cooked the filling in, and eat!- The chef deserves it!)
Serve warm or cold

Hints:
I roll out on a flexible plastic rolling surface and found it stays stuck to it enough to allow you to carefully lift it up and drop it over the baking tray and peel it off. Then as said, seal the edges with small fork.

Roast Capsicum?
Cut into wide strips and put under grill until skin blisters, let majority go black and remove and put in a plastic bag for 10 minutes, then peel and chop

I hope it works for you - it does for me chuckle
Abrazos
Mike and Maisie